The World Is Yours June 30, 2008

Torinus Advises No Let-Up in Strategic Thinking

Notwithstanding an improving job picture for the state - especially relative to the nation's overall unemployment rate of 5.5% in May - John Torinus, a local C.E.O., cautions leaders in both the public and private sectors to remain vigilant in a dynamic, global economy. One reason, of course, is that the sunny numbers may be an aberration. More distressful, however, is the state's tepid growth record in the second-quarter. Wisconsin scored lowest in the midwest and 42nd out of the fifty states for economic growth. Asserting that the Milwaukee area is pulling down the overall figures is perhaps obvious, as is remarking that more startup investments need to flow into the state's biggest town.

In a recent report by the Milken Institute, Wisconsin ranked ahead of all other states in the gap between technological inputs, such as R.&D., and outputs, like jobs in high-tech. industries. Unfortunately, as Mr. Torinus goes on to note, little is being done in Wisconsin (much less Milwaukee) to accelerate the emergence of technology "clusters." U.W.M. Chancellor Santiago's efforts to create such a cluster around its engineering school is laudable, but any hope of U.W.M. becoming a "top research institution" is a joke, given the decades-long neglect of the engineering facility. Whatever clusters emerged around state-sponsored engineering research did so long ago, elsewhere. Besides, in the decades to come, that sort of R.&D. will likely appear in larger numbers overseas, particularly in China. Most importantly, though, Mr. Torinus just assumes that things will somehow be different, that startups will now emerge whereas before they did not.

He carries this foolhardy analysis over to the state's flagship university, and its growing reputation as a leading research center for biotechnology. Recent experience there strongly suggests that, no, venture capitalists are not interested in forming a cluster around U.W.-Madison. They are interested in profitting from their technological advances, but somewhere else. There is simply no indication that that is going to change without far more assistance from state government. Efforts by G.E. Medical, among others, to form clusters are admirable, but area business leaders especially must understand their limitations. Even when universities get it right, like U.W.-Madison's biotech. R.&D., emergent firms are uninterested. So why, in a dynamic and competitive world, would they be attracted to Santiago's vision of a great engineering campus, something at this very late hour that is still just an idea?




Blurring of Work and Home Leading to Disputes Over Wages and Hours

With the proliferation of Blackberries, among other mobile devices, workers are increasingly questioning whether they should operate such office-related equipment while at home for free. A.B.C. and the Writers Guild of America recently resolved a dispute in which three employees of the network were required to respond to their Blackberries after hours without compensation. The union itself did not object to casual interaction with the device away from the office, only that the diffusion of mobile devices should not eventually lead to significant blocs of free time devoted to work without pay. Indeed, I.T. is rapidly moving toward one's entire job performance tied to a handheld device, something that risks the 24/7 workplace. Others scoffed at such concerns, noting how much time the average employee wastes on the job with personal calls and online travel, among other time sinks. Experts advise that this should only become contentious when one party in an employment relation is unhappy. At least for now, it is identical to management's fury with web surfing behind closed doors.




Companies Timidly Wading into Social Networking

While social networking tools have been popular among consumers - particularly young consumers - for some time, only now are such communication tools finding their way into the workplace. Management often bans the use of social networks, fearing that employees will simply identify another outlet for wasting time. However, the upside of these devices to the firm are increasingly coming into focus, both as a means to reach a wider community and as a problem-solving tool beyond meetings, more meetings, e-mails, more e-mails. Resistance to this emergent technology in the corporate sector will remain keen, however, given concerns over security. Content posted on a social network cannot be filtered as outgoing e-mail traffic can, so confidential information may leak out. In general, users who are exploring social networks as a productivity app. are advised to follow guidelines similar to those in the real world: Link only to well-known contacts, post only work-related content, and turn up the privacy settings to avoid spam.


W3C's S.P.A.R.Q.L. Query Language for R.D.F., pages 56-60: More abstract algebra, basic graph pattern extension, and the beginning of an appendix on S.P.A.R.Q.L. grammar are covered here.

June 29, 2008

Milwaukee County Departments Submit "Frozen" Budgets

In response to pressure from Executive Scott Walker to freeze next year's tax levy at $249 million, budget requests from throughout County government included trims in service levels that some critics have said go too far. Under Walker, spending increases have been tight, leading some to worry that essential programs have been crowded-out as salaries, benefits, and supplies continue to rise in cost. For now, budget requests have avoided bus fare increases and route cuts. Departments exempt from the belt-tightening are those associated with law enforcement. Sheriff David Clarke's budget request seeks $8.4 million more from this year's appropriation, while the D.A.'s office would receive $1 million more if approved.

Rather than chop directly, some departments are getting creative. Following Walker's mandate to outsource services when possible, the Behaviorial Health Division has suggested outsourcing jobs that deviate from its core mission, such as those in food service and maintenance. That move would eliminate 177 County employees. Other departments proposed farming-out operation of the O'Donnell parking ramp, along with adding more concessions to parks. Outsourcing O'Donnell operations would generate about $200,000 next year, while additional concessions would contribute much less. Parks Director Black has proposed ten County dog parks that may, or may not, raise $100,000 next year for the County. She has also, again, suggested that $1.8 million could be saved by hiring more seasonal help to maintain park facilities, however, this item is likely to be killed by the County Board, as it has strongly opposed such a measure in the past. An A.F.S.C.M.E. Local 882 representative countered that outsourcing would likely hurt the quality of County services.




Virtual Business: Second Life as the New Powerpoint?

While avatars remain in the early-adoption phase, especially for the enterprise, many agree that in-world marketing has already proven that V.R. platforms offer the potential to be as important as other forms of web presence. While popular forums such as Second Life remain small - only about 850,000 users visit every month - major entertainment venues, such as Disney, have exhibited stunning alacrity in reeling in and retaining retail customers. Some firms are merely curious, with automakers, banks, and hotels replicating virtual headquarters in-world just to see what, if anything, happens. Scion, for example, has a footprint over four venues: Gaia, Second Life, There, and Whyville.

Curiousity for some, however, faded over time, with some in-world properties lying abandoned for lack of interest by web developers and the public alike. But that is not the end of the story, as many are merely reevaluating their approach to V.R.. Some firms are finding that S.L. is a great tool for companywide collaboration, in particular when all employees share a common experience, as Text 100 Corp., a P.R. firm, did with its virtual debut last August. I.B.M., an in-world participant since at least autumn of 2006, has held meetings on its private S.L. island as well as training sessions, though those were conducted behind its corporate firewall.

While these are promising developments, many questions must first be asked. In particular, the role of I.T. professionals has been, so far, as back-benchers when the push came to open shop in-world. Most of the cheerleading arrived from marketing and H.R. departments, precisely those areas of the enterprise lacking technical knowledge in V.R. development. This has led to much work in this field susceptible to outsourcing, however, in-house I.T. still has to manage in-world security concerns, a critical shortcoming that has besetted Second Life, among others. The key for I.T. professionals employed by firms who want a presence in this space is to maintain an open mind and see where this new media leads.

The degree to which a firm wants such a presence, as opposed to simply building it behind the firewall, is critical. Recent experience suggests that building a site in Second Life, for example, involves far more input from marketing than I.T.. Hardware requirements in-world - 3-D graphics capability, for example - may overwhelm some legacy systems. Regular updates are required for any firm that establishes a credible V.R. presence, thus at least some staff support is mandatory. But perhaps the widest gulf is security. I.T. departments must carefully evaluate whether or not to open ports into a far-flung virtual world that has experienced its share of security issues (copyright, for example). Conversations in public forums there are not necessarily private, thus revealing proprietary information is a risk, even on supposedly closed islands. A final concern related to security involves potential damage to the company's reputation. Avatars are a very new form of personal expression, however, professional expression has probably lagged. As with everything else image-related, use of good judgment is always in demand.




