Monthly Archives: January 2005

Safer Car: Chevy Trailblazer SUV or Porsche Boxster

Posted on by

Malcom Gladwell wrote this useful article on SUV’s early in 2004. He asks and explores an interesting question about the perceived safety advantages of SUV’s:

I found that I was wrestling with the car. The protests of the tires were jarring. I stopped, shaken. “It wasn’t going where you wanted it to go, was it?” Champion said. “Did you feel the weight pulling you sideways? That’s what the extra weight that S.U.V.s have tends to do. It pulls you in the wrong direction.” Behind us was a string of toppled cones. Getting the TrailBlazer to travel in a straight line, after that sudden diversion, hadn’t been easy. “I think you took out a few pedestrians,” Champion said with a faint smile.
Next up was the Boxster. The top was down. The sun was warm on my forehead. The car was low to the ground; I had the sense that if I dangled my arm out the window my knuckles would scrape on the tarmac. Standing still, the Boxster didn’t feel safe: I could have been sitting in a go-cart. But when I ran it through the handling course I felt that I was in perfect control. On the straightaway, I steadied the Boxster at forty-five m.p.h., and ran it through the obstacle course. I could have balanced a teacup on my knee.

Madison WiFi: Bells Blocking Broadband Competition

Posted on by

Interestingly, we paid to build the original networks that the SBC’s and Bellsouth’s of the world are using as cash cows. Now, with our country quickly falling behind in true 2-way broadband (Japan and Korea offer 30Mbps service for less than $50/month while we’re stuck at speeds in the range of 500kbps to 1.5mbps) some communities have tried to build their own fiber networks. Leslie Cauley visits LaFayette, LA, where the city is trying to build their own fiber network, BUT, legacy telco Bellsouth is trying to kill the project. Slashdot discussion.
David Isenberg comments on Cauley’s article.

Great Music Radio Does Exist, on the Internet

Posted on by

Tired of too many commercials and the same old, same old, same old music? Point your itunes or other mp3 streaming audio software to these internet “radio” stations:

  • Madison’s own WSUM
  • The University of Pennsylvania’s WXPN is simply excellent.
  • Another must is Fordham’s WFUV
  • Finally, and I think, most interestingly, I spend most of my listening time tuned in to Maui’s Manao Radio, a low power FM and internet radio station. Excellent and eclectic.

Madison WiFi More Telco Dislocation – Maybe. Vonage Ships WiFi VOIP Handset

Posted on by

Glenn Fleishman:

The handset will work over hotspot networks allowing Vonage customers to use their service while roaming. Boingo and Vonage had a deal in place to test out VoIP over Wi-Fi hotspots, but it?s unclear here in the late evening how that ties together. Also, Vonage?s site doesn?t yet list the announcement, so we don?t know if they?ve partnered with various networks to ease authentication.

Skype is another option.

Tax Issues on the April Ballot?

Posted on by

The Wisconsin Counties Association wants all 72 counties to ask voters in April whether the state – instead of counties – should pay for the judicial and human services systems it mandates, according to Jennie Tunkieicz. Interesting, but I’m not sure that this intramural government battle is money well spent for the taxpayers.

The NSA Opens Up

Posted on by

Christian Davenport says that the National Security Agency is opening up and looking for small business to help in the war on terror.

“I’m looking for new ideas,” said Daniel G. Wolf, the NSA’s information assurance director. “We want to hear what you have.”
In November, the agency announced that it would pump $445,000 into the center, whose companies are at the vanguard of security technology: finding cures for bioterrorism diseases, protecting computer networks from hackers, developing software designed to find terrorists.
As the intelligence industry continues to expand since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the clandestine agency is playing a more prominent — and visible — role in the Washington region. With plans to hire 7,500 new employees over five years, the NSA, already Anne Arundel County’s largest employer, is undergoing its largest recruiting drive since the Cold War.
The agency is also increasingly opening its doors to private companies for help in developing spy technologies.