April 2008

As expected, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration proposed waiving its digital-TV-to-analog converter-box-coupon requirements to allow nursing-home residents and those with Post Office boxes to apply for the coupons. That came in a notice of proposed rulemaking that was published Thursday in the Federal Register. The NTIA used a definition of qualifying household that did not include either nursing homes or those with P.O. boxes, which raised questions on Capitol Hill about how some seniors and rural viewers -- two of the populations most affected by the DTV switch -- were going to get boxes. The NTIA used the Census Bureau definition for qualified households, but that excluded P.O. boxes and group homes. The proposed change was supplied to senators Tuesday, many of whom, like ranking Republican Ted Stevens (Alaska), are from states with hefty rural populations that use P.O. boxes.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6554550.html?rssid=193

Researchers from the University of Southern California and University of California at Berkeley presented their first findings from one of the largest ethnographic studies on kids in digital environments. Kids have long been attracted to extracurricular activities like dance or sports, but researchers say digital media is bringing up a new generation who are creators of media rather than just passive consumers of it. Within these digital environments among peers, kids who create and evaluate media are deriving a sense of competence, autonomy, self-determination and connectedness, researchers say. "Kids associate one word with school -- 'boring,'" said Deborah Stipek, dean and professor of education at Stanford. But kids' levels of engagement with the Internet and games could give educators new ideas for upping school's status. "The question becomes what is the role of school in this larger environment," Stipek said. Are schools disconnected from real-world tech skills? Dale Dougherty, founding editor and publisher of Make and Craft magazines, said during the panel that his team asked an audience of programmers where they learned to write code. Only 15 percent said that they learned programming at school. The full research will be published later this year as part of a MacArthur Foundation grant.
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9928174-7.html?tag=nefd.top

Former co-owners of DeltaNet, a New Jersey computer service provider, have agreed to plead guilty to charges related to defrauding a government program designed to help schools and libraries in poor areas connect to the Internet, the U.S. Department of Justice announced. The DOJ filed conspiracy charges Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas in Kansas City against Benjamin Rowner and Jay H. Soled, former owners of DeltaNet, for their role in defrauding the E-Rate program, the DOJ said. The pair conspired to defraud the E-Rate program by submitting false statements and keeping important information from the Universal Service Administrative Co., which administers the E-Rate Program for the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, the DOJ said. Rowner and Soled participated in the conspiracy between 1999 and 2003, and the fraud affected schools from California to New York, the DOJ said. With their plea agreement, pending a judge's approval, the men agreed to cooperate with the DOJ's ongoing investigation into E-Rate fraud.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/04/24/DOJ-nets-two-more-guilty-pleas...

Apple's attitude about unlocked iPhones hints that the company will abandon its business model of grabbing a piece of mobile carriers' revenues in order to make its goal of selling 10 million smart phones this year, an analyst said Thursday. "They seemed absolutely blithe about making the 10-million number," said Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research, referring to comments by Apple executives during Wednesday's earnings conference call. "And I get the funny sense that ultimately the whole idea of locked iPhones and the revenue almost doesn't interest them." Several times during the call, Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's COO, and Tim Cook, the company's CFO, stood by the 10-million iPhone goal. "We are confident on hitting the 10 million for the year," Cook said. According to the sales figures Apple released yesterday for the first three months of 2008 -- its second fiscal quarter -- the company sold 1.7 million iPhones worldwide, leaving 8.3 million more to go if it's to reach its iPhone sales goal.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/04/24/Apple-coming-to-terms-with-iPh...