China Mobile to set up world's largest 4G network

<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">China Mobile, the world's biggest carrier, is expected to spend  as much as 82 billion yuan (US$13.41 billion) to roll out what is touted to be the world's largest 4G network by the end of 2014.</span></div> <figure class="alignRight" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; float: right; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 5px 0px 0px 20px; max-width: 220px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;"></figure><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cdn-static.zdnet.com/i/r/library/uk-thumbs/4g-200x150.jpg?hash=BGIwAQp0MJ&upscale=1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="4g" border="0" height="300" src="http://cdn-static.zdnet.com/i/r/library/uk-thumbs/4g-200x150.jpg?hash=BGIwAQp0MJ&upscale=1" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top; width: auto;" title="4g" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">China Mobile </span></i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">According to a report by <a href="http://epaper.nfdaily.cn/html/2013-12/19/content_7256850.htm" style="border: 0px; color: #005399; cursor: pointer; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Nanfang Daily</a> last week, the operator said during the Global Partner Conference that by this time next year, it will invest 50 billion yuan (US$8.18 billion) on 500,000 base stations and other infrastructure expenses. Its customers in Beijing, Shanghai, and 14 other cities will have 4G access by end-2013, while another 340 cities will be connected by the end of next year, said China Mobile CEO Xi Guohua. The operator in May had initiated large-scale <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/cn/4g-to-debut-in-shanghai-in-june-7000015585/" style="border: 0px; color: #005399; cursor: pointer; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">4G trials in Shanghai</a>, where it built 1,000 base stations to cover the Inner Ring region. </span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Xi added that China Mobile was forecasting to sell over 100 million pieces of LTE  terminals, which will likely be heavily subsidized. </span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In comparison, its competitors--<a href="http://www.zdnet.com/cn/china-telecom-reportedly-launching-mobile-messaging-app-7000019377/" style="border: 0px; color: #005399; cursor: pointer; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">China Telecom</a> and <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/cn/china-unicom-gets-100k-iphone-orders-despite-lukewarm-launch-7000020821/" style="border: 0px; color: #005399; cursor: pointer; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">China Unicom</a>--are still advertising their 4G services without providing any substantial details about their rollout. </span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"The huge terminal subsidy provided by China Mobile played an critical role in the skyrocketing 3G smartphone market in 2013," said Yang Qun, analyst at a consultancy group. He estimated the operator would spend 32 billion yuan (US$5.23 billion) in the new year, compared with 27 billion (US$4.42 billion) in 2013. Total spending in its 4G rollout is anticipated to hit 82 billion yuan (US$13.41 billion).</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To cater to growing market demand, Huawei vowed to invest more on its LTE devices. It rival smartphone maker, ZTE, revealed plans to launch its 4G terminals in the first quarter of 2014 with a pricetag of only 1,000 yuan (US$163.56), according to Ye Weimin, ZTE's senior vice president.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">International handset manufacturers such as Samsung, HTC, and Sony also showcased their models for upcoming 4G networks in China at the Global Partner Conference.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With its ageing network, China Mobile had lost quite a number of loyal customers to rivals China Unicom and China Telecom. Having announced its LTE plans as the company's strategic development priorities, China Mobile seems to have gained the upper hand this time.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Via: <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/cn/china-mobile-to-set-up-worlds-largest-4g-network-7000024617/">ZDNet</a></i></span></div>

China Mobile to set up world's largest 4G network

China Mobile, the world's biggest carrier, is expected to spend  as much as 82 billion yuan (US$13.41 billion) to roll out what is tout...

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What a successful exploit of a Linux server looks like

