All posts by Paul Stradling

News

Tech News : Wikipedia : Queen’s Status Updated In Just 2 Minutes

The speed at which the deaths of famous people are updated on Wikipedia was highlighted by the Queen’s Wikipedia page being updated just minutes after the first news reports of her death were made public.

Twitter Account Monitored Update

The “depths of Wikipedia” Twitter account reported that “the FIRST editor to update her death was Sydwhunte, whose edit came in at 17:32 — seconds after the first sources broke the news”. In reality, it took an estimated 2 minutes for the updates to be made and published.

Also, the same source reported that in the next 15 minutes, the Queen Elizabeth II article had more than 55 edits, such as changing verbs to past tense, updating categories, and updating the infobox.

King Charles III

The depths of Wikipedia Twitter account also reported that the former Prince Charles, now King Charles III’s article changed titles five times while people waited for his official regnal name.

Who Updates Wikipedia On Deaths?

Wikipedia says that “Wikipedia does not require that its editors and contributors provide identification” and that “According to researchers in Palo Alto, one percent of Wikipedia users are responsible for about half of the site’s edits.”

The English Wikipedia, for example, has 44,147,744 registered editors, and 117,820 active editors. Wikipedia considers an editor to be active if they have made one or more edits in the past 30 days.

Research

An entry on Hay Kranen’s web site from 2018 outlines the findings of his research into who updates Wikipedia articles so quickly whenever a celebrity dies. Based on the first 26 names and the English Wikipedia for edits, Kranen found that two-thirds of those edits were done by anonymous users, and that almost a third of those 26 edits were done from a mobile phone. Kranen concluded that the updates were made by “a highly diverse set of people, often anonymous, and surprisingly often from their smartphone.”

Interestingly, A Dartmouth College study (2007) found that “anonymous and infrequent contributors to Wikipedia … are as reliable a source of knowledge as those contributors who register with the site.”

Fast Updates On Celebrity Deaths Nothing New

It is not unusual for celebrity Wikipedia pages to be updated extremely quickly following news of their death. For example, in 2018, following Aretha Franklin’s death being announced by her publicist, her Wikipedia page was updated in only twelve minutes.

How Reliable Is Wikipedia As An Information Source?

Wikipedia itself says that “Wikipedia is not a reliable source for citations elsewhere on Wikipedia. As a user-generated source, it can be edited by anyone at any time, and any information it contains at a particular time could be vandalism, a work in progress, or simply incorrect. Biographies of living persons, subjects that happen to be in the news, and politically or culturally contentious topics are especially vulnerable to these issues.”

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

It could be considered a positive that such a widely used information source is able to be updated so quickly. Many businesses and organisations use Wikipedia as source of reference but, as Wikipedia itself warns, it is a user-generated source, is only as good as its many (mostly anonymous) editors, the motivations, and situations of whom may vary, and it may not be considered a definitive source in and of itself. Research into who edits and updates facts about famous people so quickly can only really say that they are a diverse group of anonymous people, mostly using smartphones. Some speculate that their motivations for acting so quickly to update details about the deaths of famous people may be doing it for prosperity or bragging rights or having a close personal interest in a specific person. With the Queen’s global fame, it was not surprising that details on Wikipedia would be quickly changed. The user-generated nature of the site, and the proliferation of smartphones also mean that all high-profile deaths are likely to updated very quickly on Wikipedia, although maybe not as fast as Queen Elizabeth II’s.

News

Tech Insight : Sharing Files That Self-Destruct

In this insight, we take a look at some of the many options available for sharing files that self-destruct.

Why?

Many business IT users have occasions where they need to send sensitive information, e.g. passwords and other private work data and files but would feel uneasy about simply sending it via the normal email system, thereby leaving them sitting around inboxes and on servers that may be vulnerable to being compromised. There are, however, apps and websites that enable users to send files that self-destruct after a given time period, giving the sender extra peace of mind. Here are some examples and details of some of the more popular ways to send files that self-destruct.

