$350 for a watch, especially the Apple Watch isn’t unreasonable in the higher end watch category. However, that is the starting point and the price goes up from there. $350 is pretty unreasonable for something I have to charge every night. Sure, I recharge my phone every night but I figure a watch should work like the Timex I had when I was a kid. Take a licking and keep on ticking. Then again, my phone is my watch so I haven’t worn one in years.
Everything you think you know about Net Neutrality is WRONG. I am sure there are smarter people out there than me who may clarify some things that I don’t know but it seems for the most part the general public is misinformed about what Net Neutrality is and what the FCC is or isn’t doing about it.
First some background. According to Public Knowledge, the definition of Net Neutrality is:
Net neutrality is the principle that individuals should be free to access all content and applications equally, regardless of the source, without Internet service providers discriminating against specific online services or websites.
Pretty basic. In other words, it means that when I have a broadband relationship with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) AKA cable/phone company, I expect that I can access what I want and they won’t discriminate on the speed of my internet traffic from any website. So my Netflix, in theory, should be just as speedy as content the I get from the ISP’s own owned websites.
Last week the FCC reclassified wired and wireless Broadband under Title II of the Communications Act, essentially making it a Public Utility with more regulations on ISPs and how they do business. Net Neutrality proponents and the Obama administration cheered while Republicans and ISPs thought the measure went too far. As someone who is a proponent of Net Neutrality in principle, I am left scratching my head as to how this move by the FCC really has done anything to protect the consumer.
First some background. When my mother was young and her family drove from Cleveland to Cincinnati, there were no highways. Trips took longer and there were more frequent stops along the way. After the highways were put in the drive time decreases dramatically as did the number of necessary stops.
The same is true on the internet. When the internet was first starting out the ISPs built the local roads and if I was sending an email from Cincinnati to Los Angeles, it would hop from server to server. Then companies called Content Delivery Networks (CDN’s) came in and starting building the internet highways allowing data to flow quicker and without jumps. Unlike the government, who built and maintained highways, these infrastructures were created by private businesses. They would pass data off between themselves and to ISPs in a more efficient manner. For the most part they enter into Peering Relationships which says assuming we are both sending and receiving the same amount of data we won’t charge each other. But if one of us starts sending more data thanwe have agreed to, there is usually a fee involved.
Enter Netflix. If Netflix had to rely on the old local roads to deliver their streaming content, there would be missing data packets and as some of us have experienced dithering or skipping while we watch a movie. By entering into a relationship with a CDN who has servers all across the nation, they can duplicate their content into those servers. So if someone in Cincinnati orders a movie, they are streaming from a local server as would someone in Los Angeles stream the same movie from a duplicate copy of it on a local server. Netflix has to pay these companies in order to have their content on their servers. This costs a lot of money, so in order to reduce the costs, Netflix started approaching the cable companies asking them to put their content on the ISPs servers. Some agreed under a Peering Relationship but given the amount of internet traffic created by Netflix, some expected to be paid. Netflix created a lot of noise last year about this issue with Comcast. Netflix thought they would save money by skipping the CDNs and then cried “Net Neutrality” when the ISP’s expected to enter into a similar relationship.
Under Title II, the FCC said they would keep an eye on the peering relationship and even the paid ones but aren’t cutting them out. Should the FCC start saying that a relationship between a edge provider like Netflix and an ISP like Comcast cannot have money exchange hands, Comcast would probably say, go back to dealing with CDNs and we won’t have to worry about not getting paid.
Either way Netflix will continue to pay to make sure their streaming service is fast and doesn’t break up. So if I started Bearman Video Streaming Service and didn’t have the money that Netflix does to use the “highways”, my streaming service will be slower and probably choppy. So in essence, high speed lanes are still in effect.
Let’s imagine that the FCC comes down hard on ISPs and disallows any paid peering relationships. Without the money coming in from one end of the stream, ISP’s are going to look to make that up on the other end, meaning higher prices for you and I. Now part of Title II does give the FCC to control pricing but for now they say they aren’t going to enforce that part of the order.
Hal Singer, in a recent Forbes article explained it this way, “Imagine what would happen to newspaper subscriptions if contributions from advertisers were banned, and the entire cost burden fell on readers!”
Additionally, cable companies were protected to some degree from paying the high utility pole fees that phone and electric companies do in order to encourage expanding their networks to as many customers as possible. However, under Title II, that could change. Higher fees for them, mean higher prices for us.
Finally, the most impactful reason that the FCC’s actions won’t improve competition and benefit the consumer is because they are choosing not to require what is known as “last mile unbundling” Requiring last mile unbundling would mean that ISPs would have to lease their lines at a wholesale rate to other customers. Imagine the amount of competition and driving down of pricing that would involve. In the cell phone world, I could potentially have T-mobile pricing plans (which are great) on a Verizon Network.
