Episode 0009, 08/03/2007
Title: YouTube Debates, FaceBook Sex Offenders, 700 MHz band
Welcome to Course Technology's CourseCast of the WEEK, Episode 9, recorded August 3rd, 2007.
This is Ken Baldauf bringing you this week's technology news and information targeted at college students.
This CourseCast is brought to you by Course Technology. Check out www.course.com for innovative textbooks and creative electronic learning solutions for higher education.
Story 1 - Presidential Hopefuls Meet the YouTubers
Two weeks ago, democratic presidential candidates assembled for a first-ever event: a debate organized around questions posed on YouTube. CNN staff selected 39 videos from around 3,000 submitted, containing questions for the candidates from YouTube users. From the opening question that began with, "what's up?", to a question about gun control from a man cradling his rifle, to serious questions about Iraq, gay rights, and partisan politics, and a question about global warming posed by an animated snowman, the debate was anything but typical. The public's reaction to the debate has been wide-ranging. Some viewers thought the new format was poignant and significant, others thought it was silly, some commented that CNN could have selected better, more hard-hitting questions, and still others appreciated the new format but thought it didn't elicit any new responses from the candidates. You can form your own opinion by watching the debate on YouTube.
Now it's the Republican's turn. Unfortunately, the Republican YouTube Debate, currently scheduled for September 17th is failing to draw interest from the candidates. Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney have stated that they will not participate, Giuliani citing a schedule conflict, and Romney stating that he is not interested in answering questions posed by a snowman. So far Ron Paul and John McCain are the only Republican candidates to express an interest in the debate.
Source: YouTube Debate Reaction Runs Gamut From Praise to Contempt (Wired), Questions, not answers, highlight YouTube debate, (CNN), CNN YouTube Republican debate yields only two candidates (OGPaper),
Story 2 - Sex Offenders on FaceBook
Social networking site, FaceBook, came under fire this week by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. Blumenthal claims that FaceBook is not doing enough to protect its users from sexual predators. In an interview, the Attorney General stated that his office had learned of at least three convicted sex offenders with FaceBook accounts. He fears that there could be thousands more hiding behind aliases. Recently, MySpace took action against 29,000 convicted sex offenders on its network by cancelling their accounts.
Source: Sex offenders lurk on Facebook, Conn. official says (Computerworld)
Story 3 - The Last Available Wireless Beachfront Property
Last week I told you that February 2009 is when analog TV will be retired in favor of digital TV. At that time, the 700 megahertz band of the radio spectrum currently used to deliver analog TV, will be assigned some other use. This week the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, decided to reserve a portion of that wireless radio spectrum to use in new and interesting ways.
Before I explain, let me provide a little background information. The radio spectrum is used to send radio signals at different frequencies to support many different wireless services. For example, AM and FM radio, cell phone services, Wi-fi wireless Internet, cordless phones, wireless microphones and baby monitors, remote control toys, garage door openers, even the wireless system that unlocks your car door uses the radio spectrum. Each wireless service uses a specific frequency of the radio spectrum. For example, your FM radio dial goes from 87.8 to 108 because FM radio uses the portion of the radio spectrum from 87.8 MHz to 108 MHz. The radio spectrum is considered public property and is managed in the US by the FCC (the Federal Communications Commission). The FCC assigns portions of the radio spectrum for a variety of uses. It typically auctions off blocks of the spectrum to various industries.
The 700 MHz band that has been used for analog TV stations is considered "the last available beachfront property" of the radio spectrum because of its high quality in both strength and speed. Some are calling it the "third broadband pipe" because it can provide the speed of both cable and DSL for Internet access. The 700 MHz band could deliver video, music, data, and communications to your home or mobile device wirelessly, with the speed that you get from cable TV. Needless to say, this is a valuable commodity and many corporations and individuals are interested to see what becomes of it.
This week the FCC made the important decision to place certain conditions on the use of a portion of this radio spectrum. Twenty MHz of this spectrum must remain open to hardware and software from any vendor - in what is commonly referred to as an open architecture. Today's cell phone spectrum is a closed architecture, which allows cell phone companies to require their customers to use only handsets and software that they offer or approve. In this new architecture, all sorts of new software and hardware companies will be able to participate in providing wireless services. That’s what the FCC intended by requiring an open architecture. FCC Chairman, Kevin Martin, stated that he is "committed to ensuring that the fruits of wireless innovation swiftly pass into the hands of consumers".
Blocks of the 700 MHz band will be put up for auction by January 2008. The money paid for the spectrum goes to Uncle Sam. The minimum bid for the 20 MHz of open spectrum is $4.6 billion.
So, guess what company applied pressure on the FCC to establish an open platform for this newly available spectrum? Verizon? T-mobile? AT&T? No, it was Google! Yes, Google, the company that only a month ago refuted rumors that it was interested in entering the cell phone business. This week not only did Google make public its interest in purchasing a portion of the 700 MHz band, but the company has also been showing a prototype cell phone to manufacturers and network operators. There's no doubt now that Google intends to be a player in the wireless communications industry. If not with their own gPhone, certainly with software, and ad-supported services.
Sources: F.C.C. Hands Google a Partial Victory (New York Times) Google Pushes Tailored Phones To Win Lucrative Ad Market (Wall Street Journal)
New Briefs
That's it for this week's CourseCast. Links to this week's stories and many more news and information resources are provided at the CourseCast Web site at http://coursecasts.course.com. Until next time, have a great week and be sure to take advantage of the Power -- of Technology!