Friday, September 08, 2006
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat................
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+==+=+=+==+=+=+==+=+=+=
If you trust Google more than your doctor, then maybe it's time to switch doctors.
- Jadelr and Cristina Cordova
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+==+=+=+==+=+=+==+=+=+=
Study
A South American scientist, after a lengthy study, has discovered that people with insufficient brain and sexual activity read their email with their hand on the mouse.
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+==+=+=+==+=+=+==+=+=+=
....and the news follows.........
Math Institute Plans Castle in Calif. By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 3:16 p.m. ET
MORGAN HILL, Calif. (AP) -- Think of it as the ultimate ivory tower for academics: a castle inspired by Spain's Alhambra, lavished with sun-dappled courtyards, artisan-crafted frescoes, grottos, fountains and a patio with 12 marble lions that spit water every hour on the hour.
But instead of housing nobles atop an Iberian hill, the newest fortress will serve as a quiet retreat for mathematicians next to a golf course in suburban Silicon Valley.
The castle, which the Morgan Hill City Council approved last month, will be the new headquarters of the American Institute of Mathematics. It's expected to be complete by 2009.
The institute and castle are the brainchild of electronics retailer John Fry, who owns the nearby links and plans to donate his impressive collection of historical documents -- including original math texts and writings of Nobel Prize winners such as Albert Einstein -- to the institute's library.
Fry, the media-shunning co-founder and chief executive of Fry's Electronics Inc., refused requests to be interviewed about the castle he's funding. The 167,000-square-foot palace -- bigger than a typical Wal-Mart -- is rumored to cost more than $50 million, although people involved in the project admit no one will know the true cost until it's finished.
The retail magnate, who studied math at Santa Clara University, is taking a hands-on role in everything from the design to the selection of tile artisans and wood workers. He spent five days in the Alhambra, exploring villas, chambers and salons with Scott Stotler, a consultant who for years has been tweaking the design to Fry's specifications.
''We spent so much time there that you could pretty much stick us in a dungeon and I'd know how to get out,'' said Stotler, head of Stotler Design Group.
Fry's involvement in the minutia of castle construction doesn't surprise people who know him. He's shaped nearly every aspect of his family's 32-store chain, a nerdy utopia where techno-savvy shoppers can get deals on computer parts, networking equipment and appliances -- if they're willing to overlook abysmal customer service, sketchy refund policies and clerks who make little more than minimum wage.
Fry opened the first store in Sunnyvale with his brothers in 1985, and Fry's Electronics now operates in nine states.
The Better Business Bureau routinely pans Fry's. Consumer advocates berate the stores for luring shoppers with deeply discounted items, then enticing them to buy higher-priced merchandise and make impulse purchases.
But Fry's, which sells everything from microchips to potato chips, has obsessive fans, particularly in Silicon Valley.
Fry, who learned about retailing from his grocer father, co-founded the mathematics institute in 1994. Roughly 800 mathematicians go to its campus in Palo Alto each year to ponder math questions.
About five years ago, academics from Princeton University and elsewhere convened at the institute to solve one piece of a conundrum known as the ''perfect graph conjecture.'' It involved an analysis of 2,000 hours of supercomputer calculations from 1976.
Fry, who also owns the San Jose SaberCats arena football team, visited numerous castles looking for inspiration for the new headquarters. He fixated on the Alhambra both for aesthetics -- it's considered the best example of Moorish art in Europe -- and mathematic symbolism.
The Andalusian fortress, built primarily between 1248 and 1354, bursts with geometric patterns in every arabesque, column, garden and reflecting pool. It was built with running water and a medieval climate-control system envied throughout Europe and the Islamic world.
''The interesting geometric patterns present throughout the Alhambra's tiles, ceilings and walls -- they're perfect for mathematicians,'' said institute Executive Director Brian Conrey, who hasn't visited Granada but hopes to go soon. ''Mathematicians have a tradition of communing with nature while thinking about deep questions. It's inspiring to be in a location that lets you ponder the things mathematicians like to think about, and Morgan Hill will be just such a place.''
The castle will replace The Flying Lady Ranch, a vacant restaurant on 190 acres of Fry family property south of San Jose. Demolition will begin in October.
Stotler emphasized that the math castle is going to be a homage to the Alhambra, not a replica. Although Spanish stone masons and stained-glass artisans will give the place an authentic feel, it will have unabashedly modern touches, including 30,000 square feet of underground parking and a gourmet-industrial kitchen with master chefs from a San Francisco seafood restaurant and a Napa Valley resort.
The math castle will include its own version of the Fountain of Lions, the Alhambra's alabaster basin flanked by 12 white marble lions, which signify strength and courage. In the 15th century, each lion spit a stream of water every hour -- a clock far more advanced than any sundial at the time.
During the Reconquest of Spain in 1492, Christians disassembled the clock to see how it functioned. Since then, no one has been able to get it to work.
''We could cheat and do it electronically, but I'm not sure if John would allow that,'' Stotler said.
********
Verizon Is Rewiring New York, Block by Block, in a Race for Survival
By KEN BELSON
It's 9 in the morning, and a team from Verizon has been stringing fiber optic cable along a residential side street in the Bronx for three hours. In a basket about 20 feet in the air, James DeMattia guides the cable from a giant spool into a plastic tube that runs between telephone poles and around the corner, where another crew pulls it through.
By walkie-talkie, his partner, Merrick Gilberts, confirms that the cable has made it the entire 1,000 feet to White Plains Road. They then get to work stringing cable 1,400 feet in the other direction. A few days later, another crew will install switches, so that by this fall Verizon can start selling phone, broadband Internet and eventually video services in the neighborhood.
