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‘Net Neutrality’: Is It Doomed?

For the internet industry, the regulatory climate may be facing a dramatic shakeup. The Federal Communications Commission has scheduled a December 14 vote on possible repeal of Title II web regulations. These rules are meant to promote what is known as ‘net neutrality’.

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‘Net neutrality’ is the concept that all data on the web should be treated alike. Internet service providers (ISP) should not discriminate by platform, content, website, application, or user. An ISP would not be allowed to block, throttle (slow down), or charge extra for access to specific websites or online content.

What fed the demand for ‘net neutrality’?

The matter became a live political issue in 2004, when Comcast throttled uploads of peer-to-peer file sharing apps such as BitTorrent. Despite public protest, Comcast did not stop the throttling until the FCC ordered it to do so. AT&T, Verizon, and other ISPs were also accused of blocking or throttling specific content. Some were accused of giving favorable treatment to data from corporate partners, including TV networks.

In 2014, the FCC received more than 3.7 million complaints about blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization. The following year, the commission ruled that the internet is a telecommunications service. An ISP, then, is a ‘common carrier’ subject to regulation under Title II of the 1934 Telecommunications Act. The web would be regulated like any public utility.

Resistance to the New Rules

The Title II rules faced fierce criticism from the cable and telecom industries. Some claimed the rules would inhibit investment in internet systems. This would delay or prevent improvement in equipment or networks. In any case, the leading ISPs said, the rules went far beyond the FCC’s legal mandate.

Ajit Pai, the current FCC chairman, said that the current ‘net neutrality’ rules discourage innovation. Less innovation, he said, means less competition. This in in turn, he said, keeps prices high.

Pai says repeal of the Title II internet rules will foster competition, make broadband more widely available, and bring prices down. His critics say the move would only make the larger ISPs more dominant. The largest cable and telecom systems would enjoy near-monopolies on the flow of information.

Who’s right? We may find out after December 14.

 

(For the strongest internet connection, talk to us. We can help.)

 

 

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Mixed Reality: the Future of Computing?

Microsoft is betting heavily on mixed reality (MR). Earlier this year, it released the Hololens, a holographic computing system. The Hololens overlays virtual images on real, physical environments. Wearing the Hololens headset and looking at a table in your office, for example, you may see a 3D image of a vehicle or a building on it. You can walk around the virtual object and examine it from different angles. You can even ‘move’ it with your hands, as you can with physical objects.

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What is mixed reality?

Mixed reality differs from Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). VR is a simulated 3D environment. VR is ‘immersive’; that is, it shuts out the physical world completely.  For you, VR would be what the Holodeck was for characters in Star Trek TNG.

VR is used in advanced flight simulators and other ‘immersive’ trainers.

Augmented Reality overlays simulated images on the user’s view of the real world. The heads-up displays on automobile windshields are examples of AR.

Mixed reality, also known a hybrid reality, is a version of AR. Unlike AR devices, though, the mixed reality device scans the user’s physical environment. It then creates a 3D map of his surroundings. With this map, the device knows where to place digital content so it’s realistic and the user can manipulate it with gestures. The MR images are more dimensional than AR images- hence more ‘real’.

What difference does it make?

Computing now usually entails staring at a screen. The images we see are confined within rectangles. We can’t suspend disbelief since we can’t suspend awareness that we’re staring into machines. No matter how well designed, touch screens and keyboards are highly unnatural means of dealing with our environments.

Mixed reality promises to change this. Communication becomes more intense- more ‘real’. You could seem to share physical space with a friend thousands of miles away. You see 3D objects, not merely pictures. You can move around the objects and manipulate them.

MR computing would be much more ‘natural’ and intuitive than the forms we’re familiar with. With MR, we are less conscious of our devices, We can communicate and learn more easily and more naturally.

In a future post, we will cover some of the most important applications for mixed reality.

 

(To get the most out of your computer, you need a strong internet connection. If you need more speed or reliability, talk to us. We can help.)