Keeper Password Manager

Keeper Password Manager incorporates a secure, digital file vault, giving the user the option to set any links they share from there to work only once, and to expire after a set period. As well as incorporating a self-destruct timer, Keeper also offers message retraction, both of which enable the removal unwanted or sensitive messages and files without a trace. Keeper’s time-limited protected sharing of an item with both Keeper users and those who don’t have a Keeper account also means that sensitive items can be shared safely with contacts such as with co-workers, classmates, or family.

WeTransfer

WeTransfer is a popular, easy to use file-sharing app where users can share files up to 2GB for free which expire automatically after seven days. WeTransfer Pro allows users to send and receive up to 200 GB and gives 1 TB storage per person.

pCloud Transfer

pCloud’s app and web interface ‘pCloud Transfer’ allows the sharing of files with pCloud users or those who don’t have a pCloud account. Files sent through pCloud Transfer are available for only 7 days, with the sender and recipient both receiving a reminder email notification before the expiration date. pCloud Transfer is free, no registration is required, and users can send files up to 5 GB either directly via an email from pCloud Transfer or using a secure link. Users can also choose to encrypt their files adding password protection.

Dropbox

Among its many other file sharing features, Dropbox allows users to share a link to a file or folder that is limited to view-only access, and the sharer can add password protection to a shared link, set a link expiration date, and disable downloads.

Privatty

Privatty is an easy-to-use website to send notes or files, using a variety of methods, that will self-destruct. Privatty doesn’t require any personal or login information to use it. Users can write notes or upload files which are then converted into a secure link that can be emailed to the recipient. Users can choose how much time should elapse before the message self-destructs, e.g. in 1, 3, or 24 hours, or in 7 or 30 days. When the contact receives the link, they are given a notification that opening the link will result in its destruction.

SafeNote

Like Privatty, SafeNote it is a free, simple file sharing website-based service that doesn’t ask for any personal information to use it. SafeNote says its ‘SafeNote upload file’ “is the best option when you want to upload a temporary file to share it anonymously.” Users of the service only need to upload a file, share the secure link, and after it is downloaded, the file is completely deleted. Users can set an expiration on the file, and it is deleted within a certain amount of time, even if it was never downloaded. SafeNote says that all files are encrypted when stored on their servers.

Other Ways

Other ways to send self-destructing files include:

– The Telegram app’s ‘Secret chats’ feature.
– WhatsApp’s Disappearing Messages feature.
– The ‘Vanish Mode’ feature in Messenger in Facebook Messenger.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Businesses now need to be security conscious in all aspects of their work and communications and the sophistication of cyber attackers and sheer proliferation of those attacks means that many businesses no longer take the risk of sending sensitive files as attachments to normal emails. Self-destructing file sharing apps and websites provide an easy, fast, mostly free, and much more secure way to share sensitive files and gain the peace-of-mind of knowing that the lifespan of those files can be limited. This also gives much greater control to the sharer/sender in mitigating future risks, e.g. the recipient’s email or other systems being compromised further down the line. There is now a very a wide choice of different apps and websites offering self-destructing file sharing, some of which many businesses may already use other features of, e.g. Dropbox.

News

Tech News : Android 13 : More For Work, But Still Enough For Play

With Google announcing that Android 13 gives businesses using Android Enterprise new ways to get more out of their devices, we take a look at what the more business focused OS offers.

Simplifying The Separation And Management of Personal and Work Profiles

Android’s Work profile already helps keep company data accessible and secure, with personal profile data private and separate on a single device. This has proven to be useful with employees working from home and hybrid working. Google says that Android 13’s Work Profile gives employees an even smoother experience, a simpler design, improved productivity, and new cross-device capabilities. It also offers more intuitive navigating between work and personal profiles, while respecting cross-profile admin policies.

How?

