Google China censorship

Google grows a pair. But its censorship was always porous.

January 12, 2010 | Kim-Mai Cutler

Just a few hours after Google said it may pull out of China, I got a tip that the company had already uncensored parts of its Chinese search engine. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case. But it seems Google’s self-censorship never was incredibly foolproof.

The Open Net Initiative has a great tool for comparing Google China’s results with the main site. Or you can check http://www.google.cn and do an image search for ‘Tiananmen Square Protests‘ The results pull up pictures of people who were attacked and the famous ‘Tank Man.’ ‘Tiananmen’ alone brings up highly censored results. If your results are affected, this will show up at the bottom. It translates to “According to local laws, regulations and policies, some search results are not shown.”

The company said earlier today that it would stop cooperating with the Chinese government amid restrictions on free speech and after hackers broke into its systems. The break-in was part of a coordinated series of attacks targeted at 34 companies that were mostly in technology and in Silicon Valley, according to The New York Times. Google has run a search engine in China since 2006 and controversially agreed to self-censor results in exchange for a chance to reach the Chinese market. But it struggled to gain a foothold in the China with roughly 31 percent market share to Baidu’s 64 percent.

Google senior vice president David Drummond wrote earlier today:

We launched Google.cn in January 2006 in the belief that the benefits of increased access to information for people in China and a more open Internet outweighed our discomfort in agreeing to censor some results. At the time we made clear that “we will carefully monitor conditions in China, including new laws and other restrictions on our services. If we determine that we are unable to achieve the objectives outlined we will not hesitate to reconsider our approach to China.”

Google censored a few sensitive terms, but it looks like many others were relatively unchanged. Here are a couple example searches:

1) Tank Man: Pulls up pretty much the same results.

2) The Chinese term for ‘Tibet Independence’ also brings up virtually identical results.

3) Corruption: News results are the same but the Chinese Wikipedia entry is mysteriously gone.

4) Tiananmen: It looks like two completely different versions of history.

5) Human Rights manages to pull up the Wikipedia entry. This one is harder to tell. A toss.

source : venturebeat.com

RFID update

RFID News Roundup

SAG announces HF transponder for on-metal tracking applications; GS1 Hong Kong expands test of EPCIS-based RFID platform; Albertan government adjusts RFID requirements for cattle; Mexico installs RFID-enabled electronic vehicle registration system; Wellcore intros ZigBee-based monitoring and alerting system for seniors; Inside Contactless and TazTag partner on NFC apps.

SAG Announces HF Transponder for On-Metal Tracking Applications
Securitag Assembly Group (SAG), an RFID transponder solution company headquartered in Taiwan, has unveiled a new RFID tag, the 30 Metal Tag, a high-frequency (HF) 13.56 MHz transponder designed for use on metal. The 30 Metal Tag comes either with or without stickers for affixing to assets, and supports the ISO 15693standard. The circular tag is 30 millimeters (1.2 inches) wide and 3 millimeters (0.1 inch) thick, SAG reports, and can operate at temperatures ranging from -25 degrees to +55 degrees Celsius (-13 degrees to +131 degrees Fahrenheit). The transponder has a rating of IP68, signifying it is waterproof and dust-proof. According to SAG, the new transponder is ideal for applications to identify utility poles and boxes, factory automation, and asset tracking and management of elevators, steel containers, cylinders and appliances.

GS1 Hong Kong Expands Test of EPCIS-based RFID Platform
GS1 Hong Kong has announced it has successfully completed testing of ezTrack, its online track-and-trace platform to provide end-to-end supply chain visibility, that was used among three regions: Hong Kong, Guangdong and Taiwan. The testing was part of a memorandum of understanding announced in June 2008 in the three regions. EzTrack, an RFID infrastructure based on theElectronic Product Code Information Service (EPCIS)—a standard enabling businesses to exchange RFID and product data in real time—allows companies to plug into a Web application without further IT investment (see GS1 Hong Kong Launches Online Track-and-Trace Platform). According to GS1, the testing and connectivity established in Hong Kong, Guangdong and Taiwan has set the foundation for regional logistics supply chain visibility. GS1 Hong Kong partnered with theGuangdong RFID Technology Service Center, and together the two organizations signed an agreement with Malaysia in September 2009, as an initial step toward extending coverage to the Pan-Asia region. Malaysia plans to move toward connectivity in line with that goal. The collaboration's objective, GS1 indicates, is to further facilitate barrier-free trade and identify business opportunities to develop RFID-based applications. "We hope that the platform can serve as a cornerstone in solidifying regional integration of various networks, further enhance cross-border trade ties, and significantly contribute in driving the development of global standard-based RFID technology in Guangdong," said Zou Sheng, vice-director of the Guangdong Provincial Economic and Informatization Commission, in a prepared statement.

