PR and News

Sierra Business Council Blog post

www.sierrabusinesscouncil.org

The Quiet Revolution

The World Wide Web and how it's being spun

Since I embarked on my new position at Sierra Business Council managing the Gold Country Broadband Consortium, my curiosity about how we are connected to the World Wide Web has been piqued. What I’m finding, there’s a complex web being built by a few spiders and some of them are poisonous. I have been uncovering where the various wires are, who owns them, and how unserved communities can gain access to them. The big telecoms own most of the fiber, coax cable, copper, and the conduit to deploy it. Even if you dig the trench, pay an ISP to lay the conduit and the wire to connect you; they own the conduit and the wire. I discovered that AT&T is slowly turning off its old copper lines and migrating to a fiber and wireless network. During this migration process, they are canceling internet services in areas where it doesn’t pencil for them to maintain it. The only reason they’re not canceling all copper services just yet is because the government, by law, requires they provide wireline phone service. In Illinois and other states, AT&T wants to back out of mandates to run landline phones, but approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is necessary before they can pull phone service. As far back as 2014 AT&T and Verizon started canceling landline Internet and phone service leaving people to complain to the FCC. It seems their goal is to implement fiber in high-density areas forcing smaller communities to rely on mobile wireless for all AT&T telecommunication services, including broadband. AT&T is working hard trying to get new bills passed, SB 649 in California is one of them, and similar bills in other states. Allowing them, in part allowing, to put cellular antennae on any public building, or utility pole without needing to ask permission. They’ve also been busy working on changing the FCC’s definition of home phone service from wireline to wireless. Now I know why they don’t have time to return phone calls. Thanks to Jerry Brown, AB 649 didn’t pass.

The FCC is responsible for protecting us from losing our core utilities or getting bitten by one of those dangerous spiders. Broadband should be a core utility and more heavily regulated by the FCC. Broadband provides access to the types of services we are losing in rural America; Healthcare, education, emergency services, and access to more economic development opportunities yet these are the areas that are losing access or don’t have access. In 2015 the White House and the Broadband Opportunity Council authored a report that discusses how broadband Internet has become an “essential infrastructure for communities” and is no longer just a convenience, but a “core utility” considered as essential as electricity and water. Regulations were put in place between 2010 and 2015 to help remove the threats to Internet openness, protecting the consumer and preventing providers from deceiving customers, degrading content, or promoting content they favor and disfavoring content they don’t like. With the current administration and the appointment of Ajit Pai as the new chair of the FCC, the regulations to protect consumers are being threatened. Pai, a former lawyer for Verizon, is opposed to regulation and is looking to restore “Internet Freedom” for the providers, in part determining whether regulatory intervention is necessary for this market. The Commission hopes that by reducing the red tape these proposals will spur broadband deployment throughout the country, bringing better, faster Internet service to more Americans and boosting competition and choice in the broadband marketplace.

Recently, I went to the AT&T website and searched for service availability in my area and found only home phone and mobile phone service, no more internet. Many rural providers are filling the gap left by the big telecom using grants and creative funding to lay down their own wires and purchase parts of the World Wide Web with the goal of creating an open-access web. The revolution is well underway.

Truckee Tahoe Community Foundation

www.ttcf.net
Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation connects people and opportunities, generating resources to build a more caring creative and effective community.
News Letter For Last Splash Fundraising Campaign


Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation (TTCF) launches new end of summer fundraising campaign with a Splash!

Last Splash Give Back is a creative way to encourage donations from second homeowners, tourists, and the community. The donations go directly to TTCF's programs and administration that support Direct Grantmaking, Community Leadership and Strengthen Nonprofits.

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Adobe Systems

www.adobe.com
OpenHD Program
HD Expo News Letter Article for the Adobe OpenHD Program.
HD Expo produces premier industry events for the production and content creation communities.


What is Adobe OpenHD? In the world of High Definition (HD) production anyone wanting to create HD content is presented with a myriad of options that often leave them confused and bewildered. Adobe OpenHD is an alliance of industry leaders whose goal is to solve some of the mystery that exists when considering a solution for creating HD content.

By offering customers scalable, open, and certified solutions to support any popular HD format, Adobe OpenHD provides an efficient way for customers to purchase turnkey solutions and gain expert support for the ever-changing world of HD content creation and post-production.

Adobe and the Adobe OpenHD partners achieve this by assembling and certifying a line of open, scalable, desktop and portable HDV, HD, SD and 2K solutions with Adobe Production Studio. This range of solutions is based upon industry-standard video, graphics, and Windows®-based computers, which allow industry professionals to get the best performance, scalability and reliability possible.   By thoroughly testing and certifying the OpenHD configurations, the Adobe OpenHD program gives customers confidence that the OpenHD system purchased will operate at the optimal performance level for their workflow. They can be assured that they're getting a reliable system that provides the performance necessary for any level of production and includes dedicated Adobe OpenHD support.

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Adobe Systems
OpenHD Program
HD Expo Workshop Announcement


From 2:00pm - 5:00pm in the Club Room
Adobe and Matrox will be hosting the intensive workshop: From Ingest to Distribution.
This FREE workshop focuses on a multitude of facets relating to real-world production and the most recent Adobe support for the latest cameras including the Panasonic P2 DVCPRO HD and other popular HDV cameras from Canon, JVC and Sony. Workshop highlights include: 
  • Learn how to Input direct to disk or capture off tape with Adobe Production Studio. 
  • From green screen set-up for the best image quality to editing and pre-visualizing in the field with new portable workstation technology 
  • How to export from HDV, HD and SD formats for distribution on a number of platforms in a variety of formats. 
  • Encoding Flash for web or for Mobile phones, learn how to diversify and empower your content distribution ability.
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Truckee Green Network  

tgnw.org
A networking nonprofit connecting partners that are fostering sustainability and environmental stewardship.
News 
Welcoming Sagehen Creek to the network

I want to welcome the Sagehen Creek Field Station as the newest partner. A field station is an experimental natural environment for biological research, hydrological studies, ecology, climate change studies, and environmental education. It's amazing to have something of such historical and environmental importance right in our back yard! 

