ThunderNews Blog
Happy 11th Annual SysAdmin Day!
July 30th, 2010
As we all marvel at the miracle of modern technology today (you’re soaking in it right now), let’s raise a glass to your local System Administrator: the guy or gal or team who keep the servers humming and the network intact and safe. Have a happy SysAdmin day today, the 11th anniversary of the “event,” and take your IT crew out to lunch or something.
As some Usenet newsgroups are stating, July 30 is the 11th Annual Systems Administrator Appreciation Day, which occurs on the last Friday of July. Ted Kekatos, newsgroup subscriber and IT manager with a small start-up, created this holiday in the year 2000 as way of getting recognition for his team’s work.
System administrators may shy away from public life and occupy dark corners that are only occasionally lit up by the flicker of a computer game screen, but when it comes to ensuring that servers run smoothly, these boys and gals are superstars. System Administrators are known for participating in many discussions on newsgroups – sharing ideas, information and knowledge throughout the 30 plus years Usenet has existed.
From the SysAdminDay website:
“Let’s face it, System Administrators get no respect 364 days a year. This is the day that all fellow System Administrators across the globe, will be showered with expensive sports cars and large piles of cash in appreciation of their diligent work. But seriously, we are asking for a nice token gift and some public acknowledgement. It’s the least you could do.”
Here at ThunderNews, we appreciate all the System Administrators out there who make the world of computing and networking possible by there hard work, dedication and vision.
New Online “Kill Switch” Passes In The US
June 25th, 2010
This year’s version of the Cybersecurity Act was approved by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs after amending it to limit the president’s authority in the event of a cyber emergency,
The bill, introduced earlier this month and being marked up by the Senate homeland security and government affairs committee on Thursday, is one of the most prominent of dozens of cybersecurity bills on Capitol Hill.
The argument is that the internet is so crucial to banking, utilities and other infrastructure that attacks on it are key to national defense. It would establish a White House Office for Cyberspace Policy and a National Center for Cybersecurity and Communications, which would work with the private sector to harden critical networks against attacks. It’s assumed that this would also encompass the world of Usenet.
The bill specifies no restrictions on the president’s power over the internet, except that the response to any “national cyber emergencies” must “represent the least disruptive means feasible”
The original bill gave the president indefinite emergency authority to shut down private sector or government networks in the event of a cyber-attack capable of causing massive damage or loss of life. The amendment passed Thursday limits that authority, requiring the president to get Congressional approval after controlling a network for 120 days. It would not, however, give the President the authority to take over the entire internet, target specific websites, Usenet newsgroups or conduct electronic surveillance.
Duke University Shuts Down Usenet Server
May 24th, 2010
A sad day for some as today Duke University, home of Usenet, has shut down their Usenet servers.
It was in 1979 that students Tom Truscot and Jim Ellis first developed a system that became the standard method of online communication between schools and quickly spread to the masses. Predating the World Wide Web, Usenet has been active for over 30 years.
Over those years, in order to support Usenet, maintaining servers had become costly. In the last few months, Duke University had decided to finally pull the plug of the heart of Usenet history. Despite a petition to encourage Duke University to change their mind, they proceeded as planned. Originally scheduled for May 20th, the final plug was pulled today.
Despite their decision, Usenet still flourishes with activity today. Newsgroup subscribers are very much active on the over 107,000 newsgroups available. Due to Usenet being decentralized, it continues to thrive with activity even after its founders and Duke University leaves the scene. Usenet lives.
Cox Communications and Atlantic Broadband Discontinue Usenet Access
April 27th, 2010
With recent news that both Atlantic Broadband and Cox Communications are dropping USENET access for customers, ThunderNews has responded with 20% discounts for all former customers of the Usenet Newsgroup access providers.
Cox Communications recently announced that they will discontinue Usenet access to customers by June 30th. Coincidentally, ISP Atlantic Broadband is also discontinuing Usenet Newsgroup access to its customers all along the east coast of the United States.
With the rising costs of offering and maintaining Usenet newsgroup servers, both companies have long offered the service as part of their online packages. Unable to continue providing access, both Internet Service Providers have made June cutoff date announcements.
ThunderNews welcomes all customers of both Altantic Broadband and Cox Communications. Details and coupon code of the special are available on our website. The current special is applicable to all monthly plans and only available for a limited time.
ThunderNews offers lightning speed access to over 106,000 active Usenet newsgroups with over 600 days of binary retention and still growing daily. With servers in both the United States and Europe, ThunderNews offers 50 simultaneous connections and a free newsreader with any monthly subscription.