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WEATHERING THE STORM

Hurricanes Harvey and Irma reminded us how vulnerable we can be. We’ve learned from bitter experience that our utility, travel, and communication networks can fail at critical moments. Internet systems are no exception. We’ve found that they’re often no better at weathering disasters than our other public infrastructures are. And when internet systems fail, they’re often out of service for weeks- even months- on end.

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When underground cable and fiber systems are flooded, their networks are usually destroyed. It takes time to rebuild them. Wireline internet service, then, is likely to be unavailable in affected areas for several weeks at least.

John Stankey, CEO of the AT&T Entertainment Group, recently spelled out how serious the problem can be. He said that Hurricane Harvey devastated his company’s networks in the Houston area. Fully restoring all networks, he said, will be expensive. It will, he said, require “a multi-year commitment”.

Wired networks can be poor at weathering natural disasters. Severe storms often force extended outages.

With a satellite system, though, you can avoid ground-based infrastructure completely. Restoring service takes very little time.

No communication system is entirely weather-proof. But no matter how severe the storm, your satellite service will usually be up again within a few hours after it passes. This almost never happens with flooded cable systems.

With satellite internet, you’re not dependent on a massive local network. This leaves you more flexibility to live where you want to. You can more easily locate your business where you want to.

 

All satellite internet systems are independent of local networks. HughesNet is the only one, though, confirmed by the FCC to deliver true broadband speed. HughesNet has also been independently rated first among all internet systems for reaching advertised speeds. That’s among ALL internet systems- not just satellite.

 

(Does your current internet service fail at weathering setbacks?  Do you need something more reliable? Talk to Satellite Country. We can help.)

 

 

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HURRICANE HARVEY HAMMERS CABLE SYSTEMS

Severe storms are no fun for any of us. In addition to the obvious hardships they bring, they can knock cable, telecom, and wireless communication systems out of service for weeks or even months on end.

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How has the Houston area fared?

Hurricane Harvey was especially brutal. Though other hurricanes have packed higher wind speeds, Harvey caused more damage because it parked over southeast Texas for several days. While stalled, it dumped more than fifty inches of rain on the area in only four days. This is a new record. It’s even more than famously-wet Seattle got in all of 2016.

Harvey’s effect on cable systems has been catastrophic.

On August 28, two days after Hurricane Harvey made landfall, Comcast said it would suspend operations in the affected area. Comcast is the largest cable firm in the U.S.

On September 6, the FCC reported that on Friday, September 1, six days after Harvey’s landfall, more than 270,000 cable TV and internet in the affected area subscribers still lacked service. In addition, two TV stations and nine radio stations were still off the air.

It’s possible that the FCC understated the service outages. Some subscribers have yet to report service loss, since they face more pressing concerns.

What does the future hold?

John Stankey, CEO of the AT&T Entertainment Group, ratified the FCC’s grim assessment. Speaking at a media conference in Las Vegas, he said his company expects a spike in ‘cord-cutting’ figures for the third quarter. Much of this- though not all- he attributes to Hurricane Harvey. Comparing it to Hurricane Katrina (2005), Stankey said that full restoration of all communication networks will be expensive, requiring a “multi-year commitment”.

At the same media conference, a Comcast spokesman said his company expects to lose 100,000 to 150,000 subscribers in the third quarter. Much of this loss he attributes to Hurricane Harvey.

Expect several months to pass, then, before all cable services in the Houston area are fully restored.

What can you do?

Wherever you live, you have no guarantee that you won’t suffer extreme weather or other natural disasters. But there are a few steps by which you can protect yourself.

For reliable TV and internet service, consider a satellite system. Severe weather can affect it, but is unlikely to cause outages lasting days, weeks, or months. Usually, your service will return once the storm passes.

 

(For the HughesNet service that’s meets your needs, contact Satellite Country. Talk to us. We can help.)

