Good morning . . .
Early adopters of Voice of Internet found that it was clunky and users were tied to a computer while phoning friends and loved ones. Using VoIP over a broadband connection allows users, with an adapter, to use traditional phone devices. VoIP allows users unlimited calls including long distance and in many cases international calls for a small price. Companies like Vonage and Lingo are leading the industry in providing VoIP service.
VoIP is not without its drawbacks. They operate differently than traditional phone devices. Traditional phone networks use dedicated circuit-switched lines to pinpoint a geographic location. Internet phones use an IP address which makes it more difficult for existing 911 services to find specific geographical locations.
VoIP providers require cooperation from traditional phone carriers to provide a link to 911 emergency services. That cooperation is slow and not very forthcoming.
The FCC will be proposing a rule today on what requirements should be necessary for VoIP vendors to also have E911 capabilities.
Whatever the rule mandates, it is likely the cost of VoIP service will rise accordingly.
The proposed rule can be found on the FCC website as a MS Word Document.
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Some students, faculty, and alumni at Calvin College in Michigan are upset about their commencement speaker. The speaker . . .President George W. Bush.
While most college and universities would be thrilled at the hom=noe of being one of only two colleges to have the president as the commencement speaker, some people at Calvin College see it as a political event.
More than one-third of the faculty at the Christian school have signed a letter that will be published in a Grand Rapids newspaper says in part, "As Christians, we are called to be peacemakers and to initiate war only as a last resort. We believe your administration has launched an unjust and unjustified war in Iraq."
Another letter signed by over 800 faculty, staff, alumni, and students will appear as a full-page ad in a Grand Rapids newspaper on Friday will say in part, "We are alumni, students, faculty and friends of Calvin College who are deeply troubled that you will be the commencement speaker at Calvin. In our view, the policies and actions of your administration, both domestically and internationally over the past four years, violate many deeply held principles of Calvin College."
Sources say that several graduating seniors will adorn their caps and gowns with anti-administration slogans.
Is there no control over students at a Christian college? Putting free-speech aside, the letters, costing over $12,000, are an insult to the President. Will the college step up and require students to remove anti-administration slogans from their attire.
One student, Elise Elzinga, says she is worried about a "Christian college being associated with the Christian right." What? Most Christian colleges are conservative. What type of "Christian" values are they teaching at Calvin College?
Since the faculty and students object so strongly to the president's visit, perhaps he could be persuaded to cancel the visit along with any federal funds the college receives. That would, in essence, eliminate a substantial portion of the financial aid students receive.
POMP AND POLITICS IN GRAND RAPIDS: Bush visit brings controversy
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The Army has scheduled another Article 32 hearing for PFC Lyndie England for her part in the prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq.
England, a reserveist from West Virginia, pleaded guilty to several counts of the indictment against her. That guilty pleas was rejected after testimony from Charles Garner revealed that England may not have known what she did was illegal.
The Article 32 hearing set for next Tuesday is the equivalent of a grand-jury.
Army Schedules Abuse Hearing for England - Yahoo! News
In a related story, a military jury sentenced Spc. Sabrina Harman to six months confinement for her role in the Abu Ghraib abuses.
During the sentencing hearing Tuesday, Harman apologized for her mistreatment of prisoners in Iraq.
As a soldier I failed in my duties and in my mission," Harman said, her voice cracking. "Not only did I let down the people in Iraq, I let down every single soldier that serves today."
Harman Apologizes for Abu Ghraib Abuse - Yahoo! News
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CNN talk show host Larry King will not be able to testify in the Michael Jackson child-molestation trial.
After a hearing in which an account of a conversation between King and an attorney for the accuser's family, Judge Rodney Melville ruled King's testimony is irrelevant.
Speculation is that other celebrity witnesses for the defense may have the same fate.
Larry King Can't Testify for Jackson - Yahoo! News
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More later.
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