Sagehen Creek was originally developed by the Berkeley University School of Forestry and Conservation in 1951 and is now overseen by several entities. The Leopold family was instrumental in creating the Sagehen Creek Field Station, as they were in many other endeavors through over 3 generations of environmental stewardship.

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Sierra Sun News Paper

 
 
How Green Is It? Column
04-13-07 

How Green Is It? Examining Light Bulbs

As a bi-product of the industrial revolution, the US is the world's largest producer of Carbon Dioxide as a whole and per capita. Since we are the pioneers who created most of the elements that produce carbon emissions it's our responsibility to lead the campaign to reduce carbon emissions.

Many of us have the sincere desire to reduce our carbon footprint, but what does that really mean? Carbon footprint is a measure of environmental impact directly related to the amount of carbon dioxide emitted during the combustion of non-renewable resources. No, it isn't a direct correlation to your shoe size. Essentially it is a measurement of the energy used to produce, use and dispose of a product, commonly known as the product life cycle. Well, if you have a large foot there's a good possibility that your product consumption is relative to its size. There are other effects that also impact the environment, heavy metals, toxic chemicals, erosion, and land use. It's crucial to consider the complete picture when looking at reducing your impacts on the environment.

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How Green Is It? Column
05-11-07 

How Green Is It? Examining Light Bulbs Cont…

Thomas Edison was not the inventor of electric light. Like technology today the inventors aren't usually the ones to bring a product to market successfully. Experiments with electric arc lamps date back to 1801. Sir Joseph Swann invented and patented the evacuated carbon filament incandescent lamp in 1878, around the same time Edison was experimenting. Edison was able to make it more efficient and partner with Swann to create a complete lighting system.

The first incandescent bulbs made by Edison converted around 1% of the electrical energy they used to light. When products are first brought to market they aren't necessarily preeminent. As technology improved, a tungsten filament replaced the carbon making them 10% more efficient. Ingenuity, such as putting halogen element gas into the bulb, allowed filaments to last longer. Halogen incandescent bulbs are about 15% more efficient and last almost 3 times longer than a traditional tungsten bulb. Of the remaining 80% - 90% of electrical energy transferred into a modern incandescent most is changed into invisible infra-red radiation or heat.

Peter Cooper Hewitt, a nearly forgotten inventor, created an arc lamp that used mercury. Low-pressure arc lamps put out large amounts of dangerous ultra-violet light, so the insides were coated with a fluorescent chemical, blocking out the harmful UV rays and creating fluorescent light. Essentially CFLs are mini tanning lights with a protective coating.

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How Green Is It? Column
06-08-07 

How Green Is It? A Learning Experience

I was at the drug store the other day looking for non-acetone nail polish remover all proud of myself for thinking green, but when I got it home I rubbed for over 20 minutes only to end up with blotchy red spots on my toenails. I got back in my car, drove back to the drugstore and purchased the more toxic nail polish remover. I burned excess fossil fuel, wasted a plastic container filled with useless chemicals and in the end purchased a toxic product. Go ahead, turn up your nose at me and say, how environmentally friendly is nail polish anyway? Well, not very, but red toenails in the summer are just one of those things that a girl's just gotta have. And guys I know some of you have had a pedicure and enjoyed it!

So, what's the balance? That's up to you. Becoming greener is a learning process. As I go through the day I try to think about things that will support my quest to make less of a negative impact on the environment. Big thanks to my mother who always reminded me to "TURN OFF THE LIGHTS" this is so deeply ingrained in me that I turn off lights at friends houses and if I see that one of my part-time neighbors has left their porch lights on I have to restrain myself from unscrewing their light bulbs.

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Green Drinks Tahoe

www.greendrinks.org
Green Drinks event announcement 


Green Drinks Tahoe Event

Join us at Rocker@Squaw for the first Green Drinks Tahoe
Wednesday, July 10th 6pm – 8pm  

"What are you doing to free yourself from dirty energy dependence?"  

Rocker@Squaw will be offering drink specials and a food special, that incorporates local, sustainably raised, items. 

Blue Moon $3 beer specials for the event!
An extended, beer only, happy hour
Food special, with a meat, or vegetarian option, for $10 per plate.  

Featured Guests  
  • Squaw - Discussion about Squaw's restoration and retrofitting efforts in becoming more sustainable  
  • Sustainable Tahoe - Information on accessing activities that increase connection with the environment and provide good clean fun!  
  • Truckee River Watershed Council - Providing education and information on stream restoration  
  • Tahoe Food Hub - Educating attendees on the regional food system they are developing to bring nutritious, ecologically grown, foods to the area.  
  • Growing Domes - Providing education on how to grow food in the Sierra region  
  • Organize 2 Live Green - Educating attendees on what it takes to Live Green 

We encourage you to use alternative forms of transportation. There will be bike racks available and schedules for the New water shuttle, buses and all your transportation needs are below.  
http://www.laketahoetransit.com/home 

Contact: Michelle Gartner at magicdoor@mac.com