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BACKING UP YOUR COMPUTER

Have you been backing up your computer? If you’re like the rest of us poor sinning mortals, you probably haven’t. It might not have even crossed your mind.

And why should it? Very few people suffer the theft of their laptops or the crashing of hard drives, so it’s easy to assume that our files are safe. We have nothing to worry about, right?

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Still, it’s wise to take a few precautions. Given what’s at stake, we should be backing up our computers routinely. If a power outage or accident destroys your computer, you could lose years of photos or business files, and if someone steals your laptop, you could lose all of the data for a project you’ve been working on for months. As a writer who has rough drafts for up to a dozen clients in my computer at any one time, I certainly couldn’t afford to take chances.

Data backup might not be as critical for your career, but you’ll probably feel the pain from data loss if your computer fails or is stolen.

What can you do, then? What means do you need for backing up your computer?For the most complete protection, you’ll need to combine local backup with cloud storage.

LOCAL BACKUP

PCs and Macs already have built-in backup systems that are highly reliable, but you’ll need an external hard drive to use them properly. Seagate and Western Digital offer reasonably-priced models with solid reputations.. As a rule, your external drive should have at least as much capacity as your internal drive. Ideally, it will have 50% to 100% more.

Windows 10  (File History/ Backup and Restore)

Microsoft offers integrated backup with Windows 10. Plug in your hard drive, and find your File History setting. Select the folders you want backed up, and how often you want Windows to do it. You will need to keep your hard drive plugged in for the backup function.

Mac OS X  (Time Machine)

Mac offers a unique tool called Time Machine. Just plug in your hard drive and open Time Machine for configuration as your backup drive. The software will handle the backing up of your files automatically, at scheduled intervals. If you need to reset your Mac, or you buy a new one, OS X will prompt you to enable Time Machine backup to restore your files from.

CLOUD STORAGE

Local backup is important, but it’s vulnerable. Like hard drives and other hardware, local backup is subject to destruction, theft, or loss. For complete protection, then, consider cloud storage. For individual files, the simplest means of cloud backup is with online systems such as Dropbox, iCloud, OneDrive, and Google Drive. All enable scanning of local folders and simple uploading of them to the cloud. Then, even if your computer is destroyed, you can log into your account and open your files from anywhere.

If you need even more protection, you might consider a subscription service such as Backblaze. It costs $5.00 per month or $50.00 per year. It’s not as convenient for casual use as Dropbox or Google Drive, but it is highly secure full-service cloud storage.

 

With a few simple precautions, backing up your files and preventing critical data loss will be easy.

 

(For the internet service that works best for you, talk to us. We can help.)

 

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HOW DISASTER RELIEF EVOLVES

In just twelve years, our tools for coping with natural disaster have improved dramatically. Compare what was available in 2005, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, with what we have now.

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Why does information technology matter?

Snapchat, new and unfamiliar to most of us in 2005, has seen heavy use for live storm updates since Hurricane Harvey made landfall. Thousands of Texans have used the app to report power outages and post updates about their immediate surroundings. Some users call on it to inform relatives that they’re safe. Snapchat’s Map section highlights areas of heaviest use, continually updating data about areas needing emergency relief.

Snap said that its usage skyrocketed over the weekend, with nearly 300,000 posts on its Harvey Our Stories page.

Facebook has also been essential to the relief effort. With Facebook Live, users mark themselves “safe” or post video pleas for aid.

How does FEMA use social media?

Official agencies also rely on social media for more effective response. FEMA, for example, hires temporary staff to scan the internet for relevant information. These “social listeners” aggregate Facebook, Snapchat, and other social media posts. With this data, FEMA hones its relief efforts. The agency then sends crews to observe affected areas. From their reports, FEMA directs “the right information to the right people”.

Information technology also helps in directing the aid to where it’s needed. Without modern tools, effective logistics can be nearly impossible. In an emergency, it is largely based on sheer guesswork. After Hurricane Katrina, some relief agencies had thousands of tarps and blankets piled up in one place- far from where they were needed. With updated real-time information, this mistake could have been prevented.

