Michael's Insight

Tru2way applications soon to be released; laptops overtake desktop sales; 9.5 billion online video views in November

How Interactive Do People Want Their TVs to Get? [Multichannel News: Bit Rate]  

As we enter a new year, cable operators and television manufacturers are rolling out tru2way technology, Bit Rate profiles two developments in interactive television. ESPN has three applications set to debut next summer that will allow television viewers to participate in interactive polling, call up on screen stats for their favorite players and teams, and customize the score ticker at the bottom of the screen. 

Intel and Yahoo are introducing their Widget Channel at next week's Consumer Electronics Show. The Widget Channel is the company's platform for applications that deliver Internet-fed content like weather information and sports scores.

With developments like these, Bit Rate's author questions whether television viewers want their TVs to operate with the interactivity of computers. If developments like the DVR and On Demand programming are any indication, tru2way's innovations are likely to be welcomed by America's television viewers.

The year in review for security and online video and the digital converter coupon update

I'm continuing a light load this week, spending time with the family.  I won't be posting every day this week but here are a few thoughts as we near the end of 2008.

Top 10 Security Breaches of 2008 [Sherman on Security] 

Sherman has profiled the ten most significant failures of electronic security in 2008. All of the top ten involve the loss of theft of millions of pieces of significant personal information. From the arrest of the hackers who stole 40 million credit card numbers from retailer T.J. Maxx to the theft of ATM card information that allowed thieves to steal $750,000 from New York City ATMs, Sherman profiles each of the data breaches that has directly impacted millions of Americans. Most importantly, Sherman profiles the lessons learned in each breach that if properly applied, will protect us from future security failures like these.

Digital television transition; Deep sea cable cuts Internet in 14 countries

Seasons Greetings!

It's holiday time and it's time for some downtime with the family. Although I'm not going anywhere exotic like I did last summer, I'm going to lighten the load until early January. Rather than post daily, I will post if something interesting happens or simply when I have something to say.

Have a great holiday season! And here's to a happy, healthy, New Year.

In Move to Digital TV, Confusion Is in the Air [New York Times] 

This morning there are a couple of surveys out that indicate a vast majority of Americans are aware of the February 17th digital television transition, but show that some number of people are still confused about how they need to prepare for the transition. According to a Consumers Union survey in this NYT article, some 41 percent believe that they need digital converter boxes for every television in their house, regardless of whether its connected to cable (which is not true, by the way). 

This article also indicates that the federal government is encouraging over-the-air television viewers to request coupons for digital converter boxes by the end of this month to ensure there is enough time to receive the coupon and purchase a box before February 17th. If you've still got questions about the digital transition, I'd recommend you watch Insight's Digital Transition Town Hall, which will answer all your questions about the transition.

iPhones use wi-fi connection for almost half of all Internet requests; American Idol is DVR favorite; DVR users zap fewer cable programming ads

iPhone users love their Wi-Fi [CNET News]

The iPhone is proving that it's almost as popular a broadband appliance as it is a mobile device. A report from the online advertising company Admob reveals that 42 percent of iPhone Internet requests came from wi-fi connections instead of the 3G mobile network. There's some disagreement about why nearly half of the time iPhones are accessing the Internet they're using broadband. Some think that the mobile carrier's 3G network, which has had some high-profile issues, isn't cutting the mustard for iPhone users. Others cite the superior speed of broadband connections, the ease of use of iPhone's wi-fi feature, and the near ubiquity of wi-fi networks at work and home. 

Whatever the reason, this finding from Admob proves that wi-fi is an essential feature for smartphones, allowing users to leverage their broadband connections for mobile web browsing.

Most online video viewed during work hours; No more Joost application; Twitter searches for a revenue stream

Don't tell the boss: most 'Net video viewing happens at work [ArsTechnica] 

Uh oh. It appears that Nielsen Online has discovered the dirty little secret of online video viewers - most web video viewing occurs at work. The market research firm's October 2008 VideoCensus has revealed that 65 percent of online video fans watch during the 9 AM to 5 PM time period. That compares to the 49 percent who watch online video between 5 PM and 8 PM.

YouTube is far and away the most popular online video portal, hosting 5 billion video streams during October. That compares with Hulu's 250 million streams during the same time period. 

As this article says, a little YouTube break after lunch may be okay, but it sounds like there's quite a bit more video watching going on.

Time to get back to work.