Net Neutrality in principle is a great thing, however I am not convinced that the action from the FCC has done anything to actually be pro-consumer.
What do you think?
Don’t know why this came to my head. Didn’t want to do something everyone else has done with memorial to Leonard Nimoy. So what is better than mashing up Oscar the Grouch (Sesame Street) and Mr Spock (Star Trek)? OK honestly it makes no sense but it was fun to draw.
Ladies, here is the simple reason why wives should not cut their hair short. As men, WE WILL LIE TO YOU!!
Let’s face it sometimes you are in a rut, sometimes you are so busy taking care of the kids that keeping your hair looking good becomes a burden. But no matter what whims you have as you sit in the salon, the only response cutting inches of hair off that won’t get a man killed is to say they like it. Especially when we have no warning of the event prior.
The truth. Most prefer longer hair. When you cut it short, men see that as one step closer to you having the mom haircut and then THEIR mom haircut where the hair keeps getting shorter in the back and taller on top. You know what I am talking about.
Thankfully my wife prefers her hair long and doesn’t have those whims because as she ages she sees her longer hair as keeping her younger looking. Now there is too long where you are just trying too hard too. haha
(psst. BTW, I have to keep my hair the way she likes it cut in return).
What do you think?
Super Bowl Ratings Decline. That is the headlines I predict on Monday. How many people have gone to a Super Bowl game and when the play stops and the commercials start, everyone is told to quiet down so people can hear the TV. Companies spend millions of dollars both on the ad time and the production of a 30-second Super Bowl spot.
But is paying that much for the airtime that important anymore? Just the mere mention that you are doing a “Big Game” ad can garner tons of eyeballs. Budweiser releassed their tear jerker horses and dogs ad on YouTube and already it has close to 12 Million views
And Snickers released their Brady Bunch ad with Danny Trejo and Steve Buscemi yesterday which already topped 1 million views.
So are you planning on watching? Do you watch for the game or the ads?
It is a known fact that we can lose our sense of smell as we age. Especially after age 60, the decline can begin in earnest. Sometimes your sense of taste can also diminish greatly along with your sense of smell.
My mother and father in law (neither looking anything like the depiction above) are living proof. From an early age my MIL’s sense of taste and smell were very limited. For her that is a curse and a blessing. For the rest of us, it is simply a curse as she doesn’t know that sometimes she needs to air out the house because of my FIL’s farts.
I do not draw to make you hate me. I do not draw to make you think there is no other option but to try and quiet my voice through acts of threats and violence.
My deepest condolences to those cartoonists and others who lost their lives today in Paris at Charlie Hebdo. Je Suis Charlie (I am Charlie).
The real story behind “The Interview” will probably never be known. But today’s cartoon tongue in cheek claims maybe it was a mutually beneficial relationship between Seth Rogen and Kim Jong Un all along.
There are so many conspiracy theories behind who really hacked Sony Pictures and what if any blame lays at the hands of North Korea. Some reports say it was North Korea and others claim it wasn’t. Even North Korea got into the conspiracy theory fray by claiming the United States government was actually behind the movie to undermine and embarrass the North Korean Government. Now as history shows, especially during WWII, the US was heavily involved in film propaganda work as the majority of Americans went to the movies for entertainment. But everyone knows our government isn’t funny, so to put this out is probably beyond them. SMIRK (As my friend Jynksie would say)
So with a limited run and “The Interview” being mostly streamed on the net, it make $18million in the first week and is the most talked about movie of the year. Consequently, North Korea is also back in the news.
So conspiracy theory nerds, what say you?
This is why you should be careful who you wish a “Merry Christmas” Not because they might be offended but because you might learn something about yourself you didn’t know. OK, probably not a reason to stop the practice.
I know there are people who get upset when someone says “Merry Christmas” instead of the broader and more inclusive “Happy Holidays”. I know there are others who get upset when people say “Happy Holidays” thinking we shouldn’t be so damn sensitive.
Here is how I always looked at it. Whether you say “Merry Christmas”, “Happy Hanukkah”, “Happy Kwanzaa”, or “Happy Winter Solstice” to me I don’t care. I am happy to receive your good tidings for the season. But as they cartoon alludes too, I always wonder about the few people who seem to turn on the charm in December and are pricks the rest of the year. It is as if, as an adult, Santa is still watching and they can make up for a year’s worth of crap in one month. Thankfully I have only run into a handful of these people in my lifetime.
Anyone else every have to deal with someone like this?
To all my readers, thank you for another year of support and I hope 2015 brings you nothing but good health and good fortune.
UPDATE: Jake Kern on Google Plus provided the winning caption. Thanks to all that participated.
Citrus as Contraception. Yes back centuries ago, women would use citrus rinds as an early form of contraception.
Now I had captioned this with a comment from this middle ages orange peddler but figured I would give you all an opportunity to showcase your creativity. What do you think he should be saying to entice people to buy his oranges given the topic of this cartoon?