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  Jon Stewart Skewers CNBC, His Finest Hour Yet

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=940

  Possibly Stewart’s finest hour, yet.

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  March 11 2009, 6:20pm | Comments »

• Posted to michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us

  Fixed broken link to 2009 Broadband Stimulus Doc

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=939

  Apparently, the tr.im URL trimming service is sometimes case sensitive. So, this is fixed now. Sorry about that.

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  February 20 2009, 6:47pm | Comments »

• Posted to michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us

  2009 Broadband Stimulus Program

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=926

  Ubiquitous Massive Symmetric Bandwidth relevent sections of the stimulus package are excerpted for you at http://tr.im/MaybeThisTime

  SOURCE DOCUMENT:  HR 1 PP Short URL: http://tr.im/111CongHR1 111th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES February 10, 2009  TITLE II–COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RELATED AGENCIES

  DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE   

  Bureau of Industry and Security   

  operations and administration   

  For an additional amount for `Operations and Administration’, $20,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2010.   

  Economic Development Administration   

  economic development assistance programs   

  For an additional amount for `Economic Development Assistance Programs’, $150,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2010: Provided, That $50,000,000 shall be for economic adjustment assistance as authorized by section 209 of the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965, as amended (42 U.S.C. 3149): Provided further, That in allocating the funds provided in the previous proviso, the Secretary of Commerce shall give priority consideration to areas of the Nation that have experienced sudden and severe economic dislocation and job loss due to corporate restructuring.   

  Bureau of the Census   

  periodic censuses and programs   

  For an additional amount for `Periodic Censuses and Programs’, $1,000,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2010.   

  National Telecommunications and Information Administration broadband technology opportunities program   

  For an amount for Broadband Technology Opportunities Program’, $7,000,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2010: Provided, That of the funds provided under this heading, $6,650,000,000 shall be expended pursuant to section 201 of this Act, of which: not less than $200,000,000 shall be available for competitive grants for expanding public computer center capacity, including at community colleges and public libraries; not less than $250,000,000 shall be available for competitive grants for innovative programs to encourage sustainable adoption of broadband service; and $10,000,000 shall be transferred toDepartment of Commerce, Office of Inspector General’ for the purposes of audits and oversight of funds provided under this heading and such funds shall remain available until expended: Provided further, That 50 percent of the funds provided in the previous proviso shall be used to support projects in rural communities, which in part may be transferred to the Department of Agriculture for administration through the Rural Utilities Service if deemed necessary and appropriate by the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, and only if the Committees on Appropriations of the House and the Senate are notified not less than 15 days in advance of the transfer of such funds: Provided further, That of the funds provided under this heading, up to $350,000,000 may be expended pursuant to Public Law 110-385 (47 U.S.C. 1301 note) and for the purposes of developing and maintaining a broadband inventory map pursuant to section 201 of this Act: Provided further, That of the funds provided under this heading, amounts deemed necessary and appropriate by the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), may be transferred to the FCC for the purposes of developing a national broadband plan or for carrying out any other FCC responsibilities pursuant to section 201 of this Act, and only if the Committees on Appropriations of the House and the Senate are notified not less than 15 days in advance of the transfer of such funds: Provided further, That not more than 3 percent of funds provided under this heading may be used for administrative costs, and this limitation shall apply to funds which may be transferred to the Department of Agriculture and the FCC.   

  digital-to-analog converter box program   

  For an amount for Digital-to-Analog Converter Box Program’, $650,000,000, for additional coupons and related activities under the program implemented under section 3005 of the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005, to remain available until September 30, 2010: Provided, That of the amounts provided under this heading, $90,000,000 may be for education and outreach, including grants to organizations for programs to educate vulnerable populations, including senior citizens, minority communities, people with disabilities, low-income individuals, and people living in rural areas, about the transition and to provide one-on-one assistance to vulnerable populations, including help with converter box installation: Provided further, That the amounts provided in the previous proviso may be transferred to the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) if deemed necessary and appropriate by the Secretary of Commerce in consultation with the Commission, and only if the Committees on Appropriations of the House and the Senate are notified not less than 5 days in advance of transfer of such funds: Provided further, That $2,000,000 of funds provided under this heading shall be transferred toDepartment of Commerce, Office of Inspector General’ for audits and oversight of funds provided under this heading. GENERAL PROVISIONS–THIS TITLE

  Sec. 201. The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information (Assistant Secretary), in consultation with the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) (and, with respect to rural areas, the Secretary of Agriculture), shall establish a national broadband service development and expansion program in conjunction with the technology opportunities program, which shall be referred to the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. The Assistant Secretary shall ensure that the program complements and enhances and does not conflict with other Federal broadband initiatives and programs.   

  (1) The purposes of the program are to–   

  (A) provide access to broadband service to citizens residing in unserved areas of the United States;   

  (B) provide improved access to broadband service to citizens residing in underserved areas of the United States;   

  (C) provide broadband education, awareness, training, access, equipment, and support to–   

  (i) schools, libraries, medical and healthcare providers, community colleges and other institutions of higher education, and other community support organizations and entities to facilitate greater use of broadband service by or through these organizations;   

  (ii) organizations and agencies that provide outreach, access, equipment, and support services to facilitate greater use of broadband service by low-income, unemployed, aged, and otherwise vulnerable populations; and   

  (iii) job-creating strategic facilities located within a State-designated economic zone, Economic Development District designated by the Department of Commerce, Renewal Community or Empowerment Zone designated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, or Enterprise Community designated by the Department of Agriculture.   

  (D) improve access to, and use of, broadband service by public safety agencies; and   

  (E) stimulate the demand for broadband, economic growth, and job creation.   

  (2) The Assistant Secretary may consult with the chief executive officer of any State with respect to–   

  (A) the identification of areas described in subsection (1)(A) or (B) located in that State; and   

  (B) the allocation of grant funds within that State for projects in or affecting the State.   

  (3) The Assistant Secretary shall–   

  (A) establish and implement the grant program as expeditiously as practicable;   

  (B) ensure that all awards are made before the end of fiscal year 2010;   

  (C) seek such assurances as may be necessary or appropriate from grantees under the program that they will substantially complete projects supported by the program in accordance with project timelines, not to exceed 2 years following an award; and   

  (D) report on the status of the program to the Committees on Appropriations of the House and the Senate, the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House, and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, every 90 days.   

  (4) To be eligible for a grant under the program an applicant shall–   

  (A) be a State or political subdivision thereof, a nonprofit foundation, corporation, institution or association, Indian tribe, Native Hawaiian organization, or other non-governmental entity in partnership with a State or political subdivision thereof, Indian tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization if the Assistant Secretary determines the partnership consistent with the purposes this section;   

  (B) submit an application, at such time, in such form, and containing such information as the Assistant Secretary may require;   

  (C) provide a detailed explanation of how any amount received under the program will be used to carry out the purposes of this section in an efficient and expeditious manner, including a demonstration that the project would not have been implemented during the grant period without Federal grant assistance;   

  (D) demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the Assistant Secretary, that it is capable of carrying out the project or function to which the application relates in a competent manner in compliance with all applicable Federal, State, and local laws;   

  (E) demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the Assistant Secretary, that it will appropriate (if the applicant is a State or local government agency) or otherwise unconditionally obligate, from non-Federal sources, funds required to meet the requirements of paragraph (5);   

  (F) disclose to the Assistant Secretary the source and amount of other Federal or State funding sources from which the applicant receives, or has applied for, funding for activities or projects to which the application relates; and   

  (G) provide such assurances and procedures as the Assistant Secretary may require to ensure that grant funds are used and accounted for in an appropriate manner.   

  (5) The Federal share of any project may not exceed 80 percent, except that the Assistant Secretary may increase the Federal share of a project above 80 percent if–   

  (A) the applicant petitions the Assistant Secretary for a waiver; and   

  (B) the Assistant Secretary determines that the petition demonstrates financial need.   

  (6) The Assistant Secretary may make competitive grants under the program to–   

  (A) acquire equipment, instrumentation, networking capability, hardware and software, digital network technology, and infrastructure for broadband services;   

  (B) construct and deploy broadband service related infrastructure;   

  (C) ensure access to broadband service by community anchor institutions;   

  (D) facilitate access to broadband service by low-income, unemployed, aged, and otherwise vulnerable populations in order to provide educational and employment opportunities to members of such populations;   

  (E) construct and deploy broadband facilities that improve public safety broadband communications services; and   

  (F) undertake such other projects and activities as the Assistant Secretary finds to be consistent with the purposes for which the program is established.   

