Posts Tagged: ‘Internet’
It’s no secret that censorship is a historically controversial topic, and the rise of the internet has reinvigorated some of the traditional, ongoing debates. For example, how should a country determine what information becomes classified? Or, to take it from another angle, how much power should the state have when it comes to censoring material [...]
If there is one thing that Digg and Gawker have taught us with their redesigns, it’s this: If you run a major website, you should consider making changes to the design carefully, incrementally and with audience permission/buy-in. If you don’t do this, you risk losing your audience. This article tells the tale for Gawker, which [...]
With Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Canada and the United States planning to impose monthly bandwidth caps on us, and with extra fees being planned for people who exceed those caps (e.g. $1 per gigabyte), it brings up a great question – how much does it really cost to provide Internet access? We can get [...]
To follow up on yesterday’s Firefox post… Firefox Downloads in real time – Plus a Firefox 4 preview …almost exactly 10 million copies of Firefox 4 were downloaded between 8AM yesterday and 8AM today. The average right now is about 9,000 downloads per minute. More info on Firefox 4 – particularly interesting are the Panorama [...]
Last June, Senator Joseph Lieberman introduced an act in Congress that would give the executive branch of government — essentially, the President — to command key pieces of infrastructure to sever ties to the Internet. Some critics of the proposed legislation fear it could lead to a situation similar to what happened in Egypt earlier this month. What if the President were to command Internet Service Providers to shut down in order to silence protesters? Despite multiple statements from Lieberman and others saying that the language of the act specifically prohibits the President from such actions, distrust and suspicion continue to fester. Perhaps Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s words about Internet restrictions and censorship will help.
Yesterday I was able to bear witness to an interesting event – I got to watch history being rewritten. I submit a newspaper column on Monday. Yesterday’s column was about strokes: How strokes work The opening paragraph of the story goes like this: A video made the rounds on YouTube. It shows a newscaster named [...]
This video provides a nice high-level description of deep packet inspection and its use in Egypt: A traditional router looks only at the packet header to route the packet. Deep packet inspection looks into the contents of packets, looking for keywords. Why should you care about deep packet inspection? If you look back to the [...]
The protests, looting and government response in Egypt has dominated the news recently. The Egyptian government has shut down nearly all forms of digital communication, including Internet traffic and text messaging, while attempting to resolve the situation. Egyptian citizens had been using the Internet and services like Twitter to organize protests and stay informed. The situation has prompted officials in other nations to comment on the matter, many of whom criticize the Egyptian government’s decision to hamper communication systems. But could the same thing happen in the United States?
Today’s Uproar – Egypt cuts off the Internet and Cell Phones
by Marshall Brain | January 28, 2011
This week, there have been demonstrations and riots against the government in Egypt. Protesters have been shot, as shown here: A quick time line of events: Timeline: Egypt unrest Yesterday, Egypt’s government unplugged the Internet and cell phones: January 28: Internet and mobile phone text message users in Egypt report major disruption to services as [...]
Recent Postings by Category
BrainStuff
- Thank You and Best Wishes to Marshall Brain
- Contest – Design a $300 house and win $25,000
- How the Philtrum works – the place under your nose where your face comes together
The Coolest Stuff on the Planet
Keep Asking
- Why can a 5 foot 8 inch man dunk a basketball on a 10 foot rim while some people of taller stature can’t?
- What happens to our sun once it runs out of fuel?
- How do we know the age of the universe?
Stuff Mom Never Told You
- Who invented the Christmas card?
- How the Kinsey Report Fueled Whiskey Sales
- How to Get Your Wedding Announcement into The New York Times
Stuff to Blow Your Mind
- Blow Your Mind: In the Lair of the Rat King
- Mandala: Memory Palace, Inception and Simulated Worlds
- Virgin Galactic: $200,000 Ticket to Ride
Stuff You Should Know
- The Southern Death Cult, the Maya and Georgia
- Deformed Baby Spider Brains
- Amazing Medical Conditions: Maple Syrup Urine Disorder
The Stuff of Genius
CarStuff
- Was Chrysler’s “It’s Halftime in America” Super Bowl commercial a little too political?
- Why is NASA studying car safety?
- Tips for in-car Navigation Systems
How-to Stuff
- How to Make the Most of a Gallery Crawl (When You’re on a Shoestring Budget)
- How to Swim with Dolphins (When Deep Water Terrifies You)
- How to Cure a Homemade Cookie Craving Without Turning on the Oven
PopStuff
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 40: Did movies ruin love?
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 39: Urban Legends
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 38: Defending Disney Princesses?
Stuff They Don't Want You To Know
Stuff to Change the World
- Who will own the Arctic?
- Obesity: The New Global Crisis
- Bill Gates Makes For A Pretty Decent Cartoon
Stuff You Missed in History Class
- Butch Cassidy: Should we read between the lines?
- Are we rooting for D.B. Cooper?
- Party Time: A Look at Unconventional Politics