Tech. Support Migrates to the Blogosphere

In an attempt to improve tech. support - how could it get worse? - companies are moving into collaborative architectures in order to improve the user experience. An example involves a cluster of bloggers who contribute answers to queries 24-hours-a-day. Rather than hiring them, as in traditional tech. support, firms offer social recognition and an open employment system in which help comes and goes. Retaining good workers remains a challenge for so-called crowd-sourcing models. Firms must also be ready to accept higher bandwidth requirements given increased traffic volume.


W3C's S.P.A.R.Q.L. Query Language for R.D.F., pages 51-55: S.P.A.R.Q.L. query conversion, a formal treatment of basic graph patterns, and the beginning of S.P.A.R.Q.L. abstract algebra form this section.

June 28, 2008

Milwaukee County Board Passes Sales Tax Referendum

In a move likely to be torpedoed by Executive Scott Walker's veto pen, the County Board has backed an advisory referendum for the November ballot asking the electorate their opinion on boosting the County's retail sales tax by one-percent. The additional revenue would finance deferred park maintenance, a recovery of the County bus system, and property tax relief. According to parks committee chairman Gerry Broderick, some $300 million in maintenance has been put off throughout the park system and a dedicated funding stream is needed to shore it up. Other options have been touted to finance County transit before a $20 million funding crunch hits in 2010. Walker has been selling the idea of partially privatizing Mitchell International Airport through a long-term lease of the facility, however, negotiations have not begun and reaching an agreement could take years.




iPhone S.D.K. Beta 8 Launched

About two weeks prior to the launch of iPhone 3G, Apple has released the beta 8 version of its popular software development kit (S.D.K.). The latest version is now required in order to build apps. submitted to the iPhone Store and is compatible with the device's O.S. 2.0 platform.




I.C.A.N.N. Relaxes Domain Name Restrictions

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (I.C.A.N.N.) recently opened the possibility of domain names far more diverse than traditional suffixes such as .com or .edu. There are currently more than two-hundred suffixes of this kind and are technically known as top-level domain names, or T.L.D.s. After some glitches are worked out, individuals, companies, or non-profit groups could apply for a suffix containing any string of letters they wanted. espn.go.com, for example, could soon become espn.go.sports. A review process will be established by I.C.A.N.N. to review controversial strings, such as those that infringe on trademarks, raise moral objections, or appear too similar to existing T.L.D.s. Widespread adoption, however, will be slow after they begin accepting applications as early as next spring. The application fee is expected to cost more than $100,000.


W3C's S.P.A.R.Q.L. Query Language for R.D.F., pages 46-50: Completion of operator definitions and applications, constructor functions, extension functions, and a set of formal S.P.A.R.Q.L.-related definitions fill this group of pages.

June 27, 2008

Pixar's latest release reviewed by the A.V. Club: W.A.L.L.-E. combines this studio's reputation for joyful, heartful, and risky projects.

U.S. House passes suite of energy-related measures: Two address energy price speculation while the third funds more public transit projects.

W3C's S.P.A.R.Q.L. Query Language for R.D.F., pages 36-40: Filter evaluation rules, a long operator mapping table, and the opening of operator definitions and applications are presented here.

W3C's S.P.A.R.Q.L. Query Language for R.D.F., pages 41-45: Many more operator definitions and applications are included in this bloc.

June 26, 2008

Concept Mobile Phones Provide Glimpse of Future

Like their car cousins, concept mobile phones are not intended to demonstrate products that are prototype and will be available for sale soon. Rather, they exhibit qualities that may emerge later, and in some cases much later, if at all. Nokia's Morph, for example, employs nanotechnology to hide its gears, as opposed to the plastic casing covering the mobile phone's innards today. Another application of nanotech. allows the material to flex, thus the unit can morph from a handheld device to a bracelet with no loss of functionality. It can even clean itself by repelling debris from outside.

Some concepts build upon current designs. It is agreed by designers of mobile phones that touchscreen will dominate the next generation of handheld devices. The P-Per mobile looks like two iPhones attached to each other. One side features telephony and messaging, while the other side operates a camera. Another touchscreen application is the Packet, at only five square centimeters in area and about one cm. thick. To mimic a traditional handheld, simply flip open the top and bottom squares to reveal a speaker and screen on top, a dial pad in the middle, and a microphone on the bottom square. To mimic a smartphone, unfold all the edges to reveal a cross-shaped device capable of web browsing, among other functions.

Concepts would advance us nowhere without responding to practical problems in existing handsets. The most vexing of these, common among consumer electronics in general, is battery-life. The Atlas Kinetic operates very much like a self-winding watch: The unit converts motion into power which a generator then uses to charge a battery. The P-Per above runs through an organic free radical battery pack, which is more flexible, light, and slim than current designs. Even more "out there" is the Morph's power source. The device's surface is coated in so-called nanowire grass, which gathers power like ordinary grass does, through photosynthesis. Though a biofueled cell. phone may sound a little nutty, who would have taken the iPhone seriously a decade ago?




Online Ad. Budgets Set to Reach $106 Billion by 2011

Increasingly marketing departments recognize the utility of an online presence, with ad. spending there projected to boom in the near-future at growth rates between 15% and 20%. This year online ad. spending is expected to ring in at $65.2 billion or about 10% of total marketing. However, by 2011 online ads. will account for about 14% of industry spending or $106.6 billion. Search engine ads. will remain dominant, at more than a third of market share, followed by display ads. (>20%) and classifieds (<19%). Broadband-dependent content, like A/V ads., is poised to spurt at more than 50% annual growth over the next several years. Such diffusion in online content is being driven, in part, by the widespread global adoption of the internet itself. In 2008, it is predicted that almost a quarter of the world's people will regularly travel through cyberspace. By 2012, 30% of the population will access the internet routinely, driven there by the rapid diffusion of mobile telephony.


W3C's S.P.A.R.Q.L. Query Language for R.D.F., pages 31-35: The CONSTRUCT query form, templates with blank nodes, solution modifiers and a CONSTRUCT query, the ASK query form, an informative section on the DESCRIBE query form, and the beginning of operand data types is included in this section.

June 25, 2008

Wisconsin Moves Up in Tech. Index, but Obvious Gaps Remain in Performance

According to a new analysis by the Milken Institute, Wisconsin has improved its high tech. presence by five points, moving from 27th in '04 to 22nd today. However, longstanding problems were reinforced by the report. While Wisconsin remains strong in R.&D. inputs, in particular in the emergent biosciences sector, translating those investments into job growth continues to be a vexing issue. Wisconsin ranked only 33rd in the nation for technology concentration and dynamism, which captures the strength of high tech. communities. Overall, Massachusetts topped all other states for the third time while North Dakota showed the most improvement since '04, moving from 45th to 31st.




Windows XP F.A.Q., One Week before the Hanging

With Microsoft (regrettably) committing to its Vista O.S., Windows XP is quietly being phased out on new P.C.s and laptops. Now, users will be able to reach XP only as a preinstalled product downgrade from Vista. In order to continue with XP, consumers will have to upgrade to either Vista Business or Vista Ultimate and, depending on the manufacturer, shell out an "XP tax." However, Microsoft is not shutting out all XP retail sales. Major technology outlets like Amazon.com and Buy.com will be permitted to liquidate their inventory, while auction sites such as eBay will continue transactions.




Underseas Unity Fiber-Optic Cable Launches

A corsortium of five telecom. firms and Google has begun planning for deployment of a $300 million cable lying under the Pacific Ocean between the U.S. and Japan. The link will initially contain five dual fiber-optic cables, with each pair able to handle 960 G.B.P.S.. When the cable expands to eight pairs system capacity will reach 7.68 T.B.P.S.. Total transpacific capacity is expected to increase to 7.2 T.B.P.S. by the end of the year, thus the deployment could potentially more than double the amount of bandwidth available for transpacific traffic. The cable is expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2010.