  (7) The Assistant Secretary–   

  (A) shall require any entity receiving a grant pursuant to this section to report quarterly, in a format specified by the Assistant Secretary, on such entity’s use of the assistance and progress fulfilling the objectives for which such funds were granted, and the Assistant Secretary shall make these reports available to the public;   

  (B) may establish additional reporting and information requirements for any recipient of any assistance made available pursuant to this section;   

  (C) shall establish appropriate mechanisms to ensure appropriate use and compliance with all terms of any use of funds made available pursuant to this section;   

  (D) may, in addition to other authority under applicable law, deobligate awards to grantees that demonstrate an insufficient level of performance, or wasteful or fraudulent spending, as defined in advance by the Assistant Secretary, and award these funds competitively to new or existing applicants consistent with this section; and   

  (E) shall create and maintain a fully searchable database, accessible on the Internet at no cost to the public, that contains at least the name of each entity receiving funds made available pursuant to this section, the purpose for which such entity is receiving such funds, each quarterly report submitted by the entity pursuant to this section, and such other information sufficient to allow the public to understand and monitor grants awarded under the program.   

  (8) Concurrent with the issuance of the Request for Proposal for grant applications pursuant to this section, the Assistant Secretary shall, in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission, publish the non-discrimination and network interconnection obligations that shall be contractual conditions of grants awarded under this section.   

  (9) Within 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall complete a rulemaking to develop a national broadband plan. In developing the plan, the Commission shall–   

  (A) consider the most effective and efficient national strategy for ensuring that all Americans have access to, and take advantage of, advanced broadband services;   

  (B) have access to data provided to other Government agencies under the Broadband Data Improvement Act (47 U.S.C. 1301 note);   

  (C) evaluate the status of deployments of broadband service, including the progress of projects supported by the grants made pursuant to this section; and   

  (D) develop recommendations for achieving the goal of nationally available broadband service for the United States and for promoting broadband adoption nationwide.   

  (10) The Assistant Secretary shall develop and maintain a comprehensive nationwide inventory map of existing broadband service capability and availability in the United States that entities and depicts the geographic extent to which broadband service capability is deployed and available from a commercial provider or public provider throughout each State: Provided, That not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of the Act, the Assistant Secretary shall make the broadband inventory map developed and maintained pursuant to this section accessible to the public.   

  Sec. 202. The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information may reissue any coupon issued under section 3005(a) of the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 that has expired before use, and shall cancel any unredeemed coupon reported as lost and may issue a replacement coupon for the lost coupon. PART VIII–Broadband Incentives Sec. 1271. Broadband Internet access tax credit. PART VIII–BROADBAND INCENTIVES

  SEC. 1271. BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS TAX CREDIT.   

  (a) In General- Subpart E of part IV of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to rules for computing investment credit), as amended by this Act, is amended by inserting after section 48C the following new section:   

  `SEC. 48D. BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS CREDIT.   

  `(a) General Rule- For purposes of section 46, the broadband credit for any taxable year is the sum of–   

  `(1) the current generation broadband credit, plus   

  `(2) the next generation broadband credit.   

  `(b) Current Generation Broadband Credit; Next Generation Broadband Credit- For purposes of this section–   

  `(1) CURRENT GENERATION BROADBAND CREDIT- The current generation broadband credit for any taxable year is equal to 10 percent (20 percent in the case of qualified subscribers which are unserved subscribers) of the qualified broadband expenditures incurred with respect to qualified equipment providing current generation broadband services to qualified subscribers and taken into account with respect to such taxable year.   

  `(2) NEXT GENERATION BROADBAND CREDIT- The next generation broadband credit for any taxable year is equal to 20 percent of the qualified broadband expenditures incurred with respect to qualified equipment providing next generation broadband services to qualified subscribers and taken into account with respect to such taxable year.   

  `(c) When Expenditures Taken Into Account- For purposes of this section–   

  `(1) IN GENERAL- Qualified broadband expenditures with respect to qualified equipment shall be taken into account with respect to the first taxable year in which–   

  `(A) current generation broadband services are provided through such equipment to qualified subscribers, or   

  `(B) next generation broadband services are provided through such equipment to qualified subscribers.   

  `(2) LIMITATION-   

  `(A) IN GENERAL- Qualified broadband expenditures shall be taken into account under paragraph (1) only with respect to qualified equipment–   

  `(i) the original use of which commences with the taxpayer, and   

  `(ii) which is placed in service, after December 31, 2008, and before January 1, 2011.   

  `(B) SALE-LEASEBACKS- For purposes of subparagraph (A), if property–   

  `(i) is originally placed in service after December 31, 2008, by any person, and   

  `(ii) sold and leased back by such person within 3 months after the date such property was originally placed in service,   

  such property shall be treated as originally placed in service not earlier than the date on which such property is used under the leaseback referred to in clause (ii).   

  `(d) Special Allocation Rules for Current Generation Broadband Services- For purposes of determining the current generation broadband credit under subsection (a)(1) with respect to qualified equipment through which current generation broadband services are provided, if the qualified equipment is capable of serving both qualified subscribers and other subscribers, the qualified broadband expenditures shall be multiplied by a fraction–   

  `(1) the numerator of which is the sum of the number of potential qualified subscribers within the rural areas and the underserved areas and the unserved areas which the equipment is capable of serving with current generation broadband services, and   

  `(2) the denominator of which is the total potential subscriber population of the area which the equipment is capable of serving with current generation broadband services.   

  `(e) Definitions- For purposes of this section–   

  (1) ANTENNA- The termantenna’ means any device used to transmit or receive signals through the electromagnetic spectrum, including satellite equipment.   

  (2) CABLE OPERATOR- The termcable operator’ has the meaning given such term by section 602(5) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 522(5)).   

  (3) COMMERCIAL MOBILE SERVICE CARRIER- The termcommercial mobile service carrier’ means any person authorized to provide commercial mobile radio service as defined in section 20.3 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations.   

  (4) CURRENT GENERATION BROADBAND SERVICE- The termcurrent generation broadband service’ means the transmission of signals at a rate of at least 5,000,000 bits per second to the subscriber and at least 1,000,000 bits per second from the subscriber (at least 3,000,000 bits per second to the subscriber and at least 768,000 bits per second from the subscriber in the case of service through radio transmission of energy).   

  (5) MULTIPLEXING OR DEMULTIPLEXING- The termmultiplexing’ means the transmission of 2 or more signals over a single channel, and the term `demultiplexing’ means the separation of 2 or more signals previously combined by compatible multiplexing equipment.   

  (6) NEXT GENERATION BROADBAND SERVICE- The termnext generation broadband service’ means the transmission of signals at a rate of at least 100,000,000 bits per second to the subscriber (or its equivalent when the data rate is measured before being compressed for transmission) and at least 20,000,000 bits per second from the subscriber (or its equivalent as so measured).   

  (7) NONRESIDENTIAL SUBSCRIBER- The termnonresidential subscriber’ means any person who purchases broadband services which are delivered to the permanent place of business of such person.   

  (8) OPEN VIDEO SYSTEM OPERATOR- The termopen video system operator’ means any person authorized to provide service under section 653 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 573).   

  (9) OTHER WIRELESS CARRIER- The termother wireless carrier’ means any person (other than a telecommunications carrier, commercial mobile service carrier, cable operator, open video system operator, or satellite carrier) providing current generation broadband services or next generation broadband service to subscribers through the radio transmission of energy.   

  (10) PACKET SWITCHING- The termpacket switching’ means controlling or routing the path of a digitized transmission signal which is assembled into packets or cells.   

  (11) PROVIDER- The termprovider’ means, with respect to any qualified equipment any–   

  `(A) cable operator,   

  `(B) commercial mobile service carrier,   

  `(C) open video system operator,   

  `(D) satellite carrier,   

  `(E) telecommunications carrier, or   

  `(F) other wireless carrier,   

  providing current generation broadband services or next generation broadband services to subscribers through such qualified equipment.   

  `(12) PROVISION OF SERVICES- A provider shall be treated as providing services to 1 or more subscribers if–   

  `(A) such a subscriber has been passed by the provider’s equipment and can be connected to such equipment for a standard connection fee,   

  `(B) the provider is physically able to deliver current generation broadband services or next generation broadband services, as applicable, to such a subscriber without making more than an insignificant investment with respect to such subscriber,   

  `(C) the provider has made reasonable efforts to make such subscribers aware of the availability of such services,   

  `(D) such services have been purchased by 1 or more such subscribers, and   

  `(E) such services are made available to such subscribers at average prices comparable to those at which the provider makes available similar services in any areas in which the provider makes available such services.   

  `(13) QUALIFIED EQUIPMENT-   

  (A) IN GENERAL- The termqualified equipment’ means property with respect to which depreciation (or amortization in lieu of depreciation) is allowable and which provides current generation broadband services or next generation broadband services–   

  `(i) at least a majority of the time during periods of maximum demand to each subscriber who is utilizing such services, and   

  `(ii) in a manner substantially the same as such services are provided by the provider to subscribers through equipment with respect to which no credit is allowed under subsection (a)(1).   