Building a whole new state-of-the-art network is a laborious and expensive process that Verizon says it must undertake to fend off rivals like Comcast and Vonage, which are moving fast into the phone business. As Verizon replaces more of its old copper network with more durable fiber lines, the company also expects to save billions of dollars in maintenance costs.
Verizon will spend about $20 billion by the end of the decade to reach 16 million homes from Florida to California. But it is in New York City where Verizon has the most at stake, because New Yorkers are some of the nation's biggest buyers of video, Internet and phone services. The company plans to spend about $3 billion to reach the city's 3.1 million homes and apartments.
With such a high concentration of potential customers, competition is fierce — and Verizon has been losing ground. Time Warner Cable, Cablevision and others are stealing about 1,000 Verizon phone customers a day, and their discounted services are making it hard for Verizon to win them back — another reason to get the fiber network up quickly.
"The guys understand the importance of this fiber project," said Robert Fighera, a lineman and chief union steward in the Bronx, nodding to the workmen nearby. "We're also stockholders, and we know we have to install this or we'll fall by the wayside of all these other companies."
While the stakes for Verizon in New York are high, so are the challenges. To sell the television services that it believes will really help it win back customers, Verizon needs to win a franchise from the city similar to what Cablevision and Time Warner Cable now have, and similar to what Verizon already has in towns like Massapequa Park on Long Island and Nyack in Rockland County.
In New York, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's office asked the City Council in mid-July to approve a measure that would allow the city to start negotiating new cable franchises.
"Competition among cable providers is a win for the city's cable subscribers," said Paul J. Cosgrave, the commissioner of the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, the agency that negotiates with Verizon and other companies interested in a franchise.
A City Council subcommittee will begin discussing the matter today. But the list of lawmakers and regulators who need to sign off on any new franchise is long, so it could take months before Verizon wins the right to start selling television.
Verizon faces more pressing hurdles getting its fiber lines in place. Nearly all cables in Manhattan are underground, so workers often must navigate serpentine conduits and congested streets. The company spends countless hours getting permits from the Department of Transportation and other agencies to pull up manhole covers, divert traffic and use public rights-of-way.
Though conditions vary widely, building underground fiber networks in highly congested urban areas can cost $100 or more per foot of cable installed, according to Michael Render, president of Render, Vanderslice & Associates, a market research firm. By contrast, placing fiber underground in the suburbs costs $7 to $25 a foot.
Since stringing fiber along telephone poles is often cheaper than burying it, Verizon is concentrating first on the Bronx, Staten Island and Queens, which have more single-family homes and cables above ground. By the end of the year, about 90 percent of the 170,000 homes on Staten Island will have access to Verizon's fiber network.
Elsewhere, Verizon is trying to reach the most customers the fastest, which means building in neighborhoods with the greatest concentration of phone and data lines. The team in the Bronx, for instance, is connecting homes to the Cruger Avenue switching station, which handles about 75,000 phone lines, making it the second-busiest in the borough.
In Queens, workers have been connecting areas around the switching station in Bayside, which serves 85,000 phone lines. Verizon, which has been selling phone and data lines in the neighborhoods there, says that about 25 percent of the families that can buy the new services are signing up.
In time, the goal is to wire the city's biggest apartment buildings so that Verizon can reach hundreds and possibly thousands of customers at a time. But to do that, Verizon must deal with landlords, who control access to the buildings. Like the cable providers before them, Verizon must negotiate rental fees with each owner before it can install its equipment, a time-consuming and expensive process.
"When you have a bunch of guys who own buildings seeing a big company with lots of money that wants more space in basements, they can play a gatekeeper role," said Jeffrey Halpern, a telecommunications analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company.
In Verizon's territory, 22.4 percent of the housing is multifamily dwelling units, versus 18.2 percent in AT&T's region and 15.7 percent on BellSouth's turf, Mr. Halpern estimates.
But when landlords prohibit Verizon from installing fiber to each apartment, the company must use existing copper phone lines or cable lines to reach its customers. That can slow broadband speeds and diminish one of the fiber network's biggest advantages.
To sidestep this problem, Verizon is negotiating with hundreds of developers to install its fiber network as buildings are being constructed. For example, the company got in on the ground floor at Octagon Towers, a new development on Roosevelt Island in the East River with about 500 apartments. As the buildings went up, Verizon installed fiber optic lines in hidden conduits, buried switching boxes out of view in closets and scattered jacks throughout the apartments.
Even there, Verizon couldn't keep out the competition: Time Warner Cable and a company called MST NuVisions also offer broadband and other services in the building.
"The goal is to provide tenants with the most amount of choice," said John Renner, who works for Becker & Becker, the developer.
Without a franchise, Verizon cannot sell its video service to residents at the Octagon Towers and elsewhere in New York. But in places where it is sold, Verizon's television service, at $40 for about 200 channels, has attracted modest numbers of subscribers. Verizon says that in areas where it has been available for three months, the service has grabbed 7 percent of the market.
Cable companies say that figure is exaggerated, and they call Verizon's television service a "me-too product."
"There's really no reason why anyone would want to switch from our service to theirs," said Tom Rutledge, the chief operating officer at Cablevision, which competes with Verizon in the New York area.
Whatever headway Verizon makes, Cablevision and Time Warner are likely to respond with products of their own. The companies now offer faster broadband speeds and are signing up hundreds of thousands of customers — many of them formerly with Verizon — for discounted phone service.
