Howdy folks, I just returned from my August holiday. So what’s up?

– When I was in the U.S. — where it was so hot you could fry an egg on the sidewalk — I finally got to try out a Verizon FIOS (fibre) connection. McLovin! It was great. My friend has the lowest tier of service 5 megs down / 2 up. It tested at 5.1 / 1.7. Not bad. And amazingly, you get the advertised/promised speed! If I recall correctly, the best tier available was 30 megs a second. The FIOS connection also has a great multichannel video line-up with video on demand. I was impressed. But… does anyone know if Verizon has any prospects of making money off this service?

– We just took down our recent readers poll on broadcast impartiality. Well, the results have been certified by the Belorussian Centre for Public Integrity and here they are: Should broadcast news remain impartial? 55% - Yes, it’s vital for democracy / 27% - Who says it’s impartial now? / 9% - Irrelevant, the future is CiF, Guido / 9% - No, let’s not treat people like idiots. So, most idiots respondents voted to keep the system the way it is now — you know, ensuring social harmony and perfect televised reflection of civic ideals.

– In honour of Ofcom’s latest Broadcast Bulletin (click here), we put up a new readers poll asking about broadcast complaints. This is becoming a pet issue for me. I think broadcast complaints is an area where Ofcom and Parliament can really undertake some meaningful reforms. Basically, if you want to see an area where regulation makes zero difference in people’s lives, check out an Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin — there are 91 of them. Stay tuned for more on that.

– And finally, something for you spectrum regulation fans. Both of you. Robert Horvitz of the Open Spectrum Foundation just sent us a copy of his presentation he made at a recent LSE/Warwick School of Business forum on regulation. The link is here: Horvitz - Spectrum Reform. If you are a Billy Idol fan — and who isn’t? — you’ll especially want to check out this piece.