Episode 0054, 06/21/2008
Title/Description: Eyes in the Skies, Internet at the Speed of Light
Welcome to Course Technology's CourseCast of the week, Episode 54, recorded June 21st, 2008.
This is Ken Baldauf bringing you this week's technology news and information.
This CourseCast is brought to you by Course Technology. Check out www.course.com for innovative textbooks and creative electronic learning solutions.
Story 1 - Eyes in the Skies
We have all been made aware of the ubiquitous nature of satellite surveillance from amazing software like Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth. While many are concerned about satellite surveillance intruding on our privacy, those eyes in the skies are also being put to work for righteous causes. Human Rights Watch recently released a report describing human rights abuses in a remote area of Ethiopia, one that is off limits to outsiders, unless you have a super-high-resolution camera in the sky. Human Rights Watch was able to back up stories of systematic destruction of villages and execution of residents through satellite images obtained from commercial satellite companies.
In another story, one of those U.S. commercial satellite companies is getting ready to launch a satellite that will be able to produce high-resolution color images so detailed that the U.S. government won't permit their public release. The new camera will be able to spot individual people on the ground, and can scan up to 700,000 square kilometers a day - an area roughly equal to the size of Texas. Other less powerful satellites will also be launched with cameras considerably more powerful than today's satellites. These new eyes in the skies will provide better quality images for software like Google Earth, and will fuel research in many areas. Still the benefits of these advancing technologies are not causing privacy advocates to sleep any better at night. The view of their houses on Google Earth show them pacing the floors at 3:00 AM.
Source: "Good surveillance: satellites watch for human rights abuses" [Ars Technica], "Sharper Satellite Images" [Technology Review]
Story 2 - Internet at the Speed of Light
Competition in the Internet Service Provider industry is ramping up. Now Verizon is getting into the race by expanding its FiOS service to new areas. FiOS is a very high-speed data network that provides telephone, Internet, and digital TV services to homes over fiber optic cable. Fios provides data speeds up to 50 Mbps; that’s ten times faster than cable modem. At that speed you could download a 60 minute Web video in eight seconds, or a high-def movie in 13 minutes. Beginning next week FiOS will be available in 16 states, that’s up from just six states previously. States covered include parts of California, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Washington. Verizon says that by 2010, FiOS will be available to 18 million people. The 50-Mbps service doesn't come cheap: $139.95 a month, which might not be too bad considering the price covers television, phone, and Internet.
Comcast is working to roll out a comparable super-high-speed network, but has suffered delays that will prevent it from competing in this arena for a few years. Meanwhile the cell phone carriers are rolling out their high speed Internet that will match, if not top today's fastest home Internet speeds of around 6 Mbps. In a speech at NXTComm in Las Vegas, Sprint CEO, Dan Hesse, described a new generation of "wireless freedom" where Sprint's new 4G wireless Internet will be open to any application and any device, including cameras, traffic lights, and electric meters. Look for that network to begin rolling out this summer.
No matter how you slice it, Internet availability and speed are about to take a giant leap forward - for those that can afford it.
Source: "Verizon Pushes Speed Factor In Expanding Faster Web Service" [CNN Money], "Competition Looms as Verizon, Comcast Boost Services" [NewsFactor], "Clearwire promises a fully-open, "third pipe" WiMAX network" [Ars Technica]
And that brings us to News Briefs.
That's it for this week's CourseCast. Links to this week's stories and many more news and information resources are provided at the CourseCast Web site at www.course.com/coursecasts. Email us with your suggestions for the show at course.coursecasts@cengage.com. Until next time have a great week and be sure to take advantage of the Power -- of Technology!