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Communications

Stanford Engineers Propose A Technology To Break The Net Neutrality Deadlock (phys.org) 199

Posted by BeauHD from the add-fuel-to-the-fire dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Phys.Org: Stanford engineers have invented a technology that would allow an internet user to tell network providers and online publishers when and if they want content or services to be given preferential delivery, an advance that could transform the network neutrality debate. Net neutrality, as it's often called, is the proposition that internet providers should allow equal access to all content rather than give certain applications favored status or block others. But the Stanford engineers -- Professor Nick McKeown, Associate Professor Sachin Katti and electrical engineering PhD Yiannis Yiakoumis -- say their new technology, called Network Cookies, makes it possible to have preferential delivery and an open internet. Network Cookies allow users to choose which home or mobile traffic should get favored delivery, while putting network operators and content providers on a level playing field in catering to such user-signaled preferences. "So far, net neutrality has been promoted as the best possible defense for users," Katti said. "But treating all traffic the same isn't necessarily the best way to protect users. It often restricts their options and this is why so-called exceptions from neutrality often come up. We think the best way to ensure that ISPs and content providers don't make decisions that conflict with the interests of users is to let users decide how to configure their own traffic." McKeown said Network Cookies implement user-directed preferences in ways that are consistent with the principles of net neutrality. "First, they're simple to use and powerful," McKeown said. "They enable you to fast-lane or zero-rate traffic from any application or website you want, not just the few, very popular applications. This is particularly important for smaller content providers -- and their users -- who can't afford to establish relationships with ISPs. Second, they're practical to deploy. They don't overwhelm the user or bog down user devices and network operators and they function with a variety of protocols. Finally, they can be a very practical tool for regulators, as they can help them design simple and clear policies and then audit how well different parties adhere to them." The researchers presented a technical paper on their approach at a conference in Brazil.

Comment Re: Will Internet Voting Endanger The Secret Ballo (Score 1) 219

by Skewray (#52745697) Attached to: Will Internet Voting Endanger The Secret Ballot?

Laymen cannot audit this system, nor is the process of assuring anonymity and an accurate count transparent or comprehensible to laymen. That means they cannot trust this system... which is kind of an important aspect of a ballot.

In California I make inkspots on a piece of paper, then it is fed into a big machine. I get s sticker that says, "I voted!" Is that better?

Comment Re: Will Internet Voting Endanger The Secret Ballo (Score 2, Interesting) 219

by Skewray (#52745163) Attached to: Will Internet Voting Endanger The Secret Ballot?

Really? Noone can figure out who you voted for and you can ensure your vote was counted properly? I thought it was one or the other. Care to point me in the right direction?

Most of the voting systems by David Chaum. I assume others' systems as well. All of these systems work by similar methods. One common trick is that if N numbers are XOR'ed together, then any number can only be revealed by again XOR'ing with the other N-1. So your vote can be XOR'ed with something that hides the actual vote, but the combination of the two can be checked from a list. There are other methods as well. I would explain it all, but I am not a cryptographer.

Comment Re: Will Internet Voting Endanger The Secret Ballo (Score 2) 219

by Skewray (#52744417) Attached to: Will Internet Voting Endanger The Secret Ballot?
There are provably secure cyptographic methods to ensure that no one can figure out who you voted for, and that you can check, after the election, that your vote was counted appropriately. These systems even include a method for providing a faked screenshot to be sold to vote buyers. The fact that almost no one uses these systems is the real problem.

Comment Re:Everyone knows (Score 2) 637

by Skewray (#52256817) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: How Do You Create A Highly-Secure Password?
If it has to be something you can remember, then some examples are substitution cyphers (eg, rot13, but more complex substitutions work better), keyboard patterns, interleaving two words, spelling backwards, mixing two languages, &c. For example, a substitution cypher of the keyboard key up and to the left moves Password to ")qww294e". Tough choice for mobile, though. Interleave: mybank -> "m!y@b#a$n%k^". Now go make up your own.
Communications

Are Communications Records of Americans Retained Forever? (seattletimes.com) 143

Posted by EditorDavid from the called-me-maybe dept.
An Illinois prosecutor announced Friday that a Seattle man was wrongly convicted in 2012 of the abduction and murder of a 7-year-old girl in 1957, reports the Seattle Times. It was believed to be the nation's oldest cold case, but reader Trachman raises an interesting concern: He finally got an an alibi, which was a telephone call which he made in 1957. While it surely is a good thing that an innocence has been proven, the case is also an evidence that American's communication records are retained infinitely.

Comment Re:Btrn in soace (Score 5, Interesting) 81

by Skewray (#51712455) Attached to: NASA Will Intentionally Burn Unmanned Orbiting Craft In Space
I spent a year or so working on fire detection for the Orion project, which was, at the time, sending folks to the moon. Fire in space is an incredibly arcane subject, with almost nothing known. On Earth, convection is everything, but in space, there is no gravity to drive convection. In other words, hot air doesn't rise. So flames do really weird, unexpected, unintuitive things.

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