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States May Ban Online Censorship

Until now, the Masters of the Universe have seemed invulnerable. Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Amazon have grown accustomed to getting their way without effective opposition. Competitors can’t challenge their market domination, and the Biden-Harris junta evidently doesn’t want to rein them in. Unless the states intervene, Big Tech owns us.

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Some states, though, have decided to enter the fray. Many have accused major tech platforms of online censorship. Florida and Montana led the way, considering laws forbidding censorship in social media, browser search engines, and online shopping fora.

Add Texas to the list. Texas Senator Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) sponsored a bill that could penalize Amazon, Facebook, Google, or Amazon for blocking access to information or commentary.

The bill would authorize Texans banned or suspended by Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube to sue them.

Hughes said, “We don’t allow a cable company to cut off your television because it doesn’t like your religion.”

What do the states say this is about?

Governor Greg Abbott backed the Hughes bill. “Big Tech’s effort to censor conservative viewpoints is un-American”, Abbott said, “and we’re not going to allow it in the Lone Star State.” Abbott accused several firms of leading “a dangerous movement to censor conservative voices and religious freedoms.”

To this, Abbott’s targets have a prepared response. Online firms have long claimed safe harbor under Section 230 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act. The section treats them as ‘common carriers’, not as publishers. They would, therefore, be immune from defamation or copyright infringement lawsuits for material posted on their platforms. The reasoning is that they don’t control what users post, any more than the phone carrier controls voice conversations.

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Abbott and Hughes argue that certain firms have forfeited these exemptions. They’ve done so, Abbott says, by acting as publishers. Rejecting content for political, religious, or social reasons is the behavior of a publisher. And publishers don’t qualify for Section 230 protection.

Will the states prevail in court? Check this space for updates.

Get the most from your online experience. For the best deals in internet service, contact Satellite Country. Call today. We can help.

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‘Cognitive’ TV Sets Unveiled by Sony

You’ve heard of Smart TV, but its unlikely you’ve ever heard of ‘cognitive’ TV. If Sony Electronics has its way, though, you’re likely to hear about it often.

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The consumer electronics giant announced yesterday that it plans to unveil Bravia XR, the world’s first ‘cognitive’ TV sets, at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The new devices will feature revolutionary methods for processing information. Sony says they will closely mimic the ways humans see and hear.

How does a ‘cognitive’ TV set differ?

The Cognitive Processor XR will control the new screens. The new processor divides the screen into multiple zones and senses location of the picture’s ‘focal point’. The XR can analyze several elements at once. It then adjusts each element for the best user view of the picture, and analyzes sound position so what the viewer hears matches what’s on screen. It can upgrade any sound signal to 3D Surround Sound.

According to Sony’s president, Mike Fasulo, the Cognitive Processor XR mimics the way the brain processes information.

The Bravia XR line includes the Master Series Z9J 8K LED, Master Series A90J and A80J OLED, and X95J and K90J 4K LED.

The XR TV sets also feature HMDI 2.1 compatibility, hands-free voice remote, Netflix Calibrated Mode, IMAX Enhanced Mode, smart speaker compatibility, and PureStream near-lossless UHD resolution with speed of up to 80 MB/S. In addition, Sony offers easy access to Google TV with all TV models.

All Bravia XR TV sets can receive NextGen TV cable signals.

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Sony has not announced pricing or availability of the Bravia XR line, but is expected to do so in the spring.

To get the most out of any TV set, you need a reliable internet connection. And for the connection that best needs your needs and budget, get HughesNet through Satellite Country. Call today. We can help.

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Crisis Management by Digital Means

By all accounts, 2020 has been an unusual year. One alarming crisis succeeded another- then another- then another. The Covid-19 pandemic, and the ensuing restrictions on normal activity, have imposed unaccustomed hardships on most Americans. Hurricanes, mass riots, devastating wildfires, and electrical outages (in California) followed.

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In facing such daunting events, what can we do? Well, some communities rely on digital technologies.

Where do we look for help in a crisis?

One answer is HughesNet. The satellite internet system offers several emergency services. One is SatCell Connect. Another is called Internet Continuity.

The first provides instant cellular service when cell networks fail. SatCell registers up to 10,000 cellular devices, and can handle up to 100 streaming video calls or 400 voice calls at a time. In addition, it can handle up to 800 simultaneous chat sessions at speeds of up to 200 MB/S.

