Connecting To The Rest Of The World

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There was a Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona this week, in which many companies explained their plan to increase the number of people uses their internet services.  The most common approach is by reaching out to the billions of people who currently do not have internet access.  As usual, Google and Facebook are making great attempts to reach those billions.

Google’s plan to provide internet access to currently un-reached areas is Project Loon.  Project Loon is a system of hot-air balloons, place 12 miles in the atmosphere, each with the power to provide internet access to an area the size of Rhode Island.  These are much cheaper and much easier to build than cell towers.  Facebook’s plan is Internet.org, which is a set standard for internet services, that would make it easier for new phone carriers to have a low-bandwidth system while still having access to important apps and information.

If Google’s and Facebook’s projects succeed they could reach 4-5 billion people in five years.  This will launch them even farther ahead in the internet industry, making it even harder for other companies to compete against them.

Article Link: 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-03/google-and-facebook-s-race-to-bring-the-web-to-the-developing-world

Google’s New Headquarters

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What happens when Google wants a new headquarters and hires two ridiculously talented architects to design it?  That’s right, it’s freaking, ridiculous.  The building will be able to move, MOVE!

Well not all of it.  The company said they’ll have, “lightweight block-like structures which can be moved around easily,”  The entire building won’t be like this, but only buildings that can be moved to better support the company, depending on its needs, like extra housing.  The over-arching idea behind the building is for Google to have a solid, tangible thing that is as ground-breaking as Google’s intangible successes.  They also want the surrounding area they construct to be useful not only for the employees, but to everyone else as well.  With beautiful walkways and bike-trails, I’m sure many people in Mountain View, California, are greatly looking forward to the completion of this project.

The link has a video showcasing the idea for the project and the architects who designed it.  Check it out!

Article Like: 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-27/check-out-google-s-insane-plans-for-a-new-headquarters

Our Pirate Problem

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On January 15th the Oscar nominations were made.  Because of this, in the next month, the number of illegally downloaded movies went up 385%.  This led to an over 40 million dollar loss for the motion picture companies, and showed that we are no closer to solving our movie pirating problem.

The article mentions that one solution would be to release movies online, at the same times as it is released in theaters.  This was done fairly successfully with the movie The Interview, but more money could have been made, if it had seen more time in theaters.  Also, few theater owners would agree to show the movie, if it was typically done this way; therefore, costing the motion picture companies a lot of money.  So, to reduce movie piracy, movies should be made available sooner, to gain the money illegal downloading costs us.  But, if that happens, we’ll lose money from the movie theater owners.

This conflicting paradox is why we appear no closer to solving our pirate problem.  Though with our ever-increasing technological capabilities, we will have new ways of releasing movies, and new reasons pirating should be stopped.

Article Link:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-19/how-oscar-buzz-fuels-online-movie-piracy

Who Gets Your Digital Accounts if Your Dead?

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Who has access to your digital content when you die?  What happens to your Itunes, Facebook, and Google accounts?  Who do they belong to if you’re dead?  The answer may surprise you.

I’ve often wondered about this, so I was extremely happy to see this article explain things.  Facebook made recent changes to their settings, which allows you to appoint someone in charge of your legality, upon your death.  This person is allowed to download the photos and other content of the deceased, as well as, make one final post.  This ONLY allows someone access to your account.  It does not give then legal rights to any of the deceased’s intellectual property.

But that’s just Facebook’s policy.  Apple, Google, and Yahoo’s policies were shown as well.  The most shocking for me is Apple’s.  The policy says, “Any rights to your Apple ID or content within your account terminate upon your death.”  If you die, no one else is legally allowed to gain access to your account.  If you die, your content, you bought, belongs to Apple again.

Article Link:  

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-13/after-you-die-there-s-a-debate-about-your-data

Facebook at Work

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You’ve accessed Facebook at work before right?  If you said, “No” then you probably just don’t have an account.  For those of us on Facebook, there is always this constant urge to view the latest updates regarding what our friends are doing.  But what if accessing Facebook from work was more than a want but a requirement.

Earlier this month Facebook released a corporate version of its social media site called “Facebook at Work.”  This version, as of now, is completely free, even though it removed the advertisement revenue the social version has.  Facebook at Work’s engineering director Rasmussen says: that there are no immediate plans for the site to make money.  Other corporate, networking sites require monthly subscriptions.  Though Facebook’s new site is free at the moment, it may not stay that way.

It seems to me that if communication between people is involved, so is Facebook.  Perhaps this new direction will turn out to be a huge flop for the social media mogul.  However, Facebook has not gotten to where it is today based on its big product failures, but on its enormous successes.

Article Link:  

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-22/facebook-at-work-offers-little-new-as-corporate-social-network

Want Internet Access? Learn English

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Many people, like myself, assume that if you want access to the internet, all you have to do it order the service, get on a computer, and everything is fine.  But in some countries you would have to order the service, get on a computer, and learn a new language.

The Bloomberg article “Google Tries to Translate in India” points out that many Indians are gaining access to the internet, but according to the article, “Almost all the websites in India are available only in English.”  According to the Google India managing director, “India is going to get to 500 million (out of its roughly 1.25 billion people) internet users, but 300 million (nearly the population of the U.S.) are not going to be proficient in English.”

It was mind-boggling for me to think about having to learn a second language just to be able to explore the internet.  Google is currently working with 18 Indian companies to develop content in languages other than English.  Facebook’s own Zuckerberg was also in India, encouraging local developers to create content in the local language instead of English.

Article Link:  

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2015-01-15/india-google-aims-to-better-serve-nonenglish-speakers