W3C's S.P.A.R.Q.L. Query Language for R.D.F., pages 26-30: Introduction to solution sequence modifiers, the ORDER BY modifier, projection, solution duplication, the DISTINCT, REDUCED, OFFSET, and LIMIT modifiers, and the beginning of the SELECT query form are covered here.

June 24, 2008

37-In. O.L.E.D. T.V. Due for Release by 2011

According to a Japanese news report, Panasonic is actively researching production of widescreen organic light emitting diode (O.L.E.D.) displays, with retail launch in three years. Panasonic denied that production would begin soon, stating that O.L.E.D. research is ongoing. O.L.E.D. displays are superior in many ways to L.C.D. and plasma technology. In particular, O.L.E.D. sets do not require a backlight, thus conserving power and space. The Sony XEL-1 - at only 3-mm. thick - reached market first late last year and C.E.O. Stringer has committed the tech. giant to a 27-in. rollout sometime next year.


Polls averaged by Pollster.com indicate Obama lead (289-249 E.V.s) over McCain:


R.I.P., George Carlin:

June 23, 2008

RepRap 3-D Printer Inaugerates Open-Source Electronics

English scientists recently unveiled a device that not only replicates shoes and door handles, but can also reproduce itself, all in plastic objects derived from blueprints. The Replicating Rapid-Prototyper, or RepRap, opens a new era for 3-D printing that researchers hope will eventually lead to the widespread diffusion of circuit-board printers for the home. In this scenario, consumers could design and print their own P.C.s without leaving home. Many years lie ahead before this idea solidifies, however. While the RepRap is capable of replicating all its own parts, a degree of precision necessary to fully copy itself is perhaps twenty years away.


W3C's S.P.A.R.Q.L. Query Language for R.D.F., pages 11-15: Literal, query variable, and blank node syntax, triple pattern syntax, and the start of graph pattern matching are contained in this bloc.

W3C's S.P.A.R.Q.L. Query Language for R.D.F., pages 16-20: More graph pattern matching, optional pattern matching, pattern alternatives through union operator, and a brief introduction to R.D.F. datasets form this set of pages.

W3C's S.P.A.R.Q.L. Query Language for R.D.F., pages 21-25: Two examples of R.D.F. datasets, named and default graph specification, and dataset querying are included here.

June 22, 2008

Midwest Airlines Retrenchment Alternative to Bankruptcy

In an effort to remain profitable amid soaring fuel prices, Midwest Airlines recently announced that it will soon mothball all M.D.-80 jets from its fleet that currently service non-stop destinations on the West Coast as well as tourist venues in the southeast. Longer range passenger service provided by the M.D.-80 has suffered as fuel costs have nearly doubled compared to a year ago. The jets represent about one-third of Midwest's fleet, however, company officials maintain that non-stop routes will be impacted the most. Still, Midwest management stated that not all M.D.-80-related jobs will be spared and significant concessions from pilots will be necessary for the airline to survive. Under the restructuring plan, Midwest will move from profitability at oil prices of $115/barrel to $135/barrel. The entire airline industry is in a similar bind due to peak oil, with 2008 witnessing the grounding of perhaps 1,000 aircraft and the elimination of more than 80,000 jobs.


Angry Left response to Obama's move to the center on F.I.S.A. enforcement: What they do not understand is that caving in is not the same as compromising with an equal branch of government (even an awful one).

W3C's S.P.A.R.Q.L. Query Language for R.D.F., pages 1-5: A table of contents, a short document outline, data and results document layout, and a basic query example are included here.

W3C's S.P.A.R.Q.L. Query Language for R.D.F., pages 6-10: Multiple query matches, R.D.F. literal matches, R.D.F. graph construction, an informal introduction to filters, and the beginning of R.D.F. term syntax are covered in this section.

June 21, 2008

Waukesha County Environmental Advocacy Group Turns Thirty

Responding to the environmental effects of rapid development, thirty years ago a group of citizens formed W.E.A.L., the Waukesha County Environmental Action Group. Between 1963 and the early '80s, 1,800 acres of county marshes were filled in to promote development in the area. W.E.A.L. members, alarmed at this loss, have lobbyed ever since for stricter regulations on wetland preservation. The advocacy model revolves around grassroots participation through monitoring of county land use and park meetings as well as intense lobbying efforts on behalf of preservation.

W.E.A.L. pressure has yielded results not only in the public sphere, but in private efforts as well. Early on, an office complex was relocated away from the Pewaukee River corridor. The group was also instrumental in preserving Kettle Bog on Nagawicka Lake. By 1990, W.E.A.L. was able to pursuade then-County Executive Dan Finley to funnel proceeds from the sale of Waukesha Airport Park lots toward acquisition of open space and parks. With green issues receiving much more attention today, W.E.A.L. has offered expertise and advocacy on water conservation, waste reduction, and, more specifically, the Great Lakes Water Compact. The group has vowed moving forward to vigilantly monitor diversions outside the Great Lakes basin and ensure that strict conservation methods are in place west of the subcontinental divide.




Wire Clarification of House Surveillance Bill Story


Asteroid Underground pushing for N.E.O. (near-Earth object) rendezvous before Mars mission: A shorter mission duration - six months vs. perhaps three years for a trip to the red planet - coupled with human exploration of space ten times the distance to the moon make an asteroid visit intriguing prior to diving into the deep end.

Are speculative bubbles self-sustaining?: This paper, along with a short rundown of the economic history of speculative bubbles, offers the conjecture that bubbles open up easier financing of startups which in turn promotes increased investment and productivity, thus improving economic fundamentals which repeats the cycle.

June 20, 2008

Mobile Phone Sales Pass Three-Billion Mark

In a development indicative of the sweeping diffusion of mobile telephony, gross sales of the devices recently reached three-billion with no sign of slowing down, particularly in the developing world. Such "leapfrogging" technology promises to ease the digital divide between the wealthiest and poorest nations as mobile sets quickly surpass fixed-line infrastructure. However, especially in developed cultures such as the U.S., environmental stresses are beginning to emerge which demand innovative approaches to recycling, among other solutions. The American piece of the problem is itself remarkable. Almost half-a-million mobile phones are disposed of every day in the U.S..

Aside from consideration of the sheer amount of resources and energy required to produce and operate these handsets, mobile phones carry with them unique environmental hazards. Coltan, an essential ingredient in the unit, can be pulled from the ground by hand and has been blamed for heightening civil war where it is mined. The lithium-ion battery powering the device can potentially contaminate up to 600,000 liters of groundwater. Such concerns show no sign of abating as product-life-cycles continue to shrink and consumers in the developing world clammer for their slice of cyberspace. Plans to rollout a Nokia handset made from recycled materials are unfortunately still in the lab.. This problem creeped up just as fast as the mobile revolution did and, at least for now, the only solution available is to hang on to that antiquated device rather than upgrading to the iPhone.




Fateful Twists and Turns in Recent Tech. History

Within every industry there exist milestones that redefine the future trajectory of its products and services. In I.T. some boil down to fundamental changes in strategy, like Apple C.E.O. Amelio's decision to dump its Copland O.S. development effort in 1996. That turn would reunite Apple and Steve Jobs (who was then affiliated with upstart NeXT) and lead to a spectacular rebirth that witnessed the subsequent emergence of Mac. O.S. X and the iPod, among numerous other award-winning products.

I.B.M. was once another faded brand on the brink of irrelevance, and insolvency. When Louis Gerstner arrived as I.B.M. C.E.O. in 1993, the company was struggling to redefine itself in a post-mainframe world. Senior management had been responding by letting pieces of the firm drop away through spinoff. Gerstner altered course through consolidation and streamlining of the tech. behemoth's divisions. But even more critically, the C.E.O. successfully transitioned the firm from products to services. The result was a revitalized corporate culture and a leading provider of tech. support in the internet age.

