Business
In a shocker, the University of Minnesota didn’t even place in the Star Tribune‘s list of 2010’s top 100 workplaces. Even John’s Auto Parts, Inc. was a better place to work. Here’s a sliver of a clue as to why: Faced with lowered funding from the state, a governor’s illegal unallocation, and severe budget cuts the unit in which I’m employed—the College of Design—elected to heap all the cuts on a handful of employees. Instead of an equitable across-the-board cut (like the one instituted at the University of Wisconsin), the College of Design cut the salaries of the external relations staff by 10% for fiscal year 2010. The college’s top leadership—dean, associate deans, assistant dean, and chief of staff—also took 10% cuts and salaries were restored earlier this month, but still.
Internet
Here comes the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) opening an inquiry on network neutrality and already the incumbent telcos and cable companies are whining like children in the back seat after 200 miles on the back roads. Their whining was harmonized by the Republican commissioners: Robert McDowell said in his statement (.pdf; 79KB) that by opening the inquiry the FCC had “lost the moral high ground,” and that net governance should be left to the nongovernmental technical groups (populated mostly with, you guessed it, the incumbent telcos and cable companies). “For decades now, the international consensus has been for governments to keep their hands off the internet and to leave internet governance decisions to time-tested nongovernmental technical groups. Once that precedent is broken, it will become harder to make the case against more nefarious states that are meddling with the Internet in even more extensive ways than are contemplated here.” Democrat Michael Copps when right for the BP jugular (.pdf; 82KB) in his statement: “I, for one, am worried about relying only on the goodwill of a few powerful companies to achieve this country’s broadband hopes and dreams. We see what price can be paid when critical industries operate with unfettered control and without reasonable and meaningful oversight. Look no further than the banking industry’s role in precipitating the recent financial meltdown or turn on your TV and watch what is taking place right now in the Gulf of Mexico.” Buckle up; this one’s going to be interesting.
John Naughton, writing in The Observer, delineates everything you need to know about the internet. Nine enormous ideas are packed into this eminently readable article. Naughton observes that the while the internet as deeply infiltrated our lives, we’re oddly unreflective about it. Writing that much of corporate media’s coverage of the internet is negative, Naugton sets out to elucidate how we should be thinking about the net in compliance with George Miller’s magical number seven, plus or minus two. If you don’t read anything else this week, read Naughton’s piece. Highest recommendation.