Emergency IE patch released today; National championship in 3D; Yahoo increasing search privacy

Microsoft issues emergency patch warning for IE [The Register] 

It was a serious flaw in Internet Explorer that exposed web users to having their computer taken over by hackers if they surfed to a site with embedded malicious code. Rather than wait until next month's regular patch release, Microsoft has opted to release a patch for this flaw today. Starting at 1 PM EST, Internet Explorer users can download the patch at Microsoft's Download Center. I highly recommend that you download and install this patch as soon as it is made available. There are an estimated 10,000 web pages with the malicious code just waiting to take over your computer to steal personal information. I'm glad to see Microsoft released this urgent fix, rather than waiting until next month.

And thanks, Steve, for posting the following clarification on an earlier post on wi-fi security:

The information provided about the WEP WI-FI security hole is incorrect, not the fault of Michael's as many places have reported it incorrectly.  Both WPA and WPA2 are just as hacked!! 

The problem lies in the WPA Algorithm TKIP which is the default in most cases.  In your router you can switch the Algorithm to AES which prevents this hack.  (Note: TKIP is not actually a algorithm but a Protocol, but routers listed this way)

Google's compromise on net neutrality; IE users exposed to malicious code; BitTorrent venture funding drying up

Has Google Flipped on 'Network Neutrality'? [Multichannel News - Bit Rate]

The blogosphere has been buzzing for the past day about an article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal  that reveals that Google may not be willing to compromise their purest net neutrality position that the company adheres to. In a nutshell, the WSJ article revealed that Google is attempting to broker agreements with ISPs to place its OpenEdge caching servers within ISP networks, allowing for the fastest delivery of Google content, like high definition YouTube videos.

Despite the fact that the idea sounds like it's good for Google, good for ISP's and good for consumers, does it mean that Google is not practicing what it preaches when it comes to net neutrality?  Google's net neutrality platform would create regulations that would limit the flexibility of network owners to create high speed lanes for certain Internet content. But, Google wants the freedom to negotiate deals that would create high speed lanes for their content, provided they can get network owners to agree to the deal.

For their part, Google is vociferously objecting to the WSJ article's characterization of the OpenEdge technology as violating net neutrality principles. While OpenEdge doesn't give Google content priority over other network traffic, it delivers the content more quickly to users because it's already on their home network. 

A thin distinction, at best.

One principle I have tried to adhere to religiously when I go to Washington is to be intellectually pure in my positions.  I refuse to ask Congress and regulators to deregulate for cable while I ask them to regulate other industries. 

Google should think about doing the same.

Insight's Digital Television Town Hall

It's just 63 days away. The digital television transition will occur on February 17th of next year. While I'm sure most readers of my blog are already prepared for the transition, you probably know friends and family who may need some help keeping their television channels during the transition.  Insight has hosted and produced a Digital Transition Town Hall video that answers many of the questions our customers and others in our footprint have about the digital television transition.  Even though it clearly is an Insight message, the important information contained in the video applies across the country.

I've embedded the entire 18 minute video in today's blog post. Feel free to pass it along to anyone you know who may still have questions about the transition. The video is embeddable, so readers can put it on their own blog, and since it's posted on Facebook, readers can share the video with their Facebook friends also. Just click on the Facebook watermark to share or embed the video.

Insight is also distributing copies of the video on DVD. If you or someone you know would like a copy of the DVD, drop me an email. Please be sure to include a name and address, so I can mail the DVD. My email address is on the left sidebar of this page.

And now for my standard DTV disclaimer. If the all televisions in your household are connected to cable, relax. You don't need to do anything in regard to the digital transition. Come February 17th 2009, televisions connected to cable will continue to function normally. You're already prepared for next year's digital transition.  If you have televisions in your household that aren't connected to cable, I'd suggest you watch the video to make sure you're set for the transition. 

Analog television extension approved by House; P2P boxes as vaporware; Chrome out of beta

House bill allows some analog messages after DTV switch [CNET News] 

A bill extending the date that television broadcasters can transmit analog signals for 30 days after next February's digital television transition has now been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. The same piece of legislation had already been passed by the Senate, and it now heads to the President for his signature. Now, to be clear, the digital transition will still occur on February 17, 2009. If you watch television on an over-the-air signal via an antenna, it's important that you continue to make preparations to switch to digital television. The analog signals that broadcasters will transmit after February 17th will contain messages for those who didn't make the proper preparations that will advise them on the steps they need to take to receive the new digital television signals.

The early digital transition in Wilmington, NC proved that this extension is a critical ingredient in a successful national transition.  If the Wilmington experience is typical, millions of consumers will be unprepared for the transition on February 17 and will be looking for a speedy solution when they look for their favorite morning news show on February 18.

I'm starting to sound like a old record, but I want to remind Insight customers that all televisions connected to cable will work just fine after the transition. If your televisions are connected to Insight, relax. You're already prepared for next year's digital transition.