The latter is slightly different. ‘Internet Continuity’, designed chiefly for small businesses, provides emergency backup when cable and fiber internet networks fail. In event of such failure, HughesNet automatically routes web traffic to the satellite system. Then, when the original service is restored, HughesNet switches back to it.

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In a crisis, a satellite internet system proves most reliable. Weather conditions and earthquakes that disrupt fiber, DSL, and cable systems won’t interrupt HughesNet.

Businesses and government offices that can’t afford prolonged internet outages need this emergency backup.

HughesNet is also the practical internet alternative for remote locations. Customers can connect service quickly and easily, and with HughesNet’s built-in WiFi, workers can easily connect their mobile devices. Furthermore, with a wide array of fixed and portable antennae, you can connect almost anywhere.

To sum all of this up, HughesNet may be the ideal means to guarantee you can remain online in a crisis. And Satellite Country is the ideal portal for HughesNet.

So, then, don’t take unnecessary chances. Contact us today.

How soon can you get connected?

Don’t take chances in an emergency. If you can’t afford to stay offline for long, you need a reliable connection. For the best deals in reliable web service, call Satellite Country. Call today. We can help.

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Prepare for the Coming of Jupiter III

If you’re an American customer of HughesNet now, you can expect to see a significant service upgrade soon. The satellite internet system will launch Jupiter III, an advanced high-capacity satellite.

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The launch was scheduled for early in the year, but was delayed by Covid-19. This is not unusual. Many businesses in America have had to delay product or marketing moves because of the virus. But it won’t be with us forever.

By current estimates, the launch will occur in the first quarter of 2022.

Why is Jupiter III important?

The new satellite is important because of the massively increased capacity it offers. JupiterIII will add 500 to 550 gigabits. With the spike in capacity, HughesNet can offer speeds of up to 100 megabits per second (MB/S) with some plans. The current top download speed with all plans is 25 MB/S.

The additional capacity is all the more necessary given the lockdowns we’ve suffered- and will continue to suffer in some areas. With more of us working from home, we’re spending more time on the internet.

HughesNet has seen solid growth in its customer base lately. For the third quarter, the company added 38,000 broadband subscribers. This expands its subscriber total to 1.58 million.

Why do you need HughesNet?

Unlike cable or telecom internet, HughesNet is available almost everywhere in the U.S. This includes rural areas which otherwise couldn’t get broadband service.

HughesNet currently offers download speeds of up to 25 MB/S. This meets the FCC’s definition of true broadband, and it’s enough for almost all web functions: e-mail, surfing, and watching video.

Wherever you live, you need a reliable internet connection. To find the right plan for you, Contact HughesNet through Satellite Country. We can help you find the service that meets your needs and budget. Call now. We can help.

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Mexican Homes and Businesses Get HughesNet Service

Imagine you own a small grocery store outside of Morelia, Mexico. As more and more of your customers obtain debit or credit cards, you realize you need ability to process their payments. The future of your business depends on it. But what can you do? In most Mexican exurban and rural areas, broadband internet service is scarce. Few providers are willing to extend their cable or fiber lines to outlying areas.

This is a common obstacle. As appealing as life in Mexico may be for some, it can bring severe deprivations. One is lack of high-speed internet service- especially in small towns and rural areas. Mexican internet penetration is only 14% in rural areas, compared to 86% in major urban centers.

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For this reason, HughesNet’s presence in our southern neighbor meets a critical need for the Mexican people. Since the satellite internet system began operating in Mexico, about 95% of its population have access to fast internet service. And it doesn’t matter matter where they work or live, since HughesNet doesn’t need cable or fiber lines.

Mexico is the sixth Latin American country to obtain HughesNet service. The first five are: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

How does satellite internet solve the problem?

HughesNet delivers download speeds of 25 megabits per second (MB/S). Upload speeds are usually 3 MB/S. The service includes free WiFi, and subscribers who need customer care can get it 24 hours per day.

HughesNet has offered commercial enterprise services in Mexico for several years. In this enterprise market, the company works with StarGroup.

What can HughesNet do for Americans?

Exurban and rural areas in the U.S.A. suffer the same lack of wireline internet service that outlying areas in Mexico do. For Americans in this situation, HughesNet is the solution. With 25 MB/S downloads, HughesNet is true broadband.

