Netizen

Friday, January 08, 2016

Facebook's Out On Free Internet Could Be A Mobile Browser

The second logo for AOL, used from 2006–2009 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Facebook’s First Effort at Free Internet Is Just Another Walled Garden

With its Aquila unmanned aircraft and laser technologies, Facebook has demonstrated the ability to deliver data at a rate of tens of gigabytes per second to a target the size of a coin — from 10 miles away. This is 10 times faster than existing land-based technologies. With interconnected drones, it will, within two or three years, most likely be able to provide Internet access to the most remote regions of the world....... And then there are low-orbit microsatellites, which Oneweb, SpaceX, and now Samsung are building. These beam Internet signals by laser to ground stations. In June, Oneweb announced that it had raised $500 million to develop and launch several hundred satellites that will provide global broadband coverage. ...... Google is launching Loons in Indonesia and Sri Lanka. It was also supposed to launch them in India, but India’s defense, aviation, and telecommunications ministries raised technical and security concerns and stopped the project. When the telecom providers figure out that with unlimited, inexpensive, Internet access, their cell and data businesses will be decimated, they too will place obstacles in the way of these technologies.

Free Basics protects net neutrality

To connect a billion people, India must choose facts over fiction ..... We have collections of free basic books. They’re called libraries. They don’t contain every book, but they still provide a world of good. ..... We have free basic healthcare. Public hospitals don’t offer every treatment, but they still save lives. ..... That’s why everyone also deserves access to free basic internet services. ..... We know that for every 10 people connected to the internet, roughly one is lifted out of poverty. We know that for India to make progress, more than 1 billion people need to be connected to the internet. ...... in India and more than 30 other countries. We launched Free Basics, a set of basic internet services for things like education, healthcare, jobs and communication that people can use without paying for data. ...... More than 35 operators have launched Free Basics and 15 million people have come online. And half the people who use Free Basics to go online for the first time pay to access the full internet within 30 days. ....... Free Basics is a bridge to the full internet and digital equality. .....

more than 30 countries have recognized Free Basics as a program consistent with net neutrality
and good for consumers. ........
Instead of recognizing the fact that Free Basics is opening up the whole internet, they continue to claim – falsely – that this will make the internet more like a walled garden.
..... Instead of recognizing that Free Basics fully respects net neutrality, they claim – falsely – the exact opposite. ...... This isn’t about Facebook’s commercial interests – there aren’t even any ads in the version of Facebook in Free Basics.

I am confused. What's free basics? What does it do? How? Is it restricted? Is it like AOL? AOL was not restricted. You could go all over the Internet through AOL. Most people didn't. They spent most of their time in AOL Messenger, but that's another story. Is Zuck's Free Basics like AOL? I don't get the impression he is using drones for the purpose.

I think the solution is two-fold. One, beam high speed internet from the sky straight to the smartphone. And have a Facebook browser on that phone that has code that communicates to the Facebook Internet beam from the Gods, and lets you go online, but the browser is customized for a Facebook experience. You still can go everywhere, but it looks and feels like Facebook. And Facebook serves ads.

That way Google could be competing to provide free internet from the high and above to the same smartphone. Next thing you know they are competing on speed. My broadband is faster than yours. The next logical step after that would be free smartphones. Sundar Pichai is so smart I think he could build $20 phones. Google could earn 20 bucks from ads in, like, 20 weeks flat.

Facebook should build a mobile browser.

In The Tech News (1)

Thyroid (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

10 Most Exciting SciTech Advances of 2015

"Teixobactin shows how we can adopt an alternative strategy and develop compounds to which bacteria are not resistant." .... Advances in exponential technologies like synthetic biology and genomics are reinforcing the notion that previously unresolvable diseases (cancer, heart disease, Alzeimer's) are in fact resolvable. We are developing solutions to these problems at an accelerating rate, and as we usher in an era of personalized medicine, we will see a dramatic increase in the healthy human lifespan. At my company Human Longevity Inc, our mission is to

make 100 the new 60
. ...... we will soon have the tools to eliminate diseases, create hardier plants, wipe out pathogens and much, much more. ...... Making the first stage of Falcon-9 reusable is a step towards major demonetization of the space industry.

Technologies We’re Excited to See Bloom in 2016 and Beyond

Even high-speed rail systems already seem costly and cumbersome compared to the ability to summon an electric self-driving car on my phone and just be on my way. ...... It’s the idea that any contractual agreement—such as jobs, loans, insurance, and even marriage—could potentially be securely stored and automatically verified by the same technology (blockchain) that makes bitcoin work. This could eliminate the slew of people, businesses, and institutions positioned as financial and legal middlemen, along with their associated red tape. ........ The camera captures light field data simultaneously from all directions and when used for VR, viewers can move around in captured ‘real world’ space, as opposed to recreated computer-generated environments.

Printable Organs Are Closer Than Ever Thanks to Three Bioprinting Breakthroughs

You know what’s even sexier than organ donation? Bioprinting organs. ...... a world in which organ shortages will be a thing of the past....... In March of 2015, 3D Bioprinting Solutions became the first group to successfully bioprint a thyroid gland for a mouse with the intention of transplanting into living mice. Months later, the group announced they had successfully transplanted the bioprinted thyroid and reported that after 11 weeks of monitoring the subjects’ 3D printed thyroid glands, they were in working order with completely restored function. ........ Last week, Vladimir Mironov, head of 3D Bioprinting Solutions, announced his laboratory is ready to start printing a human thyroid gland after their successful experiments on mice. They also have plans to bioprint a human kidney. ...... The team used the company’s own patented bio-printing process to construct the thyroid. They began by extracting stem cells from the living organism via its fat cells. These cells are then mixed with a hydrogel and extruded layer by layer. Once the cells take shape, the hydrogel dissolves. ...... a day when new organs will be readily available for everyone.

Singularity Hub’s Most Viral Hits in Tech and Futurism From 2015

Why 3D Printing Will Be a Key Technology in the Next Space Race

Although in many industries mass production techniques still make economic sense—for the ultra-precise, almost bespoke parts in rockets? 3D printing is a great fit. ...... NASA’s latest trial shows 3D printing is set to become an even bigger part of rocket engine manufacturing ..... 3D printed components typically have fewer parts in need of joining and assembling ..... 3D printing also speeds up research and development. Engineers can design a part, print it, test it, find flaws, fix them, and repeat. It takes less time to get from initial design to final part than using traditional casting and the quality is often better. ..... Ceramics are tough materials with a high melting point. They’ve been used as heat shielding on the outside of spacecraft ..... 3D printed ceramics may be used in jet engines or to skin entire jets to withstand the high temperatures of hypersonic flight. ........

3D printing's real value to space exploration may only become clear once we leave Earth.
...... Lacking the luxury of sprawling factory assembly lines in space, 3D printers designed specially for space travel may be one of the pillars of off-Earth manufacturing. Some dream of mining raw materials on asteroids, moons, or planets and converting them into useful things like habitats, machines, and tools. For future explorers to be self-sufficient on the final frontier, they'll need to live off the land.