A Conflicting Broadband Speed Report

Researchers at In-Stat have issued a report that conflicts with the Akamai study we linked to a few weeks ago.

The US residential broadband speeds continue to increase, albeit at a slower rate than in 2008. Between year-end 2008 and year-end 2009, downstream bandwidth rose by 28%, reports In-Stat.

“Today’s broadband service subscriber is becoming increasingly aware of the capabilities, and the limitations, of their broadband connection,” says Mike Paxton, In-Stat analyst. “More and more broadband subscribers know the speed of their broadband connections—or at least they know the speed claims made by their broadband service provider.”

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

• The average downstream speed of a US broadband connection is 7.12Mbps.
• Broadband speed increases were most dramatic among cable modem and fixed wireless subscribers. The broadband speed increase among cable modem subscribers was about double that of fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) subscribers.

More than one quarter of survey respondents also had a mobile wireless broadband connection in addition to their wired broadband connection.

Have you noticed any changes in your connection speed?

Broadband Stimulus Coming To Kentucky

The Governor’s office sent this today:

Gov. Steve Beshear today announced that Kentucky has been awarded a $2.1 million grant to fund broadband mapping and planning.  The State Broadband Data and Development Grant Program, administered by the federal Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

“High-speed Internet access is a vital tool for economic development, education and job creation,” said Gov. Beshear.  “This grant is a major step toward increasing Internet services in unserved or underserved areas in the Commonwealth so that all Kentuckians have access to the world through connectivity.”

NTIA has awarded the Finance and Administration Cabinet’s Commonwealth Office of Technology (COT) approximately $1.6 million for broadband data collection and mapping activities over a two-year period and $500,000 for broadband planning of improvements and expansion activities over a five-year period.

Previously on The Edit:

• MORE BROADBAND STIMULUS COMING
• WE’RE NUMBER 18!
• LIBRARIES LOOK FOR HELP TO MEET DEMAND FOR BROADBAND
• NET NEUTRALITY AND THE INTERNET AS A UTILITY

Par-tay Museum (with Some Baloney on the Side)

This post comes to us from WFPL Arts and Humanities Reporter Elizabeth Kramer.

The Speed Art Museum’s Friday night party, Art After Dark, was pure spectacle. It packed the place with well over 1,000 people who all ambled around the many cavernous as well as the not-so-cavernous rooms to take in actors reading a Hunter S. Thompson article, scenes performed by a group of other thespians, solo musicians and bands, including Wax Fang. The result: a definite circus atmosphere. (As of Monday, the museum had no word on how many new members it had managed to sign up that night.)

Oh, and there were pit stops peppered throughout the facility offering food and beverages. (A big thumbs up for the gelato, by the way).

All the commotion kind of overshadowed two experimental exhibitions — Moving Movie Louisville and Louisville 27: Community. The movies were videos, which volunteer filmmakers made on Flip cameras, to document their daily movement through Louisville. The images of Louisville and the camera movement intrigued me, but the museum’s acoustics with so many people talking kept me from being able to hear and really take in the films. The second exhibition included nearly 270 donated works offered for sale at $27 apiece. (The Speed says this money is going to help fund the museum’s education activities.) By the end of the evening, the museum had sold more than 100 of those works.

This experiment also was the focus of several dozen artists who donated 80 works made with baloney, according to artist Debra Clem, who also participated. The museum says it only logged 75 boloney works and hadn’t yet counted how many of them had sold.

As you may remember, the idea for the boloney art developed after many artists read the museum’s call for art that started with “If you love Louisville…” before asking artists to donate work. Their ire at being asked to give away their work for free launched several editorials in the daily newspaper and a Facebook page.  (Clem says that artists want to continue using the page, which now has more than 300 fans, as a forum for discussing the role of professional artists vis-à-vis fundraising practices.)