  `(B) ONLY CERTAIN INVESTMENT TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT- Except as provided in subparagraph (C) or (D), equipment shall be taken into account under subparagraph (A) only to the extent it–   

  `(i) extends from the last point of switching to the outside of the unit, building, dwelling, or office owned or leased by a subscriber in the case of a telecommunications carrier or broadband-over-powerline operator,   

  `(ii) extends from the customer side of the mobile telephone switching office to a transmission/receive antenna (including such antenna) owned or leased by a subscriber in the case of a commercial mobile service carrier,   

  `(iii) extends from the customer side of the headend to the outside of the unit, building, dwelling, or office owned or leased by a subscriber in the case of a cable operator or open video system operator, or   

  `(iv) extends from a transmission/receive antenna (including such antenna) which transmits and receives signals to or from multiple subscribers, to a transmission/receive antenna (including such antenna) on the outside of the unit, building, dwelling, or office owned or leased by a subscriber in the case of a satellite carrier or other wireless carrier, unless such other wireless carrier is also a telecommunications carrier.   

  `(C) PACKET SWITCHING EQUIPMENT- Packet switching equipment, regardless of location, shall be taken into account under subparagraph (A) only if it is deployed in connection with equipment described in subparagraph (B) and is uniquely designed to perform the function of packet switching for current generation broadband services or next generation broadband services, but only if such packet switching is the last in a series of such functions performed in the transmission of a signal to a subscriber or the first in a series of such functions performed in the transmission of a signal from a subscriber.   

  `(D) MULTIPLEXING AND DEMULTIPLEXING EQUIPMENT- Multiplexing and demultiplexing equipment shall be taken into account under subparagraph (A) only to the extent it is deployed in connection with equipment described in subparagraph (B) and is uniquely designed to perform the function of multiplexing and demultiplexing packets or cells of data and making associated application adaptions, but only if such multiplexing or demultiplexing equipment is located between packet switching equipment described in subparagraph (C) and the subscriber’s premises.   

  `(14) QUALIFIED BROADBAND EXPENDITURE-   

  (A) IN GENERAL- The termqualified broadband expenditure’ means any amount–   

  `(i) chargeable to capital account with respect to the purchase and installation of qualified equipment (including any upgrades thereto) for which depreciation is allowable under section 168, and   

  `(ii) incurred after December 31, 2008, and before January 1, 2011.   

  `(B) CERTAIN SATELLITE EXPENDITURES EXCLUDED- Such term shall not include any expenditure with respect to the launching of any satellite equipment.   

  `(C) LEASED EQUIPMENT- Such term shall include so much of the purchase price paid by the lessor of equipment subject to a lease described in subsection (c)(2)(B) as is attributable to expenditures incurred by the lessee which would otherwise be described in subparagraph (A).   

  (15) QUALIFIED SUBSCRIBER- The termqualified subscriber’ means–   

  `(A) with respect to the provision of current generation broadband services–   

  `(i) any nonresidential subscriber maintaining a permanent place of business in a rural area, an underserved area, or an unserved area, or   

  `(ii) any residential subscriber residing in a dwelling located in a rural area, an underserved area, or an unserved area which is not a saturated market, and   

  `(B) with respect to the provision of next generation broadband services–   

  `(i) any nonresidential subscriber maintaining a permanent place of business in a rural area, an underserved area, or an unserved area , or   

  `(ii) any residential subscriber.   

  (16) RESIDENTIAL SUBSCRIBER- The termresidential subscriber’ means any individual who purchases broadband services which are delivered to such individual’s dwelling.   

  (17) RURAL AREA- The termrural area’ means any census tract which–   

  `(A) is not within 10 miles of any incorporated or census designated place containing more than 25,000 people, and   

  `(B) is not within a county or county equivalent which has an overall population density of more than 500 people per square mile of land.   

  (18) RURAL SUBSCRIBER- The termrural subscriber’ means any residential subscriber residing in a dwelling located in a rural area or nonresidential subscriber maintaining a permanent place of business located in a rural area.   

  (19) SATELLITE CARRIER- The termsatellite carrier’ means any person using the facilities of a satellite or satellite service licensed by the Federal Communications Commission and operating in the Fixed-Satellite Service under part 25 of title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations or the Direct Broadcast Satellite Service under part 100 of title 47 of such Code to establish and operate a channel of communications for distribution of signals, and owning or leasing a capacity or service on a satellite in order to provide such point-to-multipoint distribution.   

  (20) SATURATED MARKET- The termsaturated market’ means any census tract in which, as of the date of the enactment of this section–   

  `(A) current generation broadband services have been provided by a single provider to 85 percent or more of the total number of potential residential subscribers residing in dwellings located within such census tract, and   

  `(B) such services can be utilized–   

  `(i) at least a majority of the time during periods of maximum demand by each such subscriber who is utilizing such services, and   

  `(ii) in a manner substantially the same as such services are provided by the provider to subscribers through equipment with respect to which no credit is allowed under subsection (a)(1).   

  (21) SUBSCRIBER- The termsubscriber’ means any person who purchases current generation broadband services or next generation broadband services.   

  (22) TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIER- The termtelecommunications carrier’ has the meaning given such term by section 3(44) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153(44)), but–   

  `(A) includes all members of an affiliated group of which a telecommunications carrier is a member, and   

  `(B) does not include any commercial mobile service carrier.   

  (23) TOTAL POTENTIAL SUBSCRIBER POPULATION- The termtotal potential subscriber population’ means, with respect to any area and based on the most recent census data, the total number of potential residential subscribers residing in dwellings located in such area and potential nonresidential subscribers maintaining permanent places of business located in such area.   

  (24) UNDERSERVED AREA- The termunderserved area’ means any census tract which is located in–   

  `(A) an empowerment zone or enterprise community designated under section 1391,   

  `(B) the District of Columbia Enterprise Zone established under section 1400,   

  `(C) a renewal community designated under section 1400E, or   

  `(D) a low-income community designated under section 45D.   

  (25) UNDERSERVED SUBSCRIBER- The termunderserved subscriber’ means any residential subscriber residing in a dwelling located in an underserved area or nonresidential subscriber maintaining a permanent place of business located in an underserved area.   

  (26) UNSERVED AREA- The termunserved area’ means any census tract in which no current generation broadband services are provided, as certified by the State in which such tract is located not later than September 30, 2009.   

  (27) UNSERVED SUBSCRIBER- The termunserved subscriber’ means any residential subscriber residing in a dwelling located in an unserved area or nonresidential subscriber maintaining a permanent place of business located in an unserved area.’.   

  (b) Credit To Be Part of Investment Credit- Section 46 (relating to the amount of investment credit), as amended by this Act, is amended by striking and’ at the end of paragraph (4), by striking the period at the end of paragraph (5) and inserting, and’, and by adding at the end the following:   

  `(6) the broadband Internet access credit.’   

  (c) Special Rule for Mutual or Cooperative Telephone Companies- Section 501(c)(12)(B) (relating to list of exempt organizations) is amended by striking or’ at the end of clause (iii), by striking the period at the end of clause (iv) and inserting, or’, and by adding at the end the following new clause:   

  `(v) from the sale of property subject to a lease described in section 48D(c)(2)(B), but only to the extent such income does not in any year exceed an amount equal to the credit for qualified broadband expenditures which would be determined under section 48D for such year if the mutual or cooperative telephone company was not exempt from taxation and was treated as the owner of the property subject to such lease.’.   

  (d) Conforming Amendments-   

  (1) Section 49(a)(1)(C), as amended by this Act, is amended by striking and’ at the end of clause (iv), by striking the period at the end of clause (v) and inserting, and’, and by adding after clause (v) the following new clause:   

  `(vi) the portion of the basis of any qualified equipment attributable to qualified broadband expenditures under section 48D.’.   

  (2) The table of sections for subpart E of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1, as amended by this Act, is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 48C the following:   

  `Sec. 48D. Broadband internet access credit’.   

  (e) Designation of Census Tracts-   

  (1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary of the Treasury shall, not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, designate and publish those census tracts meeting the criteria described in paragraphs (17), (23), (24), and (26) of section 48D(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as added by this section). In making such designations, the Secretary of the Treasury shall consult with such other departments and agencies as the Secretary determines appropriate.   

  (2) SATURATED MARKET-   

  (A) IN GENERAL- For purposes of designating and publishing those census tracts meeting the criteria described in subsection (e)(20) of such section 48D–   

  (i) the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act the form upon which any provider which takes the position that it meets such criteria with respect to any census tract shall submit a list of such census tracts (and any other information required by the Secretary) not later than 60 days after the date of the publication of such form, and   

  (ii) the Secretary of the Treasury shall publish an aggregate list of such census tracts submitted and the applicable providers not later than 30 days after the last date such submissions are allowed under clause (i).   

  (B) NO SUBSEQUENT LISTS REQUIRED- The Secretary of the Treasury shall not be required to publish any list of census tracts meeting such criteria subsequent to the list described in subparagraph (A)(ii).   

  (C) AUTHORITY TO DISREGARD FALSE SUBMISSIONS- In addition to imposing any other applicable penalties, the Secretary of the Treasury shall have the discretion to disregard any form described in subparagraph (A)(i) on which a provider knowingly submitted false information.   

