Facebook Considers Vast Increase in Data Collection

Posted on by

The social network may start collecting data on minute user interactions with its content, such as how long a user’s cursor hovers over a certain part of its website, or whether a user’s newsfeed is visible at a given moment on the screen of his or her mobile phone, Facebook analytics chief Ken Rudin said Tuesday during an interview.

via Facebook Considers Vast Increase in Data Collection – Digits – WSJ.

As the head of analytics, Mr. Rudin is preparing the company’s infrastructure for a massive increase in the volume of its data.

Open-Sourced H.264 Removes Barriers to WebRTC

Posted on by

The industry has been divided on the choice of a common video codec for some time, namely because the industry standard–H.264–requires royalty payments to MPEG LA. Today, I am pleased to announce Cisco is making a bold move to take concerns about these payments off the table.

We plan to open-source our H.264 codec, and to provide it as a binary module that can be downloaded for free from the Internet. Cisco will not pass on our MPEG LA licensing costs for this module, and based on the current licensing environment, this will effectively make H.264 free for use in WebRTC.

via Open-Sourced H.264 Removes Barriers to WebRTC.

Goodbye Sticky. Hello Ara.

Posted on by

The design for Project Ara consists of what we call an endoskeleton endo and modules. The endo is the structural frame that holds all the modules in place. A module can be anything, from a new application processor to a new display or keyboard, an extra battery, a pulse oximeter–or something not yet thought of!

via The Official Motorola Blog: Goodbye Sticky. Hello Ara..

Seagate introduces a new drive interface: Ethernet

Posted on by

Called the Kinetic Open Storage Platform, the new approach turns disks themselves into servers, delivering data over the network to applications using an open application interface. The Kinetic platform is a combination of an open programming interface and intelligence and a network interface installed in the storage device itself. It’s targeted mostly at companies looking to adopt the same sort of architecture in their data centers that they use to connect to cloud storage providers such as Amazon

via Seagate introduces a new drive interface: Ethernet | Ars Technica.

The Cost of Connectivity 2013

Posted on by

The new data underscores the extent to which U.S. cities lag behind cities around the world, further emphasizing the need for policy reform. Rather than allowing American cities to fall behind, policymakers should reassess current policy approaches and implement strategies to increase competition, in turn fostering faster speeds and more affordable access.

via The Cost of Connectivity 2013 | NewAmerica.org.

Persuading light to mix it up with matter

Posted on by

Their findings suggest that it’s possible to alter the electronic properties of a material — for example, changing it from a conductor to a semiconductor — just by changing the laser beam’s polarization. Normally, to produce such dramatic changes in a material’s properties, “you have to do something violent to it,” Gedik says. “But in this case, it may be possible to do this just by shining light on it. That actually modifies how electrons move in this system. And when we do this, the light does not even get absorbed.”

via Persuading light to mix it up with matter – MIT News Office.

It will take some time to assess possible applications, Gedik says. But, he suggests, this could be a way of engineering materials for specific functions. “Suppose you want a material to do something — to conduct electricity, or to be transparent, for example. We usually do this by chemical means. With this new method, it may be possible to do this by simply shining light on the materials.”

First new gTLDs added to the root

Posted on by

The four new gTLDs all use non-Latin scripts: شبكة (Arabic “web “), онлайн (“online” in Cyrillic), сайт (“sale” in Cyrillic) and 游戏 (“game” in Chinese). In total, the gTLD process will result in expansion of top-level domains from 22 to up to 1400.

More domains will be added to the root progressively. “ICANN’s New gTLD Program was designed to facilitate a measured rollout of new domains so as not to disrupt the Domain Name System,” ICANN said in a statement.

via First new gTLDs added to the root – gTLD, top-level domains – Computerworld.

Qualcomm hit with $173M patent verdict—but plaintiff is the real loser

Posted on by

Nine-digit verdicts don’t happen every day. A $173 million windfall—especially when no other revenue sources seem forthcoming—would have most investors in a small company like ParkerVision jumping up and down. But that didn’t happen. “Were Investors Set Up To Fail?” asked one writer on investment site SeekingAlpha. He quotes a JP Morgan Chase analyst telling clients that just a week ago, ParkerVision was in a position to win up to $2 billion.

via Qualcomm hit with $173M patent verdict—but plaintiff is the real loser | Ars Technica.

TR-069: Still Sexy After All These Years

Posted on by

Today, a quarter of all broadband lines on the planet are managed by TR-069 and its management of devices has been expanded in line with changes in the type of devices needing to be managed (many devices can be managed from gateways to VoIP devices to set-top boxes). And the complexity you now see in the connected home environment in terms of technology (and the protocols used) is just not an issue for the continually evolving TR-069, as non-TR-069 devices can be proxy managed.

via TR-069: Still Sexy After All These Years | Light Reading.

Troll-Killing Patent Reform One Step Closer

Posted on by

Of course, today’s discussion draft is not perfect. Compared to the Shield Act, the attorney’s fees provision is watered down. (It does not include a bond requirement, for example.) And the customer suit provision is too weak. We need stronger reform to stop the disturbing trend of patent trolls picking on customers and end users. Finally, today’s discussion draft focuses on litigation system, rather than targeting the root cause of the problem: the flood of low-quality, over-broad software patents. Despite these reservations, we are encouraged to see so many good reforms in a single package.

via Troll-Killing Patent Reform One Step Closer | Electronic Frontier Foundation.