http://arstechnica.com/telecom/news/2009/11/big-telcos-slam-broadband-open-access-broadband-report.ars

Can’t See Secure Sites ?

Fix the problem with seeing them secrue sites (banks or online stores) i found this very useful to me at my work (isp backbone support lol, at the time i was regular support ) Any way… what u need to do is make a new notepad file and write in it the followng DLL’s.. just copy-paste these regsvr32 SOFTPUB.DLL regsvr32 WINTRUST.DLL regsvr32 INITPKI.DLL regsvr32 dssenh.dll regsvr32 Rsaenh.dll regsvr32 gpkcsp.dll regsvr32 sccbase.dll regsvr32 slbcsp.dll regsvr32 Cryptdlg.dll and save it as > all file types, and make it something like securefix.bat. then just run the file and ur problem shuld be gone.

Jag är lite nyfiken på vem det är som läser min blogg och bor i Plano Texas…  Eller så ärdet nån som har en ISP som routar genom HP´s kontor där.. 

Hur som haver så är jag nyfiken..  Någon ??

\ M

Do you download Songs, Video or Software free from the Internet? Or if someone uses your Wifi without your knowing.

Your soooo fcuked if this UK bill is passed.

You may or may not have heard about this new Bill that’s going through the UK parliament at the moment. You might think that politics is boring and nothing ever affects you. Well, most of the time I would agree with you, BUT not this time!

This boring Bill, if approved, will mean that if your internet connection has been shown that you have downloaded any copyrighted material, be it songs,videos or software you will really be in the shit.
Not just a “slapped wrist” in the shit , I mean really “in the shit” so much in the shit that you will be doing jail time and paying a £50,000 type of  “in the shit”.

If that was not bad enough, and doing jail time for most people really is a no no, then the really scary part is that some if this can happen WITHOUT you ever going to court!

So much for UK democracy! But there is still a chance it can be stopped, if many people need to keep this in the news with Blogs, Tweets and emails to your MP’s.

The Bill looks like, if it goes through, will come into effect in two parts.

Three strike policy where your internet connection will be cut off after two warnings. A maximum fine for file sharing of £50,000. It also forces ISP’s to spy on you with a fine of £250,000 for any that don’t cooperate.

The scary part is set to come in, in 2011. This includes the power to disconnect file sharers without judicial review. It would also give the Secretary of State, Lord Mandelson himself the power to change and amend the provisions of Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (1988).

The UK ISP TalkTalk has taken a public stand against this bill with a website and a manifesto making pledges to its customers:

1. Unless we are served with a court order we will not surrender your details to rights holders. We are the only major ISP to have taken this stance and will maintain it.
2. We will continue to fight this draconian legislation as it makes it way through Parliament.
3. If we are instructed to disconnect your account due to alleged copyright infringement we will refuse to do so and tell the rights holders we’ll see them in court.

Please do all you can to keep it in the news, tweet it, write on Facebook, talk to your mates do anything legal. (Don’t climb on the houses of parliament and unfurl a huge banner against  “Mandy’s” bill as that’s a bit extreme, no wait… great idea   do it !

If you only do one thing about this, sign the Number 10 Petition against the Bill
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/dontdisconnectus/

Also You can write to your MP at http://www.writetothem.com
Send them a constructive email explaining that the bill is outrageous and should not be allowed etc

Send Lord “Mandy” Mandelson a message http://threestrikes.openrightsgroup.org

Since 1996, the United States Congress has been attempting and passing laws involving the Internet. The big push is now for “Net Neutrality laws,” may have just gotten a boost thanks to Britain.

Many people believe that the new Internet Law that just passed is bad, very bad. The Digital Economy Bill consists of penalties for people who seem to upset the entertainment industries. They have a “Three Strikes” rule that would allow your entire family to be severed from the internet, if anyone has been accused of copyright infringement…with or WITHOUT proof, evidence, or even trial.

Those people accused of copyright infringement can expect a fine of $82,383.30. It even goes to say that ISP’s are required to monitor and report their customers activities, if they refuse they can expect a fine of $411,916.00.

They even went as far as to state that a single individual would be responsible for making up as many new penalties and enforcement systems that they desire. Peter Mandelson the unelected “Business Secretary,” said that he plans to appoint private “militias,” that are financed by rightholders groups. These militia’s would be capable to spy on your internet use, block websites, remove files, and even kick you off the Internet. The Internet Czar will be able to invent any penalty, even including jail time for any incident that they decided your guilty.

The law doesn’t go to stimulate the digital economy in anyway what so ever. It doesn’t allow/mandate nationwide WiFi or even any fair practices for ISP companys.

The Open Rights Group (a lobbyist organization) released a statement about the new law that just passed and it reads:

“This plan won’t stop copyright infringement and with a simple accusation could see you and your family disconnected from the internet – unable to engage in everyday activities like shopping and socializing,” it said.

Damn You Britain…Damn Yous!

Not the Average Ninja

It’s time to RAAAAAGE again. This time about UK internet service provider, Virgin.

I’ve been an optic-fibre broadband customer at home since the cables were laid in 1999. First it was Cable & Wireless, which later became NTL. I had a great connection, with the lowest pings you could imagine. I always pay my bills, and rarely breach the bandwidth limits.

Then one sad day, Richard Branson decided to take over my internet. For the last few years I’ve had the same reoccurring problem. My connection would become unusable at peak times. It’s been becoming a joke recently, so I emailed them for an engineer. I had engineers out, and it got better. Now the problem is back again. So I emailed them again.

…and I emailed them again.

…and again.

…and again

A week or so passes and still no reply whatsoever. I decide to call support.

When I called support (which cost £8.60 to get  through!!!!) I got to speak to a lad on ext.6903.

