The Apple iPad bests the Apple iPhone - CLARO Sales Executives left with mouths agape

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Apple Beat Amazon Kindle and Netbook and leaves CLARO Sales Executives mouth agape!!….

Parodied cry of a newspaper boy selling Extra Newspapers in the early 1920’s

Yes, folks, by now members of Sales Executive from CLARO have seen the fabled Apple iPad (which I predicted from 2009 to some fellow Shurpower contractors, to toot my own horn!!) and based on their clueless expressions show in the photographs in The Social, published Friday May 14 2010, The Friday Gleaner, p. D5, Jamaica Gleaner the CLARO representatives seemed as if they were puzzled, as possibly the question crossed their empty minds: why would anyone buy something like this?

The thoughts registered on their face (based I would like to note, on unscientific analysis, as this is merely an allegorical allusion due to their postures and “mouth agape” expressions on both the faces of Nadine Palmer-Collins and Saneisha Green, CLARO Sales Executives, I presume!!), which is best answered by considering and by looking at the statistics coming out of the Apple iPad launch as tabulated by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster as stated in the article “iPad 3G sales estimated at 300,000 for launch weekend”, published May 3, 2010 4:13 AM PDT by John Paczkowski, CNET News – AllThingsDigital

This suggest that the Apple iPad Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) despite selling more units than its cousin the Apple iPad 3G + Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n), the overall sales of the device not only exceeded three hundred thousand (300,000) for the weekend ending Sunday May 3^rd 2010, but according to the analyst, he is now revising the sales target for the device, which he expected to sell nearly 1.3 million units by June 2010, as it looks to be a bit of an underestimate.

No kidding, boss. Turns out that his comments are spot on and are confirmed by another CNET reporter, who stated in the article “Apple sells 1 million iPads”, published May 3, 2010 6:16 AM PDT by Jim Dalrymple, CNET News – Apple that it took twenty eight (28) days since the debut of the device on the weekend of Saturday April 3^rd and Sunday April 4^th 2010 for the device to hit the one million (1,000,000) mark.

A device that Natalie Del Conte, a CNET Reporter, was able to “touch with these hands” two (2) days before it official launch as stated in the video by Natali Del Conte in CNET Loaded, aired Friday April 1^st 2010, by Natalie del Conte, CNET News (CBS) and confirmed by Tom Merritt, sitting in for Molly Wood on the CNET Buzz Report, aired Friday April 1^st 2010, by Tom Merritt, CNET News (CBS). But what does the King of the Apple Universe have to say?

CEO Steve Jobs was quoted as saying in the article “Apple sells 1 million iPads”, published May 3, 2010 6:16 AM PDT by Jim Dalrymple, CNET News – Apple on April 8^th 2010 during the iPhone OS 4 event, that the sale figures indicated that four hundred and fifty thousand (450,000) Apple iPads had been sold thus confirming Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster estimate of three hundred thousand (300,000) being sold thus far, evidenced from the empty Apple retailer’s inventory for the product.

In all, the Apple iPads had not only achieved the one million (1,000,000) mark in twenty eight (28) days since the debut of the device on the weekend of Saturday April 3^rd and Sunday April 4^th 2010, more than the Apple iPhone’s initial launch back in 2007.

The Apple iPad it also managed to have users (can I now all them Apple Fanboys, as only they would shell out big bucks for such a device!!) download nearly twelve million (12,000,000) apps and more than one point five million (1,500,000) e-books from the iBookstore since the launch on the weekend of Saturday April 3^rd and Sunday April 4^th 2010 to the weekend of Saturday April 3^rd and Sunday April 4^th 2010.

I have no superlatives to express my amazement at how my idea, or at least predicted device, the Apple iPad, is doing so well, except to say thanks to all the True Apple Fanboys out there, as the puzzled looks on the CLARO Executives faces is redemption song enough for me, confirming the news media awash and heavy laden with reviews earlier touted in the article “Early reviews: iPad is 'beautiful', 'blazingly fast', 'has a touch of genius'”, published Wednesday April 1 2010 by Ben Patterson, Yahoo! News and other of its ilk that these statistics have now borne out.

The Apple iPad is now official the “Gadget of the Month” as confirmed by Molly Wood, Senior Executive Editor of CNET News in the video posting CNET Buzz Report, aired Friday April 1^st 2010, by Molly Wood, CNET News (CBS).

I thus conclude that the puzzled looks on the faces of the CLARO Sales Executives is really more a reflection of lack of interest in their products, as they must have been aware, had they been following the rumors of an impending Tablet PC launch since 2009, that just like in the case of  Telecoms Provider here in Jamaica, that it was a foreboding of something big on the horizon soon coming, which I successfully predicted, as knowing white people in engineering, they usually design devices based on previous ones  i.e. the philosophy of not reinventing the wheel and KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid).

Thus my prior comments are only meant in humor, as I am generally skeptical that females even like Apple gadgets or any gadget for that matter anyway (with the exception of my deceased girlfriend Audia Granston, who is a HTC Google Android MyTouch fanatic), let alone know how to use them judging from the almost all-male crowd at the Apple iPad launches as shown in the videos CNET Loaded, aired Friday April 1^st 2010, by Natalie del Conte, CNET News (CBS) and CNET The AppleByte, aired Friday April 3^rd 2010, by Brian Tong, CNET News (CBS).

Thus in my mind it is already a done deal, albeit CLARO now has to confirm whether they plan to support this device, specifically the Apple iPad 3G + Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) versions, as the Apple iPad Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) version obviously will not need CLARO support, but as CLARO is the retailer for Apple in Jamaica, there is the possibility that they can support the device by simply selling 3G-to-Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) routers to provide the Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) service, as unlike the United States of America, free municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) does not exist in Jamaica……….at least not yet.

