Taliban intimidate cellphone carriers

Every evening at dusk, cellphones go dead in Zhari, a district just outside Kandahar, Afghanistan's second-largest city. All three cellphone service companies operating there turn off their antennas until dawn. The reason for this nightly blackout, implemented across southern and eastern Afghanistan is a Taliban decree that aims to prevent villagers from passing tips to coalition forces.

The Taliban also are trying to show who's really in charge in this part of the country by intimidating the cellphone industry, one of the rare Afghan economic success stories. When carriers tried to defy the edict in the past, insurgents destroyed cellphone towers and killed staff in response.

The American surge into southern Afghanistan, including here in Kandahar province, has dealt setbacks to the Taliban. Yet the insurgents are far from defeated. Despite the offensive by tens of thousands of extra U.S. troops in the south, fear of the Taliban still reigns across much of the country. The cellphone shutdown is a sign of how deeply entrenched the insurgency is in the day-to-day functioning of the area, where the Taliban effectively operate a shadow government more powerful than the state.

About 40 cellphone towers — costing as much as $400,000 each — were destroyed by the insurgents over the past year. Chastened by the experience, the government no longer insists that the networks operate at night in insurgent-dominated regions because there is insufficient securioty to protect equipment and employees.  American officials estimate that only about 10% of the district is under government authority.

Zhari's governor, Mohammed Niyaz Serhadi, says he has repeatedly implored the mobile operators to restore 24-hour service in his district. He has offered land for a tower inside the district headquarters — a secure location that sits within the perimeter of a large U.S. base on the Helmand-Kandahar highway.

"Once the antennas are shut down at night, our people are like the blind: The businessmen cannot carry on with their businesses, the sick cannot get to a hospital, and people cannot contact their relatives if something happens or if someone dies," Serhadi says. Mobile-phone companies, he adds, rejected his offer: "They said that if they erect their antennas in the district center, the Taliban will bomb their antennas outside and kill their staff."

In Zhari's neighboring district of Arghandab, where a recent deployment of American forces has pushed back the insurgents, there was no mobile-phone service at all until two months ago. Continuing skirmishes made travel unsafe and prompted the phone companies to shut down the towers that hadn't been destroyed.

"People had to walk all the way to Kandahar City or climb to the top of a mountain to get reception," says the Arghandab district governor, Hajji Abdul Jabar. The signal has now reappeared — but, as in Zhari, only during daylight hours.  (info from The Wall Street Journal)

Help Haiti!

Haiti shares the island of Hispanola with the more prosperous Dominican Republic. The island is between Cuba and Puerto Rico. Christopher Columbus visited the island in 1492 and founded settlements.

Even during the best of times, Haiti has been a miserable place to live.

Its people suffered as slaves under French colonists, and after revolting and becoming "free," the country was known for turmoil and frequent government takeovers. The United States occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934.

In 1937 Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo ordered the Dominican Army to kill Haitians living on the Dominican side of the border.

Later in the 20th Century, Haitians suffered again under the brutal and corrupt regimes of "Papa Doc" Duvalier and his slightly nicer son "Baby Doc."

Haiti is home to a proud people with a rich culture and important history, but the country is pathetically poor, with a very low literacy rate and one of the worst living standards in the world. Many Haitians left the country.

Haiti was the first independent nation in Latin America, the first post-colonial independent black-led nation in the world, and the only nation whose independence was gained as part of a successful slave rebellion. Haiti is the only predominantly French-speaking independent nation in the Western Hemisphers, and one of just two (with Canada) that designate French as an official language

And now, an earthquake has caused thousands of poorly made buildings to collapes, killing as-yet-uncounted tens of thousands of people.

President Obama, the Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense have changed their schedules to deal with the crisis. I changed my blogging schedule to ask readers to donate some money to help, and to encourage others to donate, too.

Google has made it easy to make a donation to help the people of Haiti. Please CLICK to give, and post this information wherever you can.

(Some info above came from Wikipedia)

...

A blatant commercial message:Flashing red Batphone can be delivered before Christmas

Now everyone can have a red phone with a flashing light like Batman.

