tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97222942024-02-19T09:48:34.499-05:00Telecommunications Consultingby Bunnie RiedelNonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.comBlogger124125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-89491953119977300442014-10-28T13:22:00.000-04:002014-10-28T13:22:32.311-04:00Contracts? We Don’t Honor No Stinkin Contracts!
Back in the Stone Age, when I was a kid, I was told
quite explicitly that lying was bad.
This was further reinforced by my Sunday School teacher and my Girl
Scout leader. It was made clear that if
you did something wrong, you should still tell the truth, even if that truth
had consequences. In the end, they said,
you will be a better person for it.
Imagine my surprise as an Nonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-38350470956138700312014-08-11T14:33:00.000-04:002014-08-11T14:33:39.081-04:00Lipstick on a Pig
I was raised by a mother who grew up in the 1920’s
and 1930’s on a cotton farm in Delano, California. She was a transplanted Texan who used many country
colloquialisms and passed the same onto me.
One of my favorites was “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a
pig.” Her favored vernacular gave me a
fond appreciation for language and how language can be used to make Nonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-88800277996534534522014-05-21T14:43:00.000-04:002014-05-21T14:43:28.007-04:00Roll Me Over...
The country is absolutely abuzz with the news of the
Comcast-Time Warner merger, the Charter acquisitions and the AT&T merger
with DirectTV. My doctor even asked me
about it today. He spent a few moments in the midst of treating my Rosacea,
opining about where it all is going. “Terrestrial”
he said, “Terrestrial.” I admit I was
duly impressed with his grasp of telecom, Nonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-36168006151258844042010-02-08T07:04:00.002-05:002010-03-01T08:56:01.781-05:00When the Night Meets the Morning SunLast Thursday, Comcast and NBCU marched up to Capitol Hill to testify before the House Commerce Subcommittee on Communications. At times it was a raucous exchange with Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and NBCU CEO Jeff Zucker making promises about what they will deliver once the two giant corporations are joined in holy merger matrimony.
The spectacle reminded me of the Carol King song “Will You Nonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-90039366827179623212009-05-28T09:57:00.015-04:002009-05-28T12:00:56.389-04:00Fiber RecommendedSo I’m watching BBC last night and here’s this story on a fella on some rural farm in Japan and he is bragging about his 50 Mbps broadband speed and how he has more time for fishing because he no longer has to commute and can service all his clients from home and it sent me right into a self-righteous diatribe about how crappy broadband service is here in the US. Then to pour lemon juice into theNonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-42259163796067339112009-04-22T16:46:00.005-04:002009-04-23T09:01:45.344-04:00The "Look"When my kids were little they were quite adept at reading my facial expressions. Especially that expression that communicated to them that I was not pleased. Today they call it the “look” as in “remember when mom would give you the look?” I believe that moms are uniquely endowed with the “look.” The “look” meant “whatever it is you are doing right now, stop it immediately because I do not approveNonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-88073475319923342662009-04-08T12:46:00.004-04:002009-04-08T12:50:54.355-04:00Love is a Many Splendored ThingDid you know it’s great to be in love? Love releases all kinds of chemicals in your brain, among them adrenaline, dopamine, fenylethylamine, endorphin and oxytocin. Adrenaline causes your pupils to get bigger, your heart to go up, your breathing get faster and reduces hunger. Dopamine acts like cocaine and it’s addictive. Fenylethylamine acts like ecstasy and speed. Endorphin has the effect Nonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-4181485515214500842009-03-27T13:57:00.007-04:002009-03-27T16:38:59.249-04:00Cardin Cans ConstitutionWhen I first heard about Ben Cardin’s (D-MD) bill to allow newspapers to become nonprofits, I said to myself “you need to stew on that for a minute.” I felt I needed time to percolate the idea through my little brain and try to think of all the permutations of the impact of that legislation. This morning I caught an email in which the sender asked a serious question:“Anybody have a clue why it Nonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-61566445103410114052009-03-18T11:02:00.003-04:002009-03-18T11:12:38.902-04:00Where