Posts Tagged ‘online’
Europe: The Commission sets a new information society challenge to become literate in new media
August 22nd, 2009 | 
Author: Commission sets new information society challenge: Becoming literate in new media
Posted in Communications | 
Tags: advertisement, amp, blog, blogs, Computer, information, online | 
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Use Outdoor Solar Lighting to Save Money and Enhance Your Yard
Large Selection of Outdoor Solar Lighting to Fit your Needs
Outdoor Solar lighting has come a long way. There are many options to choose from when deciding what solar lighting is right for your home. Solar fence lighting, also known as solar fence post lighting, provides an easy way to add renewable-energy-powered lighting to your fence and perimeter of your yard or deck, and comes in a number of styles and sizes to work with your existing fence and deck style. Solar torch or tiki lights also provide great lighting for your yard, and can be easily placed to best highlight and accent your home. You will also find a large selection of solar garden and pathway lighting available, from decorative display lighting, to spotlights and brighter lighting to add a great effect to your yard and garden. You may be surprised at the large selection of options available for outdoor solar lighting solutions.
Installation and Setup is Easy
Most garden, tiki and torch solar lights are very easy to install–simply decide where to place the fixture, and push it into the ground to secure it, and your are done. Fence post and fence post lighting require a little more work to install, but not too much. Make sure your lights are made for the correct size of your fencing post (usally 4×4 or 6×6, but the dimensions may differ), and then place the fixture on the post and secure it with the included fasteners.
Outdoor Solar Lights Provide Many Benefits
Without any wires, these lights let you avoid the problem of running wires to the light, and trying to hide the wires in your yard setup. This alone is a great convenience when trying to place lighting for the best effect in your yard or garden. These lights work by using solar energy to charge a set of rechargeable batteries located in the light.
You can usually find these solar lights and light kits for about $40-$60, which is comparable with quality outdoor wired fixtures of good quality. With the energy savings and benefits provided by these outdoor solar lights, they provide a effective, economical choice when looking to add or replace outdoor lighting, and enhance the beauty of your home and garden.
About the Author
Jeff Cooper owns http://www.SolarFenceLight.com, a one-stop source for solar fence light information and products, including solar garden lights, solar torch lights and other solar lighting products. Visit the SolarFenceLight Online Store for great deals and bargains on outdoor solar light products.
UK: consumers prefer to cut back on dining out than buying broadband, mobile telephony
Customers are looking to save money on communications and media deals but are still willing to pay up for services that enhance the experience, such as digital video recorders and mobile broadband.
Britons are shopping around more, signing long-term contracts in exchange for cheaper payments, and bundling services such as TV, phone and telephony, Ofcom’s Communications Market Report said.
“Despite the recession, people are spending more time watching TV, using their mobile phone or accessing the Internet,” said Ofcom partner Peter Phillips.
“Meanwhile, we are becoming more canny about the way we pay for these services (and) as well as getting better deals we are demanding more control.”
In the first quarter of 2009, 46 percent of consumers took a bundle with two or more services from one operator, such as pay TV groups BSkyB and Virgin Media, up from 39 percent a year earlier.
For mobile phones, some 70 percent of users said they would rather retain their existing handset than upgrade if it meant a cheaper deal.
But the report showed that despite the pressure on spending, consumers were still prepared to pay for services that enhanced the experience, such as digital video recorders, high definition television and mobile broadband.
According to the report, more than a quarter of UK homes had a digital video recorder, while consumers with faster broadband access were also catching up on programs via online catch-up sites.
More than 2 million households had access to a high definition service, according to the report, and 17.6 million HD-ready sets, in nearly 9 million households, have been sold in the UK.
Almost 70 percent of homes took broadband by the end of the first quarter of 2009, up from 58 percent a year ago, while more than one in 10 households had access to mobile broadband.
Of those taking mobile broadband, three quarters also had access to fixed-line broadband, showing the two services can complement each other.
While online, some 19 million Internet users visit Facebook, spending an average of nearly 6 hours per month on the site, although those in the 15 to 24 age group were spending less time on social networking sites in general, down from 55 per cent in the first quarter of 2008 to 50 per cent in 2009.
There were 2.6 million Twitter users by May 2009 — up from 0.1 million on the previous year.
Posted in Communications |
Tags: blog, blogs, Communications, consumers, facebook, Internet, Mobile, mobile broadband, mobile phone, mobile phones, money, Network, Networking, online, reuters, social networking, social networking sites, upgrade |
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USA: the stimulus of $7billion for broadband will be too little to achieve its goals
The economic stimulus package, officially known as the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009, directs the Federal Communications Commission to construct a “national broadband plan” and provides $7.2 billion to the Agriculture Dept. and Commerce Dept. for grants and loans for broadband deployment and related projects.
In doing so, Congress kicked off a race for government broadband money and a debate over how to achieve universal broadband access. Ironically, the money will likely be gone before the broadband policy is in place.
Part of what’s slowing the process of rolling out broadband networks to remote rural and unwired urban areas are debates over how fast the networks should be, how much it will cost to provide universal broadband service, and who will pay for it.
