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Tech giants fight for net neutrality

Tech giants fight for net neutrality

May 10, 2014 | Comments Off on Tech giants fight for net neutrality

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Summary: Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and other tech powerhouses are fighting for net neutrality with the federal regulator, and Mozilla has a concrete plan on how to make it happen.
By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols[1] for Networking[2] | May 8, 2014 

The battle lines are being drawn for the future of the Internet.
On one side, you have major last mile Internet providers (ISPs), such as Comcast and Verizon, demanding fees[3] from popular Internet services such as Netflix[4] for a fast lane on the Internet. On the other side, more than a hundred technology companies, including giants like Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo, recently wrote to the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) asking for its support[5] for a “free and open Internet.” 
It’s not just the technology powerhouses that want net neutrality. The Ammori Group, a Washington DC-based public policy law-firm, which organized this lobbying effort, said the letter was “entirely driven by the small companies and the mid-sized companies.”
It added that over 100 small companies signed letter before it included a single Silicon Valley technology titan.
“This letter reflects the beliefs of a wide range of companies, from the smallest, least resourced companies to the largest companies, …


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Screwed again: FCC to cut deal with big business

Screwed again: FCC to cut deal with big business

May 10, 2014 | Comments Off on Screwed again: FCC to cut deal with big business

Capitol under attackMike Wendland: May 8, 2014

If you use and depend on the Internet, you about to get screwed by the government and big business.
Unfortunately, most Americans are too ignorant to care.
But make no mistake, the FCC’s telegraphed plans to allow so-called Internet fast lanes to be set up by the likes of Comcast so that big buck companies like Netflix, Google, Amazon and Disney can have special access to stream their programing into your homes faster than their competitors who can’t afford to pay, will have a disastrous effect.
It will stifle innovation and end up costing consumers more. After all, you don’t think those huge, filthy rich corporations will pay those special fees, do you? They will pass them along to their customers.
It is the ultimate example of the way-too-cozy relationship between the government regulators (who usually go to work for the companies they regulate) and the big businesses who use their wealth to buy influence.
This whole thing just sickens me.

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Net neutrality: What it is, why you should care

Net neutrality: What it is, why you should care

May 10, 2014 | Comments Off on Net neutrality: What it is, why you should care

By Woody Leonhard on May 7, 2014 in Top Story[1]
Woody LeonhardThe U.S. Federal Communications Commission has proposed a new set of rules that will change — some say kill — net neutrality.
With regulations coming soon, Congress hunkered down; and with a brawl breaking out on a dozen different fronts, here’s what you need to know about the FCC’s proposal and how it will affect you.
Perceptions of net neutrality differ
In the March 27 Top Story[2], I talked about how Netflix’s deal to hook directly into Comcast’s network didn’t violate net neutrality. I noted that co-locating Netflix servers in Comcast facilities simply bypassed intermediaries such as Cogent, Level 3, and other Content Delivery Network (CDN) companies. (CDNs typically act as a bridge between content providers such as Netflix and Internet service providers such as Comcast.)
The Netflix/Comcast deal might result in higher Netflix fees, but it doesn’t have any net-neutrality repercussions that I can see. However, other events and trends do have possible ramifications for net neutrality. Since I wrote that March 27 Top Story, the discussions about keeping the Internet on a level playing field have reached new highs and, unfortunately, new lows.
Discussing net neutrality is …


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Symantec calls antivirus 'doomed' as security giants fight for survival

Symantec calls antivirus 'doomed' as security giants fight for survival

May 5, 2014 | Comments Off on Symantec calls antivirus 'doomed' as security giants fight for survival

Cyber Security Images Yellow Suits

By Zack Whittaker for Between the Lines |

Summary: The traditional antivirus is “dead” and “doomed to failure,” Symantec’s information security chief declares. Quelle surprise, considering Norton is fading into oblivion. But what next?

The antivirus giant said that end-point security technology isn’t a “moneymaker” in any way, and highlighted that the company needs to adjust and adapt.

Which isn’t a surprise for Symantec, whose Norton antivirus products have barely made any new dents in the security market in years — despite it being bundled with almost every new Windows computer as premium bloatware.

But what Dye was saying is that the malware market is dwindling and hackers are instead increasingly focusing on cyberattacks, like denial-of-service assaults, spearphishing, and network intrusion, rather than mass-emailing a crafted executable file randomly to millions — including to a burgeoining base of Mac users that are immune to such attacks.

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Lauren Baker Graduates from U of M

Lauren Baker Graduates from U of M

May 5, 2014 | Comments Off on Lauren Baker Graduates from U of M


Gary and Lauren age 5Gary and Lauren Skiing

When Gary Baker and Foster Braun began the Internet Advisor Show as part of Foster’s Great Weekend Show on WJR Radio, 760 AM, Detroit, Lauren Baker was one of the first guests.  In May of 1998 Lauren, then 5 years old, appeared on the show with her dad to talk about the website she had created to wish her mother, Carol Baker, a Happy Mother’s Day.  The rest is history…as they say.