His suggestion was to record a few speed tests and email the results to him.

• “Great!” I thought and asked for the address to send them to.

• “You’ll have to ring up again.” he said.

• “What? Just to get an email address from you. Can’t you just give me that now?” I asked perplexed. “That will take me another hour, just for a contact address…That’s nearly £10 again!“

• “Yeah, I’m sorry. Just ask for **** on extention 6903″. The Virgin guy answers.

I have no intention of waiting on hold for another hour just to submit information that Virgin Media should be gathering themselves.

I DO NOT work for Virgin Media, I employ their services at a monthly fee. Yet I find myself putting days of work in here, while Virgin do what exactly? A fix seems unlikely at this point, as does the payment of my next bills.

If you are a thinking of becoming a Virgin customer, DON’T DO IT. Your broadband speed could be the speed of dial-up – like ours is. What’s more the support folks are too busy to answer your concerns.

Let us take a look what my 10mb gets. Remember this is the higher 10mb package -not the starter one. £30 per month, with support costing almost £10 per call.

I even decided to sign up on the Virgin Media support site.

…and still there’s no reply from them. Almost two weeks later. They say they “aim to respond within 48 hours” too.

So if you feel like being ignored, paying £20 to submit a fault, getting dial-up speeds for £30 a month, waiting for nearly an hour on the phone, waiting weeks for a mail response  – call Virgin Media today!

Broadband Speed:

Broadband Stability:

Support:

Support Wait Times:

Worst ISP in the UK? Yes. Worst company ever? Probably. I’ve ditched their TV. I’ve ditched both their landline and mobile services. It looks like it’s time to dump the cable modem next…

A twelve minute documentary  ”about how copyright laws have been contorted to benefit the financial needs of corporate rights holders and no longer benefits the public nor the artists who create the work itself.”  The doco cuts between interviews with New Zealand lawmakers and technologists to a remix of Disney clips used to define and comment on copyright law.  Politician Peter Dunne, Bronwyn Holloway-Smith from the Creative Freedom Foundation and  Tech Journalist Juha Saarinen discuss the problems with the proposed copyright law,  specifically Section 92a.  The connection between free trade with the US and  changing New Zealand copyright law is identified as one of the reasons the government has moved in this direction.

New Global Internet Treaty — as bad as everyone’s been saying, and worse. Much, much worse.

BoingBoing.com
November 20, 2009

There is, however, little detail in the bill on how the government will stimulate broadband infrastructure.

TELEHOUSE America’s NYIIX Internet Peering Exchange Becomes the Largest and Longest Running Public Peering Point in the New York Market

Linked with TELEHOUSE America’s Los Angeles Exchange LAIIX, TELEHOUSE Peering Offers Service Providers a Global Interlink for IX Interconnection

Staten Island, NY, USA – November 18, 2009– TELEHOUSE America (www.telehouse.com), the United States’ leading provider of dedicated data centers, international Internet exchanges and managed IT services, announces that its New York International Internet Exchange public peering platform (NYIIX) remains the longest running and largest public Internet exchange point in the New York metropolitan market. Since its inception in 1996, the NYIIX has been a vital public IP interconnection point for global carriers, ISPs, content providers and enterprise businesses within New York. NYIIX is headquartered at 25 Broadway, TELEHOUSE America’s Broadway Center, and provides redundant and diverse direct interconnectivity to and from the 60 Hudson Street and 111 Eighth Avenue carrier hotel facilities.

The NYIIX platform continues to be updated to meet the growing technology requirements of the industry and currently operates Brocade RX series switches. The platform supports IPv4 and IPv6 peering connections and offers standard bilateral peering exchange as well as multilateral peering arrangements. In addition, NYIIX offers private peering over VLAN – enabling secure private peering or direct bandwidth over the NYIIX. As of October 2009, the NYIIX peering platform has over 120 members and handles over 80 Gbps of traffic, making it the largest public Internet exchange in the New York Metro Market.

In addition to NYIIX, TELEHOUSE America also operates the Los Angeles International Internet Exchange (LAIIX). Launched in 2000, the LAIIX provides public peering interconnectivity via its Layer-2 switch offering connectivity to multiple transit providers. In Los Angeles, the LAIIX provides optimal primary and secondary IP traffic routing options with direct route server access, ensuring highly advanced peering among multiple simultaneous network routes. As one of the oldest private peering points in the Los Angeles market, LAIIX serves as a key IP peering gateway to the Asia-Pacific region.

With the announcement of TELEHOUSE America’s Global Interlink services in 2008, the company interconnected its NYIIX and LAIIX platforms and has also made both peering exchanges accessible from any of the 12 Interlink PoPs throughout the world. Global Interlink provides seamless redundant and diverse Ethernet private line connections between multiple carrier hotels throughout the US and Europe.

“With over 120 active members on NYIIX and over 55 members on LAIIX, TELEHOUSE America provides robust public peering connectivity solutions among the most prominent network operators in the industry,” commented Akio Sugeno, Sr. Director Business Development, Internet Engineering & Operations for TELEHOUSE America and the founder of both NYIIX and LAIIX. “We are excited to witness the continued growth of our Internet Exchange platforms in both New York and Los Angeles and look forward to extending the NYIIX to 7 Teleport, TELEHOUSE’s Teleport Center on Staten Island in the coming months.”