As I had said in previous article CLARO needs to decide real fast to support this device either by reselling it for Apple or selling the 3G-to-Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) routers (similar to the ones that Verizon sells, or be cut out by LIME, who also have plans to launch their own 3G-to-Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) routers

Even Digicel, using WiMax 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16m) can sell WiMax-to- Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) routers to persons planning on buying the device in the summer of 2010 during Rising Stars.

This I predicted, would mostly be Church people [Seventh Day Adventists] and students of local Universities, as they are the only potential market of people who actually read books and are looking for a touch screen portable replacement for its conspicuous distant cousin the Netbook, the stated aims of the device by CEO Steve Jobs in his bid to beat out the Amazon Kindle with this device, the Apple iPad, that is proving to be more than just an e-Reader device. It is a game changer.

Brown Dawg and I Spy Rewards- Geo-location rewards system for Mobile Social Networking

“I don't spend a nickel, if I can help it, unless it somehow profits my mileage account.”

Comment by George Clooney in the movie Up in the Air

Geo-location is trending this Summer of 2010 both on Facebook and on Twitter as confirmed by multiple reports as stated in the articles “Facebook will allow users to share location”, published March 9 2010, 1:44 PM by Nick Bilton, the New York Times and CNET Buzz Report aired March 12^th2010 by Molly Wood, Executive Editor, CNET News (CBS).

But it is widely accepted that the Social Network that started what is considered to be the fastest growing trend that is accelerating the adoption of smart phones with GPS is FourSquare.

FourSquare is the catalyst for the increased upgrade to smart phones with GPS by reintroducing smart phone users with data plans to another old tried and tested marketing concept known here in Jamaica as the Rewards System, wherein the Customer or Subscriber achieves certain tasks while using a particular company or business place’s service

He or she is then rewarded with Points that, once accumulated to a high enough preset level, can be converted to discounts on products or services items, such as free products from the company or business place or even frequent flier miles as parodied in the movie Up in the Air (2009).

In the case of FourSquare, this is done by awarding members with Badges, somewhat reminiscent of the Boy Scout or PathFinder, where members receive badges for achieving certain set objectives, such as a First Aid Badge or a Cooking Badge.

FourSquare Rewards system is being copied by non-Social Network such as Gravity and niche discussion sites such as HomeRun and Groupon.

Even a newspaper, The Huffington Post, which recently began rewarding members for participation in comment discussion and moderation on the site as stated in the article “Social Media Games: Badges or Badgering?” published May 3, 2010 4:00 AM PDT, by Caroline McCarthy, CNET News - The Social.

Thus, by making the Rewards system like a game e.g. WOW (World of Warcraft) with Badges as awards and advances up by levels, with titles being given for the different levels but with discounts on products and services for companies affiliated with the Social Network

A successful Rewards System can be created based on any social network that has incorporated geo-location, be it FaceBook, Twitter or Google Buzz…………or even Brown Dawg, the Mobile Social Network concept for Telecom Provider Digicel. If implemented, George Clooney will not be the only one enjoying the privileges of frequent flier miles………but I digress, for I may be getting a bit ahead of myself……

However with the increasing interest evident here in Jamaica as it relates to having a Blackberry that seems to mirror demand in the United States of America as stated in the article “iPhone will continue to beckon BlackBerry owners”, published March 18, 2010 11:40 PM PDT by Brooke Crothers, CNET News Nanotech - The Circuits Blog.

Or even smart messaging phones as stated in the article as well as quick messaging phones specifically sliders optimized for “texters”, such as the LG Neon, Zenon and Karma as stated in the article “AT&T pushes quick-messaging phones”, published March 24, 2010 6:10 PM PDT by Marguerite Reardon, CNET News - CTIA 2010.

These are key to the adoption of Brown Dawg as stated in my blog entitled “Brown Dawg, a Mobile Social Networking Site based on mobile phones”. Brown Dawg Mobile Social Network is ripe for the inclusion of this service.

Best of all, it does not hurt Telecom Provider Digicel to own Brown Dawg Mobile Social Network as the idea of FourSquare being part of Telecom Provider AT&T is gaining some traction, at least with one CNET writer as stated in the article “Time for AT&T to buy FourSquare”, published April 26, 2010 9:14 AM PDT by Matt Asay CNET News - The Open Road.

Thus this sentiment would be enough to propel the popularity of the Brown Dawg Mobile Social Network.

Thus where I am going is now glaringly obvious but already previously hinted at in my previous proposal mentioned  proposal for Brown Dawg Mobile Social Network, wherein which I mentioned that geo-location as elucidated in another of my my blog articles entitled “Brown Dawg and A So di Ting Set - A API tool for user preferences and avoid backlash”

This would be a part of the system by which members are rewarded with JA$100 phone credit whenever they are in close proximity to a company or business place that they choose from the list as one of their Favorites Ads which they support by having:

1. Ring Back Tune Ads
2. MMS (Multi-Messaging Service) Ads
3. SMS (Short Messaging Service) Ads

These would be generated whenever other persons call their mobile phones or whenever they send a MMS or SMS message respectively.

With this additional service which would be a three (3) way partnership between Magna Rewards Card provider and MonaGIS (Mona Geo-Informatics System) for the geo-location mapping, which I shall call Project I Spy Rewards, a play on the Digicel I Spy Game that became popular in 2004 (or was it 2005? The year eludes me…).

Much in the same manner that Customers and Subscribers are rewarded with Badges in FourSquare for visiting a certain location more frequently.

Customers and Subscribers can be given massive discounts on products and services for just simply going to the location of the company or business place’s product or service often enough. This once they have opted into Project I Spy Rewards, from discounts on food items, fuel for their motor vehicles  - and yes, even frequent flier miles like George Clooney.

The company or business place merely has to have their various business places and establishments that Customers and Subscribers frequent patronize mapped using precise GPS readings, a service that could be contracted to MonaGIS.

