ISOC pioneers Vint Cerf & Geof Huston were among the keynote speakers at linux.conf.au
in Brisbane Australia this last week. Topics included IPv6 and the establishment of the Australian National Broadband Network. Videos of their talks are below: Vint Cerf
The Internet Society has issued a statement on the current situation in Egypt.
“We are following the current events in Egypt with concern as it appears that all incoming and outgoing Internet traffic has been disrupted. The Internet Society believes that the Internet is a global medium that fundamentally supports opportunity, empowerment, knowledge, growth, and freedom and that these values should never be taken away from individuals.
The Internet Society considers this recent action by the Egyptian government to block Internet traffic to be an inappropriate response to a political crisis. It is a very serious decision for a government to block all Internet access in its country, and a serious intrusion into its citizens’ basic rights to communicate. If the blockage continues, it will have a very detrimental impact on Egypt’s economy and society. Ultimately, the Egyptian people and nation are the ones that will suffer, while the rest of the world will be worse off with the loss of Egyptian voices on the net.
However we are most concerned about the safety and security of the Egyptian people. Alongside the rest of the world, we share the hope for a positive and lasting solution to the problems that have risen to the surface there.
In the longer term, we are sure that the world will learn a lesson from this very unfortunate example, and come to understand that cutting off a nation’s access to the Internet only serves to fuel dissent and does not address the underlying causes of dissatisfaction.”
ICANN has confirmed that Bill Clinton will be the keynote speaker at ICANN’s 40th meeting, scheduled for March 13-18 2011 in Silicon Valley/San Francisco.
Following the FTC’s Do-Not-Track button proposal of late last year, Mozilla has revealed details of its implementation in Firefox.
The option would allow users to transmit a Do Not Track HTTP header with every click or page view in Firefox, to provide a way for people to opt-out of online behavioral advertising (OBA).
2/28 As noted above Microsoft sent their own solution to W3C. It has now been accepted as a standard. It involves users invoking a filter list from a trusted 3rd party provider as per diagram below.
3/16 Gavin Clarke Microsoft and Mozilla edge towards web privacy consensus? (The Register) – Gavin notes that along with the list system, that comprises the MS W3C spec, is included a placeholder for an unspecified header string – putting it on the same page as Mozilla. However, since HTTP is the domain of the IETF, Mozilla has made its proposal to the IETF not the W3C. Gavin foresees some co-operation between the two standards bodies to resolve the two proposals. Meanwhile Google are on their own.
The NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) announced the hiring of Rachel Sterne as the City’s first Chief Digital Officer. Sterne is tasked with helping to make NYC.gov more user-friendly, ensuring that agencies integrate social media opportunities and serving as an advocate for the digital media industry in New York City.
Sterne will work on a 90-day report detailing the City’s online strategies. She will look at various ways in which the City can enhance its digital footprint, streamline its existing social media mechanisms and explore public-private partnerships that the City could implement in the digital realm. Her report will go to MOME Commissioner Katherine Oliver and City Hall.
Sterne is a founder of startups GroundReport and Upward Strategy, both of which she will leave for the new post.
I tried to reach out to Rachel when she was first appointed. Our company makes technology that could greatly streamline and enhance New York’s Social media integration. With our product Techshare v1.5 they could roll out social project management and support instantly. I wonder whether she is just seeking input from companies she already has a relationship with? It will be interesting to see whether this is just another case of New York business as usual.
It is my impression that Rachel is open to all input. At meetings she has shown herself to be approachable and great readiness to gather as much information as possible. She is under a heavy deadline to produce an initial report, obviously, with limited personal resources. Once that is done I think we’ll see some broad brainstorming on ways to move forward, and plenty of RFI’s and RFP’s.
The ISOC Community Grants Programme will start accepting applications for it’s next round of awards on Monday, 21 February 2011. The application round will close Friday, 18 March with award notifications made in mid-May 2011.
ISOC’s Community Grants Programme is open to the creativity and imagination of the ISOC Community. The only parameters of the Program are the Criteria. The selection Committee favors Projects that strengthen and support the health of the Internet as well as Projects that further support ISOC’s mission, goals, and Strategic Initiatives. Grants are awarded twice a year.
ISOC-NY members considering making applications are invited to attend WebEx conference calls scheduled for 1 February 2011 at UTC 10:30 and 20:00 (5.30am and 3pm EST)
to discuss the application forms & criteria.
In the meeting, Programme Manager Connie Kendig will go over the guidelines on how to apply for funding and hold a Q&A session. There is also additional information posted on the website regarding telecentres/Internet cafe projects and will be discussed during the call as well.
Those participating in a conference call are urged to read over the programme webpages in advance of the meeting. Connecting to the meeting will be by WebEx: http://isoc.org/wp/chapter-meetings/?p=986 Any questions regarding the Community Grants Programme, please send them to projects@isoc.org. (More …)
The Lower East Side Ecology Center 8th Annual “After the Holidays” E-waste Event finishes this weekend. This is a great opportunity to responsibly dispose of all of your unwanted or broken gadgets.
There are also a couple of special offers for erecyclers from Tekserve and Zipcar. A list of acceptable materials can be found here.
January 22, 2011 | 10:00am – 4:00pm : Flyer(English)| Flyer(Spanish)| Directions
Ring Garden, Riverside Drive between Dyckman Street and Seaman Avenue, New York, NY
January 22, 2011 | 10:00am – 4:00pm : Flyer| Directions
Habana Outpost, Fulton Street b/w South Portland Avenue and South Oxford Street, Brooklyn, NY
January 23, 2011 | 10:00am – 4:00pm : Flyer | Directions
Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, 331 East 70th Street between First and Second Avenues, New York, NY
January 23, 2011 | 10:00am – 4:00pm : Flyer | Directions West 63rd Street between Central Park West and Broadway, New York, NY
On Jan 17 2011 Google launched Google TV for EDU, a seeding program to support university research. Google TV for EDU asks campuses around the country: how can educators enhance the Web on TV for the classroom. Specifically, they’re asking faculty how their research could:
*Generate new interest in television engineering
*Make computer science tangible for students
*Help in the development of smart TV curricula and new educational tools
*Contribute to in-classroom and distance learning over television
*Reach a wide audience
This initiative began last semester when Google Student Ambassadors hosted Google TV study breaks on over thirty campuses, and is co-ordinated with the Google Student Ambassador Program
Reply