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Zuckerberg in the Hot Seat

Mark Zuckerberg may soon cease to be a Master of the Universe. At least, that’s what we can gather from some of the Congressional reactions to his recent testimony on Capitol Hill.

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The Facebook CEO has been under fire lately over some of the social platform’s questionable business practices. These include blocking or ‘shadow-banning’ content for political reasons, limiting the reach of ads customers had paid for, and selling user data to third parties.

The immediate catalyst for the hearings was a recent report about Facebook’s relationship with Cambridge Analytica. The latter had apparently collected user data through an app called Global Science Research. More than 270,000 people allowed use of their data, but Cambridge was able to collect data about their friends, too. Cambridge used the data to promote Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign.

At this news, Congressional Democrats erupted. Of course, it may help to keep matters in perspective. Facebook had also allowed the Obama reelection campaign to exploit user data in 2012- and had not charged for it. Obama campaign officials even bragged about Facebook’s willingness to help them, and Mr. Zuckerberg visited the White House dozens of times between 2009 and 2013.

The legacy press apparently saw no problem with this. Many establishment reporters even hailed Obama for his genius and foresight in use of social media.

The Rules Change

It wasn’t the data collection itself, then, that offended the high and mighty. It wasn’t even the fact that most of it was without user consent. Facebook’s real crime, evidently, was that in 2016 a REPUBLICAN campaign had been able to exploit its user data.

Never mind that Obama’s people had used Facebook data far more extensively- and in the general election, while Cambridge had used it for Trump only during the primary. Never mind that Facebook had been happy- even eager- to help Obama. If Trump benefited, then data collection practices that had hitherto been perfectly acceptable were suddenly grave sins.

Mr. Zuckerberg Goes to Washington

And so, Mark Zuckerberg was required to explain himself to Congress. Democrats flayed him over Cambridge Analytica. Zuckerberg was deeply respectful and promised that he would try very very hard to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.

Some Republicans asked about censorship of conservative posts. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) grilled Zuckerberg closely about it. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) asked how Facebook determines what is or isn’t offensive content. In the face of this line of inquiry, the witness dodged and weaved, offering carefully worded and evasive responses.

On the whole, Mr. Zuckerberg proved carefully prepared- and quite slippery. We got the impression that Facebook may never provide a full accounting for its privacy and censorship practices, and that the reforms it promises will only be cosmetic.

 

(For the most reliable internet connection, talk to Satellite Country. We can help.)

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Will Your Next Driver’s License Be Digital?

Your current driver’s license is a plastic card. Every previous license was a plastic card. So far as you know, your driver’s licenses will always be plastic cards that you’ll carry in your wallet or purse. They couldn’t take any other form, could they?

Man in a car showing his drivers license on his phone

This is about to change. Some states are planning to digitize your driver identity so you can display it on a mobile tablet or phone. The new licenses will feature biometric data absent from your current license, such as fingerprints, iris scans, and facial recognition. Iowa will lead the way, issuing digital driver’s licenses in 2019. Delaware, Virginia, and Wyoming are conducting limited pilot studies of  digital license technology. Other states have also begin to study the matter.

How will the changes affect you?

Idemia, a company seeking new functions for augmented reality, developed Iowa’s digital license program. Its CEO says the new licenses will be “dynamically connected”. This means they will update driver information in real time, so if your license is suspended or you just reached your 21st birthday, your digital license will be updated to display the information.

If your device is stolen, the thief can’t open your license. Unlocking it requires your biometric data. At the very least, it will require PIN or fingerprint authentication. Without your PIN or biometric data, the thief will never get your personal information.

Your digital license data will be synced with your state’s DMV database. If a cop pulls you over, he can send a message to your phone simply by scanning your license plate. Your response confirms your identity. The signals “shake hands”. The cop can relax when he approaches your car, because he knows who you are. You in turn can be sure he’s not an imposter, because only a real cop could send a signal to your device.

When will you get your first digital driver’s license?

It will be several years, at least, before most states issue digital driver’s licenses. One great hurdle is lack of interoperability, or coordination between state DMV databases. Police in one state will need access to DMV data from another state.

Expect a national interoperability standard to be settled by the middle of the next decade. After this, your driver’s license will exist in cyberspace.

 

(For all news related to the internet, watch this space. For the most reliable internet connection, talk to us. We can help.)