Points earned could be transferred to the Customers and Subscribers Magna Rewards Card in order to be able use the Rewards Points at other business establishments that are not in the Customers and Subscribers list of Favorites Ads which they support by having Ring Back Tune Ads, MMS Ads and SMS Ads, making the service exclusive to users of the Magna Rewards and thus a boost for them via this partnership.

An example would be a Brown Dawg member who visits KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) often enough, say twenty (20) times or a certain preset number times within the week, a “visit” being regarded as when the Customer or Subscriber is within the confines of the company or business place based on their GPS location for approximately one (1) hour and purchases product or services at the restaurant using their Magna Rewards Card.

As an example, after the twentieth visit, he receives either free complimentary drinks or other things just to start and is advanced to a higher rank, using a system based on the SDA (Seventh Day Adventist) Pathfinder badges system.

With each Badge and Rank earned giving the Customer or Subscriber higher levels of discounts as their visits become more frequent per week. By copying an already existent Badge and Rank system, it makes implementation of Project I Spy Rewards easier.

Especially as the SDA (Seventh Day Adventist) Pathfinder has the same level of basic familiarity as the Boy Scouts but with a more structured system so as to make it difficult for people to abuse the system by visiting a location multiple times for the day to gain Rewards under false pretext.

As an example demonstrating this, the Customer or Subscriber going to KFC would have to be in the location for at least one (1) hour or more time stipulated, state to the Cashier that they are a member of the Brown Dawg network and use their Magna Rewards Card to verify their Points for the transaction as well as SMS text in a post on their Brown Dawg status update stating that they have visited and dined at a certain KFC location.

A posting which would automatically log the Customers and Subscribers GPS coordinates, a task set should not be too hard, as the Rewards are rather compelling and so would not be to difficult a hoop to jump through to gain the point, an effective triple tier deterrent to would be abuser yet maintaining the game-like feel of the Rewards program.

Also, the Badge and Rank earned carry from month to month and guarantee the Customer or Subscriber automatic entry into any promotions that the company or business place which they are a fan of may be doing, the Points system being similar to that being used currently by Telecom Provider Digicel to reward Customers and Subscribers for buying phones.

The Points can even be used discounts on products and services offered by companies that are not on the list of Favorites Ads which they support by having Ring Back Tune Ads, MMS Ads and SMS Ads so long as the company or business place supports the Magna Rewards Card.

This Points system also eliminates the need for the company or business place which is selling the product or service to opt into having to support another Rewards Card if they already support the Magna Rewards Card.

Thus the system is not only flexible, easy to implement and secure, but guarantees Customers and Subscribers savings just for being loyal to Telecom Provider Digicel Brown Dawg and once the Customer or Subscriber opt into Project I Spy Rewards…….frequent flier miles included!

Brown Dawg and A So di Ting Set - a API tool for user preferences and avoid backlash

Social Networking is based on experimentation, not producing a finished product, with changes to the API (Application Interface) of Facebook being based on user trends, direct feedback and negative Social commentary from it legal battles with privacy advocates, disgruntle users

Thee Government of the United States of America complaints about it website’s API open ended privacy settings and its handling of user data, all part of its rich and currently tumultuous history thus far as stated in the article " Facebook's follies: A brief history" published May 13, 2010 4:00 AM PDT by Caroline McCarthy, CNET News - The Social.

Indeed, as of writing this article, Facebook, my home away from home, is facing a growing user backlash as supposed legions of people are apparently planning to defect as stated in the online news report CNET Buzz Report aired May 6^th2010 by Molly Wood, Executive Editor, CNET News (CBS) and hinted in the article “Facebook users reveal risky details”, published May 6 2010, 10:38 AM PGT, by Lance Whitney, CNET News - Security.

Facebook is a work in progress, as building a Network of friends or friends of friends is not a science, as Google learned the hard way after the failure of Google Wave and Orkut prior as stated in the article “Google struggles with Social skills”, published February 3, 2010 4:00 AM PST by Caroline McCarthy and Tom Krazit, CNET News - Digital Media.

All of their previous attempts to woo people to join a Social Network that seemed too engineering-ish. Google did eventually succeed with a UI (User Interface) tweak to Google Mail (Gmail) called Google Buzz as stated in the online news report CNET Buzz Report aired February 11^th2010 by Molly Wood, Executive Editor, CBS, CNET News.

On the face of it, is really a copy of Yahoo UI tweak that integrates their Yahoo Messenger into Yahoo Email but goes a step further by including an API similar to Facebook, micro-blogging one hundred and twenty (120) character text structure like twitter and geo-location features like Foursquare.

Foursquare is a start up which people have been suggesting AT&T should purchase as their Social Network is heavily tied to GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) mobile phones such as BlackBerrys, Apple iPhones and Google Android smart phones.

All of which depend on the Customer or Subscriber having a 3G Data Plan on their Network as slyly proposed in the article " Time for AT&T to buy Foursquare", published April 26, 2010 9:14 AM PDT by Matt Asay CNET News - The Open Road.

Google Buzz then faces its share of backlash similar to what Facebook is experiencing now, when it made all the information on the Social Network public to expedite the process of people buying into the idea of Google Buzz.

Specifically by making everyone’s information in their Gmail accounts public by automatically connecting you to everyone in you Gmail email account as stated in the online news report CNET Buzz Report aired February 18^th2010 by Molly Wood, Executive Editor, CNET News (CBS) and confirmed in the article “Buzz backfire: How google pushed me to Facebook”, published March 5, 2010 4:00 AM PST by Stephen Shankland, CNET News - Deep Tech.

But curiously enough, most people do not seem to mind the revelation of private details on their Facebook accounts, owing mostly to the fact that most users are well aware that Social Networking sites pay for hosting via advertising based on the sale of user information to third party advertiser as stated in the article “Study: Like it or not, behavioral ad targeting works”, published March 24, 2010 9:01 AM PDT by Caroline McCarthy, CNET News – The Social.

