The Federal Communications Commission expects to take the final steps in processing 6,000 pending FM translator licenses Nov 30, which will then open the process for local groups to apply for low-power FM stations. The FCC said new low-power FM licenses will result in an expansion “of truly local voices” in the media landscape under the Local Community Radio Act signed by President Obama in December 2011.
The Defense Department does not require developers of computer systems that launch cyber operations to implement the same safeguards required of traditional arms makers to prevent collateral damage.
A Pentagon mandate that autonomous weapons be built and tested so humans won’t lose control over them doesn’t apply to cyber weapons, documents state. The exemption gives military programmers more flexibility to introduce automation into command-and-control infrastructure for cyber operations, allowing military officials to launch computer campaigns more swiftly. A directive, released Nov. 21, mandated that automated and semi-autonomous weaponry -- such as guided munitions that independently select targets -- must have human machine interfaces and “be designed to allow commanders and operators to exercise appropriate levels of human judgment over the use of force.” The mandate called for “rigorous hardware and software verification and validation” to ensure that engagements could be terminated if not completed in a designated time frame. The goal is to minimize “unintended engagements,” the document states.
The CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association said that critics of international efforts to increase regulation of the Internet need to band together like they did last year to defeat U.S. anti-piracy legislation that was strongly opposed by Internet activists and tech companies.
“The world needs a PIPA-SOPA moment,” CEA chief Gary Shapiro said discussing next month’s meeting of the International Telecommunication Union, when member countries will gather to reexamine international telecommunications rules. Shapiro was referring to last year's unprecedented protest that derailed legislation known in the Senate as the Protect IP Act, or PIPA, and in the House as the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, that aimed to crack down on piracy and counterfeiting on foreign websites. CEA and other critics argued that both bills would harm free speech and hamper innovation on the Internet. Shapiro and other tech industry representatives, along with U.S. government officials, have voiced concern about proposals that could be offered at the ITU meeting in Dubai, which begins next week and runs until Dec. 14.
Executives from more than a dozen major software companies will meet with lawmakers and administration officials this week to push for greater intellectual-property protections, open international markets, and truly global cloud computing.
“The immediate priority in Washington is steering away from the fiscal cliff,” said Robert Holleyman, president of BSA-The Software Alliance. “But everyone’s ultimate concern is sustaining economic growth and recovery—and the software industry has a great deal to contribute.” BSA’s annual Global Strategy Summit will bring representatives from member companies such as Adobe, Apple, Dell, Microsoft, Oracle, and others to Washington to extol the power of the “digital economy” to a range of lawmakers and administration officials.
In 2005, Aaron Huslage led a huge volunteer effort to set up a wireless network that spanned 250 miles of the disaster area after hurricane Katrina. Using donated equipment, expertise, and time, the group managed to create a network that provided free Internet and phone service to between 70,000 and 80,000 people for half a year following the hurricane. “I realized what we were doing was great, but we were reinventing the wheel, which is not a sustainable thing for disaster relief,” says Huslage. “I knew there was an easier way, but the hardware and software weren’t there yet, to make it really easy to use, fast, and transparent.” He started Tethr, a company that makes shoe-box-size open-source hardware and software to get people on the phone and online from anywhere in the world. Tethr has the hardware necessary to connect to the net via satellite modem, Wi-Fi, 3G, ethernet, and even dial-up. It also comes with an open-source GSM messaging box and platform. The whole set-up sells for about $2,500.
[Commentary] Mark Horvath, the self-described Chief Evangelistic Officer for Invisible People TV, is on a mission to make the homeless visible.
Nonprofits, governments, and charities have done an atrocious job of educating the general public about homelessness. InvisiblePeople.tv connects people to the face of homelessness in a direct and meaningful way, a way that humanizes the subject and builds empathy with the viewer. This is much more important and impactful than simple awareness: We can end homelessness, save lives, and save taxpayers’ money.