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0XwHAgeMdc7PwC5-Ve_YSjb5goY1YrcNoxum5AnKazh7I_xRqtFE1fV-1z39Rr3nTrQLa-HCSyuda2EuLIs5BHuc3ENK-aLNQitEsSjizl5JVA4tBfvj-RrGZdoBRGLM5uKwqXYIYo22y/s640/irc_1-640x291.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Exploit of a Linux</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0XwHAgeMdc7PwC5-Ve_YSjb5goY1YrcNoxum5AnKazh7I_xRqtFE1fV-1z39Rr3nTrQLa-HCSyuda2EuLIs5BHuc3ENK-aLNQitEsSjizl5JVA4tBfvj-RrGZdoBRGLM5uKwqXYIYo22y/s1600/irc_1-640x291.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A security researcher with George Washington University, DiMino noticed several IP addresses attempting to hijack the Linux server by exploiting a <a href="http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/520827" style="text-decoration: none;">now-patched PHP flaw</a> that gave attackers the ability to remotely execute commands on vulnerable machines. DiMino was curious to know what the people behind the attacks intended to do with his machine, so he set up a "honeypot" box that, for research purposes, ran an older version of the Web development language.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The attackers' HTTP POST request contained a variety of commands that in short order downloaded a Perl script that was disguised as a PDF document file, executed it, and then deleted it. To ensure success, the attackers repeated the steps using curl, fetch, lwp-get requests. The Perl script was programmed to sleep for periods of time, presumably to prevent administrators from noticing anything amiss. Eventually, the compromised machine connected to an Internet relay chat channel, where it downloaded another script and executed it. Then he ran forensic software and snapped lots of screen shots so everyone could follow along.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In short order, the machine was running a host of apps installed by the attackers. Some of them hijacked the server hardware to perform the mathematical operations required to "mine" Bitcoins and another digital currency known as <a href="https://github.com/primecoin/primecoin/wiki" style="text-decoration: none;">Primecoin</a>. The server was also equipped with apps to perform denial-of-service attacks on other machines and to scan other machines for known vulnerabilities and exploit them when found.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Across my honeypots, I'll see dozens of these a day, including Linux ELF [executable and linkable format] files, perlbots, and vintage shells," DiMino wrote in a <a href="http://sempersecurus.blogspot.com/2013/12/a-forensic-overview-of-linux-perlbot.html" style="text-decoration: none;">blog post published Tuesday</a>. "While these injected perl and shell scripts are typically considered the patio gnats of the Internet, more annoying than anything else, they do have the potential to cause considerable harm."</span></div><h2 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; line-height: 24px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Not just for Windows anymore</span></h2><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">DiMino's anatomy lesson is a graphic demonstration of recent advances in exploits for Linux. Once primarily the domain of machines running Windows, point-and-click exploits are used to commandeer machines so attackers can use them in online crime schemes. The increased horsepower and bandwidth available in many Linux servers often makes them more attractive than personal computers running Microsoft OSes. And as has always been the case, hijacked bots don't come with expensive electricity bills, and they often make it easy for criminals to cover their tracks.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The takeaway from the demonstration is just how important it is for admins working with any OS to stay on top of security patching. DiMino counsels admins to go a step further by learning how to actively monitor network activity on the machines they watch over. His blog post provides instructions for using the <a href="https://code.google.com/p/volatility/" style="text-decoration: none;">Volatility software framework</a> to perform forensics on server memory. Among other things, it allows users to identify remote connections and the processes that initiate them.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Via : <a href="http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/12/anatomy-of-a-hack-what-a-successful-exploit-of-a-linux-server-looks-like/" target="_blank">Ars Technica</a></span></i></div>

What a successful exploit of a Linux server looks like

Exploit of a Linux A security researcher with George Washington University, DiMino noticed several IP addresses attempting to hijack the Lin...

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Ready: Open Up the Throttle of High-Speed Networking?