Google says that Android 13 helps enable this separation by allowing employees to choose to open an app in either their work or personal profile, depending on where it’s installed. If they’d prefer to keep work-related content out of their personal apps, e.g. a work-related training video on YouTube, employees can choose to access that content in their browser instead. Also, Google says that with Android 13, employees can switch between work and personal photo galleries when sharing pictures with an app, granting access only to selected files rather than their entire media library.

More Productivity Tools and Features

Android 13 also offers more productivity tools in work profile. For example, Smart dictation (available in work profile apps on Pixel devices) keeps corporate jargon dictated for work emails out of personal chats, and all Android 13 devices can now use Near-Field Communication (NFC) from work apps to enable usage like digital access badges and tap-to-pay from work profile.

Security and Privacy Features

Android 13 has some security features that can also benefit businesses. For example:

– Integrations Between Phone Hub and Android and ChromeOS, allowing employees to securely respond to and access work information that’s on their phones, e.g. messages, notifications, and pictures, from their corporate Chromebooks, all protected by end-to-end encryption and company management policies.

– A new central hub that allows employees to manage device security and privacy settings, plus view company policies applied on the device as well as device data shared with IT admins.

– IT admins being given more control over device Wi-Fi connectivity for features like Wi-Fi Direct and Wi-Fi tethering.

– The addition of security logs for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and password activities in line with National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP) requirements.

– Faster security patching through Bluetooth and ultra-wideband (UWB), as well as the 30+ modules that can be updated remotely through Google System Updates.

Play

Android 13 may have a strong business focus, yet there are still plenty of new features more related to personal rather than business use. Just some of the many examples of these include:

– A new look and style that builds on ‘Material You’ so users can customise non-Google apps to match their phone’s wallpaper theme and colours, making the home screen more cohesive and unique to the user’s individual style.

– An updated media player that tailors its look and feel based on the music or podcast that the user is listening to, e.g. spotlighting album artwork and a playback bar that dances as the song progresses.

– The ability to customise ‘Bedtime Mode’ with wallpaper dimming and a dark theme. These screen options can help a user’s eyes adjust to the dark just before bed and get back to sleep if the user wakes up and checks their phone in during the night.

– The use of Gboard now enables users to “emojify” their messages without the added effort of selecting emojis one at a time.

– HDR video support on third-party camera apps, an updated media output switcher, and braille displays for Talkback.

– The addition of new shared experiences in Google Meet, e.g. live-sharing to allow instantly co-watching of YouTube videos and playing classic games (UNO!™ Mobile, Kahoot! or Heads Up!) with up to 100 friends and family members at a time.

– Sound Notifications within ‘Live Transcribe & Notifications’ which can detect critical household sounds like fire alarms, running water and door knocks and alert the user on their phone or watch when they occur.

When?

Android 13 started rolling out to Pixel devices in the middle of August with further rollouts over the coming months to Samsung Galaxy, Asus, HMD (Nokia phones), iQOO, Motorola, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Sharp, Sony, Tecno, vivo, Xiaomi and more.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Many of the new Android 13 features are, not surprisingly, focused on making it easier for remote and hybrid workers to separate and manage work and personal profiles on a single device, as well as giving them more tools to help productivity and improve security. Android 13 also has features to make IT admins’ lives easier, e.g. more control over device Wi-Fi connectivity. Outside of work, there are also plenty of new features to please Android users, although following the rollout in August, many Google Pixel owners complained that the upgrade to Android 13 caused them problems charging their devices. The response so far, however, has been mainly good and Google is promising the addition of more features in the coming months as it hopes to compete favourably with the rollout of Apple’s iOS16.

News

Sustainability-In-Tech : Stockholm’s E-Ferry : World’s Fastest Electric Passenger Vessel

The Candela P-12 Shuttle electric ferry, recently unveiled and due to enter service in between Stockholm city and the Ekerö suburb next year, can dramatically cut journey times.

Faster Than Stockholm’s Cars and Subway?

The makers of the world’s fastest, longest-range, and most energy efficient electric ship ever, the electric-powered the Candela P-12 Shuttle, claim that not only is it environmentally friendly, but will make Stockholm’s waterborne public transport faster than cars and subway!

