Communications Industry

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Entries Tagged as 'BBG'

BBG Communications on NanoTechnology

August 12th, 2010 · No Comments · BBG

Nanotechnology is not a novel concept. The ancient Greek philosophers Leucippus and Democritus conjectured that if a piece of copper were halved continually, eventually the copper would no longer be divisible. This particle was defined as an atom. In 1959, Richard Feynman discussed the idea of working on the atomic scale during a lecture titled There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom. Feynman believed that, if materials could be manipulated on an atomic scale, more complex molecules and chemicals could be synthesized. He went on further to conjecture about building microscopic robots that could be ingested for medical purposes.

The possibility of surgical nanobots could restructure the way the medical community approaches healing the body. No longer will invasive procedures increase the risk of secondary, and sometimes lethal, infection – swallow a capsule of nanobots, and the microscopic units will work in tandem to defeat any foreign entities discovered in the body. Sporting the ability to inject powerful serums directly into cancerous cells, the therapy will circumvent debilitating side effects related to chemotherapy and radiation. Bones could be mended from the inside and hypothetically strengthened. Repairs could be made to neuronal connections, making once dead areas of the brain respond to stimuli – a resurrection of cerebral functionality.

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BBG Communications – Physics Lesson

August 1st, 2010 · No Comments · BBG, communications

I never really cared for Physics. All of those Laws and Formulas seemed too abstract to be useful to anyone but an Astronaut or Physicist. And certainly not to me, as a future resort hotel manager. I never had an apple fall on my head, but I realize now that when applied to things other than fruit and celestial bodies, Sir Isaac Newton’s three Laws of Motion are the perfect way to realize happiness and success in one’s life. Newton’s Three Laws of Motion are, “1. An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. 2. The acceleration of an object as produced by a net force is directly proportional to the magnitude of the net force, and in the same direction as the net force. 3. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

In order to be happy and successful I need to be an “object in motion.” I never understood this concept until one day I realized that I had become an “object at rest.” Life is a continual process, the clock never stops, 20 becomes 80, and wrinkles are inevitable. When I was a child and my brother lovingly jumped off of the teeter-totter while I was in mid-air, I would always be slammed violently to the ground, therefore becoming a, very mad, object at rest. As an object at rest I experienced a whole battery of emotion from discontentment to boredom and apathy (not to mention a sore tail bone), all of these things had made me unhappy and hopelessly unsuccessful. That unhappiness and lack of success was just the “unbalanced force” I needed to put myself in motion again.

My decision to be an object in motion, to continually accelerate and move forward, has to be driven by a force. I’m not talking about the “let the Force be with you” kind of force, but something more directly applicable to every day life. I am accelerated by the finality of my decision to be an object in motion and by the concrete belief that this will lead me to happiness and success in my life. Happiness and success are strong forceful motivators, therefore I will continue to move forward and accelerate in the same direction and with the same magnitude as my conviction to be an object in motion.

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. My reaction to becoming an object at rest had led me to realize with a certain zeal and passion that there is only one way to become happy and successful, and that is to be a balanced object in motion. Using that same reaction as fuel, I will be able to realize my dream of graduating from college, all the while moving forward, and continually accelerating towards happiness and success. The sky is the limit; however Astronaut or Physicist probably still will not appear on my resume.

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BBG Communications Mexico: ENJOY EVERYDAY TO THE FULLEST

July 17th, 2009 · No Comments · BBG, communications

The most important decision I have to make in order to be happy and successful is the decision to live life to the fullest. I have to decide to enjoy the “little things” in life. I have to take life as it comes and realize that life is a gift; tomorrow is not guaranteed. I have to decide to live for the moment and enjoy everyday.

My daughter is now four years old, and I can still remember the wonderful day when she was born. I can remember taking her home from the hospital and being so scared to be a mom. I can remember looking at her and examining every little thing on her body and watching her sleep. I still find myself watching her sleep and just taking in the whole beautiful moment.

Life happens so fast, and all too often people are too busy to enjoy it; I have caught myself acting this way as well. I have caught myself thinking that I have a tough life; I thought that I made the wrong decisions in life, and I thought I was stuck. Actually, life is wonderful. I am at this point in my life because I made those decisions.

