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Monday, February 13, 2012
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Fast company
Blog entry: March 9, 2010, 10:47 am | Author: SCOTT SUTTELL
Cleveland is one of the places providing a template for Google Inc. as the technology giant seeks to build an ultra-high-speed network for up to a half -million U.S. residents.The Wall Street Journal reports that since its ultra-high-speed announcement last month, Google has reached out for advice to several communities, including Cleveland, that have embarked on such projects. Among other things, Google asked about the need to have online programs that prove the benefits of an ultra-high-speed service, says Lev Gonick, chief information officer at Case Western Reserve University.
The Journal reports that in an e-mail Mr. Gonick received from a Google contact last month about the project, he recalls the company said "we have a lot to learn." Mr. Gonick is leading an initiative that would connect 104 houses, several hospitals and Case Western Reserve to a 1-gigabit per second ultra-high-speed Internet service, the newspaper notes.
“The service, expected to go live this month, is about 100 times faster than the top speed available to most Americans,” according to The Journal.
A Google spokesman says of its outreach effort, “We're not pretending to have all the answers."
Building the ultra-high-speed network could cost more than $1 billion if Google is to reach its goal of using the network to serve 500,000 people.
With the health care reform vote shaping up to be extremely close in the House, the web site Talking Points Memo examines the continued opposition to the bill from liberal Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich.
“As the health care reform fight enters its final days, most eyes are on about two dozen pro-life and vulnerable Democrats in the House, where the greatest number of votes remain in play,” the site reports. “But could the fate of reform actually rest in the hands of a long-serving progressive?”
Rep. Kucinich remains opposed to the bill, which does not include the public option many liberals want. (And it certainly doesn't create a single-payer system, which many liberals really want.)
“There is some chance, however small, that Kucinich will cast the deciding vote,” Talking Points Memo concludes. “And for the time being, he's saying he'd rather be the Ralph Nader of reform, instead of its kingmaker.”
Cleveland-based “boycott expert” Fred Taub is among those quoted in this Associated Press story on how companies do their best to avoid taking sides in politically charged debates.
The jumping off point for the piece is Starbucks, which has seen its stores become “forums for demonstrations by both pro-gun and gun-control advocates,” the AP notes. Despite its association with a “politically liberal, latter supper ethos,” the AP says, Starbucks is sticking with a simple policy of following local law: If it's legal to carry a firearm in town, it's allowed in the stores. (Just make sure you specify what kind of shot you want in your drink.)
This position, of course, risks offending customers who feel passionately about gun control.
"It's too early to see the real impact right now, but this will have an effect," says Mr. Taub, a consultant to companies on boycotts who also operates the comprehensive Boycott Watch web site.
"The Hollywood view is any PR is good. But from a business standpoint, this is a no-win," he says.
A new College Board program called “Score Choice” gets a thumbs-down from a Case Western Reserve University official in this Washington Post blog post.
Education blogger Valerie Strauss says the program gives high school student who take the SAT college admissions exam more than once the option of picking the scores they choose to send to colleges. Previously, scores were sent to schools each time a student took the SAT. The College Board says the program is designed “to reduce student stress and improve the test-day experience.”
Rick Bischoff, vice president of enrollment management at Case Western Reserve, tells The Post that his school — like many — uses each student's best scores in evaluating an application. He's worried that Score Choice "focuses more attention on test scores in the admissions process than is warranted."
"Students' time could be spent in more productive ways than strategizing over which test scores they should be sending and how many times they should be taking the SAT," he tells The Post.
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