When there’s trouble in Gotham City, Police Commissioner Gordon calls caped crusader Batman, the secret alter ego of millionaire Bruce Wayne.

At Wayne Manor, the flashing red Batphone is answered by Alfred the butler, who tells Wayne about the trouble. Then Wayne and his young ward Dick Grayson put on their superhero costumes. As Batman and Robin, they race from the Batcave in the Batmobile to battle evil-doers, or rescue citizens in distress.

Now everyone can have a bright red flashing Batphone just like a superhero. When an emergency call -- or even an ordinary call -- comes in, a bright red light centered in a shiny chrome ring starts flashing to attract attention.

The Batphone has classic sixties styling, with heavy-duty construction, a two-year warranty, and is made in the USA. It gets all of its power from the phone line, and doesn’t require a power cord or batteries. It can work on an ordinary home phone line, or on an "analog extension port" in a business phone system.

The phone rings when the light flashes, unless a purchaser prefers the bell to be disconnected for silent signaling, or an optional high-pitched "BatSignal" or buzzer to be installed instead of the bell. Price with the bell is $122, including Priority Mail shipping to all 50 states.

Order online at www.GetABatPhone.com, or call toll-free 1-888-225-3999.

Judge dismissed charges In Broadcom case because of pressure on witnesses

Citing misconduct by prosecutors, a federal judge dismissed criminal charges in a stock-options backdating case against two former execs of chip-maker Broadcom. The decision marks the latest setback for the government as it attempts to hold executives accountable for a widespread compensation practice in the early 2000s.

Broadcom co-founder Henry Nicholas III, and former CFO William Ruehle had been accused of playing a role in a stock-options backdating scandal that led Broadcom to record $2.2 billion in backdating-related expenses it should have taken when the options were granted between 1998 and 2003.

Backdating involves retroactively setting the price of a stock option to a low point in the stock's value, allowing employees to reap higher profits if the stock is later sold.

In dismissing the charges in the Broadcom case Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney said the government behaved improperly by pressuring witnesses to testify in a manner favorable to prosecutors.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles denied in court papers that it unfairly pressured witnesses. "We are disappointed in the ruling," said a spokesperson for the office.

In a related development, Judge Carney last week voiced concern that Andrew Stolper, a prosecutor in the case, had committed misconduct in February 2007 by leaking information to the press as a way to exert pressure on another defendant, Broadcom co-founder Henry Samueli.

Samueli last year pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the SEC in connection with the agency's investigation of options backdating at Broadcom. But at a Dec. 9 court hearing, Judge Carney determined there was insufficient evidence that Mr. Samueli had committed the crime.

Broadcom was one of the most prominent companies caught up in the backdating scandal. Last year the company paid $12 million to settle civil allegations by the SEC that it misrepresented the dates of as many as 88 stock-option grants to executives and employees.

In a separate indictment against Nicholas in 2008, prosecutors alleged that he engaged in a pattern of drug use and abuse over a nearly seven-year period. Citing the concerns about the government pressuring witnesses, Judge Carney set a hearing date in February to determine whether the drug charges against Nicholas should also be dropped. (info from The Wall Street Journal)

Ebay sells Skype at a loss

Skype is software that allows people to make phone calls over the Internet. Calls to other users of the service are free. Calls to landline phones and cellphones generally have a fee.

The company that developed Skype was bought by eBay in 2005 for $2.6 billion. eBay hoped that users of its auctions would use Skype to communicate, but few of them did.

EBay is now completing the sale of 70% of Skype for about $2 billion to a group that includes the founders of Skype. Ebay will keep 30 percent.

AT&T sues Verizon over cellphone ad

AT&T is suing Verizon Wireless over Verizon's "There's a Map for That" commercials, saying that the ads are misleading and deceptive.

AT&T filed the suit in Georgia and is asking for a temporary restraining order and a permanent injunction to stop the ads. AT&T said it has "suffered and continues to suffer irreparable harm" from the commercials.

Verizon's ads show maps of the United States with areas highlighted to depict where high speed "3G" network coverage is available. The maps use red for Verizon and blue for AT&T to show where each company offers 3G coverage. There are blank spaces where no 3G is available.