With the social media tools available now, relief agencies can disperse supplies much more efficiently. Aid goes where it’s needed. As the situation evolves, so does the data tracking it.  Aid workers can adjust continually to changing circumstance.

What has changed since 2005?

Twelve years ago, FEMA waited for assessments before providing aid. That doesn’t work well, though, and FEMA knows it. Its current policy is to act quickly. It moves as much supply and personnel as possible, as quickly as possible. If it has more than it needs, it can scale back.

Without dramatic advances in information technology since 2005, this more nimble FEMA would never have emerged.

 

(For timely information, you need a strong internet connection. Talk to us. We can help.)

 

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 100 MB/S Satellite Internet Service in 2021

Launching a New Satellite

HughesNet already offers the fastest consumer satellite internet service in the United States. The ISP isn’t finished upgrading its system, though. On August 11, it announced plans to launch a new satellite to enable download speeds of 100 megabits per second (100 MB/S).

The company said its new satellite will be operating in early 2021, and will be dubbed Echostar XXIV.  HughesNet says the new bird will serve “key markets” in the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, and several other countries in South America, doubling the company’s Ka-band capacity in the Americas. The 100 MB/S service tier will be  available where HughesNet currently offers Gen5 service.

Following Gen5

In March, HughesNet inaugurated what it called the Gen5 service platform. Since, then, it’s been moving subscribers into Gen5, which offers download speeds of 25 MB/S.

This is the the fastest speed available with any satellite internet service.

Peter Gulla, HughesNet’s SVP of marketing, spoke to Multichannel News last week. Gulla said, “Right now, it (25 MB/S) seems to be meeting the needs of our customers. But that doesn’t mean that’s the end of the line.”

Hughes has offered its internet services primarily in rural areas. It plans, though, to move into some suburban and urban markets where DSL service is weak.

About HughesNet:

HughesNet has provided satellite-based communication services for more than forty years. It serves government residential, and commercial clients, chiefly in the U.S.

In March 2017, HughesNet became the first satellite internet system to offer FCC-defined broadband service from coast to coast. Its Gen 5 tier operates at download speeds of 25 MB/S and upload speeds of 3 MB/S. With Gen5, the company offers integrated modems with built in WiFi. All Gen5 plans include 50 gigabytes of Bonus Zone capacity for use between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m.

The FCC has ranked HughesNet first among all major ISPs for consistency in reaching advertised speeds. This ranking is for all ISPs, not just satellite.

About Satellite Country:

Satellite Country is one of America’s largest retailers of TV, internet, home security, and home automation services. It has been in business since 1999. Satellite Country offers a full range of home services, and can find the best deals available where you live.

 

(For the internet service that’s best for you, talk to us. We can help.)

 

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RECOVERY OF AMERICAN ‘KNOW-HOW’

What is the fastest or most certain route to recovery of our cultural self-confidence? How can we recover the supreme technical competence that came with it- what our forebears called “American Know-How”?

The first step must be soberly assessing where we are now, and how we got here.

Getting Off Track

To begin with, “Know-How” itself was always on a wobbly foundation. During the fifties, when it was one of the great buzzwords of the age, its acolytes assumed the permanence of  impermanent things. They took our freedom and our questing, inventive spirit for granted, forgetting that they could thrive only in certain cultural environments. Our technical mastery could grow only in certain philosophical and religious soil.

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We can see something of the “Know-How” idea in the early work of Syd Mead. He was a popular commercial artist in the early sixties. His work featured sports cars, private planes, sleek attractive women, and colonization of other planets.