On May 3, 2014, Lauren Baker graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in kinesiology.  Knowing the Bakers, that is just the beginning of a whole new and exciting chapter in Lauren’s life.  All of us at the Internet Advisor wish her the very best in the brand new 21st Century.  Tear ’em up Lauren!  Go Maize and Blue!

Gary and Lauren 2013Lauren and Tim Van Ripper

 

The Entire Baker Clan …


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FIRST ROBOTICS COMPETITON REPORT

FIRST ROBOTICS COMPETITON REPORT

May 3, 2014 | Comments Off on FIRST ROBOTICS COMPETITON REPORT

Press Release – April 26, 2014

Team Rush Robot12,000+ Students Bring their Custom-Built Robots and Team Spirit to the Ultimate Sport for the Mind™ Showdown at 2014 FIRST® Championship

will.i.am, TV Actress, Government Officials, NASA Engineers and Top Inventors On Hand to “Make it Loud” and Celebrate Student Achievement in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math During Massive Robotics Event

FULL ARTICLE

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Browsing Security. Again. Major Vulnerability in IE.

Browsing Security. Again. Major Vulnerability in IE.

May 3, 2014 | Comments Off on Browsing Security. Again. Major Vulnerability in IE.

security-current

Here we go again. A major zero day vulnerability in a widely deployed application, Internet Explorer, has been discovered. The usual cycle of discovery-disclosure-patch-announcement-exploitation has bee reversed this time. FireEye Research Labs discovered the exploit being actively used in what they have dubbed “Operation Clandestine Fox.”

The fact that a zero day in IE6 through IE11 is actively being exploited induced DHS CERT to warn people to stop using Internet Explorer until a patch is available. Millions of people stopped using IE many versions ago, so they are not impacted by this new attack vector. Of course all browsers have their issues; as Dan Kaminsky Tweeted “All browsers have 0day, and lots of it.”

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Skype makes group video calling free on Windows, Mac, and Xbox One

Skype makes group video calling free on Windows, Mac, and Xbox One

April 29, 2014 | Comments Off on Skype makes group video calling free on Windows, Mac, and Xbox One

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Skype introduced group video calling officially back in 2010, and offers support for up to 10 people, but the feature has been a premium service for paying customers since it exited beta. The group calling feature is now free, however, with Skype announcing general availability for everyone on Windows, Mac and Xbox On….

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Facebook beats Q1 targets handily amid CFO shuffle

Facebook beats Q1 targets handily amid CFO shuffle

April 26, 2014 | Comments Off on Facebook beats Q1 targets handily amid CFO shuffle

By Rachel King for Between the Lines | April 23, 2014 

Just looking at the multi-billion dollar acquisitions of Whatsapp and Oculus Rift, it was quite a first quarter for Facebook. Let’s see how those dents affected the balance sheet.

  • The social network reported a first quarter net income of $642 million, or 25 cents per share (statement).
  • Non-GAAP earnings were 34 cents per share on a revenue of $2.5 billion.
  • Wall Street was looking for earnings of 24 cents per share on a revenue of $2.36 billion.
  • Membership was up across the board, especially on mobile where daily active users increased to 609 and counting, up 43 percent year-over-year. Monthly mobile active users were up by 34 percent to 1.01 billion.
  • Thus, it is no surprise that mobile advertising revenue accounted for roughly 59 percent of total advertising revenue during Q1. Mobile ads only accounted for just under a third of advertising revenue this time last year.
  • Overall, Facebook now retails more than 1.28 billion monthly active users, up 15 percent year-over-year.

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Apple Q2: iPhone blasts expectations, makes up for iPad decline

Apple Q2: iPhone blasts expectations, makes up for iPad decline

April 26, 2014 | Comments Off on Apple Q2: iPhone blasts expectations, makes up for iPad decline

By Zack Whittaker for Between the Lines | April 23, 2014

Apple’s cash-cow iPhone unit blasted analyst expectations, making up for one of the quietest three-month periods in the company’s recent history.

Apple reported on Wednesday fiscal second-quarter income of $10.22 billion on earnings of $11.62 per share (statement). Revenue was $45.6 billion, way past its outlook from its January earnings.
Wall Street was expecting Apple to report earnings of $10.17 per share on revenue of $43.55 billion.
In the three-months ending March 29, the company sold 43.7 million iPhones, up from the 37.4 million estimated by Wall Street.
But the technology giant’s iPad line-up plummeted. iPads remain one of Apple’s main business-focused drivers, particularly bring-your-own-device (BYOD) users who buy the tablet for work and home. 
iPad sales were 16.35 million, compared to 19.2 million expected by Wall Street.  It’s little surprise that sales are down sequentially on its first quarter, which is typically its busiest period with the December holiday season. Apple’s sales often go down in its second and third quarters, ahead of anticipated device releases towards the end of the year.
Full Article …


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