Hackers aren’t going anywhere any time soon, so Russian spies are wising up and taking their most sensitive intelligence offline. Not offline like off the internet. Offline like off computers altogether. Read more…
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To Avoid Cyber Espionage, Russia’s Switching Back to Typewriters
The software giant’s cloud storage service infringes the trademark name of BSkyB, one of the largest broadcasters in Europe, the U.K.’s High Court in London rules. [Read more]
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SkyDrive trademark ruling goes against Microsoft
In an excellent NYT story, Sarah Lyall reports on “lights-out London” — the phenomenon whereby ultra-wealthy foreigners (often from corrupt plutocracies like Kazakhstan and Russia) are buying up whole neighbourhoods in London, driving up house-prices beyond the reach of locals, and then treating their houses as holiday homes. They stay for a couple weeks once or twice a year, leaving whole neighbourhoods vacant and shuttered through most of the year, which kills the local businesses and turns central London into something of a ghost town. “Some of the richest people in the world are buying property here as an investment,” [Paul Dimoldenberg, leader of the Labour opposition in Westminster Council] said. “They may live here for a fortnight in the summer, but for the rest of the year they’re contributing nothing to the local economy. The specter of new buildings where there are no lights on is a real problem…” Meanwhile, prices are rising beyond expectation. For single-family housing in the prime areas of London, British buyers spend an average of $2.25 million, Ms. Barnes said, while foreign buyers spend an average of $3.75 million, which increases to $7.5 million if they are from Russia or the Middle East… The most visible, and also the most notorious, of the new developments is One Hyde Park, a $1.7 billion apartment building of stratospheric opulence on a prime corner in Knightsbridge, near Harvey Nichols, the park and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, which functions as a 24-hour concierge service for residents. Apartments there have been purchased mostly by foreign buyers who hide their identities behind murky offshore companies registered to tax havens like the Isle of Man and the Cayman Islands. It is rare to see anyone coming to or going from the complex, and British newspapers have been trying since it opened two years ago to discover who lives there. Vanity Fair reported recently that as far as it could discern after a long trawl through records, the owners seem to include a cast of characters who might have come from a poker game in a James Bond movie: a Russian property magnate, a Nigerian telecommunications tycoon, the richest man in Ukraine, a Kazakh copper billionaire, someone who may or may not be a Kazkh singer and the head of finance for the emirate of Sharjah. A Slice of London So Exclusive Even the Owners Are Visitors [NYT/Sarah Lyall] ( via Beyond the Beyond )
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How the global hyper-rich have turned central London into a lights-out ghost-town
Forget coffee. Forget juice. Forget milk, damnit. Mountain Dew wants you wash down your Wheaties with an energy drink. Nope. Nope. Nope. We’re not going to do that. More »
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Mountain Dew KickStart: You’re Supposed to Drink This for Breakfast
Ed sez, Inspired by traditional Victorian floriography, writer and artist Ed Saperia developed a series of over 200 “flower codes”, allowing you to express anything from a simple romantic gesture (“I adore you”) to a loaded question (“Someone else?”) or even an insult (“Creep!”) using nothing but a few common flowers. “We are a messaging culture, submerged in an endless deluge of communication. Sometimes, though, we are lost for words. This system makes it a little easier to say those difficult things.” An online dictionary and decoder may be found at www.cryptofloricon.com , and if you’re in London from 8th-10th February a pop-up florist near Brick Lane will feature a range of bouquets spelling out the various codes. Boing Boing’s favourite will probably be three carnations, one lily and a gerbera, which translates to “Help, I’m trapped in a florist’s!”. Cryptofloricon ( Thanks, Ed ! )
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Cryptofloricon: say (whatever) with flowers!