Oftentimes twists occur when developers are in a twist, like Richard Stallman's declaration of war on proprietary software. In 1980, Xerox technicians mistakenly installed one of the firm's advanced laser printers on the wrong floor of an M.I.T. lab., forcing users to run up and down a stairwell to fetch their work. Stallman considered modifying the source code to issue e-mail alerts when material was being printed, but Xerox policy forbid it without a nondisclosure agreement. Stallman would eventually go on to form the G.N.U. Project and Free Software Foundation.

Way back in 2000, when the internet lacked any form of dynamically-rendered content, Microsoft engineers concluded that online e-mail was simply too cumbersome, with the H.T.T.P. call receiving the whole page at once. Microsoft (!) found an innovation in asynchronous data exchange. By loading tiny amounts of data over time, browsers could communicate with the client server more efficiently. This seemingly innocuous development at the time would lead directly to all the dynamic content users code today. Facebook, GMail, Google Maps, and A.J.A.X. all owe their existence to Microsoft, unbelievably.


Bipartisan effort to insult our southern neighbor yields short-term benefit, long-term risk: At least America placates as well as chides China, a nation far more influential than Mexico will ever be.

June 19, 2008

Milwaukee County Parks Revival Sought Through Tax Hike

In a proposal identical to that pursued for transit, the Milwaukee County Board's parks committee approved a resolution asking the electorate their opinion on increasing the County's retail sales tax by .5% to shore up a steadily deteriorating parks system. The referendum is only advisory, however, if approved for real, the measure would raise $65 million annually. $30 million of that would offset property taxes, while the remainder would bolster County parks and other cultural attractions, such as the Milwaukee Public Museum. The plan, like its transit twin, goes before the full Board on June 26 for consideration. Passage is considered likely, however, a veto override requires 13 approvals out of 19 members. Parks advocates approve of the idea and plan a "yes-yes" movement to gain acceptance for both transit and parks finance. Business groups have not yet lined up behind the measure and consider advisory measures a waste of time compared to simple up-or-down votes by the Board.




Sprint Nextel to Debut WiMax This September

Metropolitan area WiMax service will be available through a joint venture between Sprint and Clearwire in Chicago and Washington-Baltimore starting in September. The struggling carrier has already launched test versions of its service in those markets and is now ready to go live with 2Mbps to 4Mbps per user capacity. Sprint emphasized the open architecture of its new system, which will be available to any safe app. or platform. More traditional broadband is also expanding. Verizon announced that its fiber-to-the-home (Fi.O.S.) platform will cover 12 million homes by the end of the year, having also moved out of testing. The service offers 50Mbps downloads and 20Mbps uploads and currently reachs only 1.2 million customers.




Skype 4.0 Beta Highlights Tools Beyond Voice

In a major overhaul of its successful free, V.O.I.P. telephony suite, Skype has rolled out a beta version of its redesigned software package. Besides cleaning up multiple call support (4.0 now consolidates text, voice, and file-transfer onto a single window), video conferencing tools start by default and controls allow for one-click launch of a call along with I.M. chat. This is intended to facilitate continued growth in Skype video, a service that has boomed over the last two years and now consumes 28% of all call minutes.


Google Code's S.P.A.R.Q.L./O.W.L. wiki: Now that W3C's Simple Protocol and Resource Query Language (S.P.A.R.Q.L.) has left candidate recommendation this page urgently needs an update.

June 18, 2008

Conservative Consultant Attempts to Break Transit Impass

Stopping just short of recommending either policy, conservative consultant Thomas Rubin has advised the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority to seriously study a dedicated retail sales tax for public transportation as well as funding for the K.R.M. commuter rail link. The study, which is being financed by the Milwaukee 7 economic development consortium, is part of a report mandated by the State Legislature on how to proceed with regional transit funding and operations. It is thought that the business-oriented consortium's involvement, along with Mr. Rubin's association with two right-wing think tanks, will gain credibility among the Assembly G.O.P. caucus for either transit option. Mr. Rubin noted that without new state or local taxes, the system could be cut by a third two years from today. He also voiced support for a retail sales tax district for regional transit, noting that this option is commonplace in other metropolitan areas across the country. Milwaukee County Executive Walker has, however, consistently opposed new sources of revenue for public transit.




iPhone 3G Promises Speedier Data Transmission, Among Other Enhancements

Although A.T.&T. will only offer initial 3G support within 280 major metropolitan areas, by the end of the year 350 will receive iPhone's much-improved data transmission rates. The company claims that typical download speeds will reach as high as 1.4Mbps, compared to between 75Kbps and 135Kbps over its E.D.G.E. network. Waking the device will be harder, however. A.T.&T. is discontinuing activation over iTunes, thus consumers must trek to a bricks-and-mortar location. Plan prices are also on the rise. A.T.&T. is now charging $10 per month more for the 3G's data plan and there is some indication that free, bundled S.M.S. text messaging is a thing of the past. All this adds up to a minimum fee of $70 per month for 8GB voice and data support on the latest iPhone. For enterprise users who want Exchange/ActiveSync functionality, expect to fork over $15 per month more on top of that expense.


outside.in Radar graduates to beta: This new service functions as a dynamic, spatial news feed around one's current location - must try.

San Francisco Fed. issues report forecasting sluggish near-term economic conditions:

June 17, 2008

United Airlines Deepening In-Flight Entertainment

In an attempt to differentiate itself among large international carriers, United recently rolled out its first overseas trial of iPod and iPhone in-flight connectivity. The system, developed jointly with Panasonic, offers a 30-pin connection via iPod and iPhone docks. The airline plans to gradually expand this option over the next two years among its fleet of widebody, international aircraft.




Enterprise Video Among Several Drivers of Fat Pipes

With consumer demand for online video already rising rapidly, the next venue set to consume broadband capacity may well emerge in the enterprise. Equipment vendor Tandberg recently rolled out video conferencing hardware that place calls directly from a user's desk. The E20 Video I.P. features a 10.6-in. L.C.D. built over the keypad that displays near-D.V.D.-quality resolution and C.D.-standard audio. The device operates as both a handset and speakerphone, with complete support for video conferencing protocols. The phone will ship early next year and sport a price tag of $1,490. A key advantage, once costs fall, that is, of the E20 may lie in ease of use over P.C.-based options. Like any other phone, consumers inside and outside the enterprise do not want to rely on tech. support to make and receive calls.

Another Tandberg product moves telepresence systems forward by employing 1080p H.D. video. Their C90 codec will power the T1, with its 65-in. 1080p display and camera. Such realism among participants will not come cheap: C90 will ring in at $36,900 while its T1 partner will cost $69,900. Both products will reach market in the fourth quarter. Other advances stem more from the evolution of ethernet broadband already within the enterprise. Vendors are struggling to convert single 10Gbps datastreams into multi-threaded 40Gbps and 100Gbps loads. A "mapping" standard to achieve such synchronicity is expected to be announced by the I.E.E.E. 802.3ba task force within the next 18 to 24 months. In the meantime, interoperability headaches beset the industry, leading to a spaghetti bowl of standards within both hardware and software spheres.

June 16, 2008

W3C Director Cheers "Connective Creativity" Online

World Wide Web designer Tim Berners-Lee recently praised an emergent internet architecture in which creative effort is undertaken collaboratively, rather than in isolation. Enormous problems that have eluded scientists for decades, such as a cure for cancer, could potentially be solved quicker via communities engaged in research on pieces of a puzzle completed within online forums. Such ideas would be expressed very differently than those, say, posted on a wiki. The web must evolve to allow "half-baked" ideas to be shared among colleagues interested in the same problem, according to Berners-Lee. The exact manifestation of this information remains unclear and may represent a significant advance during the internet's "3.0" phase of development.