All in all, the Art-After-Dark spectators didn’t pay too much attention to the baloney art, what with all the other commotion working to grab their attention. Some said they sympathized somewhat with the artists, while many others didn’t pay much attention or talked about it as a non-issue. I heard a few people say, “If they don’t like the idea, then they don’t have to participate” (or something to that effect).

And what did The Speed Museum learn from this Art-After-Dark experience? Well, staff didn’t mention anything about the baloney art. They did say, however, they learned it’s important to keep a lot of salt around in case of snow and ice. Oh, and make sure to have enough gelato, because some people got very disappointed when it ran out.

<!–[if !mso]> <! st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } –>

The Speed Art Museum’s Friday night party, Art After Dark, was pure spectacle. It packed the place with well over 1,000 people who all ambled around the many cavernous as well as the not-so-cavernous rooms to take in actors reading a Hunter S. Thompson article, scenes performed by a group of other thespians, solo musicians and bands, including Wax Fang. The result: a definite circus atmosphere. (As of Monday, the museum had no word on how many new members it had managed to sign up that night,)

Oh, and there were pit stops peppered throughout the facility offering food and beverages. (A big thumbs up for the gelato, by the way).

All the commotion kind of overshadowed two experimental exhibitions — “Moving Movie Louisville” and “Louisville 27: Community.” The movies were videos, which volunteer filmmakers made on Flip cameras, to document their daily movement through Louisville. The images of Louisville and the camera movement intrigued me, but the museum’s acoustics with so many people talking kept me from being able to hear and really take in the films. The second exhibition was of nearly 270 donated works offered for sale at $27 apiece. By the end of the evening, the museum had sold more than 100 of those works.

This experiment also was the focus of several dozen artists who donated 80 works made with baloney, according to artist Debra Clem, who also participated. The museum says it only logged 75 boloney works and hadn’t yet counted how many of them had sold.

As you may remember, the idea for the boloney art developed after a many artists read the museum’s call for art that started with “If you love Louisville…” before asking donate to donate work. Their ire at being asked to give away their work for free launched several editorials in the daily newspaper and a Facebook page. (Clem says that artists want to continue using the page, which now has more than 300 fans, as a forum for discussing the role of professional artists vis-à-vis fundraising practices.)

All in all, the Art-After-Dark spectators didn’t pay too much attention to the baloney art, what with all the other commotion working to grab their attention. Some said they sympathized somewhat with the artists, while many others didn’t pay much attention or talked about it as a nonissue. I heard a few people say, “If they don’t like the idea, then they don’t have to participate,” (or something to that effect).

And what did The Speed Museum learn from this Art After Dark experience? Well, staff didn’t mention anything about the baloney art, but did say they learned it’s important to keep a lot of salt around in case of snow and ice. Oh, and make sure to have enough gelato, because some people got very disappointed when it ran out.

Ear X-Tacy Update

Here’s the WFPL story:

After nearly 25 years in business, the Ear X-Tacy music store’s future is in doubt.

Ear X-Tacy founder John Timmons released a statement this week saying he’s concerned for his business’ survival. The statement calls for a conference Friday to discuss the store’s future.

General manager Rebecca Cornwell says Timmons hopes to use the meeting to figure out how to keep the store active in the local music scene.

“We are in a very hard time in our lease and our business and we just want to get everybody here,” she says. “We feel like we owe it to the community that has gotten us to where we are to let them know the drastic situation we are in right now and how to help us.”

Music writer Nick Hart with the website Backseat Sandbar says losing Ear X-Tacy would be devastating for the local music scene.

“We’d have a major loss of a resource. Not just a place to purchase music, but a place where people go to hang out and find out what’s going on in the music scene.”

The shop’s lease on its Bardstown Road location expires next month. Hart says he’s curious to know if the store might move to a smaller location or go to online sales only.

Changes At Ear X-Tacy

Backseat Sandbar shares the details of a press release from Ear X-Tacy founder John Timmons:

John Timmons, founder of the independent record store and owner for nearly 25 years, is expressing his concern for the survival of ear X-tacy, as we know it.  Timmons will announce details of the store’s situation during a press conference Friday, February 12, at 10:00am, at the store,1534 Bardstown Road.

