Technology in Communications

Interesting technology with great possibilities. We'll see who jumps on the bandwagon. I like that they are integrating RSS into it. They are also planning to “integrate” its software with Apple’s new video-capable iPod models.

LA JOLLA, Calif. – August 17, 2005 – Veoh Networks, Inc., the first Internet Television Peercasting Network, today announced its VeohNet™ protocol, the company’s video transport system that significantly surpasses the capabilities of existing peer to peer (P2P) systems in effectively distributing high-quality video.

Veoh Networks was founded in 2004 by Dmitry Shapiro, a technologist best known for creating the world’s leading P2P security software that manages more than one million enterprise users, regulating applications such as BitTorrent and Grokster.

“Our engineers and I have spent the last five years dealing with various P2P networks including BitTorrent, eDonkey and FastTrack, as well as the dozens of applications that support these protocols, including Grokster, KaZaa and Morpheus.” said Dmitry Shapiro, Veoh’s CEO. “We have created a new protocol that sets a new standard in terms of both technology and legitimacy for content owners. In contrast to earlier approaches, from inception, our focus has been respecting the rights of content owners.”

According to a recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology study, existing decentralized swarmcast systems are fundamentally limited, especially in their ability to penetrate firewalls thus requiring users to open up ports in order to get these systems to work effectively. VeohNet uses advanced firewall traversal technology to provide excellent performance to all users without firewall adjustments or decreasing security requirements.

Veoh’s engineering team is led by Dr. Ted Dunning, who was previously the Chief Scientist at Musicmatch (now a division of Yahoo! Music), IDAnalytics and Aptex (an HNC company). For the past 20 years Dr. Dunning has built complex mathematical models that predict network behavior based on mega-dimensional matrixes of inferred and implied variables. These mathematical models create a layer of intelligence on top of the transport protocol that better guides video transport over P2P network architectures.

Veoh software, installed on consumers’ PCs or Macs, creates a virtual television network that is able to distribute TV-quality, full-screen broadcast video to hundreds of millions of users with broadband Internet connections. Motion picture studios, television networks, organizations and individuals can publish unlimited amounts of broadcast video content to the network, providing consumers with unparalleled choice in television programming and control over their viewing experience. VeohNet was specifically designed to provide DMCA compliance, while traditional systems do not take compliance into account enabling the rampant piracy of intellectual property. A beta version of Veoh’s software and service will be available later this month. Content producers and consumers are encouraged to visit www.veoh.com to sign up for notification upon launch.

Posted by Josue Sierra at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments

This via Zenit.org. It is an interesting and compelling essay on the relationship between truth, ethics and technology. What I don't agree with is the treatment of technology and communication as a human right. This leads to a whole lot of social experimentation and socialist policy that have been proven to not work.

NEW YORK, OCT. 18, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Here is the text of an address delivered by
Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Holy See's permanent observer to the United
Nations, last Thursday before the U.N. General Assembly commission on "Questions
Relating to information."

* * *

Mr. Chairman,

The Holy See recognizes the right to information and its importance in the life of
all democratic societies and institutions. The exercise of the freedom of
communication should not depend upon wealth, education or political power. The right to communicate is the right of all. Freedom of expression and the right to
information increase and develop in societies when the fundamental ethics of
communication are not compromised, such as the pre-eminence of truth and the good of the individual, the respect for human dignity, and the promotion of the common good.

Furthermore, new technologies have an important role to play in the advancement of the poor. As with health and education, access to the wealth represented by
communications would certainly benefit the poor, as recipients of information to be
sure, but also as actors, able to promote their own point of view before the world's
decision makers.

Given the ever increasing ease of access to information of every possible kind, the Holy See also stresses the need to protect the most vulnerable, such as children and young people, especially in the light of the increase of content featuring violence, intolerance and pornography.

Perhaps the most essential question raised by technological progress is whether, as a result of it, people will grow in dignity, responsibility and openness to others.

In this context, the Holy See has set up a unique continent-wide initiative called
the Digital Network of the Church in Latin America ("Red Informatica de Iglesia en
America Latina" -- RIIAL) which promotes the adoption of digital technologies and
programs in media education, especially in poor areas. The success of this project
has drawn the attention of the Observatory for Cultural and Audiovisual
Communication in the Mediterranean and in the World (OCCAM) and other international organizations. The Holy See also supports the continued promotion of the traditional role of libraries and radios in formation.

It is to be hoped that the Second Phase of the U.N. World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), to be held in Tunis shortly, will lead to further concrete efforts to build a more inclusive digital society which will reduce the widespread
"info-poverty." It would be well if a new dynamic were created which goes beyond the political and commercial logic usually at play in these fields.