How Much Is the Telecommute Valued?

Over a third - 37% - of technology professionals polled recently would accept a salary cut of up to ten-percent if they were allowed to avoid the commute by working from home. That figure is slightly higher than respondents who answered "no" to any pay reductions. The average technology professional in the U.S. currently makes $74,570 per year and telecommuting is viewed as an enticing perk to lure in hard-to-find specialists.


Does the Fed. have the ability to recognize speculative bubbles early on and act? Alan Blinder argues that some bubbles, like the most-recent subprime mortgage boom/bust, are preventable through stricter bank regulation and oversight, whereas others, like the tech. share roller-coaster, are outside the Fed.'s action space.

June 15, 2008

Close presidential contest masks "enthusiasm gap" between parties: Barely half - 52% - of polled Republicans prefer McCain as the nominee rather than someone else.

W3C's Web Ontology Language (O.W.L.) Reference, pages 36-40: More O.W.L.-D.L. implementation suggestions (including class, property, and individual axiom restrictions), a short reminder of O.W.L. Lite limitations, and some miscellany are included here.

W3C's Web Ontology Language (O.W.L.) Reference, page 41: The change log and references finish this work.

Obama's white paper on economic reform (P.D.F.): How he plans to provide broad tax relief to the middle-class, and below, in addition to covering all Americans currently without health insurance is a conundrum.

June 14, 2008

Waukesha County Moving into Reuse of Construction Debris

Simply instructing demolition contractors to separate wood, metal, and other recovered materials has so far successfully kept more than six-hundred tons of debris out of landfills. The effort, which follows similar activities in Milwaukee and Madison, is part of County Executive Dan Vrakas's energy conservation and waste (both material and taxpayer dollars) reduction program, announced last year. Recovered debris is now channelled into building supplies and landscaping material whenever possible. Additionally, the County saves money when recycled goods are sold and through decreased hauling costs. Local officials and available contractors claim that the recycling project is no more complicated on the job than at home, a procedure that most consumers now barely think over. The first serious County recycling project was begun in 2004 with the expansion of a local nature center.




MySpace, Facebook Updating Layouts

Responding to criticism that its design is cluttered, MySpace has announced a major redesign of its site, encompassing the home page, navigation, search, and video. Although the world's most popular social network allows more latitude than rival Facebook in profile page alteration - including background color customization, hyperactive animation support, and photo and video embedding - cleanliness and organization are often sacrificed. The update also will streamline the search engine interface and enhance its relevance algorithm. Finally, more traditional revamps are in the works, such as new support for Flash 9 full-screen A/V. Facebook, considered by many to be more conservative in its layout, is also undertaking a redesign effort which should appear later this month.




First Open X.M.L. S.D.K. Released

Microsoft has rolled out on its site a software development kit (S.D.K.) which allows developers to write apps. enabled to create, access, and manipulate Open X.M.L. documents. The S.D.K. also features an A.P.I. that simplifies coding for searching and creating documents, as well as validation and modification. The final version of the kit will not be available until the software giant releases the next version of Office, currently known as Office 14. Open X.M.L. will also not accord with international standards until Office 14 is released, however, Microsoft has hinted that they may switch over to another language, known as Open Document Format (O.D.F.). Officials there noted that upgrading code is often more costly and opens up many backward-compatibility issues that would disappear with the adoption of an entirely different codec.


W3C's Web Ontology Language (O.W.L.) Reference, pages 31-35: More R.D.F.S. in O.W.L., a quick language reference, changes from D.A.M.L.+O.I.L. to O.W.L., and a rule-of-thumb appendix for O.W.L.-D.L. implementation are provided here.

June 13, 2008

County Board Committee Resurrects Dedicated Transit Tax

Following appeals from local civic and business groups, the Milwaukee County Board's Transportation Committee recently approved an advisory referendum for the November ballot that would ask the electorate their opinion on a new 0.5% sales tax for public transit. The proposal now migrates to the full Board, which will vote on it June 26. County Executive Scott Walker has vowed to veto the measure, defining it as a "nonstarter." The County would need to receive the State Legislature's and Governor Doyle's blessing before proceeding to enact the tax.

The current plan before the Board would raise about $65 million annually from retail sales, boosting the County's combined sales tax levy to 6.1%. The new revenue would be partially offset by removing public transportation from the property tax base, a move seen as vital to any chance for passage. In addition to nearly tripling County support for public transportation - expanding routes, reducing fares, and enhancing security - the plan would dedicate a source of revenue specifically toward mass transit. The Greater Milwaukee Committee and the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce both emphasized the importance of maintaining a funding stream exclusive to public transit systems. Milwaukee is at present the only major metropolitan area in the United States that lacks this support.




American Scientific and Technological Preeminence Intact

According to a recent study by the Rand Corporation, America remains ahead of its nearest competitors in science and technology, bucking the conception of many Americans that the U.S. is slipping behind its rivals. By several measures, America outranks Europe and Japan, while China and India, though growing very rapidly, are still too small to make a difference in innovation. The sheer amount of resources available to Americans perhaps obviates this conclusion. Forty-percent of all scientific R.&D. is conducted on American soil. Three-quarters of the top forty universities in the world are American and employ seventy-percent of recipients of the Nobel Prize. Leading the way forward are foreign-born students, scientists, and engineers, the study concluded. About sixty-percent of engineering Ph.D.s awarded by American universities are earned by foreigners and about seventy-percent of them choose to remain in the United States after their program is complete. Americans, it would seem, have little to worry about in the global market for talent.


So much for Shyamalan's The Happening rescuing what is turning out to be a dismal summer at the theatre: Studio execs. may finally be ready to give up on this director, almost a decade after The Sixth Sense made him a "wunderkind" of horror.

Supreme Court restores Habeas Corpus for Gitmo detainees: The Great Writ now fully applies to enemy combatants, some of whom have been held for six years without the ability to contest their detention.

June 12, 2008

Local Food Movement Benefitting Area Dairies

Looking to expand beyond award-winning cheeses - a locally-farmed product that has always been popular around here - some small-scale dairies are beginning to meet growing demand for locally-grown items ranging from milk to yogurt. Whole Foods, Woodman's, and Outpost Natural Foods, among others, are stocking products shipped from within a 250-mile radius of the city. Typically, food produced at such small-scales tends to cost more than otherwise, however, over the last five years the number of farm-based dairies in Wisconsin has grown from six to eighteen. It is perhaps sensible that items the area already specializes in would be first in line to be locally-consumed as well.




Big Gap in Telecommuting Demand, Despite $4/Gallon Gas

Notwithstanding historic highs for gasoline prices in the U.S., and a keen interest among workers, a recent online survey revealed that rising demands for more telecommuting options are largely going unmet. Whereas 92% of the sample believed that telecommuting was feasible for their job, only 39% were able to work from home at least part-time. Alternative methods of commuting have not been generally taken up by the workforce, according to the survey. Only 13% employ car pooling and a paltry 10% utilize local public transportation systems to get to work. This results in an average annual American fuel bill just for the daily commute of $2,052, in addition to 264 hours behind the wheel. Management acceptance of telecommuting remains a key barrier. The report more or less concludes that workers are on their own when selling telecommuting to the boss, although it did specify several productivity metrics one might use in their sales pitch.


W3C's Web Ontology Language (O.W.L.) Reference, pages 26-30: Completion of O.W.L. Full discussion, a brief synopsis of O.W.L. D.L. and Lite constraints, an appendix listing all O.W.L. elements across three distinct documents, and the beginning of R.D.F.S. in O.W.L. are mentioned here.