Coalition Targets Online And USENET Privacy Laws
March 30th, 2010
A broad coalition of privacy groups and technology companies, calling itself Digital Due Process, sent a set of principles to Capitol Hill Tuesday to try and convince Congress to update digital communications privacy laws. The companies have teamed with more than 20 other technology providers and lobby groups from the right and left of US politics to update a US privacy law. The members cited the need to preserve traditional privacy rights in the face of technological change, while also ensuring that law-enforcement agencies can carry out investigations and the industry has the clarity needed to innovate.
The law the companies are targeting, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, is 24 years old and was created ages before the Internet became mainstream. As a result, there isn’t a lot of clarity about whether documents stored in the cloud or location data from cellphones are protected communications that require search warrants to access. The organizers argue that ECPA, which provides the framework for government access to electronic communications in criminal investigations, needs to address e-mail and private files stored in the online cloud – which would include USENET.
Members of the coalition include: ACLU, American Library Association, Americans for Tax Reform, AOL, Association of Research Libraries, AT&T, Center for Democracy & Technology, Citizens Against Government Waste, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Computer and Communications Industry Association, eBay, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Google, Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, Integra Telecom, Intel, Loopt, Microsoft, NetCoalition, The Progress & Freedom Foundation and Salesforce.com.
According to the coalition, technology has advanced to the point that the act in its current form is no longer enough. They point out email, cell phones, mobile Internet devices and social networking – including USENET newsgroups - as some of the most pressing issues for the need for revision.
Currently, all communications with ThunderNews.com USENET access is 256-BIT encrypted, secure and private.
FCC Releases Mobile Usenet Access Speed Tester
March 12th, 2010
Today, telecom and ISP related newsgroups are discussing the latest announcement from the The Federal Communications Commission of a mobile tool to help consumers test the wireless broadband coverage in their area. The mobile version of the Consumer Broadband Test is available in the Apple iPhone App Store and the Android App Market. Using this tool alongside your portable newsreader can help determine and tweak Usenet access speeds.
Essentially, the app clocks how long it takes to download and upload data to the phone. The release of the two apps come just days before the Commission is set to release its new national broadband plan on March 16, which will heavily stress the need for mobile data networks. One of the more outstanding recommendations has been to:
“Consider use of spectrum for a free or very low cost wireless broadband service.” The FCC didn’t detail where the spectrum would come from, but it falls in line with the government’s February 2010 request for 500MHz of additional wireless spectrum to help improve wireless broadband in the U.S.
The app does automatically send the test information to the FCC, but the FCC says this is a voluntary initiative to get help collecting that data, and adds that it will protect the identity of its users. “The FCC is committed to protecting the personal privacy of consumers utilizing these tools, and will not publicly release any individual personal information gathered,” the FCC said in announcing the new app.
The FCC has been criticized for being too reliant on independently unverified data provided by carriers — instead of going out into the field and collecting data first hand. They’ve also been criticized as an agency that hasn’t been very good about using quality data to shape policy decisions. While these tools may help the few users not familiar with speedtests, it’s not clear how much they’ll help the FCC on the accurate data front.
Survey Says: Online Newsgroups Popular Platform For News
March 1st, 2010
If you’re like us, you catch up on news in multiple ways – thru TV, mobile, web and of course, Usenet newsgroups. If you are, then you are also one of today’s archetypal news consumers, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life and the Project for Excellence in Journalism. The study reported and being discussed on newsgroups, shows that an overwhelming majority of Americans — more than 90 percent — use multiple platforms to get their daily news.
The wider availability of nearly instantaneous micro newsfeeds like newsgroups present has changed the very notion of our news consumption over time. Younger generations and technological savvy individuals are relying on news sources that are delivered in the form of community-sourced information.
The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism asked more than 2,200 people where they get their news. Local and national TV news remain the leading news sources with online portals such as the USENET the third most popular and ahead of radio and national and local newspapers. Figuring out where users get their news is not as easy, however. Six in 10 said they have used Usenet like online portals in combination with other platforms.
“In the digital era, news has become omnipresent. Americans access it in multiple formats on multiple platforms on myriad devices,” reads the report. “The days of loyalty to a particular news organization on a particular piece of technology in a particular form are gone.”
In the digital era, humans have turned to news platforms that let them customize information according to their personal tastes. Twenty-eight percent of online users have created a personalized homepage that delivers news and information about topics that interest them or subscribe to newsgroups. They also expect to be able to access news headlines from their mobile phones when they are away from their computer. More than 30 percent of mobile phone owners use their device to read news headlines.
Pew pointed out that the Internet has become the third-most-used source for news but there was a clear sign that U.S. news consumers are using more than one news source. The Pew poll was conducted via telephone contact with 2,259 U.S. adults form Dec. 28-Jan. 19. The data carry a margin of error of 2.3 percentage points.