  (f) Other Regulatory Matters-   

  (1) PROHIBITION- No Federal or State agency or instrumentality shall adopt regulations or ratemaking procedures that would have the effect of eliminating or reducing any credit or portion thereof allowed under section 48D of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as added by this section) or otherwise subverting the purpose of this section.   

  (2) TREASURY REGULATORY AUTHORITY- It is the intent of Congress in providing the broadband Internet access credit under section 48D of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as added by this section) to provide incentives for the purchase, installation, and connection of equipment and facilities offering expanded broadband access to the Internet for users in certain low income and rural areas of the United States, as well as to residential users nationwide, in a manner that maintains competitive neutrality among the various classes of providers of broadband services. Accordingly, the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of section 48D of such Code, including–   

  (A) regulations to determine how and when a taxpayer that incurs qualified broadband expenditures satisfies the requirements of section 48D of such Code to provide broadband services, and   

  (B) regulations describing the information, records, and data taxpayers are required to provide the Secretary to substantiate compliance with the requirements of section 48D of such Code.   

  (g) Effective Date- The amendments made by this section shall apply to expenditures incurred after December 31, 2008.   

  SEC. 8005. SUNSET OF AUTHORITY.    The authority of the Secretary to provide assistance under this title shall terminate on December 31, 2011. Passed the House of Representatives January 28, 2009.  Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, Clerk. Passed the Senate February 10, 2009. Attest: NANCY ERICKSON, Secretary.

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  February 16 2009, 3:13pm | Comments »

• Posted to michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us

  Total Social Collapse HOWTO

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=921

  Stewart Brand’s notes from last night’s Total Social Collapse meet-up and pep rally: Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2009 13:10:24 -0800 From: Stewart Brand Subject: [SALT] Managing social collapse (Orlov talk) With vintage Russian black humor, Orlov described the social collapse he witnessed in Russia in the 1990s and spelled out its practical lessons for the American social collapse he sees as inevitable. The American economy in the 1990s described itself as “Goldilocks”—just  the right size—when in fact is was “Tinkerbelle,” and one day the clapping stops. As in Russia, the US made itself vulnerable to the decline of crude oil, a trade deficit, military over-reach, and financial over-reach. Russians were able to muddle through the collapse by finding ways to manage:

  food,  shelter, transportation, and security.

  Russian agriculture had long been ruined by collectivization, so people had developed personal kitchen gardens, accessible by public transit. The state felt a time-honored obligation to provide bread, and no one starved. (Orlov noted that women in Russia handled collapse pragmatically, putting on their garden gloves, whereas middle-aged men dissolved into lonely drunks.) Americans are good at gardening and could shift easily to raising their own food, perhaps adopting the Cuban practice of gardens in parking lots and on roofs and balconies. As for shelter, Russians live in apartments from which they cannot be evicted. The buildings are heat-efficient, and the communities are close enough to protect themselves from the increase in crime. Americans, Orlov said, have yet to realize there is no lower limit to real estate value, nor that suburban homes are expensive to maintain and get to. He predicts flight, not to remote log cabins, but to dense urban living. Office buildings, he suggests, can easily be converted to apartments, and college campuses could make instant communities, with all that grass turned into pasture or gardens. There are already plenty of empty buildings in America; the cheapest way to get one is to offer to caretake it. The rule with transportation, he said, is not to strand people in nonsurvivable places. Fuel will be expensive and hoarded. He noted that the most efficient of all vehicles is an old pickup fully loaded with people, driving slowly. He suggested that freight trains be required to provide a few empty boxcars for hoboes. Donkeys, he advised, provide reliable transport, and they dine as comfortably on the Wall Street Journal as they did on Pravda. Security has to take into account that prisons will be emptied (by stages, preferably), overseas troops will be repatriated and released, and cops will go corrupt. You will have a surplus ofmentally unstable people skilled with weapons. There will be crime waves and mafias, but you can rent a policeman, hire a soldier. Security becomes a matter of local collaboration. When the formal legal structure breaks down, adaptive improvisation can be pretty efficient. By way of readiness, Orlov urges all to prepare for life without a job, with near-zero burn rate. It takes practice to learn how to be poor well. Those who are already poor have an advantage. [ms; Finally, OUR TIME HAS COME! We the penniless are the New A-Listers! ;-)] –Stewart Brand

  The text of Dmitry Orlov’s SALT talk. Slides from 2006 talk, “Closing the Collapse Gap.”

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  The Dystopians - featuring Dmitry Orlov (longnow.org)

  

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  February 14 2009, 3:15pm | Comments »

• Posted to michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us

  The Tyranny of Dead Ideas

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=909

  Journalist and former Clinton administration adviser Matt Miller discusses his new book “The Tyranny of Dead Ideas: Letting Go of the Old Ways of Thinking to Unleash a New Prosperity.” Miller is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a contributing editor at Fortune magazine. He’s also an award-winning contributor to The New York Times and a commentator on National Public Radio. Miller spoke at the Commonwealth Club of California earlier this week. SOURCE: Minnesota Public Radio Dead Ideas:

  Things will always be better; our kids will always do better economically than we have. Free Trade is good, no matter how many people it hurts. Your company should take care of you. (Why are companies saddled providing healthcare, for instance?) Taxes hurt the economy and are always too high. Schools are a local matter. Money follows merit. We live in a just meritocracy.

  What we can do about them:

  Only Government can save Business. Only Business can save Liberalism (because Free Market pays for social justice programs). Only Higher Taxes can save the economy and the planet. Only Lower Upper Class can save us from Inequality. Only Better Living can save us from sagging paychecks. Only a dose of Nationalization can save local schools. Only lessons from Abroad can save American Ideals.

  Will be rebroadcast on Feb 27 on KQED.

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  February 13 2009, 8:53pm | Comments »

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  Pure Genius: Hudson River Plane Landing (US Airways 1549) Animation with Audio

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=907

  I’d be interested in hearing from the proud CFI, as well.

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  February 10 2009, 8:42am | Comments »

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  Social Collapse Best Practices; Creative Social Collapse Event on FRIDAY Feb. 13

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=905

  Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2009 10:38:35 -0800From: Stewart BrandSubject: [SALT] Creative social collapse FRIDAY Feb. 13 [Note 2 ways to assure yourself a seat, below] A close observer of the collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe twenty years ago, engineer Dmitry Orlov finds a similar sequence of events taking shape in America. His savagely humorous presentation spells out how Russia was better prepared than the US is now for the stages of collapse — which begin with financial meltdown. Renewal awaits on the other side of collapse, and there are ways to hasten that process. Orlov is the author of Reinventing Collapse: Soviet Example and American Prospects. “Social Collapse Best Practices” Dmitry OrlovCowell Theater, Fort Mason, San Francisco7pm, FRIDAY, February 13 The show starts  promptly at 7:30pm.  Admission is free — if there’s room.  To be sure of a seat, become a Long Now member and reserve a seat or order an advance ticket ($10). Recent SALT talks have overflowed, and latecomers had to be turned away.  To head off the problem, here’s the new arrangement: You can also purchase tickets for $10 HERE Please note, Members and Ticket holders: if you arrive after 7:25pm we may not be able to seat you in the theater. All tickets and RSVP’s are Will-Call; advance sales and RSVP’s end at 3:00pm on Feb. 13. Please allow time for traffic, parking, walking to the theater, and check-in. The Seminar will be simulcast in the lobby with free overflow seating, and any extra seats in the theater will be released right before the lecture starts.

  

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  February 9 2009, 1:50pm | Comments »

• Posted to michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us

  Windows 7 multitouch

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=904

  At least we might be freed from keyboard and mouse dependence, even if it is still WIMPy UI model (windows, icons, menus, pointer).

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  February 9 2009, 9:59am | Comments »

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  Content is King. WE are the New Content.

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=903

  Content is King. WE are the New Content. Eff U cable TV.

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  February 6 2009, 11:28pm | Comments »

• Posted to michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us

  What if 25% and Growing Real U.S. Unemployment is Equilibrium?

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=901

  From Capitalism++ For starters, it would be called Structural Unemployment; and there is mounting, compelling evidence that this is precisely where we’re headed. Not as punishment — unless we are stupid and inflexible about it — but as the logical outcome of the overwhelming success of industrialization. Nevertheless, it’s also observed in nature that every metamorphosis is an excruciating process; an epiphany of existential crisis.

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  February 6 2009, 9:19pm | Comments »

• Posted to capitalismplusplus.blogspot.com

  Davos 2009: Rebooting the Global Economy

  http://capitalismplusplus.blogspot.com/2009/02/davos-2009-rebooting-global-economy.html

  Why isn't this quotation below (at 35:45 in this archive video) in the sorry excuse for an abridged transcript of this event? Where are the comprehensive transcripts?"We have given $150B to AIG -- one company -- and most of that money has disappeared; now that's one company. We would have put social security on a sound financial basis for a hundred years or more with the money we've been spending on the banks. Giving all the old age people in America security for the next one hundred years versus bailing out a few banks. That's the "bad bank" idea. If you go ahead with that, I think it raises real issues about social values." - Joseph E. StiglitzThis is the same guy that wrote the following back on December 11, 2007. I'm open to hearing explanations as to why the following comments apparently are not readily archived on any U.S. financial sites, but rather most easily found in the Daily Times of Pakistan.