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2018: What to Expect in TV Displays

In the last decade, we’ve seen dramatic improvements in TV screens. HD has given way to 4K, the first HDR screens are on the market, and OLED and QLED displays have become practical. We don’t expect innovation in screen technology to come to a halt, but it won’t be moving at the blistering pace we’ve seen lately. So what will we find in video displays in 2018?

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Incrementalism is likely to be the dominant theme in video display tech this year. Most developments will merely build on radical technical leaps of the past, very few being completely new to the consumer market.

Still, some interesting prospects are on the near horizon. Here are a few of the most important changes in video equipment that we will see in 2018:

 HDMI 2.1

How often do you think about the cables connecting your TV set? They don’t get much respect. They can be critical, though, for the quality of your TV sound and picture.

The current HDMI 2.1 specs were published only in November 2017. This obviously leaves an excruciatingly tight time frame for manufacture of 2018-model TV sets or other devices that will comply with the new standard. Almost no HDMI 2.1-compliant sets, therefore, will be on the market until late in the year.

For now, you don’t need to worry about their absence. The HDMI 2.1 spec is almost outrageously future-proofed. Some of its capabilities, including 8K resolution and much higher frame rates, won’t be available in consumer TV for several years. A TV set you buy this year can handle the best available content for several years.

Emissive Quantum Dots

Quantum Dot LED (QLED) TV have gotten a lot of press in the last two years. QLED sets have shown great promise. They can’t yet match the overall picture quality of OLED, though, lagging in refresh rates and contrast.

2018 may be the year QLED catches up. Some experts are placing their bets on emissive quantum dots (EQD). EQD sets have been hyped as the “true QLED” that video buffs have awaited eagerly for years.

With EQD, miniscule quantum dots actually emit light instead of merely enhancing LCD backlight. They could also match or surpass OLED’s “infinite” contrast ratio, with far lower power consumption, and with a much wider and more intense color gamut.

4K & HDR Everywhere

You’ll see many 4k and HDR sets this year. Almost every manufacturer is producing models that can handle both specs.

Both formats were developed at least two years ago, but are difficult to build into TV screens. Also, very little programming has been available in either format, because they require new cameras and editing tools.

That will change in the new year. Almost all new display screenss will be compatible with both formats, and studios are beginning to produce a wide array of video content for them.

Local Dimming

Local dimming is independent brightening or dimming of different areas of the screen. The more expensive TV sets released in 2018 will feature it.

Micro LED

Samsung wants to challenge the technical leadership of OLED.  For this purpose, it’s expected to offer a Micro LED display.

In concept, the technology far older than you’d guess. Micro LED was invented seventeen years ago, and Sony demonstrated a working model in 2012. Techniques for its manufacture were extremely expensive, though, so it wasn’t suited for the consumer market.

Refined manufacturing techniques, enabling relatively cheap bulk production, may finally bring Micro LED to us in 2018.

Micro LED screens feature extremely small diodes, each emitting its own light, eliminating need for an LCD backlight. Each diode can be switched on or off separatelyly, enabling OLED-like contrast and rapid refresh rates.

Samsung is expected to demonstrate a 150-inch Micro LED model at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, and to release smaller consumer versions later. The latter may be available for purchase by the end of the year.

Voice Control

Voice control is hardly new. Voice-activated video screens and remote controls have been on the market for years. Early versions were buggy, though, and they often compromised user privacy.

For 2018, voice control and interactive displays will be much more reliable. One of the most important developments on this front is manufacturer collaboration with Amazon and Google. Video displays will be synced with Alexa and Google Home systems.

 

(For streaming TV, you need a reliable internet connection. Talk to us. We can help.)

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Title II ‘Net Neutrality’ May Be Repealed

Internet service providers all across the fruited plain are awaiting December 14, 2017 with bated breath. On that date, the Federal Communications Commission will vote on possible repeal of Title II classification of the internet as a utility and ISPs as ‘common carriers’. Under Title II, ISPs are subject to regulation like land-line telephone services. The rules are often said to promote ‘net neutrality’.

A repeal ruling would revolutionize digital communications, though observers disagree vociferously about whether it would improve or degrade them.

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What is ‘net neutrality’?

In theory, ‘net neutrality’ seems unassailably right. As described by its supporters, it is the concept that ISPs should treat all data alike. They could neither slow or block disfavored content, nor accept payment for speeding other content. Without the rules, proponents say, an ISP might block or slow content from political opponents or market competitors. Comcast, for example, might throttle streaming of DirecTV.

