Paul Maxwell
Los Angeles
(I/Thou) — “Language is the house of the truth of Being." (Heidegger) — Religion PhD. Anglican. Podcaster. All things @SwiftLang. Email: paulcmaxwell@gmail.com
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Articles by Paul Maxwell
The Cheeky Panda
About the Supplier The Cheeky Panda was founded in January 2016 by entrepreneurs Julie Chen & Chris Forbes, to help spread the word, about how bamboo is the ultimate eco-friendly resource. We are a young, disruptive company offering a range of award-winning FSC certified sustainable Bamboo personal care, baby and beauty products. A B-Corp company, the full product range is FSC and Vegan Society certified and wipes are also Cruelty Free certified.
Resurrecting Hope
The power of the resurrection Easter is a reminder that we live with power to overcome any challenge. Preach this special 4-week sermon series and encourage your congregation with the power of the resurrection.
The Digital Media World Is in Flux. What Does This Mean for You?
It's getting complicated out there. Each hour (or minute) brings a harbinger of change, more change and damn few answers. I keep hearing, in the back of my mind, Stephen Stills and Buffalo Springfield with "Something's happening here, what it is ain't exactly clear."
Is Network Neutrality Important Again?
Well, we won't know the answer unless Congress actually does something by the end of this week! That is, pass a law or two. In both Houses of Congress. For the President to actually sign. (OK, this column isn't really just about network neutrality … that's just to get your attention.)
Should Broadband Be a "Utility?" … Or Is Broadband Already That?
Well, "no" … but broadband is trying to be one without quite the same obligations. Broadband doesn't want to be rate-regulated. Duh. Broadband is basically a smart, relatively new, almost mandatory infrastructure majority owned by cable TV companies. Kind of like telephone service in the days of yore. But cable does have competition for its broadband service. Namely fiber or 5G or fixed wireless. In a few instances, all are controlled by the legacy cable TV operator.
Still a Threat: Net Neutrality … Plus: Here Comes "Broadband Together!"
President Biden, harking back to when he was No. 2 and Tom Wheeler was running the Federal Confusion Commission, issued a new executive order last Friday that, among other issues, seeks to restore Net Neutrality rules. That order challenges the internet's entire infrastructure. Which means you. Your company. Your way of doing business. (That order also challenges some other things like prices, hidden fees, lack of competition and restricting options. But that's a story for another day.)
Is Mitch McConnell America’s Judas?
Sure does look like it. Early on January 7th, the day after the insurrection and invasion of the Capitol, Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell verbally pledged allegiance to the truth by laying the blame for the riots on the former President. The then-President of the United States had broken his oath of office to the Constitution of these United States by trying to organize, set in motion and coerce the voiding of the Electoral College votes.
AT&T + Discovery = ?????
We stream; you stream; we all stream! Can you say "dividend"? AT&T stockholders certainly can! That pressure plus 5G investment costs are at play in AT&T's rapid restructurings.
Media Industry's Response to Democracy Teetering on the Edge of Failure?
Something needs to be done, or we won't have a government by the people anymore. One very, very big and persistent lie has put July 4th at risk.
It's April Fool's Day, But This Is No Joke!
The next decade for media means full on turmoil and a brand-new ecosystem! Are you ready?
Like a Headache Run Amok, Net Neutrality Just Won't Go Away!
Just in case you've missed over a dozen years of back-and-forth, here's a quick history of Network Neutrality. It started back when Tom Wheeler was the Federal Confusion Commission chairman. Wheeler had been the head of two major communication associations: the cellular and the cable TV groups. He clearly was qualified to lead the FCC. He had spent a number of years arguing with regulators and he knew, because he'd argued against it so often, how to regulate.
AT&T U-verse + DirecTV … Well, That Hasn't Worked Out So Good
So, it is time to … what? Start over? "New DirecTV" is the sort of new, now somewhat separate company valued at $16.25 billion … down "slightly" from the almost $50 billion AT&T paid for DirecTV in 2015. That's not exactly a surprise given that over last year's 4thQ, AT&T lost some 617k premium (DirecTV + U-verse) subscribers as well as 27k OTT subs.
It Ain't "Network" Neutrality … It's "Internetwork" Neutrality
A federal judge recently gave a green light to California to actually enforce the statewide (in one state only) network neutrality laws the state passed in September of 2018. Suits will be filed to attempt to block actual enforcement based on the negative effects the possibility of some 50 other statewide (plus D.C.?) differing laws might cause. This seems like a good time to listen to Brian Roberts (as mentioned below) and get to work on creating a workable nationwide law -- right now!