I work in a Neuro Trauma Intensive Care Unit and I see people go through difficult times in their lives. We had one patient in the unit, a young man that was diagnosed with metastasizing brain cancer. He had a very poor prognosis; he was told that he was only going to be able to live for about six months. This gentleman inspired me; even though he was told that he was only going to live for six months he still decided right then that he was going to live life and enjoy every minute. When he was stuck in the hospital the nurse would ask, “what is the one thing that you want the most?” He replied with, “I want to go outside and see the snow.” The nurse went outside, got him some snow, and had a snowball fight with him in his hospital room. After he was discharged from the hospital he came back and brought us all a beautiful poem that he wrote about enjoying all the “little things,” like snowball fights and sunsets and children’s smile.

I have made the decision to live my life as if everyday is my last. I will enjoy all the precious moments that I have with my family, and I will appreciate all the opportunities that I have made for myself. I will enjoy waking up every morning to a new day and say “thank you” for everything that I have been given.

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BBG Communications: RIGHTS OF THE LEVIATHAN

June 4th, 2009 · No Comments · BBG, communications

Does it infiltrate my thoughts? Does it send ripples through my subconscious? Does it slither its way under my skin? Does it, that insidious It, that gulping leviathan, that universe-unto-itself, The Media, follow me to the classroom, the cash register, and the voting booth? God, I hope so.

It is universally understood that the media is responsible for all the world’s problems. And if that doesn’t fly, one shouldn’t have to look far for a neglectful parent to pin it on. I love an info-tainment exposé on the Unfair, Unrealistic and Utterly Dangerous Images of Women in the Media. Brought to you by ABC. It’s good to see checks and balances. But I like to be a devil’s advocate, and once in awhile speak up for those camera-toting, note-jotting, press-pass-wielding wolves in sheep’s clothing—that is, Journalists.

Of course, The Media is a vast empire, and regular old journalism only one colony. You have entertainment, you have news; and delightfully accessible combinations of the two. There’s TV, newspapers, film, documentary, radio, music videos, magazines, commercials, video games, websites, billboards, leaflets handed to you on the way to the grocery store by a representative from the neighborhood socialist chapter, etc. And there is no escape. And I acknowledge that good is mingled with bad, fact with bias, quality with obscenity, truth with tinsel. But I will always respect the right of the media to influence my decisions. I could not claim to be any sort of responsible human being if I did not.

Should I decide what opinion to have on stem cell research without researching the topic on the Internet—or without knowing who Michael J. Fox is? Should I decide what movies to see without watching the previews, without reading the reviews? Should I decide where to go to school without consulting a college catalogue? Should I decide what makes me laugh, without ever seeing an episode of Saturday Night Live? Should I decide who to vote for, without reading the candidate’s profiles in the paper or seeing them debate on network TV? And can I decide what really matters in the world, never witnessing an airplane crash into a building, and a tower, along with a century’s worth of illusions, come tumbling down?

All the really important things we’ll probably learn at school, or from our older siblings—what slang to use, how to dress, what phrases and people and desires and key chains are “So Last Week”. But the rest of it has to come from somewhere, and we have to acknowledge that we live in the world. We are here, and we are connected, and it is the muddy, messy media that connects us. You can’t make decisions without the influence of the media. Even the decision to retreat from its glare is only reactionary. There’s no need to get Orwellian. It’s tempting, here at the dawn of the 21st century, when we are all at least a little afflicted with apocalyptic mania—but face it, that’s just being melodramatic. Your mind may be your own Ministry of Truth, but it won’t be much use if you’ve got nothing to put in it.

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BBG Communications: ARE TODAY’S ATHLETES OVERPAID?

April 30th, 2009 · No Comments · BBG, communications

When your ten years old, and join the county football team; what is it for? Do you join for how much you will be getting paid, or for the fun of it? Perhaps you join because your friends are doing it too? During high school years the athletes that play every weekend go out there mostly for the pure joy in it. They follow it through college. So what happens to them after college?

They are no longer playing their sport for the fun of it. They get wrapped up in commercial deals, their names on jerseys across the nation, and of course how much they get paid. They are no longer the ten year old kid trying out for team for fun, but a twenty eight year old adult getting paid a ridiculous amount of money to act like a kid. Acting like a kid is not the problem. That is what keeps us young, but the amount of money they want to do it.