Albertan Government Adjusts RFID Requirements for Cattle
The government of Canadian province Alberta has announced a new animal health and food safety regulation that will provide ranchers and beef producers with greater flexibility in meeting RFID-tagging requirements. The new Traceability Cattle Identification Regulation, which takes effect on Mar. 1, 2010, repeals the Traceability Livestock Identification Regulation. It consists of two parts: tagging requirements for cattle identification, and cattle move-in reporting for feedlots. According to the Traceability Division of Alberta's Agriculture and Rural Development ministry, all producers now have until cattle are 10 months of age, rather than 8 months, to apply industry-approved RFID tags and register each animal's birth date. Producers using actual birth dates also have the option of utilizing a cattle identifier (tattoo or printed dangle tag) by three months of age, until applying an RFID tag at age 10 months, or when the animal leaves the farm, whichever comes first. Previously, RFID tags were required at three months of age. Feedlots that handle 1,000 or more head per year are now required to report move-in information to the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency (CCIA). Previously, only feedlots handling 5,000 or more head of cattle were required to do so. Alberta has had livestock traceability regulations in effect since Jan. 1 of last year.

Mexico Installs RFID-enabled Electronic Vehicle Registration System
Mexico is leveraging an RFID-enabled electronic vehicle registration (EVR) system, developed bySirit with partner and automatic vehicle identification (AVI) systems integrator Axiompass, to help improve security and safety on roads throughout the country. First announced by Mexico's president, Felipe Calderon, in June 2009, the initiative, according to Sirit, includes Sirit's IDentity 5100 (ID5100) interrogators and transponders. The ID5100 utilizes ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID technology and supports the EPC Gen 2 and ISO 18000-6C standards. The device is capable of capturing RFID tagreads on vehicles traveling at speeds of up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour, Sirit reports, and has been designed to withstand extreme weather conditions, temperatures, humidity and vibration. The ID5100s installed in Mexico read the country's National Public Vehicle Registry tags, while cameras capture images of drivers' license plates. The data is then transmitted to a central database, and the system correlates the information so regional enforcement agencies can locate identified vehicles on a watch list and take appropriate action as those vehicles travel along the highway. To date, the two companies indicate, 42 lanes have been installed by Axiompass and are fully operational. Other countries in Latin America are employing AVI systems for automated toll collection, including Uruguay, which has been upgrading its toll-collection system with RFID in all of its toll plazas (see Uruguay Deploys RFID-enabled Toll System). That nation has been working with Telsis, a Uruguay-based company, and AVI firm Telectronica, and the system also leverages Sirit's ID5100 RFID interrogator and transponders. However, Sirit indicates that Mexico's system is the first operational EVR system in Latin America.

Wellcore Intros ZigBee-based Monitoring and Alerting System for Seniors
Wellcore Corp., a San Jose, Calif., company focused on developing wellness, safety and security solutions, has announced its Mobile Personal Emergency Response System (M-PERS), designed to help seniors live more active, independent lives. The system features a battery-operated tag that employs motion detection, ZigBee, Bluetooth and advanced pattern recognition as part of an automatic fall-detection and -monitoring solution that can automatically send for emergency services and alert designated caregivers and family members. If the tag detects a fall, or if the wearer presses a button on the device, it automatically communicates via ZigBee with the base station inside the home. According to Wellcore, traditional personal emergency response systems (PERS) require users to push a button, do not indicate whether the device is being worn, and typically only work within the home. Wellcore's product, on the other hand, summons help with or without the push of a button, reminds the wearer to put it on, and works anywhere—even outside of the home—when used in conjunction with a Wellcore-compatible cell phone. When a fall is automatically detected, a Wellcore specialist contacts the wearer to assess the level of urgency. If the wearer requests assistance or does not respond, the company dispatches emergency services and issues an alert to designated family members and caregivers. The button can also be pressed at any time to initiate the same immediate response. If the tag is being worn outside of the home, and if it detects a fall or the wearer presses the button, the device communicates via Bluetooth to the cell phone, which then automatically summons emergency responders. The wearer's exact location is determined using the cell phone's GPS, Wellcore reports. The motion sensors within the device are able to discern between sitting, walking, running and resting, and that information is collected over time to create patterns typical of the wearer. The system can then show the activities of to the wearer, who can gauge his or her activity levels over time, and to caregivers (who can access the data securely via the Web), via a dashboard application and more detailed reports, according to Wellcore.

