FCC's National Broadband

A news brief in Computer World states that the FCC released their national broadband plan, about 360 pages long, which includes long term goals and dozens of specific recommendations earlier this week. The FCC views the plan as a living document, one that will change over time, FCC officials said Monday.
Many public safety officials and U.S. lawmakers have been calling for just such a nationwide mobile broadband network since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S., during which one of the major problems was the inability to communicate among the multiple public safety agencies who responded to the crisis.
Most critics and supporters hope that some further fine tuning will improve the scope of the plan and clarify the real costs.
In our suffering economy, should we really be planning to spend over 16 billion dollars so that broadband connections can be improved / supplied to more Americans?
If the focus is public safety, my vote is yes. If the goal is to make sure each and every American can get their fix of social networking sites and watch t.v. on their computer, my vote would most certainly be no.

Skinput - are we evolving into Predator?

A recent collaboration between researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and Microsoft's research lab in Redmond, Washington has created a new blend of technology and body called Skinput. These researchers / developers have used the ability to detect the ultralow-frequency sound produced by tapping the skin with a finger, and the microchip-sized projectors now found in some cellphones to create an arm band that would project a touchscreen on the users forearm. The twenty volunteers who tested the system found it easy to use if positioned correctly on the body and the idea will be presented in April at the ACM Computer-Human Interaction meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.

My first thoughts hearing about this idea; well, wasn't a similar device used on the arm of Predator in the late 1980's? What will this mean for technology if it is no longer carried in pockets or attached to belt loops? One thing is sure, if this idea takes hold and is successful, it seems the average technology user will truly be 'plugged in'.