Donkeys Take Over From DSL as Syria Shuts Down Internet

The Facebook revolution has retreated from this dusty Jordanian town on the Syrian border.

In a bid to quash a rebellion now entering its third month, the Syrian government, perhaps one of the world’s most Internet-unfriendly, has shut down pretty much all electronic communications inside the country and to overseas. Cut off from the World Wide Web, protestors, journalists and human rights activists have resorted to communications networks from another era.

And for that, Ramtha, a Jordanian town of about 100,000 people 80 kilometres north of the capital of Amman, has become a virtual switchboard for news coming out of Syria, not to mention a swarm of refugees seeking to flee the carnage that has taken some 800 lives across the country, according to a United Nations estimate released last Friday — via redwolf.newsvine.com

French Hadopi 3 Strikes Anti-Piracy Company Hacked

The private company entrusted to carry out file-sharing network monitoring for the French government has been hacked. Trident Media Guard, which is responsible for gathering data for so-called 3 strikes warnings, now has some of its scripts and secrets out in the wild, an event which has the potential to upset the smooth of Hadopi — via redwolf.newsvine.com

China cracks down on VPN use

Chinese internet users suspect that their government is interfering with the method they have been using to tunnel under the Great Firewall to prevent them connecting with the outside world.

Sites such as search engine Google and news site MSN have become difficult to access, they say. And a number of universities and businesses have begun warning their users not to try to evade the firewall.

Since 6 May, a number of users says that internet connections via China Telecom, the largest telephone company, and China Unicom have become unstable, with intermittent access when trying to access sites in foreign countries using a virtual private network (VPN) – a preferred method of evading the blocks put up by China’s censors to external sites. Even Apple’s app store has been put off-limits by the new blocks, according to reports — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Build a Custom Site Search Engine With Tapir

Designed with static publishing systems in mind (like the popular Ruby on Rails tool, Jekyll), Tapir handles search through RSS and JavaScript without the overhead of a database on your own server. Tapir offers a JSON-based API and relies on Tire behind the scenes (which is powered by Elasticsearch, which in turn is powered by Lucene).

To use Tapir all you need to do is write a simple JavaScript-based search form, query the Tapir index for your site and then parse out the results to display for your visitors — via Webmonkey

LimeWire Pays RIAA $105 Million, Artists Get Nothing

In the midst of their jury trial, the company behind the defunct LimeWire client and the RIAA settled their dispute out of court. Limewire will pay $105 million to compensate the major music labels for damages suffered. A moment of justice for the music industry, but not necessarily for the artists. The recouped money is destined for reinvestment in new anti-piracy efforts and will not be used to compensate any artists — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Google may cough up $US500m over illegal online pharmacy adverts

Google may pay up to $US500 million in a US criminal probe into whether it profited handsomely from online pharmacy ads that broke US laws.

A cryptic regulatory filing earlier this week by the internet company disclosed that it was setting aside $US500 million ($469m) to potentially resolve a case with the Justice Department. A payment of that size would be among the highest penalties paid by companies in disputes with the US government.

Google gave few details in its filing about the probe, saying only that it involved the use of Google advertising by certain advertisers — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Digital sets scheme sparks fears of shonks

Members of the digital communications technology industry are concerned that the government’s set-top box scheme will see a flood of shonky, unqualified operators contracted by the federal government to install digital aerials and antennas.

Technicians are currently expected to complete a certificate 2 and 3 diploma in digital reception technology. But this is not compulsory, and there is no mandatory standard — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Google Tasks API

Just when you thought that Google Tasks was abandoned, Google releases an API for Google Tasks. The Google Tasks API provides developers with a powerful set of API endpoints for searching, reading, and updating Google Tasks content and metadata. Developers will be able to create applications for mobile devices, software that integrates Google Tasks with Outlook and other apps using an official API and a proper authentication mechanism — via Google Operating System

Revised Net censorship bill requires search engines to block sites

Surprise! After months in the oven, the soon-to-be-released new version of a major US Internet censorship bill didn’t shrink in scope — it got much broader. Under the new proposal, search engines, Internet providers, credit card companies, and ad networks would all have cut off access to foreign rogue sites — and such court orders would not be limited to the government. Private rightsholders could go to court and target foreign domains, too.

As for sites which simply change their domain name slightly after being targeted, the new bill will let the government and private parties bring quick action against each new variation.

Get ready for the PROTECT IP Act — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Graphene-Powered Optical Networks Could Lead to Petabit and Exabit Transmission Speeds

New research published by the University of California, Berkeley, shows that graphene — an incredibly thin and flexible form of carbon — can be used to boost the transmission and switching speed of optical modulators, the building blocks of routers that form the backbone of the internet.

Scientists at UC Berkeley, led by professor Xiang Zhang, have found that one-atom-thick layers of graphene can switch light on and off incredibly quickly. With just the right amount of positive voltage, graphene turns opaque, stopping any light from passing through — and with a negative voltage, graphene can be turned transparent again. The team then successfully shrunk a graphene optical modulator down to 25 square microns in size — small enough to include in silicon circuitry — and modulated it at a speed of 1GHz. The researchers say that modulation speeds of up to 500GHz are theoretically possible, though — and for comparison, the modulators found in 40Gbit switches are measured in centimeters and operate at just 40GHz — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Mac Users Hit by First Rogue Antivirus App

Mac users are being warned to study search engine results carefully for the first significant fake antivirus scareware program to target the platform and its loyal following.

The threat has been named OSX/MacDefender.A by Mac security specialists Intego, which on its own offers a clue to its unusual nature. This is not simply a cross-platform threat looking to widen its net to catch a few extra victims but a specially written program Mac application that just happens to be bogus — via redwolf.newsvine.com