What can you say?

A data center in Tennessee that may be located in the worse spot in America for a data center -- on an unstable landfill, next to a railroad and a river and downstream from a large dam that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says has a risk of failing -- is getting relocated, at least partially.

The building foundation is cracking, part of it is sinking, and they have to be careful to not add more weight in certain areas. Taxpayer dollars at work.

Well I'll be.

Press release:

As a direct result of a new state law that encourages statewide video competition, AT&T Inc. has announced plans to offer video services in communities across Tennessee and to invest approximately $400 million during the next several years in fiber network upgrades, further broadband deployment and Internet-based technologies to bring new services, including cutting-edge IP based television, to Tennessee consumers.

"The Legislature and the governor have created a competitive environment for video services, and consumers are the real winners," said Gregg Morton, president, AT&T Tennessee. "We commend Gov. Bredesen, Speaker Naifeh, Lt. Gov. Ramsey, Comptroller Morgan, Chairman Curtis, Chairman Jones, Rep. McDaniel, Sen. Ketron, Sen. Jackson, Sen. Finney and all of the members of the Tennessee Legislature for their vision."

Yes, and thanks to the lobbyists and consultants, who include Naifeh's wife, Betty Anderson (who technically couldn't lobby on the bill), "Randy Camp, a former state court administrator and personnel commissioner to Bredesen, Beth Winstead, Naifeh's former assistant chief clerk and Bredesen's former chief lobbyist when he was Nashville mayor, Anna Windrow, Bredesen's former senior adviser," and spokesman "Bob Corney, Bredesen's former communications chief," and consultant "Dave Cooley, Bredesen's former deputy governor." (Source)

Still waiting for DSL in my neighborhood, five years and counting...

The Children’s Museum of Memphis is bringing the popular traveling exhibit, Curious George: Let’s Get Curious!, to Memphis June 14-September 28. Visit the CMOM page on Art Museum Touring.com

The insatiable curiosity of Curious George - the little monkey who has captured the imagination and hearts of millions of children and adults for 65 years - comes to life in the Van Vleet Gallery. The exhibit introduces young children to Curious George’s world and leads visitors on a fun, meaningful interactive math, science and engineering-based adventure.

Based on the familiar characters in H.A. and Margret Rey’s classic stories published by Houghton Mifflin, the Curious George exhibit inspires young children’s natural curiosity as they explore early science, math and engineering through hands-on interactive play. The immersive exhibit environment takes place in the neighborhood where Curious George lives with his friend, The Man with the Yellow Hat. Visitors recognize familiar characters and places featured in the classic stories and the new television series produced by Imagine Entertainment, WGBH Boston and Universal Studios Family Productions that launched on PBS KIDS.

Support your local galleries and museums! They are economic engines for your community.

Sherrie

As you've probably heard, the Tennessee General Assembly passed a new law requiring voter verifiable voting in Tennessee and the Governor signed it into law on Thursday.

Contrary to some earlier media reports, county election offices will not be able to simply retrofit DRE (direct recording electronic) voting systems with printers. Instead, the new law specifies that "the ballot of record shall be a paper ballot marked by the voter" and that optical scan machines at the precinct level will be used to tally the votes.

The bill also requires county election offices to audit machine tallies by hand counting 3% of the votes from 3% of the precincts selected at random.

County election officials are rightly concerned about the increased cost for printing and storing paper ballots. The law does, however, allow for "printing on demand" to help mitigate the costs.

The law goes into effect Jan. 1 2009. Existing systems can be used for 2008 elections, but any new systems purchased or leased after Jan. 1 must comply with the new regulations. The estimated cost for new machines is $25 million.

The law authorizes election officials to expedite replacing or modifying old systems for compliance, and mandates that new systems must be in place for the 2010 general election.

But there's a catch:

...notwithstanding any provision of this act or any other law to the contrary, the requirements of this act mandating the purchase or lease of new voting systems shall be implemented if and only if federal “Help America Vote Act” (HAVA) funds previously allocated, or other federal funding resources, are available to pay the full cost of purchasing or leasing such new voting systems.

