Richard Florida @ Google & Banff

I was really lucky to watch a CBC National video report and “discovered” Richard Florida tonight. (smile) I am going to pay attention to Rich’s ideas and I have subscribed to his blog. Check out his latest book - “Who’s Your City?: How the Creative Economy Is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life.”

Here is a video of Rich interviewed by George on The Hour.

The following is an hour long video of Rich speaking at Google, NYC.

And if you are really keen and have nothing better to do (smile), then check out another hour long video of Rich speaking at Google, Headquater in CA (essentially the same speech but with a different set of Q&A starting at 48:45).

P.S. On a personal note, Rich reminds me of some of the great U of Toronto professors that I had. Great job in bringing Rich to Toronto. And I am looking forward to listening to Rich live at Banff World TV Festival.

P.P.S. Here is one of Rich’s recent blog post on Jane Jacobs.

P.P.P.S. I wonder if Rich gets some money from this BMW ad? (smile) By the way, I think I actually first read about Rich here in this UT magazine article.

May ‘08 Google Search Factory Tour

Interesting and informative Google Search Factory Tour video.

Spectrum Auction: Google played to lose to win

It may be too early to analyze but Google's willingness to bid the minimum $4.6 billion in the recent 700MHz Spectrum Auction to ensure open wireless access for the C-block of specturm. Quoting Google, "As a result of the auction, consumers whose devices use the C-block of spectrum soon will be able to use any wireless device they wish, and download to their devices any applications and content they wish."

Looks like Google played a nice game for itself and the government. Only time will tell if the win is good for Verizon.

Here are some interesting news to read,

1. The end of the FCC 700 MHz auction - Official Google Public Policy Blog
2. Spectrum Auction: Google wins by losing - CNET News blog
3. Verizon Wins Spectrum Prize
4. Verizon, AT&T win FCC auction, Google wins open spectrum - AFP
5. Verizon's Airwaves Victory May Prove Risky, Goldman Sachs Says - Bloomberg

Google Sky, Mars, and Moon

[via Google]

Wonderful space info and beautiful pictures from Google - Sky, Mars, and Moon.

Links: 2008-03-13 Capital of Google Earth, Luxor Ad, Blackstoned, Nikon D300 review, Tall tale, WP vs MT

1. Nanaimo, BC - the Capital of Google Earth
2. Luxor Highlighter - neat ad
3. Blackstone-d: Behind a Monster IPO Flop - a report
4. dpreview of Nikon D300
5. Tall tale by Malcolm Gladwell - program starts at 45 minutes
6. An interesting war of words between WordPress and Movable Type

Links: 2008-03-11

1. Japan IDs All Its Citizens - It depends on how much risks are needed to be considered as "substantial" ? - "There are no substantial risks of information leakages or their misuse for purposes other than originally intended"
2. Facebook CEO Admits Missteps
3. The GigaOM Interview: Mark Zuckerberg, Founder & CEO Facebook
   
4. Brantano Shoe City Ad
5. NYT Obit of Gary Gygax, co-creator of the game Dungeons & Dragons
6. How Google keeps your information secure - from Google

Google Chief Economist Blogs

Yes, Google *has* a Chief Economist, his name is Hal and he blogs. He is from the Haas School of Business, and the Department of Economics at the University of California at Berkeley.

P.S. I hope Hal’s next entry has more “economics” in it as the above blog entry is kinda blah, has little to do with economics, and not much new info.

Links: 2008-03-03 1.5 hour with Obama, Nuclear Chinese Nature, Gender Gap, Buffett’s letter, RFID Good Use, Facebook Banishment, rock-solid VoIP call

1. 1.5 hour with Barack Obama - interesting piece
2. Nature scene in Chinese Children's book include nuclear power plant and giant dam
3. The New Gender Gap in Education - Becker, and Posner's comment
4. Buffett’s State of the World: There’s Folly in Wonderland - good for a scan. Of course, reading the original from the master is better.
5. Good Use for RFID Chips
6. Facebook Banishment and Due Process
7. Intel demos rock-solid VoIP call on MID - Love that bit about them crashing the OS deliberately and still have the VoIP call keeps on kicking!
8. Woz finds flaws in Apple's latest offerings - nice frank take on things by Woz co-founder of Apple
9. Google Summer of Code is back

Links: 2008-02-26 Books 2.0, eBay Rebellion, FCC Net Neutrality, Muni Bonds, Google bandwidth, ABC idiot

1. Canadians are playing key role in `Books 2.0′ - WikiTrave, print-on-demand, LibriVox project audio books
2. eBay’s Seller Rebellion
3. FCC Open Hearing: Net Neutrality
4. Bad Day? Be glad you are not selling Muni Bonds
5. Google and the Unity bandwidth consortium - Google and the under-sea cable business
6. ABC thinks you’re an idiot - Lovely pix Marc (smile)

Links: 2008-02-03 MacBook Air, NYT Deathwatch, Yahoo, CBC dumbed down, Wonderbra, e-ink phone

1. Taking apart the new MacBook Air - Cool Pix and notes (Wow, just 19 screws to remove the battery. And a total of 88 screws to hold things together. (smile))
2. Inaugurating the New York Times Deathwatch - by Marc Andreessen - kinda funny in a bad way
3. Yahoo! and the future of the Internet - Google Official Blog
4. CBC ‘dumbed down,’ broadcast act architect says by Marke Andrews - Vancouver Sun
5. Wonderbra Rebranding
6. Polymer Vision’s Readius e-ink phone coming mid-2008 to Italy

700 MHz Auction - Is this all a big joke?

First of all, Wired has provided an excellent primer on the 700MHz auction, check out “FAQ: Inside the High-Stakes 700-MHz Spectrum Auction“. And if you like further info, you can also check out the FCC info on “Auction Designs” and “How is an Auction Conducted?“

Now, I think we can all thank the Nobel Economist Ronald Coase for all the current fun and excitement for the spectrum auction.

In Thomas W. Hazlett’s (George Mason University) January 2001 paper, “The Wireless Craze, The Unlimited Bandwidth Myth, The Spectrum Auction Faux Pas, and the Punchline to Ronald Coase’s “Big Joke”: An Essay on Airwave Allocation Policy“, he wrote,

In 1959 the Federal Communications Commission invited economist Ronald Coase to testify about his proposal for market allocation of radio spectrum rights. The FCC’s first question: “Is this all a big joke?“

Note: Thomas W. Hazlett (recieved his Ph.D. in Economics from UCLA (1984) and served as Chief Economist of the FCC (1991-91)).

Almost fifty years after Coase testified in front of the FCC and with the billions of dollars governments from around the world “made” from auctioning frequency spectrum, I think no one will ask “Is this all a big joke?” like the FCC did then. (big smile)

Now, even I haven’t read the above 210-page economics research paper in full (ok, I am curious but not “210-page” curious (smile)), I suspect it will give interested readers some basic understanding of US airway allocation policy.

Here are a few news article reporting on the 700MHz Auction,

1. Top bids $2.78 bln as U.S. wireless auction opens - Reuters UK
2. FCC’s Airwaves Auction Draws $2.78 Billion in Bids - Washington Post (via Bloomberg)
3. 700MHz Auction Update: High Bids Total $3.2 Billion - PC World

P.S. This is no easy topic but I am interested in auction strategies. And it will be fun to read your insights (please share) or some of the winners’ strategies afterwards.

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Jan 29, 2008 Update: BusinessWeek - "FCC's Auction: Not Going According to Plan?"