Just Imagine January 6th and Beyond with a Smarter President!
Josh Hawley? Ted Cruz? Or someone who's actually smarter and even more Machiavellian than our former President Donald J. Trump had been? Looking back at the stunningly obvious coup attempt that went full bore after Arizona's vote call for now President Joe Biden by Fox News, I can only imagine what might have happened had our self-proclaimed "stable genius" been smart enough to pay attention to the details.
What Could Biden Do for Media? What Should Biden Do for Media?
Maybe the real question is, what is Biden likely to do? But first, what's "media"? For today's purposes, I'm suggesting the widest possible interpretation of what media actually is on the way to the 22nd century. For one thing, it is connected and will increasingly be so as everything and everyone that can be connected shall be. That's not Pollyannish thinking; it'll happen.
Thanks Rupert, Lachlan, Charles, Christopher, Steve, Rush, Zuck and Jack ...
... and, oh yeah, Tucker Carlson, who went live on his Fox News program making excuses. Just look what all of your advertising profits bought for America. After five long years of promoting -- and, most importantly, profiting from -- one batshit crazy American late-comer politician, your greed (and, I suppose, our complicity) led to one of the most disheartening, disgusting spectacles in our nation’s history.
We Made It Thru to 2021! Can We Shake Off 2020?
What will it take to successfully shake off 2020? A lot! 2020 was absolutely the Annus Horribilis of the modern era (0.1 stars out of 5 on Amazon, no kidding) and here we are in 2021, which is starting off with frightening surges in COVID-19 while vaccinations begin leading the long slog out of the shadow of too many deaths.
Bring Back the Fairness Doctrine Now, and Extend It to Cable and the Web!
Seriously, haven't we all had enough of meaningless "He said!" "She said!" " They all said!" "You're wrong!" "You're evil!" "You lie!" Ok, that last one does ring true … but … enough!
John Malone, One-Time Cable Exec, Said: “I’m in the Connectivity Business!”
Of course, it really ain’t cable anymore. No how. The business today is connectivity. That means all the things that the cable (or spectrum or whatever) can make flow from one or more places to another.
What's Happening to the Industry Formerly Known as Cable TV?
What will the question in the headline mean for digital media? Despite the pan-damn-demic, quite a lot is stirring the media pot … in new and interesting ways. A lot of it was on view last month at the SCTE-ISBE Cable-Tec Expo, the largest trade show in the sprawling industry of infrastructure, connectivity and programming which met virtually instead of in Atlanta … successfully. (Related question: Will all high-tech industry confabs go virtual?
What's Next for Over-the-Air Broadcasting? Re-Purposed Spectrum and OTT Alone?
Here are the key facts to consider about the broadcasters:
"Something's Happening Here … What It Is …" Is Slowly Taking Shape!
Publish date September 29, 2020 It's getting so every edition of every news report* begins with something that changes everything. This one looks, in a rather random manner, at top media-impactful stories from the last couple weeks or so. They range from Supreme Court challenge responses to new ATSC 3.0 developments to new OTT (over-the-top) developments to fiber shortages to proclamations about tomorrow … and more. Enjoying This Commentary?
I Really Didn't Want To Write This… But, Dozens of Intermittent Internet Burps…
Publish date September 15, 2020 …finally lit a fuse. You see, today I was watching one of the year's first football games. Things were going pretty well when, suddenly, Tom Brady froze. Head back, water bottle tilted, he made like Leonardo Da Vinci's David (albeit with more clothing) In the meantime, a little white circle went round and round on my screen. Enjoying This Commentary?
The Media World Is Changing… And Setting Change on Fast Forward…
Publish date August 25, 2020 The American media landscape is changing in ways that were almost unimaginable a couple of years ago … Is it bifurcating? Splitting dramatically into digital conduit and digital content? … and leaving everything else behind? Is it going to morph into something we never ever imagined? Enjoying This Commentary?
Random Notes! Catching Up on All of the Media News "Fit" to Print…
Publish date August 19, 2020 The Media vis a vis Politics: "Fake News" as a political tool is the attempt to render anything reported as a fact as merely questionable. Or, really, how to avoid being arrested on January 21, 2021. Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love Subscribe to MediaVillage to receive email alerts featuring the latest content on advertising, media/TV, and marketing strategies and trends, including exclusive The Myers Report research findings.