A Leap in Data Capacity
Broadband connections allow the fast flow of information that permits people to send e-mail, shop online, and retrieve information from the Web at high speeds. Broadband Internet access also lets PC users exchange videos, music, and other large digital files. To get an idea of the leap in data capacity we’re talking about, standard phone system voice calls transmit data at the rate of about 10,000 bits per second. But digital videos require bandwidths of about 2 million bits per second. Applications such as online “distance learning” classes need even more.
Some companies and consumer groups have advised the FCC to set a goal for national broadband speeds of 10 million to 20 million bits per second. Meeting that goal will require network speeds 20 to 100 times faster than is typical in today’s networks, which were designed for voice or one-way video distribution. Upgrading, extending, and adding to today’s networks will require enormous capital expenditures.
The problem is, nobody really knows how much capital will be needed. The broadband goal isn’t yet defined, and the U.S. doesn’t have an accurate count of how many households lack Internet connections or are “underserved” by slower networks.
Part of the government’s stimulus money will go toward defining this “broadband gap.” Closing the gap could be more expensive than the country expects, however, and will depend on several technical and geographic factors.
A More Realistic Estimate
Many estimates say that about 40 million U.S. households may be unserved or underserved by broadband networks and that providing those homes with broadband connections will cost about $1,500 per household. That comes to $60 billion at minimum, since this math excludes the money consumers will need to spend to acquire PCs and other computer gear.
The $60 billion estimate also excludes the cost of bringing users who are in areas served by slow broadband connections up to the emerging national standard. Our best estimate of the minimum capital requirement is about $120 billion. This assumes substantial provision of wireless Internet service to rural homes and elsewhere, which is contingent on making available more radio spectrum.
It’s clear the $7.2 billion stimulus package funding won’t go very far, even if all the money is used for network investment. And that won’t likely happen, since the Recovery Act says the money also needs to be used for things such as consumer education and maps that show which areas are least served.
Some public interest groups urge more government funding and call attention to efforts of state, local, and foreign governments to build networks with tax funds. But the fiscal realities are discouraging.
Posted in Communications |
Tags: amp, application, blog, blogs, broadband service, business, Communications, communications commission, Computer, consumers, Culture, Design, grants, information, Internet, internet access, internet service, maps, money, Network, online, system, Technology, voice calls, Wireless |
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Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group has issued best practices to help ISPs work with consumers to eliminate botnets
Bots, or malware running on users’ computers without their knowledge, are responsible for generating up to 90 percent of spam and can also be used to steal personal information or take part in DDOS (distributed denial of service) attacks. MAAWG Common Best Practices for Mitigating Large Scale Bot Infections in Residential Networks (Version 1.0) outlines strategies used by some of the largest ISPs worldwide yet was developed to be scalable for smaller network operators and to consider legal and process differences among countries.
“Bots are a global affliction and these best practices are an important step in educating the industry on the appropriate processes to help protect consumers. We’re sharing the experiences of our global membership so that network operators everywhere can more aggressively tackle this problem. As an industry, we are becoming more proactive in alerting customers when bots are detected on their computers and in helping users remove the malware before it can harm them,” said MAAWG Chairman Michael O’Reirdan.
The new best practices outline various options for alerting customers when their computers are infected and has suggestions for helping end-users clean their systems. The paper discusses bot detection methods, customer notification, and the use of walled gardens to limit infected machines’ exposure to the Internet. Among the recommendations:
While protecting users’ privacy, network operators can use various tools to detect infected end-user computers, including DNS, scanning the IP space to identify vulnerable computers, and collecting IP traffic information for known command and control addresses.
Email, phone calls to customers, postal mail and walled gardens are common notification tools, each with their own considerations. In-browser messages are considered to be among the most effective methods to alert customers but also can be technically challenging to implement.
ISPs need to maintain a well-publicized security portal that includes directions for end-user bot removal.
The paper also includes sample end-user messages and a list of malware detection and removal tools. The best practices will continue to be revised to reflect new procedures and the evolution of new bots threats.
Users Under Estimate Bot Threat
A bot residing on a consumers’ computer is usually part of a larger network of machines programmed to perform specific, clandestine operations under the control of a “botmaster.” The malware is often installed on unsuspecting consumers’ machines when they click on an infected email or download illicit code from a compromised Web site. Bots are designed to operate stealthily – for example, sending spam or recording passwords and personal information without their owners’ knowledge – making it difficult for end-users to detect their machines are infected.
While about 80 percent of consumers are aware of bots, only 20 percent believe they will ever be infected, according to a survey MAAWG released in July (the survey and related news release are available at www.MAAWG.org). “ISPs need to take steps to protect users, but we also need to continually educate customers and work closely with them to contain bot propagation,” O’Reirdan said.
The new bot mitigation best practices are part of the ongoing work at MAAWG to confront messaging abuse. Previously, MAAWG has published best practices for managing port 25, using walled gardens, sharing dynamic IP address space, email forwarding practices, and senders best communications practices, among other topics.
The MAAWG Common Best Practices for Mitigating Large Scale Bot Infections in Residential Networks can be downloaded from the organization’s Web site at www.MAAWG.org. The MAAWG consumer survey, published white papers and best practices also are available at the site.
MAAWG Tackles Bots with New ISP Guidelines for Restoring Infected End-Users’ Machines
