The A-section of the Saturday Wall Street Journal was so dominated with news and analysis on the the race for the White House that I thought I might have mistakenly picked up The Washington Post.

Nuanced in-depth coverage of the candidates pushed out virtually all other news, save a front page leader about rising unemployment rates giving investors the jitters. If you had the time to work through it, the whole package was a first-rate briefing of where the candidates stand. Obama rocking, Hilary and her expensive advisers flummoxed, Romney's polished executive shtick running out of gas, Huckabee an Iowa phenom and ultimately little more and McCain on the upswing, is the boiled down version if you don't have the hour or so to work through all the WSJ words.  read more »

The A-section of the Saturday Wall Street Journal was so dominated with news and analysis on the the race for the White House that I thought I might have mistakenly picked up The Washington Post.

Nuanced in-depth coverage of the candidates pushed out virtually all other news, save a front page leader about rising unemployment rates giving investors the jitters. If you had the time to work through it, the whole package was a first-rate briefing of where the candidates stand. Obama rocking, Hilary and her expensive advisers flummoxed, Romney's polished executive shtick running out of gas, Huckabee an Iowa phenom and ultimately little more and McCain on the upswing, is the boiled down version if you don't have the hour or so to work through all the WSJ words.

State of the Art? A 'Pringles® Cantenna'

Meraki is a well-funded Silicon Valley startup that sees a future in disrupting the walled-garden world of proprietary networks; the private cable, copper, fiber or licensed spectrum as marketed by ATT, Verizon, Comcast and the like.

Meraki (who have raised north of $20M so far, including a visible chunk from Google, where recently departed WiFi and spectrum muckymuck Chris Sacca acted as midwife to the investment) is presently in the news for their plan to give away some 15,000 WiFi repeaters to folks in Baghdad-by-the-Bay. If this succeeds, they think, the dreamy landscape of free citywide WiFi access will come to pass, first in San Francisco, and eventually, all over the place.  read more »

State of the Art? A 'Pringles® Cantenna'

Meraki is a well-funded Silicon Valley startup that sees a future in disrupting the walled-garden world of proprietary networks; the private cable, copper, fiber or licensed spectrum as marketed by ATT, Verizon, Comcast and the like.

Meraki (who have raised north of $20M so far, including a visible chunk from Google, where recently departed WiFi and spectrum muckymuck Chris Sacca acted as midwife to the investment) is presently in the news for their plan to give away some 15,000 WiFi repeaters to folks in Baghdad-by-the-Bay. If this succeeds, they think, the dreamy landscape of free citywide WiFi access will come to pass, first in San Francisco, and eventually, all over the place.

This story in the UK Telegraph describes how new technology -- both on the production and distribution sides -- lets fans extend their favorite genre movies - and make all-new episodes. (A good example is above .)

Sure, this violates copyright, somehow, probably. But imagine - if relative novices can slam high-production-value pieces like this onto the Web for $5K or so, then what can we reasonably expect to see from writers who are presently on the beach due to the strike?

If you've got links to quality content, add them to our comment roll below - we'd love to see what people are up to!

This story in the UK Telegraph describes how new technology -- both on the production and distribution sides -- lets fans extend their favorite genre movies - and make all-new episodes. (A good example is above .)

Sure, this violates copyright, somehow, probably. But imagine - if relative novices can slam high-production-value pieces like this onto the Web for $5K or so, then what can we reasonably expect to see from writers who are presently on the beach due to the strike?

If you've got links to quality content, add them to our comment roll below - we'd love to see what people are up to!

The worst kept secret in politics is that for months now is that Michael Bloomberg, New York City's billionaire mayor, wants to make a White House run. And the prospect of Mayor Mike getting into the race is already making virtually everyone in the TV station biz see dollar signs -- I mean these guys are going to sleep dreaming of stacks of dead presidents. Remember, local stations in primary states are already reaping a windfall with both the Republican and Democratic nominations up for grabs. This election cycle, even sans Bloomberg turning it into a three-way race, will easily mean a windfall of at least $1 billion for the station biz. Add Bloomie to the race and you could easily see that amount double. I mean this guy spent $200 million for his mayoral reelection, even when he had another term in Gotham City Hall all but locked up before the first vote was cast.

The worst kept secret in politics is that for months now is that Michael Bloomberg, New York City's billionaire mayor, wants to make a White House run. And the prospect of Mayor Mike getting into the race is already making virtually everyone in the TV station biz see dollar signs -- I mean these guys are going to sleep dreaming of stacks of dead presidents. Remember, local stations in primary states are already reaping a windfall with both the Republican and Democratic nominations up for grabs. This election cycle, even sans Bloomberg turning it into a three-way race, will easily mean a windfall of at least $1 billion for the station biz. Add Bloomie to the race and you could easily see that amount double. I mean this guy spent $200 million for his mayoral reelection, even when he had another term in Gotham City Hall all but locked up before the first vote was cast.

Last July, while participating in a Hollywood Radio and Television Society panel, I was asked if I thought there would be a writers strike. At the time, I was editor-in-chief of the television industry trade magazine Broadcasting & Cable, and I knew that both sides--the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers--were headed for a standoff. I answered that a walkout seemed all but inevitable.

Now, in the second month of a strike that could last well into the new year, there's no consolation in being right.

I've covered the business side of television for more than 20 years, but I'm just as much of a TV junkie as the listeners who call in to the Howie Carr Show, a Boston drive-time program on WRKO where I'm a weekly commentator.

They regularly call in to ask about their favorite shows, and they get just as much as I do that an ongoing strike means a dwindling supply of fresh

{click below to read more}  read more »

Last July, while participating in a Hollywood Radio and Television Society panel, I was asked if I thought there would be a writers strike. At the time, I was editor-in-chief of the television industry trade magazine Broadcasting & Cable, and I knew that both sides--the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers--were headed for a standoff. I answered that a walkout seemed all but inevitable.

Now, in the second month of a strike that could last well into the new year, there's no consolation in being right.

I've covered the business side of television for more than 20 years, but I'm just as much of a TV junkie as the listeners who call in to the Howie Carr Show, a Boston drive-time program on WRKO where I'm a weekly commentator.

They regularly call in to ask about their favorite shows, and they get just as much as I do that an ongoing strike means a dwindling supply of fresh

{click below to read more}