PASADENA, Calif. — NASA has successfully tested the first deep space communications network modeled on the Internet.
Working as part of a NASA-wide team, engineers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., used software called Disruption-Tolerant Networking, or DTN, to transmit dozens of space images to and from a NASA science spacecraft located about 20 million miles from Earth.

“This is the first step in creating a totally new space communications capability, an interplanetary Internet,” said Adrian Hooke, team lead and manager of space-networking architecture, technology and standards at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

NASA and Vint Cerf, a vice president at Google Inc., in Mountain View, Calif., partnered 10 years ago to develop this software protocol. The DTN sends information using a method that differs from the normal Internet’s Transmission-Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, or TCP/IP, communication suite, which Cerf co-designed.

The Interplanetary Internet must be robust to withstand delays, disruptions and disconnections in space. Glitches can happen when a spacecraft moves behind a planet, or when solar storms and long communication delays occur. The delay in sending or receiving data from Mars takes between three-and-a-half to 20 minutes at the speed of light.

Unlike TCP/IP on Earth, the DTN does not assume a continuous end-to-end connection. In its design, if a destination path cannot be found, the data packets are not discarded. Instead, each network node keeps the information as long as necessary until it can communicate safely with another node. This store-and-forward method, similar to basketball players safely passing the ball to the player nearest the basket means information does not get lost when no immediate path to the destination exists. Eventually, the information is delivered to the end user.

“In space today, an operations team must manually schedule each link and generate all the commands to specify which data to send, when to send it, and where to send it,” said Leigh Torgerson, manager of the DTN Experiment Operations Center at JPL. “With standardized DTN, this can all be done automatically.”

Engineers began a month-long series of DTN demonstrations in October. Data were transmitted using NASA’s Deep Space Network in demonstrations occurring twice a week. Engineers use NASA’s Epoxi spacecraft as a Mars data-relay orbiter. Epoxi is on a mission to encounter Comet Hartley 2 in two years. There are 10 nodes on this early interplanetary network. One is the Epoxi spacecraft itself and the other nine, which are on the ground at JPL, simulate Mars landers, orbiters and ground mission-operations centers.

This month-long experiment is the first in a series of planned demonstrations to qualify the technology for use on a variety of upcoming space missions. In the next round of testing, a NASA-wide demonstration using new DTN software loaded on board the International Space Station is scheduled to begin next summer.

In the next few years, the Interplanetary Internet could enable many new types of space missions. Complex missions involving multiple landed, mobile and orbiting spacecraft will be far easier to support through the use of the Interplanetary Internet. It also could ensure reliable communications for astronauts on the surface of the moon.

The Deep Impact Networking Experiment is sponsored by the Space Communications and Navigation Office in NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate in Washington. NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and Discovery Program in Washington provided experimental access to the Epoxi spacecraft. The Epoxi mission team provided critical support throughout development and operations.

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/nov/HQ_08-298_Deep_space_internet.html

• By Dave Rudden

According to a recent report, Microsoft has banned a sizable amount of its Xbox Live members, under suspicion that they are playing pirated software.

Information Week released a story earlier today revealing that Microsoft has banned around 1 million Xbox Live members the company believes are playing pirated games via modified hardware. This round of reported banning comes as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the year’s biggest release, torrent target, and likely Xbox Live phenomenon, has just been released.

While Microsoft has been banning users for years, and has done so en masse before as we’ve reported, this latest round would be, by far, the largest batch ever. Banned consoles are unable to engage in online gameplay over Xbox Live and also have their warranties revoked, but players are still able to play games offline. Anyone here get banned? Don’t worry, we won’t tell Microsoft.

http://www.gamepro.com/article/news/212935/report-1-mil-xbox-live-members-banned-for-piracy/

By YUKARI IWATANI KANE

Ben Schefers bought his first Microsoft Corp. Xbox 360 console four months ago to play games remotely with his friends. But the 33-year-old database manager now spends more time using it to play movies, television shows and documentaries.

The new Facebook feature on Microsoft’s Xbox 360, part of a push to make game consoles all-in-one devices.

