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The State of Hawaii has an official policy regarding email messages: delete them after 60 days. 

It’s hard to believe, especially when the Honolulu Star-Bulletin discovered that “State Archivist Susan Shaner claims there is simply too much e-mail to save it all.”

I doubt that. Corporations are saving terabytes of email, text messages and instant messages every year.

The state’s policy seems rooted in convenience. Herman Frazier’s email messages about the Sugar Bowl and June Jones have already been deleted - he was fired as the University of Hawaii’s athletic director in January 2008.

See the newspaper’s editorial, Treat state e-mail the same as other public documents, for more.

Related posts and pages on billso.com

• University of Hawaii
• 4 January 2008: Copper thieves kill Sugar Bowl cablecast

George Carlin, who passed away yesterday, was funny because he understood how language works. His running commentary on the relationship between language and culture was the foundation of his comedy.

I’m lucky - I did see Carlin perform in Honolulu on New Year’s Eve 2004. At midnight Pacific Time, he whipped out his mobile phone, made a call and had the audience scream “Happy New Year!”

We also shared the same hobby - WheresGeorge.com. It turns out that Carlin was the long-rumored “celebrity Georger”. His identity was revealed on the site today.

This YouTube video includes my favorite Carlin monologue - his comparison of baseball and football.

The other big university on the island of Oahu - and just to be clear, I don’t work at UH.

Related posts on billso.com

• 17 July 2008: State of Hawaii deletes email after 60 days
• 4 January 2008: Copper thieves kill Sugar Bowl cablecast
• 7 November 2007: New leaks close Hamilton Library
• 28 June 2007: Magoo’s is pau tomorrow
• 25 August 2004: Banner software implementation problems cause havoc at UH-Manoa
• 2 August 2004: Frear Hall sits dormant on UH-Manoa campus
• 16 July 2004: UH-Manoa has no short-term fix for dorm crunch
• 15 July 2004: Oahu students get low priority for UH-Manoa housing

From the Associated Press via Sports Illustrated and Forbes: National Football League commissioner Roger Goddell has announced that the league will enact and enforce tougher regulations regarding technology and spying for the 2008 season. The NFL has allowed radios for offensive play-calling since 1994, but mobile computer and video technology have advanced far faster than the league’s regulations ever anticipated.

The three-time NFL champion New England Patriots have been the subject of intense scrutiny after a staff member was caught videotaping defensive coaching signals during the team’s 2007 season opener. The NFL and Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) are each investigating multiple allegations that the Patriots had been videotaping opposing teams since coach Bill Belichick was hired in 2000.

Former Patriots employee Matt Walsh recently sent 8 video tapes of Patriots opponents to the NFL office for analysis. According to Mike Fish of ESPN, at least one tape included offensive coaches from another team. Previously, it was believed that the Patriots only taped defensive coaches.

What about the FCC?

Most of the discussions I have read about the so-called Spygate scandal have missed an important legal point. The NFL depends upon large multi-billion dollar contracts from US television networks for a significant portion of the league’s revenue and market power. Every regular-season and post-season game is televised. The NFL also owns and operates its own television network, which carries 8 regular season games, many pre-season games, and a 24/7 stream of interviews, documentaries, replays and other NFL content. See this article from CBS Sports for more details.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has specific regulations on how sports may be broadcast in the United States. One key rule is that live televised sporting events must be “free of artifice”. In other words, games cannot be rigged or fixed in any way.

This is one reason that professional wrestling broadcasts use a great deal of taped and edited content. Pro wrestling is marketed as , not a sporting event.

“When we met with [the] commissioner, the discussion was how we proceed in an era when technology is expanding exponentially,” Indianapolis Colts president Bill Polian said. “The question is how do we keep on top of that. This is far less about what happened in the past and how we deal with it in the future.”

What happens when an influential executive leaves his company?

NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue thought he should just step away from decision-making when he retired in September 2006. It’s a good idea, but many founders and top executives just can’t do it.

“I think generally the best way to run an organization is for the person who is running it to be in charge and for the people who had been running it previously to disappear.” - Paul Tagliabue

Intel co-founder Andy Grove has kept his distance form Intel, although he has written about the company in several books, including the textbook for my IS 7010 course.

Engadget gives us some clues about this process in an exit interview with Bill Gates. Gates has n ot left Microsoft yet, but he will step down from his day-to-day duties at Microsoft this July to focus on his philanthropic work.

He will still work on some pet Microsoft projects. My favorite bit in the article is Gates’ admission that he is never satisfied with any Microsoft product. Can Bill let go in July?