June 11, 2008

W.W.D.C. 2008 Shifts Focus Toward iPhone Gaming

Notwithstanding the Mac.'s lackluster development interest, gaming enthusiasts flocked to Apple's W.W.D.C. this year in anticipation of a flood of iPhone-related titles. The extension of gaming apps. to the iPhone would seem to be a logical one, given the enormous popularity of Nintendo's D.S. platform in recent years, as well as a ready pool of Mac. developers able to transition easily into the iPhone S.D.K.. Judging by the quality of demos. presented thus far, developers are taking the iPhone far more seriously than the older iPod platform, which often operates Java-based games already available over most mobile phones. The S.D.K., for the most part, is an open development architecture, thereby permitting small, independent vendors the opportunity to compete with established players such as Electronic Arts. A missing piece of this puzzle that will take some time to resolve concerns the price these titles will fetch in the marketplace. If elaborate games can receive $9.99 per copy, the degree of interest among Mac. developers in particular may swell.




I.B.M. Roadrunner Now Fastest Computer

The Energy Department will soon stretch computational ability to its limit in tests designed to simulate underground nuclear weapons deployment. I.B.M.'s Roadrunner supercomputer will reach one petaflop in performing this work. One petaflop is equivalent to one-thousand trillion floating point operations per second. A spokesperson added that the Department intends to expand the Roadrunner's operations into other research areas, including alternative energy.




Obstacles Remain for iPhone Enterprise Deployment

Although Apple has renewed its sales pitch to the enterprise, the iPhone still falls short in a number of key areas that will hamper its diffusion into the office. iPhone 2.0 will allow push e-mail from an Exchange server and support for Cisco's IPsec V.P.N. for encrypted corporate networking, however, many analysts noted lingering problems, such as battery life and inadequate onboard management and security software. A showstopper for many no doubt will be the risk of going without the device for perhaps a week should the model fail, necessitating a mail-in for replacement. Another shortcoming is the lack of much tech. support infrastructure. The iPhone's immediate competitor, R.I.M.'s Blackberry, already provides this service, in both contract and per incident pricing. Interest in the iPhone will spread among corporate users, as well as everybody else, however, the Blackberry began within the enterprise and worked its way out, whereas the iPhone must penetrate the corporate sector from a consumer application.


Obama's white paper on homeland security (P.D.F.): Most of these proposals flow from the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission and full-funding of programs neglected by the current Administration.

June 10, 2008

A Very Brief History of the iPhone

A lot can happen in a year, best exhibited these days by the evolution of Apple's iPhone. On June 29, 2007, the device was rolled out to mostly glowing critical reviews. The 8 GB model retailed, initially, at $599 while its 4 GB sibling cost a hundred dollars less. Later that summer, on September 5th, Apple lowered the 8 GB's price by two hundred dollars, outraging early adopters (even though such a pricing structure is standard in the industry). On February 5, 2008, a 16 GB model is introduced, placing the device comfortably in the mobile storage biz.. A month later, on March 6, Steve Jobs announces the iPhone S.D.K. along with the AppStore and support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync. In mid-May a shortage erupts for the device, leading to chatter that iPhone 3G will be made available soon. Sure enough, on June 9 (yesterday), Jobs unveils the updated iPhone at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference. The 8 GB model will retail for only $199 while its 16 GB brother will sell for $299. Though iPhones have been available abroad since November 9, 2007 - starting in Germany and Britain - Apple intends to spread its coverage now to seventy counties, beginning with 22 on July 11. The iPhone has so much potential as an integrated mobile platform that its second year of existence may prove to be even more interesting.




New 3G iPhone Features Enhance Design, Networking

In addition to a substantial price cut, Apple plans several hardware and software upgrades in the 3G iPhone rollout, scheduled to hit U.S. stores and to ship in 22 other countries next month. Faster data downloads over A.T.&T.'s 3G network probably will be the most embraced feature of the new mobile phone. However, onboard G.P.S. support is a welcome, though imperfect, addition - it will lack voice functionality and will only operate online through Google Maps. Battery life is improved as well, allowing for five hours of talk and three-hundred hours of standby before recharging. For audiophiles, the device now includes a flush headphone jack, thus bidding farewell to annoying adapters.




iPhone Software Developers Demo. Upcoming Titles at W.W.D.C.

With the emergence of Apple's iPhone as the hottest development platform this year, titles have debutted which utilize some of the unique features of the mobile device. Sega's Super Monkey Ball includes 110 stages and successfully demonstrates its tilt functionality. Pangea's Cro-Mag Rally presents a racing game with tilt controls acting as the steering wheel. MLB.com rolled out a demo. unlike anything available online. The native app. At Bat allows users to access all live games, scores, who is on base, who is batting, and video highlights. For productivity apps., eBay is launching a native service which will hopefully appeal to their user base. The largest class of mobile users enter eBay over an iPhone, thus many other sophisticated online applications may be inclined to jump into the iPhone S.D.K. before too long. Loopt will appeal more to social networks, as it superimposes contacts on a map and links them to schedules, photos, and text messaging.

June 9, 2008

E-Books Finally Launching E-Paper Technology

Although e-paper display technology has been around for decades, it took the emergence last year of e-book readers, such as Amazon's Kindle and Sony's 505, to energize consumers about its potential. One avenue of success clearly lies in energy consumption: E-paper only requires power to change the content on a page, unlike an L.C.D. screen which requires constant backlighting. A drawback to such bistable ink is diminished contrast, which can render poor images in dim light, however, reflective surfaces improve performance over L.C.D.s under direct sunlight. A comparison of frame rates is also unfavorable to e-paper: Refreshed pages and animation render much slower, thus making video applications impractical. This will perhaps be the largest obstacle ahead for e-paper development. The visual artifacts on the e-paper display are real stuff, unlike the electrons presented on an L.C.D.'s surface.

Still, another advantage that has already appeared in Italian stores with the launch of Readius is flexibility. Display substrates are rapidly moving away from glass to plastic, thus allowing the device to be rolled up and pocketed on the go. The Readius relies on polymers, rather than silicon transistors, to process data. Unlike silicon, which is handled at high temperatures, polymers can be incorporated onto plastic rather than glass. Further improvements must advance in resolution and color support for e-paper to go mainstream. Active-matrix displays, like those employed by the current crop of e-book readers, have decent resolution (the Kindle displays 167 pixels per inch) yet only support a handful of shades of gray. A representative of E-Ink, a manufacturer of e-paper displays since 1997, estimated that two or three years lie ahead before color electronic ink will be available. Perhaps by then consumers will begin to embrace these displays and propel a market for them. Enthusiasts are hopeful that even a tiny slice of the global publications market will amount to profitable business models for e-paper, finally.


Rescuing the intellectual case for globalization (through Stolper-Samuelson extensions, among other routes) from...:


Leg. stalemate on providing universal health care may reflect public's apathy: Cost-control, and its relationship to covering "them," may finally lead the nation to universal health insurance.

W3C's Web Ontology Language (O.W.L.) Reference, pages 21-25: More R.D.F. datatypes, enumerated datatypes, annotation properties, ontology headers and importing, versioning, and the beginning of a discussion of the O.W.L. Full sublanguage are presented here.

June 8, 2008

Playstation 3 Draws Most Power Among Sixteen Gadgets

A recent study has concluded that Sony's Playstation 3 gaming console consumes the most electricity among sixteen examined gadgets, followed closely by Microsoft's Xbox 360 and plasma T.V.s. The devices are even hungry when left in stand-by mode, with the Playstation gobbling up almost five times more power per unit time than the typical refridgerator. Plasma T.V.s were also offensive to the grid, requiring over four times more power than an analog set. The study recommended turning devices off at the source, rather than over a remote control which merely puts the gadget to sleep.




