Why the Internet works and how to break it

If the internet was a person, it would be beginning to feel its age this year as it gets into its 30s, with a mid-life crisis looming. As it happens, the internet has never looked better: it's faster, bigger, better and richer than it was in its 20s.
But there are people having a midlife crisis on the internet's behalf. Governments want to change how it is governed, how it works and, most disturbingly, its openness. So, it is worth taking a moment to outline the first principles of the internet that have made it successful, why they are worth preserving and what we can expect if they are preserved.

Bob Kahn and I began work on the design that became the internet in the 1970s, motivated by the spectacular success of the Arpanet project, funded by the US Defense Department , in which small computers sent data 'packets' across dedicated telephone circuits. It was a homogeneous network connecting inhomogeneous computers: different operating systems, different word sizes, different computational capacities.

We met in 1973 at Stanford and started working on a design to allow up to 256 networks to be connected in such a way that the host computers would not need to know anything about the layout of this super-network . At the same time, every host computer would be able to talk to every other one despite their different operating systems and other differences. We also worked on a detailed design of the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and began implementing and testing it in 1975.

We were sure that this was powerful . The packets we were using to transport data were remarkably adaptable : they could be transmitted over any digital communication channel , bringing with them any information that could be digitised. The network was not designed for a particular application and this has allowed it to support applications that weren't predicted in the early formulation of the internet's design.

We didn't , for instance, anticipate the hand-held mobile. We did anticipate an 'Internet of Things' — more on that in a moment — and personal computing. We even foresaw notebook computing, whereby a computer that isn't powerful can perform tricky tasks by drawing on the internet. We didn't have to imagine it. Alan Kay had shown a notebook-computer concept around 1968 he called FLEX and Xerox Parc built the Alto personal computer along with the Ethernet in the early 1970s. They were living in a world that others would not experience for 20 years.

The system Bob

 and I designed, alongside collaborators from Europe and Asia who visited our lab in the mid-1970 s, has since grown by factors of a million or more on all dimensions : a many million times more users , a million times more hosts, a million times more networks, all connected a million times faster.

But the numbers aren't the only difference . The internet era is different from the telephone era for at least two reasons: it allows groups to communicate , coordinate, collaborate and share information, and it supports every medium of communication invented, all in one network. People can discover each other without knowing who they are and they can find groups with common interests.

The institutions spawned by the internet and which regulate and build the internet are similarly meritocratic and diverse. The Internet Society , Internet Architecture Board, Internet Engineering and Research Working Groups, Internet Governance Forum and Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers : all of them are run by many 

stakeholders who together decide policies and standardisation. It is a meritocracy that respects ideas more than institutions. It values openness and sharing of information, freedom of choice and expression.

Of course, the internet can be abused and people harmed from that abuse . Protection of personal information should be a high priority for all internet application providers. We also need to educate people about what can happen when they share information on the internet: once it is available to anyone, it is possible for someone to upload to other sites or to capture and store the information . Any country that gets the internet soon finds out that some harm comes from people who are in other national jurisdictions. We will need to find ways for international cooperation to deal with abuse.

But as we do figure out better ways to make cyberspace safe to use, we must preserve the very properties that have made it so successful: freedom of expression, transparency and openness, participatory policy and technology development.

Tip to become a successful software engineer.

 This post is a follow up to Derick’s great post. I could not agree with his view point any more., but it struck a chord with me.  There is more to it. To actually call yourself a software engineer you need to take into account a few aspects of what an engineer should do.

You’re Not Paid To Type

Typing code into a code editor or text editor is not what a Software Engineer is paid to do.  At least, it is not the primary reason this profession exists.  Yes, part of the job is to write code in any number of languages and platforms. As Derick pointed out, it is more then writing code, it is about writing tests, and making sure the code you do type works as designed and can be easily maintained.

All that being said, the actual act of typing is simple and quick.  There is training in keyboard typing and methods to increase how many words per minute one can type. So, does typing more code constructs per minute mean you should to get paid more money?  If you turn out more code then the engineer sitting next to you, have you created more value?  See where I am going with this.  Typing is easy, and typing the wrong code is really easy.  I have seen organizations that are fearful of missing deadlines and dates. Its so unhealthy that the developers think they need to start writing code NOW, but they don’t really know what they are supposed to be creating. They do know what to create in the general sense, but they rush intp writing software without knowing most of the details.

You are paid to THINK, so start doing that

So, my main point of this post is that Software Engineers are paid to Think.  You are paid to think about what is the correct code to create, how is should be constructed to lower the total cost of ownership.