My delegation believes that the Information Society should be one endowed with the ability, capacity and skills to generate and capture new knowledge and to access, absorb and use effectively information, data and knowledge with the support of information and communication technology. Already in society there are many "agents of meaning" or "knowledge workers," such as the family, schools, the state, opinion makers and leaders, not to mention religious institutions.

Knowledge is essential in establishing presence in the international marketplace,
and is key to participating in the global economy of which the Internet is an increasingly important vehicle. Moreover, knowledge should be recognized in its role in the development of information and communication technology. At the same time, there is a fundamental need to develop an ability to discern information received, given the enormous sea of information available. This process can flourish only where there is a recognized hierarchy of values.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman

Posted by Josue Sierra at 4:17 PM | Permalink | Comments

This sounds like a more solid, and economically feasible idea. It sticks to major communication technology standards, and focuses in on specific needed uses. I think this kind of product will do a lot more to gap the technology divide in third world countries.

Radio Shack plans to start selling a low-cost alternative to the personal computer starting Sunday.

The $299 machine, dubbed the Personal Internet Communicator, was designed by Advanced Micro Devices to access the Internet and perform basic computing tasks.

Sunnyvale-based AMD originally conceived the device last year for low-income consumers in developing countries as part of an effort it calls ``50x15.'' AMD Chief Executive Hector Ruiz wants more than half of the world's population using computers by 2015.

It turns out that companies such as Radio Shack see demand for low-cost devices even in the United States.

In contrast to more complex personal computers, the Personal Internet Communicator is a bare-bones machine that is supposed to be simple, reliable and durable, said Bill Edwards, AMD's chief innovation officer.

It uses the stripped-down Windows CE operating system from Microsoft and can be used to read and create word processing, spreadsheet and presentation files as well as access the Internet or send e-mail.

``It's not a general-purpose PC,'' Edwards said. ``It focuses on communications, and for a lot of folks, that's all they need.''

So far, telephone and cable TV companies have begun providing subscribers with the machine in places such as Mexico, Brazil, the Caribbean and India. Soon, companies in China, Russia, Turkey and elsewhere will start selling the Personal Internet Communicator.

Posted by Josue Sierra at 9:46 AM | Permalink | Comments

This is an interesting idea, and good effort, but I am not sure if it is realistic of the demands placed by computer users worldwide. Just because the user is in a third world country, does not mean the demands are first-world demands. Also, what is the use of students learning Linux, when companies want employees that know and have experience on Windows and Office?

At the end, its a feel good thing, but with Microsoft and Office being a huge standard, I don't know that creating bare-bones computers is all that helpful. A better option would be to encourage corporations to donate second hand computers to schools.

The visionary is Nicholas Negroponte, director of the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his idea consists of a new kind of laptop computer that will cost just $100 (about R636) to buy.

It will also be a little different in design from the sleek machines some of us in the West have learned to love or covet.

It will be foldable in different ways, encased in bump-proof rubber and will include a hand-crank to give it power in those corners of the globe where electricity supply is patchy.

The first prototype of the machine should be ready by November and Negroponte - who was one of the first prophets of the internet before most of us understood the word - hopes to put them into production next year.

He expects to churn out about 15 million of them in a year, shipping most of them at first to children in Brazil, Egypt, Thailand and South Africa.

Describing the unusual design of his sub-laptop on Friday, Negroponte insisted that it would "have to be absolutely indestructible".

The mission is to create a tool that children almost anywhere can use and can easily carry between their classrooms and their homes. For that reason, for instance, the AC adaptor cable will double as a shoulder strap.

Technology is a big need in third world countries. Instead of trying to create low-cost computing that isn't competitive, we should be fighting third world corruption, opening up free trade, and helping these countries develop their own technology production capabilities. That's just my thoughts--who knows, maybe the idea actually works and does help. Perhaps I am missing something here.

Posted by Josue Sierra at 9:40 AM | Permalink | Comments

ZDNet has a story on Microsoft's Office 12, and new functionality that will enable people to publish documents in the Adobe PDF format.

Office 12, which is expected to be completed by the second half of 2006, will let end users take an Office document and convert it to PDF format, Brian Jones, a program manager for Microsoft Office, said in a blog posting. People will not be able to actually read PDF files from within Office applications; a PDF viewer will still be required, he noted.

The PDF support will be built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Publisher, OneNote, Visio and InfoPath, Jones said.

"We've really heard the feedback that sharing documents across multiple platforms and long-term archiving are really important," Jones said in his blog. "People now have a couple options here, with the existing support for HTML and RTF, and now the new support for open XML formats and PDF."

It is interesting to see more and more integration between the various document formats and technology. This should be good for consumers, who won't be "forced" to buy one product over another, as a result of incompatibility issues.

Posted by Josue Sierra at 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments