We noted in passing the loss of Bell Labs basic research in the sciences. So now along comes a former Cisco CTO to do the Long Kentucky Road speil as well —
America is facing an innovation crisis. To fix it, corporations need to find new ways of funding fundamental research into physics and environmental sciences.
That’s the argument made by Judy Estrin, former Cisco CTO and author of the new book Closing the Innovation Gap.
Eatrin says Bell Labs’ decision to discontinue basic science research is just a continuation of a trend that started in the 1970s and 1980s when corporate America, under pressure from Japanese competitors, started cutting back on long-term research.
“Corporations focused on efficiencies and productivity started to make research more short term and tailored to the company’s needs,” says Estrin in an interview with Wired.com, “with the result that most research done at corporations now is applied research.”
What I think is a little rich is the ‘pot – kettle’ meme of this piece. Cisco is notorious for being a below the belt competitor. The ramifications of that is R&D efforts of now dead former competitors never see the light of day. Want to pop the cork on R&D? Make it a 100% write off, dollar for dollar. Whether its grants to universities or done in-house.
We have noted before issues with both FIOS and uVerse installations. Well here we go again. –
The state Public Service Commission has found that more than half of Verizon FiOS installations inspected on Long Island violated national electric standards, raising potential safety concerns and prompting Verizon to offer customer credits.
Of 92 installations in Nassau, 64 had violations related to grounding, according to an April audit by commission staff. No Suffolk locations were audited then.
In an October 2007 audit there were 62 code violations out of 113 installations inspected in Nassau. Of 19 installations in Suffolk, 12 had similar code violations.
Fiber-optic cables, which Verizon says carry more information and provide a better signal than copper-wire phone lines, are made of glass and do not conduct electricity. The service uses a home’s power source to convert laser-generated light pulses to electrical communications signals.
Ok. The fiber optic does not carry any current. But the various components that are part of the FIOS install DO. So my question would be this one — How does Verizon get away with not having personnel that are licensed electrical contractors? If they are adding new wall outlets that would be a minimum requirement per State law.
Asterisk is the dominant open source PBX replacement. Using commodity hardware, it enables even the smallest enterprise to own and control their own voice communications platform.
The TWIT network’s FLOSS Weekly recently featured an interview with Digium / Asterisk’s Mark Spencer. Even if you are familiar with Asterisk, this show is worth an hour of your time.
Tree huggers take note: most forms of information on pulp are on the way out. One of the first to go was the encyclopedia, and the daily news printed on dead trees may be next. Another printed information media is in danger: The map.
Apparently, the head of the British Cartographic Society is no fan of Google Maps. She’s complaining that Google Maps doesn’t include the additional geographic information that makes maps so great, claiming:
“We’re in real danger of losing what makes maps so unique, giving us a feel for a place even if we’ve never been there.”
Except, that’s not quite true. After all, Google Maps allows all sorts of overlays and additional info. With Google Maps you can also get the satellite view, which is likely to give you a much greater feel for a place than a map. And, of course, many areas have the “Street View” feature as well — again, providing a much greater feel for a place you’ve never been. As for certain landmarks and such not being added to Google Maps, more seem to be added every day, and with Google letting people add their own information to maps as well, it’s only going to get better and better.(Techdirt)
Information wants to be free and unfiltered. Pulp media is dying because it is filtered and non interactive. This trend does not mean an end for tech savvy cartographers any more than it meant an end for tech savvy journalists. There is a giant opportunity for them to build mash ups using Google’s unfiltered data combined with their knowledge to create something compelling.
In a continuing sign of the death knell of pulp news services, the Sacremento Bee is offering early buyouts to all employees. Thats an attempt to reduce a forced RIF. But you can be assued that this too will come to be. –
The Bee offered voluntary buyouts to the majority of its full-time employees Monday as its advertising slump continues and the newspaper scrambles for additional ways to cut costs.
The buyouts came two months after The Bee eliminated 86 jobs as part of an across-the-board layoff ordered by its parent, The McClatchy Co. of Sacramento. A companywide wage freeze was imposed by McClatchy two weeks ago. In July, The Bee unveiled a smaller print format, another way to save money.
But the economic downturn has deepened, and The Bee, like other papers, is still experiencing declining revenue.
“It’s about continually looking at your work force and looking at your economic projections and trying to bring those in line,” said Publisher and President Cheryl Dell. “We thought that we had that two months ago, but with the worsening economy we just need to do more.”
She cited recent bankruptcies of several key advertisers, including Room Source, Linens N Things and Mervyns.
Dell said more layoffs are possible if there aren’t enough buyouts. Yet some applications for buyouts may be rejected if there are too many takers.
The blogger consortiums need to start solidifying their positions in preparation for the collapse of the pulp space. They need to get agreements in place with AP and Reuters now. When those two are king of the hill after the collapse, they will be increasing their rates.
Woes for NYT as well here.
More here.
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