A reality even in Jamaica, far removed from California as is the case with Triple Play Provider FLOW and the recent publication of phone numbers in Telecom Provider LIME’s directory as stated in the article “Privacy Breached - FLOW clients railing against Directory Listings”, published January 31^st 2010, the Sunday Gleaner by Mark Titus, Business Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner.

Already people love their Google Buzz and Facebook accounts so much that user backlashes usually die down as most people are already used to having their private lives exposed in minute-to-minute detail on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare, unique among Social Networking sites as stated in the article “Why no one cares about privacy anymore”, published March 12, 2010 4:00 AM PST by Declan McCullagh, CNET News - Politics and Law.

Social Network sites are very good at what they do: connecting people in real time and allowing for real time conversation with friends with whom they may have lost contact with during the passage of time or who now live in distant locations and are too expensive to text or call long distance via the traditional Telecoms Provider.

Facebook even introduced a VoIP service via a third part app provider called Vivox that allows VOIP calling for free (for now!!) as stated in the article “Phone calling coming to Twitter”, published September 16, 2009 4:46 PM PDT by Daniel Terdiman CNET News - Geek Gestalt.

Now Facebook has implemented the geo-location concept where mobile smart phone users can post their GPS latitude and longitude into their Facebook status updates as stated in the article “ Facebook wil allow users to share location”, published March 9 2010, 1:44 PM by Nick Bilton, the New York Times and CNET Buzz Report aired March 12^th2010 by Molly Wood, Executive Editor, CNET News (CBS).

Currently there are three (3) know means by which a mobile phone, be it an ordinary GSM or CDMA phone or a smart phone with a data plan enabled can give away the location of its user and that is via having a GPS module such as the BlackBerry Storm, Apple iPhone

Google Android – based smart phones have, triangulation using two (2) towers which works for ordinary phones but is only economical on CDMA Network due to its high spectral efficiency or triangulation using a single tower as revealed by the article “Global Positioning Without GPS” published September 13, 2009, 11:30PM EST By Kevin Tofel, BusinessWeek - GIGAOM.

How this last means of triangulating your position can be done is the stuff of legends and much research by a technology startup owned by company 4TS and financed by an unknown angel investor.

The startup, named GloPos, it is run by a pair of Telecom Provider veterans Mikael Vainio and Alexander Le Bell with decades long experience from Nokia and Ericsson who both have developed a Mobile Triangulation technology that enables precise geo-location using legacy handsets, eliminating the need for smart phones with built in GPS as stated in the article “Global Positioning Without GPS” published September 13, 2009, 11:30PM EST By Kevin Tofel, BusinessWeek - GIGAOM using only one (1) cell tower.

It basically involves taking ultra precise measurements of every cell tower in a Telecoms Providers Mobile Network and storing that information in a database specifically the dimensions, angular orientation and precise GPS location of the cell tower, from the base of the tower up to the antennae (Agisson or Andrews) in the crow’s nest atop the tower.

This information is then placed into a database. Then whenever their arises a need to find the location of a mobile phone or device connected to the Telecoms Provider Network, be it a GSM or CDMA Network, their Mobile Triangulation Server would send a data packet of 100 kb in size from its Server to the last know location of the mobile phone as reported by the MSC

Based on the time the mobile phone takes to return the signal as well as the precise GPS location of each tower, the sector and the angular of orientation of the radiation flux produced by the radiation lobe pointing in the direction of the mobile phone, the exact location can be found with a precision as good as and even better than a GPS and faster too

The processing of the signal data takes only milliseconds or just as much time it would take  to “ping” and IP address using the ping command in DOS. Sounds simple enough, as it is spectrally efficient uses only one (1) voice data channel and one (1) tower on a Telecoms Provider Network and despite it proprietary roots is easy to replicate, dramatically lowering the cost of implementation.

It is transmission technology transparent and can be used for relocation applications for both CDMA and GSM networks, albeit the most obvious application is its usage to implement Foursquare without the need to have GPS and using SMS as the means of communication interface with the customer.

Therein lies the crucible wherein my idea takes shape, which is a Mobile Social Network named Brown Dawg whose integration into Digicel InTunes and financing via are Ring Back tune Ads, MMS Ads, SMS Ads and Call Ads I have already described in a previous published blog article entitled “Brown Dawg, a mobile Social Network site based on mobile phones”.

The idea of a free BlackBerry offer called the CrackBerry Christmas Crazy GiveAway Promotion which I had also mentioned in another article I had previous published blog article entitled “BlackBerry Bashing - The phone I hate so much that I would give it away for free” could be combined to introduce a solution to keep users interested in being members of a Mobile Social Network, that being a Mobile Survey Application called Project A So Di Ting Set. Despite the rather longwinded introduction, this initiative is rather simple.

On sign up for Brown Dawg, the customer can opt in not only to be able to send and receive Ring Back tune Ads, MMS Ads, SMS Ads and Call Ads for various advertising clients e.g. Grace Kennedy, Red Stripe, Sagicor, etc., but also to answer surveys for each company that they opt into supporting.

Thus not only will the customer be able to receive JA$100 Loyalty Credit for other mobile phone Customers and Subscribers hearing their Ring Back tune Ads, receiving MMS Ads and SMS Ads whenever they send an SMS (Text Message) or use their MMS service i.e. email.

With attachments and receive and listen to in its entirety Call Ads sent randomly as well as based on geo-location i.e. customer passing near to a place that they like or for whom they have opted to receive Call Ads from but also they can complete a Mobile Survey Application form online at the Digicel InTunes site, via SMS or via WAPDigicel site.