30 Passengers At 30 Knots

The company makes this claim because the powerful electric engine and hydrofoil design mean that the 30-passenger waterborne shuttle can travel at 30 knots, making it a faster way to commute than the subway and bus lines it competes with, and faster that Stockholm’s rush-hour traffic. The electric engine also means that it is much more energy efficient than diesel passenger buses and trains.

Saves Commuters 50 Minutes Per Day

Stockholm commuters are currently facing a 55-minute trip by bus, subway, or conventional ferry (or even car during rush hour) whereas the Candela P-12 Shuttle will cover the 15 km route in only 25 minutes – saving the commuter an average 50 minutes per day!

Hydrofoils Reduce Drag

Candela says that the secret to the P-12 Shuttle’s high speed and long range are the three carbon fibre active hydrofoil wings that extend from under the hull, allowing the ship to lift itself above the water, thus decreasing drag.

Energy Efficient

The Candela P-12 Shuttle’s manufacturers say that its electric engine technology reduces energy per passenger kilometre by 95 per cent compared to current vessels, allowing for an unprecedented range of 50 nautical miles at service speed. This means that, at the equivalent of 0.1 kWh of electricity per passenger kilometre, the P-12 is more energy efficient than a hybrid electric bus. The electric direct-drive engine also means no noise from gears, no oil changes, and no maintenance.

Battery

Also, with up to 200 kW DC charging, the Candela P-12 Shuttle can charge its battery in under one hour!

The End Of Sea Sickness?

One unexpected bonus of a ferry that combines lifting itself above the water with a computer which regulates the hydrofoils 100 times per second is an incredibly smooth ride, which could mean no sea sickness for passengers.

Successful Trial Could Mean A Shift To The Waterways

The first P-12 Shuttle is due to undertake a nine-month trial period during 2023 and, if it meets expectations, the hope is that Stockholm’s fleet of over 70 diesel vessels will eventually be replaced by P-12 Shuttles. This could also mean a shift away land transport on congested highways to the city’s waterways.

What Does This Mean For Your Organisation?

City commuting is often major source of frustrating congestion for workers, but also of pollution from the cars and the diesel public buses and trains. An environmentally friendly, sustainable, fast, and comfortable alternative, such as the P-12 Shuttle could be the welcome shape of things to come. For canal cities and cities with waterways that lead right into or close to the centre from suburbs, provided the price is right and the capacity is available, commuters may be tempted to switch from the bus of train to the water shuttle instead. City councils are also likely to favour schemes that cut emissions, reduce city centre congestion, and present a forward-thinking, environmentally conscious image of a city. Although many cities are now switching to electric buses and trains/trams, electric ferries don’t suffer the same traffic congestion problems and this reliability and timesaving may be more attractive to commuters.

News

Security Stop-Press : Halford’s Spam Shame

A fine was imposed on Halfords by the UK’s privacy regulator after numerous complaints were raised about a marketing email encouraging people to redeem a £50 voucher.

Even though Halfords maintained that the £50 government-backed voucher represented a legitimate interest, the ICO said it was a marketing email which they would derive income from, which meant it was therefore not only unsolicited but also outside the remit of legitimate interest, according to the ICO. This is especially as the recipients had not opted-in.

The £30,000 punishment sends the signal to businesses that the ICO is increasingly active and is a stark reminder to maintain good data protection policies.

News

Tech Tip – Stay Organised In Chrome By Pinning Important Tabs To The Left

If you’re working with lots of tabs open but want to be able to quickly locate essential web pages in your Google Chrome browser, try pinning important tabs to the left-hand side. Here’s how:

– Right-click on the tab and select ‘Pin’.

– The pinned tab will appear as a smaller tab to the left of your other tabs and will only show the site’s icon.

– To unpin the tab, right-click on the tab and select ‘Unpin’.

– To move a tab to a completely different window, right-click on the tab and point to ‘Move tab to another window’ and select the window that you want to move it to.

