A New Global and Local Telecom Service

If Skype was disruptive to telcos, then Cubic Telecom is their nightmare (and good for you) by ZDNet's David Berlind

-- "A few weeks prior to my scheduled departure for Dublin, Ireland where I ran the most recent Mashup Camp, I started handing out the phone numbers of my hotel and traveling companions to people who might want to reach me while I was over there. For cell phone usage, I’m a Verizon Wireless customer [...]"

David has spent a great deal of time testing and describing the Cubic Telecom model from a customer's viewpoint and come away with the conclusion that it's going to be a winner because it's so disruptive to current business models. It saves the consumer money, particularly the roaming international user. I will check further into this for use on our trip to Italy and Prague in 2008.

Unlocking the Benefits of Garlic - Well - Tara Parker-Pope - Health - New York Times Blog

Unlocking the Benefits of Garlic - Well - Tara Parker-Pope - Health - New York Times Blog:

I love garlic and use quite a bit of it in my cooking! This writing suggests that between five and a dozen cloves daily seems to have salubrious health benefits. That's more than I use, but could go for more. This tidbit caught my eye:

"Many home chefs mistakenly cook garlic immediately after crushing or chopping it, added Dr. Kraus. To maximize the health benefits, you should crush the garlic at room temperature and allow it to sit for about 15 minutes. That triggers an enzyme reaction that boosts the healthy compounds in garlic."

I wonder if the pre-cut garlic in jars has the same effect?

Eat more garlic!

Paging the Lesser of 8 Evils - New York Times

Paging the Lesser of 8 Evils - New York Times

The column by Collins, obviously a Democrat, is clever but off-putting. Her motive is to portray the whole lot of Republican candidates and their campaigns as 'bad news.'

I watched most of the Republican debate last night. I thought the format was bizarre. The flashy backdrops and surreal staging turned me off. The YouTube questions format was OK, but I don't know if the candidates were exposed to the specific questions in advance or not.

Ron Paul is an embarrassment. Romney was unconvincing. Duncan was merely taking up space. McCain was, well...McCain. Thompson was bland, but credible. Giuliani seemed self absorbed as mayor of New York, although he surely does have an impressive record there. I think the standout was Huckabee by a mile is his ability to connect with people via his rational and clear responses. He seemed to be working from the question, not from a mental script like the others.

Verizon Opens Up Network to Outside Devices - New York Times

Bravo for Verizon! This is very big shift in the walled garden model that wireless carriers have operated under heretofore. I have been seriously considering upgrading my cell phone, now more than three years old, but I can wait a little longer for the opportunity to have a decent Google email experience with an open cell phone on a very good network.

I wonder if this gutsy move by Verizon will be followed by Sprint and AT&T? I expect so. Perhaps this is only the first move that will enable Google to be a player in partnership with Verizon in the upcoming 700 MHz frequency auction. Now, I wonder what this means for the close relationship Verizon has had with Microsoft.

Here's a relevant quote from an Information Week story:

"This is a transformation point in the 20-year history of mass market wireless devices -- one which we believe will set the table for the next level of innovation and growth," said Lowell McAdam, Verizon Wireless' president and chief executive officer, in a statement.

Once the change goes into effect, Verizon Wireless will have two categories of customers: full-service customers -- those that purchase devices and services from Verizon Wireless and receive technical support, and bring-your-own customers -- those that will bring their own devices to the carrier's network without full service."

The NY Times story (11/28/07) is here.

An interesting quote:

“It’s very common and popular in the press to view Google and Verizon at each other’s throats," Mr. McAdam said. “We have far more in common with Google in meeting demands of consumers than in conflict.”

No matter the motivation, many expect the result to be good for consumers. “This is only going to drive innovation for consumers, which is a good thing," said Cyriac Roeding, who is in charge of mobile content efforts at CBS.

If Verizon’s effort is successful, then content creators, software developers and device makers, who have chafed under the control of the wireless companies, will need to show what they can do. At a telecommunications conference in San Francisco, those groups were outwardly hostile toward the carriers, complaining that they were too controlling.

Now, Mr. Entner said, “the ball is in the court of the device manufacturers and software developers.”

“They have to put up or shut up.”

Saul Hansell at the Times has interesting comments.

More here at MarketWatch.com

Tiffany and eBay in Fight Over Fakes - New York Times

Tiffany and eBay in Fight Over Fakes - New York Times

Tiffany should lose this battle. eBay is nothing more than a marketplace, a community of buyers and sellers. Any open marketplace has good and bad merchandise and both honest and dishonest sellers. The fact that Tiffany or any other 'brand' knock-offs are offered for sale is the way the world works.

A rational court will reject Tiffany's claims. If they want to get at the producers of knock-offs, they will have to follow the same path as the music industry by suing pirates, as slow and difficult as that may be. As for those who unknowingly buy bogus merchandise, caveat emptor is as good now as ever.

The High Cost of Health Care - New York Times

This Times editorial spells out the issues that drive the costs of health care, without beating the drum for single-payer universal insurance coverage as many people do. It is the costs that drive our problems and unless some political leaders step up with a target of reducing costs, not merely controlling them, and a plan to do so, we will make little progress.

Too many people are in the health care profession and related businesses and far too much inefficiency plagues the system in the U.S. Tough as it will be to swallow, a system that rations testing and care, rather than spends exorbitant sums to prolong life will be the only one that can control costs, but I'll be dead before any politician has the courage to sponsor it.

