6 things you should stop doing online
We've all grown used to browsing the internet in a certain way. But you and your personal data are today more vulnerable than ever. Therefore, it's time to switch things up a little. Here are a few steps you can take to have a more secure experience while browsing the internet.
Web inventor Berners-Lee wants to save us from a digital dystopia
First he created the web. Now Tim Berners-Lee is creating a movement to save it. Working 80 organizations representing governments, companies, and civil society, his contract for the web aims to take it to a better place and stop the world from sliding into a "digital dystopia."
Internet shut down in Iran in response to large-scale fuel protests
The "largest internet shutdown ever observed in Iran" is happening right now in response to ongoing protests sparked by a sudden rise in fuel prices late last week. The nationwide blackout appears to be an attempt by the Iranian government to prevent people from organizing protests and disseminating news of the unrest.
The 2019 Freedom on The Net report says social media is ruining everything
The internet today is pretty far from the utopian place that it was in the past, the Freedom on the Net 2019 report by bipartisan watchdog and think tank Freedom House suggests. And social media may be what's to blame. Here's why it's causing so many problems for citizens.
Elon Musk sends first tweet via SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites
SpaceX offered some tidbits about plans for its recently deployed Starlink internet satellites this week. Meanwhile, Elon Musk decided to take the system for a test run by using it to post a couple of tweets. Judging by his reaction, he seemed pretty surprised that it worked!
SpaceX wants to send another 30,000 Starlink internet satellites into space
SpaceX is competing with a growing number of companies to build a system capable of beaming broadband from space satellites to locations where the internet is currently unreliable, too pricey, or non-existent. SpaceX recently requested permission to deploy 30,000 satellites on top of the 12,000 already approved.
The web gets more secure as Cloudflare, Firefox, and Chrome adopt HTTP/3
Websites could soon become more responsive and more secure as they adopt a new version of HTTP. As announced by Cloudflare, preliminary support for HTTP/3 is rolling out this week. The Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browsers will be joining Cloudflare in supporting HTTP/3 soon.
SpaceX joins internet-from-space race with launch of 60 Starlink satellites
SpaceX has launched a rocket carrying its first batch of Starlink satellites for its ambitious internet-from-space project. The payload successfully deployed an hour after liftoff. The $10 billion project aims to deploy 12,000 satellites in the coming years to create a global, low-cost broadband network.
Report says 20% of all 2018 web traffic came from bad bots
This year’s Bad Bot Report was published by Distil Networks this week and there were surprising findings of the current state of bots, including the fact that bad bots were responsible for 20% of all 2018 web traffic. The report also included a list of unexpected sources of bad bots.
The next clash of Silicon Valley titans will take place in space
By launching their own attempts to bring internet access to every last person on Earth, tech giants from Amazon to Facebook have a major new mission. It's also one that will put them into competition with one another -- only this time in space. Here is what you need to know.
Amazon wants to launch 3,236 satellites so it can rain down internet from space
Amazon plans to launch a constellation of 3,236 satellites into low-Earth orbit to provide internet access around the planet. The satellites should be able to rain down connectivity on 95 percent of the world's population. Because you can always have more Prime subscribers!
Happy 30th, World Wide Web. Here’s how you changed the world, for good and bad
Thirty years ago, Tim Berners-Lee proposed the basics of the World Wide Web to CERN. Though his original ideas are now over three decades old, they remain the foundation on which the modern web is built. Here's how the web has changed the world, and how the world may soon change the web.
SoftBank’s solar-powered drone could dispense 5G internet from the skies
An experimental, solar-powered drone capable of beaming internet down to Earth is set to take off. The drone is the product of a tightlipped partnership between Softbank and AeroVironment, an American aerospace company, aimed at delivering 5G and Internet of Things connectivity from the skies.
Russia will ‘unplug’ from the internet as part of a cyber-defense test
Authorities across Russia are planning on unplugging the country from the global internet as part of a test of its cyber defenses. The disconnection will briefly keep all internet traffic inside the country, with no traffic routing through international ports and servers.
Google’s balloon internet is coming to Kenya in 2019
In order to bring the internet to those who lack it, a company called Loon is launching balloons into the stratosphere. From more than 12 miles up, these balloons beam connectivity over a large area on the ground. Loon hopes to empower people to build businesses, improve healthcare, and even increase crop yield.
New simulation shows how Elon Musk’s internet satellite network might work
Starlink is Elon Musk’s ambitious dream of building a network for conveying internet traffic via thousands of satellites Musk hopes to have in orbit by the mid-2020s. A new simulation created by a computer scientist looks at how feasible the idea is. Here's what he concluded.
Over a million veterans now eligible for Comcast’s Internet Essentials program
Comcast's low-cost Internet Essentials program, which provides internet access for just $10 per month, has expanded to include U.S. veterans. One million veterans now qualify for the service. Comcast is working with non-profits to spread word of the service to those who need it most.
