Month: February 2016

Facebook's attempt to provide free access to a selection of websites in developing countries was dealt a blow today when India's telecom regulator banned arrangements that charge different amounts for access to different parts of the Internet. The move effectively prevents "zero-rating" schemes in which certain Web services count against data caps while others do not.

Facebook is partnering with mobile operators in various countries to offer "Free Basics," saying that the app provides "access to basic websites for free—like news, job postings, health and education information, and communication tools like Facebook." Any developer can try to get a website included, but Facebook imposes restrictions, including one that prevents high-bandwidth services like VoIP, video, and file transfers. In addition to Facebook, Free Basics includes AccuWeather, BBC News, Dictionary.com, ESPN, and other sites.

Critics say Free Basics violates net neutrality principles by prioritizing certain content, making it less likely that people will use websites not included in the app. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had temporarily banned Free Basics and today followed up with a new rule that prevents service providers from charging "discriminatory tariffs for data services on the basis of content." A discriminatory tariff under this rule includes free data applied only to certain websites.

To you, crows and jays might be noisy, obnoxious birds who eat garbage. But for large-seeded trees like pines, hickories, oaks, and chestnuts, they could be life-saving heroes. That's because these birds can actually relocate forests that are threatened by changing climates and habitat loss.

In a new paper published in ornithology journal The Condor, a group of US scientists describe how corvids' unique food-gathering strategies have transformed forests around the world. Now, environmental scientists are actively using the animals as part of their reforestation strategies.

Scatter-hoarding

Corvids, a family of birds that includes crows, ravens, jays, magpies, and nutcrackers, are called scatter-hoarders. They roam large territories to scavenge seeds, fruit, and even meat, storing as many morsels as possible to eat later. That's the "hoard" part. But they don't have one giant stash full of loot the way squirrels do. Instead, they hide each treat in a separate place, occasionally moving it around to prevent other animals from finding it. That's the "scatter" part. Corvids are incredibly intelligent, with excellent visual memory, and scrub jays can remember up to 200 different cache locations at any given time.

The UK and US governments are working on an agreement that would allow MI5 and other intelligence agencies to serve orders on US companies like Google and Facebook for live intercepts of conversations if they involve only British citizens. According to a report in The Washington Post, the UK would also be able to request stored data, such as e-mails. The agreement would be reciprocal, allowing the US to request similar data about Americans from UK companies.

If concluded, the agreement would help to resolve the difficult situation for US Internet companies, which are increasingly under pressure from the UK government to provide intercepts or stored data for domestic investigations of terrorist and criminal activities, but forbidden from doing so by US laws.

Currently, the only mechanism for obtaining this kind of information is through a mutual legal assistance treaty. As The Washington Post explains, this involves the UK making "a formal diplomatic request for the data and the Justice Department then seeks a court order on its behalf—a process that is said to take an average of 10 months." The proposed system would enable the UK and US governments to obtain intercepts through official channels more easily and more speedily. There is ample evidence that many other, more informal channels exist for exchanging information, but it may be that both governments would like to put things on a firmer legal basis.

We test drive the Ferrari FF. Video shot/edited by Jennifer Hahn. (video link)

Ferrari's FF is an intriguing car. In fact, it's something of an automotive Schrödinger's cat, somehow extremely practical while simultaneously being unthinkably out-of-reach for most of the population. It has true all-weather performance thanks to some rather clever engineering, and this vehicle can cope with four adults and their luggage—it can even handle a Costco run. All the while, this car remains a V12 Ferrari. It costs more than any other car we've driven recently and drinks gasoline at a rate that makes polar bears weep. What's it like living with such an automotive contradiction for a few days? 

Design

First, let's make one thing clear: the FF isn't a sports car, it's a grand tourer (or GT). Its design brief was less about breaking lap records at Monza and more about being able to cope with weekend dashes across continents come rain or snow. The car achieves this with a rather clever, all-wheel drive system (Ferrari's first) that uses not one but two transmissions to send power from an enormous (6.3 L) V12 engine to the road.