Long-Term Evolution (L.T.E.) Set to Succeed WiMax by 2010

With the emergence later this year of Clearwire coalition's commercial WiMax, many observers are looking forward to its successor in the wireless internet market. In one key respect, it will likely be evolutionary, building upon current Global Systems for Mobile Communications (G.S.M.) technology - the dominant global mobile telephony standard today. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3G.P.P.) dubbed the new standard "long-term evolution" primarily because it advances High-Speed Packet Access (H.S.P.A.), a G.S.M. platform in use by A.T.&T., among others, to deliver 3G mobile broadband today. A.T.&T. views their adoption of H.S.P.A. as a key advantage once L.T.E. appears, since it is backward-compatible, whereas Sprint and Verizon's current standards are not. This incompatibility will also impact the successful deployment of rival WiMax platforms, which will also need to accord with Sprint's legacy model.

Standards may emerge as the pivotal issue attracting consumer and enterprise use once the rival platforms diffuse out nationwide. Mobile broadband users expect ubiquity in coverage today and universal L.T.E. support among major carriers will free consumers of roaming charges. In the U.S., L.T.E. is clearly more advanced than WiMax, at least in the number of carriers moving in that direction. More technically, L.T.E. is better suited to take advantage of legacy systems that divide uplink and downlink data streams over the same transmission platform. This is critical since recent spectrum auctions restrict licensees to paired spectrum applications that are at present incompatible with WiMax. Even so, WiMax will be available by the end of the year, presenting the standard with at least two years to prove itself before L.T.E. emerges.


Are libertarians really all that libertarian?: Most modern classical liberals, such as the late Milton Friedman, wanted to improve the welfare state, not disband it.

Obama's white paper on ending the war in Iraq (P.D.F.): Some of his points surrounding regional diplomacy in the Middle East are quite naive, but at least his plan thoroughly rejects "stay the course."

June 7, 2008

Techies Ramping Up for the "Most Interactive, Innovative and Forward-Thinking Convention Ever"

Hoping to build excitement among 1,500 to 2,000 internal users, and break down barriers outside Denver's Pepsi Center, a team of I.T. professionals is aiming for the most innovative Democratic convention ever. When delegates convene at the event, which lasts from August 25 to 28, they can expect the diffusion into that political space of I.T. applications long ago embraced by others. Streaming online video, from gavel to gavel, will appear in such venues as the convention's YouTube channel. However, for users accustomed to high-definition content, tech. organizers are rolling out streaming video via Microsoft's beta Silverlight 2 platform. Silverlight 2 is built on Microsoft's .Net language and is an effort to capture ground from Abode Flash and Flex. The browser plug-in weighs in at only 4 MB and has not revealed any problems to date.

Blogging will also diffuse into the Center, all the way down to the convention floor. Applications are currently being accepted to represent each state and territory placing delegates there. For those given job offers, blogging will occur as it does on the outside: Free-wheeling communication with few restrictions from above. R.S.S. feeds will, of course, also be available. The convention itself does not employ any developers, instead relying upon Microsoft as its official software and H.D. content provider. Microsoft also is constructing Silverlight and S.Q.L. delegate tabulation systems, as well as carbon-footprint-tracking systems. Microsoft, however, will not be the exclusive tech. provider. The site's servers will spin open-source Apache on B.S.D. Linux, while content and blogging will operate over open-source SilverStripe.




Limitations in Processing and Storage Capability Seen as Drag on iPhone Gaming

Although some voices have speculated that titles for the iPhone may soon rival the Nintendo D.S. platform's dominance in mobile gaming, many barriers remain that will take some time to resolve. For users only interested in mobile gaming applications, the first consideration is cost. The D.S. is priced at a fraction of the iPhone's cost and does more, at present, for the gaming experience. Further constraining the iPhone is relatively paltry processing and storage capacity. While both have grown enormously in recent years, and can be expected to surge beyond current levels in the near-future, upgrades are needed to render rich, detailed, 3-D images that gamers demand. However, the platform is best described as a work-in-progress. Upgrades will arrive and the device's support of OpenGL ES, a 3-D graphics A.P.I., OpenAL, a positional sound A.P.I., and its basis in Cocoa development leave open wide spaces fertile for experimentation.


Krugman: "The ancillary market is the market:" He buys a Kindle e-book reader and then ponders if the device will doom the traditional publishing industry.

Obama's white paper on health care reform (P.D.F.): Again, his plans are somewhat vaguer and loftier than Mrs. Clinton's proposal - especially, um, how much is it going to cost and who will foot the bill? - however, his reforms obviously are very thoughtful and go a long way toward addressing America's shortcomings in health care delivery and finance.

June 6, 2008

iPhone Apps. Development Dominating Interest at W.W.D.C.

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (W.W.D.C.) usually attracts interest among Mac. developers, however, this year has witnessed exploding attention directed squarely at the iPhone. Mac. developers should meet little resistance in transitioning from desktop apps. to the iPhone, leading some to worry that it will soak up talent in the long-run. Vendors there expect robust demand for native applications, which will be accessed via Apple Store. Some even go so far as to proclaim the device a mobile computer in its own right. Whatever potential exists for mobile gaming, many companies want answers on several fronts: Marketing, pricing, in addition to traditional concerns surrounding the product's code.


The Economist on immersive browsing: Browsing is set to become much more social and three-dimensional, especially after Second Life rolls out its own functionality next month.

Why has the "Great Moderation" in aggregate economic activity since the mid-'80s not touched household income?: Compensation variability has increased (in principle, a good thing, since labor markets are thereby more flexible to shocks) while output and employment volatility has declined.

June 5, 2008

Clinton campaign failure after Super Tuesday linked to forfeiture of caucus states:


Stock market volatility may harbinger recession: Since last summer's subprime meltdown, the markets have been remarkably volatile, or uncertain, for a sustained period of time, leading some to conclude that hiring and investment will dry up.

Obama's white paper on environmental protection (P.D.F.): His proposals are rather lofty, expansive, and vague compared to Clinton's, but he gets the big points dead on.

W3C's Web Ontology Language (O.W.L.) Reference, pages 16-20: Global cardinality property constraints, logical property characteristics, individual axioms and I.D. facts, and the beginning of R.D.F. datatypes are covered here.

June 4, 2008

Oldest G.M. Assembly Plant to Shutter by 2010

As part of a sweeping capitulation to peak oil, and high gas prices, G.M. is halting production of luxury S.U.V.s at four facilities throughout North America by 2010, or sooner if collapsing markets further erode demand, including the company's Janesville plant. G.M. opened its operations in Janesville back in 1919, making the facility the auto giant's oldest. It survived another retrenchment by G.M. two years ago, only to find that recent, and permanent, increases in gas prices have rendered its production lines unprofitable. Over the first four months of 2008, sales of Chevy and G.M.C. S.U.V.s have slid by up to a third, prompting G.M. to scale back production from two to one shift beginning in July.

G.M. executives indicated that several factories will be ramped up to accommodate growing interest in its compact line, such as Chevrolet's Malibu and Cobalt. But any plans to do so will bypass Janesville, which employed almost four-thousand workers less than three years ago. State Sen. Judy Robson issued a statement offering job retraining assistance and "aggressive economic development efforts" while Gov. Doyle is scheduled to meet with U.A.W. Local 95 members. Several downstream auto suppliers may not receive much attention from the cutbacks, but the ongoing pain will certainly be felt there as well. Lear Corp., a supplier of seats to Janesville, and Strattec Security Corp., headquartered in Glendale, will be battered by the ripple effect from closure. All told the restructuring campaign will improve G.M.'s bottom line by $1 billion when complete.




Open Source Search Engine Now Available to All

Wikipedia brainchild Jimmy Wales's open source search engine recently embraced all users, not merely those registered, in an effort to recreate popular features of the online encyclopedia in a new venue. Users are allowed to edit search results, including headline and description, as well as the index and ratings. The project operates according to the classic wiki model: Open the space for the community to police potential abuse, like spam. Wikia was launched in January and remains in alpha development: Only 30 million links appear within the index, a tiny number. The engine is operated by a for-profit entity whereas Wales's signature item, Wikipedia, is run through charity.