In the U.S., HughesNet was the first satellite internet system. Decades later, it remains the provider of choice for homes and businesses without access to wireline internet. So far, the company has shipped more than 7 million terminals in more than 100 countries, and it covers about half the entire world market for satellite internet.

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For the best deals in internet service, shop with Satellite Country. For the most reliable internet connection, shop with Satellite Country. Then call our toll-free number. We can help.

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HughesNet Buys Share of OneWeb

That didn’t last long. The OneWeb satellite internet system, thought to be near death after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy a few months ago, apparently has cheated the Grim Reaper- at least in the short term. It may yet shake off fiscal extinction.

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A few days ago, Hughes Network Systems plunged $50 million into OneWeb. In this, Hughes joins the British government and Bharti Global, each of which paid $500 million for a 45% share only a few weeks ago.

Bharti Global is an Indian consortium.

How will this affect satellite internet service?

Hughes has operated its own satellite internet system for several decades. Its legacy system relies on high-altitude birds in geosynchronous orbit. OneWeb’s satellites hover in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). At the lower altitude, each of OneWeb’s satellites covers less territory, features lower latency. Latency is the delay between the sending of a signal and when the target receives it.

A geosynchronous satellite matches its speed to the Earth’s rotation. The satellite remains directly above a given spot on the planet’s surface.

With its added interest in OneWeb, HughesNet will be part of a multi-orbit system. High altitude geosynchronous systems offer certain advantages. LEO systems offer other advantages. But a multi-orbit system can provide the best features of both: more complete coverage, with low latency where its needed.

Some competitors, such as Elon Musk’s StarLink, deploy only LEO satellites. Industry experts, though, say multi-orbit systems are the wave of the future.

Before filing for bankruptcy, OneWeb had launched 74 satellites. It had planned to launch a fleet of more than 600.

What are HughesNet’s plans?

HughesNet said it wants to distribute OneWeb services in America. Hughes says this will include custom connections for government and business sites. This will mean, among other things, cellular backhaul and community WiFi hotspots.

Hughes has already gotten more than $300 million in OneWeb contracts for gateway antennae and other ground equipment.

HughesNet customers can also expect upgrades in residential web service.

You can get satellite internet service almost anywhere. You’re not limited by the location of the cable or telecom lines. To find out more, call 1-855-216-0185. Call 1-855-216-0185. Call 1-855-216-0185.

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Unbreakable Communication Security At Last?

How safe is your online activity? Do you think about online security? If you don’t, maybe you should. Hackers, malware pirates, and spies prowl the internet, ever probing for weakness. With enough effort, they always find it. Sooner or later, they can breach any firewall. No form of encryption is completely unbreakable.

Image result for encryption images

Is there anything we can do?

Computer security experts strive to block outside access to our data.They’ve seen notable successes, but for every advance, the hackers and pirates answer sooner or later. Completely unbreakable firewalls seem beyond our reach.

Most I T experts believe the threat can only grow more severe. With quantum computing on the horizon, danger your online privacy is likely increase dramatically. The nearly infinite processing power of quantum computers could defeat even the most complex security codes. No form of encryption, it seems, will ever be unbreakable. Absolute online security is impossible. We’ve been told it always will be.

Could this be unbreakable?

Still, the future of online privacy might not be as hopeless as we thought. An international team of communications experts claim to have the world’s first absolutely impregnable data protection.

Led by Dr. Andrea di Falco, the team is drawn from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Arabia), the University of St. Andrews, and the Center for Unconventional Processes in Sciences. They say their system is based on a silicon optical chip. It enables sending of data from one user to another via hackproof one-time encryption.

The system doesn’t store the keys generated by the chip. It doesn’t communicate the keys with the messages. Nobody- not even the users- can recreate them.

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Di Falco said, “With the advent of more powerful and quantum computers, all current encryptions will be broken in a very short time, exposing… our present, and more importantly, past communications. For instance, an attacker can store an encrypted message… sent today and wait for the right technology… to decipher (it).”

Di Falco says his team has provided the perfect solution. If he’s right, they’ve revolutionized online privacy. Their invention will provide what Di Falco calls “perfect secrecy” in public communication. Finally, our online messages will be unbreakable.

Di Falco’s team is working on commercial models and ‘user-friendly’ software. They’ve already made a functioning demonstration model.

If they’re right, we may never have to worry about hackers again.

To get a reliable web connection, shop with Satellite Country. Call today. We can help.

