Google's fiber optics experiment stirs local social networks
Google has rolled out an experiment called "Google Fiber to Communities" that will bring ultra-high speed Internet to as many as 500,000 individuals in select communities.
The program plans for access speeds over 100 times faster than typical offerings from Internet service providers while keeping prices "competitive."
Google has asked local governments to express interest in being considered,
but it was unclear as of this writing if LFUCG had plans to submit for consideration. In a partnership with the Bluegrass Community Foundation, the city in January announced a new, expanded wireless access program using state, federal and private funds. At least one private wireless provider expressed dismay about facing a competitor funded in part with tax dollars, so there could be some reluctance to expand any perceived competition into high-speed internet.
Lexington's social networks, however,
are getting involved, submitting Google's citizen nomination form and joining the Lexington movement's Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/googlelex.
It's not clear if Lexington is too big or affluent to be considered for the program, or if the city's policies would satisfy Google's criteria.
"We'll identify interested communities and assess local factors that impact the efficiency and speed of our deployment, such as the level of community support, local resources, approved construction methods and regulatory issues. We will also take into account broadband availability and speeds that are already offered to users within a community," a Google spokesperson told GigaOM.com.
Internet speeds of one gigabit (the equivalent of one billion bits of data) per second, which Google claims will be possible in the program, open a new set of possibilities for innovation, especially in health care, education and business. Industry analysts and politicians lament the United States' poor ranking in access speeds relative to other developed nations, and Google's strategists clearly see this as a problem for the company.
By striking fear in the hearts of service providers' investors and whetting the public appetite, Google is set to disrupt another major industry and clear the way for its new products, such as video advertising, cloud computing and augmented reality. - Scott Clark, www.BuzzMaven.com
Commercialized research wins funding
Researchers at three Kentucky universities have received six new awards in the amount of $556,137 under the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation's Kentucky Commercialization Fund to help them commercialize promising emerging technologies.
The funding will allow UK to develop and test a new product made from high-strength carbon fiber strips to strengthen and upgrade existing reinforced concrete and steel bridges and buildings. The University of Louisville will use these funds for design completion and optimization of a reactor for producing metal oxide nanowires at commercial scale; development of Web Assisted Recovery (WAR) computer and marketing programming to prevent relapse among addicted persons in early recovery; development of a wireless device to alert parents and care providers by monitoring sudden increase in body temperatures beyond a predetermined threshold in children due to infection, seizure or under a therapy; and development of a urine-based diagnostic test to diagnose obstructive sleep apnea in snoring individuals either as a clinical diagnostic test or a home test kit for rapid screening. The award to KSU will help the researchers to develop and commercialize a specialized sensor-based wireless technology to remotely monitor and detect loss of fluid and changes in other physical parameters in difficult-to-monitor individual containers.
Midway College receives Brown funding
Midway College received a $500,000 gift from the James Graham Brown Foundation, Inc.
for the College's new $5 million Learning Resource Center ,scheduled to be completed in January 2011.
Centerpointe site made available for St. Patrick's festivities
The festival portion of the 2010 Alltech-Lexington St. Patrick's Parade and Festival will take place in the very center of Lexington - at CentrePointe, that is, the pasture-like city block in the middle of downtown Lexington that is the would-be site of a high rise by that name.
"The Irish ask, they receive," chuckled CentrePointe developer Dudley Webb. "It's still our intent to make it available during the (World Equestrian) Games," he said. "Basically we've been sitting on it until then. But since it (the festival) is a joint venture with the city, that made it somewhat different from some private enterprise coming in and asking."
"We're thrilled with it," said Bill Enright, the son of Irish immigrants and an organizer and sometimes leader of the event since its inception 31 years ago. The parade and festival are organized by the Bluegrass Irish Society in partnership with the city's Parks & Recreation Department.
The festivities get underway at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 13, in the Centrepointe block bounded by Main, Upper, Vine and Limestone streets with a break for the parade at 1 p.m. Following the parade, the festival will resume and continue until 7 p.m.
Enright emphasized that the event is open to everyone.
"It's not just a 'kiss me, I'm Irish,' green beer thing. We invite all ethnic groups to join us in the parade and at the festival and celebrate their roots with us," he said.
Meanwhile, have the Webbs opened a gate in the fence surrounding the CentrePointe site to anyone interested in holding an event on the property? "Until we can actually start construction of the Centrepointe project, the owners of this property will continue to consider requests for its temporary use by such appropriate service organizations on a case-by-case basis," Webb said. "Obviously, all such arrangements will have to satisfy both the requirements of the owners as well as those of the local regulatory authorities."
More information about the St. Patrick's Parade and Festival is available at bluegrassirishsociety.org and lexingtonstpatsparade.org.
Author Thomas Ricks to offer inside account of Iraq
"The events for which the Iraq war will be remembered have not yet happened," concludes General David Petraeus at the close of Thomas Ricks' book "The Gamble: General Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq."
Ricks, who also is a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, will discuss those "events" and the situation in Iraq from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Monday, February 15, at the University of Kentucky's William T. Young Library Auditorium.
The presentation, arranged by UK's Patterson School of Diplomacy and open to the public, offers an opportunity to hear a first-hand perspective and analysis of this enduring conflict.
Ricks worked as a military correspondent for The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.
He is currently a contributing editor at Foreign Policy magazine and a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. In addition to "The Gamble," he is the author of the best-seller "Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2003-2005" and "Making the Corps."
Public invited to learn about public art along Legacy Trail
Join the Legacy Trail Public Art Consortium (LTPAC) on Tuesday, February 23, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Central Library Theatre for the second public session with master planners Todd Bressi and Stacy Levy. They will define an action plan for art along the trail and engage attendees in the overall concept for the Legacy Trail public art master plan.
The LTPAC includes the representatives from Blue Grass Community Foundation's (BGCF) Legacy Center, Christine Huskisson's Museum Studies class at the University of Kentucky, LexArts, the Lexington Art League, LFUCG and community volunteers. BGCF's Legacy Center and LexArts are funding this Master Art Plan for the Legacy Trail.
Why KET dropped candidate debates
From the blog of KET's Bill Goodman:
A lot of you, especially candidates on the ballot in the May primary, have become aware of a change in our longstanding tradition of inviting candidates to appear on KET for a debate before election day. We've provided this service to viewers for many years. And, hopefully, the tradition of asking candidates tough questions about the issues of the day, will continue.
Why make the change? Whether you noticed or not, the forums always underwent review and modifications in the way they were presented. There were times when we suggested that opposing candidates get together to make recommendations to us.
There's no denying that a forum in 2008 presented a situation that many, including us, considered unfair. In order to prevent a similar situation in the future, we made the decision to continue the candidate programs on Kentucky Tonight.
As a news interview program, Kentucky Tonight is exempt from some of the problems we've run into in the past. Will candidates who have been reluctant to attend our candidate forums be any more likely to accept an invitation to sit down to discuss the issues on Kentucky Tonight? I doubt it. But, they still will be invited and we still will have a program - just like we have had for years. Whether it's a debate, a forum, a discussion, or a candidate program - the show will go on.
As the host and managing editor, I think this format, which we practice every Monday night, will give viewers a better opportunity to hear candidates discuss the issues. There won't be a time keeper; a real back-and-forth debate could occur, unencumbered by the more formal structure of the past. Phone calls and e-mails from viewers will be encouraged. It will be a better service to everyone watching.
We didn't come to this final conclusion without a lot of thought about what you would think about the change in format. Hopefully, it's the best decision for everyone - most importantly, you.