If you only change one thing about the way you work this year try this.

  If you normally get your requirements verbally, trying writing them down.

Write down your requirements or technical plan in the easiest manner possible. That could be on a whiteboard, you could annotate a screenshot of an existing screen, you could use pencil and draw the changes to a print out of a screen shot.  Just do something in terms of thinking about what needs to be done before you start typing.  If you do write down what you plan to do, you can actually communicate it to other developers. You can have someone else review it and think through the problem.  You can also show it to the person who will decide if you created the correct software, imagine getting some feedback on what you want to build before you mess it up?

The two most valuable ways I have found to write down what needs to be created are Screen Mockups and Sequence Diagrams. Now, I have been in the web space for a long time, so if you are not creating websites, or web applications, you may find that there are better ways to write down what you need for your particular design problem.  Either way , try to write it down. If you are writing mockups today, then add a sequence diagram for the more complicated problems and see if it helps.  I know it helps me and the developers I work with.

Posted by Eric Hexter 

Facebook‘s annual hacker competition opens for registration

 Social networking giant Facebook has opened registration for its third annual Hacker Cup, set to begin from January 25.

The top prize will be $ 10,000 (approx. Rs 5.5 lakh) as against $ 5,000 (Rs 2.75 lakh) last year and as many 25 of the best hackers will be taken to Facebook's headquarter in USA, a statement said.

The Facebook Hacker Cup is an annual worldwide programming competition where hackers compete against each other for fame, fortune, glory and a shot at the coveted Hacker Cup.

"The competition will be held in two rounds starting with an online qualification, out of which 25 of the best hackers are then flown by Facebook to their headquarters inMenlo Park, CA," Facebook said.

"The preliminary round will be held between January 25 and February 16 while the onsite final round is scheduled for March 22-23, 2013.

Contestants will be judged on accuracy and speed as they race to solve algorithmic problems to advance through up to five rounds of programming challenges," it added.

Last year, the Hacker Cup attracted 8,000 participants from 150 countries, with the winner- Roman Andreev, hailing from Russia, Facebook said.

"Hacking is core to how we build at Facebook. Whether we're building a prototype for a major product like Timeline at a Hackathon, creating a smarter search algorithm, or tearing down walls at our new headquarters, we're always hacking to find better ways to solve problems," Facebook said in its Hacker's Cup page.

Facebook said that those who registered for a previous year are automatically registered for the competition year, however, they still need to check their information is up-to-date.

Nokia to transfer 820 jobs to TCS, HCL Tech

Finnish mobile phone maker Nokiasaid it will cut over 1000 IT jobs, including 820 employees who will be transfered to HCL Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services, as part of an already-announced restructuring.

It said 300 jobs will be cut altogether, and that most of the reductions would be in Finland.

HCL Tech has recently entered into a long-term, global IT infrastructure management outsourcing services agreement with Nokia. The scope of this engagement includes datacenter, network management, end-user computing services and cross-functional service management across Nokia's global IT infrastructure operations. As part of this engagement, HCL will be deploying its MTaaS and MyCloud solutions. HCL has also been delivering global service desk and desktop management outsourcing services for Nokia since 2009.
TCS has been operating in Finland for about 10 years, servicing clients such as Nokia Siemens, ABB and Telenor.

The job cuts are part of Nokia's plans to cut 10,000 jobs, including 3,700 in Finland.

Nokia will offer employees affected by these planned reductions both financial support and a comprehensive Bridge support programme. These are the last anticipated reductions as part of Nokia's focused strategy announcement of June 2012.

The majority of the employees affected by these planned changes are based in Finland. Nokia is beginning the process of engaging with employee representatives on these plans in accordance with country-specific legal requirements
.

http://www.techgig.com/tech-news/editors-pick/Nokia-to-transfer-820-jobs-to-TCS-HCL-Tech-16743?mailer_id=1412&utm_source=Mailer&utm_medium=TG_batch&utm_campaign=digest_news_2013-01-18&email=rmuthukumarece89@gmail.com&activity_name=tgdailynews_2013-01-18&dt=&auto_login=cm11dGh1a3VtYXJlY2U4OUBnbWFpbC5jb21AIyRAIyQzNjM3OTJAIyRAIyQxMzU4NDU1NzMw&src_type=autoLogin

Open-access activist and internet hero Aaron Swartz dies

Internet activist and programming star Aaron Swartz has died, his family has confirmed, committing suicide in New York while facing a potential $1m in fines and up to 35 years in prison over federal charges around computer hacking. Swartz died on Friday at the age of 26, his uncle and his legal team independently confirmed to MIT’s The Tech.