[Chong is CEO and founder of Catchafire]
Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan to position Chicago for the digital age has received a warm reception from telecom providers, with more than a score of companies, including industry leaders, seriously kicking tires on the idea of providing ultra-high-speed broadband and expanded free Wi-Fi service.
According to the city, 24 companies responded by last week's deadline and put in a preliminary pitch detailing their thoughts in a process technically known as a Request for Information. Included among RFI responders were industry giants such as Cisco, Alcatel, AT&T, Verizon, Level 3 and Motorola Mobility, as well as smaller local-based groups like the Center for Neighborhood Technology, the Chicago Computer Society and Network of Woodlawn. The city is releasing few details of what those firms ran up the electronic flag pole, saying that the firms proposed everything from using city light poles to hang fiber optic cable to expediting the permitting process. But officials say they're quite content with the big turnout — and with the quality of the responses.
Fifteen years ago the BBC launched its News Online website. Developed internally with a skeleton team, the web service rapidly became the face of the BBC on the internet, and its biggest success story – winning four successive BAFTA awards. Remarkably, it operated at a third of the cost of rival commercial online news operations – unheard of in public-sector IT projects. Devised before there were really any content management systems, the technical architecture became a template for all major news systems, and one that’s still in use today. The team endured some furious internal politicking and sabotage to survive. Here for the first time is the inside story of the website that saved the BBC – with contributions from key figures including former BBC director general John Birt, now Lord Birt.
A Dutch court has banned sales of Samsung Electronics' Galaxy products that infringe on an Apple patent describing a way to scroll through a photo gallery using a touchscreen. The ban only applies to Galaxy products that run Android 2.2.1 and higher that don't use Samsung's proprietary photo gallery software, the Court of The Hague ruled on Nov 28.
Apple patented a way to scroll past the edge of a zoomed-in photo and see a glimpse of the next in a series of images, after which the initial photo bounces back onto the screen, a technique that Samsung has used in its Galaxy products. Samsung's proprietary photo gallery software replaces that bounce-back feature with a "blue flash" that illuminates the edge of the image. Samsung already lost a case over the same patent after preliminary proceedings in the Netherlands last year, leading to a sales ban on the then-infringing Galaxy S, SII and Ace. After the verdict, Samsung adjusted its photo gallery software as a work around, and said it stopped delivering infringing products to clients as of the end of August 2011. During the plea hearing in September, Samsung said that, since the last verdict, it uses its own technology in all its products in the Netherlands. Samsung, however failed to provide the court with evidence of the change, annoying the panel of judges.
This is not Carly Rae Jepsen's real phone. The picture comes from Jepsen’s latest video, "This Kiss," which prominently featured a Nokia Lumia 900. Like any product placement deal, she was well compensated for the plug. But once she’s off-set, Jepsen’s tweets still carry a telltale "Twitter for iPhone" tag. And she’s not alone.
After a bit of digging, the Verge also found Rita Ora tweeting from a Blackberry and Greek pop star Anna Vissi tweeting from an iPhone, after both had featured Windows Phones in their videos. (A Lumia 900 in "How We Do" and a Lumia 800 in "Tiranniemai," respectively.) When you throw in Oprah’s recent tweet endorsing Microsoft’s Surface — which happened to be sent from an iPad — celebrity tech endorsements have had an extremely embarrassing few weeks. In part, it's because there are just so many endorsements. Personal computing is increasingly moving from the desktop to mobile, forcing aging titans like Microsoft to bet the farm on the newest generation of Windows-equipped Phones, and flood every conceivable medium with ads to that effect. Apple and the Android crowd have responded with their own salvo. The result is record number of celebrities committed to one mobile OS or another. From James Franco making skate videos on a Samsung tablet to Marty Scorsese dueting with Siri in the back of a cab, celebrities have become a mainstay in smartphone and tablet marketing.
© 1994-2025 Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. All Rights Reserved.