This is significant, because the vast majority of voting machines in the state of Tennessee are DRE touchscreen or pushbutton voting machines. Optical scan machines are used in only two counties. DRE touchscreens are used in 17 counties, and the rest, 76 counties, use DRE pushbutton machines.

In other words, if I read it correctly* the bill requires replacement of voting systems in 93 of 95 Tennessee counties, but does not provide any funding for it and only requires it if federal funding becomes available. It is our understanding that there is some HAVA money left over, but is it enough?

UPDATE: According to the most recent U.S. Election Assistance Commission report I could find, Tennessee has approx. $31.4 million in unused HAVA funds available. The EAC had issued an opinion at one point that states could not use those funds to replace machines already purchased for compliance with HAVA (most of the systems in Tennessee), but this decision was later reversed. So if I'm reading all THAT correctly, Tennessee would have enough HAVA money to cover the $25 million cost.

Previous background on Tennessee's voting systems here.

(*Y'all can help me out. The bill info is here. If I read it correctly, the Senate bill was withdrawn and the House bill was substituted. Then a Senate amendment was adopted with the above "catch", and the amended bill passed both chambers and was signed by the Governor.)

AP:

“We’re supportive of Wal-Mart’s broader initiative,” Will Pinkston, senior adviser to Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, said in an e-mail. “But we’ve had a couple of false starts that probably were unique to Tennessee, and we’ve run into some unrelated issues that frankly complicated things.” Pinkston did not elaborate on those issues.

Anybody know what's up with this? Sounds like a Wal*Mart PR stunt gone sour.

UPDATE: Sean Braisted speculates on what this is all about, citing a Nashville Scene article re. some inside hardball, which may or may not be related.

Tennessee is considering supplementing its revenue shortfall with a tax on digital downloads. The state's Digital Products/iPOD Tax, which is part of the "Technical Corrections" bill, is still in preliminary stages and plans to include nearly any type of digital media download.

This, I would think, may cause an uproar.

Oh, by the way, when did Bill Hobbs become the "state communications director"?

"Most states do not tax digitally-deliverd products," said state communications director Bill Hobbs. "

Joe Powell has an in-depth analysis of the "new and improved" AT&T statewide cable franchise bill. His conclusion in a nutshell:

The more I read of this plan, the more it seems to be a program geared to look out for the interests of AT&T and not for consumers.

Joe Powell's thorough analysis, backed with additional commentary by Bunnie Riedel of Riedel Communications, answers many questions about the bill and raises some ones regarding the players involved.

The Tennessean: AT&T, cable rivals agree on rules for TV:

After months of secret negotiations between AT&T and the cable industry, both sides have agreed on many of the ground rules for AT&T's entry into the television service business in Tennessee — including how many customers must get access and how many households must be in low-income neighborhoods.

According to the article, the compromise legislation will require 30% buildout within 3 1/2 years after introducing service. It will also provide for a 5% fee to local governments. There are also incentives in the form of buildout credits for rural broadband development. There's no mention of PEG (public, education, government) access requirements in the article.

UPDATE: Here's the bill with an executive summary. (PEG access is required for existing and new franchises.)

NashvillePost.com hires Volunteer Voters veteran:

Adam "A.C." Kleinheider, who until recently ran the respected VolunteerVoters.com site for WKRN-TV News 2, will on Monday join NashvillePost.com to augment the site’s breaking news coverage with a political blog.

That didn't take long. Does print media "get" online/electronic journalism and blogging better than broadcast media? Seems ironic.

North Carolina gets go-ahead in its TVA pollution suit

The state of North Carolina can proceed with a lawsuit against the Tennessee Valley Authority that demands the utility clean up its power plants and reduce air pollution, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.

If the EPA won't make TVA clean up its coal plants, maybe North Carolina can. But North Carolina's Duke Energy and the rest of the Southern state utilities that burn coal all need to clean up their act.

Looks like Bredesen is set to cave in on the AT&T cable franchise bill. Coincidentally, his communications director has just left and gone to work for AT&T's lobbyist.