What Did 4 Tech Honchos + Congress Do? Play Dodgeball!
Publish date August 03, 2020 Well, it was somewhat, if often tedious, amusing. And it was amusingly predictable that some tech glitches would happen at the beginning. Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love Subscribe to MediaVillage to receive email alerts featuring the latest content on advertising, media/TV, and marketing strategies and trends, including exclusive The Myers Report research findings. Please, enter email in correct format Paul S.
Broadband Hype Is Everywhere… But, What's Real & What Isn't
Publish date July 17, 2020 So, broadband has achieved celebrity status in Washington, DC, Los Angeles and even Manhattan … or at least in all of the media. How nice. Like you, I've got broadband … I've got Wave Broadband's top of the line service … sometimes. That's reality. Enjoying This Commentary?
Hey! Social Media Ad Dropouts … Here's a Re-Purpose for the Meantime
Publish date July 02, 2020 At last! Major advertisers have begun to collectively pressure Social Media companies over hate for profit. Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love Subscribe to MediaVillage to receive email alerts featuring the latest content on advertising, media/TV, and marketing strategies and trends, including exclusive The Myers Report research findings. Please, enter email in correct format Paul S.
"Black Lives Matter" Should Be Obvious
Publish date June 20, 2020 I know … I grew up in Galveston and Houston when the restrooms and water fountains were labeled "white" or "colored" … So this is about a white guy from Texas … … well, it was going to be … another "white aleck" … but, that evening, I thought, bullshit. So, I deleted the litany about how cool and 'woke' I thought I was … … and, fingers crossed, thought maybe, just maybe, this time is different. Enjoying This Commentary?
Once Again "We Have Invented Cable …" And, Hey! We Told You So …
Publish date June 10, 2020 That first line above quotes Doreen St. Felix in her The New Yorker(06/08-15)On Television column following a short listing of streaming services.
As Jack Myers Noted Last Week: Hold on … Forecast Isn't Pretty …
Publish date June 04, 2020 The Myers Report Industry Update can be viewed in full on demand HERE. As media companies and brands look towards "renewal and recovery" from the coronavirus pandemic, there are valuable lessons from this current hardship, including embracing diversity of voices, breaking down silos and encouraging training.
It Was 40 Years Ago Today … Ted Turner Launched 24-hour News
Publish date June 01, 2020 And there I was in Atlanta, on the front lawn at Tara on Techwood, watching as one of the world's greatest ever yachtsmen told us to listen to a military band play Nearer My God To Thee, and then watch him (AKA Ted Turner) turn on Cable News Network for the first time about 6 pm on a sunny June 1st warm late afternoon. A camera crew taped it all, then packed it away to use at the end of the world.
Disinformation Is Murder by Proxy
That's suddenly something to think about Disinformation is even more insidious than Misinformation … the "dis" is, to keep it simple, deliberate lying … and, more and more today, with malice aforethought.
BYU ScholarsArchive - International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software: An environmental modelling approach sheds new light on a thorny problem: gender inequality in science
Home > Engineering and Technology > Civil and Environmental Engineering > iEMSs Conference > 2018 > Stream C > 137 Presenter/Author Information Kate O'BrienFollow Paul Maxwell, Healthy Land and WaterFollow Terrance Fitzsimmons, The University of Queensland, AustraliaFollow Brian Head, The University of Queensland, AustraliaFollow Margaret Crane, The University of Queensland, AustraliaFollow Keywords adaptive management, feedbacks, gender inequality; wicked problem Start Date 27-6-2018 3:40 PM...
Which Contract Is More Important? The Cable + You, or Cable + Supplier?
That's suddenly a good question, particularly in the who-pays-for-what OR what-not department.
News Is Under Attack from All Sides We All Need To Do Something … Anything!
Publish date April 29, 2020 Like everyone else, I'm sheltering in place (well, I have been kayaking … but paying close attention not to get too close to either of the two other kayakers and one SUP paddler on the Sound with me), so I've had a lot of time to read … a lot of that included columns here on Jack's MediaVillage pages … One column, by regular contributor Kent Harrington, caught my attention.
Coronavirus Makes It Clear: Broadband Rules! So, Does Cable Get a White Hat?