  Global economy is exposed to America’s houses of cards By Joseph E. Stiglitz

  There are times when being proven right brings no pleasure. For several years I have argued that a housing bubble that had replaced the stock market bubble of the 1990s was supporting America’s economy. But no bubble can expand forever. With middle-class incomes in the United States stagnating, Americans could not afford ever more expensive homes.

  Economists, as opposed to those who make their living gambling on stocks, make no claim to being able to predict when the day of reckoning will come, much less identifying the event that will bring down the house of cards. But the patterns are systematic, with consequences that unfold gradually, and painfully, over time.

  There is a macro-story and a micro-story here. The macro-story is simple, but dramatic. Some, observing the crash of the sub-prime mortgage market, say, “Don’t worry, it is only a problem in the real estate sector.” But this overlooks the key role that the housing sector has played in the US economy, with direct investment in real estate and money taken out of houses through refinancing mortgages accounting for two-thirds to three-quarters of growth over the last six years.

  Booming home prices gave Americans the confidence, and the financial wherewithal, to spend more than their income. America’s household savings rate was at levels not seen since the Depression, either negative or zero. With higher interest rates depressing housing prices, the game is over. As America moves to, say, a 4 percent savings rate (still small by normal standards), aggregate demand will weaken, and with it, the economy.

  The micro-story is more dramatic. Record-low interest rates in 2001, 2002 and 2003 did not lead Americans to invest more - there was already excess capacity. Instead, easy money stimulated the economy by inducing households to refinance their mortgages, and to spend some of their capital.

  It is one thing to borrow to make an investment, which strengthens balance sheets; it is another thing to borrow to finance a vacation or a consumption binge. But this is what Alan Greenspan encouraged Americans to do. When normal mortgages did not prime the pump enough, he encouraged them to take out variable-rate mortgages - at a time when interest rates had nowhere to go but up.

  Predatory lenders went further, offering negative amortization loans, so the amount owed went up year after year. Now reality has hit: Newspapers report cases of borrowers whose mortgage payments exceed their entire income.

  Globalisation implies that America’s mortgage problem has worldwide repercussions. America managed to pass off bad mortgages worth hundreds of billions of dollars to investors (including banks) around the world. They buried the bad mortgages in complicated instruments, buried them so deep that no one knew exactly how badly they were impaired, and no one could calculate how to re-price them quickly. In the face of such uncertainty, markets froze.

  Those in financial markets who believe in free markets have temporarily abandoned their faith. While the US Treasury and the International Monetary Fund warned East Asian countries facing financial crises 10 years ago against the risks of bailouts and told them not to raise their interest rates, the US ignored its own lectures about moral hazard effects, bought up billions in mortgages, and lowered interest rates.

  But lower short-term interest rates have led to higher medium-term rates, which are more relevant for the mortgage market. It may make sense for central banks (or Fannie Mae, America’s major government-sponsored mortgage company) to buy mortgage-backed securities in order to help provide market liquidity. But those from whom they buy them should provide a guarantee, so the public does not have to pay the price for their bad investment decisions. Equity owners in banks should not get a free ride.

  It is the victims of predatory lenders who need government help. With mortgages amounting to 95 percent or more of the value of the house, debt restructuring will not be easy. What is required is to give individuals with excessive indebtedness an expedited way to a fresh start: for example, a special bankruptcy provision allowing them to recover, say, 75 percent of the equity they originally put into the house, with the lenders bearing the cost. There are many lessons for America, and the rest of the world; but among them is the need for greater financial sector regulation, especially better protection against predatory lending, and more transparency.

  Joseph Stiglitz is a Nobel laureate in economics.

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  February 3 2009, 9:45am | Comments »

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  Singularity University: FutureSkew U ?

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=895

  Let’s see if I read this right: Pay $25,000 for the privilege of pitching the VC’s so you can give away 80% of your total Return on Innovation to the same 8% of the population who already owns 80% of the wealth? Please do blast my biases to smithereens, but this doesn’t exactly strike me as a Roadmap to Postscarcity.

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  February 3 2009, 5:44am | Comments »

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  Job Application

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=858

  Hello to my fellow digital native interwebz tweeple. I’d like to once again suggest that the era of top secret insider trading 19th century paper resume fluffing and pimping is long over; therefore, you are reading this open application even before the hiring board members and founding team leaders read it. In part because, today, every hiring manager is participating in an increasingly open and transparent team-building process wherein new norms need to be modeled both from the bottom up and the top down. Individually, none of us is perfect; however, each can pledge to continually do our best to fulfill our own part in building a more sustainable, adaptable, accessible world, moving forward. As always, I look forward to learning from the next steps of this ongoing, collectively co-constructed and implemented experiment called life. Subject: Revolutionary startup seeks C-level consumer Internet professional (palo alto) Date: 2009-01-27, 8:41AM PST Position and company highlights: –very competitive salary plus significant equity –work within a dynamic team within a unique, growing company Requirements: –Excellent grasp of Consumer Internet growth strategy, methodology and measurable prior experience. –Ability to design, implement and manage local and regional marketing plan Principals only. Recruiters, please don’t contact this job poster. Please, no phone calls about this job! Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests. Cover Letter Hello, Below, please find my resume, comprehensive digital identity, and more background check material than one could readily pay for: http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/ I am interested in working with the team to attain category leadership through continuous creative innovation in parallel with superior business execution. I believe it is important that we seize the current global market opportunity to model more sustainable, adaptive business norms, derived from already proven best practices. Therefore, I am interested in a progressive company structure; one that enthusiastically adopts a 20x multiple salary cap on all executives; obviously, including myself. Please see http://tr.im/sharedfate for the concept. We can work out the math together if we agree with this principle. I am also interested in a company whose equity structure improves upon the now defunct winner-take-all VC model, by proportionately rewarding each and every team member with an equity stake that parallels the prescribed salary caps, above. We may need to work together to create that new model from scratch. I understand legacy VC risk-reward philosophical justifications; however, we are in a new environment that requires more realistic thinking and recalibrated expectations for what constitutes reasonable returns on capital, moving forward. Within a day-to-day team context, I am consensus-driven and prefer a role wherein I can help to provide the team with the tools and resources required to achieve its objectives; however, wherever consensus conviction or clear direction are lacking, I am able to articulate creative, actionable strategic visions and pragmatic tactical product marketing road maps, as required. I will constantly challenge the team with original, sometimes orthogonal, and even unorthodox thinking. Upon a foundation of daily Specific Task Accomplishments, I will encourage cognitive diversity and open, transparent communication among all team members. I will advocate for a company culture derived from the final published issue of the Whole Earth Catalog, as recently highlighted in Steve Jobs’ 2005 commencement address at Stanford University, namely: Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish, @silverton Related articles by Zemanta

  Steve Jobs on the Stupidity of Living in the Past and Uncertainty of the Future [Steve Jobs] (i.gizmodo.com) “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” (longnow.org) Remember the Whole Earth Catalog? (greatthinkers.suite101.com)

  

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  February 2 2009, 5:59am | Comments »

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  A-List Attitude Check

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=855

  Ever run into an alleged A-lister at a conference or public gathering somewhere and been snubbed or shrugged off like a nobody? Just remember, that’s more of a negative reflection upon them, than upon you; and they haven’t done JACK compared to the true class act legends of the industry. Scroll to 5:25 mins in the video below to find out how the true “A for Authentic” A-listers behave versus those “A for Ass” listers. Choose your future persona in advance.

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  January 27 2009, 3:29pm | Comments »

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  Bruce Sterling, Frontiersman

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=848

  We were twapping about Web 4.0. Right, yapping; as everything associated with twitter gets a “tw” makeover these days.