The heated competition could spur Verizon to build its new network faster. There are just too many dollars at stake.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime investment," said Christopher Levendos, the director of engineering and planning for the fiber project in New York. "It's revolutionary in size and scope, rewiring the entire copper system."
*****************
Weighing a Switch to a Mac
By THOMAS J. FITZGERALD
Ten years ago, if you were a Windows user, the idea of switching to a Macintosh might not have seemed enticing. An abundance of new Windows software was arriving on store shelves, while the selection available to Mac users seemed to be falling behind, often relegated to a back corner of the same store.
Today the calculation is different. Apple Computer , through a series of transitions, has reinvented itself. With a new operating system, its own chain of retail stores, the iPod and now a new line of computers that run on Intel processors, this new and more mainstream Apple is catching the attention of Windows users, and many are curious about switching.
But is switching a good idea? The answer, as always, depends on the needs and preferences of the user. Apple's move to Intel processors has made it easier to run Windows on Intel-based Macs, and thus any software a switcher may want to continue using. But even with that ability, there are pluses and minuses to consider.
Software
The center of the Macintosh experience is Apple's operating system, Mac OS X. With Unix at its foundation, Mac OS X is more stable, secure and open than previous Mac platforms, and the current version, called Tiger, offers features not included in Windows. More than 12,000 software applications have been developed to run on the Mac OS X platform since it was introduced in 2001, according to Apple, including popular programs like Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, the Firefox Web browser and many from Apple.
But the world of Mac software is still smaller than what is available in the Windows world. A Windows user curious about switching needs to take an inventory of applications and determine what options are available in the Mac world to accomplish the same. Mac software is likely to be available for most mainstream applications; some may be included on a new Mac and others may require a separate purchase.
Other important applications, especially in categories like business software and games, may run only on Windows. This is where the new Intel-based Macs can make a difference: because they use the same hardware architecture as Windows-based PC's, called x86, the experience of running Windows on a Mac is much improved.
Two methods for running Windows on the new Macs have moved to the forefront, and both run considerably faster than Virtual PC, the leading option under the old Mac architecture. The first, a new program called Parallels Desktop for Mac ($80; www.parallels.com), enables you to run Windows and Mac OS X Tiger simultaneously. For example, you can run Windows software like Internet Explorer and Microsoft Outlook in a window that can be minimized just like other Mac programs. Data can be copied between the platforms, you can share files and folders between them and you can choose to run Windows in a full-screen mode.
Parallels can run Windows versions as old as Windows 3.1 and through the current editions of XP. You will need to provide your own Windows installation software. A drawback of Parallels is that it does not support 3-D-accelerated graphics, which means some higher-end 3-D games and other programs run slowly or not well. Other factors to consider are a speed reduction of 5 to 15 percent compared with running Windows natively on Intel-based computers, the company says, and the fact that not all peripheral devices are compatible.
The other option for running Windows on the new Macs is made possible by Boot Camp (www.apple.com/bootcamp), a free utility from Apple now available in beta testing. (Apple announced this week that Boot Camp would be part of its next operating-system release, called Leopard, scheduled for next spring.) Unlike Parallels, which runs Windows within Mac OS X, Boot Camp creates a partition on the computer's hard disk and installs Windows to it. When the computer starts up, you can choose to run either Windows or Mac OS X.
Benefits of Boot Camp include running Windows at full speed; it runs natively on the Mac, as it would on a conventional Windows-based PC, fully using the processor and graphics abilities, and providing compatibility with hardware peripherals and devices designed for PC's.
A drawback of Boot Camp, though, is that you must shut down one operating system before using the other. This means you cannot run Windows and Mac applications simultaneously. Another drawback is that it can run only two versions of Windows: Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2, which costs $200, or Windows XP Professional With Service Pack 2, which is $300.
Security is another aspect of Macs that has Windows users curious. In Windows, antivirus and antispyware programs have become essential for defending against a variety of threats. So far, the Mac OS X operating system has not been infiltrated by viruses, and it remains free from the type of spyware threats that spread in the wild and go after Windows users, according to Symantec, maker of Norton Antivirus.
But when Windows is run on Intel-based Macs, for example through Boot Camp or Parallels, it is vulnerable to the same virus and spyware threats that can affect conventional Windows-based PC's.
Hardware
The physical designs of Apple's desktop and notebook computers are often innovative. The iMac, for example, is a space-saving desktop unit with an all-in-one enclosure that conceals the computer's components behind the monitor. And the MacBook, a new notebook with a glossy screen, includes a new keyboard layout. This week, the company introduced the Mac Pro, a line of desktops replacing the Power Mac, completing its transition to Intel chips.
But while Apple's selection covers much ground, it is less diverse than what is available from companies like Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Sony and Lenovo. For example, Apple does not offer ultraportable notebooks, a tablet design or as wide a choice in processor types and speeds. And when it comes to pricing, Apple no longer offers notebooks in the sub-$1,000 range, or desktop units in the sub-$500 range, as do other makers.
Consideration should also be given to the compatibility of any devices like printers, external hard drives and cellphones that may be connected to a computer. In some instances, only Windows may be supported.
The Switching Experience
I spoke with a number of Windows users who had recently switched to Macs. Their reasons varied, but their experiences had some notable similarities. In many cases, since they had mastered Windows long ago, learning the Mac interface, essentially from scratch, took more time than expected. Also, many switchers retained strong links to the Windows world, often through computers at their workplace or older units at home.