“It’s something that my wife and I can both agree on,” he says, adding that he plays Xbox 360 games only a few times a week—and often only after his wife is asleep. Each night, he and his wife, who live in Berkeley, Calif., spend an hour or two catching up on TV shows with the console. “It’s kind of taken over from our DVD player,” says Mr. Schefers.

Videogame consoles like the Xbox 360 and Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3 were designed primarily to play games, but the gadgets are increasingly evolving into multimedia home-entertainment devices as manufacturers add nongame features.

Last year, Microsoft and Sony began offering console owners video-watching services—Microsoft through a partnership with Netflix Inc. and Sony through its own service. Later this month, Microsoft plans to launch new features on its Xbox Live online service for premium members to stream music from Last.fm Ltd., download high-definition movies from its Zune Marketplace store, and easily access Facebook and Twitter’s social-networking sites. Sony, which tried and failed to market the PS3 as an all-in-one entertainment device when it was introduced three years ago, is giving it another go. The company has also begun offering access to Netflix through the PS3.

Microsoft has said that one million of its premium Xbox Live Gold members activated the Netflix application within the first three months of its launch a year ago and watched 1.5 billion minutes of movies and TV episodes. Sony, which lets all users surf the Web and manage digital media such as music and photos through the PS3, says those features have become important factors in purchasing decisions by consumers.

Nintendo Co. has been slower to integrate Internet technology and video-downloading services into its Wii console, though it allows all users to surf the Web, share photos and check out news and weather information. In Japan, the company is experimenting with limited video downloading through the Wii. Many analysts expect Nintendo to also offer streaming video through Netflix in the future. The company declined to comment.

Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey says his company’s goal is “to be ubiquitous on any device that you watch movies on.”
Waiting It Out

While many game players seem open to the idea of doing more with their consoles, they also say they are still figuring it out. Ruven Chu, a 22-year-old Stanford University graduate student and Xbox 360 owner in Palo Alto, Calif., says he is interested in trying the console’s Facebook and Twitter features. But he expects them to be integrated into the videogame experience in a way that’s not possible through his PC—allowing users to find friends on Facebook that they can play games with, for example. “I think it all depends on how it’s been implemented,” he says.

Console prices have fallen dramatically, providing an added incentive for consumers. An entry-level Xbox 360, for example, now starts at $199.99, down from $299.99 four years ago. Sony’s PS3 starts at $299 for a model with a 120-gigabyte hard drive and a Blu-ray player and Wi-Fi wireless connectivity. In 2006, a model with a 20-gigabyte hard drive debuted for $499.

To stream movies and access other media content, console makers have created miniature keyboards that can be attached to the game controllers. Consumers can also type Web addresses and text messages by hooking up a computer keyboard to the console or punching in letters on a virtual keyboard on the screen.

Companies such as Intel Corp. and Apple Inc. have spent years trying to come up with a product that brings the Internet into the living room. Many of the devices have been slow to take hold because they were awkward to use and had little attractive content available. They also required the purchase of additional devices.

Now, as technology has advanced and more content has come online, more device makers are vying to be the top living-room gadget. Research firm iSuppli Corp. estimates there are over 50 Internet-enabled TV models from the top five manufacturers on sale now, more than double the number last year. Blu-ray players from companies like LG Electronics Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. let people stream video from Netflix. And Apple, TiVo Inc., Digeo Inc. and Roku Inc. make specialized set-top boxes that people can use to download or stream TV shows and movies over the Internet, as well as manage other content such as music or photos.
Go-To Devices

For many consumers, though, videogame consoles appear to be the go-to living-room device—particularly for those who already own one of them. Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo have already sold over 45 million units collectively, according to the companies. That compares with the 5.3 million networked TVs, Blu-ray players and set-top boxes estimated to be sold by the end of this year, according to consulting firm Envisioneering Group.

“Active game consoles have a lot of momentum because they’re already attached to televisions,” says Envisioneering analyst Richard Doherty. “They are a part of the family.”

Analysts also say that part of the reason why consoles have become such a popular way of viewing streaming video from the Internet is that cable and satellite companies have been slow to embrace such services.