Connectivity to the NYIIX and LAIIX is currently available from major carrier hotel facilities throughout the US and Europe, for more information about TELEHOUSE America’s public peering solutions and its complete total solutions for data center solutions, colocation, infrastructure management and global communications services, please visit www.telehouse.com or email sales@telehouse.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Ilissa Miller

Jaymie Scotto & Associates 1.866.695.3629

pr@jaymiescotto.com

TELEHOUSE AMERICA CONTACT:

Vincent Corley

Telehouse America

718.355.2572

corley@telehouse.com

Will secret copyright treaty restrict your digital rights?
by Jeff Porten, 11/20/09, Macworld.com

If the Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is signed, many United States laws about the Internet and data could be drastically different. Nations such as Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, and the U.S. are negotiating a joint treaty with the intentions of protecting intellectual property worldwide to be passed in 2010.

The contents of said treaty are apparently secret. All that is known is from leaked bits and pieces. Some leaks suggest that devices such as iPods and computers could be searched for illegal content and even confiscated at the borders. Other leaks suggest that ISPs will be examining the content that their users are sending through the pipes and policing it for illegal content.

Various officials have claimed that those two allegations come from earlier drafts of the treaty that are now outdated, but it is hard to know for sure because no one can get their hands on a copy.

Response

As stated in Free For A Fee, the international intellectual property scene is made difficult by the many differing economies and cultural beliefs around the world. It also mentions that the United States has the highest leveraging power in the global IP environment which it then pushes on others and is resisted by those who don’t like our style.

While it is hard to determine which of these rumors could possibly be true, it is also hard to determine whether this will move to protect IP worldwide or rather within the half of the world that agrees. None of the typical oppositions to our policies as mentioned in FFAF is a part of this treaty: India, China, Brazil, France, the Muslim World, and African nations. This means that while this treaty works to standardize global IP law, it may only make a half assed attempt.

That being said, checking devices at the border seems like a silly concept relating IP to drugs. It is as though people will be smuggling mp3s across the border in a world without the ease of doing it online. ISP policing, however, seems like a much more effective yet much more scary way of controlling intellectual property. All I know is that I ought to get in the content policing law industry, because they are going to need a hell of a lot of folks with a hell of a lot of legal knowledge to police every bit any time soon.

The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 639

Apologies for the delays, which may continue until next Monday, as I was attending the UN Internet Governance Forum meetings in Sharm el Sheikh/Egypt with a busy schedule, in a different time zone, and i am now traveling back to Cambodia. I try to be timely as much as possible.

Norbert Klein

“Phnom Penh: According to the Minister of Post and Telecommunication, Mr. So Khun, who spoke to journalists in the morning of 19 November 2009 at the Phnom Penh Hotel, where he presided over a workshop about the joint use of mobile phone relay and transmission towers, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication of the Kingdom of Cambodia will set equal phone service costs at the end of this month.

“The minister said that so far, the post and telecommunication sector has advanced dramatically, and it is a pride of the ministry as well as of the Cambodian government under the wise leadership of the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Samdech Akkak Moha Senapadei Dekchor Hun Sen. However, together with this progress, the ministry noticed that mobile phone companies in Cambodia compete with each other over phone call costs. This is not yet considered as a conflict, but just as a sign of disagreements. Therefore, the ministry prepares to set a general cost system. The minister added that the cost that the ministry plans to set is not yet known, but the ministry is discussing to set a cost system that all mobile phone companies in Cambodia can accept.

“Regarding the workshop about the joint use of mobile phone relay and transmission towers, Mr. So Khun said that this is a good way to promote the telecommunications sector in Cambodia, because at present, this sector is being served by nine mobile phone companies and many ISP/VOIP systems. About 4,500 mobile phone towers have been set up both on the ground and on the roof of houses, in order to compete in attracting about 5.3 million clients, who need mobile phone towers so that they can use their mobile phones. ‘It is a great pride and we acknowledge that the telecommunications sector does grow, but meanwhile, we must think also about the environment, the stable health of citizens, and public order in the society and in the nation.’

“The general manager of the Tower Master Cambodia Co Ltd (TMCC), Mr. Ung Veasna said, the company had received concession rights to operate for 35 years to set up and to maintain mobile phone towers.” Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.8, #2103, 20.11.2009

Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Friday, 20 November 2009

Deum Ampil, Vol.3, #341, 20.11.2009

• Cambodia Vows to Try to Find Solutions on Climate Change [by supporting publications and offering training to citizens about this problem]

Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.8, #2103, 20.11.2009

• The Ministry of Post and Telecommunication Will Set up an Equal Phone Cost System at the End of This Month
• The Government Issued an Instruction about Places where Smoking Is Banned [it is not allowed in buildings and offices of officials at different ministries, at municipalities, at district and commune offices, at meeting halls, at toilets, and in the entry and exit ways to official buildings]

Khmer Amatak, Vol.10, #679, 20.11.2009

• Development of Koh Kong [by Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra] to Become a Second Hong Kong Is Delayed for Two to Three Years until Cambodia and Siam [Thailand] Have Ended Their Diplomatic Disputes

Khmer Machas Srok, Vol.3, #534, 20.11.2009

• A US Parliamentarian [Mr. Edward Roy] and the European Union Condemn the Suspension of the Immunity of Mr. Sam Rainsy, Following a Request from Yuon [Vietnam, over his participation to remove Cambodian-Vietnamese temporary border markers; they consider this as a restriction of the voice of the opposition party]
• Nine [Thai] Persons Working with the [alleged] Siamese [Thai] Spy [at the Cambodia Air Traffic Service] Were Expelled from Cambodia

Koh Santepheap, Vol.42, #6810, 20.11.2009

• A Bilateral Meeting of Cambodia and the Inter-Government Committee of the Russian Federation Decided to Continue the Discussion in Moscow in 2010 about the Debt That Cambodia Owes [the debts that Cambodia owed since the Soviet era. Cambodia asked Russia to cancel it. But now, both sides agreed to further discuss it, later on in 2010 in Moscow]
• America Grants More Than US$10 Million to the Khmer HIV/AIDS NGO Alliance (KHANA) [it is recognized by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, based in Britain, as a local non-government organization that conforms to international standards in working on HIV/AIDS]

Phnom Penh Post [Khmer Edition], Vol.1, #50, 20.11.2009

• Thaksin Shinawatra Has the Intention to Help the Alleged Spy [now detained at the Prey Sar prison], but He Waits until Cambodia Finishes [court] Procedures

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.17, #5052, 20.11.2009

• More Than Three-Hour Fire Destroyed 229 Houses at Chrang Chamres 2 Commune [because of a gas explosion from a house; there were no deaths - Russey Keo district, Phnom Penh]
• Thaksin Wants to Live in the Northeast Border Area of Thailand [according to his website]

Have a look at the last editorial – you can access it directly from the main page of the Mirror.
And please recommend us also to your colleagues and friends.