Inside Contactless and TazTag Partner on NFC Apps
Inside Contactless, a provider of contactless chip technologies, has partnered with TazTag, a company specializing in contactless solutions leveraging Near Field Communication (NFC) and ZigBee standards, to develop and bring to market a variety of secure, NFC-based, multi-application contactless solutions. The duo has already integrated Inside Contactless' MicroRead NFC chip into TazTag's TazCard, an NFC electronic wallet (e-wallet) and platform for developing e-wallet applications (such as ticketing, payment, loyalty and more), and TazKiosk, an interactive NFC kiosk for use with the TazCard. The TazCard is a special-purpose, Java-based tablet computer, approximately the size of a credit card. It features a 3.5-inch color touch screen, biometricauthentication, audio output, data storage and a tamper-resistant secure element, and offers USBand 6lowPAN communications (6lowPAN is an IETF standard for IPv6 over low-power wireless networks), in addition to the NFC functionality provided by the MicroRead chip. "The TazCard represents a new class of versatile NFC devices that will open the door to a broad range of new NFC applications, and we are very excited to be participating with TazTag in the development of their innovative NFC products," said Bertrand Moussel, an executive VP of sales for Inside Contactless, in a prepared statement.

source : rfidjournal.com

DARPA update

‘Know the Enemy’: DARPA Develops Simulation to Thwart Cyber Attacks

12-Jan-2010 16:03 EST

Sun Tzu

The great Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu observed, “If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.”

This appears to the thinking behind the US Defense Advanced Research Agency’s (DARPA) new National Cyber Range (NCR) program.

DARPA is teaming with industry to develop technologies that will enable US personnel to simulate attacks on the USA’s cyber networks, which include most IT and computer systems as well as the infrastructure that depends on those systems, and devise strategies to thwart those attacks. By constructing advanced simulations, DARPA hopes the NCR will enable US defenders to anticipate attackers moves and outthink the enemy.

DARPA began the program in January 2009 with the award of 7 contracts for phase I NCR development; the agency recently awarded contracts for phase II…

National Cyber Testbed

According to DARPA, the NCR will test technologies such as host security systems, and local and wide area network (LAN and WAN) security tools and suites by integrating, replicating or simulating them.

The NCR will provide a large-scale Global Information Grid (GIG) infrastructure, where technologies and systems can be analyzed and tested under real world conditions in current and future environments. This includes the ability to test new network protocols, satellite and radio frequency (RF) communications, and mobile tactical and maritime communications.

Cyber vulnerabilities can arise anywhere – from the component to the system level and from events such as buggy code and deliberate attacks. DARPA anticipates that the NCR will be able to test all of these issues by recreating the complex interactions of real integrated systems and human users.

The NCR will collect, analyze, visualize, and present data and information from the tests. Knowledge and insights gained during testing will assist operators and developers as they refine, research, and develop operations, technologies, policies, and procedures to strengthen cyber security.

Phase III

Under phase II of the NCR program, protoypes will be developed. DARPA expects to award phase III contracts and deploy a working NCR system in 5 to 10 years.

Upon completion of all phases, DARPA anticipates that the NCR will be able to:

• Conduct unbiased, quantitative and qualitative assessment of cyber security, information assurance and survivability tools in a representative network environment;

• Replicate complex, large-scale, heterogeneous networks and users for current and future DoD weapon systems and operations;

• Enable multiple, independent, simultaneous experiments on the same infrastructure;

• Enable realistic testing of Internet/GIG scale research; and

• Develop and deploy revolutionary cyber testing capabilities.

Contracts and Key Events

Jan 8/10: Johns Hopkins University Advanced Physics Laboratory in Laurel, MD won a $24.8 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for phase II of the National Cyber Range program. Under the contract, Johns Hopkins will build a working prototype that demonstrates the NCR capabilities based on the preliminary design created in Phase I.

The lab will perform the work in Laurel, MD (43.8%); Cambridge, MA (24.8%); Albuquerque, NM (6.2%); North Chelmsford, MA (5.6%); Northport, NY (4.4%); Los Angeles, CA (4.1%); Bethesda, MD (2.7%); Salt Lake City, UT (2.5%); Idaho Falls, ID (2.4%); Columbia, MD (2.0%); Columbia, MD (1.3%); and Camden, NJ (0.2%), with an estimated completion date of April 14/11. Bids were solicited via a Broad Agency Announcement with 7 bids received by DARPA in Arlington, VA (HR0011-10-C-0039).