Publish date April 23, 2020 Does cable TV get a white hat for riding in to save us during COVID-19? Probably not … but it should. Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love Subscribe to MediaVillage to receive email alerts featuring the latest content on advertising, media/TV, and marketing strategies and trends, including exclusive The Myers Report research findings. Please, enter email in correct format Paul S.
AI is the Future of Warfare (Just Not in the Way You Think)
Paul Maxwell, Modern War Institute April 21, 2020 Artificial intelligence is among the many hot technologies that promise to change the face of warfare for years to come. Articles abound that describe its possibilities and warn those who fall behind in the AI race. The Department of Defense has duly created the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center in the hopes of winning the AI battle.
Artificial Intelligence is the Future of Warfare (Just Not in the Way You Think)
Artificial intelligence is among the many hot technologies that promise to change the face of warfare for years to come. Articles abound that describe its possibilities and warn those who fall behind in the AI race. The Department of Defense has duly created the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center in the hopes of winning the AI battle. Visions exist of AI enabling autonomous systems to conduct missions, achieving sensor fusion, automating tasks, and making better, quicker decisions than humans.
Undoing Retransmission Extortion
Publish date August 02, 2019 Sure won’t be easy … but a lot is happening to put the attempt to end retrans blackmail front and center. Just check out this historical list from the (admittedly biased, but accurate) American Television Alliance: Annual totals for retransmission-related blackouts since 2010. This year is already setting significant records. Together, they total 1,149.
Last Week at the (Mis-named) Pay TV Conference
Publish date May 23, 2019 The second edition of the mis-named Pay TV Conference in Westminster, CO, was an even bigger hit than last year's opening show in Denver. Clearly Kevin Gray and the Fierce newsletter group division of Questex is onto something. That something has been two resounding successes belying the tone of John Koblin's coverage in The New York Times of the annual network advertising Upfronts in his column titled "Running Scared: Network TV in the Streaming Age." Page of Prev Next
Will Net Neutrality Redux Cause Real Regs?
Publish date March 22, 2019 It’s the nonsense that simply won’t go away. Oddly, that’s for a good reason. It is part of the political zeitgeist. Partisan positions at odds don’t really have to make any sense.
Existential Thoughts on Ubiquitous Connectivity
Okay, here’s the existential question: What business are we all in?
A New Look at Retransmission Consent: Take a Cue from Broadcasters!
Click here to view the photos Page of Prev Next
Vote! Vote! Vote! Our Free Press and Speech are Under Attack!
I suppose I shouldn’t write that “I told you so.” But I can, and I will, and I'll take no pleasure in it. Way back in 2015, I wrote a series of columns about the dangers of an autocrat in the White House. An excerpt from each one follows. AlertMe
Net Neutrality: Is It an Election Issue?
Two issues that won’t go away: Net Neutrality and the idea of privacy on the internet. Well, it is an interesting mix of questions … like, have you ditched Facebook yet? Tempting, isn’t it? (Fair warning: If you do decide to delete Facebook, the friendly folks in Menlo Park will take all your Facebook data away unless you take precautionary measures as per this Consumer Reports article.) AlertMe
Network Neutrality: It’s Baaaaaaaaak!
We’ve been writing about network neutrality for quite awhile … but when the Federal Confusion Commission (FCC) decided to drop Title II in favor of a far more lenient Title I and then further shoved the whole show off to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), I expected the noise to quiet. Didn’t happen.
A Weekly Gym Routine For Beginners (With Videos) — TheoFit
If you're just getting started in the gym (or starting over), use this routine for 4 weeks straight. It will create intensity, consistency, and longevity that you've never had before in your workout program. The problem with people talking about "hard work" and "habit" and "discipline" is that it always lacks specificity. What hard word exactly yields the results? Lots of people try really hard, use ineffective methods, and walk away from fitness altogether: "It's impossible.
Who Killed the Cable Bundle? Here's the Answer!
So the cable bundle is dead (well, at death’s door anyway). I’m pretty sure you already knew that but recent events and a bit of background can offer an interesting perspective on current and future iterations of the media biz. For starters, Gerry Smith, Bloomberg’s guy covering media, says the cable bundle was murdered by three people and one universal truth. To wit: Reed Hastings, Bob Iger, Charlie Ergen and “everyone’s greed.”
Pulse-Pounding Preview: June Is About to Get Wild!
Here’s an advance cheat sheet for everything that is happening next week. Stay focused everybody -- it will be a dizzying few days.
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