Social Media, cloud based networking, streaming video services, all modern applications of all forms of Technology, even down to basic consumer level implementations such as your operating system and instant messenger, are dual edged swords. On the one hand, high tech engineering in combination with communications technology such as the internet, are an asset to the world, simplifying our lives and greatly improving productivity on all levels. On the other, these modern necessities place our personal lives at risk in ways that most would not think to consider. Awareness of…
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Liquid Telecom sees sudden increase of African content on network
African Telco, Liquid Telecom revealed a sharp rise in the proportion of local content on its network, from 20 percent three years ago to now 50 percent. According to the company, this has been driven by the deepening of Africa’s internet infrastructure. Mathew Chigwende, Head of Data Networks at Liquid Telecom, reported that three factors – the ongoing climb in the number of Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) serving the continent; the expansion of CDN Content Delivery Networks in Africa; and the interconnection between telcos and ISPs – were together seeing…
Read MoreMicrosoft in antitrust suit against InterDigital over mobile technology
Microsoft has filed an antitrust lawsuit against InterDigital Inc., upping the ante in a legal dispute over mobile technology that threatens to impair Microsoft’s effort to sell its new smartphones. In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Delaware, where InterDigital is located, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) accuses the patent-licensing company of balking on its promise to fairly license its technology, according to a report from Reuters. The legal dispute with InterDigital is part of the hangover from Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia in 2014. For the full story about Microsoft ,…
Read MorePolice Data Initiative by White House to reform the country’s police departments
The federal government, concerned citizens and multiple media organizations are working to bring transparency to this issue. In some cases, they’re even working together. Acording to a report extract from Huffington Post In addition to databases at Deadspin, Gun Violence Archive and FatalEncounters.org, The Washington Post is compiling a list of every fatal shooting by a police officer in the line of duty. A list like that, however, would not include Eric Garner and Freddie Gray, both of whom died during their interactions with police without a single shot being fired. The Guardian has gone…
Read MoreLightning strikes, major power outage wipes out data in Google ‘s European Computer Engine datacentre
Google has told Cloud Engine customers to build in redundancy to their cloud apps after a major power outage hit its European datacentre. Google said the outage at its European Google Compute Engine (GCE) datacentre was caused by four consecutive lightning strikes that hit the grid powering it last Thursday. While the company has taken full responsibility for the outage, it has also told customers who suffered downtime they shouldn’t be relying on a single compute zone. The incident also caused the permanent loss of some data from ‘persistent disks’…
Read MoreEnter ABC.xyz: Google will now be part of Alphabet
Google announced a new holding company called Alphabet today, and it’s using the domain name ABC.xyz. This is a huge win for Daniel Negari’s .xyz, and new top level domains in general. Reports Domainamewire “For Sergey and me this is a very exciting new chapter in the life of Google — the birth of Alphabet,” Larry Page, the chief executive of Google, wrote in a blog post on Monday. “We liked the name Alphabet because it means a collection of letters that represent language, one of humanity’s most important innovations,…
Read MoreICANN Hacked! Resets encrypted passwords after user profile database breach
The overseer of the Internet’s addressing system said Wednesday that someone obtained information related to user accounts for its public website, although no financial information was divulged. ICANN, short for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, said user names, email addresses, encrypted passwords and other data, such as bios, interests and newsletter subscriptions, were contained in the accounts. Despite the breach, the accounts as well as internal ICANN systems do not appear to have been accessed, the organization said in a post on its website. Although an investigation…
Read MoreU.S. Senators introduce DHS Cybersecurity Bill to Protect ‘Dot-Gov’ Domain after breach
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced legislation on Wednesday to give the Department of Homeland Security more authority to protect government Internet addresses in Cybersecurity bid. The goal is to prevent more cyberattacks like recent massive breaches at the government’s hiring office. Hacks targeting the Office of Personnel Management put the personal data of some 22 million Americans at risk and prompted the resignation of OPM chief Katherine Archuleta earlier this month. The cyberattacks prompted calls in Congress for huge improvements in monitoring and protection of government systems. Reports…
Read MoreGoogle Maps has new update to let you visualize all of the places visited
Google on Tuesday announced a new update to its Google Maps program which will allow people to visualize all of the places they’ve visited, so long as they were carrying smartphones at the time. It’s called “Your Timeline,” and it’s currently rolling out for Android devices and desktop browsers, meaning users should be able to access it over the next couple of days if they can’t already. A spokeswoman for Google told The Huffington Post that there are “no specific plans” for iOS. Read more Both the location history and Your…
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