October 2013

It might take a long time to get HealthCare.gov working, no matter what Obama does

[Commentary] Adding more programmers to the team trying to fix HealthCare.gov is unlikely to speed up the process, and might even slow it down. Even the most talented and experienced programmers face a significant learning curve when starting a new job. And the HealthCare.gov code is apparently a mess, and no one is sure what needs to be done to fix it. Moreover, fixing the system may require the kind of serious overhaul that can only be undertaken by someone with an intimate knowledge of the system.

Liberty Media's John Malone addresses cable industry challenges

Liberty Media's John Malone has been vocal about how cable should confront what he believes are its biggest challenges: embracing technology, emphasizing the business of broadband Internet service and controlling programming costs. "It's almost like he feels -- with some justification -- that the industry needs him to come riding back on a white horse to make things right again," media analyst Craig Moffett of research firm MoffettNathanson said.

Cable operators have been losing customers to satellite TV, telephone companies offering video packages and lower-cost Internet streaming services. Cable executives have also been grappling with a generational shift as younger consumers have chosen the Internet over the cable box to watch TV shows and movies. Malone has said consolidation would improve cable's chances for long-term survival, bring programming costs down and help it keep pace with digital upstarts.

"It's all about scale and power," Susan Crawford, a communications professor at Cardozo Law School, said of Malone's agenda. "Any distributor that controls more subscribers can force volume discounts. Malone wants to make sure he and his brethren don't have to pay more for programming." It's not just idle talk.

Got Google Fiber envy? Here are three steps to pave the way

The number of communities that wanted Google Fiber proved vastly larger than the number of places -- three -- where Google thus far has actually chosen to build its gigabit broadband network. But for the have-nots out there, Google Access project leader Kevin Lo offered some advice at the Broadband World Forum for attracting Google Fiber or some other ultrafast broadband provider.

It's not about tax breaks, he said, but rather relatively mundane measures that cities and towns can take:

First, grant new Internet providers access to power poles, ducts, and cable conduits. Once Google has figured out what it needs to use, "We agree to a fair-market price so we can get up to that space," Lo said.
Second, provide good maps -- not just to locate power poles and conduit channels, but also water mains and gas lines that complicate installations. "We've been surprised how big a problem this is for a lot of our cities," Lo said.
Last, expedite construction permits. "When we build, we are submitting literally tens of thousands of permits. We work closely with the city to expedite that process. These are the things that have been consuming our teams' time," Lo said.

A radical dream for making techno utopias a reality

Balaji Srinivasan opened his Y Combinator startup school talk with a joke: Is the US the Microsoft of nations? The question was received warmly by the crowd of more than 1,700 and did in fact have a logical conclusion: Larry Page and Sergey Brin, co-founders of Google, were exactly what Bill Gates feared when he said in 1998 that two people in a garage working on something new was Microsoft's biggest threat.

What ties those two seams together? The idea of techno-utopian spaces -- new countries even -- that could operate beyond the bureaucracy and inefficiency of government.

It's a decision that hinges on exiting the current system, as Srinivasan terms it from the realm of political science, instead of using one's voice to reform from within, the very way Page and Brin decided to found their search giant instead of seek out ways in which the then-current tech titans could solve new problems. Calling his radical-sounding proposal "Silicon Valley's Ultimate Exit," Srinivasan thinks that these limitless spaces, popularly postulated by Page at this year's Google I/O, are already being created, thanks to technology and a desire to exit. Ultimately, the Stanford lecturer and co-founder of Counsyl, a genetics startup, thinks Silicon Valley could lead the charge in exiting en masse because, eventually, "they are going to try and blame the economy on Silicon Valley."

Real-time Network Management of Internet Congestion

Every link and router in the various networks that make up the Internet has a limit on its capacity to handle data. When aggregate user demand at any point in time exceeds the capacity of a link or router, the result is congestion, which can degrade performance. Choices made by a variety parties, including Internet service providers (ISPs), application service providers (ASPs), and content delivery networks (CDNs) may alleviate or exacerbate congestion on both their own networks and others carrying their traffic.

