M&Mâs World Headlines: Jan 27, 2009
Canadian Telecom Complaints Commissioner plans public awareness campaign itbusiness
The office of the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) was set up in 2007 — yet anecdotal evidence suggests most Canadians don’t even know this independent body – funded by the telecom industry – exists. But a communications plan is in the works to create wider public awareness about the CCTS and its role. Anecdotal evidence shows people don`t really know that this thing exists, says John Lawford, a research analyst with the Public Interest Advocacy Centre in Ottawa (PIAC). They probably don`t want 100,000 hits on this, so they`re holding back a bit. It`s not in the phone book.
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China says internet censorship needed to keep children from harmful sites News AU
China has sought to portray its internet crackdown as a campaign to protect youth from filth and nothing to do with stifling political dissent, with one official promising a long-lasting fight against “vulgarity”. China has detained 41 people as part of the crackdown, but the Government’s move was in reality no different from laws in the US and Europe which aim to keep children safe from harmful sites, an official said. “The purpose of this campaign is very clear,” said Liu Zhengrong, deputy director of the State Council Information Office’s Internet Bureau. “It’s aimed at creating a healthy internet environment for all young people and making the internet in China safer and more reliable.”. “The internet remains where the battle for information lies and the fact that the Government is devoting so much effort at reining it in, in itself indicates how much of a threat they perceive it to be,” said Nicholas Bequelin of Human Rights Watch.
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Montreal may ban insults to police CBC
Calling police pigs, donut-eaters or worse could soon be against the law
Montreal is considering a new bylaw that would make it illegal to insult police officers on the job. The proposed public order bylaw is under discussion between the city and Montreal police, and could become a reality later this year. Similar bylaws already exist in other Quebec cities, including Quebec City, Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivières. A related bylaw banning certain kinds of face coverings during public demonstrations is also being considered by the city of Montreal.
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EU may force rival browsers on Windows ZDNet
The European Union is considering forcing Microsoft to distribute rival browsers as part of Windows, the software maker disclosed in a regulatory filing last week. As part of its quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission filed on Thursday, the software maker offered more details on the EU’s statement last week that it believes Microsoft’s inclusion of a browser in Windows violates antitrust law. Microsoft said that the EU is considering forcing computer makers, known as original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, to offer multiple browsers with new Windows PCs.
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Smart-Jamming for Mobile Phones in US Prison cellular-news
Tecore Networks says that it has deployed its Intelligent Network Access Controller (IntelliNAC) to address the growing problem of illegal cell phone use by prison inmates in an unnamed U.S. locality. While restricting the localized use of unknown cellular devices within the IntelliNAC coverage area, approved prison personnel remain able to access the commercial cellular network service within the prison grounds as well as external to the prison through their existing cellular subscriptions. Following a successful pilot at one site, the system has been expanded to cover four additional sites.
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Teenager poses as police officer, goes on patrol in squad car in Chicago News AU
A TEENAGE boy dressed as a police officer went on patrol in a squad car with a qualified cop for five hours before he was busted. The 14-year-old walked into a Chicago police station and managed to secure an assignment. He did not have a gun, issue any tickets or drive the patrol car, Associated Press reported. Assistant Superintendent James Jackson said the boy’s deception was only discovered after the patrol ended. Officers noticed his uniform didn’t have an official star.
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Cell Phone Hidden Camera with DVR Cell Phone Digest
Check out this Cell Phone Hidden Camera being sold by the folks over at Brick House Security. The phone can capture events On-The-Fly with its hidden camera via motion-activation. The camera comes with a low-light-high-resolution CCD camera, a 16 GIG micro SD card for up to 16 hours of recording, a rechargeable battery and acts as a pocket DVR that plugs in external cameras. The DVR Cell Phone delivers crystal-clear, high resolution video from a hidden pinhole camera built-into the phone. Leave the Cell Phone Hidden Camera out and let the motion-activated recording capture video for you the minute someone enters the area. Clip it onto your belt and capture video even in low-light situations for the ultimate in hidden camera technology. With the press of a secret button, the phone’s screen lights up to further convince people that this is a normal cell phone. Check it out at http://www.brickhousesecurity.com/?subid=17974&source=pjn
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Intel Develops Micro-Refrigerator To Cool Chips Technology Review
Now researchers at Intel, RTI International of North Carolina, and Arizona State University have shown that it’s possible to build an efficient microrefrigerator that can target hot spots on chips, saving power and space, and more effectively cooling the entire system. Their work also demonstrates, for the first time, that it is possible to integrate thermoelectric material into chip packaging, making the technology more practical than ever before.When the microrefrigerator was turned on, it cooled a localized region on the chip by about 15 °C.
»»»10,000 NZ Telecom broadband users cut & offline NZ Herald
Problems with a remote access node (RAN) are affecting more than 10,000 Telecom broadband users. The company worked overnight to restore full service to the users who have experienced intermittent service loss since yesterday, but was unsuccessful. Technicians were now working on an alternative fix which was expected to restore services by later today, a company spokeswoman said. The affected RAN services customers of a number of ISPs, based in parts of Wellington, parts of the eastern North Island and parts of the South Island. The company is considering offering compensation for customers affected by the outage for more than 24 hours. See also, http://www.nzherald.co.nz/telecommunications/news/article.cfm?c_id=93&objectid=10553696
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NZ Telcos fight commission charges plans NZ Herald
Vodafone and Telecom are resisting Commerce Commission moves to control mobile termination charges – the wholesale charge to make calls between fixed line telephones to mobile phones.
The commission has set a February 5 deadline for submissions to its inquiry but the increasing tide of regulation on telcos has the industry on edge. It is the commission’s third attempt to regulate the mobile termination wholesale charge which makes up part of the price fixed line callers pay when they phone mobile numbers. The commission and consumer bodies such as the Telecomm-unications Users Association of New Zealand (TUANZ) have argued it is high compared with other countries.
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Windows Internet Explorer 8 RC1 PC Mag
Times are tough for Microsoft, with job cuts, the European Union breathing down its neck again, and Firefox slowly but steadily encroaching on Internet Explorer. More than ever, Microsoft needs IE8 to succeed if it wants to maintain its dominant position. Fortunately, the beta looked good. And while this first release candidate is little changed from the beta, the few adjustments made definitely improve the product. the RC1 installers are for Vista (in both 32- and 64-bit flavors) and XP. Get it here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/beta/
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New Law Will Require Camera Phones to ‘Click’ Tech Fragments
A new bill is being introduced called, Camera Phone Predator Alert Act, which would require any mobile phone containing a digital camera to sound a tone whenever a photograph is taken with the camera’s phone. It would also prohibit such a phone from being equipped with a means of disabling or silencing the tone. While its a good gesture, I do not believe having such a law would deter criminals from hacking their camera phones to take pictures in inappropriate ways. Also, the real criminals would not even use a camera phone but would probably use other devices such as a hidden camera. Regardless, at least with the bill signed into law it would allow prosecution and jail time for individuals that get caught with a camera phone that does not make the noise.
January , 2009
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January 28th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
but what happens if the Chinese change their DNS?
the ‘predators’ could just as easily remove the speaker alltogther or cover the click with music or other sound–and honestly who is passing these laws?