News

Featured Article : Digital Marketing : TikTok Or YouTube?

In this article, we compare the TikTok and YouTube platforms and take a look at some of the pros and cons of each.

Similarities 

There are several important similarities between YouTube and TikTok. For example:

– Both are popular video-sharing social media platforms that encourage user-generated content.

– Both platforms also cater for content from individual content creators and businesses. For example, there is ‘TikTok For Business’ and ‘YouTube For Business,’ both offering advertising and other services.

– YouTube and TikTok enable interaction between users, e.g. comments, replies, and subscribe buttons.

– Both offer analytics, e.g. views, followers, impressions, and comments.

– The two platforms also use similar algorithms, i.e. content is served based on preferences, interaction, previous activity, account settings, and video performance.

– Both platforms enable captions and text overlays.

Differences 

Here is a short list of some of the main differences between TikTok and YouTube:

– Like YouTube, TikTok is a video-based social media platform, however it is a short-form video-sharing app where users can create and share relatively informal, 15-second videos on any subject, rather than YouTube videos which can be hours long. For example, YouTube supports 12 hours for verified accounts and 15 minutes for unverified accounts, so contributors have the scope to present more detailed messages, instructional and promotional videos, entertainment, marketing videos and much more.

– TikTok users are generally younger, i.e. mostly teens (18- to 24-year-olds).

– YouTube content is often more refined and tailored than TikTok videos, and YouTube provides more active participation among users than TikTok.

TikTok 

TikTok was created by ByteDance in 2017, and formerly known as Musical.ly. Cloudflare’s Radar, which monitors Web traffic, records TikTok as having overtaken Google to become the world’s most popular online destination. TikTok has One billion active users spread across 154 countries. Almost half (43 per cent) of TikTok users are 18-to-24-year-olds.

Both the YouTube and TikTok platforms have pros and cons, some of which depend upon what the user is trying to achieve, e.g. which target market a business may be trying to reach with what message. Here’s a brief look at some of the main pros and cons of TikTok.

Pros 

– It is free, convenient and many people say it’s easier to edit and upload content in TikTok than in other competitor apps/platforms, e.g. Instagram or Snapchat. It has an immediacy, i.e. users can quickly add videos directly from their mobile and customise them with background music, stickers, and filters.

– It’s a visible space with a familiar format of funny, positive video clips for Gen Z, who spend a lot of time on their phones. TikTok’s short clips appeal to the younger generation’s shorter attention spans.

– It gives ‘ordinary’ people the tools to creatively express themselves, engage, and take part in current discourse, although videos are mainly for entertainment.

– It provides a place for brands to experiment with their messages in entertaining ways, with a way for TikTok itself to discover popular new ways to expand its brand even more (e.g., the popularity of food and recipe video clips), leading to the idea of ‘TikTok Kitchen.’

– It has a content-rewarding algorithm that’s helped to drive meme culture, and TikTok’s algorithms can learn user preferences and customise the video feeds to their users, thereby helping it to keep users interested and engaged.

– It makes good use of music, which is particularly appealing to young age groups, and enables TikTok videos to be shared on Instagram, thereby boosting usage/download rates.

Cons 

– Worries about links to the Chinese state and allegations that it may have discriminatory content censorship standards that are decided by the Chinese government.

– A US counter-intelligence investigation and an investigation by (Israeli) Check Point over possible backdoors and security vulnerabilities that the platform may have.

– Worries from child advocacy groups that the app may pose a risk to children.

– Criticism from Reddit CEO/co-founder Steve Huffman that TikTok, once installed, is like a kind of ‘spyware’ that’s always listening.

– A £4.3m fine after Musical.ly was found to have knowingly hosted content published by under-age users.

– A temporary ban in India.

YouTube 

Google-owned YouTube has a massive user base of 2.6 billion users worldwide and is ranked the second-most popular social network, with only Facebook having more active users. YouTube users are generally older because it is popular with a broader spread of age groups. For example, 81 per cent of 18–25-year-olds (in the US) actively use YouTube (its largest group of users) but so do 71 per cent of 26-35-year-olds, and 67 per cent of 36-45 and 46–55-year-olds.