Back to top

According to a recent announcement from Verizon Communications Company, the company will begin issuing “copyright notices” to customers accused of illegally downloading copyrighted material from the Internet. The notices will be sent on behalf of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and will be delivered by email or automated voice messaging. The notice, which other ISPs have also forwarded from the RIAA to customers upon the RIAA’s request, is expected to inform customers that they have been accused of illegal music sharing and advise them to delete the music they distribute.

Verizon’s announcement regarding the notices cautions that “customers who receive multiple notices from Verizon risk having their Internet service interrupted or turned off and serious legal consequences if the copyright owner decides to sue over the alleged infringement.” Asking ISPs to forward such notices to users is part of a new strategy to combat music piracy adopted by the RIAA after the organization decided a year ago to stop bringing lawsuits against individuals accused of file sharing.

The prospect of an Internet service provider passing on notices that a user has been accused of illegal file sharing raises the question of whether the customer’s privacy is being violated–either by the RIAA’s investigation itself or the ISP’s involvement in passing on the notice. Verizon’s announcement does not state how the RIAA tracks down an anonymous online activity with a particular Internet user’s account. In the past, Verizon has refused to supply the RIAA with subscriber information, arguing that such actions would give the RIAA “complete access to private subscriber information without the due process protections afforded by the courts,” and challenged the argument that Verizon was required to provide such information under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. The D.C. Circuit ruled in Verizon’s favor on this issue in 2003. In a statement issued this week by a Verizon spokesman, the company says it continues to recognize the importance of protecting user privacy, but that without the enforcement of copyright rights, “intellectual property won’t be generated at all.” It is unclear what motivated Verizon, the second-largest phone company in the U.S., to acquiesce to the RIAA’s demands at this time, and it will be interesting to see how Verizon customers react to such notices and whether they choose to challenge Verizon’s actions in court.

– Rachel Friedman

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You know by now that I believe in keeping things as simple as possible when it comes to information technology. It is very easy to dive into a subject and feel that you are drowning in the details of do’s and don’ts. Network security is a good example of a topic that has many levels of detail, threats on all sides, and a bewildering array of options for protecting your company’s network. Even the descriptive words are frightening: hack, worm, phish, spoof, denial of service attack, malicious code, spam, Trojan horse. And when you learn that 90% of businesses and government reported a security breach in 2002, and 80% reported a resulting financial loss, the whole issue can seem overwhelming.

Where to begin? The first thing to do is not to rush in and throw money at the problem and hope you get it right. Putting in a $199 firewall router by itself won’t solve anything; if it is not configured, you may as well put in a lock and leave the key in the door. You need a plan.

Take the time to create a coherent and comprehensive approach to network security. This will help you identify where you are in terms of security, what threats hold the greatest risks for your business, and what you should do in response. Your integrator should be able to help you with this task. It will also help you avoid focusing on something that may sound terrifying while overlooking something else that is a more realistic threat to your specific situation. Think KISS – Keep It Simple Security.

So how do you create that important approach? There are plenty of resources available in articles and sites to help you understand the potential threats, the areas you need to consider, and how to select the best protective measures for you. You might start with Microsoft’s small business Security Guidance Centre; scroll down and click on the “Quiz” to see a good overview of security concerns and issues for small companies. Another resource is this chapter from the book, Executive Guide to Information Security: The Threats, Challenges, and Solutions. And this article reviews 10 major threats to network security and how to prevent damage to your system.

Network security does not have to be complex. It does need to be the simplest appropriate system for your situation. Start with covering the basics and build on that solid ground. Then as your company’s security needs grow, your KISS system will grow with it.

At Chill we take the heat out of IT. No matter what pressure you are under, we will always keep our heads and make sure you get back up and running as soon as possible. So don’t sweat – Chill IT. Click here for more information on our consulting services.

During the state opening of parliament yesterday the government outlined it’s plans for a digital radio switchover. The plans are part of the Digital Economy bill that goes some way to addressing issues outlined in the Digital Britain report that came out earlier this year. Many people are opposed to the digital switchover for radio as devices are not as easily upgraded as TVs and there are still quality issues with DAB. DAB+ goes some way to address this, however, most of the current DAB radios in the UK are not compatible with this newer standard.

There are a few notable omissions in the Digital Economy bill. Namely, the plans for 2mb broadband to be available to all UK households by 2012. The much debated broadband tax also failed to make it into the bill as it would require a new tax to be introduced.

Copyright issues are also addressed in the bill. The idea behind this is that it will be easier for people to use images online and not have to get permission.

The bill also contains Lord Mandelson’s controversial file-sharing plans that would allow the government to cut off people suspected of file sharing.

Via: What Hi-Fi?

Via Hack a Day comes word of a USB PIC-based STK500 AVR programmer. The really interesting part of this project, to us, is the stk500.c source that handles the programming interface. It should be potable to the Bus Pirate as a separate firmware, or as a mode in the existing firmware.