Mead’s vision assumed the permanence of certain beliefs and practices that have since waned. Marriage and the nuclear family will continue to be society’s social glue. Our economic life will revolve around free markets. Our governments will prioritize their core functions, defense and law enforcement, so we’ll be safe. The Judeo-Christian ethic will be our dominant social value. We’ll continue exploring, so energy will be cheap and abundant. The sciences will be solidly founded on experimentation, and will not be corrupted by politics. Our children will be well-schooled, and well able to think and reason.

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By the late sixties, the notion of American Know-How was hopelessly outdated. Demons that had long lurked in the recesses of the American psyche came out into the open. Student radicals taking over our streets insisted that America was hopelessly despotic and corrupt, and the system should fall. New theories of jurisprudence led to skyrocketing crime rates. We lost the war in Vietnam. The Apollo Space Program fizzled out. We suffered repeated energy crises. The seventies saw ‘stagflation’- monetary inflation with low or negative economic growth- which we’d been told couldn’t happen.

Finding Our Way Back

The Reagan Era brought partial recovery, but it was slow and incomplete. The Trump Presidency offers a robust reassertion of America’s cultural self-confidence. His personal failings, though, threaten to derail his most promising projects.

At any rate, there is only so much we can achieve through politics. Full recovery of “Know-How” requires attention to matters of spirit. It requires attention to our ancient ethical system. It requires reconsidering how we educate children. It requires reform of news and entertainment media.

Above all else, recovery requires reaffirmation of ancient creeds. We have to study again the ideas, hundreds or thousands of years old, that made the American Republic possible.

If we address only the obvious symptoms of our current cultural crisis, we will soon backslide into our previous funk. Recovery will be stalled. Dysfunction will once again become our national norm.

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Next- and Last in the Series: Driving in Neutral

 

(To find the best internet connection for you, talk to us. We can help.)

 

 

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RURAL VS URBAN BROADBAND

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Why Are You Left with So Few Choices?

People who live in densely populated urban areas usually have several options for high speed internet. In most cases, these will be cable or fiber-optic connections.

But what are your choices if you live in a rural area? You’re short of practical options there. Cable and fiber systems almost never build their networks far beyond their urban cores. You can find DSL almost everywhere, but it’s usually far too slow to be called genuine broadband. It’s unlikely to be fast enough for video streaming or for most business functions. You can get satellite internet service almost anywhere in the continental U.S., but it’s often even slower than DSL.

The Best Option

If you reside in a rural or exurban area, your best option is almost always going to be HughesNet. It is a satellite network, but very different from the others. HughesNet upgrades its satellite fleet almost constantly, which expands capacity and increases data speeds. The FCC, in fact, lists HughesNet as the only satellite system that consistently delivers broadband speeds.

HughesNet has also been independently rated first among broadband providers for consistency in reaching advertised speeds. This is a first-place rating among ALL broadband providers, including cable and fiber systems.

If you’re a new customer, you can get 10 GB of data per month for $49.99, and 50 GB for just $99.99 per month for the first year. The latter rate reflects a $30.00 discount for the first year. In the thirteenth month, the 50 GB tier will be priced at the standard rate.

Data Plan Features

With all HughesNet service plans, you’ll find the following features:

  • Built-in WiFi
  • 25 megabits per second (25 MB/S) download speed nationwide, 3 MB/S upload speed
  • No hard data limits
  • Video Data Saver

The Video Data Saver automatically adjusts your video streams to use less data. Its default setting is DVD quality (480P), but if you want to watch HD video, you can opt out of the Data Saver temporarily. And you can “snooze” it for four hours at a time.

Exceptions

We don’t claim HughesNet is for everyone. Though it’s available nationwide, apartment dwellers may face difficulty getting it. Landlords often refuse to allow satellite dishes on their buildings.

Because the HughesNet signal is beamed from a satellite 22,500 miles high, it takes half a second to complete a round trip. This time lag is called “latency”. It makes HughesNet impractical for interactive video games or other purposes requiring low latency.

Final Thoughts

If you live in a rural or lightly populated suburban area, HughesNet is almost certainly your most practical broadband option- and an outstanding value.