The athletes today no longer play the sport for the fun of it. A number of them play it because of the amount of money they can get. Take the New York Yankees for instance. Their owner will pay an outrageous amount to get a player on their team. Now knowing that, I just have to wonder just how much they are willing to pay to keep them on the team.

Some will say they are getting paid so much because they are in the entertainment industry. That brings me back to high school. They are entertaining their home towns Friday and Saturday nights, so why is it so different once it is professional? The athletes today are extremely overpaid; yet is it our own American society who caused it? We buy the team hats, jerseys, and tickets to the game. They are overpaid because of us.

If we feel they are overpaid, then maybe it is time to make so changes in our own lifestyle. We can go without that Terrell Owens Jersey, or the Patriots hat. We don’t need the Boston Red Sox stickers on our cars. Those shoes with Michael Jordan on them; do you really need them? Just those little things we do can make a difference. If we change how we waste our money; someday it will change how overpaid these men, and women are.

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MY ULTIMATE DREAM JOB

April 17th, 2009 · No Comments · BBG, communications

My ultimate dream job would be owning my very own sports network similar to ESPN. I would be chief executive of operations over my sports network that shows all professional sports and college. Unlike ESPN my network would have a show that is based on small children meeting there favorite athletes. I want to make my career into being a broadcaster and a journalist and that is what I am going to school for.

In order for me to be happy in that field I would want to set my own schedule, so I could have plenty of paid vacation time. I know that most jobs, workers only get a couple of days off then they have to go back to work. In my dream job I would get two weeks off, paid out of every month. I know that in most major cities, the local stations give there anchors money to buy suits so they could wear on air. In my ultimate dream job I would have to receive free clothes every week along with shoes. In my ultimate dream job I would want a chauffeur to drive me to my job every morning so I don’t have to drive my luxury car to work. I would want my office to be that of a hotel suite; with a cappuccino maker, a Jacuzzi, and a forty inch high definition television. In the major market cities, there is someone to do the anchors’ make-up before they go on air. I would want to have a celebrity make-up artist who has done the likes of Jennifer Lopez and Beyonce’ Knowles to make me look good. Basically, in my ultimate dream job I would be working as my own employee. I want to be the boss and the worker and making in the millions and live in the Hamptons, but have a condominium in Miami.

I want to be able to help younger people who want to become broadcasters by doing a lot of internship programs. Instead of making the students run worthless errands, I would have them doing actual hands-on experience at my network. They can go out into the sports field and interview professional or college athletes and put together a package, that would help in there resumes. Speaking of that, I would have a resume’ building workshop to teach the interns how to build the perfect resume. If I see students doing well and working really hard at his or her work, then I can help them find a job once they graduate. I would have great credential and plenty of sponsorship that would make the network into a global masterpiece.

My ultimate dream job is just a fantasy that I would love to have fulfilled. Having to own my own network takes a lot of hard work, determination, and dedication that will take several processes to complete. I hope to someday live out my dream in becoming a broadcaster and a sports journalist for a major market city. By God’s will, I hope to get at least my foot in the door so I don’t have to look back. I also would want to teach and help college students become broadcasters and give tips about the industry. Although my ultimate dream job is just a “dream”, it would be worth wild to actually live out that fantasy.

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RELIGION VERSUS RELIEF: WHEN HAS IT GONE TOO FAR?

March 31st, 2009 · No Comments · BBG, communications

December 26th of 2004 will live forever in the minds of many different people in many different countries. Many villages were utterly destroyed, and the number of children that were left as orphans is enough to make the hardest heart soften. The tragedy will live in the nightmares of many people for years.

Along with many organizations such as the American Red Cross and other relief agencies, many Christian organizations sent missionaries and others to aid in the recovery efforts. Unfortunately, many of the countries that were affected by the tsunami are occupied with people of the Muslim faith. Since 2002, America has been at war with Muslim countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq. Hostilities among the Islamic people and those of the Christian and Catholic faiths have run very high.

During the first month, the disaster brought those of all races, creeds, colors, and faiths together to aid the victims of the tsunami. After the initial shock wore off, the governments of the Muslim nations began requesting that the Christians return to their homelands. They were claiming that, along with relief aid, these missionaries were all preaching their religion and trying to convert people to Christianity. These leaders believed that preventing exposure to God and Jesus was more important than clearing the rubble and the debris, more important than restoring the lives of their people.