Top Facebook apps; YouTube as a profession; and some cable operators go wireless

Facebook crowns top apps. Rafe does, too [CNET News] 

How do you choose the applications you activate on your Facebook profile? Are they applications recommended by friends, or have you searched them out from among the thousands available to Facebook users. If you're looking for the best of the bunch, you'll be glad to hear that Facebook has named five applications as the best on the social networking service. The apps range from a greeting card maker that sends cards from a group of friends to a game that involves trapping virtual mice. The CNET writer profiling the Facebook apps also rates his personal top five, including a neat application that allows users to rate wines and share your rankings with friends.

Time to upgrade your wi-fi security; why movies disappear from iTunes; P2P to become network friendly?

WPA Wi-Fi encryption is cracked [Sherman's Security Blog] 

It might be time to upgrade your wi-fi security if you're using the WPA (Wi-fi Protected Access) encryption scheme to secure your wireless router. According to Sherman, researchers have partially cracked the WPA scheme, allowing them to monitor the traffic going from a router to computers connected to it. While the researchers did not fully compromise WPA protected routers, the crack was accomplished relatively quickly - in 12 to 15 minutes. The researchers' data will be presented at an upcoming security conference.

While the researchers' techniques demonstrate a hypothetical attack against WPA protection, it's important to consider that hackers will likely attempt their own attacks based on the research. Most wf-fi routers on the market today support the enhanced WPA2 scheme, which has yet to be compromised. As Sherman points out, an attack against the T.J. Maxx store chain's outdated WEP-protected wireless routers netted hackers millions of credit card numbers. It appears that WPA is going the way of WEP, and it's a good time to upgrade to a more secure encryption standard.

Faster wi-fi for cell phones; spam botnet comes back to life; Web publications now eligible for the Pulitzer

Broadcom squeezes 11n, Bluetooth, FM into new, cheap chip [ArsTechnica] 

Fast wi-fi is on its way for mobile phones, with Broadcom releasing a chipset that promises 802.11n connectivity. With more and more smartphones coming equipped with web browsers that look and function just like desktop web browsers, fast wi-fi connections are moving from a novel feature to a requirement for mobile phone handsets. Broadcom's wi-fi chipset includes Bluetooth and FM radio reception capabilities without any additional drain on the battery than wi-fi chipsets that are currently on the market.

If your broadband connection is fast enough, Broadcom expects that its wi-fi chipset can achieve 50 Mbps download speeds.  When you're home, your DOCSIS 3.0 connection will be even more valuable.

A new cybersecurity office proposal; Fox going all HD; A new Politics VOD channel

Tech commission suggests new cybersecurity post [CNET News] 

The Commission on Cyber Security for the 44th Presidency is recommending that President-elect Obama establish a permanent office within the White House to address Internet security issues. The commission and its recommendation is part of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The recommendation involves consolidating cyber security personnel at the Department of Homeland Security with the new White House office to combat the growing threat of cyber criminals and foreign powers attacking U.S. interests on the Internet. The commission's report also recommends that the U.S. develop active partnerships with other nations to combat cyber threats. 

An article in last week's New York Times suggests that cyber criminals are winning in a war that pits them against users and security experts, as the amout and sophistication of malware programs grow at an exponential pace. As the Internet has become integral to this nation's economic fabric, it is absolutely critical that recommendations that are focused on improving cyber security are taken seriously by our nation's political leaders and regulators.

This may become one of the most important telecommunications issues, which clearly can affect the overall economy, during the next administration.

Flash to use P2P to deliver video; malware threatens Facebook users; NFL in 3D

Adobe Makes P2P Flash Video Available to Developers [NewTeeVee]

Adobe has released to developers a version of their Flash 10 product that uses an implementation of peer-to-peer to stream video. Is P2P the future of video sharing sites like YouTube, which uses Flash to embed videos in its site? No, Flash 10's P2P is designed for video streaming applications in which a P2P connection is more efficient than a server connection. Think videoconferencing or multi-player online gaming.

While the technology is P2P, Adobe's announcement tries to steer clear of some of P2P's negative connotations due to P2P's widespread use for illegal file sharing. Adobe calls the new technology "client-to-client streaming," and says "Flash player 10 will not enable swarming, multi-cast or broadcast quality live video." Regardless of what it's called, the new technology enables the possibility of web embedded videoconferencing applications that run faster with better quality video.

