Free Republic

Here we go…. President Trump is laying the groundwork to ban telecommunication companies based on identified risk to national security (ie. Huawei). Nations who engage in 5-G technology agreements are on notice they may be cut-off from communication partnerships with the U.S.A. [I think Wall Street just pee’d their pants a little..] [Executive Order] By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and section 301 of...

Walter Isaacsson has, recently, completed a great work on Steve Jobs. My relatives will probably force me to read it (even though Isaacson was the former head of CNN, they're Conservatives and I'm a 42 year old with a will of my own) but prefer his magnificent study of Einstein as far books go. Anyhow, what do people actually understand about how and in what ways the IT sector of the economy has transformed all of our lives? Being Swedish, I wish to draw attention to what a marvelous revolution a certain poor peasant boy from the region of Värmland...

Taking the Legal Route By Ari Bussel And the war rages on. Turkey warns Israel from the latter’s response to the next Flotilla, making Turkey an active instigator of events. Hamas, reports the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center in Israel, “initiates a media campaign against UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon because of his concerns regarding the flotilla. Hamas spokesmen and media accuse him of surrendering to Israeli pressure and call him responsible for the flotilla’s safety.” Interesting to note, of course, is that Hamas cannot accuse UN Secretary-General of responsibility for misery or starvation in Gaza, because these are non-existent. There...

Skype, the IP telephony company founded and part-owned by Swedish entrepreneur Niklas Zennström, has been bought bought by US software giant Microsoft, the firms confirmed on Tuesday afternoon. The statement confirmed speculation over the deal to buy the firm, whose product allows users to conduct video and telephone calls over the internet. Microsoft confirmed that the deal is worth some $8.5 billion, dwarfing the $6 billion the US firm paid for online advertising firm aQuantive in 2007 and its largest acquisition since its founding in 1975. The news of the pending deal has shocked analysts who consider the price to...

The U.S. military said on Tuesday it is now tracking 800 maneuverable satellites on a daily basis for possible collisions and expects to add 500 more non-maneuvering satellites by year's end. The U.S. Air Force began upgrading its ability to predict possible collisions in space after a dead Russian military communications satellite and a commercial U.S. satellite owned by Iridium collided on Feb. 10. General Kevin Chilton, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, called the collision the "seminal event" in the satellite industry during the past year and said it destroyed any sense that space was so vast that collisions were...

Note: The following blog entry is a quote: Blog Details Iran Launches Production of 30 Hi-Tech Military Devices The Iranian news agency Fars reports that Iran yesterday launched production of 30 important military tools and equipment, including electronic, telecommunication and radar devices. The Fars report quoted Iranian Defense Minister Brig.-Gen. Mostafa Mohammad Najjar as saying, "The exact and coherent planning by the defense industries, specially electronic industries of the defense ministry, in recent years caused the production of more qualitative and varied products by the defense industries of the defense ministry." "These new production lines and products are related to...

The technological and economical development of Scandinavia (including Finland) is today more groundbreking than anywhere else in the world. The investments being made in relation to population size is mind-boggling. Despite a mere population of 25 million inhabitants, the combined GDP of the Scandinavian countries today ridicules that of a Russia often viewed to be a "reborn" super power "on the go" (combined Scandinavian GDP is actually 125% that of of Russia - and the gap is widening!!) But, let's focus on telecommunications here; Five bidders have paid €226 million ($346 million) for fourth generation (4G), super-fast mobile telephony licences,...

WASHINGTON -- A group of 24 conservative organizations have announced the formation of the Internet Freedom Coalition (IFC, www.internetfreedomcoalition.org) to oppose "net neutrality" regulations, which the groups say mark the first major attempt by Washington to regulate the Internet. "We're proud to join with other leading free market and faith-based organizations to ensure that the Internet remains driven by the free market, not by Washington bureaucrats and politicians," said Jason Wright, president of the Institute for Liberty and IFC co-director. At issue is a brewing battle that pits cable and telephone companies that provide Internet service – including AT&T and...

Lockheed Martin Corp. won a $168 million contract from the Vietnamese government to build and launch the country's first telecommunications satellite, state media reported on Friday. The U.S. firm, which beat Alcatel of France and Japan's Sumitomo Corp. in a tender this week, is scheduled to sign the contract with the state-run Vietnam Posts and Telecommunication Corp on Friday, the Tuoi Tre newspaper reported. The government has ordered the satellite to be launched on May 23, 2008, three years later than originally planned following extended negotiations on orbital slots. Industry experts said the satellite, named Vinasat, would help Vietnam save...

An expert on electronic media says that restricting a youngster's communication options is a modern version of child abuse. Children in Norway begin mobile phone use early. "If you deny a 14-year-old girl her mobile phone and MSN (Internet chat) access, it is just like child abuse," Elisabeth Staksrud told financial daily Dagens Næringsliv. Staksrud is the European Commission's expert on attitudes to electronic media, and she is convinced that children's use of the Internet is far more advanced than parents and employers believe. Next week the SAFT - Safety, Awareness, Facts and Tools - project, the world's biggest questionnaire...

SMS Revolution Shahram Rafizadeh Oct. 19, 2005 Blocking SMS (Short Message Service) is a new communications instrument that is taken very seriously by the new Iranian government and those in the Ministry of Communications. In order to confront and control SMS messaging and the relevant communications technology, president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his hard-line government ministers have seriously decided to take the necessary measures to limit the use of a technology that at critical junctures can be used by the government's critics and opposition groups. Iranian authorities believe that they have successfully completed their efforts to block internet access and have...

Violence in Iraq continues and the survival of the recently elected government remains shaky, but some companies are forging ahead, looking to help build the country's wireless telecommunications sector, UPI reported. The U.S invasion of Iraq in March 2003 destroyed much of the nation's telecom infrastructure. Now, analysts see profit potential not in rebuilding the system, but in replacing it with a thoroughly modern network driven largely by the private sector. According to the senior vice president of EMW in Herndon, a US consultancy group, like other developing countries, Iraq's immediate telecom needs would be better served by a mobile...

The Spanish-American War may have ended over a century ago, but anyone in the U.S. with a telephone line is paying a 3 percent "luxury" tax created to fund the conflict in 1898. That's a situation that a number of Republican senators would like to change. This week, they introduced a bill to repeal the Spanish-American War levy. "Common sense dictates that repeal of the telephone excise tax is long overdue," said Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa. "Communication is not a luxury. It has become part of the basic fabric of our social and economic life." Other sponsors of the Senate...

Apple Macintosh and iSight Video Conferencing technology . . . There's a lot of junk in technology, a lot of hassle and frustration, a lot of disappointment. But this moment was like a TV commercial. It was an emotional, powerful, simple, perfect example of how technology can change a moment, solve a problem, and despite the gulf of time and distance, bring you face to face with the people you love.

<p>Texas Instruments breaks new ground with its bundling of three technologies into a single chipset.</p> <p>Back in September, I wrote a column lauding Texas Instruments for its breakthrough designs that reduced from four to one the number of chips needed to operate a cell phone. Looks like the company is at it again.</p>