AVRDude already supports the Bus Pirate as a programmer, but STK500 emulation would make it instantly compatible with AVRStudio and a ton of existing applications.

It’s tough to watch TV for more than ten minutes without being begged to switch Internet Service Providers. Indeed, competition for your ISP dollars is so fierce that we often see back to back commercials for different companies that provide nearly identical services. And if you believe the marketing, every ISP offers “blazing fast” speeds, “award-winning” customer service and just about everything short of eternal youth for “only $39.95 per month.” Naturally, such high and mighty promises are cause for some skepticism about what you actually receive. Today we shine the spotlight on 9 ways ISPs do and have screwed customers over, in spite of their bold claims and hefty fees.

Bandwidth Throttling

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One oft-protested behavior of various ISP’s is the throttling – that is, limiting – of bandwith at certain times or for certain uses. Some ISPs simply limit one’s bandwidth during peak usage hours when the network is under stress. An example might be that between say, 6PM and 10PM, upload and download speeds are somewhat reduced to ensure there is enough bandwidth for all their ISPs customers. However, other ISPs (such as Comcast) have made headlines for throttling bandwidth for certain types of traffic – such as peer-to-peer file sharing. Under such a setup, one’s Internet speeds are curtailed when engaging in activities the ISP personally disapproves of or wants to discourage. This has led to outcries of deception and false advertising, as most customers (understandably) assume the promised bandwidth amount applied to anything they chose to do online. NewTeeVee.com offers a 5 step test to check if your ISP throttles P2P, for those concerned or interested.

Deceptive Speed Claims

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Examine the fine print on most ISP commercials, and you will likely find that the promised Internet speed (say, 10MBPS) has the words “up to” in front of it. As it turns out, this is often a clever means of dodging the truth about the actual speeds you are likely to receive. According to P2P.net, Canadian ISP Bell was targeted by an ad campaign urging Bell’s customers to run independent speed tests on their connections, as well as warned that “what you are paying for may not be what you’re getting.” Remarking on the story, P2P.net acknowledges the common “industry practice of advertising the maximum or “up to” speeds for customers, rather than minimum or actual speeds that customers typically obtain.” Even more troubling is a recent British study claiming that over 50% of broadband users in the UK surf the web at “less than half the speed” they thought they were getting.

Targeted Advertising

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Increasingly, some of the most passionate complaints against ISPs have involved privacy concerns. A case in point is Charter’s decision in 2008 to begin tracking its users’ search behavior and using them to insert ads into their results. Billed by Charter as an “enhancement” of the user’s “online experience”, the practice was, at bottom, little more than an unexpected intrusion into consumer privacy designed to create extra ad revenue for the company. While customers did have the ability to opt out, Consumerist reports that this was almost more burdensome than the advertising. Keeping one’s search activity private required submitting “their personal information to Charter via an unencrypted form” and downloading a “privacy cookie that must be downloaded again each time a user clears his web cache.” Clearly, Charter went out of its way to make this “enhancement” all but mandatory – and supremely annoying.

ISP Wiretapping

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2007’s Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act mandated that all ISPs enable the feds to “wiretap” Internet transmissions in much the same way they do phone calls. Naturally, privacy-conscious web surfers see this as an intrusion on their Internet travels. WebProNews, for example, quotes a concerned citizen as claiming the new wiretap law “represents a potential holiday for dirty cops who don’t have warrants to use these back-doors” and spy on what innocent people are doing online. Kevin Paulson of ThreatLevel also felt that making it easier for governments to wiretap would create “more reason to eschew old-fashioned police work in favor of spying.” Needless to say, CALEA-approved web spying isn’t something the big ISPs are too eager to talk about in their ad campaigns.

Ad-Filled “Website Not Found” Pages

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Always on the lookout for new sources of revenue (however small), some ISPs have taken to displaying ads in their error pages. For instance, when you visit a website that is down or non-existent, the standard “website not found” error page may now contain advertisements that your ISP gets paid for displaying. While not as offensive as throttling bandwidth, it is still irksome that an ISP would stoop to putting up ads on error pages as a way of squeezing even more money out of its userbase.

Deep Packet Inspection

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Another serious gripe privacy advocates have with ISPs is what is known as “deep packet inspection.” Without leading readers through swamps of technical jargon, deep packet inspection is the practice of examining a user’s Internet habits in gross detail, such that exactly what they are doing is plain to any observer at the ISP. One common use of DPI alluded to earlier is targeted advertising. According to Wikipedia, “as many of 10% of US customers” have already been tracked by DPI for advertising reasons alone. However, it is also been used by ISPs to police copyright infringement by detecting when someone is or may be downloading songs or movies – and some ISPs go a step further by turning this information over to inquiring record labels. Furthermore, privacy advocates fear that the “lawful intercept” justification of DPI could eventually be used for censorship or oppression (as is currently done in China.)

Packet Spoofing/Forgery

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It’s one thing for ISPs to throttle the speed of P2P downloading, but quite another to actively interfere and prevent it from occurring. Regrettably, this appears to be exactly what Comcast did during 2007. As the Electronic Frontier Foundation reports, Comcast engaged in what is known as “packet spoofing” (or packet forgery) by interrupting file transfers with bogus packets that killed any P2P downloads a user happened to be engaging in. For instance, a user who was trying to download an album’s worth of MP3s would literally have packets injected into his connection that caused his MP3 downloads to fail. Nor was this an acknowledged policy on Comcast’s part – according to EFF, it was discovered by a savvy customer who detected the forged packets by running a packet sniffing application on his computer. Since high download speeds are arguably broadband’s biggest selling point, it seems especially malicious that an ISP would conspire to prevent that exact thing from happening once someone paid to use the service.

