The BBC’s tech reporter writes that BBC and ISPs clash over iPlayer

A row about who should pay for extra network costs incurred by the iPlayer has broken out between internet service providers (ISPs) and the BBC.

ISPs say the on-demand TV service is putting strain on their networks, which need to be upgraded to cope.

Ashley Highfield, head of future media and technology at the corporation, has said he believes the cost of network upgrades should be carried by ISPs.

Simon Gunter, from ISP Tiscali, said the BBC should contribute to the cost.

He said the BBC did not understand the issues involved.

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Sue Sturgis at Facing South writes about Project Vulcan, a Federal program to map CO₂ emissions in the US.

If you click on the map you will get a larger version from Purdue University, home of the project, so you can see how your area is doing. While I expected that the cities would stand out, one of the things that struck me is that the Interstates also stand out from the surrounding landscape. This is a powerful argument for decreasing automobile emissions, as the map clearly shows their effect.

You know some states have “Take your child to work day”, well thanks to the Florida legislature we now have “Take Your Gun To Work Everyday”.

I loved this bit from Dr. Peaden:

Backers say the measure upholds the vision of the authors of the U.S. Constitution, who made the right to bear arms part of the Bill of Rights.

“The second thing they wrote about in that constitution was the right to bear arms,” said Sen. Durell Peaden, a Republican from Crestview, Florida. “It was what was dear in their hearts.”

The man has a JD in addition to his MD, but apparently doesn’t know the difference between the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, or that it isn’t “that constitution”; it’s “the Constitution” that he took oath to support when he entered public office .

He’s in his last term, but he is a true embarrassment to my county, although he doesn’t represent me. Even a guy who got his medical degree from Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara¹, Mexico, should be more attuned to health and safety issues than Durell, [or “Unreal” as some of us call him].

1. Note that the web site for the “School of Medicine” is in English, while the rest of the UAG site is in Spanish, and they have a “Medical Spanish” course. This school was set up for gringos who couldn’t get into a US medical school.

Back in the day the cynical guys in the blue uniforms used to say: ” It isn’t a system; there is no justice; but it’s certainly criminal.” Is that ever true today on the Federal level.

Steve Bates of Yellow Doggerel Democrat pointed out a Larisa Alexandrovna article at the Huffingtonpost, It’s official, Alabama is the Soviet Union… which covered the delivery of subpoenas to a group of Alabama legislators, mostly Democratic, while they were in session at the state capitol. It’s a corruption probe of the state’s community college system. A news flash for the Feds: everybody in the state knows the system operates based on corruption and cronyism, and has for years, so why the current interest? It hasn’t gotten noticeably worse, and you can still get an education, so why look at it now?

She also mentions some of the antics of the Feds in Mississippi, which look a lot like selective prosecution.

We may as well include Don Siegelman in the Alabama coverage, and Ben Kuehne in Miami.

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