With the 10,000-square-foot prime location’s lease about to expire in March 2010, Timmons is focusing attention on the realities of a dire situation and the potential impact of losing one of the nation’s top 10 record stores.  The absence of this local treasure would have a financial impact on the local media, especially public radio.  It would affect concerts, promoters, and leave a void on Bardstown Road in the Highlands, an area already severely impacted by the economy’s downturn.  The synergy of Louisville’s local businesses would be affected and the city’s music and cultural landscape definitely would be altered.  The dynamics of “keep Louisville weird,” a local movement founded by John Timmons, would suffer from such a loss.

“This is not about business.  It’s about something my customers have built and have come to expect.   It’s about a place to experience music,” Timmons said.   “Many tourists seem to make ear X-tacy a destination point as out-of-towners have learned about ear X-tacy through national exposure.  I think the store is a place that makes Louisvillian’s proud.  It’s been a community effort to build it and it’s going to take a community to sustain it.”

The site has this plea to help business:

For every album you would go buy online (or “borrow” online) and for every album you would purchase at Best Buy, go to Ear x-tacy this week and pick it up (they even have a digital online music store).  We’ll start there and then work our way forward.  I’ve been collecting vinyl for a while now and there is no greater feeling that flipping through the stacks at ear X-tacy, finding that “gem” and enriching the collective music experience by knowing that you are contributing to something you love so much.  We can start tonight.  Louisville’s own The Watson Twins are playing an in-store show tonight at 5pm (I just got off the phone with ear x and the show is on despite the snow).

Snow Can’t Stop The Mayor

Mayor Jerry Abramson will be on State of Affairs today at 1:00. Call in with your questions: 502-814-TALK.

Historic Homes And Their Neighborhoods

In Cleveland, the Fairfax Renaissance Development Corporation is planning to spend 80 to 100 thousand dollars renovating a run-down building and converting it into a museum. You see, Langston Hughes lived there briefly when he was in high school.

The corporation hopes the museum will attract tourists and help improve the neighborhood. But that’s a big hope, because writers’ homes aren’t usually big tourist draws:

Because the museums are usually located in residential neighborhoods, getting people to stop by is a challenge. Even the well-located ones struggle. The Flannery O’Connor childhood home in tourist-friendly, historic-house-rich Savannah, Georgia, gets only a few visitors a day.

The neighborhoods that surround these house museums, including the former Hughes home in Fairfax, provide a snapshot of American demographic trends. Not surprisingly, many of our revered dead writers lived in the areas of the country that drew immigrants to agricultural and then industrial jobs — areas that have been hit hard by economic changes. New York City would seem to be ground zero for literary tourism, but the only writer’s house museum in the five boroughs is the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage, in the Bronx, which is currently closed for renovations. Until a new wave of famous, city-dwelling authors die, writers’ house museums will continue to be clustered east of the Mississippi. At least we can all look forward to one day taking the Dave Eggers home museum tour in San Francisco.

The situation reminds of Louisville’s own Edison House. While it’s not in a bad neighborhood, the house where Thomas Edison briefly lived is a museum. Last year I gathered sound at the museum for an out of state reporter who was working on a feature story about Edison. It may not be a huge draw, but if researchers are calling upon locals for Edison knowledge, it seems like a notable resource for the city to have. I imagine this is the same thought the Fairfax Corporation people have about the Langston Hughes home. It may not be a huge draw, and it may not lead to large-scale redevelopment, but it adds a bit of notoriety to the neighborhood.

Tyler Allen Responds To C-J Editorial

Democratic mayoral candidate Tyler Allen’s campaign sent out an announcement today. It’s Allen’s response to a recent Courier-Journal editorial about the bridges project.

From the C-J:

Still, the board should push ahead vigorously. The primary reason, of course, is that this is the most important civic undertaking in the metro region and is pivotal to the area’s economic future. Secondarily, the recession offers possibilities for substantial savings because of depressed engineering and construction costs.