For each successfully completed survey which will be sent at random to the customer, they will receive JA$100 Loyalty Credit. This is a very simple indeed, with Telecom Provider Digicel being able to use the service to gauge the effectiveness of their Broadband Network and avoid user backlash, a phenomenon common to the iterative nature of Social Networks, with the feedback being to more effectively make changes before they generate negative publicity.

Thus yet another additional can be made to the Brown Dawg Mobile Social Network that would endear all of its members to the company by adding yet another way by which Customers and Subscribers can receive Loyalty credit from Telecom Provider Digicel as part of the launch of WiMaX 4G mobile (IEEE 802.16d) and the introduction of Digicel Broadband to their loyal Customers and Subscribers as stated in the article “Digicel to offer mini laptops with 4G service next year”, published Friday September 4, 2009 by Lavern Clarke, The Jamaica Gleaner. 

MAJ dual dilemma - Antiquated Legislation and DSO

Let’s play a love game

Play a love game

Do you want love

Or you want fame

Are you in that game?

Excerpt from the Song LoveGame by Lady Gaga

The call by the MAJ (Media Association of Jamaica) with regards to the updating of legislation as it relates to libel, use of electronic recordings i.e. still photographs, video or audio, be they digital or analog at the time of recording in Government Buildings, particularly Court Houses and the negative impact of proposal put forward by the Government of Jamaica for broadcasts continuously thought the day in time allowed for such on broadcasts on the media outlets, stands in stark contrast to the choice that now hangs before the Broadcasters as it relates to DSO (Digital Switch Over) as stated in the article “Slow road to digital switch-over  - Cable groups mum; Flow ahead but network coverage behind”, published: Saturday  August 15, 2009 by Mark Titus, Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner, (https://www.jamaica-gleaner.com), which relate more DIRECTLY to their survival as opposed to their loss of independence due to frequent Government Broadcasters as that is what the Broadcasters will become after DSO.

John Public surmises it is the Broadcasters and Newspapers who have their priorities wrong. Their focus should be on increasing their advertising revenue, especially as the Chinese are coming who may not be competing for the same advertising dollar but nonetheless be taking away some of the eyeballs that normally watch and view Broadcast Television and Radio as slyly hinted in the article “Chinese media proposal troubles local interest group”, published: Tuesday April 6, 2010, The Jamaica Gleaner, (http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com). Hence why my piece is so short, as this is ground already covered but summarized to show overall trends.

By now everyone must have seen the wonder that is 3-D television on Smile Jamaica broadcast on the April 5^th 2010, been aware of the power of Skype to communicate over long distances for pennies as alluded to in the article “Skype on TV: Will the videophone be a reality?”, published March 2, 2010 4:00 AM PST by Erica Ogg CNET News - Circuit Breaker, (http://news.cnet.com), and YouTube and it availability of content on demand as stated in the article “Time Warner, YouTube ink distribution pact” published August 19, 2009 12:34 PM PDT by Larry Dignan CNET News - Digital Media, (http://news.cnet.com). These are all the necessary element of a more interactive Broadcast in terms of Radio and Television under DSO, which promises all this and more in an experience that is both immersive and entertaining.

The bugs left to figure out are Microsoft’s Project Natal as posted as E3 2009  Project Natal Milo demo on YouTube, downloaded Friday April 7^th 2010 (my first YouTube reference!!!) that should allow the user the ability to interact with the computer using their own natural body movement, Augmented Reality that allows real-time information based on geo-location as stated in the article “Augmented Reality Goes mobile”, published November 3, 2009, 12:44AM EST By Rachael King, BusinessWeek - AUGMENTED REALITY, the use of Behavioral Targeted Marketing a means of allowing users to choose what advertisers advertise to them based on their Social Networking preferences as stated in the article “Study: Like it or not, behavioral ad targeting works”, published March 24, 2010 9:01 AM PDT by Caroline McCarthy, CNET News – The Social, (http://news.cnet.com).

Facial Recognition to enable easier identification both for Social Networking and security purposes as suggested in the article “Face.com opens its face recognition tech to devs”, published May 3, 2010 10:00 AM PDT, by Josh Lowensohn, CNET News, (http://news.cnet.com) is also in the mix for the future. Combined with VAS (Value Added Services) such as Paid-Per-View Programming, Online Voting for scientific statistic polls, Election Voting for Government of Jamaica, Personalized Targeted Advertising, Geo-Location Services and Personal Tracking Services, Augmented Viewing Services, Phone Directory Services, Market Surveys, Channel slots for other broadcasters among other service offerings, Broadcasters problems are solved.

Thus in my very short piece, John Public is curious about the MAJ, which showed how unaware it was of the changing fortunes of broadcasting, which bring with it an ill wind of change for some who do not readily adjust to the fact that the coming of 3G and 4G networks is not only real, it is a direct threat to the traditional broadcasters, especially in light of the report by research note by Morgan Stanley intern Matthew Robson, aged fifteen (15) years old, which he wrote in 2009, entitled  “How Teenagers Consume Media: the report that shook the City”, printed by the Guardian Newspaper, Monday 13 July 2009 10.23 BST, The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.co.uk) and now the shockwaves being felt by the findings of the 2009 All Media Survey

The Jamaica All Media Survey, which for the first time has begun tracking the effects of the internet on newspapers, which are already showing early signs of death which ironically the Apple iPad is the saviour as stated in the review “Early reviews: iPad is 'beautiful', 'blazingly fast', 'has a touch of genius'”, published Wednesday April 1 2010 by Ben Patterson, Yahoo! News, (http://news.yahoo.com). Oh how the times have changed, as older folks do not consume products, but the young are the new potential market and as such even media personality people are bending themselves out of shape in order to attract the younger generation to a traditional media that is not as interactive as the internet, but must adapt or face certain starvation as 3G and 4G networks grow and are set to explode in the Summer of 2010.

