1. Monthly archive
  2. April 2013

April 2013

Is the web getting faster?

At Google, we are passionate about speed and making the web faster. A faster web is better for both users and businesses - faster pages lead to better user experience and improved conversions. The Site Speed reports in Google Analytics give every website owner detailed data on the speed of their web pages, as experienced by real users.

Last year, we published a study on the speed of websites around the world based on one week of aggregated Site Speed data from opted-in web publishers. Over the last year, we have seen significant improvements in the core infrastructure that powers the Internet: the web browsers have gotten faster; there have been quite a few LTE/4G deployments making mobile networks a lot faster; and processing power on mobile devices continues to increase at a rapid pace. To determine whether these improvements in technology are making the web faster, we present recent Site Speed data and compare it with the data from last year. While access from desktop is only a bit faster, it is still impressive given that the size of the web pages have increased by over 56% during this period. It’s great to see access from mobile is around 30% faster compared to last year. This is evident from the histograms below as well. For desktop, there is not a significant change in the bucket distributions, but for mobile we see a shift from slower buckets (i.e. higher page load time) to faster buckets.

Cyber Tops Intel Community’s 2013 Global Threat Assessment

National security threats are more diverse, interconnected and viral than at any time in history, the director of national intelligence said in a statement for the record delivered to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. “This year, in content and organization, this statement illustrates how quickly and radically the world and our threat environments are changing,” James R. Clapper said in the statement’s introduction. At the top of the U.S. intelligence community’s 2013 assessment of global threats is cyber, followed by terrorism and transnational organized crime, weapons of mass destruction proliferation, counterintelligence and space activities, insecurity and competition for natural resources, health and pandemic threats, and mass atrocities. “This environment is demanding reevaluations of the way we do business, expanding our analytic envelope and altering the vocabulary of intelligence,” Clapper said in his statement. The 30-page statement, based on information complete as of March 7, also lists threats in terms of regions such as the Middle East and North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, East and South Asia, Russia and Eurasia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe. As the top-listed global threat, cyber is discussed in terms of increasing risk to U.S. critical infrastructure, the erosion of U.S. economic and national security, information control and Internet governance, and other areas.

71% of Facebook Users Engage in 'Self-Censorship'

Most Americans now know the feeling of typing something into a social media input box, thinking again, and deciding against posting whatever it was. But while it certainly seemed like a widespread phenomenon, no one had actually quantified the extent of this "self-censorship." But now, new research based on a sample of 3.9 million Facebook users reveals precisely how widespread this activity is. Carnegie Mellon PhD student Sauvik Das and Facebook's Adam Kramer measured how many people typed more than five characters into Facebook content-input boxes, but then did not post them. They term this "last-minute self-censorship."

College sports, business and realignment entangled

The television-rights money grab is imploding decades worth of traditions and rivalry at major college campuses across the country.

All of this discombobulation is about television. Television and cable rights fees from college football, and to a lesser degree men's college basketball, pay for the lion's share of most men's and women's collegiate sports, from tennis to water polo. With most public universities strapped for cash, television rights have become the Holy Grail for university presidents as a means to fund their sports programs. The television and cable networks are willing to pony up billions in long-term contracts because, for now, televised live sporting events are among the few programs that seem to defy time-shifting -- the practice in which viewers watch programs when they want after recording them on their digital video recorders or downloading them from Netflix.

NAMIC, WICT, Kaitz Team On Cable Diversity Survey

Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) and the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) will once again conduct a joint workplace diversity survey for the next editions of the WICT PAR Initiative and the NAMIC AIM (Advancement Investment Measurement).

The survey will be funded through a grant by the Walter Kaitz Foundation. NAMIC and WICT have engaged Mercer, a leading global consultant on human capital issues, to conduct the joint survey. The survey will benchmark data vital to the advancement of gender and ethnic diversity in the cable telecommunications industry and, for the first time, will utilize diversity data that takes into account geographical distinctions. The survey activation period will begin in April, with data collection being facilitated for approximately eight weeks. Mercer will distribute the combined survey and independently manage the development of customized reports for each organization.

Multistakeholder Meetings to Develop Consumer Data Privacy Code of Conduct Concerning Mobile Application Transparency

National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Department of Commerce
June 11, 2013
1-5 pm
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/other-publication/2013/privacy-multistakeholder-...


Multistakeholder Meetings to Develop Consumer Data Privacy Code of Conduct Concerning Mobile Application Transparency

National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Department of Commerce
May 23, 2013
1-5 pm
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/other-publication/2013/privacy-multistakeholder-...