The report describes how network resources are allocated on a short time scale in order to, among other objectives, manage congestion on the network, and how such congestion management impacts applications and users. The report also recommends best practices regarding congestion management and network resource management. Among other things, the report recommends that:

ISPs and ASPs should disclose information about their user- or application- based network management and congestion management practices for Internet services in a manner that is readily accessible to the general public.
Network operators should use accepted industry "Best Practices," standardized practices, or seek industry review of practices.
When engaging in a congestion management practice that could have a detrimental impact on the traffic of certain users or certain applications, the practice should be designed to minimize that impact.
If application-based congestion management practices are used, those based on a user’s expressed preferences are preferred over those that are not.
If application-based criteria are used by a network operator, they should be tested prior to deployment and on an ongoing basis.
ASPs and CDNs should implement efficient and adaptive network resource management practices.

AP Chief: US Press Attacks Will 'Comfort Authoritarian Regimes'

Governments that try to force citizens to decide between a free press and national security create a "false choice" that weakens democracy, and journalists must fight increasing government overreach that has had a chilling effect on efforts to hold leaders accountable, the president and CEO of The Associated Press said.

Gary Pruitt, President and CEO of the Associated Press, told the 69th General Assembly of the Inter American Press Association that the US Justice Department's secret seizure of records of thousands of telephone calls to and from AP reporters in 2012 is one of the most blatant violations of the First Amendment the 167-year-old news cooperative has ever encountered. The Justice Department action involving the AP resonated far beyond the US, including Latin America, where journalists for decades have fought to exercise press freedoms under authoritarian regimes, Pruitt said. "The actions by the Department of Justice could not have been more tailor-made to comfort authoritarian regimes who want to suppress the news media. 'The United States does it too,' they can say," Pruitt said.

CableLabs Plants Flag In Silicon Valley

When the doors of the new CableLabs Innovation Office and Lab facility swing open on October 28, 2013 in Silicon Valley, cable’s research and development consortium will embark on a new era of strategic thinking and boot up a venue tasked with sparking new ideas and the debut of a process aimed at bringing those ideas to fruition.

The new facility, initially to support seven CableLabs employees, will focus on managing and developing the research and design organization’s innovation portfolio while also encouraging employees, CableLabs members, and potential development partners to identify and develop new technologies for the cable industry. It will also be used to host events and lay down firm roots in the tech-savvy area. In fact, it has already scheduled an open house on November 21 so vendors, members, and Silicon Valley locals can poke around and schmooze. A main goal of the Silicon Valley facility is to accelerate the process of developing new ideas and how to get them to market for efficiently, while also creating fresh investment opportunities.

Google Earth helps cops nab suspected marijuana grower

Oregon police have gotten savvy to some satellite surveillance technology: Google Earth.

That's right, the authorities in the southern corner of that state used Google Earth to nab a man suspected of growing more than his fair share of medical marijuana, according to the Grants Pass Daily Courier. Apparently, the police caught word that Curtis Croft had been bragging about the prodigious weed crops he had been cultivating on his property. Checking out Google Earth, the police saw what looked to be satellite images of rows and rows of plants. It's impossible to say just how many law enforcement agencies are actively using Google Earth, but one thing is certain: looking at Google's often detailed images is a lot cheaper than flying helicopters or planes, particularly in remote areas. But, there is one downside for police -- the images seen on Google Earth aren't live; they could be weeks, months, or even years old.

Obamacare Website For Spanish Speakers Has Problems, Too

Lost in the hubbub surrounding the malfunctioning HealthCare.gov is another missed deadline and closed door for millions of Americans seeking health insurance: Cuidado-DeSalud.gov.

The Spanish-language site still does not allow consumers to enroll for exchange coverage, a delay that was previously estimated by Administration officials to last until mid-October of 2013. A spokeswoman from the Health and Human Services Department declined to comment on when consumers will be able to sign up for health insurance on CuidadoDeSalud.gov and whether the additional delay is related to the malfunctions on the English language site, HealthCare.gov. Roughly 10.2 million Latinos in the United States do not have health insurance, according to HHS data.

As paid “stories” about cancer and financial ruin flourish on the web, are better labels the answer?

Big publishers like Time and USA Today are posting “stories” on their web sites that are really ads. Some of these native ad “stories” can offer quality reading with a subtle marketing message, while others amount to alarmist drivel with headlines like “10 sure signs you have cancer” or “Expert says financial collapse is upon us” -- the latter ads, especially, are leading some to fret that native ads are deceitful and a “Faustian pact.“ Taboola, a company responsible for distributing those ads, is promising more transparency by better labeling the paid-for stories.

Benton

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