A few quick things

Okay ... A few quick things.

1. Sort of in line with Corrupt's post this morning - WMATA needs to do something when there are delays across the region.  This morning, I did not have to arrive until 11, so I got on the bus around 10:30 knowing that they wouldn't be running with rush hour frequency - but figuring that they would still be crowded since a lot of people were delayed.  Well sure enough the bus was packed, so much so that we started skipping stops 2 after mine.  This is a normal operating proceedure (and perfectly fine), but when it is not rush hour and the next bus is probably 5-10 minutes behind - it becomes a problem for those people who have to wait.  Now I'm not saying that WMATA wasn't aware of these delays, but they should be able to do something - and I'm sure they would if they could.  But their hands are tied by Union contracts.  UGH.

You know how I feel about unions and the such, but I won't really go into that ... my gripe is more with an out-of-date employment structure for mass transit.  When transit companies were first made into public-private entities around the 1920's, the employment structure remained the same ... and as they shifted to completely public entities - still nothing changed.  Unfortunately, this is hurting us.  We all know that clearly you are going to need more bus/train drivers during the morning and evening rush hours - but unfortunately the hiring of true part-time employees to work during these shifts is basically unheard of ... thanks to unions.  I'm sorry unions, I realize you are looking out for everyones best interests - but you are screwing us.

2. Obama is right (again).  I really hope I don't make a habit of saying this -- it is getting kind of scary.  This morning Obama took time out of talking about the economic stimulus package to ask reporters "WTF is wrong with DC" (not exactly in those terms).  But he is right.  He was complaining about how his daughter's school - Sidwell Friends - has decided to close due to some snow and ice.  He said (per WaPo), "We're going to have to apply some flinty Chicago toughness to this town, I'm saying that when it comes to the weather, folks in Washington don't seem to be able to handle things."  And he is compeltely right.  The DC Metro area has no idea how to deal with weather of any kind.  I have said this all four years I have been here, and I am glad to see Obama noticed it too.

3.  This is the thing that really inspired me to write this post this very second.  Google took a huge step in favor of Net Nuetrality today, ironically in the same day that Comcast and AT&T took a step backwards by doing the RIAA's dirty work for them (here).  Google annouced this afternoon via their blog - here - the introduction of a project called the Measurement Lab.  Basically Google is also tired of ISPs trying to regulate what you can and cannot do with your connection (which you know Comcast loves to do), and wants people to know when they are being f---ed with.  To quote from Google's blog, "Researchers are already developing tools that allow users to, among other things, measure the speed of their connection, run diagnostics, and attempt to discern if their ISP is blocking or throttling particular applications."  And Google is giving them the ability to run these tools on Google servers around the globe.  Thank you Google :)

You can access the Measurement Lab by clicking here.

And here is just a great quote from Google:

At Google, we care deeply about sustaining the Internet as an open platform for consumer choice and innovation. No matter your views on net neutrality and ISP network management practices, everyone can agree that Internet users deserve to be well-informed about what they're getting when they sign up for broadband, and good data is the bedrock of sound policy. Transparency has always been crucial to the success of the Internet, and, by advancing network research in this area, M-Lab aims to help sustain a healthy, innovative Internet.

4. Oh one last thing ... The House voted down the DTV Delay Act.  While I previously posted that I was in favor of a delay, the Obama Administration failed to outline any real plan aside from delaying the date and throwing money at the problem.  The vote roll can be viewed here.

Out.

Digital TV, TiVo, etc

The Obama administration came out publicly yesterday and requested that the switch to Digital TV - scheduled for February 17th, be delayed.  The Paper of Record has a story about it here.  I have pretty mixed feelings on this whole issue.

On one hand, Congress first acted on this in 2005.   We need to get on this people, delays will only push things back further and slow progress.

On the other hand, apparently the government is almost out of money for its voucher program - with several million homes still without a digital converter box.  I don't know if these people have been living in caves that they haven't gotten the memo that their TV is being cut off - but I do understand the confusion surrounding the program and the lack of information being disseminated to these people.

The way of telling people with analog signals about the switch was to broadcast a few times, during prime time over the analog waves and telling people they needed a converter box.  Um.  No.  Shut off TV for a day, just displaying only that message.

I would support the Obama Administration's action if on February 17th people without DTV just saw a message directing them to the DTV Transition website or telephone number - telling them that they would no longer have TV.  Then regular TV would be back, then the same message a week later ... repeating until sometime by the end of March when analog signals would be cut and the country went full DTV.  That's my plan, Obama are you on board?

Switching gears - TiVo!  NYT has the dish here - but TiVo introduced a new beta search this week at CES.  If you have a Series3 or HD, you can check it out inside the music, movies, etc menu.  It is really cool.  As you type in a show or actors name it chooses the most popular to display first - also surrounding you with cool clips and videos about that and other shows.  I can't wait for this search to come out of Beta, because its awesome.

And finally on the etc note ... according to WaPo, here, 213 venues will be open until the 4am last call during Inauguration weekend.  About 70 venues still have pending issues with ANCs and citizens associations.  All I can say is AMERICA!