Gov. Bredesen cites the need to expand broadband access as the justification. I agree we need expanded broadband access. This is not, however, the way to achieve it.

Read the AP report here. More commentary at Volunteer Voters. Background on the bill here.

As if flying and being a photographer wasn't already a big enough pain* in the ass, spare Li-Ion batteries can no longer go through checked baggage.

To help reduce the risk of fires, air travelers will no longer be able to pack loose lithium batteries in checked luggage beginning Jan. 1, the Transportation Department said Friday.

Passengers can still check baggage with lithium batteries if they are installed in electronic devices, such as cameras, cell phones and laptop computers. If packed in plastic bags, batteries may be in carryon baggage. The limit is two batteries per passenger.

Interesting that they quote "fire hazard" as the reason - the footage I've seen of lithium batteries catching fire has been when they're inserted and being used. Anyway.

The new rules can be found here: Link...

My advice - switch to alkaline if you can while traveling. Example: The Nikon D200 has an accessory battery grip that lets you load up with commercially available, disposable AA batts as opposed to the rechargeables.

(h/t Moose Peterson.)

* I had flown to New Zealand from Los Angeles on QANTAS in coach with a dedicated carry-on for my camera gear. Unfortunately, the US end does not enforce the declared carry-on weight restrictions. However, the NZ end does. They were going to force me to part with my bag and check it plane-side if I couldn't find some way to reduce a mass of 18kg to 8kg. I managed, but only after checking some gear I really would rather not have (like a lens and a digital photo storage device with all of my pictures on it). I've started the routine practice of wearing a photog vest and stuffing it with gear when traveling out of the country. Even f they weigh the carry-on, they don't seem to bother with weighing me. I don't think this strategem will work for Li-Ion batts, though.

The horses are out of the gate on the race to build a nuclear reactor, and Metro Pulse has the scorecard. Subsidies, cost sharing, tax credits, it took just a little prodding to get investors moving. TVA has applied for a license to construct and operate two Westinghouse reactors at the mothballed Bellefonte plant along the Alabama stretch of the Tennessee River.

Can the atom save the atmosphere?

As reported in the NYT Magazine from Dec. 9: Last year, according to Heather Robinson, a U.P.S. spokeswoman, the software helped the company shave 28.5 million miles off its delivery routes, which has resulted in savings of roughly three million gallons of gas and has reduced CO2 emissions by 31,000 metric tons.

I thought about this article the other day after having read it but not putting enough thought into it, I went shopping and made four left turns where if I had started out from a different exit point I would have only made one left turn. Then, when running a few errands yesterday I made all right turns but went an extra half mile or mile to do so. Was the net effect the same or would I have wasted more time and energy waiting to turn left three times or is this just another one of those ridiculous things to not worry about?

New Models for Collaborative Governance

It's a fascinating concept, and one that deserves some serious thought and investigation. The author proposes to create hybrids of the traditional "expert" decision-making process and the free-wheeling online discussions that we've all come to know and love (or hate, as the case may be). Can it work in real-world applications? Will it work in local government? I don't know, but I think it's worth a try.

An interesting proposition. Read the whole thing.

From the AP on CNN

Al Gore, who was criticized for high electric bills at his Tennessee mansion, has completed a host of improvements to make the home more energy efficient, and a building-industry group has praised the house as one of the nation's most environmentally friendly.

The former vice president has installed solar panels, a rainwater-collection system and geothermal heating. He also replaced all incandescent lights with compact fluorescent or light-emitting diode bulbs -- even on his Christmas tree.

We need state and federal incentive and tax credit programs to make these types of energy conservation improvements available and affordable for everyone.

TVA met with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation on Wednesday to request a variance that would allow them to discontinue monitoring ambient sulfur dioxide (SO2) levels at six coal-fired power plants in Tennessee. The request was granted, and TVA will no longer monitor ambient SO2 at the facilities, which are:

• Bull Run
• John Sevier
• Johnsonville
• Kingston
• Cumberland
• Gallatin

TVA will still monitor point-source "smokestack" SO2 emissions at these facilities.