There are many people in India and Asia who believe that the people of the United States are the ultimate evil. Instead of a war against terrorism, the US actions against the Middle East are considered religious in nature. After 7 months, many of the country’s regions that were hit the hardest by the tsunami are still uninhabitable. In my opinion, these countries should have worried less about saving their faith and more about saving and rebuilding their homes. Religion prejudices and ignorance will prevent the timely reparations to these ravaged areas. One can only feel for the innocents in this situation, the children.

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BBG Communications : Communications in the UK

February 9th, 2009 · No Comments · BBG, communications

Until 1982, the main civil telecommunications system in the United Kingdom was a state owned monopoly known as POT. Broadcasting of radio and TV was the concentrated in the hands of two – BBC and Independent Broadcasting Authority.These two organisations controlled all broadcast services, and directly owned and operated the broadcast transmitter sites. However, when discussing telecommunications systems, they did not yet include Internet services or mobile phone services.

But the civil telecommunications monopoly changed with the entry of Mercury Communications in 1983. The Post Office system evolved into British Telecom and was privatised in 1984. The broadcast transmitters, which belonged to the BBC and IBA before underwent privatization in the 1990s. They are currently owned by National Grid Wireless, VT Communications and Arqiva. Communications policies and regulations have gone through various modifications during the same period, and most of the bodies have been merged into Ofcom. Ofcom is the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries.

Submarine Communications

The UK is a focal point for many of the world’s submarine communications cables, which are mostly digital optical fiber cables. Many satellite links too remain operation, but these provide a relatively smaller part of the international bandwidth. Most commercial broadcasting companies lease transmission facilities from 1 or more of the transmission organisations. But smaller local radio stations are generally self-providing for cost-effectivity reasons.

British Telecom remains as a provider of fixed phone lines and it still has a universal service obligation.Next to it is Virgin Media, the 2nd biggest company in the residential phone line space. While other companies provide fixed-phone lines too, their primary market is mostly large companies in the major cities.

There are plenty of other providers who sell fixed phone services that are carried over BT lines but they generally have no network infrastructure of their own.

Third Generation Licences in the UK

The 3rd generation system is a product of technological improvements, essentially an improvement of the available bandwidth. This makes it possible for new service offerings to telecommunications subscribers. Such offers include streaming of live radio or video, video calls and live TV. The four 2G companies all won 3G licences in a competitive auction, as did a new entrant known as 3. As stated by BBG Communications, the four 3G providers have already introduced their networks.

The telecoms provider 3 has the biggest 3G coverage as they first rolled out their network coverage in March 2003, way before the others did theirs. But Vodafone and Orange rival 3 in terms of its reach. T-Mobile and o2 has fairly good coverage but both generally get concentrate in major cities and less so in smaller towns.However, T-Mobile and 3 entered into a deal whereby they can use each others 3G coverage. But in this deal, 3’s 3G customers don’t have access to T-Mobile 2G coverage. Another agreement has also been struck by 3 with Orange until 2010, under the terms that Orange’s 2G coverage is available to 3 subscribers where there is no 3G signal. This agreement is deemed to become less important as 3 and T-Mobile introduce their shared 3G networks. Subscribers of 3 to have the best coverage of any United Kingdom network.

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BBG Communications and History of the Japanese Media

February 2nd, 2009 · No Comments · BBG

Japanese media history can be traced to newspapers in the Meiji period, the first being the Nagasaki Shipping List & Advertiser. It was founded in 1861 in Nagasaki. The telegraph and telephone following suit. And was followed by the broadcast industry which has been largely controlled by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation since its founding in 1925. In the postwar period, NHK’s budget and operations were under the administration of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.This was changed with the Broadcasting Law of 1950, which provides for independent management and programming by NHK.

Television broadcasting then began in 1953, with color television sets introduced in 1960. From free channels, cable television was introduced in 1969. In 1978 an experimental broadcast satellite with two color television channels was launched. Subsequently, operational satellites for television use were launched between 1984 and 1990. Television viewing has largely become a part of daily life that by 1987, 99 percent of Japan’s households had color television sets and the average family reportedly had its set on, for at least five hours a day.