In one ad, the narrator says, "If you want to know why your 3G coverage works so well on Verizon Wireless, there's a map for that," and a map of the country nearly covered with red dots is shown. The narrator later says "If you want to know why some people have spotty G3 coverage, there's a map for that, too" and a map of the country with some blue areas and a lot of blank space is shown to ostensibly show AT&T's 3G coverage.

AT&T says those maps are misleading because there is still regular coverage in areas where "3G" service is not offered.

Verizon modified the ads after AT&T complained about them saying its customers were "out of touch" where 3G coverage was unavailable. Those words were taken out and Verizon included a tag line saying "Voice & data services available outside 3G coverage areas" at the end of the ads.

Verizon spokeswoman Nancy Stark said the changes are sufficient, and "As to the merits of the suit, there aren't any. The ads are clearly labeled 3G coverage and they also clearly state that voice and data service is available outside the 3G coverage area." (info from The Associated Press)

Avaya idiots paid a man for five years -- but he never worked there

Anthony Armatys of Palatine, Ill. pleaded guilty Monday in New Jersey Superior Court to one count of theft. He admitted keeping more than $470,000 in paychecks from telecommunications company Avaya, where he never worked.

Armatys accepted a job with Avaya in September 2002, and changed his mind about working there. The Avaya payroll computer kept him on the list, and kept sending money to be deposited into his bank account until February 2007, when Avaya auditors finally noticed the mistake.

Prosecutors recommended a six-year prison term and restitution. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 8.

There is no word on how many other phantoms have been paid -- or are still being paid -- by Avaya. (info from The Associated Press)

Have you been cheating the IRS when you use your company cellphone?

Under a 1989 law, workers who use company-provided mobile phones for personal calls are supposed to count the value of those calls as income and pay federal income taxes accordingly.

But businesses and workers have long ignored the requirement, prompting IRS to ask Congress to repeal the law.

Wireless trade association CTIA supports legislation to do away with a 20-year-old law. While waiting for Congress to act, CTIA said the IRS should "consider suspending all audit activity on the taxation of the personal use of employer-provided cellphones."

"The alternatives [to legislation] proposed by the IRS are either incomplete or inadequate solutions that would continue to subject employees and employers to onerous call log requirements," CTIA President Steve Largent said. CTIA members include the country's largest wireless companies -- Verizon, AT&T, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile.

The IRS is collecting comments on the cellphone-tax law. In June, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman asked Congress to repeal it, calling it "obsolete." Shulman's statement signaled a quick turnabout for the IRS, which had earlier proposed that employers assign 25% of an employee's annual phone expenses as a taxable benefit. Under that scenario, a worker in the 28% tax bracket, whose wireless device costs the company $1,500 a year, could see $105 in additional federal income tax.

Without congressional action, the IRS had hoped to clarify the rule so it would be easier for businesses and workers to comply.

Sens. John Kerry and John Ensign and Reps. Sam Johnson and Earl Pomeroy have sponsored a bill with broad bipartisan support that would remove cellphones from the IRS's list of taxable properties provided to workers by their employers.

Most businesses and tax executives prefer a repeal.

U.S. colleges and universities, nonprofits and other employers are also calling for legislation to remove employer-provided cellphones from the list of taxable fringe benefits. Short of legislation repealing the cellphone requirements, the National Association of College and University Business Officers said it favors assigning a maximum number of minutes per month allowable for personal use, that wouldn't be counted for tax purposes.

The Tax Executives Institute, a trade group for company tax directors, asked IRS to suspend enforcement of its cellphone rules until Congress acts.

A California court said it loses about 45 employee hours each month -- from 160 employees that are provided cellphones by the court -- in an effort to track personal calls to comply with IRS requirements. That effort generally results in employees reimbursing the court for a total of about 125 minutes a month for personal cellphone use, wrote David H. Yamasaki, chief executive officer of the Santa Clara County Superior Court.

Of course, employees have been making personal calls with landline phones owned by their employers for scores of years without paying taxes on the value of the calls.