Back-of-the-envelope graphical demonstration of the equivalence of carbon taxes and cap-and-trade:


Polls averaged by Pollster.com indicate Obama lead (283-255 E.V.s) over McCain:

June 3, 2008

Time Warner Trial Descends to Tierred Rate Structure

In a limited trial perhaps intended to ration content delivery over a network stretched too thin, Time Warner Cable has announced plans to issue fees that apply to overages of monthly downloads and uploads. The tierred rates will, for now, only apply to Beaumont, Texas customers. Other I.S.P.s have floated similar proposals in the past as an alternative to "traffic-shaping," a throttling back of content meant to sting heavy P-2-P users. Comcast has suggested a 250GB per month ceiling, an amount unlikely to hit even the heaviest of users. However, the Time Warner plan lowers the cap to only 5GB per month in its introductory tier. Above that consumers would be expected to fork over $1 more per gigabyte per month. These days, 5GB of downloaded content amounts to 4-5 feature-length films, much less text, photos, music, and search results. Hopefully this effort to turn the internet into "second-gen. cable T.V." will quickly sink beneath the waves.


W3C's Web Ontology Language (O.W.L.) Reference, pages 11-15: Cardinality constraints, Boolean operators as definitions, and class axioms (rdfs:subClassOf and owl:equivalentClass extensions) are referred to here.

W3C's Web Ontology Language (O.W.L.) Reference, pages 16-20: More owl:equivalentClass applications, owl:disjointWith examples, introduction to property restrictions, R.D.F. Schema property constructs, and property relationship language are found in this section.

June 2, 2008

New STEM7 Initiative Supports M7 Innovation Agenda

Marquette University's Dean of Engineering and an engineering consultant have teamed up to form STEM7, a clearinghouse and cheerleader for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The initiative's goals, Mr. Torinus, C.E.O./columnist, notes closely parallel vaguer objectives pursued by M7, the loose collaberation among area business, political, and educational leaders. What this new org. will accomplish beyond acting as an extension for fundraising activities is unclear. Mr. Jaskolski, the engineering dean, has already harvested $110 million in cash toward a goal of $140 million for improvements to the school. Funds will be directed to new engineering chairs as well as a new professor.

This sort of loose collaberation among technology heads also suits U.W.M.'s tepid emergence as a regional player in engineering education and research. Chancellor Santiago has set lofty goals in his pursuit of updated facilities there and recently secured financing for additional engineering professors. Mr. Torinus concludes with a collection of obvious bullet points: Engineering jobs are in demand and will continue to be in demand; and China and India are pumping out record numbers of graduates while the U.S. is stuck far behind. Furthermore, the market is now global for engineering and technical talent, so, America had better play catchup and quickly, so we are told.

All of which could have been cut-and-pasted from Tom Friedman's The World Is Flat. Mr. Torinus also cannot seem to rise above Friedman's rather flat "meta-analysis" of the new world. For example, if the market for engineers is now global and China and India are rushing in, then a simple analysis would conclude that the returns to engineering education would fall. So why would students want to get involved, anymore than they would apply for training in making consumer electronics, or, for that matter, the myraid of other products and services China and India now specialize in? Underlying all the hype generated by STEM7, among other regional collaberations, is that the entire effort is likely to be futile. The rise of China and India has rendered traditional engineering increasingly obsolete in the new century, along with its manufacturing counterpart. If Mr. Torinus and his colleagues are serious about retaining America's, much less Milwaukee's, technological superiority in the 21st century, then their focus must shift ahead of what budding Chinese and Indian engineers are studying today. Even Tom Friedman knows that.




Robots Scale Walls

In a development reflecting the military's leadership in robotics research, S.R.I. International, in collaberation with D.A.R.P.A., has rolled out a device capable of climbing (most) vertical surfaces. It is hoped that in the future such machines could replace soldiers in performing reconnaissance missions across dangerous theaters of conflict. Research is still deep in alpha, as the robots rely upon essentially magnetic attraction to propel them up and down a surface. Lose the negative charge on a wall and the device drops like a stone. A representative of S.R.I. noted that the product is about six to nine months away from real-world launch.


W3C's Web Ontology Language (O.W.L.) Reference, pages 1-5: Table of contents, purpose of the document, an overview of differences among O.W.L. Lite, D.L. (description logic), and O.W.L. Full, O.W.L. syntax, and a note regarding O.W.L. and R.D.F. semantics open the reference.

W3C's Web Ontology Language (O.W.L.) Reference, pages 6-10: A warning on data aggregation and privacy, a preview of appendices, document basics (axiom classes, namespace and base declarations, etc.), introduction to classes and class descriptions, enumerated classes, introduction to property restrictions, and owl:allValuesFrom and owl:someValuesFrom value constraints describe this section.

June 1, 2008

Walker Budget to Press Down Hard for Privatization Initiatives

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker would cut or freeze almost all department budgets next year under a strict mandate to accelerate the privatization of services. Only the courts and the Sheriff's Department would be spared. Walker, who was recently reelected on an anti-tax record, has pushed these reforms since first assuming office, however, the cutting exercise has frequently pitted him against the County Board, which must approve his recommendations. Department heads have several more weeks, in consultation with Walker, to develop their targets. Walker then must consolidate them into his proposal to the Board, which is due in September.

Board members have already begun attacking the Exec.'s plan, mostly on "realism" issues. His last budget request, for example, offered a rosy prediction of state aid levels and an unrealistic timetable for unloading the County's Park East corridor property. Specific new sources of revenue for the County have been floated before and are appearing again. During the reelection campaign, Walker suggested leasing out County property to coffee shops and restaurants, an idea which could land in his '09 budget request. He also referenced more outsourcing of maintenance jobs, such as park upkeep and fleet support, as well as economic support staff. The County Executive has not offered any bullet points as yet, thus many of these ideas may never materialize. A representative of County employees noted that many of them are rehashed versions of earlier proposals, none of which made it to reality.




Vista Successor Shrouded in Mystery, Confusion

Given the disappointing reception received by Microsoft's current O.S., Vista, it is perhaps natural that many are clammering for tidbits related to its successor, Windows 7. We know it will arrive on store shelves either late next year, according to C.E.O. Ballmer, or early 2010, largely in keeping with the software giant's three-year product development cycle. As for its contents, little is known beyond the Vista-like features that Microsoft reps. cheerlead. It will conform to hardware specs. recommended for Vista and will not feature a slimmed-down kernel, contrary to some speculation last year. This has led many analysts to lower their expectations and tag the rollout a "minor" release, something company executives strongly disagree with. However, the incorporation of touchscreen functionality into the O.S., even at the demonstration level, is bound to arouse some interest among consumers. In the development community, Microsoft appears to be pushing energy-efficient apps., particularly as they impact battery life in mobile devices. Windows 7 will also feature a networking A.P.I. for the construction of S.O.A.P.-based services in native code.




Asustek's Eee Stick to Mimic Wii Controllers

In a move that may partially revive P.C. gaming, Asustek plans to begin shipment in August of wireless controllers that operate much like Nintendo's popular Wii console. The Eee Stick will initially bundle with Asustek's low-cost laptops and desktops, however, next year the device will reach market along with five to eight supported games at a price tag of around $75. So far the company has completed licensing agreements with a few gaming vendors, but efforts are underway to attract interest among big players, such as Electronic Arts (E.A.).


W3C's Web Ontology Language (O.W.L.) Guide, pages 31-34: Sample ontologies and applications, related research pointers, background links, X.M.L. + R.D.F. Basics appendix, a short development history, and the change log are included in this bloc.