While applauding the start of the panel’s work, meanwhile, the community should insist that candidates who aspire to city and state leadership fully embrace the bridges project. It was distressing, for example, to hear Democratic mayoral hopeful Greg Fischer say the other day that the effort should begin with a new East End bridge, with fixing Spaghetti Junction and building a new downtown bridge to come later.

It shouldn’t be necessary to repeat this for mayoral candidates, but here goes: The record of decision for the project is a done deal, arrived at after years of study and discussion and agreed to by a broad consensus of the political and business leadership in two states. It calls for both bridges to be pursued at the same time, and for good reason. The downtown bridge is needed primarily to meet the area’s transportation needs; the eastern span will be an economic development boon.

If the project is to move forward, it is imperative that the next wave of community leaders get with the plan.

From Allen’s response:

Must Louisville bury its downtown under a $2 Billion 23 Lane-Wide New Spaghetti Junction just to have the privilege of connecting I-265?  Must Jeffersonville double the size of I-65 through its downtown just so its citizens can finally bypass downtown on a East End Bridge on their morning commute to work?  The answer is ‘NO’.  Let’s be clear, we cannot set our city back just because very powerful people do not want an East End Bridge.

This Week on State of Affairs

Good morning!  This is Laura Ellis, letting you know what’s the this SoA agenda for what promises to be a chilly week!

Since the clock is ticking toward Valentine’s Day this weekend, today we’re talking about twue wuv.  I mean love – finding it, and keeping it alive in a long-term relationship.  We’ve got dating expert and author Dr. Diane Kirschner and psychologist Dr. Michael Cunningham on the panel, and we’re hoping you’ll call in with your questions, and especially your tips on what has worked for you and your partner.

Mayor Jerry Abramson makes his quarterly appearance on SoA this Tuesday.  It’s your chance to pick up the phone and ask him your questions or let him know what you think about how things are in Louisville.

On Wednesday we’re talking economy – but more specifically, how to cope with navigating the system if you aren’t accustomed to needing aid.  Waiting in offices and filling out paperwork for things like unemployment and food stamps can sometimes feel like a full-time job itself, and often people who have never needed to apply before are bewildered by all the paperwork.

Thomas Ricks, the Washington Post’s senior Pentagon correspondent, will join us on Thursday.  His book, The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq uses hundreds of hours of interviews with decision makers in Iraq and Washington to analyze the USA’s strategy shift in Iraq, including the surge.

On Friday, of course, we’ll top off the week with State of the News, where we dig a little deeper into the weeks headlines with the journalists who wrote about them.  Join us with your questions and thoughts on what’s news.

Green Hacking

Rather than stealing Facebook passwords or bank account numbers, a group of hackers hijacked a few corporations’ carbon credits.

The hackers launched a targeted phishing attack against employees of numerous companies in Europe, New Zealand and Japan, which appeared to come from the German Emissions Trading Authority. The workers were told that their companies needed to re-register their accounts with the Authority, where carbon credits and transactions are recorded.

When workers entered their credentials into a bogus web page linked in the e-mail, the hackers were able to hi-jack the credentials to access the companies’ Trading Authority accounts and transfer their carbon credits to two other accounts controlled by the hackers.

Under environmental cap-and-trade laws, there’s a limit to the greenhouse gases companies can emit. Companies that exceed this limit can purchase so-called carbon credits from entities that produce fewer greenhouse emissions than the limit provides them.

The scheme has produced a robust market for the trade of credits. More than 8 million tons of CO2 emissions worth $130 billion were traded in Europe last year.

According to the BBC, it’s estimated the hackers stole 250,000 carbon credit permits from six companies worth more than $4 million. At least seven out of 2,000 German firms that were targeted in the phishing scam fell for it. One of these unidentified firms reportedly lost $2.1 million in credits in the fraud.

(from Wired)

I think this will be the theme of the next Free Credit Report jingle.