‘Net neutrality’ is said to be necessary for a free and open internet.

What do the critics say?

Critics of the regulations say there has never been a convincing case that they’re needed. They point out that from 2005 to 2015, before the Title II web rules went into effect, average consumer data speeds surged by more than 1000% while internet traffic soared exponentially. Opponents of the rules argue that market forces will prevent abuse. If Comcast does throttle DirecTV streams, the cable system will lose credibility and alienate its customers. Comcast subscribers will then seek other providers.

What are the odds?

After December 14, we are likely to find out which view is correct. Given the partisan composition of the FCC (three Republicans, including chairman Ajit Pai, and two Democrats), a vote for repeal is nearly a foregone conclusion.

Since his appointment as FCC Chairman, Pai has often criticized the Tie II web rules. And on November 21, he issued a draft order to schedule the repeal vote.

How does this affect you?

If you have HughesNet service, you’ve nothing to worry about. We do not have a video division, and we don’t block or throttle any content.

 

(For the most reliable internet connection, talk to us. we can help.)

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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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BROADBAND FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Broadband service that works well enough for home use might not be adequate for business. This is especially true for businesses located in rural or suburban areas. Broadband options that are fast enough are usually expensive. More economical options might have data caps that are too tight. Some businesses find that they often exceed their data caps with ordinary business use, even though they never play interactive games or download video.

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HughesNet Business Internet

HUghesNet plans come with NO hard data limits. To be fair, they do come with data caps. If you exceed your allotment, your download speeds could be slowed.

If this is a concern for you, consider HughesNet Business Internet. It offers a strong connection and low cost for the amount of bandwidth. HughesNet commercial plans start at just $69.99 per month. All HughesNet commercial internet plans feature download speeds of 25 megabits per second (25 MB/S) and upload speeds of 3 MB/S. Data allotments range from 35 GB to 250 GB per month. The best business plan will meet the needs of more than ten heavy users.

With the Status Meter, you can track your data usage in real time. And HughesNet, unlike competing vendors, offers the option of purchasing tokens to restore speed by adding bandwidth. Other vendors add the tokens automatically, even if you don’t want them.

The FCC has rated HughesNet first among all internet service providers for reaching advertised speeds. That’s ALL internet providers, including fiber and cable.

Free WiFi Modem

A WiFi modem is included with every Gen5 plan. With the WiFi modem, you have two network options: 2.4 Gz and 5Gz. The 2.4 Gz network transmits over longer distances, and through walls. But it’s susceptible to interference. The 5 Gz band is best for newer devices, such as tablets and phones, because it can handle more data. It could lose signal strength, though, if your device is too far away from the modem.

Devices which stream a high volume of video should use the 5Gz band.

With the HughesNet Mobile App, you’ll have a WiFi gauge, so you can detect where the signal is strongest.

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A Few of the Ways Businesses Use HughesNet Business Internet

With HughesNet Business Internet, all commercial internet functions are practical. Order fulfillment. Inventory. E-mail. Negotiating with vendors. Churches use it for communicating with members, coordinating food aid, even computer training to help parishioners acquire job skills.

Almost any internet function you can imagine, HughesNet can handle. The only exception is interactive gaming.

 

To find out more about HughesNet Business Internet, contact Satellite Country. We provide TV and internet service everywhere in the U.S.

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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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.)

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I DEMAND MORE! MORE! MORE!

WHY WE’LL ALWAYS WANT MORE BANDWIDTH

PART ONE:  EDUCATION

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No matter how much you get, you want more. You’ve always wanted more, and you always will.

No, this isn’t about your love life. It’s about your insatiable demand for internet bandwidth. No matter how much you get, it will never be enough. This is mainly because as the pipeline expands, you will think of ever more material to fill it with.

What Makes the Web Different from Older Technologies

In this respect, the internet differs from previous means of communications. In over a hundred years of home telephone service, bandwidth usage for it changed hardly at all. Innovation brought modest improvements in convenience and sound quality, without fundamentally altering the nature of voice transmissions. The internet, though, is constantly evolving. Increasing bandwidth promotes innovation, and innovation promotes demand for increased bandwidth.

Increased bandwidth doesn’t just improve the speed of e-mail. It makes entirely new functions possible. At the dawn of the internet age, few of us would have guessed that it would become a major medium for commerce, telephony, streaming video, or social media such as Facebook or Twitter. Now these uses are so commonplace, we could scarcely imagine living without them.

