Internet Archive

US slams Australia’s on-shore cloud fixation

Thom Holwerda 2012-04-13 Internet 15 Comments

"The United States' global trade representative has strongly criticised a perceived preference on the part of large Australian organisations for hosting their data on-shore in Australia, claiming it created a significant trade barrier for US technology firms and was based on a misinterpretation of the US Patriot Act." It is somewhat entertaining that Australian citizens are apparently more concerned about the crazy Patriot Act (the name alone is hurl-inducing) than US citizens are.

This is the mail system

Thom Holwerda 2012-04-12 Internet 55 Comments

I would honestly serve at the altar of the person that did this. Keep the debugging information, but for the love of god, make your email client do something pretty and useful with it.

Facebook acquires Instagram

Thom Holwerda 2012-04-09 Internet 46 Comments

I hate when I have to report on stuff I just don't care about. However, it's big news, because for some reason I'm not particularly privy to, this photosharing service is more popular than god. Yes, Facebook has acquired Instagram. Update: "At the end of the day, that's what Instagram filters are: a crutch, a misguided replacement for a properly composed shot and a decent sensor."

Goodbye, Microsoft! celebrates 5th anniversary

jackson 2012-03-28 Internet 14 Comments

The Goodbye, Microsoft website has been a good source of Linux information for five years, focusing on issues like compatibility, mature computers, performance, applications, light distros, and reviews. The site just posted its Big Board of Linux Distributions, a list that gives you quick info on Linux distros sorted by hardware requirements. Here's to hoping this useful non-commercial website is with us for the next five years.

Microsoft censors Pirate Bay links in Windows Live Messenger

Thom Holwerda 2012-03-24 Internet 39 Comments

"The Pirate Bay is not only the most visited BitTorrent site on the Internet, but arguably the most censored too. Many ISPs have been ordered to block their customers’ access to the website, and recently Microsoft joined in on the action by stopping people sharing its location with others. Microsoft's Windows Live Messenger now refuses to pass on links to The Pirate Bay website, claiming they are unsafe." They refuse links to The Pirate Bay. In that light, here are a bunch of completely and utterly useless links to The Pirate Bay. And some more. And then some. Update: We have some more links to The Pirate Bay.

Mozilla forced to consider supporting H.264

Thom Holwerda 2012-03-14 Internet 132 Comments

Ever since it became clear that Google was not going to push WebM as hard as they should have, the day would come that Mozilla would be forced to abandon its ideals because the large technology companies don't care about an open, unencumbered web. No decision has been made just yet, but Mozilla is taking its first strides to adding support for the native H.264 codecs installed on users' mobile systems. See it as a thank you to Mozilla for all they've done for the web.

Can VMware get a virtual machine on the iPhone?

David Adams 2012-03-05 Internet 15 Comments

" latest creation is a tool called Horizon Mobile, and it too is meant for big businesses. The idea is that employees can use a phone's native operating system for personal tasks, but then switch over to a virtual machine that runs a separate OS for business tasks."

Apache HTTP Server 2.4 released

Thom Holwerda 2012-02-21 Internet 3 Comments

For the first time in six years, the Apache Foundation has released a new version of the successful Apache HTTP Server. "It is with great pleasure that we announce the availability of Apache HTTP Server 2.4", said Eric Covener, vice president of the Apache HTTP Server project, "This release delivers a host of evolutionary enhancements throughout the server that our users, administrators, and developers will welcome. We've added many new modules in this release, as well as broadened the capability and flexibility of existing features."

‘US government is scaring web business out of the US’

Thom Holwerda 2012-02-19 Internet 32 Comments

"The federal government has been paying lip service to the idea that it wants to encourage new businesses and startups in the US. And this is truly important to the economy, as studies have shown that almost all of the net job growth in this country is coming from internet startups. Thankfully some politicians recognize this, but the federal government seems to be going in the other direction. With the JotForm situation unfolding, where the US government shut down an entire website with no notice or explanation, people are beginning to recognize that the US is not safe for internet startups." Not an issue today per se, but if the US government keeps this up, they do run a risk of lobotomising their technology sector.

Germany refuses to sign ACTA amid protests

Thom Holwerda 2012-02-10 Internet 8 Comments

Well, this is good news. "Germany will not sign an international anti-piracy treaty, despite having already agreed to it in principal, government sources in Berlin said Friday, February 10." with Germany on the side of reason - for now - we're a huge step closer to stopping ACTA.