Danielle Wang, 26, of Austin, Tex., bought her first Mac six weeks ago. She took the advice of a friend and decided to buy a MacBook to replace her Windows-based laptop, a Sony Vaio, which she said had been stolen.
Early in the transition, Ms. Wang said, it took time to get used to the Mac interface; the menus, the location of buttons and other items were different. "It was difficult," she said. "The first three days, I was constantly thinking about returning it."
Ms. Wang uses the MacBook mainly for applications like e-mail, Web browsing, digital music, games and instant messaging; so far, she has not encountered problems finding Mac software, and she still maintains access to Windows-based computers for other programs she prefers to use at home.
In comparing the MacBook and the Vaio, she said the graphics were clearer on the Sony.
"The Sony Vaio is more lively," she said. But she prefers the look and design of the MacBook.
Over all, Ms. Wang is glad she switched. She likes the Mac interface and says she is likely to remain a Mac owner for the foreseeable future. "It was the right decision," she said. "I really love my Mac right now."
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+==+=+=+==+=+=+==+=+=+=
If you trust Google more than your doctor, then maybe it's time to switch doctors.
- Jadelr and Cristina Cordova
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+==+=+=+==+=+=+==+=+=+=
Study
A South American scientist, after a lengthy study, has discovered that people with insufficient brain and sexual activity read their email with their hand on the mouse.
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+==+=+=+==+=+=+==+=+=+=
....and the news follows.........
Math Institute Plans Castle in Calif. By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 3:16 p.m. ET
MORGAN HILL, Calif. (AP) -- Think of it as the ultimate ivory tower for academics: a castle inspired by Spain's Alhambra, lavished with sun-dappled courtyards, artisan-crafted frescoes, grottos, fountains and a patio with 12 marble lions that spit water every hour on the hour.
But instead of housing nobles atop an Iberian hill, the newest fortress will serve as a quiet retreat for mathematicians next to a golf course in suburban Silicon Valley.
The castle, which the Morgan Hill City Council approved last month, will be the new headquarters of the American Institute of Mathematics. It's expected to be complete by 2009.
The institute and castle are the brainchild of electronics retailer John Fry, who owns the nearby links and plans to donate his impressive collection of historical documents -- including original math texts and writings of Nobel Prize winners such as Albert Einstein -- to the institute's library.
Fry, the media-shunning co-founder and chief executive of Fry's Electronics Inc., refused requests to be interviewed about the castle he's funding. The 167,000-square-foot palace -- bigger than a typical Wal-Mart -- is rumored to cost more than $50 million, although people involved in the project admit no one will know the true cost until it's finished.
The retail magnate, who studied math at Santa Clara University, is taking a hands-on role in everything from the design to the selection of tile artisans and wood workers. He spent five days in the Alhambra, exploring villas, chambers and salons with Scott Stotler, a consultant who for years has been tweaking the design to Fry's specifications.
''We spent so much time there that you could pretty much stick us in a dungeon and I'd know how to get out,'' said Stotler, head of Stotler Design Group.
Fry's involvement in the minutia of castle construction doesn't surprise people who know him. He's shaped nearly every aspect of his family's 32-store chain, a nerdy utopia where techno-savvy shoppers can get deals on computer parts, networking equipment and appliances -- if they're willing to overlook abysmal customer service, sketchy refund policies and clerks who make little more than minimum wage.
Fry opened the first store in Sunnyvale with his brothers in 1985, and Fry's Electronics now operates in nine states.
The Better Business Bureau routinely pans Fry's. Consumer advocates berate the stores for luring shoppers with deeply discounted items, then enticing them to buy higher-priced merchandise and make impulse purchases.
But Fry's, which sells everything from microchips to potato chips, has obsessive fans, particularly in Silicon Valley.
Fry, who learned about retailing from his grocer father, co-founded the mathematics institute in 1994. Roughly 800 mathematicians go to its campus in Palo Alto each year to ponder math questions.
About five years ago, academics from Princeton University and elsewhere convened at the institute to solve one piece of a conundrum known as the ''perfect graph conjecture.'' It involved an analysis of 2,000 hours of supercomputer calculations from 1976.
Fry, who also owns the San Jose SaberCats arena football team, visited numerous castles looking for inspiration for the new headquarters. He fixated on the Alhambra both for aesthetics -- it's considered the best example of Moorish art in Europe -- and mathematic symbolism.
The Andalusian fortress, built primarily between 1248 and 1354, bursts with geometric patterns in every arabesque, column, garden and reflecting pool. It was built with running water and a medieval climate-control system envied throughout Europe and the Islamic world.
''The interesting geometric patterns present throughout the Alhambra's tiles, ceilings and walls -- they're perfect for mathematicians,'' said institute Executive Director Brian Conrey, who hasn't visited Granada but hopes to go soon. ''Mathematicians have a tradition of communing with nature while thinking about deep questions. It's inspiring to be in a location that lets you ponder the things mathematicians like to think about, and Morgan Hill will be just such a place.''
The castle will replace The Flying Lady Ranch, a vacant restaurant on 190 acres of Fry family property south of San Jose. Demolition will begin in October.
Stotler emphasized that the math castle is going to be a homage to the Alhambra, not a replica. Although Spanish stone masons and stained-glass artisans will give the place an authentic feel, it will have unabashedly modern touches, including 30,000 square feet of underground parking and a gourmet-industrial kitchen with master chefs from a San Francisco seafood restaurant and a Napa Valley resort.
