So, a lot of people are talking about Kim Dotcom’s latest gambit, which was to point out that he holds a patent (US 6,078,908 and apparently others in 12 other countries as well) that covers the basics of two-factor authentication, with a priority date of April of 1997. While interesting, he goes on to point out that he’s never sued over the patent because “I believe in sharing knowledge and ideas for the good of society.”
Matternet Building Quadcopter Drone Network To Transport Supplies
Whereas the internet is an information transporter, the “matternet” will transport…well, matter. These robotic “drones for good” will fly food, medicine, and other essentials to villages seasonally stranded by stormy weather and low quality road infrastructure.
via Matternet Building Quadcopter Drone Network To Transport Supplies | Singularity Hub.
MariaDB vs. MySQL: A Comparison
And what about compatibility between MySQL and MariaDB? The MariaDB team works hard to continue with full compatibility with MySQL, and they continue to pull in bug fixes from the source. But the new features (and numbering scheme) suggest that, despite best efforts, the two platforms will increasingly diverge.
Reporters use Google, find breach, get branded as “hackers”
Call it security through absurdity: a pair of telecom firms have branded reporters for Scripps News as “hackers” after they discovered the personal data of over 170,000 customers—including social security numbers and other identifying data that could be used for identity theft—sitting on a publicly accessible server. While the reporters claim to have discovered the data with a simple Google search, the firms’ lawyer claims they used “automated” means to gain access to the company’s confidential data and that in doing so the reporters violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act with their leet hacker skills.
via Reporters use Google, find breach, get branded as “hackers” | Ars Technica.
Verizon Taps AlcaLu & Ericsson for 4G Small Cells
Verizon is calling 4G small cells a “complement” to its existing LTE network and distributed antenna system deployments in hard-to-cover areas like building basements. The operator currently has 497 live LTE markets, which represents 95 percent coverage of its existing 3G footprint.
via Light Reading – Verizon Taps AlcaLu & Ericsson for 4G Small Cells.
Think your Skype messages get end-to-end encryption? Think again
With the help of independent privacy and security researcher Ashkan Soltani, Ars used Skype to send four Web links that were created solely for purposes of this article. Two of them were never clicked on, but the other two—one beginning in HTTP link and the other HTTPS—were accessed by a machine at 65.52.100.214, an IP address belonging to Microsoft.
via Think your Skype messages get end-to-end encryption? Think again | Ars Technica.
Yahoo: Expect Ads On Tumblr To Ramp Up Significantly In 2014
In the conference call, Mayer made an early reference to how Tumblr would be able to make good use of Yahoo’s advertising technology, in ways that fit Tumblr’s so-far successful, image-based, quick-blogging, youth-oriented format — what she called “native advertising formats.”
via Yahoo: Expect Ads On Tumblr To Ramp Up Significantly In 2014 | TechCrunch.
Netflix Says It’s ‘Killing’ BitTorrent Traffic
“One of the things is we get ISPs to publicise their connection speeds – and when we launch in a territory the BitTorrent traffic drops as the Netflix traffic grows. So I think people do want a great experience and they want access – people are mostly honest.”
via Netflix Says It’s ‘Killing’ BitTorrent Traffic | TorrentFreak.
When should you open source your code
As an organization or even individual there always seem to be questions when considering whether or not to make your project or code snippet open source. Many times, it starts with trying to figure out which license to use. But there are many other things to consider. We derived a list for you the next time you ask yourself: Should I open source my code?
via When should you open source your code? | opensource.com.
Connectify Launches Switchboard Kickstarter Project
Connectify Switchboard divides the user’s traffic between Wi-Fi, 3G/4G and Ethernet-based connections on a packet-by-packet basis. Even a single stream — such as a Netflix movie — can be split between two or three Internet connections for a higher resolution and faster buffering. This method promises 95 percent of the speed stemming from the combined Internet connection. Thus, users could see a single 19 Mbps stream when separate 10 Mbps and 10 Mbps connections are merged together.