Heres’ a brief look at some of the main pros and cons of YouTube.

Pros 

– It’s free and easy to use and offers an easy way to share information via a variety of media, e.g. music, video, and animation.

– YouTube has a wide variety of content, making it more appealing to a diverse audience, and the popularity across different age groups allows it to reach a wide audience.

– It is a good platform for brand building across many industries and is widely used by big brands, e.g. Apple, BMW, Motorola, and more.

– YouTube is good for active content marketing because clear calls to action are allowed, e.g. audiences can be asked to subscribe to your channel, go to a website or social media page, and more.

– YouTube is owned by Google and YouTube videos can be used to drive users to websites, gain backlinks, and improve SEO and search engine rankings. YouTube can really help to drive traffic, audience engagements, and revenue for businesses.

– Videos can be longer and more detailed which helps with marketing, customer support, reviewing and influencing, and brand building.

– YouTube is easily accessible for users, e.g. via Google or via the YouTube app.

– Money can be earned through videos, and large followings can be built making it influential, plus it’s a good platform for showcasing talent and expertise.

Cons 

– As with TikTok, there are worries about the risk to children and young people using the platform because of the nature of some of the content (explicit, violent, sexual content), and it may need a parental block.

– YouTube videos are public which can create issues with copyright and privacy invasion.

– Making videos for and uploading them to YouTube can require more time and editing than TikTok.

– There are a lot of adverts and distractions on YouTube which can interfere with messages and can be frustrating for some users.

– There are a lot of rules and restrictions for video posting and a channel which has taken some time to build up can be disabled by YouTube if, for example, there are complaints or if Terms of Service and Community Guidelines are breached.

– Any advertisers can put an advert on your video, e.g. competitors.

– Although money can be earned on YouTube, it is not as easy as often hoped and requires large numbers of subscribers.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

TikTok has quickly become the go-to social video sharing platform, particularly among teens and young people and is now the world’s most popular online destination. Its short, mostly fun, engaging videos could be said to really appeal to Gen Z phone-gazers and as such has a real value in marketing as a way to reach young audiences and create viral influence. Google’s YouTube has 2.6 billion users (currently much more than TikTok) and reaches a wider spread of ages, plus it has the advantage of being good for driving website traffic and revenue by enabling calls to action. YouTube also allows more detailed videos and offers great brand-building opportunities, which is why many big brands use it as part of their promotional strategies. It depends, therefore, what the audience and the aims are which platform and in what way businesses choose to use them.

News

Tech Insight : Softaculous : What Is It And Why Is It Used?

In this insight, we look at what Softaculous is, what features it offers, and how it can be used to help businesses.

What Is It? 

Softaculous is a time and hassle-saving, open-source app, auto-script installer that enables the user to install any app in a couple of clicks, and to install and configure many different commercial and open-source apps via scripts and PHP classes. It has 380 scripts, 1115 PHP classes (templates of objects), and the company says Softaculous is widely used in the web industry. Softaculous has an auto-installer that integrates with many popular control panels such as cPanel, Plesk, DiractAdmin, InterWorkz, and H-Sphere, and it can take up installs of other auto-installers. If supported by the hosting provider, Softaculous also has a built-in WordPress Manager to simplify WordPress website management.

The Features 

Some of the notable features of Softaculous include one step install apps, daily script updates, one click upgrade, backups/restore installations – allows users to backup their sites and backups can be done on Google Drive, Dropbox, FTP/FTPS/SFTP locations. Other features include clone installations, demos, ratings and reviews, access control for which apps are available to different users, and auto backups, i.e. users can configure to backup installations at regular intervals daily, weekly, monthly or at custom times.

What Sort Of Things You Can You Do With It? 

To use Softaculous, log into your web hosting account, go to your control panel and find “WordPress Manager by Softaculous” in the software section, or use the WordPress icon (top right) if you’re already in the Softaculous user panel.

