18097384
submission
Julie188 writes:
As public IPv4 addresses dwindle and carriers roll out IPv6, a new problem has surfaced. We have to move through a gray phase where the only new globally routable addresses we can get are IPv6, but most public content we want to reach is still IPv4. Multiple-layers of NAT will be required to sustain the Internet for that time, perhaps for years. But use of Large Scale NAT (LSN) systems by service providers will cause problems for many applications and one of them is reputation filtering. Many security filtering systems use lists of public IPv4 addresses to identify "undesirable" hosts on the Internet. As more ISPs deploy LSN systems, the effectiveness of these IPv4 filtering systems will be hurt.
18074038
submission
Julie188 writes:
If Netflix loves open source, where's the Linux client? Last week's post from Netflix on its use of open source has gotten a lot of coverage from the tech press. Too bad nobody's called the video giant out on its hypocrisy: They benefit greatly from open source, but really don't care to let their customers do the same.
17969144
submission
Julie188 writes:
The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) has long supported the use of BlackBerry smartphones for soldiers. It built a system called Go Mobile to provide secure communications, training, and collaboration applications to mobile soldiers. DISA recently decided to add Android and iPhone to list of approved devices because of high demand from users. Unfortunately, this choice has become a giant pain in the flank. Why? Because both Apple and Google refuse to give DISA access to their security APIs.
17959090
submission
Julie188 writes:
Peel announced a new hardware scheme to try to again convince people that they really want their iOS devices to be their universal television remotes. Not sure if it's cool or just whacko that the main device is disguised as an orange-looking fruit that needs to sit in line-of-site of your TV in your living room. The company is holding a Priceline-like vote to get people to say what they'd pay for it, though they have suggested $200 is about right. If there's a plus side to this device, its that the Peel app does more than just control the TV. Its got a Netflix recommendation engine behind it that suggests other things on the tube that the user might like to watch.
17693410
submission
Julie188 writes:
A small PC device company wants to bring thought-controlled apps to the Android market. Mind Technologies (once known by the cute name of Jedi Mind) has promised to make it so. Mind Technologies makes PC devices (a game controller and mouse) that work with the strange-but-true Emotiv headset. Emotive uses brain waves to operate machines. Although it sounds far fetched, electroencephalogram (EEG) controllers do work, but the products on the market so far are not as easy to use, let alone master, as their makers claim.
17672878
submission
Julie188 writes:
Auto dealers are selling infotainment systems for nice fat fees, but if you know your way around a motherboard and power supply you can rip out your car stereo and replace it with a do-it-yourself touchscreen PC, complete with DVD, GPS, TV, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, MP3 and Internet surfing. The question is, is that even worth the bother? Or is it better to bolt a mount into the car for an iPad or Galaxy tablet and call it good?
17608790
submission
Julie188 writes:
According to T-shirt selection of attendees at open source events, the majority of open source developers are really big to the point of being overweight. Granted, this isn't a true reflection of all open source developers. And this doesn't mean that open source causes weight gain. (I hear it's actually a low calorie snack). But T-shirt preference does seem to validate the stereotype of the open source developer as a guy in his 30’s, long beard and rotund.
17318806
submission
Julie188 writes:
Stormy Peters is stepping down as GNOME's executive director and heading to Mozilla to work on developer engagement. Peters says she is leaving the GNOME Foundation to join Mozilla and work on "pushing freedom on the Web as much as we've pushed for it on the desktop." GNOME is in rough waters these days, what with Ubuntu's plans to move away from it in favor of its own Unity UI and the endless delays on GNOME 3.0.
17191092
submission
Julie188 writes:
The U.S. jobless rate for IT professionals hit a historic high in the first half of 2010, at around 5.7 percent. And, not surprisingly, for all the election talk about jobs, jobs, jobs, when push comes to shove, the 111th session of Congress introduced a handful of bills that modify the H-1B and L-1 visa work programs — most of them attempts to reign in abuse — but left them sitting in committee. Some of the bills make a lot of sense — such as the one that says a company can't qualify for H-1B visas if it has had, or will have, a big layoff within 12 months of the visa request. Others make no sense at all (from a U.S. jobs perspective), such as the re-introduction of the annual SKIL bill, an attempt to increase visa limits.
17147306
submission
Julie188 writes:
Got some ancient junk in a trunk? By that I mean are you storing old cell phones, PDAs, laptop PCs in some drawer or a box in your basement? eBay has launched a new site that could give you some instant cash for that stuff, if it's worth anything — and will offer you a postage paid label to send the stuff to a responsible e-waste recycler if it's not. Instant cash is deposited to your PayPal account. However, if you do hold onto it long enough (and by that I mean a couple of decades), it could earn "collectible" status and be worth a surprising amount of money at auction.
17035150
submission
Julie188 writes:
'Tis the season for the government to crack down on abusive practices by your secretly evil national wireless carrier. Next up: a congressional committee will be looking into a debt collection practice that prevents customers from filing lawsuits. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) will be looking into a contract clause that forces customers to waive their right to sue and instead agree to forced arbitration. He is hot on the tails of the carriers after a similar investigation of credit card companies lead to nine banks removing the forced arbitration clause from their contracts. This follows the week's earlier news that the FCC was going to try to come up with new rules to prevent wireless bill shock.
17034982
submission
Julie188 writes:
The Canadian government has formally declared bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical widely used to create clear, hard plastics, as well as food can liners, to be a toxic substance. Does this mean that you'll be tackled by the Canadian Mounties if you stroll around with some bottled water? Not exactly. Being a toxic chemical doesn't mean you can't get a little love. The government will at first try and set limits on how much BPA can be released into the air or water by factories that use the compound.
16979940
submission
Julie188 writes:
Researchers from Microsoft and the University of Massachusetts have been working on a technology that would let mobile phones and other 3G devices automatically switch to public WiFi even while the device is traveling in a vehicle. The technology is dubbed Wiffler and earlier this year its creators took it for a test drive with some interesting results. Although the researchers determined that a reliable public WiFi hotspot would be available to their test vehicles only 11% of the time, the Wiffler protocol was able to offload almost 50% of the data from 3G to WiFi.
16815498
submission
Julie188 writes:
The sales pitch was that IPv6 with its zillions of new IP addresses would eliminate the need for network address translation altogether. But Jeff Doyle, one of the guys who litterally wrote the book on IPv6, suggests that not only will NAT be needed, but it will be needed to save IPv4 at the tipping point of IPv6 adoption. "I've written previously that as we make the slow — and long overdue — transition from IPv4 to IPv6, we will soon be stuck with an awkward interim period in which the only new globally routable addresses we can get are IPv6, but most public content we want to reach is still IPv4. Large Scale NAT (LSN, also known as Carrier Grade NAT or CGN) isan essential tool for stretching a service provider's public IPv4 address space during this transitional period."
16710530
submission
Julie188 writes:
StarNet Communications has found a way to put Linux apps — and Flash — on the iPad, without involving hacks that could bring out the ire of you-know-who (let's just call him Mr. SJ). For $15 they are selling an X11 client for the iPad via the App Store. It puts a virtual Linux desktop on the tablet, tapping into applications hosted on their own servers, which includes a version of Firefox that runs flash. You can also use it as a thin client to access your own hosted Linux or Unix apps. I haven't tried it yet, so can't say it will work as advertised, but the company claims it will let you run your virtual Linux apps at LAN-like speeds, even over a 3G connection. The virtual desktop also let's you do really unheard-of things, like cut and paste between applications on your iPad. Whodathought?