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglcwlJWKstt72k7xoixRbOzOhjjCoq6PClkICg4w5qipjps0gdmytwNKQzzLJrunJxJhAiro9qu3bzyCEEAdfa8XKqe_NXA2Uuy9fvsDvDRHj1outVEWJLLrntydPhsppePdVQ6Jhj7H4/s1600/n-ROUTERS-large570.jpg" imageanchor="1"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglcwlJWKstt72k7xoixRbOzOhjjCoq6PClkICg4w5qipjps0gdmytwNKQzzLJrunJxJhAiro9qu3bzyCEEAdfa8XKqe_NXA2Uuy9fvsDvDRHj1outVEWJLLrntydPhsppePdVQ6Jhj7H4/s1600/n-ROUTERS-large570.jpg" /></span></a></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Okay class, gather 'round. Anyone out there know what the draft 802.11ac protocol is?</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hint: It's not a secret CIA plot to take over the Earth, and it's not the focus of a new James Bond film.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What it is, however, is a fairly new high-speed technology that is quickly taking over the networking community, and can be found in many of the new routers, and other network devices, that have hit store shelves in the past few months.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We managed to get out hands on several of these devices, and have been playing with them for the past month.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">From D-Link, we have the new Wireless AC1750 Dual-Band Gigabit Cloud Router ($169.99). We also have three items from Linksys, including the AC1200 SMART Wi-Fi Wireless Router ($169.99), the Wireless AC Wi-Fi 5 GHz Universal Connector Bridge ($149) and the Mini Wi-Fi Wireless Dual-Band USB Adapter ($59.99).</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now, for those of you that are still pondering the 802.11 ac protocol, here's a short (and edited) explanation from<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11ac" style="border: 0px; color: #0088c3; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink"> Wikipedia</a>:</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"IEEE 802.11ac is a wireless computer networking standard (which is marketed under the brand name Wi-Fi) providing high-throughput wireless local area networks (WLANs) on the 5 GHz band] The standard was developed from 2011 through 2013, with final 802.11 Working Group approval and publication scheduled for early 2014. This specification has expected multi-station WLAN throughput of at least 1 gigabit per second and a single link throughput of at least 500 megabits per second (500 Mbit/s)."</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Simply put, 802.11ac is faster and more reliable than 802.11n, or any of the previous standards.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is one big drawback though: 802.11ac has a shorter range than its predecessors, because it only operates in the 5 GHz range, but this is negligible and probably won't affect the typical home network or SOHO network. The advantage of operating at 5 GHz is that it virtually eliminates interference from other wireless devices and microwave ovens. Older Wi-Fi routers operated in the 2.4 GHz range, which is shared by many of these devices, although we've seen a lot of dual-band routers/modems that switch from 2.4 GHz to 5 GHz.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Of course, for true 802.11ac connectivity, the computer, or other device you're using, needs to be able to connect to the higher speed devices. For that, you'll need to install a new 802.11ac Wi-Fi card or use an USB adapter or other device to communicate with these routers, etc.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The D-Link cloud router delivers the best of both worlds -- 802.11 ac connectivity and dual-band capabilities, depending on the wireless device you're using on your network. Also, you can access files remotely on any Apple or Android device using D-Link's "mydlink" SharePort app. Simply plug an USB drive into the USB port on the router, and everything that's stored on that drive is accessible anywhere, at any time. And, being a 802.11ac router, it can stream video and audio files, and deliver network access at speeds up to 1,300 megabits per second.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This app can also be used to set up your router remotely.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Other features include:</span></div><ul style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><li class="first" style="border: 0px; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px 0px 4px 35px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">AC SmartBeam, which locates and focuses bandwidth to your devices by automatically switching between 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz.</span></li><div style="border: 0px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"></div><li style="border: 0px; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px 0px 4px 35px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gigabit Ethernet, which delivers data 10-times faster than traditional Fast Ethernet using Ethernet cables.</span></li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br style="border: 0px; display: block; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px;" /></span><li style="border: 0px; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px 0px 4px 35px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">USB 3.0.</span></li><div style="border: 0px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"></div><div style="border: 0px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"></div><li style="border: 0px; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px 0px 4px 35px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It works with existing and future Wi-Fi devices.</span></li><div style="border: 0px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"></div><div style="border: 0px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"></div><li style="border: 0px; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px 0px 4px 35px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WPS connectivity, which means you can connect any WPS-enabled devices with the push of a button.</span></li><div style="border: 0px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"></div><div style="border: 0px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"></div><li style="border: 0px; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px 0px 4px 35px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Easy setup without a CD, using either the D-Link mobile apps (via the cloud) or your computer.</span></li><div style="border: 0px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"></div><div style="border: 0px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"></div><li class="last" style="border: 0px; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px 0px 4px 35px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">IPV6 security and parental controls.</span></li></ul><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Linksys AC1200 is also a dual-band router that switches between 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz, It basically has all of the features of the D-Link router, including access to files using mobile apps and home cloud technology. So, what makes it different?</span></div><ul style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><li class="first" style="border: 0px; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px 0px 4px 35px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It will connect to all NFC-enabled devices -- such as a Samsung Galaxy S4 -- using a SimpleTap card. Just tap the card with the NFC device, and you're connected.</span></li><div style="border: 0px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"></div><li style="border: 0px; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px 0px 4px 35px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Linksys has simplified the setup process to a few steps without an installation CD using SMART Wi-Fi software.</span></li><div style="border: 0px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"></div><div style="border: 0px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"></div><li class="last" style="border: 0px; list-style: disc inside; margin: 0px 0px 4px 35px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You get increased range with the company's SpeedBoost antenna technology.</span></li></ul><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Further extend the range of your network using the Linksys Wireless-AC Wi-Fi 5 GHz Universal Connector Bridge, which boasts four Ether net ports and is backwards compatible with 802.11a and n routers. This will allow you to connect any device to your network that doesn't have Wi-Fi compatibility built in, such as DVD players, so-called smart TVs, music servers ad others.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Top this all off with the Mini Wi-Fi Wireless AC583 Dual-Band USB Adapter, and your network is complete. While it's designed to upgrade your computer to 802.11ac compatibility, it is backwards compatible to work with older routers, and is designed to work with routers manufactured by <i>other companies.<br />Via: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-l-berman/ready-to-open-up-the-thro_b_4313008.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592">HUFF POST TECH</a></i></span></div>