Not that a view over the Thames ever gets old, but commuters should soon find it a bit easier to check their inboxes while they’re on or next to the water. Californian WiFi specialist Ruckus says that its wireless steering technology — which increases network range by up to 4x by directing signals around obstacles and interference — has just been picked for an upgrade to BT’s Thames WiFi service. The new “carrier-grade” equipment should be activated within the next couple of months and will stretch out along the full 27 meandering miles of river that are already covered by traditional antennas . With better hotspot access spreading across the Tube network , black cabs and now the water, EE ‘s central London LTE service will have even more to prove in terms of raw speed . [Image credit: Getty Images] Show full PR text Global Reach Technology Selects Ruckus to Bring Smarter, High Capacity Wi-Fi to Users on Land and Water within the UK Smart Wi-Fi Enables High-Speed Wi-Fi Access for Millions of Passengers Along 27 Miles of the Thames River and Reliable Public Wi-Fi Access in Leeds and Bradford LONDON, ENGLAND (UK) and SUNNYVALE, CA – January 28, 2013 – Ruckus Wireless, Inc. (NYSE: RKUS) today announced that Global Reach Technology Ltd., an innovative supplier of Wi-Fi, cloud- and IP-based policy management services, has selected its ZoneFlex[TM] Smart Wi-Fi system for a number of high profile Wi-Fi projects in the UK that address the explosive demand for reliable, high-speed data access in densely trafficked areas around the city. Global Reach has deployed carrier-grade Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi indoor and outdoor ZoneFlex products for its public hotspot infrastructure along 44km (27 miles) of the River Thames and onboard Thames Clippers London River Ferries to support more than 30 million people accessing the river each year. In addition to providing public Wi-Fi access through its own Thames Wi-Fi hot zone branded service, planned for Q1 2013, Global Reach is leveraging its high capacity infrastructure to offer wholesale and international roaming services across the 27 miles of river coverage. British Telecommunications plc (BT) gives public Wi-Fi access free of charge to all its BT Broadband subscribers via the white-labeled Global Reach service to the Thames River network, while the Transport for London (TFL) authority is using the Wi-Fi infrastructure for private services such as real-time location-based information, tracking boats, network monitoring, timetables, CCTV surveillance and other services. In addition, Global Reach has selected Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi as the standard underlying technology for the City Wi-Fi services it provides for Virgin Media Business in both Leeds and Bradford. Carrier-Grade Wi-Fi Solutions with a difference Global Reach has established a unique position in the market, offering a total managed infrastructure solution coupled with a complete portfolio of value-added network services such as key data on network monitoring, management information systems and customer usage behavior; architecture planning; security; content portal capabilities and gateway functions, and sophisticated policy management. For mobile network operators and service providers, Global Reach provides bespoke wireless infrastructure and services. Additionally, its policy engine provides seamless and secure 3/4G off load to manage customer’s traffic and eCRM, including content filtering, lawful intercept, bandwidth shaping, port and website blocking. Intuitive dashboards allow operators to manage their infrastructure as well as the end user customer experience with complete visibility and precision. “To effectively deal with the demands and capacity required to deliver service on this scale, we needed a carrier-grade Wi-Fi network in which our customers could have complete confidence,” said Nigel Wesley, Chief Executive Officer for Global Reach Technology. “At the end of the day, customers don’t really care about how the infrastructure works – they simply want a fast, reliable and affordable Wi-Fi experience that’s easy to access and use. That’s precisely what we’re delivering with Ruckus.” Wesley noted that while providing a reliable Wi-Fi experience in the UK is no easy task, operators are looking for value beyond vanilla connectivity. “Global Reach has developed a different model that not only delivers a carrier-grade Wi-Fi infrastructure at a much lower cost, we are also reducing the time to market for service providers and enterprise customers, allowing them to focus on monetization and bringing value to the subscriber experience.” Smarter Wi-Fi on the Water Global Reach’s Smart Wi-Fi network is one of the world’s largest outdoor mesh deployments along a key transport artery weaving through the UK’s capital. Four million people travel on the Thames Clippers river ferries every year, with millions more living and working along the riverbank, offices, hotels, cafes and tourist locations. Global Reach has used new Ruckus ZoneFlex 7782-N, carrier-class 2.4/5 GHz 802.11n outdoor access points (APs) to deploy at main piers crisscrossing the Thames River. 24 Thames Clippers London river ferries are being equipped with ZoneFlex 7363 802.11n indoor dual-band Smart Wi-Fi access points, along with 3G backhaul and ZoneDirector controllers at the Global Reach network operation centers, to provide centralized administration and remote management. “While we are fundamentally hardware agnostic, we are building carrier-quality Wi-Fi networks that mandate carrier-quality equipment,” said Chris Spencer, Chief Technology Officer for Global Reach. “With its adaptive antenna structure and high-capacity designs, Ruckus has clearly differentiated itself by delivering among the most reliable systems on the market that are distinctly designed for carriers. With the kit we’ve seen a significant increase in the signal strength as well as the number of concurrent users and sessions we are able to support at any one given time.” City Wi-Fi in Leeds and Bradford for Virgin Media Business In Leeds and Bradford, Ruckus ZoneFlex 7762 outdoor dual-band 802.11n APs are being deployed on street furniture by Global Reach to provide a completely free City Wi-Fi service that is open to everyone. Global Reach manages and operates the network for Virgin Media Business, building on a partnership that was originally formed for the rollout of the acclaimed London Underground Wi-Fi service. “There is a massive wireless land grab taking place all over the UK,” concludes Wesley. “The super-connected city initiative means a great deal for places like Leeds and Bradford as they focus on growth and regeneration for local businesses, visitors and residents. The Wi-Fi networks we are building are great examples of projects that are making the vision of super-connected cities a reality and enabling future prosperity and innovation.” Filed under: Transportation , Wireless , Internet , Mobile Comments
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River Thames to bathe in upgraded long-distance WiFi