Inadequate Virus/Spyware Protection

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ISP’s have also come under fire for charging high subscriber fees without adequately protecting consumers from spyware, viruses and other forms of online fraud. Generally speaking, service agreements between you and your ISP indemnify them from responsibility for any damage or losses caused by spyware or viruses you get infected with on their network. Instead, users (many of whom don’t know the first thing about Internet security) are left to fend for themselves with any number of unsupported and unfamiliar “scanning” tools that attempt to remedy problems after they’ve had time to wreak havoc. Many is the individual who has lost valuable data or had his identity stolen in connection to a virus the ISP did little or nothing to prevent.

Sneaky Fees

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ISPs may not receive as much fee-related criticism as, say, wireless phone providers, but they are far from blameless. MSNBC reports on a telling example back in 2006, when a a $2-$3 per month federal tax on DSL users was taken off the books. But rather than lowering its subscriber fees by $2-$3, Verizon thought better of it and kept fees the same by adding a “supplier surcharge” fee. It’s amount? You guessed it – $2-$3. Other ISPs quickly followed suit, innocuously labeling the new fee a “regulatory cost recovery fee” as though nobody would question it. Luckily, investigative pressure (and the threat of an FTC probe) nixed these fees in a hurry, but the ISP’s willingness to enforce them suggests all consumers need to cast a skeptical eye over their bills every now and then.

[Texane] wrote in to let us know he has implemented AVR ISP programming using a PIC microcontroller. He wrote some code for an 18F4550 that uses the STK500 standard for In System Programming. This means that his hardware is compatible with AVRdude, the open source AVR programming software. There has long been an argument over the virtues of PIC versus AVR but we say why not both? If you have already honed your programming chops with PIC, you can build your own programmer and give the Atmel family a try.

The current implementation uses a serial port to connect the programmer to a computer. Keep your eye on this one as [texane] plans to add USB connectivity and has told us he will post schematics for the device as soon as that is complete.

Over at FD Wholesale, we’ve been doing some trials in our R&D department bonding Annex M tails together and we’ve been able to get throughput normally associated with leased lines. We’re roughly 1.5Km from our local exchange, and when bonding 2 lines, the total sync rate was 26.7Mbps down and 4Mbps up. When we bonded 4 lines, we obtained 56Mbps down and 8Mbps up.

The applications for this are wide ranging. Consider having a client who lives 5Km+ from their local exchange. 1 DSL would offer them little throughput to sustain a number of users. Aggregate 2 or 3 together and suddenly they can start to look at IP applications that may improve business processes such as SIP or Video conferencing. Another example may be where a client can’t gain wayleave agreement to obtain a fibre run. In this instance, they can have a bonded Annex M service offeirng up to 80Mbps down and 10Mbps up. Obviously these are headline speeds and are dependant on quality of copper and line length, but in all but the worst circumstances, a bonded Annex M service can start to become a compelling alternative to EFM or FTTC. Using the BE network, this is also available immediately, nationwide. No waiting for 2012 to have a coverage of c.300 exchanges.

Currently this is something that all our channel partners are utilising, as it gives them a cost effective alternative to a leased line. Based on the Cisco proprietory protocol, traditionally the stumbling point has been the high initial price point associated with the routers. However, we’ve been conducting some trials with a manufacturer called Virtual Access using their GW7000 boxes, and they’ve been very successful in terms of throughput and stability. However, even more compelling is the fact that they lower the initial price point of the solution to sub £500.

Personally I feel that bonding Annex M tails, at the core is a lot more resilinet solution than trying to aggregate them at the client end, using an external aggregator, as it means that there is little overhead, lower packet loss and less latency. In my opinion, the main thing to take away from this is that even though fibre will still have it’s uses, the applications for DSL are ever increasing. Whereby traditionally a leased line was the only method available to provide large amounts of throughput, the landscape is ever changing to incorporate DSL.

By Matthew Doyle

Dr. Michael Eisenberg wrote the book on information literacy, literally.  His most important contribution to the field of library and information science is the Big6 Information Problem Solving Process, a process model developed to teach information and technology skills.  Eisenberg’s work centers on developing ways to teach information skills to students and research to learn more about the information skills of students.  Eisenberg is part of an influential group of scholars that are partially responsible for the prominent position information literacy education now holds.

Professional Biography

Currently Michael Eisenberg is working as a professor at The Information School at the University of Washington.  (Information School, 2009) Eisenberg was the founding dean of the Information School at the University of Washington, but stepped down due to health problems.  (Information School, 2009)  He turned a single degree in information science into a nationally recognized information science program during his tenure as dean. (Information School, 2009) Before coming to the University of Washington, Eisenberg was a professor and founder of the Information School at Syracuse. (Information School, 2009) Eisenberg is most well known for his books Information Literacy: Essential Skills for the Information Age (2004), Curriculum Iniative: An Agenda and Strategy for Library Media Programs (1988) and Information Problem-Solving: The Big6 Skills Approach to Library and Information Skills Instruction (1990). Most of Eisenberg’s work focuses on the development of quality information skills in school age students.  Most recently Eisenberg has begun a large scale research project on young adult research habits. (Project Information Literacy, 2009)

Information Literacy and The Big 6

Eisenberg’s main area of scholarship is information literacy.  His work focuses on developing students into information literate citizens capable of utilizing information and technology in the 21^st information environment.  Dr. Eisenberg developed the Big 6 as a problem solving strategy for information needs and an outline of necessary skills for developing information literate students. (Eisenberg, 1992)  The Big 6 outlines the necessary steps for a student to overcome an information need.  The steps of the Big 6 are;

1. Task definition,
2. Information seeking strategies,
3. Location and access,
4. Use of information,
5. Synthesis,
6. Evaluation.  (Eisenberg, 1992)

The Big 6 is a process driven approach to solving an information problem or information seeking that incorporates critical thinking skills.  Dr. Eisenberg has outlined an approach to teaching information literacy that can help develop students into sophisticated users of information that go beyond the memorization of facts and into critical analysis of information.

