Posts Categorized: The Internet

How bad information goes viral

Posted by & filed under Internet Advertising, The Internet.

There’s a huge amount of misleading information circulating online about coronavirus – from dodgy health tips to speculation about government plans. This is the story of how one post went viral. It’s a list of tips and advice – some true, some benign, and some possibly harmful – which has been circulating on Facebook, WhatsApp,… Read more »

The fight to keep the internet free and open to everyone

Posted by & filed under Digital Divide, The Internet.

In 2013, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg released a 10-page white paper outlining his new vision, titled “Is Connectivity a Human Right?”. It contained “a rough proposal for how we can connect the next five billion people”,  with help from a consortium of tech companies christened Internet.org. Not only did Zuckerberg’s plan include broadening access to existing telecommunications networks,… Read more »

SpaceX will launch its first 60 satellites to deliver internet from space

Posted by & filed under Space-based internet, The Internet.

SpaceX wants to beam cheap broadband internet all over the planet. It’s gearing up for the first crucial step toward making that a reality.Elon Musk’s rocket company will try to deliver a batch of 60 satellites into low-Earth orbit, the first for a megaconstellation of satellites that SpaceX is calling Starlink. The launch could happen sometime next week.It was scheduled to take… Read more »

Happy Birthday internet! 33 years old today

Posted by & filed under The Internet.

Discussion: The Web turned 33 years old this week. Can you even remember what it was like back then? Their was no pictures, no music and no color, and it could take a COUPLE OF MINUTES to load a page. If a webpage takes longer than 3 seconds I start getting annoyed. “It’s like coffee… Read more »

Giving the entire world internet capability

Posted by & filed under Competitive Advantage, Consumer Technology, Emerging Technologies, The Internet.

About 57% of the world population is offline — mostly because of unavailable Internet in poor or rural countries. Google, Facebook, SpaceX and other outfits plan to beam the Internet from either low-orbiting satellites or high-flying drones and balloons. Source: CNN Tech Date: November 11th, 2015 Source (has a short video): http://us.cnn.com/2015/10/30/tech/pioneers-google-facebook-spacex-oneweb-satellite-drone-balloon-internet/index.html Discussion 1) The article says that “In… Read more »

Could Russian submarines disrupt the Internet?

Posted by & filed under Cyber Security, Electronic Surveillance, Ethical issues, IT and Politics, IT Infrastructure, The Internet.

Russian submarines and spy ships are aggressively operating near the vital undersea cables that carry almost all global Internet communications, raising concerns among some American military and intelligence officials that the Russians might be planning to attack those lines in times of tension or conflict. Source: New York Times Date: October 27th, 2015 Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/26/world/europe/russian-presence-near-undersea-cables-concerns-us.html Discussion 1) Assume… Read more »

Facebook plans satellite to deliver space-based internet service ‘in 2016′

Posted by & filed under Competitive Advantage, IT Infrastructure, Social Media, The Internet.

Facebook is to launch a satellite that will provide internet access to remote parts of Africa, the social network’s founder Mark Zuckerberg has announced.  In partnership with French-based provider Eutelsat, Facebook hope the first satellite will be launched in 2016.  “We’re going to keep working to connect the entire world — even if that means… Read more »