The math castle will include its own version of the Fountain of Lions, the Alhambra's alabaster basin flanked by 12 white marble lions, which signify strength and courage. In the 15th century, each lion spit a stream of water every hour -- a clock far more advanced than any sundial at the time.
During the Reconquest of Spain in 1492, Christians disassembled the clock to see how it functioned. Since then, no one has been able to get it to work.
''We could cheat and do it electronically, but I'm not sure if John would allow that,'' Stotler said.
********
Verizon Is Rewiring New York, Block by Block, in a Race for Survival
By KEN BELSON
It's 9 in the morning, and a team from Verizon has been stringing fiber optic cable along a residential side street in the Bronx for three hours. In a basket about 20 feet in the air, James DeMattia guides the cable from a giant spool into a plastic tube that runs between telephone poles and around the corner, where another crew pulls it through.
By walkie-talkie, his partner, Merrick Gilberts, confirms that the cable has made it the entire 1,000 feet to White Plains Road. They then get to work stringing cable 1,400 feet in the other direction. A few days later, another crew will install switches, so that by this fall Verizon can start selling phone, broadband Internet and eventually video services in the neighborhood.
Building a whole new state-of-the-art network is a laborious and expensive process that Verizon says it must undertake to fend off rivals like Comcast and Vonage, which are moving fast into the phone business. As Verizon replaces more of its old copper network with more durable fiber lines, the company also expects to save billions of dollars in maintenance costs.
Verizon will spend about $20 billion by the end of the decade to reach 16 million homes from Florida to California. But it is in New York City where Verizon has the most at stake, because New Yorkers are some of the nation's biggest buyers of video, Internet and phone services. The company plans to spend about $3 billion to reach the city's 3.1 million homes and apartments.
With such a high concentration of potential customers, competition is fierce — and Verizon has been losing ground. Time Warner Cable, Cablevision and others are stealing about 1,000 Verizon phone customers a day, and their discounted services are making it hard for Verizon to win them back — another reason to get the fiber network up quickly.
"The guys understand the importance of this fiber project," said Robert Fighera, a lineman and chief union steward in the Bronx, nodding to the workmen nearby. "We're also stockholders, and we know we have to install this or we'll fall by the wayside of all these other companies."
While the stakes for Verizon in New York are high, so are the challenges. To sell the television services that it believes will really help it win back customers, Verizon needs to win a franchise from the city similar to what Cablevision and Time Warner Cable now have, and similar to what Verizon already has in towns like Massapequa Park on Long Island and Nyack in Rockland County.
In New York, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's office asked the City Council in mid-July to approve a measure that would allow the city to start negotiating new cable franchises.
"Competition among cable providers is a win for the city's cable subscribers," said Paul J. Cosgrave, the commissioner of the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, the agency that negotiates with Verizon and other companies interested in a franchise.
A City Council subcommittee will begin discussing the matter today. But the list of lawmakers and regulators who need to sign off on any new franchise is long, so it could take months before Verizon wins the right to start selling television.
Verizon faces more pressing hurdles getting its fiber lines in place. Nearly all cables in Manhattan are underground, so workers often must navigate serpentine conduits and congested streets. The company spends countless hours getting permits from the Department of Transportation and other agencies to pull up manhole covers, divert traffic and use public rights-of-way.
Though conditions vary widely, building underground fiber networks in highly congested urban areas can cost $100 or more per foot of cable installed, according to Michael Render, president of Render, Vanderslice & Associates, a market research firm. By contrast, placing fiber underground in the suburbs costs $7 to $25 a foot.
Since stringing fiber along telephone poles is often cheaper than burying it, Verizon is concentrating first on the Bronx, Staten Island and Queens, which have more single-family homes and cables above ground. By the end of the year, about 90 percent of the 170,000 homes on Staten Island will have access to Verizon's fiber network.
Elsewhere, Verizon is trying to reach the most customers the fastest, which means building in neighborhoods with the greatest concentration of phone and data lines. The team in the Bronx, for instance, is connecting homes to the Cruger Avenue switching station, which handles about 75,000 phone lines, making it the second-busiest in the borough.
In Queens, workers have been connecting areas around the switching station in Bayside, which serves 85,000 phone lines. Verizon, which has been selling phone and data lines in the neighborhoods there, says that about 25 percent of the families that can buy the new services are signing up.
In time, the goal is to wire the city's biggest apartment buildings so that Verizon can reach hundreds and possibly thousands of customers at a time. But to do that, Verizon must deal with landlords, who control access to the buildings. Like the cable providers before them, Verizon must negotiate rental fees with each owner before it can install its equipment, a time-consuming and expensive process.
"When you have a bunch of guys who own buildings seeing a big company with lots of money that wants more space in basements, they can play a gatekeeper role," said Jeffrey Halpern, a telecommunications analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company.
In Verizon's territory, 22.4 percent of the housing is multifamily dwelling units, versus 18.2 percent in AT&T's region and 15.7 percent on BellSouth's turf, Mr. Halpern estimates.
But when landlords prohibit Verizon from installing fiber to each apartment, the company must use existing copper phone lines or cable lines to reach its customers. That can slow broadband speeds and diminish one of the fiber network's biggest advantages.
To sidestep this problem, Verizon is negotiating with hundreds of developers to install its fiber network as buildings are being constructed. For example, the company got in on the ground floor at Octagon Towers, a new development on Roosevelt Island in the East River with about 500 apartments. As the buildings went up, Verizon installed fiber optic lines in hidden conduits, buried switching boxes out of view in closets and scattered jacks throughout the apartments.