Jan 8/10: Lockheed Martin’s Simulation, Training and Support unit in Orlando, FL won an $8.1 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for phase II of the National Cyber Range program. Under the contract, Lockheed Martin will build a working prototype that demonstrates the NCR capabilities based on the preliminary design created in Phase I.

Lockheed Martin will perform the work in Orlando, FL (22.83%); Cherry Hill, NJ (30.82%); Salt Lake City, UT (1.54%); Minneapolis, MN (2.43%); Hanover, MD (8.98%); Piscataway, NJ (10.71%); Princeton, NJ (8.53%); Columbia, MD (3.17%); Golden Valley, MN (2.62%); Albuquerque, NM (3%); San Antonio, TX (2.90%); and Washington, DC (1.99%), with an estimated completion date of April 14/11. Bids were solicited via a Broad Agency Announcement with 7 bids received by DARPA in Arlington, VA (HR0011-10-C-0042).

Jan 8/09: The Defense Advanced Research Agency awarded phase I contracts for the National Cyber Range program to the following companies:

• BAE Systems’ Information and Electronic Systems Integration in Wayne, NJ ($3.3 million);
• General Dynamics’ Advanced Information Systems in San Antonio, TX ($1.9 million);
• Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel MD ($7.3 million);
• Lockheed Martin’s Simulation, Training and Support unit in Orlando, FL ($5.4 million);
• Northrop Grumman’s Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Systems division in Columbia, MD ($344,097);
• Science Applications International Corp. in San Diego, CA ($2.8 million); and
• SPARTA in Columbia, MD ($8.6 million).

source : defenseindustrydaily.com

TV Whitespace debate

Television Broadcasters Need To Embrace Whitespace Usage... Or Else

In his post White spaces could be the broadcaster's best hope, Brough Turner says, in part:

But fighting the White Space Coalition is short sighted. The NAB faces a much bigger and more powerful enemy — mobile operators.

The White Spaces Coalition merely seeks permission to use spectrum where NAB members are not using it, i.e. on a non-interference basis as "secondary users" with purely secondary rights.

The mobile industry wants it all. They'd prefer that broadcast spectrum be taken back and auctioned off for mobile use.

I saw the same thing Brough sees, back in March 2008 in a post called The White Space Sucker Punch in which I said, in part:

What the CTIA knows in its filing is that television broadcast white spaces is merely a brief stopgap on the way to severely consolidating the television broadcast spectrum(s) considerably more. Remember that there were originally 83 television broadcast channels. 70-83 became the original (analog) cellular telephone band and the 800 MHz public safety and commercial two-way radio bands. Now we've given over channels 52-69 to more commercial and public safety communications use. It's just a matter of time ... and demand... before there's yet another round, or two, of further consolidation of television broadcasting and "freeing up" of, say, channels 31-50 - a further 120 MHz.

But license-exempt communications use of television broadcast white space would make another reallocation of television broadcast spectrum totally impossible! Once there are millions of license-exempt devices (and networks of devices) out there "in the wild", they couldn't be recalled. The television white spaces would be "forever polluted" for the kind of "stupid wireless" command-and-control communications systems that wireless telephony technology uses. WiMAX is no different than wireless telephony systems in this regard - there are no "cognitive" capabilities in "licensed" communications systems because the license is "the intelligence" in the system that insures that systems function well and don't cause interference. Cognitive techniques, on the other hand, assume that there will be interference, and accommodate interference when it does occur... and keep working.

The wireless carriers are thinking strategically... that's why they're positing the current problems in delivering reliable service as a "lack of spectrum" issue. They have allies within the FCC that are sympathetic to that position. (That the FCC is sympathetic is a byproduct of most FCC personnel being lawyers and thus seeing "spectrum as property", and the wireless carriers [arguably] need more spectrum/property, but that's a discussion for another time.)

In comparison, the television broadcasters are thinking tactically, that they don't want to share their spectrum with white spaces usage. They think they're winning the fight by requiring Whitespace devices to use a central database and a "Mother, May I ?" "permission-to-transmit" paradigm, but that paradigm will just make it very easy to "clear out" those devices when television broadcast spectrum is reassigned yet again to wireless communications use. What the television broadcasters need to do is to acquiesce to uncoordinated (but non-interfering) usage from not only Whitespace devices, but also things like neighborhood television transmitters (even lower power than low power TV, and usage by Amateur Radio operators.