SO2 contributes to the formation of acid rain, which damages trees, crops, historic buildings, and monuments, and makes soils, lakes, and streams acidic affecting forests and wildlife. SO2 also contributes to the formation of atmospheric particles that cause visibility impairment, most noticeably in national parks.

The variance is a result of an October 2006 EPA rule change that relaxes standards for SO2 monitoring in areas where it is no longer believed needed.

Three conditions must be met to obtain a variance: (1) The actual sulfur dioxide emissions from a fuel burning installation do not exceed 20,000 tons per year; (2) The source must be located in an attainment area and must not significantly impact a sulfur dioxide nonattainment area; (3) Measurements of air quality in the vicinity of the source demonstrate that ambient sulfur dioxide levels do not exceed 75 percent of the ambient air quality standards for sulfur dioxide.

The good news is that TVA has significantly reduced SO2 emissions over the years and meets two of the three requirements. Ambient SO2 levels at these facilities are less than 25% of the SO2 air quality standards, and TVA has not violated ambient air quality standards at any of these facilities since 1993.

But, TVA does not meet the first requirement. In 2006, SO2 emissions exceeded 20,000 tons at all of these TVA facilities except Cumberland. Johnsonville is the worst offender at 86,800 tons, followed by Kingston at 55,500 tons. Total SO2 emissions for these six facilities were 242,200 tons in 2006.

TVA successfully argued before the EPA and TDEC that the 20,000 ton limit should not apply to them, stating "The reason that this requirement cannot be met is the fact that there are only seven coal fired power plants located within the State of Tennessee (six are listed above and the seventh is located in Shelby County and is unaffected by this variance). Consequently these power plants are very large by national standards. Thus, even burning lower sulfur coals, the actual sulfur dioxide emissions, measured in tons per year, will be very large." TDEC concurred and granted the variance.

While we applaud TVA's ongoing emission control efforts, this exemption does not appear consistent with the letter or the spirit of the weakened regulation. In fact, arguing that their facilities are too large to comply seems to defy logic.

A TDEC spokesperson provided background information on the hearing, which you can read after the jump. TDEC also forwarded a copy of TVA's request for variance, which you can read here.

While AT&T is spending millions lobbying Tennessee legislators for a bill that establishes statewide cable franchises and eliminates local control of cable contracts, they are busy over in Mississippi (which has no such law) negotiating local government franchises.

The latest contracts are in Jackson and Horn Lake.

The lack of a statewide franchise doesn't seem to be holding AT&T back in Mississippi. Several local governments in Tennessee have invited them to submit a proposal. Why haven't they?

Meanwhile, Georgia passed the AT&T sponsored statewide franchise bill this year. Folks in Atlanta are now set to start saving big because of all the competition it brings. Well, at least a few of them:

The telecom giant says about 200 families in the metro Atlanta will get 300-plus channels piped into their homes — depending on the package, which can include up to 30 in high-definition — by the end of this year. Atlanta is the first city in the Southeast to get the service.

The article says the service will be available to more homes in 2008, but AT&T has not provided a rollout schedule or any details on what areas will be served.

(Also see: Andrew Eder and Joe Powell)

New information about the ORNL computer security breach says the attack originated in China:

The United States Computer Emergency Response Team (US-CERT) prepared a memorandum that traced IP addresses involved in the attack to computers in China. The memo was distributed by the Department of Homeland Security to public and private security officials and obtained by the New York Times.

There are also more details about the phishing emails.

That didn't take long. As predicted, the energy bill passed by the House yesterday stalled in the Senate today.

Both Tennessee Senators Alexander and Corker voted to continue a Republican filibuster the bill.

Curiously, Tennessee Republicans are fighting the bill, which promotes ethanol production that would help Tennessee farmers. They talk a lot about how they support ethanol programs. Apparently it's just talk.

Computer systems at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory were the target of a cyber attack that disclosed personal information on thousands of visitors to the facility over a fourteen year period.

ORNL says no classified information was stolen, but records of scientists, journalists, and other visitors from around the world were compromised. The information includes visitor's Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and other private information.

