Wireless providers balk at backup power requirements

Sprint Nextel Corp and the cell phone industry as a whole is fighting FCC requirements to provide at least 8 hours backup power at all its cell sites, a move that would ensure reliable emergency communications when it's needed most -- which was not the case in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Sprint Nextel Corp says the requirement would lead to "staggering and irreparable harm" and present a huge economic and bureaucratic burden for the company -- and that costs couldn't be recouped through legal action or passed on to consumers.

I did some math. An AP article states there are 210,000 cell sites in the country and upgrades would cost up to $15,000 per site. Assuming there are 100 million cell accounts, then the total upgrade cost would be $3.2 billion or $31.50 per customer. That amounts to only about $2.63 per month per account for the first year, and significantly less thereafter. Hardly "staggering and irreparable harm".

Some think SDK isn't enough

Not everyone is enthused about Apple's iPhone SDK release.

Tomothy Lee writes for Tech Dirt tech dirt and he suggests the SDK announcement was a huge disappointment due to its "walled garden" model:

- No voip
- No data exchange between apps
- No multitasking (3rd party apps quit when switching to another)
- Apple approval required for apps and can block any
- Chilling affect for casual tinkering (how email/web were developed)

Daylight Saving Time

The notion that extended Daylight Saving Time by several weeks was based in energy savings, but in fact, while lights may have burned fewer hours, there was more gas and electricity expended as a result. DST now starts three weeks earlier and ends one week later.

On a related subject. We know that one day is equal to one rotation of the earth, which is divided into approximately 24 hours. Time is either added or subtracted to or from the atomic clock to make period corrections due to the inaccuracy of that time standard.

What about the year? Are there precisely 365.25 days in one spin around the sun? I doubt it. How long does it take to notice that the sun is not in the same position on January 1 of every year? Are there periodic corrections make in this measurement? I don't know!