That's... if they want to stay in the "spray modulated RF energy across a wide area" business. Eventually, they won't be. The question they have to ask is if now is the time they want to be forced into consolidating their operations into an even smaller chunk of spectrum from the onslaught of the wireless carriers. If yes, then they'll keep fighting Whitespace operations and won't invite Amateur Radio operators to use their spectrum on a non-interference basis.

Steve Stroh

source : bwianews.com

Windows Mobile declining market share

Is Windows Mobile Dead?

Is Windows Mobile dead? That’s what some pundints are implying. Microsoft’s market share is declining in the face of steep competition from Apple, RIM, Palm and Google Android.

Justin Springham, Editor of Mobile Business Briefing offers this synopsis.

Microsoft’s keynote lasted over an hour (labelled “dull” and “boring” by many news agencies and bloggers), but less than 60 seconds were devoted to mobile.

“This year, we brought the next iteration of Windows Phones to consumers with the launch of Windows Mobile 6.5,” Ballmer told delegates. “We continue to see new and exciting Windows Phones coming to the market every month. For example, here’s the new HTC HD2, which will be available through T-Mobile. Sharper, brighter and richer screen technologies really do make a difference. We will have a lot more to say about phones next month at Mobile World Congress.”

But recent unconfirmed reports suggest launch of Windows Mobile 7 has already been pushed back to the last quarter of 2010.

This could be too little, too late. Sales of smartphones running Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating system (OS) declined by 20 percent in the last third quarter according to Gartner, despite a 13 percent increase in the total number of smartphone sales.

Only 3.2 million smartphone units running the OS were sold in the third quarter, down from the 4.05 million units sold in the third quarter of 2008. Windows Mobile had a 7.9 percent share of the total smartphone OS market in Q3 2009, out of a total of 41 million smartphones sold to end users. Microsoft’s mobile OS even trails Apple’s mobile software, available on only one device.

Last month Microsoft UK head of mobility Phil Moore said Windows Mobile 7 phones won’t arrive on the market until late 2010. Gartner in September forecast by 2012, Android will have 18% of the smartphone market with 94 million units sold, moving it into the second spot behind Symbian, with BlackBerry in third, the iPhone in fourth and Windows Mobile trailing at fifth place.

Android phones offer turn-by-turn navigation, Voice, Search, Earth and Maps. Their apps are compelling and free. The Android Market has 20,000 applications.

Windows netbooks are where the customers are now, but Google’s ebook readers and tablets are the second wave. ARM-based gadgets are fast and cheap. They’ll run net apps. More useful than Windows Mobile. Cheaper than netbooks.

What’s Microsoft got for ereaders and tablets? Nothing. It’s now hard to imagine that Windows Mobile will ever be much of a threat to Apple or Android.

source : dailywireless.org

Pandora Internet Radio Service

Pandora Vrs Dog Star

Pandora currently has 43 million registered users, says Om Malik, and 15 million monthly visitors. That compares to CBS Radio, which has about nine million listeners who stream its programming monthly, and Clear Channel, which has eight million listeners tune in online.

Pandora is an automated Internet radio service that lets users enter a song or artist that they enjoy, and the service responds by playing selections that are musically similar.

Currently the web accounts for 20 percent of total radio listening, says GigOm, who says Pandora needs to expand beyond just the browser. Pandora is already on nearly 100 different consumer devices.

Pandora’s mobile application stream to the iPhone or iPod Touch, BlackBerry, Android, and Palm Pre devices using either their cell phone provider’s network or WiFi. In just 18 months, mobile and other connected devices have risen to account for nearly 30 percent of Pandora’s usage. That’s helped the company offer premium services, which has in turn helped it generate revenues and lately, profits.

In December 2009 alone, 3 million new listeners joined Pandora — of which 2.7 million of them activated the service on a device other than a computer, according to the company. Ford, Alpine and Pioneer are putting Pandora inside cars.

A long-feared, potential threat to Sirius XM Radio has become real, says The Street. They wonder whether the satellite radio company has reached the beginning of its end.

Sirius/XM had roughly 18 million subscribers as of December, compared to Pandora which had over 40 million. Sirius currently offers various subscription packages ranging from about $13 to $20 a month.

Pandora is free. Of course, that doesn’t count the $60/month you’d have to pay for mobile connectivity. Or any overage fees.

Of course, one broadcast television channel could also deliver hundreds of HD radio streams at 128Kbps, several hundred genre channels, and dozens of mobile video channels.

Too bad the NAB is clueless. They’ll kill it off. Your newspapers and magazines, too.

source : dailywireless.org

PHASE 3 (LIMITED EDITION)

Phase 3 Final Official Trailer

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