Even there, Verizon couldn't keep out the competition: Time Warner Cable and a company called MST NuVisions also offer broadband and other services in the building.
"The goal is to provide tenants with the most amount of choice," said John Renner, who works for Becker & Becker, the developer.
Without a franchise, Verizon cannot sell its video service to residents at the Octagon Towers and elsewhere in New York. But in places where it is sold, Verizon's television service, at $40 for about 200 channels, has attracted modest numbers of subscribers. Verizon says that in areas where it has been available for three months, the service has grabbed 7 percent of the market.
Cable companies say that figure is exaggerated, and they call Verizon's television service a "me-too product."
"There's really no reason why anyone would want to switch from our service to theirs," said Tom Rutledge, the chief operating officer at Cablevision, which competes with Verizon in the New York area.
Whatever headway Verizon makes, Cablevision and Time Warner are likely to respond with products of their own. The companies now offer faster broadband speeds and are signing up hundreds of thousands of customers — many of them formerly with Verizon — for discounted phone service.
The heated competition could spur Verizon to build its new network faster. There are just too many dollars at stake.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime investment," said Christopher Levendos, the director of engineering and planning for the fiber project in New York. "It's revolutionary in size and scope, rewiring the entire copper system."
*****************
Weighing a Switch to a Mac
By THOMAS J. FITZGERALD
Ten years ago, if you were a Windows user, the idea of switching to a Macintosh might not have seemed enticing. An abundance of new Windows software was arriving on store shelves, while the selection available to Mac users seemed to be falling behind, often relegated to a back corner of the same store.
Today the calculation is different. Apple Computer , through a series of transitions, has reinvented itself. With a new operating system, its own chain of retail stores, the iPod and now a new line of computers that run on Intel processors, this new and more mainstream Apple is catching the attention of Windows users, and many are curious about switching.
But is switching a good idea? The answer, as always, depends on the needs and preferences of the user. Apple's move to Intel processors has made it easier to run Windows on Intel-based Macs, and thus any software a switcher may want to continue using. But even with that ability, there are pluses and minuses to consider.
Software
The center of the Macintosh experience is Apple's operating system, Mac OS X. With Unix at its foundation, Mac OS X is more stable, secure and open than previous Mac platforms, and the current version, called Tiger, offers features not included in Windows. More than 12,000 software applications have been developed to run on the Mac OS X platform since it was introduced in 2001, according to Apple, including popular programs like Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, the Firefox Web browser and many from Apple.
But the world of Mac software is still smaller than what is available in the Windows world. A Windows user curious about switching needs to take an inventory of applications and determine what options are available in the Mac world to accomplish the same. Mac software is likely to be available for most mainstream applications; some may be included on a new Mac and others may require a separate purchase.
Other important applications, especially in categories like business software and games, may run only on Windows. This is where the new Intel-based Macs can make a difference: because they use the same hardware architecture as Windows-based PC's, called x86, the experience of running Windows on a Mac is much improved.
Two methods for running Windows on the new Macs have moved to the forefront, and both run considerably faster than Virtual PC, the leading option under the old Mac architecture. The first, a new program called Parallels Desktop for Mac ($80; www.parallels.com), enables you to run Windows and Mac OS X Tiger simultaneously. For example, you can run Windows software like Internet Explorer and Microsoft Outlook in a window that can be minimized just like other Mac programs. Data can be copied between the platforms, you can share files and folders between them and you can choose to run Windows in a full-screen mode.
Parallels can run Windows versions as old as Windows 3.1 and through the current editions of XP. You will need to provide your own Windows installation software. A drawback of Parallels is that it does not support 3-D-accelerated graphics, which means some higher-end 3-D games and other programs run slowly or not well. Other factors to consider are a speed reduction of 5 to 15 percent compared with running Windows natively on Intel-based computers, the company says, and the fact that not all peripheral devices are compatible.
The other option for running Windows on the new Macs is made possible by Boot Camp (www.apple.com/bootcamp), a free utility from Apple now available in beta testing. (Apple announced this week that Boot Camp would be part of its next operating-system release, called Leopard, scheduled for next spring.) Unlike Parallels, which runs Windows within Mac OS X, Boot Camp creates a partition on the computer's hard disk and installs Windows to it. When the computer starts up, you can choose to run either Windows or Mac OS X.
Benefits of Boot Camp include running Windows at full speed; it runs natively on the Mac, as it would on a conventional Windows-based PC, fully using the processor and graphics abilities, and providing compatibility with hardware peripherals and devices designed for PC's.
A drawback of Boot Camp, though, is that you must shut down one operating system before using the other. This means you cannot run Windows and Mac applications simultaneously. Another drawback is that it can run only two versions of Windows: Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2, which costs $200, or Windows XP Professional With Service Pack 2, which is $300.
Security is another aspect of Macs that has Windows users curious. In Windows, antivirus and antispyware programs have become essential for defending against a variety of threats. So far, the Mac OS X operating system has not been infiltrated by viruses, and it remains free from the type of spyware threats that spread in the wild and go after Windows users, according to Symantec, maker of Norton Antivirus.
But when Windows is run on Intel-based Macs, for example through Boot Camp or Parallels, it is vulnerable to the same virus and spyware threats that can affect conventional Windows-based PC's.
Hardware
The physical designs of Apple's desktop and notebook computers are often innovative. The iMac, for example, is a space-saving desktop unit with an all-in-one enclosure that conceals the computer's components behind the monitor. And the MacBook, a new notebook with a glossy screen, includes a new keyboard layout. This week, the company introduced the Mac Pro, a line of desktops replacing the Power Mac, completing its transition to Intel chips.