The programmer was integral in creating RSS, and created a company that later merged with popular internet destination Reddit. However, more recently he was investigated for hacking JSTOR, the subscription-based journal service, and extracting its database with the intention for public release.

Swartz was a vocal open-access campaigner, and had form in turning to hacking when demands for public data went unheard. In 2008, he wrote software to extract and collate information from the Pacer directory of federal judicial documents, the NYT reports, in protest of the service’s $0.10-per-page fee for retrieval. Swartz’s app snagged around 20m pages using free library accounts.

The government opted not to press charges, but Swartz was less lucky after breaking into JSTOR. Then, he physically breached security, installed a laptop running custom software, and pulled 4.8m documents from the database. Although JSTOR did not pursue the hacktivist itself, US attorney Carmen M. Ortiz didn’t feel so accommodating, and Swartz was indicted back in July 2011.

For more on Swartz – and the impact his work on free-data, and the world he leaves behind – we’d recommend Lawrence Lessig’s piece “Prosecutor as Bully.” BoingBoing’s Cory Doctorow also has a must-read tribute to Swartz, including information on the organization, DemandProgress, Swartz helped establish. Finally, Swartz’s partner, Quinn Norton, has a piece that’s well worth reading.

Open-access activist and internet hero Aaron Swartz dies is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear. 

Source:http://www.techgig.com/tech-news/editors-pick/Open-access-activist-and-internet-hero-Aaron-Swartz-dies-16700

New Facebook app to allow free voice calls to friends

 Facebook is preparing to launch a new feature for its Messenger app which allows users of the social networking site to place free voice calls tofriends.

The feature is so far available only to smartphone users in Canada and is buried within the latest update to the app, but it will eventually allow users to make free internet voice calls, known as VoIP calls, to any Facebook friend.

Experts are saying it represents an attempt by the world's largest social network to dominate the social world by taking on the default calling function in mobile phones, the 'Daily Mail' reported.

The new feature comes at the same time as Facebook Messenger rolled out a new feature worldwide which allows users to record and send a voicemail-type message to friends.

Working in a similar way to video messaging in the company's Poke app, users press and hold a red record button, speak their message, and it appears in line as part of the conversation.

TechCrunch writer Josh Constine imagines a range of uses for the function, from messaging while driving to recording the waves lapping at a beach to send to friends.

However, its addition to the Messenger app seems merely to make it an 'even more complete app' he writes, adding that he expects video messaging to soon be added as well.

One-tenth the size of the US, but with very similar demographics and mobile usage trends, Facebook is using Canada as a testing ground in advance of rolling out the feature in other markets, the paper said.

By clicking the 'i' icon in the top right of a conversation in the most recent update to Messenger, users reveal a 'free call' button which allows them to contact any friend also within the test region.

However, while Facebook is not charging users for the service, the call is not technically free since it will use data on users' existing mobile plans.

TechCrunch said that the move into voice messaging and VoIP can be seen as an attempt by the social network to take on the default, mobile network operated calling function on smartphones.

Internet emits 830 million tonnes of carbon dioxide

 Internet and other components of information communication and technology (ICT) industry annually produces more than 830 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas, and is expected to double by 2020, a new study has found.

Researchers from the Centre for Energy-Efficient Telecommunications (CEET) and Bell Labs explain that the information communications and technology (ICT) industry, which delivers Internet, video, voice and other cloud services, produces about 2 per cent of globalCO2 emissions -- the same proportion as the aviation industry produces.

In the report published in journal Environmental Science & Technology, researchers said their projections suggest that ICT sector's share in greenhouse gas emission is expected to double by 2020.

They have also found new models of emissions and energy consumption that could help reduce their carbon footprint.

The study said that controlling those emissions requires more accurate but still feasible models, which take into account the data traffic, energy use and CO2 production in networks and other elements of the ICT industry.

Existing assessment models are inaccurate, so they set out to develop new approaches that better account for variations in equipment and other factors in the ICT industry.

They describe development and testing of two new models that better estimate the energy consumption and CO2 emissions of Internet and telecommunications services.

The researchers suggest, based on their models, that more efficient power usage of facilities, more efficient use of energy-efficient equipment and renewable energy sources are three keys to reducing ICT emissions of CO2.