Greetings, to my NetHappenings Buds:I am going to be in NY Nov. 6th to see author Daniel Cassidy perform at the Donaghy Theatre.
Please come over and say hi to me if you are there. <Karen> 1) Professor Daniel Cassidy 2007 American Books Award Winner http://www.irishartscenter.org/language.htm HOW THE IRISH INVENTED SLANG The Secret Language of the Crossroads A Reading & Performance by author DANIEL CASSIDY Tuesday, November 6th 7:30 PM. The Donaghy Theatre at the Irish Arts Center 553 West 51 Street, New York, NY 10019 phone 212-757-3318"Cassidy's book is wonderful! Congrats to him on winning an American Book Award. ~ John Rickford and Martin Luther King Junior Centennial Professor and Chair of the Department of Linguistics at Stanford University, where he has been a faculty member since 1980. Author of "Spoken Soul" American Book Award.
Reviews: http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/GuavaberryBooks/Domino/fbBooks.html 2) Comcast Admits Interfering with Internet Traffic http://www.nbc10.com/technology/14408077/detail.htmlNEW YORK -- Comcast Corp. on Tuesday acknowledged "delaying" some subscriber Internet traffic, but said any roadblocks it puts up are temporary and intended to improve surfing for other users. The statement was a response to an Associated Press report last week that detailed how the nation's largest cable company was interfering with file sharing by some of its Internet subscribers. The AP also found that Comcast's computers masqueraded as those of its users to interrupt file-sharing connections. Internet watchdog groups denounced Comcast's actions, calling it an example of the kind of abuse that could be curbed with so-called "Net Neutrality" legislation. It would require Internet providers to treat all traffic equally -- as has largely been the case historically. Philadelphia-based Comcast has repeatedly denied blocking any Internet application, including "peer-to-peer" file-sharing programs like BitTorrent, which the AP used in its nationwide tests. "Comcast is making arbitrary bandwidth allocation decisions slowing use of basic (programs) without being clear to consumers what they really get when they buy a broadband connection." The Electronic Frontier Foundation confirmed the AP's findings with its own tests -- including spotting forged messages sent by Comcast's computers to shut down connections.
Caught with their pants down by Associated Press traffic - Lauren Weinstein http://lauren.vortex.com Comcast has now admitted to what they call "delaying" traffic -- in this case a euphemism for what network engineers would call the spoofing or forging of traffic to disrupt the expected normal communications protocol sequences. For those of us who have long been concerned about assuring Network Neutrality, this case represents but the tip of the iceberg in terms of the sorts of potential likely abuses that we can expect from the unfettered ISPs. If ISPs have problems with the traffic generated by a particular class of applications, the correct approach would be to work with the network community toward solutions, not acting like an incompetent hacker who could care less about disrupting network protocols designed with considerable effort over decades. This case isn't just a Network Neutrality smoking gun, it's a veritable bazooka -- and it's aimed right at ISP customers -- that's you and me. Blogging from the 2007 MW conference: AT&T says there is no duopoly, net neutrality is bad http://www.muniwireless.com/article/articleview/6560/1/23 It's Day 2 of the Muniwireless Silicon Valley Conference and they have an executive from AT&T talking about municipal wireless networks. AT&T has not changed its tune. It is still against cities using public funds to compete with private enterprise and believes that communications should be left up to private firms like AT&T. James Cicconi, Senior Executive VP Legislative and External Affairs for AT&T claims that there is no duopoly and there is enough competition in the market for telecommunications services, so cities should stay out. What is AT&T's position on net neutrality? <snip> Assuring Scarcity http://www.frankston.com/public/?Name=AssuringScarcity NN is a great meme for feeding the rage. We can't risk legislation that legitimizes compromises like ATT's promises in the last merger. We can't risk structural separation either because it replaces a marketplace with more rules. The problem is fundamental and inherent -- as long as the service providers control the transport there cannot be a marketplace. We must learn the lessons of the CLEC debacle and settle for nothing less. The rage is on our side and will build because there the carriers have a fiduciary responsibility to misbehave given they must fund the transport out of service revenue but the more transport we have the more service revenue. 3) Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General for the State of New York, has gotten Verizon to pay up $1 million to customers who were promised unlimited access and terminated for too much usage. http://riskman.typepad.com/peerflow/2007/10/cuomo-to-verizo.html This settlement sends a message to companies large and small answering the growing consumer demand for wireless services. When consumers are promised an ?unlimited? service, they do not expect the promise to be broken by hidden limitations,? said Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. ?Consumers must be treated fairly and honestly. Delivering a product is simply not enough the promises must be delivered as well. 4) FISA wiretaps carry a $1K pricetag http://tinyurl.com/yoyfeq Although the scope of surveillance conducted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act remains shrouded in secrecy, newly disclosed documents show the costs one company charges the government to eavesdrop on customers. Comcast, which is among the nation's largest telecommunication companies, charges $1,000 to install a FISA wiretap and $750 for each additional month authorities want to keep an eye on suspects, according to the company's Handbook for Law Enforcement. Secrecy News obtained the document and published it Monday. Telecom Regulation & the Internet For those who want to know a bit more about the cases in question, EFF just published a snapshot summary of the technical issue at: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2007/10/eff-document-summarizes-evidence-nsa-spying UNREDACTED declaration as an expert witness in Hepting et. al. versus AT&T Corp. ("EFF's Class-Action Lawsuit Against AT&T for Collaboration with Illegal Domestic Spying Program"), available at: http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/att/SER_marcus_decl.pdf MONDAY OCTOBER 15, 2007 09:45 EST Telecom Amnesty would forever foreclose investigation of vital issues http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/10/15/amnesty/index.html The documents that were released as part of the criminal prosecution of Joseph Nacchio, the former Qwest CEO who refused to participate in what he believed to be illegal government surveillance programs (and was then prosecuted for insider trading by the Bush administration), are revealing in numerous important respects. 5) World Premiere radio broadcast of Michigan Opera Theater's opera Cyrano You can listen live on wrcj909fm.org Sunday October 28th , 2PM EST Based on the play by Edmund Rostand.The music is very lovely, romantic, and accessible - not your typical modern dissonant noise.
6) World Usability Day http://www.worldusabilityday.org/ November 8th 2007 - World Usability Day ?Making life easy!? World Usability Day was founded to ensure that the services and products important to life are easier to access and simpler to use. <I think the site has some usability issues - KE> 7) The Center for Traditional Music and Dance and New York University's Department of Performance Studies http://www.ctmd.org Presents The Yiddish Dance Research Symposium "Defining Yiddish Dance: Secular, Sacred, Borrowed and Transformed" Sunday, December 9, 9:30 AM - 5:30 PM Edgar M. Bronfman Center (between 5th Avenue and University Place). New York University 7 East 10th Street New York, NY 10003 Admission: $10 general public, $5 students/seniors Scholars wishing to register should RSVP to Center for Traditional Music and Dance's Pete Rushefsky, 212-571-1555 ext. 36, prushefsky@xxxxxxxx A special additional session focused on strategies for revitalizing the Yiddish Dance tradition will be held on the morning of Monday, December 10th (call/email Pete Rushefsky for details). The Yiddish Dance Research Symposium is a historic first-ever gathering of leading researchers, teachers and practitioners of the Yiddish (Ashkenazic) Dance tradition along with scholars specializing in dance ethnography, Jewish culture and other Central and East European cultures. The goals of the Dance Research Symposium are for researchers to share fieldwork, discuss research into the dance tradition and its place within Yiddish culture, and identify goals/strategies for future fieldwork and dissemination of educational resources. RESOURCES for DANCE http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Arts/Dance.html 8) Halloween http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Music/halloween.html Songs, Scary Spooky Sounds,Safety, Ghosts Goblins and Monsters Celtic History, Werewolf Protection and Dracula 9) What are we going to celebrate next month?Monthly Curricula Calendar of supplemental conceptual groupings and classroom activities.
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Culdesac/zcullinks.html 10) WeQuest Explained http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Culdesac/Stars/webquest.htmlTeachers can facilitate learning environments and learning events that lead to the eventual use of higher order thinking and the very important assimilation and ability to transfer those skills out of the initial learning environment, but knowledge must precede application which precedes all important higher level thinking skills.
11) TJX breach was twice as big as admitted, banks say http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/24/tjx_breach_estimate_grows/ 12) New rules on computer security systems http://www.china.org.cn/english/government/229460.htm Legislators in Guangdong Province are planning to amend a draft regulation on the security of computer-based information systems. The key amendments include ensuring website operators "establish a sound security system" and the introduction of "serious punishments for violators of computer information systems".