July 15, 2010

There were 4 posts published on July 15, 2010 (this is page 1 of 1).

What’s making Americans fat

My friend and fellow veteran Grier Martin pointed me to a story in the Army Times that warns that most American kids are too out of shape to serve in the military.

My wife Kelly thinks she knows why kids are getting fatter: the drink sizes offered with fast food have become supersized. The same sized soft drink that used to be considered a large is now the “small” size. It’s crazy.

What to do about it, though? Isn’t the restaurant just giving its customers what they want, regardless of whether or not it’s what they need? If everyone chooses to pig out, landing in the hospital with heart disease; diabetes; and other serious illnesses, the treatment of which will be paid for through my insurance premiums, is that simply free enterprise at work? Or should society try to set a better example?
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Is Google stifling municipal broadband investment?

I was thinking more about the Google Fiber project today. It occurred to me that Google might actually be doing more to put the brakes on municipal broadband than Time Warner Cable and its cronies ever could.

As long as the possibility is out there that Google may build a network in a certain city, that city won’t be investing in its own broadband infrastructure. Google is guaranteed to disappoint the huge majority of applicants with its selection of a few cities, but nevertheless I can forsee city officials everywhere holding up Google as an excuse not to spend money on developing their own broadband. “Let’s hold off until we hear from Google,” they’ll say.

Google would do well in furthering its “fiber everywhere” cause by not keeping everyone in suspense.

Google creates fiber Internet resource site

In response to the overwhelming demand that 1,100 communities showed for the Google Fiber project, Google created the Fiber for Communities website. This site is a collection of resources that is intended to pave the way for communities to acquire fiber Internet.

I really like how Google has positioned this new effort. They know that their fiber project will only serve a handful of communities, leaving many to fend for themselves. By creating this site, Google shows it is committed to sharing its findings and supporting those communities who want to make this jump.
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