Once again, Kurt's on the road, furthering the cause of the Gigabuy. He'll return on Monday, and we'll have a report of our latest progress next week in RAIN. In the meantime, feel free to contact him via e-mail at kurt@kurthanson.com, or via cell phone at 773-354-KURT.

From the San Francisco Chronicle: "The backbone of business bent, but did not break, under the weight of a monstrous blackout that knocked out power to a wide swath of the eastern United States and Canada...

"On the Internet, a built-in system diverted traffic seamlessly, with few reported disruptions to the worldwide network.

"Many large companies with offices from coast to coast fell back on contingency plans born of the harsh lessons learned on Sept. 11, 2001. Land-line communications were also largely uninterrupted, depending on a backup system that has served them for decades.

"About the only major disruption in communications was on cell phone networks, where regional antennas dependent on a reliable power source failed. Service was spotty all over the East Coast, in many places overwhelmed by a huge volume of calls...

"The power failure did not cause major disruption on the Internet. Consumers continued to pay bills, book flights, play blackjack and read breaking news about the blackout online -- and in some cases read that news to friends on the East Coast over phone lines. They were able to do this because the major Internet service providers have extensive backup power systems."

Read this entire story online here.




From a Canadian Press story in the Toronto Sun: "Old-style radio made a comeback Thursday as Ontario residents -- at least those without their own generators -- tuned in to radio broadcasts to find out about the great blackout of 2003.

"Without electricity, desktop computers were kaput and television screens faded to black -- even if they could broadcast a signal. And it was touch-and-go at some newspaper offices, where editors and reporters scrambled to put out Friday editions without the benefit of electricity at deadline crunch time.

"With the power out, residents of Ontario hit by the massive outage shortly after 4 p.m. ET got their news about the blackout -- albeit sketchy in the early going -- from transistor radios, Internet sites via battery-powered laptop and through telephone calls to friends and relatives."

Read this entire story online here.




From the Akron Beacon Journal: "It was a good day for radio. And batteries.

"We had to party like it was 1949 on Thursday as a power outage knocked a lot of modern technology out from under Northeast Ohio and other parts of the country.

"At least it felt that way while sitting in a house without air conditioning, the TV set unusable, the news coming from a tinny speaker in a tiny battery-operated radio. To the extent that people could be joined together at all, it was by voices, not pictures. And it was hard not to wonder if this was another world war -- or another 'War of the Worlds.'..

"The power outage brought into use battery-operated devices, including portable TV sets or radios. It was no surprise to hear news reports that people were making a run on batteries in stores; they weren't all going to be for flashlights."

Read this entire article online here.

From USA Today: "Media-hungry consumers are expected to spend more time on electronic media they pay for, such as pay-cable networks, DVDs and video games, and less on 'free' TV and radio, as well as newspapers and magazines, in the next five years. A big reason: to escape the blizzard of ads.

"That's one of the intriguing predictions of the Communications Industry Forecast by merchant bank Veronis Suhler Stevenson. The yearly forecast is viewed as a must-have research and planning tool by media executives.

"According to the study, U.S. consumers spent 3,599 hours with various forms of media in 2002, a 1.8% boost from the previous year. The time they spent with advertiser-supported media, such as broadcast TV, accounted for 2,081 hours, or 57.8%, while consumer-supported media, such as DVDs, accounted for the remaining 42.2% or 1,518 hours.

"The split reflects a pickup of 10 share points by consumer-supported media from 1997-2002. Veronis sees that shift continuing in the next five year, to 55.4% vs. 44.6% by 2007, with time spent on consumer-supported media growing 13.8% against a 3.1% increase for ad-supported media."

Read this entire article in USA Today online here.

From the Chicago Tribune: "Since California gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger is already using his own movie lines in political speeches, we figured rather than actually interview him, we'd just use more of his film quotes to answer our questions. So here goes:

"Q. What the heck will you say to voters to convince them that you're the right man for the job?

"A. I'm not into politics, I'm into survival. (1) My mission is to protect you. Come with me if you want to live. (2) You fall behind, and you're on your own. (3)

"Q. Whoa. That's pretty chilling. So, Mr. S., you're an Austrian native. How would you use your knowledge of world government to strengthen California's economy?

"A. In socialist countries, insurance not necessary. State pays for everything. Soviet method is more economical. Right after revolution, they round up all drug dealers, all drug addicts, take them to public square, and shoot them in back of head. (4)

"Q. Surely, the California legislature would never go for that here.

"A. Shoot them first. (4) You heard me right. Con men. Degenerates. Lowlifes. Thugs. Criminals! (5)

"Q. OK, let's move on. You say the state is beholden to special-interest groups. How do you plan to battle that problem?

"A. I don't know what the problem is, but I'm sure it can be solved without resorting to violence. Actually, I hate violence. (6) My men are not expendable. And I don't do this kind of work. (3)...

"(1) 'The Running Man' (2) 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' (3) 'Predator' (4) 'Red Heat' (5) 'Jingle All the Way' (6) 'Twins'"

Read the entire "interview" in the Chicago Tribune (free registration required) here.