Thus the obvious becomes clear: increased Internet interaction has resulted in people thus spending more of their leisure time on computers and mobile devices, the latest growth area for Telecoms Providers as hinted in the article “Boom times ahead for mobile Web access”, published  Fri Apr 24, 2009 12:05AM EDT  By Daniel Silva, AFP. The last thing I would prescribe is watching if the above trends last, which are but a few currently that I am watching take hold with the young that strongly suggest an increased tendency towards increased interactivity, which even media experts such as Marcia Forbes has begun researching in her in her article “Twitter, Twits and Tweets”, published Thursday 22^nd April 2010 by Marcia Forbes, the Jamaica Observer, (http://www.jamaicaobserver.com).

Change is as inevitable as the winds, as not only is DSO coming for the Broadcasters with financial benefits as their spectrum is coveted by Telecoms Providers from abroad interested in coming into Jamaica as alluded to in the article “TV white Spaces Networks tested”, published February 24, 2010 4:06 PM PST by Marguerite Reardon, CNET News - Signal Strength, (http://news.cnet.com), but MNP for the Telecoms Providers as a means of increasing Phone Number usage efficiency as published in the article “OUR signals policy shift on portability - Says Jamaica running out of phone numbers”, published Friday November 20, 2009 by Mark Titus, Business Reporter, The Friday Gleaner, (http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com)also being initiated as a means of fighting crime as stated in the article “Cellphone monitoring important to fighting crime - Nelson - Government introduces mandatory registration of subscribers”, published Saturday, May 01, 2010,  by ALICIA DUNKLEY, The Jamaica Observer, (http://www.jamaicaobserver.com).. Love and Fame ……you cannot have both...

Whither the Hydrogen Economy for Jamaica

{41:29} Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:

{41:30} And there shall  arise  after  them  seven  years  of  famine;  and  all  the plenty  shall  be  forgotten  in  the  land  of  Egypt;  and  the famine  shall  consume  the  land; 

{41:31}  And  the  plenty shall  not  be  known  in  the  land  by  reason  of  that  famine following;  for  it  [shall  be]  very  grievous.

Genesis 41 vs 29 – 31

Jamaica, like most countries, is also experiencing the throes of the Global Recession, now confirmed to have been brought on by the bad decision making by Goldman Sachs, an investment and banking firm that sold sub-prime housing loans and created a portfolio of such toxic loans which is offloaded on Banks and mortgage companies. Like a house of cards, the economy of the United States of America is so deeply interconnected that it can easily fall if on card is pulled out. Worse, everyone’s greed pulled them into the money mill and so when the United States of America fell, the rest of the world fell with them.

Reduction in demand in goods from the US also resulted in a reduction in trade and thus the demand for raw materials. Which brings us right back to Jamaica and how we are connected, which is by virtue of Tourism, Bauxite and Remittances all of which are directly or indirectly connected to the American Economy and its demand for such goods and services. Despite this, John Public is not interested in leaving Jamaica, as everything here is nicer, crime not withstanding.

People expect that jobs should be forthcoming in short order and the Government of Jamaica’s JDX (Jamaica Debt Exchange), albeit branded a success and resulting in the required lower interest rates as pointed out by Senator Audley Shaw, Minister of Finance, as stated in the article “JDX ends at 99 percent; Minister says thanks”, published Thursday, February 25, 2010, The Jamaica Observer.

These lower interest rates, albeit facilitating loans and borrowing for export, for which there seems to be a trend for investors looking to capitalize on export as noted by the Jamaica Exporters Association (JEA) President Titus Evans in the article “JDX makes exporting more attractive”, published Wednesday, April 21, 2010, The Jamaica Observer.

But all this is now halted, as their seems to be a reluctance on the part of JPS Co to liberalize the Energy Sector as stated in the article "Paulwell calls for number portability", published, Wednesday April 21, 2010, Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner which would make it even more attractive to expand businesses by borrowing loans.

With the risk of a double dip recession as expounded by economist Dennis Chung in the article “RISK OF A DOUBLE-DIP RECESSION?” published Friday, September 18, 2009, contributed by Dennis Chung, Business Observer, The Jamaica Observer now obvious from the slower than expected recovery by the United States due to their inability to reduce their dependence on oil which is now rising in price globally, leaves Jamaica vulnerable.

Thus since Energy Sector liberalization is nowhere on the horizon anytime soon, then my prediction of a seven (7) year recovery is pretty much on track based on my rambling from my previous articles. I do so hate it when the trends strongly indicate that I am right yet again.

But there is hope. Already the USA, with engineers in California’s Silicon Valley have begun thinking far ahead into the future without oil and have already come up with practical applicable technology that is not dependent on Fossil Fuels.  The bio-fuels market has already begun to move as stated in the article “'Green' gas and diesel get boost in biofuels grant”, published December 4, 2009 12:33 PM PST, by Martin LaMonica, CNET News - Green Tech.

With the breakthrough by venture capitalist K.R. Sridar, CEO of Bloom Energy in developing what Leslie Stahl on “60 Minutes”, aired Sunday 21^st February 2010 refers to as “the Holy Grail” of Power engineering is a Bloom Power Server, a fuel cell technology that is based on a semi permeable membrane made from pyrolized sand as unraveled my blog article entitled “The Secret of the Bloom Energy Server unraveled - and can be locally Reverse Engineered”.

The Bio-Fuel Industry is being developed by the Americans as a long term strategy to wean the United States of America from its dependence on Corn-based Ethanol. The Bio-Fuel Industry involving fuels such as Anhydrous Ethanol, Methanol, Natural Gas, Methane, Bio-Diesel and Synthetic versions of Fossil Fuels.