According to the Associated Press, it was a coordinated attack targeting several labs around the country, including Los Alamos which was also compromised.

ORNL has put up a web page with information for possible victims of the attack. Knoxville News Sentinel reporter/blogger Michael Silence has this roundup.

Based on statements by ORNL, access was gained by way of a coordinated "phishing" attack, in which employees are tricked into opening or responding to legitimate looking e-mails thus allowing the cyber criminals to gain access to their systems.

TechWorld has this report, which concludes:

The possibility that the latest attacks were the work of fraudsters will be seen by some as optimistic – less positive would be the possibility of a rival government having been involved. Given the apparently co-ordinated nature of events, speculation will inevitably point to this scenario, with the data theft a cover motivation for more serious incursions.

I'm not sure which is more disturbing -- the fact that facilities in charge of U.S. nuclear weapons secrets were targeted and compromised, or the fact that employees at these facilities fell for a "phishing" attack.

I've got a report at Facing South about a recent study of online state disclosure databases. Check it out to see how Tennessee scores.

WKRN files this report on an Erin, TN man who has built a gas/electric/human powered (tri-hybrid) bike and he's riding it 1000 miles to Amarillo Texas:

"This is Exertrike Tri-Hybrid and it is not a production model," [Jay] Perdue showed News 2. "This one was set up to run down the interstate down to Amarillo, Texas, 1,000 miles getting over 300 miles per gallon. It is street legal in the state of Tennessee, with lights and running lights, turn signals and mirrors and even has a horn."

According to WKRN, the tri-hybrid tops out at 54 MPH. The Discovery Channel is covering his journey.

The inventor has some journal notes at his Exertrike website. According to his notes, the tri-hybrid used on the 1000 mile run is powered by a 2.5 hp Honda 4 stroke engine and 6 batteries totaling 72 volts.

The settlement has reopened debate over Internet companies cooperating with governments

Yahoo would not say whether its dealings ... or ... mode of responding to government requests will change as a result of the settlement.

"resist any attempts by " authorities " to make them complicit in cracking down on free speech, otherwise they simply should not do business in those markets."

According to this press release, the Nashville City Paper is moving in the direction of online paperless publication:

"Because of this online readership growth and the expense of printing and delivering the paper each and every day, we are slowly evolving the paper from a print product to a primarily digital product," said Albie Del Favero, Publisher at The City Paper.

They also tout the green angle, saying they can save 400,000 pounds of paper and reduce their carbon footprint by moving 25% of their readership online.

My take is that online publishing is very different from print publishing, but I'm not in the publishing business so what do I know. I do know that the publications I have read that reproduce their print edition format and layout online are not as appealing as content designed and packaged for the web. At least the software they use doesn't require you to install a special reader client.

But the bottom line for the Nashville City Paper is ad revenue. They say the online edition exposes their advertiser's message to more readers and saves them money on printing.

Try it out here: Nashville City Paper's ePaper

Following defeat of their bill in the last session of the Tennessee General Assembly, AT&T is suiting up for another run at a statewide cable/internet franchise bill that eliminates local control of cable franchises, regulates local franchise fees, restricts or eliminates customer service and quality standards, provides state regulation of local public right of way for the benefit of cable companies, restricts or eliminates local build-out requirements, and allows cable companies to create statewide franchises.

Andrew Eder at the Knoxville New Sentinel has an update with lots of good background on the controversy.

This was a huge battle last year, and AT&T has a history of bringing it up again and again to try to wear down opponents. They have been successful in several states.

For the play-by-play from the previous round and links to other blogs and info, see these posts at KnoxViews.

Newscoma takes a look at the state party websites and weighs in:

A suggestion to my democrat party friends in Nashville: Work on your website. It’s very 2004. I shouldn’t be that way and we can talk on (yada, yada, yada) about it’s substance over style (yada, yada, yada) but the site needs a major overhaul. The GOP’s efforts look pretty good.

Read Newscoma's humorous but spot on analysis here.

The city of Pulaski, TN is taking control of their online future with fiber optic broadband deployment to "every home, business, factory and school in Pulaski."