There is good news for consumers! Because of recent policy clarifications by the Federal Communications Commission, SBC has accelerated its schedule to deploy over 38,000 mile of fiber optics cable in its 13 state region. This will bring fiber closer to homes and businesses and set the stage for new generation technologies like television programming over broadband lines, providing yet another alternative to cable and satellite offerings.
Also in the near future, SBC will be offering faster broadband services, Voice Over Internet Protocol, and wireless bundles of products and services.
That’s the good news. On the other side, at least one Michigan Public Service Commissioner is suggesting these new services be regulated, a sure way to slow down deployment and possibly divert company resources where there is no state intervention.
If any of you are interested I have a letter from the State President Gail Torreano, and two short clips from the Detroit News and Associated Press.
posted on October 21, 2004| 4:53 PM EST
Paul Hart and I will be throwing a Mozilla Firefox 1.0 release party in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The party starts at 8:00pm Friday, November 19 at a local pub (TBA) in Grand Rapids. The Elevator Up g33ks group and some Image Group staff will be there to celebrate the night and we are hoping to see you all there - so sign up.
posted on October 20, 2004| 5:28 PM EST
The past couple of days I’ve notice myself leaking something about marriage counseling out in different conversations. Nothing awkward, just a simply phrases like, “Oh, I can’t get together tonight, the wife and I have counseling at eight.”.
After saying anything about counseling, let alone marriage counseling, you’ll almost always notice a quick, “I wonder if he’s having trouble in his marriage” kind of look.
I don’t think much of the casual words because it’s not anything to worry about. However, stepping back, I can see how awkward my casual words may be to a person receiving them.
So the wife and I go to marriage counseling and no we’re not having trouble in our marriage. We’re not anywhere close to the “D” word and aren’t staying up all night pissy at each other.
Marriage counseling is also about teaching people to dig deeper into their relationship and helping one another figure out how each party thinks in different situations.
This may all sound weird to those of you that aren’t married, and to be honest, it sounded weird to me at first too. It’s not and I would highly recommend doing it within your first year of marriage.
You may already have great communication with your spouse (Jodi and I did/do) but there are a lot of things that are still confusing about the opposite sex. Learning the primary skills of feeling words instead of thinking words or understanding the differences in perception during the same event. It’s all very interesting to say the least.
So don’t worry about the misses and me - we’re doing fine. Of course, we’ll still have an argument or two and be introduced to high levels of frustration with each other, but that’s all common and to be expected.
posted on October 18, 2004| 10:41 PM EST
When you see a good ad on TV or the Internet, you can’t help but watching it over and over. Sometimes you laugh, sometimes you .. umm… cry but no matter what the reaction - you simply love it and will watch it over and over again.
An example of good ads:
Now, if you see a bad ad — ok, let me rephrase that — You will often skip over bad ads or if forced to watch them (stupid commercials in between my program) you won’t pay attention to their message.
My suggestions to companies out there - take a chance and make something of your brand. Quit being safe and so conservitive with your money. Putting out a bad ad is sometimes worse than putting out any ad at all. No matter what they say about “No advertising is bad advertising”.
posted on October 15, 2004| 9:40 AM EST
A few years ago, none of my friends had a website and some even thought the idea of a personal website was ridiculous - “What would I even do with a website”.
A lot has happened since then. It seems as if every month one of my buddies starts up a website. A lot of this usually lies on my shoulders since I’ve been the resident pro - that said, they’ve done a lot themselves. A few of them have even amazed me.
One of those people is my good buddy Dan Cooper that has recently put together a site showing off some of his work. The guy is an amazing illustrator and up and coming web developer.
So Dan Cooper - Hats off of to you kid. Keep up the good work.
posted on October 10, 2004| 8:47 PM EST