But while Apple's selection covers much ground, it is less diverse than what is available from companies like Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Sony and Lenovo. For example, Apple does not offer ultraportable notebooks, a tablet design or as wide a choice in processor types and speeds. And when it comes to pricing, Apple no longer offers notebooks in the sub-$1,000 range, or desktop units in the sub-$500 range, as do other makers.
Consideration should also be given to the compatibility of any devices like printers, external hard drives and cellphones that may be connected to a computer. In some instances, only Windows may be supported.
The Switching Experience
I spoke with a number of Windows users who had recently switched to Macs. Their reasons varied, but their experiences had some notable similarities. In many cases, since they had mastered Windows long ago, learning the Mac interface, essentially from scratch, took more time than expected. Also, many switchers retained strong links to the Windows world, often through computers at their workplace or older units at home.
Danielle Wang, 26, of Austin, Tex., bought her first Mac six weeks ago. She took the advice of a friend and decided to buy a MacBook to replace her Windows-based laptop, a Sony Vaio, which she said had been stolen.
Early in the transition, Ms. Wang said, it took time to get used to the Mac interface; the menus, the location of buttons and other items were different. "It was difficult," she said. "The first three days, I was constantly thinking about returning it."
Ms. Wang uses the MacBook mainly for applications like e-mail, Web browsing, digital music, games and instant messaging; so far, she has not encountered problems finding Mac software, and she still maintains access to Windows-based computers for other programs she prefers to use at home.
In comparing the MacBook and the Vaio, she said the graphics were clearer on the Sony.
"The Sony Vaio is more lively," she said. But she prefers the look and design of the MacBook.
Over all, Ms. Wang is glad she switched. She likes the Mac interface and says she is likely to remain a Mac owner for the foreseeable future. "It was the right decision," she said. "I really love my Mac right now."
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Friday, July 21, 2006
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues...............
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
New & Improved..........
Computer Skills
This ought to make you feel better about your computer skills! Unbelievable, but, supposedly, all true!!
=================================
Tech support: What kind of computer do you have?
Female customer: A white one...
===============
Customer: Hi, this is Celine. I can't get my diskette out.
Tech support: Have you tried pushing the Button?
Customer: Yes, sure, it's really stuck.
Tech support: That doesn't sound good; I'll make a note.
Customer: No, wait a minute... I hadn't inserted it yet... it's still on my desk... sorry....
===============
Tech support: Click on the 'my computer' icon on to the left of the screen.
Customer: Your left or my left?
===============
Tech support: Good day. How may I help you?
Male customer: Hello... I can't print.
Tech support: Would you click on "start" for me and...
Customer: Listen pal; don't start getting technical on me! I 'm not Bill Gates.
===============
Customer: Hi, good afternoon, this is Martha, I can't print. Every time I try, it says 'Can't find printer'. I've even lifted the printer and placed it in front of the monitor, but the computer still says he can't find it...
===============
Customer: I have problems printing in red...
Tech support: Do you have a color printer?
Customer: Aaaah....................thank you.
===============
Tech support: What's on your monitor now, ma'am?
Customer: A teddy bear my boyfriend bought for me at the 7-11.
===============
Customer: My keyboard is not working anymore.
Tech support: Are you sure it's plugged into the computer?
Customer: No. I can't get behind the computer.
Tech support: Pick up your keyboard and walk 10 paces back.
Customer:! OK
Tech support: Did the keyboard come with you?
Customer: Yes
Tech support: That means the keyboard is not plugged in. Is there another keyboard?
Customer: Yes, there's another one here. Ah...that one does work...
===============
Tech support: Your password is the small letter "a" as in apple, a capital letter V as in Victor, the number 7.
Customer: Is that 7 in capital letters ?
== =============
Customer: can't get on the Internet.
Tech support: Are you sure you used the right password?
Customer: Yes, I'm sure. I saw my colleague do it.
Tech support: Can you tell me what the password was?
Customer: Five stars.
===============
Tech support: What anti-virus program do you use?
Customer: Netscape.
Tech support: That's not an anti-virus program.
Customer: Oh, sorry...Internet Explorer.
===============
Customer: I have a huge problem. A friend has placed a screen saver on my computer, but every time I move the mouse, it disappears.
===============
Tech support: How may I help you?
Customer: I'm writing my first e-mail.
Tech support: OK, and what seems to be the problem?
Customer: Well, I have the letter 'a' in the address, but how do I get the circle around it?
===============
A woman customer called the Canon help desk with a problem with her printer.
Tech support: Are you running it under windows?
Customer: "No, my desk is next to the door, but that is a good point. The man sitting in the cubicle next to me is under a window, and his printer is working fine."
===============
And last but not least...
Tech support: "Okay Bob, let's press the control and escape keys at the same time. That brings up a task list in the middle of the screen. Now type the letter "P" to bring up the Program Manager."
Customer: I don't have a P.
Tech support: On your keyboard, Bob.
Customer: What do you mean?
Tech support: "P".....on your keyboard, Bob.
Customer: I'M NOT GOING TO DO THAT!
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
New & Improved..........
Computer Skills
This ought to make you feel better about your computer skills! Unbelievable, but, supposedly, all true!!
=================================
Tech support: What kind of computer do you have?
Female customer: A white one...
===============
Customer: Hi, this is Celine. I can't get my diskette out.
Tech support: Have you tried pushing the Button?
Customer: Yes, sure, it's really stuck.