Here you can see all your WordPress installations, e.g. your plugins and themes and can add, upload, and install them in a matter of seconds. It also enables you to change some settings, e.g. enabling/disabling debug mode, WordPress cron, search engine visibility, and auto-upgrades for plugins and themes.

Some other examples of what you can use Softaculous for include:

– Create a staging environment for your website where you can test the updates add new content, plugins, themes, and the push the changes back to your live installation.

– Using the ‘Remote Import’ feature to import your installation from a remote server to your new server.

– Using the ‘Clone’ feature to create a new instance of your installation to another sub domain / addon domain within the same account.

The Benefits 

The benefits of using Softaculous include:

– It saves a lot of time, e.g. in installing, updating, and testing out a CMS and other apps.

– It simplifies typically tricky but important processes such as the installation of popular website building apps, and simplifies, for example, the building an online store or business website.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Dealing with the platforms that enable the building of websites, online shops, and blogs can be complicated and time consuming enough, let alone building and managing the site itself. Also, if integrations and installing apps are needed this can also sometimes be complicated, all of which can disrupt and delay business plans and add costs. Having one app, therefore, with auto-installers and the ability to complete complicated tasks with just a few clicks gives businesses of all sizes (particularly smaller businesses) the opportunity to save time, costs and trouble and have greater confidence in pursuing their digital strategies. Features such as the built-in WordPress Manager is particularly valued by many businesses. Also, auto-upgrades for plugins and themes can make maintenance easier, all of which means that businesses without a great deal of technical expertise in-house can carry out many of the tasks that a skilled technical person would have been needed for, thereby saving time, and making available resources go further.

News

Tech News : Starlink At Sea : Boating Broadband Boost

Cruise company Royal Caribbean Group has announced that it will be using Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Starlink satellite Internet for broadband connections aboard its ships.

What Is Starlink? 

Starlink, operated by billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX company uses a constellation of low orbit satellites around the earth (launched by SpaceX rockets) to provide broadband internet. Starlink provides satellite Internet access coverage to most of the planet and is particularly useful for areas where connectivity is unreliable or completely unavailable.

Starlink says that users of its satellite broadband can expect to see download speeds between 100 Mb/s and 200 Mb/s and latency as low as 20ms in most locations.

Trial Brought Positive Feedback 

Typically, cruise ship guests have faced the challenge of having to pay for generally poor Internet connections aboard cruise ships. The decision by the Royal Caribbean Group to become the first in the cruise industry to adopt the high-speed, low-latency satellite broadband connectivity comes after a trial onboard Freedom of the Seas received positive feedback from both crew members and guests.

Begins Immediately 

Royal Caribbean has announced that that deployment of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Starlink technology across the fleet will begin immediately with installation expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2023. The Starlink broadband internet service will be installed on all Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises ships, along with all new vessels for each of the brands.

Starlink Maritime

Just 2 months ago, SpaceX announced Starlink Maritime, a service which provides oceangoing vessels with up to 350 Mbps download while at sea for a one-time hardware cost of $10,000 and a monthly payment of $5,000.

Enhanced Cruise Experience 

Jason Liberty, president, and chief executive officer of Royal Caribbean Group said “This technology will provide game-changing internet connectivity onboard our ships, enhancing the cruise experience for guests and crew alike. It will improve and enable more high-bandwidth activities like video streaming as well as activities like video calls. Using Starlink is one more example of our continued focus on innovation and excellence for our guests, our crew, the communities we visit and our shareholders.” 

SpaceX Vice President of Starlink Sales, Jonathan Hofeller, said that “Royal Caribbean Group selecting Starlink to provide high-speed, low-latency internet across their fleet will make their passengers’ getaways even more luxurious.” 