Microsoft, AT&T And Tivo Learning To Place Nicely
January 20th, 2010
Microsoft is one of the most active topics on newsgroups at the moment. For a number of stories, but the latest is that they’ve filed a suit late Tuesday against TiVo in a San Francisco federal court, claiming that the Alviso, Calif., maker of digital video recorders illegally uses technology related to purchasing and delivering video and the ability to display programming information. Both are seen as an attempt to counter an earlier suit filed by TiVo against AT&T, which uses Microsoft’s technology in its television service.
Microsoft is seeking unspecified damages and a court order to prevent TiVo from using the Microsoft technology without permission. If successful, the suit would block TiVo from selling DVRs in the absence of a licensing deal. The patents in question in the suits cover program information displays and how TiVo delivers its video. Critics of these suits have noted that they serve anti-competitive interests by cutting out possible competitors to AT&T’s own solutions for recording its TV shows.
Software giant Microsoft had filed the suit against DVR maker TiVo while alleging TiVo it is infringing on Microsoft patents covering the display of “programmable information” and enabling secure payment and delivery of digital video programming. The situation arises from a lawsuit filed by TiVo against AT&T last year in federal court in US State of Texas over the telecom company’s U-Verse system, which is a television service based on Microsoft’s Mediaroom technology. TiVo alleges that AT&T’s system violates three of its patents for commonly used DVR features, including one for a multimedia time-warping system that “allows the user to store selected television broadcast programs while the user is simultaneously watching or reviewing another program.”
In a statement posted onto newsgroups, TiVo has responded stating: “Microsoft’s recent legal actions, including its decision to seek to intervene on behalf of its customer, AT&T, and its recent complaint against TiVo in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California do not bear on whether the AT&T products and services that are the subject of TiVo’s complaint infringe the patents asserted by TiVo. Rather these actions are part of a legal strategy to defend AT&T. We remain confident in our position that AT&T will be found to infringe on the TiVo patents asserted.”
According to some reports, AT&T has insisted that Microsoft cover any damages or losses AT&T might incur from losing a patent fight with TiVo due to its use of Mediaroom technology. Microsoft’s response is to challenge the validity of TiVo’s patents—something EchoStar tried to do for years without success—as well as file its own infringement suit against TiVo. TiVo itself sees the Microsoft suit as “part of a legal strategy to defend AT&T. TiVo is also involved in similar disputes with Verizon, Dish Network and EchoStar. TiVo also provides on-demand movie viewing from Amazon, Netflix and other services, further cutting out AT&T services. While committed to collecting a royalty, Microsoft says it has begun talks with TiVo to reach a deal without going through courts. Microsoft said it would prefer to set up a licensing agreement with TiVo rather than fight the battle in court. Who controls this technology in the end will be an interesting result to many newsgroups. As online media becomes more dominant and with the possibility of the Mediaroom technology becoming more popular, it may result in using more online services to host and serve online content.
Music Newsgroups Report On Labels Price-Fixing Case
January 13th, 2010
Music related newsgroups report that a New York court today reinstated an antitrust lawsuit against music giants EMI, Sony, Universal and Warder for illegal price fixing on digital music. The same newsgroups report that the judge said there was evidence that “plausibly suggest” that the labels keep the prices artificially high through collusion.
Newsgroups point out that the case was filed on behalf of people who download music online. The court case accused the music label defendants of conspiring to fix prices and limit the availability of downloaded music in violation of the Sherman Act; a federal antitrust law.
The case was originally put aside for dismissal in October 2008. With evidence supplied by a still forming class action lawsuit, it provides proof that the labels conspired to fix prices by creating joint ventures for distributing songs — MusicNet, launched by Bertelsmann, EMI and Warner Music; and pressplay, launched by Sony and Vivendi’s Universal Music Group — and the entering of restrictive license agreements.
Originally, the lawsuit raised concern and accusations that these major record labels were using early deals and licensing agreements to artificially create an inflated raw cost of 70 cents per track that was then enforced at deals with other stores. Labels defend themselves stating that the shift was necessary to spur demand for their back catalog and to generate more profit from their most recent music.
With the current ruling, the original plaintiffs have more time to organize a larger class action lawsuit against the labels and further raising funding to afford the inevitable long drawn out legal fees that this involves. Many on music newsgroups find this to be a victory for online music store subscribers after a long history of suspicion has hung over the labels for various types of price fixings.
ThunderNews Happy New Year
December 31st, 2009
A Happy New Year from all of us at ThunderNews.com. We wish you a safe, happy and healthy 2010!
We look forward to you continuing to visit ThunderNews.com for all USENET and Newsgroup news and information.
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