Starting in 1987, NHK began full-scale experimental broadcasting on two channels using satellite-to-audience signals. With this, television service was made available in remote and mountainous parts of the country that earlier could get nothing but poor reception. The new system also provided round-the-clock, nonstop service.

In the late 1980s, NHK operated two public television and three radio networks nationally, producing about 1,700 programs per week. Its general and education programs were broadcast through more than 6,900 television stations and nearly 330 AM and more than 500 FM radio transmitting stations. Comprehensive service in 21 languages was made available throughout the world.

Rapid improvements, innovations, and diversification in communications technology, including the introduction of optical fiber cables, communications satellites, and fax machines, led to the rapid growth of the communications industry in the 1980s. Government owned NTTC had dominated the communications industry until April 1985, when new common carriers were permitted to enter the field. In addition, NTT Worldwide Telecommunications Corp lost its monopoly on international communications activities in 1989, when NKT and other overseas communications companies began its operations.

By 1992 Japan also had more than 12,000 televisions stations, and the country had more than 350 radio stations, 300 AM radio stations and 58 FM. Broadcasting innovations in the 1980s included sound multiplex broadcasting and satellite broadcasting. In 1985 the University of the Air and Teletext services were inaugurated.

Japan has been the world leader in telecommunications in the 1980s, but this position that has been challenged by the United States’ dot-com industry in the 1990s and the emerging tiger states in Asia. While the USA is leading in digital content, South Korea is leading in broadband access. India is the leader in software, and Taiwan is number one in research and development.

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DTV in Canada : BBG Communications Forum

January 29th, 2009 · No Comments · BBG

Digital television is one emerging media technology in Canada. Although some TV stations have begun broadcasting digital signals in addition to their regular VHF or UHF broadcasts, this is not yet as pervasive as in the United States. According to BBG, most markets have digital channel assignments already in place but to date digital broadcasts have only been introduced in the largest cities. Digital TV sets are available in Canadian stores, but most viewers still have not switched from their old analog sets.

TV networks, including CBC for one are less enthusiastic patrons of a wide-ranging digital conversion strategy in Canada, citing that it is not yet a viable business plan any better than existing technology. At CRTC hearings in 2007 on the potential direction of regulatory policy for television, broadcasters proposed a number of different strategies, including funding digital conversion by removing restrictions on the amount of advertising that TV broadcasters are permitted to air, allowing terrestrial broadcasters to charge cable viewers a subscription fee similar to that already charged by cable specialty channels, permitting license fees similar to those which fund the BBC in the United Kingdom, or eliminating terrestrial TV broadcasting entirely and shifting to an exclusively cable-based distribution model.

Deadline was set in these CRTC hearings that by August 31, 2011 Canadian broadcasting should be digital all the way. This is approximately two years later than the cutoff date in the United States. As suggested by broadcasting networks, CRTC ruled in favor of relaxing some restrictions on advertising. A year later that the decision was made, CRTC issued a statement in June 2008 that the preparations for transition is not as fast as it should be. As of that date, there was only 22 digital transmitters that had been connected across the entire country, falling just short of the required number of installations expected to pave the way for a move to digital broadcasting.

Ninety percent of Canadian households use cable television, making it a very common method of television programming delivery in the country. Currently, there are 739 licensed cable distributors in Canada. This reformation of the cable distribution companies from 2000 just a few years ago is attributable both to big cable companies acquiring smaller distributors and to a new change in CRTC rules by which independent cable operators with less than 2000 subscribers are no longer mandated to operate under full CRTC licenses.

Major Canadian cable companies include Rogers, Shaw, Cogeco, Vidéotron and EastLink/Persona. But despite these numbers, most cable companies don’t directly compete with each other. Only one cable company serves a specific market in most Canadian cities. And in the few cities that are served by more than 1 cable company, each company is restricted to a specific geographical area within the market. For instance, in Hamilton, Cogeco Cable, Mountain Cablevision and Source Cable are all licensed operators, but each has a monopoly in a specific area of the city.

However, two major companies offer direct broadcast satellite delivery as an alternative to cable: Bell TV, which is a division of BCE Inc., and Star Choice, which is a division of Shaw Cable. Grey market DBS dishes are also available from US services such as Dish Network and DirecTV, but since these are not licensed providers, stores that sell those packages are at risk of being criminally liable.

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