In step 1, task definition, students define their problem and their information need.  (Eisenberg, 1992)  This step teaches students to critically analyze their problem and decide what information they may need.  In this stage they define the scope of their problem and develop an understanding of the areas they need to investigate.  As students define the task they also begin to think about what sources may be appropriate for their information need.  This is an excellent opportunity to use concept mapping and graphic organizers to help students organize their thoughts.

After defining the task student’s move on to step two, information seeking strategies. (Eisenberg, 1992)   In information seeking strategies students begin to list the types of sources that will be the most helpful in solving their information problem and prioritizing these sources.  The information seeking strategies stage is a rich opportunity to develop an understanding of appropriate sources and differentiating between various sources which is a key aspect of information literacy.  Website evaluation exercises can be used in this stage to help students build skills at determining the authority of a site.

In step three, location and access, students begin to locate sources and gather information.  (Eisenberg, 1992)  Location and access builds an understanding of the various sources that can be used in a search and how to use both electronic and library information sources.  The skills that are built in step three include using books, encyclopedias, search engines, advanced search features, databases, directories and other internet sources.

After information is gathered in step three student’s move onto step four; use of information. (Eisenberg, 1992)   This is when students engage and extract information from the materials they have collected.  In the use of information stage students begin to actively engage with the information they have gathered.  Students extract main ideas, key facts and build in depth knowledge.  They also learn how proper bibliographic skills in this stage through note taking and citation.  This stage allows for deep and meaningful learning if used in the proper context.

After students use information they move on to stage five, synthesis.  (Eisenberg, 1992)  In the synthesis stage knowledge is organized for presentation.  Students organize the comprehensive knowledge they have developed for presentation.  Information is analyzed and appropriately presented in this stage.  This leads students to the final stage, evaluation. (Eisenberg, 1992)   In evaluation students critically evaluate their own work, looking for areas of strength and weakness.  This helps them build strategy for future experiences.

The six steps of the Big 6 are very similar to the steps of Kuhlthau’s (1993) ISP.  Eisenberg and Berkowitz (1992) found that the two process driven models were made up of the same basic steps.  The only real difference between the two is that the ISP is based on formal research and the Big 6 is not. (Eisenberg and Berkowitz, 1992)  Additionally, there is no real formulation stage in the Big 6 as can be seen in figure 1. (Wolf, 2003) Although not necessarily based on research, Wolf (2003) found a potential link between student use of the Big 6 and the development of metacognitive skills, that make students aware of their mental state and learning process. This deep understanding and self reflection is a key aspect of accomplishing higher level thinking and becoming an independent 21^st century learner.

Figure 1: Stages of the ISP and Big 6. (Wolf, 2003)

Standards for the 21^st Century Learner and the Big6

The Big 6 is widely used in school libraries as a method of teaching students to become information literate students. (Big 6, 2009)  It has been adapted for younger children as the Super 3 and even used in college for graduate and undergraduate students. (Big 6, 2009)  The Big 6 and its various manifestations have significant implications for 21^st century schools.  Although developed in 1990, the Big 6 Skills fit well into the American Association of School Libraries (AASL) Standards for the 21^st Century Learner (2007).

The Big 6 can be used as a way to meet many of Standards for the 21^st Century Learner. (AASL, 2007)  In task initiation, the Big 6 addresses standard 1.1.3, “develop and refine a range of questions to frame the search for new understanding,” and standard 1.2.1, “display initiative and engagement by posing and investigating the answers beyond the collection of superficial facts.” (AASL, 2007, p.3)  During task initiation students asking questions to engage with the information they find so that they can achieve a deep understanding of the subject.  This is a clear shift away from the transmission model prominent in the 20^th century in which superficial engagement and memorization played major roles.

In step 2, information seeking strategies, standard 1.1.4 “find, evaluate, and select appropriate sources to answer questions,” and 1.1.5 “evaluate information found in selected sources on the basis of accuracy, validity, appropriateness for needs, importance, and social and cultural context,” are addressed. (AASL, 2007, p.3)  Here the Big 6 asks students to actively engage with information by critically thinking about sources and determining the appropriateness of sources.  As technologies role in society continually increases, students need to have the skills to evaluate sources.

In location and access, students can learn skills that standards 1.1.8 “demonstrate mastery of technology tools for accessing information and pursuing inquiry” and 1.3.2 “seek divergent perspectives during information gathering and assessment,” address. (AASL, 2007, p.3)  As these two standards illustrate, the Big 6 encourages the use of multiple sources when locating information.  Students can become proficient searchers capable of locating materials through the use of the Big 6 in their problem solving assignments.

In use of information, standards 1.1.7 “make sense of information gathered from diverse sources by identifying misconceptions, main and supporting ideas, conflicting information, and point of view or bias”, 2.1.1 “apply critical thinking skills (analysis, synthesis, evaluation, organization) to information and knowledge,” and 1.3.3 “follow ethical and legal guidelines in gathering and using information.” (AASL, 2007, pp.3-4)  The Big 6 makes students think about the information they gather.  By moving away from passive accumulation of facts, the Big 6 encourages students to make sense of the information they gather and critically think about what it means.  This active knowledge building is key in the Standards for the 21^st Century Learner. (AASL, 2007)  The Big 6 also discourages plagiarism, while encouraging proper citation.

