President Obama's Town Hall on CNBC

I've included the video of the CNBC town hall meeting between President Obama and voters. I like to think that CNBC is not too friendly to the President, or unfriendly for any particular reason, so I don't think the audience is stack up for or against the President.

I just think that anyone a President interacts with ordinary Americans, it is worth watching, especially in an election year.

It's called "Investing In America".

Lost Decade - When Does It Start?

We're a couple of years into the recession. Okay, officially, we're out of it with some economic growth. For us on Main Street, the recession is ongoing. The job market is weak and the Feds are a bit worried that we might slip back into more economic contraction.

So, the worry how is that the United States might slip into a "Lost Decade" much like what Japan went through in the 90s.

Will we? And at what point will we are we officially in it?

The WSJ has a good post on what happened to Japan and what they went through provides us with a good lesson on how to avoid it. However, with the country so polarized, GOP and Democrats rather play poltics than work for the national economic interests, and a general feeling that the US has lost its edge, things cannot be looking good.

At least not from where I'm standing.

However, I have to confess that economic policies might stave off a worse economic calamity, it will be up to the American ingenuity and can-do spirit that will bring the US back from this slumber.

For now, I think the public is a bit tired. Tired of Washington, broken promises, and just a general breakdown in trust.

But it's okay. We'll be back. We always do. Each time, stronger than the last.

More at Yahoo (WSJ).

Obama Bored With Blackberry, Let's Help Him Appreciate Mobile And Govern At The Same Time

POTUS is bored with his Blackberry. It’s not because it’s a bad device. Well, it certainly isn’t sexy and cool like the iPhone or the Galaxy but RIM devices never claim to be. Rather, there seems to be very little interaction between President and the 10 or so White staff who might have access.

So what’s the point of such a device? Well, here’s an idea for anyone with some skills to make it happen. President Obama or any future President can take advantage of this.

Bill To Promote Mobility in Business, Education, and Society

The United States Senate passed a jobs bill that out to easily get to the President's desk for passage.  I haven't looked at the bill in depth.  But whatever form it takes by the time President Obama signs it, I hope it works.

Now, I'm asking you if some kind of bill is needed to help speed up adoption of technology.  I'm specifically talking about wireless technology.  And given how much we rely on tech these days, from school to business to picking where to eat for dinner, I think further penetration of wireless use can only benefit the economy and technological innovation.

Here are some things I like to see:

1. Tax breaks for building out infrastructure.  Provisions can including hiring.  For those who are hawks against outsourcing, you'll like this one.  You can't exactly outsource building new wireless networks in the US to folks in India or China.
2. Encourage uses of netbooks, tablets, and laptops in education.  Federal mandate that encourages states to innovate and try out new ideas to use technology to bolster students' education.
3. Government grants into wireless technology - for instance, use of GPS to improve infrastructure and travel efficiency.  Imagine if we can cut down traffic even by 10% across the board in the US, we would save a lot on energy and gas emissions.  
4. Make new battery technology a priority.  While screen and silicon improvements have greatly contributed to better battery life in mobile devices, batteries itself has not been pulling its own weight.  Specifically, special provisions, tax breaks and federal partnerships, are needed to shorten the time it takes for a technical breakthrough to come to the market.  Don't you just hate it when you read about a great idea at UCLA but to learn at the end of the article that it'll be 5 years before we seen it on the market.  Talk about a bait and switch.
5. Paper mills aren't going to like this but go paperless.  The government should lead in ways to cut down on paper work.  Just as the Obama administration has been working on overhauling the healthcare industry, a variety of government agencies needs to develop ways to cut down on paperwork and automate information processing.  With less paper being pushed from one desk to another, it ought to move up the speed at which the government works.  Imagine not having to wait hours in line at the DMV for the slightest paperwork.

Those are ideas that quickly comes to mind.  I've tried to minimize the amount of intrusion of any mandate that the voters will find abhorrent in this political environment we're in.  And 2010 is an election year.

Done right with common sense ideas, I think a wireless technology bill with bipartisan support can benefit society across the geopolitical spectrum and all parts of the US (and global) economy.  It'll be popular with unions, businesses, and mobile users.  It'll benefit the efficiency of the government and the private sector while setting up a society is both smarter and more technically savy.  

And of course, the bill should keep an eye on the future as everyone else outside of the United States are also trying to create the same wireless and competitive market.

I like to come back and visit this subject.  I think with enough support and if this catches the eye of some wireless lobbyists (generally, I don't have any need for these guys), Congressional aide looking to help his or her boss score political points, or even a US Representative or Senator, we can really help start something incredible here.

After all, we're "mobile warriors" right?

President May Be Given Emergency Power To Control Internet In Crisis

Here you have it. It's in the title. The President of the United States may be given power to grand or deny Internet use if a Senate bill passes through Congress and is signed into law by President Obama.

Now, like anything controversial, there will be a lot of noise. Everything speaking all at once and the message gets lost. It's the case in the blog world and, unfortunately, traditional news sources are coming down to the level of bloggers in general. That's the situation with Internet reporting now.

So, having said that I want mobile users to be aware of this measure but the bill is in its infancy and by the time it gets out of committee and is voted on, it will be drastically different from its current form.

So, take note and we'll try to go to the meat of the matter. I know this for a fact. There is no death panel in this Internet bill that will pull the plug on granny.

More at CNet News

Presidential Mobile Warrior

We already know President-Elect Barack Obama is just as tech savy as the average mobile user. He's got a Macbook and an iPod. Sorry, not a Zune. He had a Blackberry but the Secret Service likely made him give it up. Yes, Apple fans. Even if he used an iPhone, he still would have to give it up in the name of national security.