The Bio-Fuel Industry in general, specifically as it relates to the production of Anhydrous Ethanol using sewage, and pyrolized organic waste from any organic source as stated in the articles:

1.      “Microbes to start making ethanol, Chemicals”, published November 18, 2009 9:52 AM PST by Martin LaMonica, CNET News – Green Tech

2.      “Microbe converts sludge into ethanol”, published Friday 11, December 2009, by Martin LaMonica, CNET News – GreenTech

3.      “Wood-chip ethanol maker opens plant”, published October 15, 2009 7:50 AM PDT by Martin LaMonica, CNET News – Green Tech

4.      “A Forest epidemic turns into Energy opportunity”, published April 7, 2010 2:04 PM PDT by Candace Lombardi CNET News - Green Tech

Ditto for Bio-Diesel:

1.      “Gene-altered bugs make biodiesel”, published Wed Jan 27, 1:31 pm ET by, AFP, Yahoo! News

2.      “'Green' gas and diesel get boost in Bio-Fuels grant”, published December 4, 2009 12:33 PM PST, by Martin LaMonica, CNET News - Green Tech

3.      “Researchers coax bacteria to make Biodiesel”, published January 27, 2010 3:59 PM PST by Martin LaMonica.

Both must be accelerated. Additionally, it has the benefits of being Sulphur content free, satisfying the requirements of any Diesel vehicles coming to Jamaica.

Further investment in the Oil Refining Industry in Jamaica will only deepen Jamaica’s dependence on Foreign Imported Oil and would be out of step with Jamaica push towards breaking our dependence on Foreign Imported Oil and reducing our Oil Bill before the year 2015 AD.

This is not my opinion, but the advice of British Industrialists such as Sir Richard Branson of Virgin as stated in the article “World Faces Oil crunch by 2015”, published Sunday 14 February 2010, AFP, and the IEA (International Energy Agency) as stated in the article “IEA official warns of shrinking Oil Supplies: Report”, Sunday August 2^nd, 9:04 pm ET, AFP, Yahoo! News, 2015 being the year when Peak Oil is slated to Occur.

But albeit all of these things are good and well, John Public, who is not an American, is quick to note that to produce Energy, you have to use Energy from some other source or risk violating the Third Law of Thermodynamics.

Thus where is the Energy coming from to Power all of these contraptions? Granted, in the case of the eSolar plant, some of its own produced Power would suffice, with Fossil Fuel generators initially needed to start the process. But the other projects involving growing plants for fuel such as necessary for the production of Anhydrous Ethanol, bio-diesel and other forms of renewable fuel require Power, be in electrical form or self generated using generators, which is more expensive of course.

Therein lies the dilemma for any local entrepreneur willing to go into the production of bio-fuels: unless you have economy-of-scale as in the case of First Solar as stated in the article “First Solar opens utility-scale Power plant”, published December 21, 2009 6:48 AM PST by Martin LaMonica, CNET News – Green Tech, the production of any bio-fuel will drain land resources and be very expensive without farming subsidies.

This is currently the case in the USA, where farmers have been complaining that the use of corn to produce Anhydrous Ethanol is impractical as it should have long weaned itself of farm subsidies, which should be for farmers only. Even growing algae to feed to fish to produce bio-diesel as stated in the article “PetroAlgae signs deal with Indian Oil”, published November 5, 2009 6:55 AM PST by Candace Lombardi, CNET News – Green Tech

This is going to prove impractical as the fish require processing to make bio-diesel. I suspect that the people involved in these ventures use the excuse that they are not using prime farm lands as well as the fact that the price of oil will rise, making their product which also would have a high pricing point, cheaper by comparison once economy-of-scale kicks in. Simple as that.

But it seems a more long term solution would be to develop low cost long term production of Hydrogen Gas and move society towards a Hydrogen Economy by the development of a catalyst that with Power from Solar, can be used to split Seawater, with the help of a suitable catalyst into Hydrogen and Oxygen.

This product, called Brown’s Gas, can be used in Fuel cells or even traditional Gas turbine generators, such as those designed to use LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas) that can Power the above processes and as such is most suitable that using Power derived from Fossil Fuels.

The usage of LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas) to Power motor vehicles is nothing new, as this a fuel that is commonly in use in the Dominican Republic. What is even more curious is that is that there is a need for the usage of LPG, as the only market here in Jamaica is for forklifts, which traditionally purchase their LPG gas cylinders for fuel from a LPG Retailer. LPG an alternative fuel to gasoline and diesel that is not only cleaner burning, but also cheaper as well, averaging about JA$50 per liter.

What is new to us Jamaicans is that LPG usage may become more prevalent, if a small local transport company has their way. Challenger Transport Company Ltd (926-6414) is a company more known for the rental of buses and trucks has decided to launch the installation and servicing of such units in Jamaica, after apparently having undergone two (2) years of extensive training of its technicians to be ISO9001 certified to not only offer the installation but the sole maintenance of the units based on the presentation made on “Smile Jamaica Morning Time”, aired 8:15am March 16^th 2010 on Television Jamaica, a member of the RJR Communications Group.

According to their presentation and a subsequent call to the Marketing Manager, a Mrs. Valere, their system comes with a switch that allows the engine to toggle between using the LPG and the regular vehicles fuel and is compatible with vehicles older than 1986. Albeit nothing new, all the learned John Public can say: why was this not implemented earlier, as the Dominican Republic currently uses this alternative fuel?

Factor in the coming of LNG (Liquid Petroleum Gas) soon to come to Jamaica as stated in the article as stated in the article “LNG for Jamaica a national priority - Manning”, published Friday June 26, 2009, The Friday Gleaner, by Linda Hutchinson-Jafar, Business Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner

Despite the coming of elections in the Peoples Republic of Trinidad and Tobago called by current Prime Minister Patrick Manning,  as stated in article “Manning's Big Secret”, published Wednesday April 14 2010, The Daily Gleaner, (CMC) The Jamaica Gleaner has decided to call snap elections at an unknown date after declaration of “no confidence” in his leadership by the opposition UNC (United National Congress).