is the Bathroom, Please?I love international travel, or any travel for that matter. But going to a country where the culture is different, the language is different and the sites are different from what I am used to, is particularly romantic. The challenge, of course, is in the language. I don’t like having to rely on the good likelihood that I will find English speakers. I like trying to muddle my way, however Nonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-75803246750936263932009-03-09T11:21:00.003-04:002009-03-09T11:28:32.563-04:00The Ramifications of Various Legal TendonsThere are 438 people who live in the town of Mecosta Michigan and boy, are they getting shtupped. The University of Minnesota report “Statewide Video Franchising Legislation: A Comparative Study of Outcomes in Texas, California and Michigan” (March 2009) says so. The rate for Basic + Expanded Basic cable went from $41.33 in 2006 to $69.71 in 2009. Now you could say that people in Ingham County Nonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-61963671277544058592009-03-01T13:56:00.008-05:002009-03-01T17:38:45.885-05:00Oh Maryland, My Maryland!Here’s how I got the story. Seems a staffer in Maryland Delegate Sheila Hixson’s office (D-District 20), woke up one night and said to himself, “Gee, I think I’ll write a piece of statewide franchising legislation.” No one can testify whether a hallucinogenic was involved. Unfortunately for the staffer, he didn’t take time to go look at other statewide franchising legislation and his final Nonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-45595480010693609462009-02-14T00:57:00.002-05:002009-02-14T01:00:43.211-05:00Comment On San FranciscoJust in case you don't open up the comments at the end of my post...from Zane Blaney, ED of Access San Francisco...in the "You Gotta Be Frickin Kidding Me" Category of Comments...Zane Blaney, Access SF E.D. has left a new comment on your post "DIVCA’s Chickens Come Home to Roost":The SF Franchise Fee is about $8 million. Since the 1980's the City has set aside .2% of the 5% for PEG. Today that's Nonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-14112289565065369162009-02-13T12:56:00.002-05:002009-02-13T12:59:10.835-05:00DIVCA’s Chickens Come Home to RoostI keep asking myself when will I stop being surprised, shocked and saddened by attacks on Public access television? I think the answer is never. I’ve mentioned before that I grew up in Fresno, California, but I don’t think I’ve mentioned that I spent my disco years running up to San Francisco. During college, San Francisco was my second home; I love everything about the City. From the St. Nonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-13757490312428748682009-02-05T12:20:00.002-05:002009-02-05T12:25:28.224-05:00Negative Social Trends Traced to DTV TransitionDateline: April 2010Some interesting social trends are emerging across the country. A recent article in “All Things Baby” magazine reported an enormous and unusual spike in births during the month of March.“We’ve seen birthrates suddenly jump to an all time high,” said David Umpdefratz. “We aren’t quite sure why.”In addition to the increase in stork activity, communities are reporting that petty Nonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-21436820104994523832009-02-02T14:41:00.004-05:002009-02-02T14:56:29.837-05:00Blind to the Lawat&t keeps making these “presentations” in places they say they say they are going to build. They pull Public, Educational and Government (PEG) access managers into a room and extol the virtues of PEG on U-Verse. The infamous channel 99 ghetto for PEG channels. The PEG “solution.”“We’ve lowered the load time to 8 seconds.”“Your viewers will be able to watch city council meetings from other Nonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-45105566645476306202009-01-30T14:52:00.004-05:002009-01-30T15:05:38.192-05:00LA Rips Red Carpet Out From Under Public Access TelevisionNot long after Los Angeles stopped being a farming community and became “Hollywood” the competition was on to outdo New York City. But now, even a century later, LA is still just the ugly stepsister that never can quite attain the sophistication, style and intellectual heft that is Manhattan. I say this as a former Angelino, who came to love all that is LA and who still misses the crazy laid-backNonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-32661981473402142902009-01-23T12:52:00.003-05:002009-01-23T17:05:05.740-05:00Broadband Rolls Out, DTV Clams UpI have a brother in Missouri who lives on and works over 300 acres of land. He’s a cattle rancher. I rarely receive emails from him and I'm really careful about what I send