And they don't pay taxes on the value of personal use of business computers.

(info from The Wall Street Journal)

Amazon starts to bail out of Skype

EBay is selling a majority interest of the Internet telecom service Skype for about $2 billion, reversing a 2005 acquisition that many considered a bad deal at its inception.

EBay is selling a 65 percent stake in Skype to a group of private investment funds for $1.9 billion in cash and a $125 million note, while retaining a 35 percent stake. EBay said the deal values the company at $2.75 billion.

EBay said earlier this year that it would spin off Skype, which lets people make free or inexpensive voice and video calls with computers and cellphones, after struggling to justify its 2005 acquisition of the company for $2.6 billion.

EBay hoped the service would catch on with users of its auction site, but it never became a popular way for buyers and sellers to connect. The company took a $900 million write-down on Skype in 2007, tacitly acknowledging it had overvalued the business.

Still, Skype itself remains popular, particularly among people who regularly make international calls. According to the research group TeleGeography, Skype accounted for 8 percent of international calling traffic last year. The service can typically offer cheaper rates than regular phones by sending voice as data over the Internet just like e-mail and Web pages, reducing the need to tie up dedicated phone lines.

It is also starting to look like a more profitable business, with revenue up 25 percent to $170 million in the most recent quarter.

Skype was founded by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, creators of the music downloading service Kazaa, which had upset the recording industry.

EBay announced in April that it would spin off Skype through an initial public offering next year, though the company said it was open to alternative bids that offered attractive valuation. In a statement Tuesday, eBay CEO John Donahoe said the deal with the investor group achieves that...Skype, as a standalone company, would have the focus needed to compete and "accelerate its growth momentum"

The group of investors buying the stake includes Andreessen Horowitz, the new $300 million fund set up by Web browser pioneer Marc Andreessen. Led by the private equity firm Silver Lake, the group also includes Index Ventures and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. (info from The Associated Press)

I need a break.

I began blogging on 5/7/06. I started writing one blog, and gradually built up to five blogs a day. I got out of bed at 3:30AM to start my daily writing.

I did it for fun, but lately it has seemed too much like work. I'm not sure that I am officially "burned-out," but I have definitely lost enthusiasm for the daily grind of blogging.

Since the blog obligation was only to myself, and I have no contract, it's an obligation I am free to suspend, cancel or modify at will. No one has a paid-up subscription for words they won't receive.

Therefore, after 2,715 posts, I have decided to take some time off. I need to finish writing a few books, and some essays, and maybe I'll even try poetry and songwriting. My to-do list includes many unread books and un-watched DVDs. I want to spend more time swimming, and walk my dog more often.

The break will last at least a few weeks, but might even be several months. J. D. Salinger has not published an original work since 1965, but I won't be away that long. Even if I don't come back full-time until the Fall, I might pop back in occasionally if I think there's something worth saying.

I am continuing to write BookMakingBlog, my blog about writing, editing and publishing.

CUL/mnm

Man jailed for calling 911 about lost keys

A man in Tampa, Florida called 911 eight times in one hour because he lost his keys. Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Debbie Carter says George Alvarez became upset with deputies because they could not help him find the keys.

Deputies arrested Alvarez just early Monday morning. He was booked into jail on charges of making a false 911 call and released from jail after posting $500 bail. (info from WFTS)

Your feet can call your phone

ESoles, which makes custom insoles for athletic shoes, has created prototype insoles with pressure sensors that relay information wirelessly to a nearby cellphone. Then an application on the phone can tell the wearer how much pressure he or she is applying in 11 different zones of each sole.

The system has been used to analyze the technique of the US Olympic BMX team, helping them figure out how to apply maximum power to the bicycle pedals out of the gate, said Glen Hinshaw, founder of eSoles and a former professional cyclist. The system can also analyze a golf swing or skiing posture, he said.

Sports aren't the only application. The insoles can work in games. ESoles is trying a jump rope game, in which the phone screen shows a swinging rope, and users have to time their jumps to it. "If you leave one leg on the ground and you're only lifting the other foot, the jump rope stops, because it's not clearing your foot," Hinshaw said.