  From the tweets and blogs I’ve been scanning of late — I actually feel like I’m catching up a tiny bit thanks to the magic called Feedly — the whole Obama thing seems to be sparking a kind of Mass Reverie. So why not join in? I probably should, as I could sorely use the practice at joining in. As a young child I was fascinated, even obsessed, with pioneers; those peculiar humans walking point for society and in some cases the entire human race; you know, like Lewis and Clark, Charles Lindburgh, Ameila Earhart, Madame Curie, people like that. Later, at around age 12, that fascination merged with what I perceived as a kind of ultimate productive pioneer philosophy, when I read Any Rand’s The Fountainhead. Little did I know at the time, my mother was probably experimenting on me to see if she could perform the nifty parlor trick of parading a 12 year old who had read the 645,000 words contained in Atlas Shrugged. She succeeded, and I lived the rest of my relatively maladaptive teen years magically thinking that if I only kept my eyes on my own paper and fully applied myself, I would one day meet the real John Galt and be spirited away to the Colorado Valley, where I could fulfill my destiny as a co-benevolent, co-equal capitalist empire board member. Peer to all mankind; neither superior nor inferior to any, because I’d successfully escaped the fallen world of socialist leeches and morons all around me. I was just a tweeny, so give me a little break, okay? However, it’s not too hard to imagine how this would lead to the experience of feeling like one was surrounded by an entire society that Doesn’t Get It. After all, when I tried to relate to my fellow sixth and seventh graders on the playground with, “Who’s hotter? Dagney Taggart or Dominique Francon?” or, “do you think they are really the same person in different books?” It didn’t exactly win friend and influence people. Well, it did influence them, but not so much in my favor. Toss in a few generations of genetic predisposition to substance abuse, and yeah, well, that’s pretty much a basic setup for an entire life of just not fitting in. What does all this have to do with Bruce Sterling, Frontiersman? I’ll try to connect the dots. After watching Kevin Kelly’s TED talk about the Next 5,000 Days of the web and the Internet of Things, I decided to dig a bit deeper — maybe still searching for John Galt at some vestigial emotional level — and consequently discovered Bruce Sterling. Sigh. He’s not John Galt. However, he did give this talk at Google two years ago and it prompted me reflect upon the most recent decade of life, during which time I indeed accomplished at least some version my Pioneering Dream by working for a decade in the 1990’s and ultimately building the first symmetric Gigabit Ethernet To The Home networks from 1999-2001; promptly after which I finally joined my True Peers, or in Jonathan Livingston Seagull terms, My True Flock, in that soaring mystical realm where pioneers actually most often end up: face down in the mud with arrows in our backs. After a few years of existential convalescence and cognitive behavioral therapy, I realized that pioneering was perhaps not all it was cracked up to be. I know: I’m a slow reader, even slower learner. Maybe I just needed to write a 650,000 word treatise, set on an Asmovian stage, fleshing out the hypocritical failings of objectivism. Nah, too reactionary. Or maybe I just need to find a bar stool next to Reverend Jesse, enlessly reminiscing about back in the day. Nah, too recitivist. Still, after investing forty-some years into a certain way of thinking and being, it’s a little difficult to take a completely new and different approach. Actually, it’s not so difficult personally, but difficult sociologically, because our culture of Industrial Era hyper specialization and interchangeable human parts seriously discourages such change. I mean really seriously discourages it; as in, “you shall now be rendered permanently unemployable and homeless” -type serious. So, the best that I could manage at the time was to backpedal from the pioneering mindset to the frontiersman perspective. A long time loyal friend and ally helped me to find a gig where I could contribute to work on planning for the California High Speed Rail (HSR), which finally recieved a thumbs up vote from California voters. With the encouragement of a great mentor, I helped the City of Fresno to flesh out plans to deploy Smart Cards for their mass transit system; which should eventually plug into the Bay Area TransLink system and HSR, for a truly regional transportation grid. These were great and rewarding projects, but still left me scrapping in the Wage Slave salt mines, far from that mythical Colorado Valley. Not that it would matter these days, I don’t even actually like the weather in Colorado all that much. The people and geology are awesome; but snow? Not so much. This is supposed to be about Frontiersmen, though. Those second-order sociologically innovative souls who follow the trail of blood, sweat, and tears left by the pioneers; who take advantage of the environmental signals left behind by the forgotten and disparaged heroes of yore. Those who seek out shadowy map etchings left on rocks and word of mouth folklore-accepted-as-fact; clues that, though gossamer, do cloak veiled hints about new threats and new opportunities in a new terrain just at the horizon. This is imporant: at the horizon, not over it. Frontiersmen are just too restless and relentlessly curious for the Settler lifestyle. They understand that they are not normal Settlers, yet they constantly seek approval in the form of the satisfaction gained when seeing new wagon trains of Settlers move into a new area and claim it as their own; even claiming that they discovered the place. Whatever. Frontiersmen often name places, things, or trends tentatively and the names don’t often stick. It’s not the names that matter, its more about the process, the progress, it’s about the constant migration toward a New, More Abundant and Sustainable Normal for Everyone. Then, having arrived safely at our Next Big Future, we immediately begin probing the fringes of possibility once again, scanning the skies for circling vultures — icons of ugliness to most, but daemons of progess to us — which point the way again toward those once brave souls, ever face down in the mud with arrows in their back. We hope for even a barely legible scrawled out message, scaps of a not-quite-accurate map, clenched in that now frozen, eternally noble, white-knuckled fist called ultimate persistence and determination. It may be true that constructing oneself as a Frontiersman is still a relatively unwinnable role in terms of widespread contemporary acceptance; after all, even a successful Frontiersman like Sterling was met with a surprising number of blank stares and slack jaws amongst many of the apparently best and brightest at Google. Yet, at least frontiering is a slightly more survivable calling, as there’s more hope for the Frontiersman that the hard work, creativity, and imagination that we bring to bear upon society’s common challenges and opportunities will somehow evolve into something that gets completely past our neologisms and simply becomes “the way we live now,” as Bruce puts it. Wagons, ho.

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  January 27 2009, 8:15am | Comments »

• Posted to michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us

  Tickets to Twitter OAuth Closed Beta sell out in 2hr 28mins

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=833

  Think there’s slight market demand, maybe? ;-) OAuth looks and feels to users a whole lot like the new Facebook Connect, or OpenID login. Why go with OAuth instead? Facebook Connect is a proprietary system that hoards all the user data over the long term and takes too much control over sites that use it. OpenID can’t be used by desktop apps and is too often ugly enough that you’d rather stay home than take it to a party. Enter OAuth, a technology that hopes to solve all those problems. - RWW

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  January 23 2009, 11:56pm | Comments »

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  HOWTO: Reduce Seesmic Blustering Blather

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=830

  Nice presentation of a technique I’ve used myself. In fact I think I tossed a “speakers notes” feature into the request bin at Seesmic at some point. Might be nice to see some kind of AJAXy scratch pad people could use right inside the production space. I know, I know, it’s never enough for the ever-demanding users. The new interface is a great leap forward, Team Seesmic. Congratulations.

  I only wish I could invest more time at the site, a 1.4x playback like Bloggingheads.TV would help, as would implementation of the renamed “Conversation As Content” monetization model that I originally proposed under the awkward and overly-literal user as content banner. The latter is not an alternative to present revenue plans, but would be a very innovative complement to existing ideas. In this case, I cannot even lead the horse to water, though; I can only see Horse over There and Water over Here and whistle and coax and encourage and hope that somehow the message gets through and we all get what we’re looking for in the end.

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  January 22 2009, 11:48pm | Comments »

• Posted to michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us

  Common Sense in Government? FTW!

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=828

  Remember the stupidity about No Blackberry for Presidents? Turns out, that common sense has somehow prevailed and our President is apparently allowed to stay vaguely aware of the actual real world!

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  January 22 2009, 2:35pm | Comments »

• Posted to michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us

  Goodbye, Mr. President, Hello

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=827

  I could rant 10,000 regrets at the end of the Bush Era, but really, this says it much better because this is the generation looking to us for leadership into a better way of life.

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  January 20 2009, 5:39pm | Comments »

• Posted to michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us

  Context is King when Syncing Comments: Disqus2FF

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=825

  Clueful quote today:

  The other problem with the conversations is that some of the context is lost. I am a big proponent of distributed conversations because of the different communities because they promote different opinions and perspectives. Combining the conversations on the blog with the conversations on FriendFeed change the dynamic of the conversations.robdiana in Social Media, Regular Geek, Jan 2009

  Personally, I’m from the Context is King camp. Help to retain and extend the original intended context and the diffs should oscillate within an acceptable range. Hopefully. Related articles by Zemanta

  Sync Your Disqus Comments With FriendFeed A better Disqus integration with FriendFeed

  

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  January 9 2009, 7:35am | Comments »

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  What we have here is a failure to communicate

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=812

  In the process of apprehending and communicating the inevitability of The Postscarcity Scenario; in assessing the implications of forging a new Capitalism++ economy; in architecting a 22nd-century-looking Pragmatic Virtual Marketplace that is most adaptable to Accelerating Change, that enables, empowers, and rewards  the growing numbers of Users as Content (aka, Conversations as Content); while grappling with the emergence and rapidly expanding prevalence of Augmented Cognition — both Social/Cooperative and Technological/Bio-embedded — we are engaging in exercises to which the Global Warming communications challenge might pale in comparison. “Biting off more than we can chew” would be a masterpiece of understatement in describing the multi-front global institutional and structural transformation underway.