(We serve rural and exurban areas all over the U.S. Find the internet connection that works best for you. Talk to us. We can help.)

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AMERICAN KNOW-HOW, PART III: 

DECLINE IS NOT AN OPTION

Can we restore American cultural self-confidence, and the supreme technical competence that came with it? If we can’t, could decline at least be gradual and comfortable?

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The middle-aged ex-athlete, flabby and weak, eases into his lounge chair. Watching a college football game, he remembers his own glory as the captain of his football team, when his body was agile and strong. He rues his physical decline.  The aging beauty queen, wrinkled and sagging, looks at an old photo of her triumphant moments as head cheerleader and homecoming queen, when her skin was flawless and her body was taut, and nearly every boy in her high school was in love with her. She puts the photo away and weeps over what can no longer be.

Is Decline Inevitable?

Our leading cultural critics are likewise haunted by nostalgia. They consider America’s former greatness, when she was by far the world’s dominant power. They remember when ‘American know-how’ was in vogue, and was taken seriously. They ask if it’s possible for us to recover the cultural self-confidence that led to putting a man on the moon, winning the Cold War, and unprecedented levels of prosperity. Noting the sad state of our universities and the seemingly intractable incompetence of our governments, they ask if our recent decline can be reversed.

Some say that decline is inevitable, but need not trouble us much. They cite the British Empire. In the middle of the twentieth century, the British people were tired of imperial responsibilities. They abandoned their empire, and seem not to be much worse off for it. They’ve maintained a modern economy, most of their freedom, and a reasonable level of social peace. Decline seems not to have harmed them.

Could we do the same? If America declines, could its senescence be comfortable? Could we sit on the sidelines of world affairs, watching other nations wrestle with the questions that used to vex us? Could we get used to being a bit player on the world stage?

Will Britain’s Experience Be Ours?

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We shouldn’t see British experience as a harbinger of our own future. When Britain was ready to shrug off the responsibilities of empire, it could do so without calamitous disruption of the British way of life. It could pass the baton to us. We spoke the same language and had similar largely the same traditions, a nearly identical legal system, and more or less the same geopolitical interests.

(See Mark Steyn: The Unmaking of the American World)

The same deal is not going to be available to the American people. We won’t see a gradual and comfortable decline. If we fail, we’ll be displaced by people who not only don’t speak English, they don’t even use the Roman alphabet. The Magna Carta, Lex Rex, the Protestant Reformation, and the Enlightenment will mean nothing to them. How likely are they to respect our laws or freedoms?

American failure to lead would be disastrous for us. Foreigners who don’t understand us, and many of whom are bitterly hostile to our core values, will flood our shores by the tens of millions. Jihadists will make massive headway in bringing Western societies to heel. Russia or China could be the world’s leading power, making America a vassal state. This would bring a massive loss of freedom.

America’s decline could also mean there is no real world power left. There would be no effective peacekeeper, and the globe would be in chaos. There are now pirates off the coasts of Indonesia and Somalia. We could soon see large numbers of pirates off the coasts of California and Florida. The external chaos would be accompanied by internal chaos. Tribalism would replace American identity, and the country would become spectacularly violent. The chaotic conditions would make an advanced economy impossible, and we would live under much more primitive conditions. Famine and pestilence would be frequent. Survivors would see hardship few Americans have known since the nineteenth century. Most of us wouldn’t survive to old age.

Will the Next Ten Years Be Critical?

The world offers no substitute for American leadership. Either we will recover ‘American Know-How’- the confident spirit and the accompanying technical competence- or we will face calamity. America as we’ve known it will no longer exist.

I believe the next ten years are critical. What we do during this period will determine whether we stand or fall.

Our condition is grim, but far from hopeless. We can recover- even surpass- our former vigor. It won’t be easy, but it’s within our ability.

In a future post, I’ll spell out a few steps for recovery. Watch this space.

(For the best internet connection, talk to us. We can help.)