While the editorial identifies the primary cost drivers, the writers offer no recommendations of consequence to fix things. I am a firm believer that consumers of health care must always pay something for it. Without that incentive broadly applied, no progress on cost control is possible.

Garmin Nuvi 670 Selected User Comments from Amazon.com

Amazon Comments on Garmin Nuvi 670

"I frequently travel, state to state and occasionally international - I find when I get into a rental car, in an unfamiliar city, my portable navigation system is my best friend. It certainly doesn't hurt to do some "personal due diligence" prior to any trip - map out your locations, google & research addresses - and program them in prior to your trip (if they're not already listed in POI's) I would never plan my entire trip based solely on POI's programmed into my navigational system."

"I purchased the Nuvi 670 for use in both US and Europe, and just returned from a 2 week trip driving in Germany, Austria and Italy. The 670 worked as advertised - just turn it on and it found the satellites and our location and was ready to navigate. I used the included suction cup mount, wedged into a dash tray. No problem with satellite connection. Internal speaker was excellent. Maps were very detailed. The 670 found every small road we used, even the winding one lane paths in small towns. Pronunciation of street names was comical, but adequate, especially when coupled with the clear text line at the top of the screen that gave the name of approaching cross streets and the turn instructions in the lower right corner. We could not have navigated in some places without the Nuvi, as the street maps we purchased were not as detailed and were impossible to follow quickly enough. This is a superb product."

"Was looking for a GPS navigator, and decided to buy the 670 since we were planning a trip to Italy. Whether walking around the cities/towns or driving in the countryside of Tuscany, the Nuvi 670 delivered what I needed. I can't begin to imagine how many times we would've been lost had we not had the Nuvi.

"If you are driving around in the country, I would recommend you disable the navigator's use of Unpaved Roads. In my case, it used them a lot more frequently than I would've expected.

You'll also find that some places out in the country ( i.e. restaurants, hotels, etc.) don't know or publish their street address, especially the street number. But, it's pretty easy to take an educated guess, which usually gets you very close to the intended destination.

Finally, I could bicker about the pronunciation of the Italian street and town names, but that really wasn't a big deal at all."

"Just took this to Italy. It was just great for driving. Option for selecting "truck" versus a car keeps you off the smallest streets, a plus if you are not used to and do not care to drive the small windy roads in the mountains or within cities. You can also insert a waypoint to avoid or bypass certain areas. Very up to date. Only a few new intersections or roads were not mapped. In the "pedestrian" mode, you can use it to wander a city, after marking your parking place. One problem is the slight ambiguity of which way to start, when walking. A north arrow would be good. Also, the battery will run out if used continually for a few hours of walking, so be careful. Be sure to have the 12 volt charger for the car. Other than those two issues, it was absolutely great."

"We used the 670 in Italy about a month ago. Reception was fine, except in a few walled towns where the inside streets were almost completely surrounded by high stone buildings. It is important to spell the destination city correctly according to the local usage, i.e. Venezia instead of Venice. The unit was especially helpful in the numerous roundabouts. The turns we missed were all our own fault--we turned too soon, usually. Count down the meters to be sure. Also, we did not need to use the windshield mount (it didn't stick very well). Since there were two of us, the "navigator" had the 670 in his/her lap, and it worked fine."

7 Police Beheaded in Afghanistan - Forbes.com

Here's one of thousands of examples of why the radical Islamic terrorists must be eliminated. I'm not naive enough to believe we can kill all that would do these terrible killings, but every terrorist killed is one that will not do it. Some would argue that we in the West, particularly in the U.S., are somehow responsible for the actions of radical Islamists. That is pure unadulterated bullshit and those who believe it are stupid, deceived or sympathizers.

"During Friday's attack, the militants ambushed police checkpoints set up to keep the Taliban fighters away from the town and beheaded the policemen, said Mullah Mohammad Nabi, a purported Taliban commander in the area."

7 Police Beheaded in Afghanistan - Forbes.com

Taking Science on Faith - New York Times

In this column by Paul Davies, he argues that science and religion are equally faith-based. Scientists have no explanation why the laws of our universe are what they are and immutable. They can only discover and explain them. He argues that other universes, if they exist could have different laws and the meta-laws that govern existence can only be accepted by faith.

Most scientists have difficulty believing in a Supreme Being that created and set all things in order, yet their reasoning and discovery invariably come up against 'the beginning.' It is irrational for them to say they have not faith when beginnings and 'meta-laws cannot be explained.

Kudos to Davies for writing this cogent piece and to the Times for publishing it.

Taking Science on Faith - New York Times

Icy Rescue as Seas Claim a Cruise Ship - New York Times

Good reporting by the Times for a ship sinking in a remote area of the world. Carol and I have talked about an Antarctic cruise sometime in the future. These things happen, I suppose, so the possibility must be part of our thinking.

The reports suggest that the evacuation was orderly and well managed. The passengers are all safe and the weather was cooperating with sunny calm seas as the Explorer was abandoned to its icy grave. Fortunately, other ships were nearby to pick up the passengers and give aid.

Hopefully we will read more soon to determine how the ship struck a berg.

Icy Rescue as Seas Claim a Cruise Ship - New York Times