In synthesis, standards 2.1.4 “use technology and other information tools to analyze and organize information” and 3.1.4 “use technology and other information tools to organize and display knowledge and understanding in ways that others can view, use, and assess,” are addressed. (AASL, 2007, pp. 4-5)  The Big 6 asks students to not just regurgitate the information they have learned but create a final product that communicates the learning outcome, which is very conducive to technology use.  Blogs, wiki’s, webpages, PowerPoint’s, Word documents and other final products all utilize technology and can be used with the Big 6.  These are essential skills that are extremely useful in 21^st century schools.

Lastly, in evaluation standards 3.4.1 “assess the processes by which learning was achieved in order to revise strategies and learn more effectively in the future” and 3.4.2 “assess the quality and effectiveness of the learning product” are addressed. (AASL, 2007, p.5)  These methods of self reflection and assessment are key to the evaluation stage of the Big 6.  Self assessment is also one of the four main categories of Standards for the 21^st Century Learner. (AASL, 2007)  By reflecting on outcomes students better understand how they learn and what they can do to improve future outcomes.

Basically, Dr. Eisenberg has provided schools with a great learning tool that meets many of the Standards for the 21^st Century Learner (AASL, 2007), and can be adapted and modified to include even more.  The Big 6 allows students to participate in authentic research (Gordon, 1999) that goes beyond the traditional library assignment.   Information literacy has become far more complicated since the Big 6 was written but the model still applies to today’s information landscape.  The Big 6 helps develop information skills, disposition, responsibilities and self assessment strategies.  All four of these areas form the basis of the Standards for the 21^st Century Learner. (AASL, 2007)   The Big 6 also creates a great opportunity for collaboration between librarians and teachers.  By creating the Big 6 Dr. Eisenberg has provided librarians and teachers with a great problem solving tool that incorporates technology and deep learning experiences and has the potential to help bring schools out of the industrial model of education and into the 21^st century.

Implications for Guided Inquiry

The Big 6 is a tool that can be used very effectively to build Guided Inquiry assignments and lessons.  What the Big 6 offers is a model for students to apply to information problems for the rest of their lives.  This model can be effectively used as part of Guided Inquiry because it focuses on the active learning and not just passive information retrieval.  This constructivist approach to learning centers on building knowledge through meaningful learning experiences.  Incorporating information literacy into curriculum standards lessons, not just library skill training, allows for better learning opportunities and understanding.  The Big 6 can easily be incorporated into any subject area of the curriculum and encourages collaboration between librarians with information skills and teachers with deep subject knowledge.  The meaningful learning experience Guided Inquiry is based on is also in many ways the basis of the Big 6 approach.

A major part of the Big 6 is teaching information literacy skills in the context of an inquiry process, not just as part of an isolated lesson.  Kuhlthau (2007) takes a concepts approach to information literacy that identifies locating, evaluating and using information as the three key areas of developing information literacy.  (p. 80)  In Guided Inquiry, these concepts are taught through the inquiry process.  All three of these areas play a major role in the Big 6 approach which makes it an ideal problem solving process for Guided Inquiry units.  When these information literacy concepts are utilized in Guided Inquiry units based on the Big 6 research process, meaningful knowledge building can take place.

The Big 6 is also very conducive to planned interventions which play an integral part in Guided Inquiry.  Task definition is an excellent opportunity for concept mapping and using graphic organizers.  During information seeking strategies students can complete exercises to evaluate sources.  In evaluation students can use rubrics to evaluate their learning experience and final product.  All of the steps offer at least some opportunity for teachers and librarians to use interventions that make students think critically about information and lead to deep and independent learning experiences.  These metacognitive exercises can help students have more meaningful learning and understanding of themselves and the subject matter covered.

Conclusion

Eisenberg has provided librarians and teachers with an excellent tool for providing students with deep, meaningful, authentic learning experiences.  The Big 6 emphasizes the importance of librarians in information literacy training and can encourage collaboration at many levels.  It is also a great framework for bringing schools into the 21^st century as it sets the goal of creating deep and meaningful learning experiences and making students critical and self sufficient thinkers.  The Big 6 engages students to self reflect through metacognition, thus allowing students to become independent learners. The authentic learning experiences created through the use of the Big 6 complement the Guided Inquiry approach (Kuhlthau, 2007) and the Standards for the 21^st Century Learner. (AASL, 2007)

Bibliography

American Association of School Librarians. (2007).  AASL standards for the 21st-century learner.  retrieved from: http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslproftools/learningstandards/standards.cfm

Eisenberg, M., Berkowitz, R.E. (1988). Curriculum Initiative: An agenda and strategy for school library media programs. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing.

Eisenberg, M., Lowe, C., Spitzer, K.  (2004). Information Literacy: Essential Skills for the Information Age. 2nd. edition. Libraries Unlimited.

Eisenberg, M., Berkowitz, R. E. (1990). Information problem solving: The big six skills approach to library information skills instruction. Norwood, N.J.: Ablex.

Eisenberg, M., M. Brown. (1992). Current research. School Library Media Quarterly 21, no. 3, 103-9.

Gordon, C. (1999). Students as authentic researchers: A new prescription for the high school research assignment . School Library Media Research 2 .

Information School. (2009).  Mike Eisenberg. retrieved from: http://faculty.washington.edu/mbe//
Kuhlthau, C. C. (1993).  Seeking meaning: a process approach to library and information services.  Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing.

Kuhlthau, C.C., Maniotes, L.K., Caspari, A.K. (2007). Guided Inquiry: Learning in the 21st century.  Westport, Conneticut: Libraries Unlimited.

Project Information Literacy. (2009).  A large scale study about early adults and their research habits. retrieved from: http://projectinfolit.org/

Wolf, S., Brush, T. and Saye, J. (2003). The Big Six Information Skills as a metacognitive scaffold: A case study. School Library Media Research Online 6.

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