Skip to main content

Home/ Indie Nation/ Group items tagged television

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
John Lemke

FCC to buy out TV broadcasters to free up mobile spectrum | Ars Technica - 0 views

arstechnica.com/...ers-to-free-up-mobile-spectrum

indienationnews 2012 fcc broadband spectrum mobile bandwidth cellphone mobile mobile-web

shared by John Lemke on 30 Sep 12 - No Cached
    • John Lemke
      John Lemke on 30 Sep 12
       
      I had my first issue at step one, "asks broadcasters to tell the FCC how much it wold take for the agency to buy them out".  They claim that this is a way to keep cost down by hopefully grabbing the least popular via low bids.   I see two issues immediately.  Number one by asking them what they want they are going to immediately INCREASE the bids.  Two, if you are asking me what I want for my business to change how it broadcasts why would I not include any expense to make the switch. By asking them what they think a fair bid would be, they are, more or less, giving them a blank check.
  • the commission will put the newly-freed blocks of spectrum up for auction. If, as expected, the spectrum is more valuable when used for mobile services than broadcast television, then the FCC should reap significantly more from these traditional auctions than it had to pay for the spectrum in the original reverse auctions, producing a tidy profit for taxpayers.
    • John Lemke
      John Lemke on 30 Sep 12
       
      The objective at an auction is to purchase the object at the lowest possible cost.  How much mobile providers are willing to pay will determine how high bids will climb.  Based on how our current mobile providers already provide poor service when compared to the rest of the world, how much is that bandwidth actually worth to these companies that, more or less, have a lobbied stranglehold on the consumer?
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • Bergmayer also praised an FCC proposal to update its "spectrum screen," a set of rules that prevent any single provider from gaining too large a share of the spectrum available in a particular market. The current scheme, he said, "treats all spectrum alike, even though some spectrum bands are better-suited to mobile broadband than others." As a result, he argued, it has become ineffective at preventing Verizon and AT&T from gaining enough spectrum to threaten competition. He urged the FCC to revise the rules to ensure the new auctions don't further entrench the dominance of the largest incumbents.
    • John Lemke
      John Lemke on 30 Sep 12
       
      It is the stuff like this that worries me, on one hand they want a high bid, and on the other it is going to be regulated.
  • Over the last decade, it has become increasingly obvious that America's spectrum resources are mis-allocated. The proliferation of cell phones, and more recently smartphones and tablets, has given mobile providers a voracious appetite for new spectrum. But a big chunk of the available spectrum is currently occupied by broadcast television stations. With more and more households subscribed to cable, satellite, and Internet video services, traditional broadcast television is looking like an increasingly outmoded use of the scarce and valuable airwaves.
  • incumbent broadcasters have controlled their channels for so long that they've come to be regarded as de facto property rights. And needless to say, the politically powerful broadcasters have fiercely resisted any efforts to force them to relinquish their spectrum.
  • incentive auctions
  • The plan has three phases. In the first phase, the FCC will conduct a reverse auction in which it asks broadcasters to tell the FCC how much it would take for the agency to buy them out. Presumably, the least popular (and, therefore, least profitable) channels will submit the lowest bids. By accepting these low bids, the FCC can free up the maximum possible spectrum at the minimum cost
John Lemke

The Land Walker: the world's first 340cm bipedal exoskeleton - 0 views

www.gizmag.com/4004

walker technology tech robotics robots writeabout 2011

shared by John Lemke on 08 Mar 11 - No Cached
  • John Lemke on 08 Mar 11
     
    Japanese machinery and robotics manufacturer Sakakibara-Kikai has released the first genuine bi-pedal exoskeleton - a landmark event and one which is certain to attract a lot of attention for the company. Mechanatrons and BattleMechs have long been the subject of scifi books, comics and movies with the promise of cyborg technology popularised by the smash sixties television series "The Six Million Dollar Man." We've previously seen some celebrated exoskeletons in films such as Alien (Sigourney Weaver's Ripley takes out the Queen alien in an exoskeleton), Star Wars (the AT-ST Imperial Scout Walker) and RoboCop (the ED209), but until now, the nearest thing we've seen in the metal was the 3.5 metre superhero exoskeleton Enryu from Tmsuk in Japan. Sakakibara-Kikai's Land Walker is just a tad shorter than Enryu at 3.4 metres, weighs 1000kg and shuffles along at 1.5kmh. Enryu is a lot faster than Land Walker but uses caterpillar-like tracks rather than legs to perform its chores - the strapping 3.5 metre Enryu will be called upon to rush into burning buildings, lift heavy objects and rescue people.
John Lemke

Cambodia Wants Mandatory Surveillance Cameras In Internet Cafes | Techdirt - 0 views

www.techdirt.com/...e-cameras-internet-cafes.shtml

2012 indienationnews surveillance cameras internet cambodia yourrights

shared by John Lemke on 26 Sep 12 - No Cached
  • All telecommunications operators, sales outlets and distributors are obliged to register their business at local authorities. Meanwhile, all locations serving telephone services and Internet shall be equipped with closed circuit television camera and shall store footage data of users for at least 03 months. Telephone service corporation owners along public roads shall record National Identity Cards of any subscriber.
John Lemke

Character Breakdowns for The Walking Dead Companion Series Revealed? - SuperHeroHype - 0 views

www.superherohype.com/...dead-companion-series-revealed

2014 walking dead companion series character indienationnews tv television AMC Walking Dead 2014.09.29-TNN

shared by John Lemke on 28 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • As the series is said to be wholly original and not based on any of the comics or games in particular, it’s safe to assume these aren’t characters fans are familiar with. In addition, the names of these characters could simply be placeholders as auditions for the series continue to take place. Though also unconfirmed, the series is rumored to be a prequel of sorts, focusing on the early days of the zombie infection, which Rick Grimes of “The Walking Dead” luckily missed out on.
  • John Lemke on 28 Sep 14
     
    "As the series is said to be wholly original and not based on any of the comics or games in particular, it's safe to assume these aren't characters fans are familiar with. In addition, the names of these characters could simply be placeholders as auditions for the series continue to take place. Though also unconfirmed, the series is rumored to be a prequel of sorts, focusing on the early days of the zombie infection, which Rick Grimes of "The Walking Dead" luckily missed out on."
1 - 4 of 4
Showing 20▼ items per page