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Are You Ready for the Coming Age of Mass Genius?

Some tech experts believe the intelligence of the human race is about to skyrocket. Some of you, we know, are thinking: “And not a moment too soon!”

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What would account for this ballistic bulge in bubba’s brainpower?

Peter Diamandis thinks he knows. Diamandis holds degrees in molecular genetics and aerospace engineering from MIT, and made his reputation as the best-selling author of Abundance: The  Future Is Better than You Think.  He says the growth of internet connectivity, the cloud, and maturing brain-computer interfaces will bring dramatic acceleration of mass genius. This includes both individual and collective intelligence. Not only will the world at large become smarter, each of us will become a genius.

Mass Genius through Connectivity

The first factor Diamandis cited is connectivity. For most of history, he said, the greatest intellects have been squandered. Many were hindered by barriers of sex, race, ethnicity, class, and culture. Most, though, simply lacked means to communicate their insights to the world.

The coffee houses founded in eighteenth century Britain and continental Europe played a critical role in  destroying these barriers. In the coffee houses, people from all classes and vocations met to discuss ideas, debate them, and refine their own ideas based on the feedback they got from others. The intellectual ferment in the coffee house culture fostered the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution.

Concentrating population in large urban centers extended the idea generating power of the coffee house to many more people.

Diamandis says the internet is our current version of the eighteenth century coffee house and the urban center– but is many times more powerful than both. Our current networks need not be confined to our neighborhoods or our cities; they can now encompass the entire globe.  More than four billion people now have internet connections. Soon all of us will.

The Cloud and Brain-Computer Interfaces

The second factor, Diamandis says, is the cloud, which will be enhanced by brain–computer interfaces. The author says we will soon be able to upload our thoughts to the cloud, and download information directly to our brains. We then can bypass the usual cumbersome learning process. Research will become more efficient by several orders of magnitude, because it will be rooted in what Diamandis calls “the neurological basis for innovation”.

Is Diamandis right about this? We should certainly hope so. We wouldn’t be burdened with so many selfies or cat videos on social media. We might even hear Joy Behar or Barbra Streisand say something sensible.

To tap your own genius, you need a reliable internet connection. For the one that works best for you, call Satellite Country. We can help.

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Uncle Sam Wants to Read Your Mind

Okay, maybe it’s not your mind Uncle Sam wants to read. The U.S. military, though, is working hard on brain-computer interfaces meant to enable reliable mind-reading.

Image result for mind reader

Several years ago, the Defense Department began working with Battelle, a private non-profit research firm, to help paralyzed patients control their limbs with neural bypasses. Their first experimental subject, Ian Burkhardt, had crushed several neck vertebrae in a diving accident. As a result, he couldn’t move his arms or legs, though he still had feeling in his hands.

To help Burkhardt, Battelle’s research team first had to measure his brainwave activity, and they needed extreme accuracy in their measurements. They drilled into his skull and attached a ‘Utah device’ to his head. With this they could record his brainwaves 30,000 times per second.

With this information, Battelle refined its algorithms over and over again. Eventually, the team built a cable system connecting a device at the base of Burkhardt’s skull to an electrode-laden sleeve wrapped around his right forearm. With this system, Burkhardt could move his right hand. Eventually, he learned to lift and pour from a bottle. He even learned how to remove his wallet from his pants and open it.

Battelle is now working on developing sensors so sensitive, they can receive and decipher the muddled ‘noisy’ brain signals from outside of the body. Researchers won’t need to drill into the skull.

Where does the research go from here?

Brain control of a subject’s limbs is only the beginning. Before long, we will see direct brain control of external objects. Within a few years, a soldier could control a swarm of drones or a small fleet of tanks merely by thinking of doing so.

The Defense Department wants much more than this. Developing a brain-computer interface for Ian Burkhardt required close reading of his brain activity. With slight tweaking of the algorithm, the DoD could soon learn how to read thoughts and intents of its subjects. Interrogating terror suspects and enemy combatants won’t require hearing their responses to questions, let alone believing them. With an electrode-lade cap, an interrogator can read the suspect’s mind and learn everything he needs to know.

Of course, this raises a troubling question. Would this technology be confined to military purposes? Given what we know about our political and bureaucratic elites, we ought to worry that our would-be rulers will try to read the minds of law-abiding, peaceful civilians.

For the internet connection that meets your needs and budget, shop with Satellite Country. We can help.