him. No attachments, no embedded video or pictures, etc. If it’s not plain text, he can’t/won’t open them because it takes him forever and ever amen to download them. My brother’s livelihood depends on information. What is theNonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-10584372053697393472009-01-05T11:31:00.006-05:002009-01-06T14:44:14.914-05:00First We Celebrate, Then We MournI am very excited about 2009. Personally I have some fun stuff planned. Professionally I will be expanding my business, adding a larger nonprofit component. As for telecommunications, there will be opportunities this year for modifying or overturning the harmful state legislation of the past few years. And we can all look forward to a “new” FCC being created. There is much to celebrate.In the Nonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-77034459572147893762008-12-16T11:56:00.001-05:002008-12-16T12:00:59.518-05:00Corporate ResponsibilityI am a loyal Comcast customer. Couple reasons. I would like to get FiOS, but I don’t want my twisted copper land line stripped out of my house and so far, Verizon isn’t offering an alternative. Also I just like their commercials, they’re funny.It pleases me to note that Comcast, like all the other cable operators, is taking the digital transition seriously and providing their customers with all Nonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-80019146180921937022008-11-14T12:19:00.003-05:002008-11-14T17:00:47.549-05:00Pick Me! Pick Me!Most of us had that experience in grammar school, the being “picked” for the team experience. When it came to softball, I usually was last on the pick list along with the girl with the coke bottle glasses and buck teeth. However when it came to volleyball, not only was I a premium pick, I usually was captain because I was a volleyball diva on steroids. Give me the set-up and I delivered a viciousNonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-760532477745302192008-09-16T11:56:00.005-04:002008-09-16T12:16:49.146-04:00More Verminators!On the eve of a Congressional hearing regarding what has happened to Public, Educational and Government (PEG) access channels since the passage of statewide or state issued franchise legislation, it is heartening to note that the cable and telecom industries (and the FCC) have severely overplayed their hand. Tomorrow, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Nonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-30586620993935815682008-07-28T15:14:00.000-04:002008-07-28T15:15:52.686-04:00The Bottom LineI am a huge fan of persistence. There’s always more than one way to approach an issue and usually more than one way to reach a solution. But I have to take my hat off to at&t for the creative tricks they will employ to mislead, deceive and otherwise cheat local communities. The latest Ma Bell ploy is to present a “contract” to a local community or access facility in which they agree to Nonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-30025815320674993142008-07-15T17:46:00.005-04:002008-07-15T18:08:14.717-04:00PEG 0.0I will be the first to admit I love “Spin” just as much as the next guy. But even when you’re “Spinning” you should try to include just a kernel of truth in order to make your “Spin” plausible.Geoff Daily doesn’t seem to understand that concept. He writes a blog called App-Rising where he says “networks, applications and policy collide.” And they really, really collide with fantasy given he is Nonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-79175877066134423222008-06-12T10:01:00.002-04:002008-06-12T11:05:53.195-04:00Yes, I Mean YouIt would be untoward of me to sit around in my little office in Columbia Maryland railing against the cable and telephone operators for the losses Public, Educational and Government access television has suffered over the last couple of years without doing some brutal finger pointing at the “media reform movement.” The very folks who are righteously angry at the current state of media Nonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9722294.post-67769978191446843812008-05-22T11:28:00.000-04:002008-05-22T11:29:28.439-04:00Potemkin VillageGrigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin was a bright guy who exerted an extraordinary amount of energy figuring out ways to get over on his boss, Catherine the Great. To prove that he hadn’t wasted blood and treasure in the conquering of the wasteland that was Crimea, Grigori constructed facades, moved sheep from fake village to fake village and even had roaring campfires burning, as he led Catherine onNonprofit and Government Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186093512973848444noreply@blogger.com1