Ready: Open Up the Throttle of High-Speed Networking?

Okay class, gather 'round. Anyone out there know what the draft 802.11ac protocol is? Hint: It's not a secret CIA plot to take over ...

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FCC Plans Overhaul of Old Phone Network

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg80SSsi5fmWTUNtxJzKkSAlzEd3xtxO_Hiw1zjQNBBTiPMIsU-F_XSLc7tjeDIIoFW36t_rwXD09BXirWKDEYmMYZvTJ4XKIZw_-lSCAAmkoK-HLiWvdrtNQWA5k7ZA-YWBuGWBXTxzaXV/s1600/fcc-pots-connectivity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg80SSsi5fmWTUNtxJzKkSAlzEd3xtxO_Hiw1zjQNBBTiPMIsU-F_XSLc7tjeDIIoFW36t_rwXD09BXirWKDEYmMYZvTJ4XKIZw_-lSCAAmkoK-HLiWvdrtNQWA5k7ZA-YWBuGWBXTxzaXV/s400/fcc-pots-connectivity.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></div><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Time to say goodbye, Alexander Graham Bell. The phone system that was built on principles going back to Bell is on the verge of being replaced by Internet technology, thanks to an effort spearheaded by the Federal Communications Commission. </span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In a post on the FCC's blog (yes, even the FCC has one), agency Chairman Tom Wheeler pointed on Tuesday to a variety of needed changes in the network , including the move from circuit-switch time-division multiplexing to Internet Protocol, or IP. Wheeler joined the FCC as chairman at the beginning of this month, replacing Julius Genachowski. </span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Wheeler said the agency would begin "a diverse set of experiments" in 2014 to move the U.S. telephone system from one that still employs circuits and copper wires to one that is based on Internet technology. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="subhead"><span style="font-size: large;">FCC Authority </span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="subhead"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In addition, the chairman said he expected the FCC to approve a plan at its January meeting that would look at the revision of the legal, policy and technical issues required for such a major overhaul. The plan will be presented at the December meeting by a task force that has been looking into the transformation. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">There is some question as to what the FCC's authority over an IP-based system actually is, given that it has only limited authority over the Internet. But federal regulations have shaped what we know as the standard phone system, such as guaranteeing there is at least one phone company serving every part of the U.S. The consumer group Public Knowledge has called on the FCC to ensure that telephone service remains accessible to everyone. </span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Other policy and regulations will have to deal with such issues as how 911 calls are managed in an IP network, what the rules are for minimum service, and how "Net Neutrality" -- where network providers provide the same service to everyone -- is handled. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="subhead"><span style="font-size: large;">Plain Old Telephone Service</span></span></span></span><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="subhead"><span style="font-size: large;">  </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Wheeler has come under criticism for being too close to the telecommunications and broadcast industries, since they previously employed him as a lobbyist. In response, he has said that today, "the American people are my client." </span></span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Wheeler described this transformation of the phone system as the Fourth Network Revolution, and compared it to the "creation of industrial organizations and the standardized time zones that followed in the wake of the railroad and telegraph." </span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Analog technology and physical switches are still used in parts of the network, supporting POTS, or Plain Old Telephone Service. But, with the use of mobile devices growing by leaps and bounds, users are rarely employing just phone service, and the outdated components limit the traffic-carrying capacity. </span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Completion of the IP conversion is intended to enable more information to be transmitted, which could help support the additional traffic load imposed by the growing use of video. IP-based phone service is already being used by millions of customers of Verizon FiOS, AT&T's U-Verse, and services provided by Skype and Vonage. </span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>Source : <a href="http://www.cio-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=11000CA8A5HI">CIO Today </a></i></span></span>

FCC Plans Overhaul of Old Phone Network

Time to say goodbye, Alexander Graham Bell. The phone system that was built on principles going back to Bell is on the verge of being repla...