What makes Obama a different mobile warrior than the rest of us are his rides. Air Force One. Okay, maybe a couple of you readers out there might own a jet or two. But nothing like the AF One.

Now his limo. On the day he takes office, Jan 20th, he will be riding in a brand new limo the Secret Service had it custom made by GM for the forty-fourth President of the United States.

I first saw it last night on CNN but now ABC News is also having a go at the new armored Presidential ride.

• At least 5 inches of plating
• Run-flat tires
• Seals to prevent against chemical or biological attacks
• CD player - this is the only piece of technology we know the limo has for sure.
• Not in the ABC report but what I saw on CNN was that it has these locks and bolts that seals the President in the car to prevent someone on the outside from ripping the door off.
• According to the news on TV, the President will be completely sealed from the outside. No outside noise whatsoever.

I'm sure it'll have some sort tech we might be familiar with. Of course, I'm just speculating but giving how this President likes technology and how much his Presidential campaign and transition period relied on the Internet, there are likely a couple of gadgets in there we can expect to see. Well, it's what I like to have in the limo if I was the President of the United States.

• Mobile communication center - I'm not taking about just cell phones. The Presidential Limo will have a hub for Internet access.
• Television - like LCD monitor for video conferencing.
• Forget the CD player, dude. Just need a jack for the iPod.
• Oxygen supply. I'm guess this is in there because if the limo is sealed from outside, it'll need air somehow.
• Like where the President will be sitting is going to be a remote or arm rest where he can control his onboard tech. Not different from what Kirk or Picard has in their command chair.

Source: ABC NEWS

If you were President, how would you like to outfit your limo?

Economic Stimulus For Wireless: Investment In The Future

Green tech.  Petro Independence.  Infrastructure.  Education.  Healthcare.  I heard broadband in there somewhere. 

Well, I have to say that I'm a bit torn.  I like to see wireless technology expanded more.  In my limited knowledge about "the last mile" about getting broadband into every  home in America, I am making the assumption that wireless technology would be cheaper than tearing up concrete and running wires. 

Still, the cost of the stimulus package I'm reading about on the Internet is mind-boggling.  I know the Democrats are trying to keep the stimulus package under the $1T.  That's right, folks.  One Trillion.  $1,000,000,000,000.  A thousand billion.  A million million.  One followed by two zeros.  So, they're looking at $750 billion at the low-end and trying to keep it under $850 billion at the high-end.  So, if that's going to happen, where does wireless technology and wireless broadband rollout fit into all this?

President-elect Obama has mentioned putting aside money for broadband deployment.  It figures largely into his education, healthcare, and other efforts to streamline the government.  And I applaud that effort but every telecom and cable lobbyists will try to get into the equation and end up making a mess of things.  I suppose it's the nature of the beast and the cost of doing business with the government involved. 

I just hope when the final bill comes across President Obama's desk in January, it's broadband, be it wireless or not, done right for mobile warriors, not telecom overlords.

Link:  Speed Matters, Ars Technica

Obama And FCC - Test of Will on AWS-3

Generally one would think the new Obama administration will be more consumer friendly and as a Democratic apparatus, the new administration would be looking out for the little guy like Dave the Mobile Warrior.  In particular, I think President Obama would be more supportive of net neutrality and likely to support a national wireless network being pushed by the FCC.


I suppose we'll know the answer once we find out if Obama's FCC folks will allow the AWS-3 bandwidth to be put back on FCC's agenda for a vote after numerous lawmakers were ordered by their cronies to pressure the FCC chairman into putting off the vote.


So, we'll know in the next few months who the new administration is looking out for.  National interest or the interest of entrenched wireless providers.  


Just a reminder, the AWS-3 is 25Mhz of bandwidth that requires the winner to allocate part of the bandwidth for a free national network.  However, T-Mobile is protesting the move because it claim it would interfere with its own network.  I have to applaud FCC chairman Kevin Martin for going ahead with this until he was forced to put off the December 18th vote.


Martin is leaving so he's not going to force the issue.  Let the next guy deal with it.  And it'll be Obama's guy.


Other Onxo posts on this issue:

• AWS-3 Saga Continues
• Mobile providers wants to continue "stewardship".
  
• M2Z wants bring you free broadband.
• Wireless access like healthcare debate.

Mobility Future Under Obama Administration

Things should be good under an Obama Presidency as far as wireless is concerned, right?

I don't know.  Washington politics.  Who really knows.  So today, let's take a look at those advising the President-Elect and try to see where we go from there.

First, if you didn't already know, is Google's involvement.  A lot of you will argument that is not an accurate statement.  No?

Google is a vision as well as a business.  And Eric Schmidt is one of those folks with a "vision" of how the world should be, or at the very least, how the technology can be used to serve the world.  Furthermore, Sonal Shah, head of Google's Global Development Initiatives, has been tapped to be involved with the Obama transition team.

These folks are not just going to check their opinions at the door of the the Oval Office.  They're being asked to serve by providing their opinions and visions.

Now, there is a balance as well.  There are tech insiders who served with telecoms that should provide a two-sided tale for whatever President-Elect Obama wants to hear.  But the emphasis on technology heavy-weights is a clear shift from the last eight years (to be fair, we have had a lot to deal with in the Bush administration).

The hope is that whatever wireless and technology roadmap is implemented, it is implemented well and on a bipartisan basis.  We're likely to see a lot of initiatives in the first 100 days but I'll be  happy with a more competitive wireless field to start.

Note:  We'll get into the other characters to help us gauge how we'll get to the promise land of ubiquitous mobile broadband.