NASA’S Mars Curiosity Debuts Autonomous Navigation

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The drive on Tuesday, the mission’s 376th Martian day, or “sol,” took Curiosity across a depression where ground-surface details had not been visible from the location where the previous drive ended. The drive included about 33 feet (10 meters) of autonomous navigation across hidden ground as part of a day’s total drive of about 141 feet (43 meters).

“We could see the area before the dip, and we told the rover where to drive on that part. We could see the ground on the other side, where we designated a point for the rover to end the drive, but Curiosity figured out for herself how to drive the uncharted part in between,” said JPL’s John Wright, a rover driver.

via NASA’S Mars Curiosity Debuts Autonomous Navigation – NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Ignored by big companies, Mexican village creates its own mobile service

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The village of Villa Talea de Castro, dotted with small pink and yellow homes, has a population of 2,500 indigenous people. Tucked away in a lush forest in the southern state of Oaxaca, it was not seen as a profitable market for companies such as Slim’s America Movil. The company wanted at least 10,000 subscribers to bring the village into its mobile coverage, AFP said.

So the village, under an initiative launched by indigenous groups, civil organizations and universities, put up an antenna on a rooftop, installed radio and computer equipment, and created its own micro provider called Red Celular de Talea (RCT) this year.

via Ignored by big companies, Mexican village creates its own mobile service – Times Of India.

Sprint, T-Mobile execs explain the MVNO explosion

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One way that Sprint and T-Mobile are helping make the MVNO business a success is by enabling many of the back office functions that the MVNOs of the mid-2000s had to do on their own. For example, Chartier said that T-Mobile offers a couple of different options: For traditional MVNOs, the company will provide just network access and the MVNO will handle the billing and logistics. For partner brands, which Chartier compares to a brand licensing arrangement, T-Mobile offers reverse logistics, carrier billing, marketing support and even distribution.

via Sprint, T-Mobile execs explain the MVNO explosion – FierceWireless.

Aruba Networks Replaces Cisco in Starbucks

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Google will eventually be completely replacing all the routers with its Aruba gear. It expects the process to take 18 months. Cisco would not confirm if it was the exclusive supplier for AT&T’s 7,000 store deployment, but it’s safe to say it will be getting the boot from several Starbucks locations, in the least

via Aruba Networks Replaces Cisco in Starbucks | Light Reading.

Attack of the Kling-ons

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There are plenty of chief executives and wealth creators at Burning Man too, in love with their own micro-celebrity, hosting (that’s tech-speak for picking up the check) dire imitations of excess. I’ve seen more genuine decadence in unknown Berlin clubs than in that entire face-painted, drug-soaked annual festival of self, but to hear these “Burners” rabbit on, you’d think they’ve reinvented the profligacy of Nero’s last days. Yet somehow it’s become unacceptable to criticize this celebration of mutual congratulation.

via Attack of the Kling-ons.

I didn’t know Burning Man turned into a geek trade show like SXSW.

In ACLU lawsuit, scientist demolishes NSA’s “It’s just metadata” excuse

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Storage and data-mining have come a long way in the past 35 years, Felten notes, and metadata is uniquely easy to analyze—unlike the complicated data of a call itself, with variations in language, voice, and conversation style. “This newfound data storage capacity has led to new ways of exploiting the digital record,” writes Felten. “Sophisticated computing tools permit the analysis of large datasets to identify embedded patterns and relationships, including personal details, habits, and behaviors.”

via In ACLU lawsuit, scientist demolishes NSA’s “It’s just metadata” excuse | Ars Technica.

I remember Ed Felton as being one of the leading researchers who uncovered the Sony rootkit fiasco.  Many years ago Sony included a rootkit installer that would install whenever someone played one of their CDs on a Windows PC.  Felton’s blog at the time covered that situation well.

Patent troll backs down, agrees to stop suing public transit agencies

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Unfortunately, ArrivalStar’s many targets in the private sector are going to have to continue to grapple with the litigious patent-holding company. ArrivalStar has never taken its patents anywhere near a trial, and hardly any of its lawsuits even go beyond early stages of litigation. With today’s settlement, ArrivalStar can continue avoiding any rigorous testing of its patents.

via Patent troll backs down, agrees to stop suing public transit agencies | Ars Technica.