Tech support: That doesn't sound good; I'll make a note.
Customer: No, wait a minute... I hadn't inserted it yet... it's still on my desk... sorry....
===============
Tech support: Click on the 'my computer' icon on to the left of the screen.
Customer: Your left or my left?
===============
Tech support: Good day. How may I help you?
Male customer: Hello... I can't print.
Tech support: Would you click on "start" for me and...
Customer: Listen pal; don't start getting technical on me! I 'm not Bill Gates.
===============
Customer: Hi, good afternoon, this is Martha, I can't print. Every time I try, it says 'Can't find printer'. I've even lifted the printer and placed it in front of the monitor, but the computer still says he can't find it...
===============
Customer: I have problems printing in red...
Tech support: Do you have a color printer?
Customer: Aaaah....................thank you.
===============
Tech support: What's on your monitor now, ma'am?
Customer: A teddy bear my boyfriend bought for me at the 7-11.
===============
Customer: My keyboard is not working anymore.
Tech support: Are you sure it's plugged into the computer?
Customer: No. I can't get behind the computer.
Tech support: Pick up your keyboard and walk 10 paces back.
Customer:! OK
Tech support: Did the keyboard come with you?
Customer: Yes
Tech support: That means the keyboard is not plugged in. Is there another keyboard?
Customer: Yes, there's another one here. Ah...that one does work...
===============
Tech support: Your password is the small letter "a" as in apple, a capital letter V as in Victor, the number 7.
Customer: Is that 7 in capital letters ?
== =============
Customer: can't get on the Internet.
Tech support: Are you sure you used the right password?
Customer: Yes, I'm sure. I saw my colleague do it.
Tech support: Can you tell me what the password was?
Customer: Five stars.
===============
Tech support: What anti-virus program do you use?
Customer: Netscape.
Tech support: That's not an anti-virus program.
Customer: Oh, sorry...Internet Explorer.
===============
Customer: I have a huge problem. A friend has placed a screen saver on my computer, but every time I move the mouse, it disappears.
===============
Tech support: How may I help you?
Customer: I'm writing my first e-mail.
Tech support: OK, and what seems to be the problem?
Customer: Well, I have the letter 'a' in the address, but how do I get the circle around it?
===============
A woman customer called the Canon help desk with a problem with her printer.
Tech support: Are you running it under windows?
Customer: "No, my desk is next to the door, but that is a good point. The man sitting in the cubicle next to me is under a window, and his printer is working fine."
===============
And last but not least...
Tech support: "Okay Bob, let's press the control and escape keys at the same time. That brings up a task list in the middle of the screen. Now type the letter "P" to bring up the Program Manager."
Customer: I don't have a P.
Tech support: On your keyboard, Bob.
Customer: What do you mean?
Tech support: "P".....on your keyboard, Bob.
Customer: I'M NOT GOING TO DO THAT!
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
Saturday, May 14, 2005
Firefox Pitch .......
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[Editor's Note: I presume the continued high usage of IE resides solely with some folks being unaware of Firefox. Tell a friend. - rick]
Microsoft's Share of Browser Market Slips By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK (AP) -- Microsoft Corp.'s share of the U.S. browser market has slipped below 90 percent as the Firefox browser continues to grow in popularity, according to independent tracking by WebSideStory.
Firefox, an open-source browser collectively developed by the Internet community under the Mozilla Foundation, had a 6.8 percent share as of April 29, an increase from 3.0 percent since WebSideStory began tracking Firefox separately in October.
Other browsers based on the Mozilla code, including America Online Inc.'s Netscape, had a 2.2 percent share, while Microsoft's Internet Explorer share was 89 percent, a drop from 95 percent in June.
The figures are for all operating systems combined. On computers running Microsoft's Windows, Internet Explorer has a 91 percent share, down from 97 percent in June.
Outside the United States, Germany is among the leading adopters of Firefox, with a 23 percent share, compared with 69 percent for Internet Explorer.
''They just seem to be averse to Microsoft products and really interested relatively in these open-source products,'' said Geoff Johnston, a WebSideStory analyst.
Microsoft is strong in Asia, with Internet Explorer commanding a share of 94 percent in Japan and 98 percent in China.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
[Editor's Note: I presume the continued high usage of IE resides solely with some folks being unaware of Firefox. Tell a friend. - rick]
Microsoft's Share of Browser Market Slips By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK (AP) -- Microsoft Corp.'s share of the U.S. browser market has slipped below 90 percent as the Firefox browser continues to grow in popularity, according to independent tracking by WebSideStory.
Firefox, an open-source browser collectively developed by the Internet community under the Mozilla Foundation, had a 6.8 percent share as of April 29, an increase from 3.0 percent since WebSideStory began tracking Firefox separately in October.
Other browsers based on the Mozilla code, including America Online Inc.'s Netscape, had a 2.2 percent share, while Microsoft's Internet Explorer share was 89 percent, a drop from 95 percent in June.
The figures are for all operating systems combined. On computers running Microsoft's Windows, Internet Explorer has a 91 percent share, down from 97 percent in June.
Outside the United States, Germany is among the leading adopters of Firefox, with a 23 percent share, compared with 69 percent for Internet Explorer.
''They just seem to be averse to Microsoft products and really interested relatively in these open-source products,'' said Geoff Johnston, a WebSideStory analyst.
Microsoft is strong in Asia, with Internet Explorer commanding a share of 94 percent in Japan and 98 percent in China.
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# posted by Jacob Marley : 5:38 AM