Nintendo makes a balance board accessory for its Wii game console that senses the force from the user's feet. ESoles' sensing insoles would essentially do the same thing, but without tying the user to an immobile board.

Hinshaw also envisions medical uses, perhaps for warning diabetes patients who have lost feeling in their feet that they risk injury from too much pressure.

Hinshaw said the company plans to make the insoles available in a limited trial version in July, then put them on the market late this year. The initial price for the sensors would be about $300, but he hopes to bring the price under $50. (info from The Associated Press)

Sprint & Verizon will sell itty-bitty Wi-Fi router

Sprint will join Verizon Wireless in marketing Novatel’s pocket-size battery-powered Wi-Fi router with embedded cellular data modem.

Verizon announced earlier this week that it would be first to market on May 17. Thursday, Sprint announced availability during the first week of June. Both carriers are pricing the Novatel-made MiFi 2200 at $99 after $50 mail-in rebate with two-year wireless-data service contract.

The 2200 incorporates CDMA 1x EV-DO Rev. A cellular-data modem and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, enabling up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices to access the Internet from places where fixed hot spots or Wi-Fi networks are unavailable. The MiFi’s rechargeable battery provides up to four hours of active use and 40 hours of standby time on a single charge. It measures 3.5 inches by 2.3 inches by 0.4 inches and weighs 2.05 ounces.

The device is the first of its kind to operate on batteries, enabling consumers to take it easily from car to car. Recently, Autonet launched a transportable in-vehicle cellular hot spot, which consumers can move from car to car, but the device must be docked with an installed mounting kit. Kyocera continues to offer a KR2 Wi-Fi router that operates off AC, comes with car cigarette-lighter adapter, and accepts a cellular EV-DO data card to connect to up to 20 Wi-Fi-equipped laptops to the Internet.

The Novatel device will be available through all Verizon Wireless channels. Sprint will offer it online, in its stores and through select other retailers. Soon after, it will offer a version to wireless wholesalers.

Eligible Verizon price plans include $39.99 monthly access for 250MB monthly allowance and 10 cents per megabyte overage. A $59.99 monthly plan comes with 5GB monthly allowance and 5 cents per megabyte overage. Consumers can pay a higher price if they don’t commit to a monthly plan. In that case, the user must get a $15 Mobile Broadband DayPass to access the service for a single 24-hour period.

Sprint’s eligible plans are the $59.99/month broadband-only plan and the $149/month Simply Everything Plan + Mobile Broadband plan, which covers a phone plus the device. Both plans include up to 5GB of data per month, plus 5 cents for every MB more. (info from TWICE)

As usual, biz is bad for Nortel

Nortel Networks, which filed for bankruptcy protection in January, lost more than half a billion dollars and saw sales plummet 37% in the first quarter, but Chief Executive Mike Zafirovski said the company's cash balance gives it time to hold out for the best sale prices for its assets.

Nortel, which originally said it hoped to emerge from bankruptcy proceedings smaller and more focused, has been in discussions to sell its largest divisions, but the bids have been too low.

For example, Nortel declined an unsolicited, $850 million offer from Nokia Siemens Networks for large parts of its carrier-networks group. Nokia Siemens Networks is a joint venture of Nokia and Siemens that is seeking to court US carriers.

Last week Nortel was preparing to announce that it had found a buyer for its enterprise unit, which makes systems to route voice and data traffic within companies. The bidder, Avaya, is backed by the private-equity firms TPG Capital and Silver Lake. Advisers were working through the weekend of May 2-3 to complete the deal, but couldn't. Talks are continuing.

Nortel's first-quarter net loss came to $507 million, or $1.02 a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $138 million, or 28 cents a share. Revenue fell to $1.73 billion. Nortel had $2.48 billion in cash at the end of March, up slightly from $2.4 billion at the end of 2008.

Zafirovski said that Nortel hadn't lost "a single customer" since its bankruptcy filing but acknowledged that customers had stopped buying new technologies when it entered the process. He said orders increased in February and March, signaling that the business had stabilized. (info from The Wall Street Journal)