  Caption: Eagles are way out of their depth dealing with white swans, let alone black ones. However, there are many important things we can learn from the experience of educating humans about Global Warming. The effort was not only to convey the urgency of global warming, but to Spur Changes to Human Behavior based upon logic and reason, given new, substantiated information. The Research Channel program The Science of Communication explores the complex interactions between information, knowledge, communication, and meme transmission that can induce beneficial  new human behaviors. At about 18 minutes into this program, we gain some nice substantiating information about Attention. As an aside, I suspect that attention itself will be experienced as a kind of Final Scarce Resource in the later stages of the Postscarcity Scenario; perhaps still a century away in it’s most palpably inflective consequence. The screen captures below may make a useful accompaniment to the program, should you find it of sufficient interest to view. In the out-of-context context presented here, the final speaker can probably be skipped, unless you are in the business of presenting scientific findings to the media; in which case, DON’T MISS IT!

  Arthur Lupia reminds us that attention and memory are pathetically limited. It’s about creating great moments within speeches — or any communication — which will be recalled by the hearer. What people remember is only a fragment of what you present; AND, it may not be what you want them to remember.

  This slide contains an augmented social cognition participant’s Three Commandments:

  “Because of the bottleneck of ATTENTION, people aren’t going to be paying attention much to what you have to say, and they’re not going to be able think much about what you have to say. So how do you get them to think about things? The idea is, it has to be really relevant to them.” - Arthur Lupia.

  Why it drives us crazy to try to convince people of what is Data-Derived Common Sense:

  “The fact that you have a title, the fact that you have previous accomplishments, that doesn’t guarantee credibility; credibility must be bestowed by an audience, and it’s based upon the things THEY want.” — Lupia Perceived Trustworthiness + Perceived Knowledgeability = Addressable Attention Potential

  Thinking about “under what conditions will someone believe me” is very important, and we can’t take for granted that they will.

  “If I have a target audience, why would they pay attention to me? Information transmission is trivial, anyone can do that. Trying to get people to THINK, to give them new beliefs and skills, that’s a different idea altogether. To get their attention, somehow you have to demonstrate to them that their current belief doesn’t work, in a way that affects them. How do you do that? You take down the level of abstraction; you make things real, you make them close, you make things personal. You’re always in a constant battle of attention. The bottleneck doesn’t change just because you have good ideas; and the competition for attention is ongoing. For you to win the battle of attention, it’s important to think about how [your listeners are] viewing things and what their capabilities are.” — Lupia Awesome slide by Molly Bentley, BBC America

  While this post has nothing to do with Postscarcity, per se; the hope is that it will help us to better communicate why the Postscarcity Scenario matters, and what we as everyday people can and should do to attain the greatest benefits.

  

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  December 28 2008, 6:55am | Comments »

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  A Solar Wind in our Sails?

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=807

  Maybe. I’m optimistic about my new President Elect. I’m jaded about the recent history of government. Call it Jaded Optimism.

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  December 16 2008, 7:55am | Comments »

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  Begging my pardon sir, Are You A Capitalist?

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=791

  At 1:10, “Or is the wealth of America concentrated in the hands of a few, as the [American scholars], Socialist, and Communists say? This is our central question.”

  At 4:25 seconds, “makes Karl Marx, the world’s worst prophet. Marx prophesied that under capitalism, wealth would be concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer; while the great majority of people would suffer increasing poverty. Perhaps even the disciples of socialism and communism, will come out of their Shadowy Pipe Dreams and join us in our March of Human Progess.” Oops. Let’s ask Alan Greenspan: “Yes, income inequality is increasing, the data are just very clear” (@ 2:15) “If you have increasing sense that the rewards of capitalism are being distributed unjustly, the system will not stand” (@ 2:54).

  So, how is YOUR “March of Human Progess” going today? Oh, that’s right, you don’t even have a computer or internet connection to be reading this. My bad. It doesn’t matter though, if you’re not online, you clearly don’t matter. Go find a shovel and quit whining, you worthless leech on society.

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  December 15 2008, 2:11pm | Comments »

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  Just for the Record

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=786

  States’ Funds for Jobless Are Drying Up - NYTimes.com We told you so: Progressives were right about the financial crisis but were ignored. Will they be listened to now? - Salon.com

  Both of these articles thanks to @wa8dzp!

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  December 15 2008, 11:11am | Comments »

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  Time to Stop Asking Last Century’s Nobel Winners What to Do Next

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=765

  I’ve challenged myself with this question: why do we keep declaring defeat of Industrial Capitalism 1.0 instead of its victory of productivity; productivity that is completely off the charts? This is perhaps a better foundation for Capitalism++. The PAST was good and it work in that context; today, we are obliged to build for the NEXT 50, 100, 200 years, bringing to bear the best of our collective, quantitative, and intuitive forecasting capabilities. Perhaps the only problem we really have here is a failure to understand and embrace the SUCCESS of Industrial Capitalism in a way that allows it to take it’s rightful place in American history, while we move forward into possession of all the promises that it made from the very beginning. If we’re actually becoming so efficient as a society and economy that a 70% (and then 60%, 50%, etc) labor participation rate — with our robots and computers doing all the heavy lifting and repetitive information processing — can provide 110% of all required Goods and Services for the entire population, plus sustainable exportable surpluses; then why do we not Claim That Victory Now and move forward with http://usbig.net/ In part, perhaps we’ve been stuck in this loop because we keep looking to people who keep giving us the same roadmaps to 1921. Literally, you’ll find this in the interview, below. Without further ado, some excerpts from an interview with Columbia University Nobel Prize winner Edmund Phelps. During this sleepless late night interview by BBC’s Steve Evans, I scribbled some notes in the margins of this interview. Those scribbles are included below. They’re scribbles, okay? This is just thinking out loud, mostly unedited, with all the attention due any forgotten Dropped Packet. Here’s the thing about dropped packets: retransmission of the exact same data can re-establish and maintain continuity of the connection, right? :-) Steve Evans (Q): Is the current global downturn a permanent indictment of capitalism? Edmund Phelps (A): “It’s a tremendous black eye for capitalist economies As Presently Constructed.” Me: Implying what? No less than reconstruction in a “tremendously” different configuration. We’ve been calling that Capitalism++ for the past half year or so. Yet, Nobel Prize Winners have a definite interest to putting things back together in a way that helps reinforce validity of their awards. Q: So we don’t ask bigger questions about the role of regulation or how GREED operates within a capitalist system? No bigger toughts as there were in the 1930’s? A: “Oh, I’m always ready for a Big Thought, but my Big Thought is that we DESPERATELY NEED capitalism in order to create Interesting Work to be done for Ordinary People. Unless maybe we can go to war against Mars or something as an alternative; we’ve gotta have a healthy business sector; that’s ALWAYS been understood by our Great Leaders over the PAST 100 or 200 years.” Me: So, humans don’t need MEANINGFUL WORK, but “interesting,” and we Nobel Prize Winners know what is required to provide “intersting work” for your feeble, wandering, inept Ordinary Minds. Me: Further, we should therefore keep reconstructing the bygone PAST 200 YEAR; an Emerging Industrial Era’s Military Solution to human productivity. After all, where is your Nobel prize to prove your ideas have even the slightest merit in the eyes of the world’s most petrified academic status quo? Q: How did we get into that world then, where it was assumed that all would be for the better, the less that government did; where the Great Centers of Learning propounded what you now say is Completely Wrong? A: “It was probably and over reaction to The Gospel of The Left in the 1940’s and 50’s in which every problem was something for the government to solve and governments were excellent at solving all problems, and markets were of little use. That was an extremely harmful doctrine because it didn’t allow as much economic freedom for people as they might otherwise like to have but because it didn’t look to grass roots people to do innovation and then express their creativity and then develop their insights. So, economists began to reject that interventionist, big government doctrine, but they swung too far, they didn’t know where to stop. Note to self: Double check with mom-in-law and friends about real street level economic freedom in the 1940’s. Me: Always love a Definitive and Authoritative answer that start with “probably.” And right, “grass roots people” don’t ever intrinsically “do innovation.” Right. Okay. Oh, surely you KNEW it would be somehow blamed on The Left, right? Tossing in the pejorative Gospel for good measure. Q: These are supposed to be brainy people, these economists; I mean, you’re talking about the University of CHICAGO for goodness sakes. I mean, how did A view, which you say is false, so SWEEP the intellectual world? A: “Well, part of it was a hatred for what went before it. Another element is that economists admired tremendously the brilliant technical work that was going into the mathematical models that group up in the 1970’s. And these models had NO ROOM for regulation. These models described markets as SELF-REGULATING.” Me: Part of it? Maybe even a really big part of it, perhaps? Like maybe a 90% part of it was essentially an Emotional Hijacking in nifty math’s syntax? And rooted in hatred; always such a helpful, objective foundation for Domestic Policy. And how surprising! Math with NO ROOM for what we already found emotionally inconsistent with our own world views! How utterly unexpected and shocking. Or not. Me: Finally, ah yes, the ever-entangling allure of brilliant technical work. Where have we heard The Smartest Kids In the Room Syndrome before? Oh, yes, that little pre-global tremor we affectionately recall as Enron. Q: So finally, if we were Slaves to the Elegant Mathematics of the previous few decades, and a policy maker were to now say to you, okay, what are the Do’s and Don’ts as you try and work a sensible way FORWARD, what briefly would you say to them? A: “Well, I think we need to reconstruct economics on the principles that were first introduced by Frank Knight in 1921 and John Maynard Keynes in some of his writings as early as 1921 also. We have to recognize that the potential innovator faces uncertainty. Entreprenuers face difficulties about which they are uncertain in trying to develop a new, innovative idea. Managers, in evaluating a new thing, face uncertainty. Capitalism has done an Amazingly Good Job at bringing out the innovativeness of people in a great many countries; BUT there’s ALWAYS GOING TO BE A DOWNSIDE, there will always be some costs. Perhaps, the one that’s most INHERENT and the one that we will perhaps never get rid of, is CYCLICALITY. We’ll always have a tendency to Pin Our Hopes on Something and then find that we’re wrong; and then the economy will come to a shuddering stop and we’ll have a “scary” downturn. Me: Brilliant, so the way forward should be based upon cutting edge 1921 Economic Understanding. Yes, brilliant indeed. But then, I don’t have a Nobel Prize, so who the hell am I to question such obvious global expertise, right? Me: WHY is there ALWAYS going to be a downside? Because you have a Nobel Prize and use five syllable words? No, that’s not going to be good enough this time. And even if there is such an inevitable cyclicality, WHY does it have to always IMPACT the same people to the same degree of disempowerment and stripping away of individual liberties to CHOOSE one’s daily WORK endeavors? Short answer is: it DOESN’T have to be this way just because the high priests of 1955 proclaim it so. Me: “Scary” downturn is so obviously relative. Maybe it’s merely “scary” if you have to park the fourth car temporarily; but it’s Utterly Devastating, Time and Time Again to those in the Bottom 95% who provide the Entire Supply of Human Energy to operate this supposedly most marvelous machine. I don’t buy it. I don’t buy that we can’t do better. I know WAY too many smart people who have thought through a wide range of solutions, not least of all, a Basic Income that provides a permanent hedge against poverty. A2: “I like to think of a talented composer, a very productive composer. Is every day an up day for him? Of course not. There are going to be periods in which the composer is in a slump; in which he doesn’t have new ideas, in which even sometimes he may be despairing. But that doesn’t mean that the composer has not been highly productive over his life.” Me: Okay, so really there is nothing more at stake than your latest symphony, folks. Everything is just fine, so long as we follow the 1921 blueprint for building toward the 22nd century. Got that? Good. I’m glad we’re finally all on the same page. Steve Evans (Host): “No doubt then, governments are busily speed re-reading their Keynes.” Me: Perfect, that’s just the outcome I’d be hoping for. How about you? I’m feeling so comforted and confident now. SOURCE: BBC World Service, Business Daily, 10.12.2008 Addendum On Greed: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7775056.stm Collaboration on Friendfeed: CapitalismPlusPlus