Education

Technology is forcing massive changes in education. A few decades ago, knowledge was quarantined, and difficult to find. Seeking information in libraries was tedious and cumbersome, and the most important and timely information was in the hands of corporate and government elites.

Now, though, we carry nearly all of the world’s knowledge in our pockets. Whatever we want to know, we can usually find it in a few seconds. Education is now mostly guidance in what to look for.

It was inevitable that greater access to information would affect demand for formal schooling.

MOOCs and Home Schooling

As college tuition rates skyrocket climb into the stratosphere, and millions of students take on crippling debt, and with many of the most prominent universities mired in stifling intellectual conformity, demand for alternatives multiplies. Multiple open online courses (MOOC) are one answer. They cost far less than standard university courses, and are often at least as effective, perhaps more effective, in communicating course content. Unlike textbooks, material on the web can be updated constantly. Students can log in for real-time class discussions on video, download their assignments, and upload their homework.

The web is also becoming vital to home schooling (elementary and secondary levels). Parents can tailor course content to the needs and aptitudes of their children, and students can learn at their own paces, without being either rushed or slowed by the learning abilities of classmates.

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

We have learning tools that previous generations could scarcely have imagined. No longer bound by school schedules, we can learn as we need to. Without waiting for others to teach us, we can constantly upgrade our professional skills online.

Virtual reality (VR)  and augmented reality (AR) can hugely enhance effectiveness of online training.

VR is digital simulation of 3D environments.  With VR, you’re not held to one fixed perspective, as when you’re watching a movie.  You can look around and ‘move’ in the digital environmental.

At a trade show in Barcelona, Spain, a reporter climbed into a control booth owned by a heavy machinery firm. Wearing a VR helmet and manipulating levers in the booth, he operated an earth mover in real time in Sweden, 1500 miles away. Think, then, of VR’s potential alter construction, inspection, and manufacturing. It has already changed training for skilled trades. We could learn surgery, piloting of aircraft, and other skills without all of the risks that come with learning them in real environments.

Augmented reality is the overlay of a digital environment over a real one. With AR, an apprentice mechanic or plumber can see a repair diagram laid over real pipe or a real engine. The AR app provides constant feedback on his work, so he can see and feel how the task should be done.

AR and VR can revolutionize education, because they help develop habit or ‘muscle memory’. When he tries his new skills in real environments, the student already understands them from memory. VR and AR are much more effective for skill training than written manuals could ever be.

Of course, such forms of education require huge amounts of bandwidth. For this reason, among others, we’ll always demand more.

(Demand the best internet connection. Demand the best deals in internet service. Talk to us. We can help.)

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HACKERS DEFEATED BY MICROSOFT

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Hackers defeated… This is always good news, right?

We’ve often been critical of Microsoft. Its operating systems have usually been buggy and slow, and they seem to require multiple patches to work properly. Occasionally, though, the brainchild of Bill Gates functions exceptionally well. When it does, we want to give it proper credit.

With this in mind, we call your attention to last night’s announcement by Microsoft regarding a potential security threat. Earlier in the day, a group of hackers called The Shadow Brokers released a suite of Windows ‘exploits’ which could have enabled hackers to compromise computers operating on multiple versions of Windows. But Microsoft had already moved to forestall the attacks.

In a blog entry posted last night, Microsoft described the attacks and its responses. Microsoft had repelled one, ERRATICGOPHER, before the release of Windows Vista. Another, ETERNALCHAMPION, it had patched along with two unrelated vulnerabilities.

Yesterday’s Microsoft Security Bulletin spelled out the company’s responses to The Shadow Brokers. On March 14, it patched ETERNALBLUE, ETERNALROMANCE, and ETERNAL SYNERGY. The company didn’t bother patching three others. These were: EXPLODINGCAN, ENGLISHMANDENTIST, and ESTEEMAUDIT. Microsoft left these alone because it couldn’t simulate the attacks on any systems it supports. This evidently means any systems it provides updates for- Windows 7 or newer.

The hackers apparently made the mistake of testing their exploits on a ‘clean install’ of Windows. A ‘clean install’ is a version without recent security updates. The hackers then, had no idea how their attacks would fare on properly updated systems.

We’ve mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. Update your computer’s operating system often. Be especially vigilant when you hear about critical threats.

(To find out more about computer security, follow this blog. For the strongest internet connection, talk to us. We can help.)