This in what is being described by the leader of the Opposition Kamla Persad Bissessar  as the worst recession to hit the Twin Island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in years.

Then in the United States of America, there is the Bloom Energy Server, developed by venture capitalist K.R. Sridar, CEO of Bloom Energy on “60 Minutes”, aired Sunday 21^st February 2010 is really the star of the show as with time its hefty initial price tag for a 100 KW system mentioned in the report of US$700,000 to US$800,000 for a full setup as stated by the article “Bloom Energy unveils fuel cell of the future”, published Thu Feb 25, 9:01 am ET by Glenn Chapman, AFP, Yahoo! News will come down and make low cost Energy for any application a reality both in the USA and Globally.

For now, low cost Energy is an elusive dream than can be achieved but now can be attained, but if the Bloom Energy Server is anything to go by, even after a critical analysis of its functionality based on oxides as stated in the article “Parsing fact from fiction with the Bloom Energy Box”, published March 1, 2010 11:11 AM PST by Martin LaMonica, CNET News – Green Tech, it still remains the true Holy Grail of Energy and for now is the brightest thing to come out of Silicon Valley.

Thus combining the development of the Bloom Energy Server and the current availability of cheap LNG for Jamaica from both the Twin Island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago as well as LNG from China and the Far East to supply the United States of America, which appears to be the long term plan for the United States of America weaning itself from Oil but keeping the Oil producers happy, may also play into the hands of advocates such as my self, who have some time now been pushing for a Hydrogen Economy

This is a long term bet but a sure bet, if every there was any, as we are alas headed into a period of sever droughts and other strange weather based anomalies based on the phenomenon of Global Warming that are sure to put pressure on Global Food Supplies. Despite such naysayers as Dr. Ulf Bossel in his published paper entitled “Why a Hydrogen Economy doesn't make sense”, published December 11 2006, PhysOrg.com, states is the inherent “transportation problem” and the inherent energy losses involved in extracting Hydrogen from Natural Gas or Seawater, even if Solar Power is used.

Reasons often bandied about which point to Hydrogen being an inefficient carrier of energy due its storage problems, all that is needed is research to develop a means of extracting Hydrogen in one single step from Seawater. The Government of Italy is putting its faith in Hydrogen, with their construction of a Hydrogen Power Plant, the first and only of its kind as stated in the article “Italy launches first clean hydrogen Power plant”, published August 14 2009, AFP, Yahoo! News MILAN, Italy.

Meanwhile the United States of America still dabbles with Fossil Fuel, its Achilles heel, with President of the United States of America, Senator Barack Obama's attempts at restraining the Oil Industry by having a six (6) month moratorium placed on Offshore Oil Exploration as stated in the article “Obama: End dependence on fossil fuels”, published Wednesday June 2010, By JULIE PACE, Associated Press Writer, Yahoo! News.

Ironically, this is being hamstrung by the very same American Courts, most likely on Big Oil’s payroll as stated in the article “Judge blocks Gulf offshore drilling moratorium”, published Tuesday June 22, 2010 By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press Writer, Yahoo! News and confirmed by the article “Big Oil Strikes Back, slams Obama’s drilling plan”, published June 22 2010 by JANE WARDELL and JENNIFER QUINN, Associated Press Writers, Yahoo! News.

To be fair, Dr. Ulg Bossel’s suggestion of adopting an Electron Economy is indeed more easily implemented and desirable, not to mention more efficient and strides have been made in this regard in the form of the Nissan Leaf as described in the article “Nissan Leaf projected to be in the black”, published April 30, 2010 5:44 AM PDT by Reuters, CNET News - Green Tech as well as in the article “Nissan begins limited test-drives for Leaf EV” published June 11, 2010 6:32 AM PDT by Reuters, CNET News - Green Tech.

Now with a noisemaker to make its otherwise stealthy approach have a presence as stated in the article “Nissan Leaf brings the noise”, published June 11, 2010 9:51 AM PDT by Wayne Cunningham, CNET Reviews - The Car Tech blog. It is an all electric car, a car whose potential as a consumer product to attract droves of followers similar to that of Apple and its product cannot be underestimated, as battery powered cars are the future and will be the wave of the future.

Apple Engineers have mysteriously been filing patents to develop Solar powered devices, possibly with the processor of these devices such as the:

1.      Apple iPod

2.      Apple iPod Nano

3.      Apple iPod Shuffle

4.      Apple iMac

5.      Apple Mac Mini

6.      Apple TV

7.      Apple Macbook Air

8.      Apple MacBook Pro

9.      Apple iPad, their latest toy

Possibly from ambient light of even radiation from any part of the Electromagnetic Spectrum via the touch screen display as stated in the article “Apple eyes gadgets with built in Solar panels”, published January 22, 2010 7:46 AM PST by Martin LaMonica, CNET News - Green Tech and as further asserted in the article “Apple patent bid combines solar with touch Screen”, published June 7, 2010 6:31 AM PDT by Martin LaMonica, CNET News - Green Tech, thereby in theory eliminating the battery charger from their devices altogether.

This is an impressive leap forward by Apple, and it is hoped that the development of these Solar powered devices will result in a virtual extension of the battery time of these devices, and bring the convenience of self-charging Solar Technologies, long being designed for African countries with limited access to electricity, to Developed countries with consumers willing to pay a premium for technology that basically would cut the tethered electrical cord, still the last relic of an analog era that most devices have yet to free themselves.

With an abundance of Water and sunshine, as well as the availability of LNG and LPG, and the now ecological disaster that is the Deep Horizon Oil Leak, now nine (9) weeks and three (3) days since Tuesday April 20^th 2010, when the Oil Rig of the coast of Louisiana exploded, sank and is still spewing its Black Death into the ocean, one is hard-pressed to understand the lack of research into the Hydrogen Economy as the Seven (7) Years of Famine approaches………….