A new challenge in P2P management; Streaming college football; Discovery and History top cable favorite list; Wi-fi and cell phones

Alarming Title: BitTorrent declares war on the Internet [Broadband Politics]

Earlier this week, Richard Bennett covered the newest development in peer-to-peer software development that involves the makers of a popular P2P application changing protocols in an obvious attempt to evade ISPs' network management practices. The makers of the uTorrent application - a BitTorrent P2P application, have changed from the TCP protocol to the UDP protocol for file transfers. Basically TCP is a protocol designed for bulk data transfers that aren't time sensitive. UDP is a time-sensitive protocol used for VoIP, video streaming and gaming. By switching to UDP, uTorrent essentially is turning the unwritten rules of the road for the Internet on their head.

Network operators have been largely successful in managing P2P traffic - which accounts for more than half of all Internet traffic even though only a small percentage of Internet users use P2P applications. Responsible network management keeps the broadband experience enjoyable for everyone - even P2P users. Due to the way P2P applications currently work, without responsible management practices, P2P transfers would quickly overwhelm network resources, degrading the broadband experience for everyone, including P2Pers.

But this new twist threatens to throw a wrench in responsible network management. According to Bennett, attempting to manage uTorrent P2P streams using the UDP implementation would threaten to disrupt other UDP application users - like VoIP users. Thus, it's not possible for ISPs to simply target P2P without disrupting other users. Here's Bennett's take on the Pandora's box that uTorrent has opened:

The internet evolved as a gentleman’s system in the comfortable confines of the ivory towers of academe, but now that it’s an essential part of daily life for more than a billion people, the time has come to get realistic about its management. Some of the people who use this system are spoiled children with no more concern for the greater good than junkies looking for their next fix. They can’t be allowed to spoil it for the rest of us, and the only practical means to prevent their doing so is to unleash effective management upon them.

While we've yet to see how uTorrent's use of the UDP protocol affects network traffic patterns, this development should be concerning to all broadband users.

I checked in with our network management experts and they are indeed concerned about this development. Using UDP for P2P forces ISP's to consider how to manage a whole new type of bandwidth-consuming P2P activities. The problem is that UDP was designed to transport time-sensitive packets like VoIP, streaming and online gaming.

But the real issue is, how much longer must we play this cat and mouse game? We will continue to manage our networks in order to deliver excellent service to all of our customers. If we must, we'll find a solution to this challenge. However, it also forces ISP operators again to ask the fundamental question about metering and charging for consumption. I know it's not a popular idea but I am becoming more convinced that the only fair way to manage heavy usage is to charge those who consume heavily. That's fair for us and it's fair to consumers by distributing the cost of providing service to users based on their consumption.

While we still have no plans on the drawing board to implement monthly limits and heavy-usage billing, we continue to watch the market tests being conducted by other ISP's. I will keep you informed of our thinking, but no changes are planned for the foreseeable future.

Wireless HD on the horizon; YouTube to make money?; Usage meters and caps

Cutting the HDTV Cable [NYT Gadgetwise Blog]  

Several years ago, the introduction of wi-fi routers allowed broadband users to cut the cord to their portable computers so that users could access broadband anywhere in their home. Now, we may be on the verge for a similar cutting of the cord for HD video signals. Several companies are developing technology that will allow wireless transmission of HD - eliminating the need for a cable running from your set-top box or DVD player to your HDTV. This article profiles one company, SiBeam, which is partnering with HDTV manufacturers Panasonic and Samsung to market a device called HD wireless that promises to beam an HD signal up to 30 feet. The technology promises to be autosensing - meaning you just plug in your devices and the technology makes the connection automatically. 

Wi-fi has given broadband users a lot of additional freedom in the way they use the Internet. This technology promises to create these kinds of freedoms for HD video.

Another video portal opens to web viewers

Sling.com Internet TV portal opens to the public [EngadgetHD] 

From the makers of the popular Slingbox, the television location-shifting appliance, comes the launch of Sling.com, a portal for online video. Sling Media has opened the site to the public, and claims over 90 different programming providers. Those include some you've heard of that do programming for cable television, like Discovery Networks and Versus. The site also offers a few feature length movie titles. Unlike some of the other video portals out there, Sling.com offers some social networking features, so you can let your friends know what you're watching and recommend shows. The site is still officially in beta, but there's already quite a bit of content available for viewing.

Digital transition update for Monday

What you need to know about the digital TV switch [CNET News]

Are you still waiting to get prepared for next year's switch to digital television? CNET has published an article this morning that effectively summarizes where we are 77 days out from February 17th. The article includes several good links for over-the-air television viewers to get up to speed on what is needed to continue receiving a television signal after the transition. If all the televisions in your household are connected to cable, then you're already ready for the transition - televisions connected to cable will continue to receive programming after the transition.