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

For cruise companies trying to provide luxury experiences for their customers, one fly in the ointment has long been charging their guests for less-than-luxury patchy and poor Internet connections. This has become more of an issue as cruise companies have tried to use new experiences to attract younger customers, particularly millennials who would expect a good Internet connection. For example, Royal Caribbean reportedly spent $120 million updating the Mariner of the Seas cruise ship with a Sky Pad, and a bungee trampoline experience that integrates virtual reality. Even the older cruise customers of today are used to technology playing an increasing part in the last 30 years of their lives, and crew members too need to use Internet connections as part of their normal lives and connecting with home. Competition in the cruise market, which was hit hard during the pandemic, is fierce and repeat cruise customers, as many are, will likely see the value in this small but significant source of competitive advantage that Royal Caribbean Group has announced. For Elon Musk and Starlink, it’s more good publicity following the donation of Starlink satellite internet terminals to Ukraine.

News

Tech News : UK Broadband And Mobile Carriers Face Tough New Security Rules

The UK government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has proposed a new set of rules to tighten up network security against cyberattacks in broadband and mobile carriers.

Amongst The Strongest In The World 

The government says that the new regulations and code of practice, developed with the National Cyber Security Centre and Ofcom, will be among the strongest in the world. The hope is that they will provide much tougher protections for the UK from the kind of cyber threats which can cause network failure or the theft of sensitive data.

Consultation 

The new regulations build upon the Telecommunications (Security) Act, which became law in November and detail specific actions for UK public telecoms providers to fulfil their legal duties in the Act. The new rules follow a consultation between 1 March and 10 May 2022 on the draft Electronic Communications (Security Measures) Regulations and a draft code of practice.

From October 

The government says providers will be subject to the new rules from October from which time Ofcom will be able to start helping providers to comply.

Why? 

NCSC Technical Director Dr Ian Levy said, “We increasingly rely on our telecoms networks for our daily lives, our economy and the essential services we all use” and that “These new regulations will ensure that the security and resilience of those networks, and the equipment that underpins them”. Also, Digital Infrastructure Minister Matt Warman said “We know how damaging cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure can be, and our broadband and mobile networks are central to our way of life.” For this reason, Mr Warman said, “We are ramping up protections for these vital networks by introducing one of the world’s toughest telecoms security regimes.” 

What Are The New Electronic Communications (Security Measures) Regulations?  

The new regulations state that providers must:

– Protect data processed by their networks and services, and secure the critical functions which allow them to be operated and managed.

– Protect software and equipment which monitor and analyse their networks and services.

– Have a deep understanding of their security risks and the ability to identify when anomalous activity is taking place with regular reporting to internal boards.

– Take account of supply chain risks and understand and control who has the ability to access and make changes to the operation of their networks and services to enhance security.

How? 

Some of the measures that providers will have to take to comply will include:

– Identifying and assessing the risk to any ‘edge’ equipment that is directly exposed to potential attackers, e.g. radio masts and internet equipment supplied to customers (Wi-Fi routers and modems which could provide an act as entry point to the network).

– Keeping tight control of who can make network-wide changes.

– Protecting against certain malicious signalling coming into the network which could cause outages.

– Having a good understanding of risks facing their networks.

– Making sure business processes are supporting security, e.g. proper board accountability.

The government says that it expects providers to have taken these measures by March 2024.

What If They Don’t Comply? 

If providers don’t comply, the government says the regulator will be able to issue fines of up to 10 per cent of turnover or, in the case of a continuing contravention, £100,000 per day!

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

Since the Telecommunications (Security) Act came into law in November 2021 and a consultation stated in March 2022, UK public telecoms providers have been expecting more regulations. As the government pointed out, and particularly with the digital transformations during the pandemic, broadband and mobile networks have become vital and central to the businesses, the economy, and daily life. Given this importance and the fact that relations with some countries (e.g. Russia and China) are poor, plus there have been many reports of state-sponsored cyber-attacks, it is not surprising that pressure is being applied to tighten security across the board. The huge potential fines are a way to galvanize action. Ultimately, businesses and home users will benefit from tighter security at provider level, although it may take until 2024 for the regulator to start getting serious with those who aren’t making enough effort to comply.