Over at my netpublics research blog, I have a lengthy post reflecting on the consequences of broadband 2.0 for cities.
If you are interested in the consequences of telecommuting, the future of wired and wireless connections, or have just bought overpriced property in a run down area of the city (read: get out now), take a look.
In the past I’ve written about the dangers of telecoms centralizing, but my thought had always been that terrorism and natural disaster were the big threats. Silly me.
This weekend, the New York Times broke the news that the NSA has been installing eavesdropping equipment directly at telecoms without search warrants. One of the most interesting observations in the article was that since so much international voice and data traffic passes through U. S. switches, the government is free to observe this traffic as well.
So much for the triumph of the California Ideology. Welcome to the culture of the aggregator. Also at the New York Times, James Banford worries that the NSA is “The Agency That Could be Big Brother“. At his Washington Post blog, William Arkin worries about this as well. In retrospect, Watergate seems so quaint. That brought down a presidency? On this rainy Monday in LA, I think I’ll be spending my evening watching Three Days of the Condor.
New home sales were down 11% in November, the biggest drop in ten years. The number of homes for sale rose 3% to a 4.9 month supply, the highest since December 1996. Is this the beginning of the end? Read the story at the New York Times.