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Tag:technology (p. 1/1) | Vox Clamantis In Deserto

The End of Net Neutrality Won’t Be An Apocalypse

Net neutrality is a good thing, but its demise won’t be the apocalyptic threshold that many “Chicken Littles” prognosticate. There are just too many money-grubbing attorneys chomping at the bit for a juicy class-action suit. Then too, there is also the US Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Consumer Protections Bureau on deck to intervene if the existing laws and court rulings are violated.

Around 100 years ago, the Mann-Elkins Act of 1910 legislatively declared telecommunication networks to be common carriers subject to Congress’ authority to regulate interstate commerce. In 1974, MCI sued AT&T in federal court for violating Mann-Elkins after Illinois Bell (at the time a wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T) severed all of MCI’s network interconnections. MCI won a $1.8 billion judgement (which was upheld, though reduced, in 1983 by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals). But ever since the 1970s, telecommunication providers cannot (lawfully) deny network access to a party that is willing and able to pay for the service nor can telecommunication providers charge dissimilar access rates to competitors. In fact, MCI’s initial 1974 victory over AT&T was the very thing that led to the federal government’s antitrust action that resulted in AT&T’s unprecedented breakup.Continue Reading

Why Everyone Should Have Google Voice

Google Voice is one of the most useful communications tools around. First and foremost, it’s free. But with that $0 pricetag you get a real phone number from almost anywhere in the country that simultaneously rings your other numbers–cell, home, work, etc. So your child’s school could call one number and ring both parents’ cell phones or cell and work phones simultaneously.Continue Reading

Alternate DNS Servers

If you want to cut down on the data that your ISP collects and sells regarding your web browsing, use an alternate free (and probably faster) DNS service.

Provider IPv4 IPv6
Cloudflare 1.1.1.1
1.0.0.1
2606:4700:4700::1111
2606:4700:4700::1001
Google 8.8.8.8
8.8.4.4
2001:4860:4860::8888
2001:4860:4860::8844
OpenDNS 208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220
2620:119:35::35
2620:119:53::53
OpenDNS
Family Shield
208.67.222.123
208.67.220.123
::ffff:d043:de7b
::ffff:d043:dc7b

 

Android, Apple, and iTunes 12

When it comes to cell phones, Android and iPhone are like capitalism and communism or democracy and dictatorship. The iPhone is a great product that delivers a reliable user experience. On the other hand, iPhone innovation is unbearably handicapped and stifled by Apple’s authoritarian control over developers. Yes, this does ensure a reliable user experience, but it also prevents good (but imperfect) ideas from reaching users where consumption will give rise to free-market improvement. But for all of Apple’s focus on user experience, it really fucked up on iTunes 12.10.x.Continue Reading

Hey Google….DBAA

Some time ago I created a Tasker profile called DBAA (Don’t Be An Asshole). Basically, this profile watched for certain keywords in wireless network names and then put the phone on vibrate based on the assumption that ringing in those locations would be undesirable (specifically, it looks for church, mosque, synagogue, shrine, theater, cinema, movie, patron, library, academy, school, elementary, middle, high, auditorium, lecture, recital, and hall). It isn’t perfect; some places might not have wifi or the wifi name might not contain one of the hotwords. Still, if it helps anywhere, it’s a benefit. But why, I wonder, hasn’t Google implemented this sort of functionality tied to Android’s location awareness? That would be easy enough and much more reliable. Of course, nothing should be forced upon the user so, like Do Not Disturb mode, a user should have the option to enable or disable. Better still, why not prompt the user to enable silent mode upon arriving at such a location?

Naked In Nature

As I lay there naked in the heavy dampness and slight chill with only the drizzle and the creek accompanying me in the blackness, I contemplated the existence of my earlier hominid ancestors sheltering such nights in caves. Continue Reading

Envisioning Nontraditional Men’s Clothing with AI

AI Image of man wearing knee length sleeveless Oxford shirt dress with elasticized waist.

The problem with demonstrating non-existent clothing is the fact that such clothing does not exist. And whether man or woman, very few consumers have the capacity to draw what they imagine or to sew what they draw. If it can’t be represented, how will a tailor or seamstress be able to create a custom order? Maybe AI can empower the strident consumer to refine his wishes with detail that he can’t quite articulate. This image is the product of “Man wearing knee length sleeveless Oxford shirt dress with elasticized waist.” Perhaps its simplicity will provoke more complex endeavors. (Credit to Deep AI) The crazy thing is that AI does not often generate any two identical images ftom the same text prompt. So if an image isn’t close, just refresh. If an image is close, don’t havigate away or take a break. The AI will abandon its flow. Keep tweaking the text prompt.