Multistakeholder Meetings to Develop Consumer Data Privacy Code of Conduct Concerning Mobile Application Transparency

National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Department of Commerce
April 30, 2013
1-5 pm
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/other-publication/2013/privacy-multistakeholder-...


Federal Communications Commission
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
9:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2013/db0412/DOC-...

AGENDA

9:00 a.m.-9:05 a.m.—Welcoming Remarks
Kris Monteith, Acting Chief, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Federal Communications Commission

9:05 a.m.-9:15 a.m.—Define Bill Shock and How It Occurs
Michael Carowitz, Acting Deputy Chief, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Federal Communications Commission

9:15 a.m.-9-25 a.m.—Voluntary Industry Code

  • Michael Carowitz, Acting Deputy Chief, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Federal Communications Commission
  • Chris Guttman-McCabe, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, CTIA: The Wireless Association

9:25 a.m.-10:05 a.m.—Panel: Bill Shock—What Consumers Can Do To Protect Themselves, Industry Efforts
Moderator: Michael Carowitz, Acting Deputy Chief, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Federal Communications Commission
o Panelists:

  • Dave Charles, Director of Legal Affairs, T-Mobile
  • Kimberly N. Darrin, Director, Public Policy, AT&T Services, Inc.
  • Delara Derakhshani, Policy Counsel, Consumers Union
  • Marti Doneghy, Senior Legislative Representative, Financial Security and Consumer Affairs Team, AARP
  • Jerry Karnick, Staff Vice President/Deputy General Counsel, Verizon Wireless
  • Charles W. McKee, Vice-President, Government Affairs, Federal & State Regulatory, Sprint Nextel Corporation

10:05 a.m.-10:15 a.m.—Break

10:15 a.m.-10:25 a.m.—Define Cramming/Describe FCC Requirements
Mark Stone, Deputy Chief, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Federal Communications Commission

10:25 a.m.-11:05 a.m.—Panel: How Cramming Occurs and What Consumers Can Do To Protect Themselves, Industry Efforts
Moderator: Mark Stone, Deputy Chief, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Federal Communications Commission
Panelists:

  • Delara Derakhshani, Policy Counsel, Consumers Union
  • Coralette Hannon, Senior Legislative Representative, Government Relations and Advocacy, AARP
  • Malini Mithal, Assistant Director, Division of Financial Practices, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Bureau of Consumer Protection
  • Chris Paulen, Vice President, Communications Lifecycle Management and Telecom Expense Management, Dimension Data
  • Glenn Reynolds, Vice President for Policy, US Telecom Association

11:05 a.m.-11:15 a.m.—Break

11:15 a.m.-12:05 p.m.—Panel: Wireless Cramming Issues and Cramming Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
Moderator: Mark Stone, Deputy Chief, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Federal Communications Commission
Panelists

  • Jim Chilsen, Director of Communications, Illinois Citizens Utility Board
  • Delara Derakhshani, Policy Counsel, Consumers Union
  • Craig F. Graziano, Chair, Consumer Protection Committee, National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA)
  • CTIA: The Wireless Association
    • Chris Guttman-McCabe, Vice-President, Regulatory Affairs, CTIA
    • Anna Henningsgard, Vice President of Operations, WMC Global
    • Greg Van Allen, Vice President of Operations, Aegis Mobile
  • Kate Whelley McCabe, Vermont Assistant Attorney General
  • Malini Mithal, Assistant Director, Division of Financial Practices, FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection

12:05 p.m.-12:15 p.m.—Closing Remarks
Kris Monteith, Acting Chief, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Federal Communications Commission

The event is free and open to the public. The workshop will be streamed live at
www.fcc.gov/live, and viewers may submit questions by e-mail to livequestions@fcc.gov.


Board of Directors
Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Monday, April 22 from 9:30am – 5:30pm ET
Tuesday, April 23, 2013 from 9:30 – 11:00am ET
http://www.cpb.org/pressroom/release.php?prn=1021

On the draft agenda:

Day One

  • Approval of Public Session Minutes
  • President’s Report to the Board
  • Legislative Update
  • Approval of Executive Session Minutes (executive session)
  • Personnel Matters and Matters Requiring Advice of Counsel (executive session)
  • Update on FY 2013 Business Plan (portions in executive session)
  • Review of Goals and Objectives for FY 2014
  • Discussion of Open Meetings Policy and Procedures
  • Revise Board Meeting Schedule
  • Future Agenda Items

Day Two

  • Personnel Matters (executive session)

With the exception of the executive session, the public may attend and observe this meeting in the Blair/Killian Board Room of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.


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