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  December 15 2008, 9:55am | Comments »

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  OurBlock.TV Coming Soon

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=763

  SFGate report, as learned via @sukhjit of Sukhjit.Me: Last Saturday, we told you the story of Adam Jackson, who pointed a Web camera out the window of his Tenderloin apartment and created a hot Internet site. Today, we tell you how it all went wrong, from a flurry of death threats to being targeted by cyberbullies. But just when it looked like the thugs had bullied Jackson into taking down his site, the community rallied behind the concept of neighborhood cameras. In fact, the interest may be stronger than ever.

  At least one near-term outcome of AdamsBlock.com will be OurBlock.TV.

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  December 13 2008, 7:35pm | Comments »

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  No Blackberry allowed for Presidents? How absurd is that?

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=761

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  November 30 2008, 8:58am | Comments »

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  A New Thanksgiving Tradition: Show we are Thankful by Giving?

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=757

  I’m sure I’m violating sacred ground, here, but instead of stuffing our faces what if we expressed our thanks for abundance by Sharing rather than Consuming? Or at least in addition to opulent feasting? Especially in such lean times for so many others in the world. Especially our beloved top 5%ers. Why would we possibly not? Please, I’m not scolding us for spending all too rare time with close friends and family, okay? But even in “downturn” most of us are still WAY ahead of the $2/day world, right? I’m suggesting that Tweetsgiving could be the beginning of just such a new crowdsourced capital tradition. Mad props to @TheGrok and @ChrisBrogan and Epic Change.

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  November 26 2008, 2:42pm | Comments »

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  BusinessWeek Clippings

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=751

  Here’s hoping Inkseine development is not utterly abandoned. Wonder why Apple completely ignored tablet computing?

  

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  November 25 2008, 9:12pm | Comments »

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  Dr. Ben, Sir Ken, and Capitalism++

  http://michael.silverton.palo-alto.ca.us/packets/?p=749

  Today, I am very happy to discover more leading intellectual energy applied to these urgently pragmatic and timely matters. By way of preface, I’d like to first share a few preliminary observations from a morning radio program that I hope will further help to humanize the technical and operational requirements inherent to architectures for Capitalism++. The purpose will become more clear when we later introduce the relevance of “economic mechanisms in their social context.” This morning on KQED Forum, 10-year veteran network engineers were told that they were right to consider “mowing lawns” or “retooling” for new “relevant” skills. When did IT expertise become irrelevant to Web 5.0 or whatever the marketers call it next? Added insult was piled on to injury by virtue of the hasty ambivalence conveyed through both content and tenor of the remarks when one bold listener called in with sufficient bravery to share his success at becoming healthy thanks to treatment for some version of bipolar disorder. This is a spectrum of affliction that plagues many of the best and brightest in the field, but which is still shunned and hushed with plague-like ignorance and fear. The caller could in all likelihood be healthier than the modal norm for his cohort, due in no small part to the all too rare enlightened self-knowledge that often leads to successful treatment and oft-consequent “better than baseline” emotional health outcomes. Instead, the caller will most likely continue to fall victim to increasing career ostracization in recompense for such conscientious and objectivity lucid behavior. Getting emotionally healthy is arguably the only prudent healthcare decision that is, in effect, still the functional equivalent of a sociological — and certainly professional — crime. Hence, try as I may, I simply can not believe that these highly respectable public voices can mete out such outmoded advice with a straight face. While the foregoing biases against the obvious benefits of improved emotional health may be arguably absurd on a number of post information-age levels; added to this morning’s program was the persistent denial of the obvious rampant ageism which is increasingly undeniable in a rapidly consolidating labor market. Much of the double speak surrounding this matter borders on the intellectually abject. These are tech jobs for which highly motivated 50 year-olds are ideally and superiorly qualified in every way, with many even willing to accept sometimes  grotesquely depressed wages. But the message from authoritative voices for the status quo of lifelong wage slavery is, “you’ve accrued too much market value by virtue of your strong moral character, diligence, and hard earned cross-disciplinary experience; so go do something for which you lack such accrued value.” This Blame the Victim “retooling” message is part and parcel of  the timeless and implicit  wage slavery mantra encoded into such utterly bankrupt cliches as “overqualified.” Such tired, cheap, amateur Jedi mind tricks may have worked on illiterate railroad workers and dam builders, but they just ain’t gonna’ cut it for today’s displaced and fully self-aware engineers, MBA’s, doctors, and lawyers. Nope, you’re just not going to weasel and waffle out of this one, Mssrs. Forbes & Kudlow. Against the backdrop of many other such socioeconomic realities, and with typical intellectual incisiveness, Dr. Ben Goertzel cuts to the heart of the systems side of such matters as they pertain to retooling our economic system, captured briefly in the following excerpts. Please read the full post for his complete and accurate context. [T]he recent crisis could be viewed as a failure of the rational-actor model — and a validation of the need to view socioeconomic systems as complex self-organizing systems, involving psychological, sociological and economic dynamics all tangled together … a need that will only increase as technology advances and makes it harder and harder for even smart rational-minded people to approximate rational economic judgments. As a semi-aside: In terms of traditional economists, I’d say Galbraith’s perspective probably accounts for this crisis best. He was always skeptical of over-mathematical approaches, and stressed the need to look at economic mechanisms in their social context. [T]he novel problem that we have here (added on top of the usual human problems of dishonesty, corruption, and so forth) may be that, in a world that is increasingly complex (with financial instruments defined by advanced mathematics, for example), being a rational economic actor is too difficult for almost anybody. The rational-actor assumption fails for a lot of reasons, as many economists have documented in the last few decades … but this analysis of the current financial crisis suggests that as technology advances, it is going to fail worse and worse. The economy is, in some senses, becoming fantastically more and more efficient (at producing more and more interesting configurations of matter and mind given less and less usage of human and material resources) … but it’s doing so via complex, self-organizing dynamics … not via libertarian-style, rational-actor-based free-market dynamics.

  File under, “more WHY’S of Capitalism++” and why Basic Income.

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  November 25 2008, 3:15pm | Comments »

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