O3b satellites to enable connectivity for the world's "other 3 billion"
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/389702939/
Filed under: Wireless, Networking
[Via ZDNet Government]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Thursday, September 11, 2008
[Via ZDNet Government]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
What Laws Should Govern Computing Clouds?
Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OmMalik/~3/389087904/
Still, I am curious to hear what the Pew survey says consumers think of the cloud. I would have guessed they don’t think much about it all, unless it’s bringing rain. I’m also curious as to what Google thinks regulators should focus on when it comes to running pools of virtualized servers. Bandwidth improvements and ensuring Network Neutrality are one obvious issue for cloud purveyors, other regulation that should be talked about is how laws and regulations govern the physical location of certain data. Indeed, one interesting side note to Google’s patent for running data centers on the high seas is the lack of jurisdiction in international waters.
On the consumer side, a fair issue to consider is how consumer content stored in such clouds can be used. Witness the kerfuffle over Google’s terms of service regarding Chrome, which tried to claim the right to use any content uploaded or displayed via the browser. But when storing files and data in a cloud, ownership and usage rights are essential, as are clear policies that lay out how such content might be accessed, tracked and monitored. Another issue is whether or not such data could ever truly be deleted from clouds, as former Facebook users had discovered. Not all of these issues require regulation, but it’s worth educating lawmakers about them in advance of more services being offered via the cloud.
image courtesy of Google
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900 million PCs or 300 billion mobile handsets. Which is the bigger opportunity? Mobilize 08: GigaOM’s Next-Generation Mobile Conference
Cool Visualization Shows World's Spending On Electronics By Country (We Spend A Lot) [Fun With Data]
Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope Will Have "Blindingly Quick" Boot Times, Float on the Cloud [Ubuntu]
While it's not entirely certain how Jaunty will float on the cloud, Bits notes that Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth says they're after "weblications." Either way, it's surely not coincidental that Jaunty's two major goals—a light, snappy OS with serious web app/cloud computing integration—converge to accelerate the death of the traditional Microsoft-dominated desktop. We'll know how well it succeeds in just a few months. [Ars Technica]
Red Confirms DSLR, Says It's Bigger "Revolution" Than Red One [Red]
While (insert code name) is not a replacement for Epic or Scarlet, it is strategically targeted at the DSLR space. As Nikon and Canon release their 720P and 1080P, respectively, DSLRs with video capture... RED has a more advanced view of the future.
My personal reading on this is that the company is aiming for 4K capture. They also dropped this other tidbit, in case you aren't excited enough:
I won't comment on any specifics until the 1st of the year. But "revolution" applies more to this than the RED ONE did to cinema.
They'll hear from us January 1st. [Red User via Engadget]
Giz Explains: Why HD Video Downloads Aren't Very High Def [Giz Explains]
It's all about bitrate: How much data is packed into a file, described as bits per second. Generally speaking, a higher bitrate translates into higher quality audio and video, though quality can also be affected by codec—the encoding and compression technique that was used to make and read the file—so bitrate is not an absolute mark of quality, but it's still a very good indicator.
You're probably most familiar with this bitrate business when it comes to ripping your CDs. When you shove a CD into your computer, your ripping program will ask what format you want and what bitrate you want. A song ripped at a higher bitrate will sound better, with more presence and detail, but it does take up more space.
The same principle applies with video, though it's actually a bigger deal, because it's easier to see quality differences in video than it is to hear differences in audio. The bits make a huge difference when you get into fast moving stuff like sports or action movies—to be frank, they'll look like splattered, smeared shit in highly compressed low-bitrate vids. This chart below, expertly crafted by George Ou at ZDNet provides a solid starting point for comparison, with average bitrates of most digital video available.
That's a pissload of numbers. What does that mean?
It's not just download services giving you this watered-down so-called "HD lite", either. Comcast was busted cramming three HD channels into the space of two, resulting in crappy looking HDTV, and the satellite guys adding a million HD channels a year aren't much better.
Now that you understand what makes or breaks an HD picture—the amount of data— it's probably no surprise to you that the major reason everyone is peddling subpar HD is bandwidth. HD content is pipe-bustingly huge—a standard-def Battlestar Galactica file on iTunes is 520MB and takes about 15 minutes to download via a strong cable connection. The 720p HD download is 1.4GB and takes 40 minutes or so for your hard drive to completely swallow. The Blu-ray version of the same ep might be 10 times that—like 14GB. Putting that in more context, a single TV episode would take up twice the space as the average dual-layer DVD movie.
Right now, we don't have the broadband infrastructure to support it, and who knows when we will? Hell, the people with the best chance of giving us that added bandwidth—the major ISPs like Comcast and AT&T—are doing just the opposite: Implementing usage caps that will mean less HD downloading. The sad thing is, they probably won't even use the added bandwidth to make their own HD TV channels look better.
Rumor: Apple MacBook Event on Oct. 14 [Rumor]
Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/389006266/rumor-apple-macbook-event-on-oct-14
While he doesn't get specific what the new hardware will be, the heavily favored are new MacBooks clad in aluminum (peace out white), and new MacBook Pros, both long overdue for an overhaul. Also likely is a gut refresh of the MacBook Air, with a faster processor, and as MacRumors points out, the iPod classic's new 120GB HDD is the same kind used in the Air.
An October event also matches up with the date floated for the most pipe dreamy of all MacBook rumors, a MacBook Touch, and Apple's recent warning to retailers to stock up on current inventory. What are you hoping for? [Daring Fireball via MacRumors]
TEAM 0.5 Microsope Takes Closest Look Ever at Graphene, the World's Strongest Known Material [Powerful Microscopes]
Now, I'm no scientist, but apparently this sort of image gives even the most seasoned electron microscopist a raging science boner. But it is not so much about the graphene as it is about the potential of the TEAM 0.5. One researcher noted that it "allows for the detection of every single atom from the Periodic Table provided that the sample under investigation can stand the radiation damage." Basically, it can study individual atoms in real time and produce high-resolution images of its subject. That will allow researchers to fully realize the potential of graphene by understanding how defects in the crystal structure can effect its properties. And they claim this is only the tip of the iceberg. Noooow I feel a science boner coming on. [Nanowerk and Science Daily]
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