Tribler makes BitTorrent impossible to shut down

Thom Holwerda 2012-02-08 Internet 35 Comments

"While the file-sharing ecosystem is currently filled with uncertainty and doubt, researchers at Delft University of Technology continue to work on their decentralized BitTorrent network. Their Tribler client doesn't require torrent sites to find or download content, as it is based on pure peer-to-peer communication. 'The only way to take it down is to take the Internet down,' the lead researcher says." In a way, the efforts by Hollywood and the corrupt US Congress is actually increasing the resiliency of peer-to-peer technology. Karma.

EFF To Aid Users in Retrieving MegaUpload Data

Thom Holwerda 2012-02-01 Internet 9 Comments

"The Electronic Frontier Foundation, supported by Carpathia Hosting, today announced its plans to assess the scope of the issue facing Megaupload users who are at risk of losing their data. Carpathia has created this website to assist users in contacting EFF. EFF will review the factual situations shared by users and, if possible, try to resolve their issues." I <3 EFF. Seriously. These guys are universally fighting the good fight.

European Commission Signs ACTA

Submitted by kragil 2012-01-26 Internet 27 Comments

I promise we'll have more on ACTA next week, but for now, I'm too busy to properly cover the subject. In any case, the European Commission signed it today, but that means little - each individual member state's parliament still has to ratify it, and if one votes against it, it's over. The European Parliament has to accept it too - not a done deal either. My opinion on the matter is clear.

Google’s SPDY To Be Incorporated Into HTTP 2.0

Submitted by twitterfire 2012-01-25 Internet 12 Comments

"Google's efforts to improve Internet efficiency through the development of the SPDY (pronounced 'speedy') protocol got a major boost today when the chairman of the HTTP Working Group (HTTPbis), Mark Nottingham, called for it to be included in the HTTP 2.0 standard. SPDY is a protocol that's already used to a certain degree online; formal incorporation into the next-generation standard would improve its chances of being generally adopted."

Chromium-Based Remixes Worth Trying

Guest post by snydeq 2012-01-25 Internet 7 Comments

InfoWorld's Serdar Yegulalp takes an in-depth look at six Chromium-based spinoffs that bring privacy, security, social networking, and other interesting twists to Google's Chrome browser. 'When is it worth ditching Chrome for a Chromium-based remix? Some of the spinoffs are little better than novelties. Some have good ideas implemented in an iffy way. But a few point toward some genuinely new directions for both Chrome and other browsers.'

SOPA, PIPA Shelved, Internet’s Defeat Postponed

Submitted by DrillSgt 2012-01-20 Internet 51 Comments

Supposedly we've won today. Both the PROTECT-IP Act in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act in the House of Representatives have been shelved by their respective sponsors. However, these acts have been shelved before, and the bags of money sent to DC didn't suddenly devalue, so I'm sure the next SOPA is being written as we speak. What did make me happy, though, was Neelie Kroes: the EU commissioner for the digital agenda has unambiguously distanced herself from SOPA, which she calls "bad legislation". Obama, the next time you want to make a statement with teeth, just wait for Kroes to do it for you.

SOPA Not Shelved, Hearings To Continue in February

Thom Holwerda 2012-01-17 Internet 10 Comments

Well, well, well, well. Just like I, and many others with me, have said: SOPA is most certainly not dead. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith has just pushed out a press release stating that the House debate on SOPA will continue in February, 'unshelving' SOPA only a few days after it was supposedly shelved.

SOPA Shelved, Wikipedia Joins Blackout Anyway

Thom Holwerda 2012-01-16 Internet 45 Comments

Big news from Capitol Hill in Washington DC today: House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa has said that the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) has been "shelved" in the House of Representatives, meaning it has been put on indefinite hold until a consensus about the act can be reached. Sadly, SOPA's counterpart in the Senate, the Protect IP Act (PIPA) will still be pushed forward, meaning we must remain vigilant. Despite all of this, Wikipedia has announced it will join the blackout coming Wednesday.

White House Uses 838 Words to Say Nothing About SOPA

Thom Holwerda 2012-01-14 Internet 30 Comments

The Obama administration has responded to two petitions regarding SOPA, but in true political fashion, the response is 838 words of absolutely nothing at all. Here's a link, but don't complain to me about losing 10 minutes of your life reading this empty drivel. How about taking a stand for once, eh?

Nginx Overtakes Microsoft As No. 2 Web Server

Guest post by snydeq 2012-01-05 Internet 36 Comments

With financial backing from the likes of Michael Dell and other venture capitalists, open source upstart Nginx has edged out Microsoft IIS (Internet Information Server) to hold the title of second-most widely used Web server among all active websites. What's more, according to Netcraft's January 2012 Web Server Survey, Nginx over the past month has gained market share among all websites, whereas competitors Apache, Microsoft, and Google each lost share.