U.S. government sues California to stop its new net neutrality regulations
After passing what many consider to be the gold standard in net neutrality protections, the U.S. Department of Justice is suing the State of California. The Justice Department claims that states do not have a right to regulate the internet, which falls under interstate commerce.
Reddit and Wikipedia criticize EU’s controversial copyright law
After the European Parliament voted in favor of amended provisions to the Copyright Directive, the law received harsh criticism from Reddit and Wikipedia. The two companies argued that the link tax and piracy filter requirements represent "a significant blow to the open internet."
To make the web safer, Google says URLs must die
After building its search empire by indexing all the web pages on the internet and their corresponding web addresses, Google is undergoing an existential crisis. The company proposes that to make the web a safer place for all, URLs must be killed. URLs are difficult to understand, and hackers prey on this confusion.
Widespread internet access is causing mass sleep deprivation, study suggests
A study funded by the European Research Council claims that high-speed internet may be costing us up to 25 minutes of sleep per night. Surprisingly, the biggest problem isn't among those young people who are under 30. Here's what the researchers found from their investigation.
Is another broadband option brewing? Facebook is building a satellite
In publicly disclosed FCC emails and in a confirmation to Wired, Facebook has revealed plans to launch an in-house developed satellite called Athena to offer broadband service to "unserved and underserved" areas. The low Earth orbit satellite is slated to launch sometime early next year.
FCC proposal could help Google Fiber roll out to more cities
The FCC is considering a change on how utility poles are managed. Instead of requiring new service providers consult with existing utilities on a pole to make changes, the new proposal shifts the work burden to new providers, like Google Fiber. This change could help accelerate the deployment of gigabit internet.
Internet connectivity is a human right, and Rightmesh has a plan to fulfill it
Rightmesh believes internet connectivity is a human right, and it plans to help spread internet access using mesh networks built from users' existing smartphones, and other devices. The platform has completed an initial coin offering and plans a beta SDK to launch this fall.
A second massive Comcast outage leaves customers without service this month
Comcast is experiencing a second massive outage this month. The outage is taking out phone, internet, and video service for both residential and business customers across the country. Comcast blames a partner for accidentally cutting its fiber line, though an estimate was not provided for when service is expected to be restored.
Facebook gives up on building its own internet drone
After four years of work, Facebook is ending efforts to build its own internet drone. But the Aquila project to bring internet connectivity to remote parts of the planet will continue, with Facebook instead collaborating with aerospace companies to build drones with the relevant technology.
‘China’s Hawaii’ plans to ease internet restrictions for foreign tourists
An island known as "China's Hawaii" could have its internet restrictions lifted as part of plans to improve the vacation experience for foreign visitors. While China blocks access to online services such as Facebook and YouTube, the island of Hainan plans to create special zones offering open access.
A country is shutting off its entire internet to stop exam cheats
Determined to prevent students cheating in exams, the Algerian government has ordered the internet to be shut off for several hours around the time the tests are taken. Officials have also installed metal detectors at exam centers to prevent the use of mobile phones and other connected devices.
Iowa man gets 20-year prison sentence for trying to steal a domain at gunpoint
Sherman Hopkins Jr of Iowa got a 20-year prison sentence for attempting to steal the dotiforstate.com domain during an armed home invasion robbery in 2017. During the incident, Hopkins shot the victim once in the leg, but the victim wrestled the gun from him. Hopkins was subsequently shot multiple times in the chest.
Comcast gives the internet a victory, ends throttling — for now
Comcast gave the internet a victory and ends its practice of throttling heavy users, citing a stronger network that's capable of handling congestion. However, Comcast also said that it reserves the right to reverse its decision. Heavy users are still subjected to data caps and overage charges.
Congress has until Monday to save net neutrality and keep the internet open
With net neutrality set to expire Monday, June 11, Senate Democrats are calling on House Speaker Paul Ryan to schedule a vote in the House of Representatives to preserve rules governing an open internet. Even if the bill passes the House of Representatives, it still needs President Trump's signature to become law.
Reddit beats out Facebook to become the third-most-popular site on the web
Recent data scandals have given Facebook a beating as Reddit now surpasses the social network to become the third-most-visited destination on the internet in new rankings published by Alexa. Reddit now trails Google and YouTube, but it still outranks its rivals since users spend more time on the site.
The Internet is sick. Here’s how Mozilla is making it healthy again
Recently the Mozilla Foundation brought together thousands of open source activists and engineers at more than 60 events, in locations as far apart as Portland, Toronto, London and New Delhi, for its Global Sprint hackathon event. Their goal? To make the internet a better place. Is that one hack too far?
AT&T and Verizon lobbying for increased pricing power over smaller ISPs
Some of the U.S.'s largest communications companies are calling the FCC to end rules that require them to sell their network services to smaller ISPs for a set price. While USTelecom argues that this would pay off in the long run, the smaller ISPs warn it could increase consumer bills.