Fred Potter, a 27-year-old software developer in Los Altos, Calif., splits most of his TV viewing between Netflix on his Xbox 360 and the Hulu streaming video service on his laptop computer. “The only thing we use basic cable for is for watching shows the day they air,” he says.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704328104574516240890098438.html

When you’re traveling this holiday season, you can enjoy free WiFi at 47 participating airports and on every Virgin America flight. Just bring a WiFi-enabled laptop or mobile device and stay connected to family and friends for free while you travel now through January 15, 2010.

Photo Contest – Win cool prizes

Starting Monday, November 16, 2009, you’ll be able to win prizes by submitting a photo of yourself using the WiFi in any participating airport or on a Virgin America flight. In addition to being able to win great stuff, we’ll feature winning photos on this website.

The holidays are about giving and we hope that you can continue to spread holiday cheer by making a donation via Google Checkout to any of the participating non-profits. At the end of the program, Google will match donations made via participating WiFi networks, up to a maximum of $250,000. Just look for the link to donate once you connect.

http://www.freeholidaywifi.com/

by: David Coursey

This is a bad day for the English language, after ICANN approved non-Latin characters for use in Internet domain names. Having invented the Internet–40 years ago yesterday–the U.S. has given away whatever advantage it offers English-speakers.

This was bound to happen after the U.S. recently recanted on its “ownership” of the Internet in a new agreement with ICANN, the Internet’s primary governing body. At one level, I am happy that Internet users around the world will soon have domain names in their own character sets.

“The coming introduction of non-Latin characters represents the biggest technical change to the Internet since it was created four decades ago,” ICANN Chairman Peter Dengate Thrush said in a statement.

“Right now Internet address endings are limited to Latin characters–A to Z. But the Fast Track Process is the first step in bringing the 100,000 characters of the languages of the world online for domain names.”

The first phase of the Internationalized Domain Names program begins Nov. 16 when countries can apply to ICANN for country codes, such as .us for the United States and .ru for Russia, in their own character sets.

Over time, expect to see other domains, such as .com, .org, and .net, become available in other character sets, as well as domain names themselves.

“This is a culmination of years of work, tests, study and discussion by the ICANN community,” Thrush said. “To see this finally start to unfold is to see the beginning of an historic change in the Internet and who uses it.”

Is this a change for the better?

Perhaps, but is there any doubt that if another country had “invented” the Internet–say the Russians–that we’d all have had to learn to type Cyrillic characters by now? Moreover, do you think they or the Chinese or Japanese would have changed the Internet just to suit English-speakers.

Indeed, had the Internet been developed around a non-Latin character set, would it even exist today? Has the success of the Internet not been linked to the role of English as the global language of business and popular culture?

On another level, I also am concerned about all the potential for duplicated domains that will be created as non-Latin characters roll out across the Internet. How many new domains will be needed to protect international brands?

Will cybercriminals some how be able to take advantage of this change? Will there be hidden domains that cannot be displayed on some computers or typed on many keyboards?

Practically, I am not looking forward to perhaps someday having to learn how to type potentially 100,000 non-Latin characters that ICANN has embraced. Is there an easy way to do this? How many keys will keyboards need to have?

I am guessing this is a problem Google will help solve, but still have concerns.

It also worries me that the Internet, which once brought people together, may start to fracture along character-set lines.

Like I said, this is a bad day for the English language, but a good day for the billions of people who do not speak my mother tongue. They have rights, too, even if I am not always happy about what that means.

David Coursey tweets as @techinciter and can be contacted via his Web site.

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/181094/icann_approves_domain_names_we_cant_type.html

Click here to download.

Take out “php.ini” and “.htaccess” files and put them into your “wp-admin” folder via ftp.

The “php.ini” contains the limit code and this file currently has it’s file size set for 20mb. Change as needed. ‘Post_max_size’ must be equal or greater to ‘upload_max_filesize.’

File contents:

php.ini:

<?php
upload_max_filesize = 20M
post_max_size = 20M
?>

.htaccess:

suPHP_ConfigPath php.ini

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Ahead of the start of free wireless Internet service, Rail Runner officials have asked about 25 volunteers to test the service over a 30-day period on the train.

Officials say the test run lets users check out capabilities, and it allows the train staff to see if the system is adequately serving passengers.

Participants will be asked to send e-mails, surf the internet and log their results.

Rail Runner officials have no immediate estimate on when the service might be expanded to all passengers, but the test is expected to be conducted over the next month.