CIS 164 Internet Essentials (Fall 2017)

The FCC officially votes to kill net neutrality The order was passed today by the FCC with a vote of 3 to 2.  The O pen Internet Order and the net neutrality protections it established will be eliminated. The FTC now controls the rules for blocking and throttling content. Commissioner Rosenworcel stated “This decision puts the Federal Communications Commission on the wrong side of history, the wrong side of the law, and the wrong side of the American public.” Hopefully all the memes at have been going around about having to spend more money to get to sites like Netflix and Amazon don’t come true. Now we must wait and see what the ISP providers will do with their new power. If you want to read the article in more detail here is the link:  https://techcrunch.com/2017/12/14/the-fcc-officially-votes-to-kill-net-neutrality/

Oops... Some HP Laptops Shipped with Hidden Key logger It was recently discovered that some HP laptops came with a preinstalled program to capture the keystrokes of users. HP quickly released a patch after the discovery. It was part of the driver for the touchpad and was used for debugging purposes. There doesn't appear to have any malicious intent behind it. If you want to read the article in more detail here is the link:  https://www.technewsworld.com/story/Oops-Some-HP-Laptops-Shipped-With-Hidden-Keylogger-85002.html

Continental, Avis turn phones into rental car keys It was announced that Continental and Avis Budget Group are testing an entirely keyless rental-car system. By using a smart device people can lock, unlock and even start their rental car without needing a physical key. It relies on Continental's Key-as-a-Service technology and only needing a few hardware modifications. The system is being tested in the Kansas City area currently. If you want to read the article in more detail here is the link:  https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/continental-avis-turn-phones-into-rental-car-keys/

New law reinstates small drone registration in the US The registration got a second life after it was signed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. Previously when the FAA announced owners had to register devices over .55 pounds. This upset veteran hobbyists, many who have experience flying RC aircraft. One hobbyists even took the FAA to court, stating that Congress had decided the FAA had no jurisdiction over toy aircraft. If you want to read the article in more detail here is the link:  https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/12/16768960/new-law-reinstates-small-drone-registration-in-the-us

This Harry Potter AI-generated fanfiction is remarkably good A new chapter in the world of Harry Potter was written by an AI text prediction after getting trained by an algorithmic tool on all seven of the children’s fantasy novels. People have stated that the plot feels soulless and meandering but holds a faint imprint of Rowling’s whimsical charm. If you want to read the article in more detail here is the link:  https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/12/16768582/harry-potter-ai-fanfiction

Twitch will start streaming US minor league basketball games This is the first time the games of an official sports league will be livestreaming legally and by Twitch itself. They plan on having interactive features like achievements, climb leaderboards, and earn prizes. As of yet they have not stated what kind of prizes. If you want to read the article in more detail here is the link:  https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/13/16772212/twitch-livestream-basketball-nba-g-league