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Cisco attributes part of lowered earnings to China’s anger toward NSA

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC6M9CXT3XNJ5s6c0WeNtY21pXMYvhMNNlu-UT8gGMaHw1ljQsMKi5hvK0ZsNsVLc-oAAU5ioo1S32E_vIDMu3jeNI6yB1IvBwM4A0FT8qyZ73TaeULMDTDKFUH7R-LsuIsBAQ1R2hcGei/s1600/5267418222_448cc6d526_b-640x360.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC6M9CXT3XNJ5s6c0WeNtY21pXMYvhMNNlu-UT8gGMaHw1ljQsMKi5hvK0ZsNsVLc-oAAU5ioo1S32E_vIDMu3jeNI6yB1IvBwM4A0FT8qyZ73TaeULMDTDKFUH7R-LsuIsBAQ1R2hcGei/s1600/5267418222_448cc6d526_b-640x360.jpg" /></span></a></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After its quarterly earnings call on Wednesday evening, Cisco’s <a href="https://www.google.ca/finance?q=NASDAQ:CSCO&sa=X&ei=nSWFUpC7G-bbyQGShIEg&ved=0CC0Q2AEwAA" style="text-decoration: none;">stock price is down over 12 percent</a>(as of this writing) on Thursday. The tumble comes after Cisco <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2013-11-14/sector-snap-cisco-guidance-hits-tech-stocks" style="text-decoration: none;">adjusted</a> its <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-cisco-shares-slammed-after-company-forecasts-sales-decline-20131114,0,1651953.story#axzz2keMsAtuz" style="text-decoration: none;">guidance down</a>, saying that its current quarter’s revenue could be down as much as 10 percent when compared to the same period last year.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the first fiscal quarter of 2014, the <a href="http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/858877/000119312513440194/d627953dex991.htm" style="text-decoration: none;">company took in a net profit of $2 billion</a>, down 4.6 percent when compared to the same period in 2013.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Interestingly, company executives attributed part of that slowdown to a backlash from China. Cisco says that June 2013 documents provided by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden <a href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/06/guardian-publishes-third-secret-nsa-document-on-cyberwar/" style="text-decoration: none;">revealed</a> American surveillance in China and that those revelations have somewhat tarnished its business with the nation.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">According to a <a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/1838052-ciscos-ceo-discusses-f1q-2014-results-earnings-call-transcript?page=9&p=qanda&l=last" style="text-decoration: none;">Seeking Alpha transcript</a> of the earnings call with industry analysts, Cisco CEO John Chambers said the NSA’s surveillance had “an impact in China.”</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I do think we are seeing a slowdown in these emerging markets both in the decision making and their economies. And so I do not think it is a major factor across all of emerging [markets]. I do think it is a factor, however, in China.”</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rob Lloyd, Cisco’s president for development and sales, chimed in: “This issue has caused, increasingly, customers to pause and [is] another issue for them to evaluate, in all of those complexities that you've already discussed. So it's not having material impact, but it's certainly causing people to stop and then rethink decisions, and that is, I think, reflected in our results.”</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/14/us-china-cisco-idUSBRE9AD0J420131114" style="text-decoration: none;">Reuters</a> noted that IBM’s revenue in China has recently been suffering as well and led the company to a four-percent drop in its third-quarter profit.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"We hope and demand that relevant foreign companies respect China's laws," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told the news agency on Thursday. "At the same time, as the Chinese government, we of course have an obligation, a responsibility, to protect the country's security."</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Source : <a href="http://arstechnica.com/business/2013/11/cisco-attributes-part-of-lowered-earnings-to-chinas-anger-towards-nsa/">Ars Technica</a></span></i></div>

Cisco attributes part of lowered earnings to China’s anger toward NSA

After its quarterly earnings call on Wednesday evening, Cisco’s  stock price is down over 12 percent (as of this writing) on Thursday. The t...

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