Enter peer-to-peer ("P2P") lending. On the one hand, you have people with a need -- credit card debt, wedding bills, small business capital. On the other, you have people with a little extra cash looking for an investment. P2P lending networks provide the bridge between these two groups. The Internet provides the forum, making such massive online communities possible.

These communities typically take the form of either an auction-based marketplace or a "family and friends" network. In the marketplace model, anonymous lenders bid rates for loans to anonymous borrowers. The lowest rate bidder "wins" the loan. Examples of this social lending model include Prosper, Zopa and Lending Club. The "family and friends" model, such as Virgin Money, links borrowers and lenders who are acquaintances and wish to formalize a personal loan. The host network provides the formalities, but does not match borrowers with lenders.

When these networks function as intended, one or more lenders support loans to borrowers, usually between $1,000 and $25,000. The term is typically three to five years, with a fixed rate determined by the lender. These rates are usually lower than those available at traditional lending centers. Some networks limit potential borrowers by requiring a credit rating of at least 640. Others are less restrictive. The host network provides the credit check and procedural niceties for nominal fees.

But what happens when a borrower defaults?

P2P loans are usually unsecured, and the networks are not insured by the FDIC. Even though some networks are affiliated with banks or credit unions that subject them to governmental regulation, lenders have few solid options when borrowers cannot pay back loans. Most networks provide access to collection agencies that assist in the recovery of outstanding loans, though usually at the expense of a hefty fee of 15-30% of the recovered funds. The defaulting borrower is charged late fees, banned from the lending network, and reported to the credit bureaus.

P2P lenders are strongly cautioned to diversify so that potential defaults will have less impact on the lender's portfolio. Borrowers are cautioned even more strongly to use lending networks wisely, since an inability to pay back these loans can damage one's credit just as much as a default on a credit card or other more formal loan.

Additionally, small business owners should exercise caution before turning to P2P networks. Even sites advertising "business loans" are actually providing consumer loans based on the business owner's personal credit. Large amounts of debt, even if used for business purposes, can hurt an individual's credit score and reduce the ability to borrow larger sums from more traditional financial institutions in the future.

So do P2P networks work?

The initial results point to "yes." Even though some borrowers do default, Akash Agarwal, founder and chief executive of Green Note, points out, "The pressure to pay back a loan is pretty visible because you know where the money is coming from -- it's coming out of someone's pocket, not some bank warehouse." Borrowers thus feel an increased social responsibility to repay loans. On the other side, lenders feel like they are contributing to someone else's betterment, while still making a few dollars. Formalizing loans amongst family and friends also helps minimize the potential for divisive argument over repayment. The social welfare aspect, often lost at larger, more formal institutions, is thus an important and powerful motivator in the P2P scheme.

Economically speaking, P2P loans can be effective financial boosts when used wisely. They can help young borrowers or fledgling business develop credit. They can assist others in consolidating debt into more manageable payments and in beginning to rebuild credit. They can help pay for student loans when subsidized federal loans are unavailable or simply finance life events such as marriage or home remodels. They can also help grow wealth for lenders who are looking for a more stable investment. In theory, this manageable debt and wealth creation can develop a stronger economic base, even in tough financial times like these.

But is P2P lending legal?

There are a lot of legal questions surrounding P2P lending: How do lenders protect members’ privacy? How is identity theft prevented? How are taxes determined? But most importantly, how are these relationships to be regulated? Should these transactions be treated like private contracts? Should individual lenders be treated as agents of the P2P network? Should these networks fall under the umbrella of traditional banking regulation? How can current banking laws be adapted to this new system? What law governs when a corporation registered in Utah facilitates in a private loan from an individual in California to an individual in New York? Given the newness of online social lending, these questions are still being answered.

Increasing regulation is already changing the face of social lending, though. Although many P2P lending networks began as direct lending programs, several, such as Zopa and Lending Club, have shifted to selling financial products like CDs. For example, Lending Club recently filed a registration with the SEC. Under the new, more regulated system, Lending Club would sell payment dependent notes to lenders rather than organizing direct loans from lender to borrower. The proceeds of the sale of the notes will then fund the borrowers’ loans. The “personal” side is maintained through the lender’s ability to choose which borrowers receive these funds.

Many are blaming the current financial crisis on a lack of regulation. So why would we want to turn to a less -regulated system? The answer is that increasing regulation decreases the community appeal of P2P lending. More regulatory controls push these networks closer to traditional credit unions and further from "people helping people." While some control is obviously necessary, I would argue that too much regulation would cause the social lending system to break down. Social lending works because participants feel a connection with the people they are lending to or the people they are borrowing from. This human side encourages investors to invest and borrowers to repay. When regulation forces greater separation between borrower and lender, this incentive declines.

As with all things, only time will tell regarding the fate of P2P lending, but I predict it will continue to grow, especially if the economic instability persists. I also don't think the rise of grassroots lending is such a bad thing, especially since it re-injects a sense of personal responsibility into the financial world. Though it will not prevent future bailouts or replace the traditional financial system, I think it can become an important supplement. There are, of course, risks for both borrowers and lenders, but the small size of the loans, lower rates, diverse lending portfolios, and accountability involved in social lending help to minimize the overall impact of defaulting borrowers.

Now, I wonder if anyone out there wants to help finance a law student's education...

--Rachel Perkins

Photo courtesy of Tracy Olson.

PopNote is a lightweight yet robust peer to peer Instant Messaging communication client that operates over the Internet or LAN´s. PopNote can send an instant message that will pop up on the destination´s Desktop on arrival; and or allow more aggressive real time chatting. PopNote´s unique Echo feature confirms the recipient received your message.

Homepage: http://arc.tzo.com/
Download: PNE_V312.ZIP
File Size: 257 KB

The whole thing is ingenious and ridiculous. What amazes me most is where the £500 billion comes from. We don't have a third of the entire country's income lying around anywhere, so we're going to have to borrow it. Who's going to lend it to us? The banks. "What's happening, therefore, is that money managers are lending to governments like ours, and those governments are then recycling that money to the banks" writes the BBC's Robert Peston today.

The problem isn't that there's no money in the system, but that the banks don't trust each other with it anymore. The banks figure that if the government has borrowed the money first, it's more dependable. A bank can lose money and has no way to get it back, but a government's always good for it - if need be, you can just raise taxes to stump up what you're missing.

Essentially, the bail-out is a continuation of the same old money spiral, except that last week the buck stopped with the bank shareholders, and next week it stops with us.

Commentators seem to generally agree that it had to be done. "The plan is bold, risky and carries no guarantee of success, but there is no alternative" writes Nils Pratley in today's Guardian.  "This is what needs to happen and it needs to happen now" says Damian Reece in the Telegraph. But is this true? 'There is no alternative', famously used by Margaret Thatcher to justify building this crazy system in the first place, is rarely true. There is almost always an alternative. 

Here are three alternative ways to provide what the banks provide - raising capital for loans, small businesses and mortgages. 

1. Instead of putting £50 billion into a system that leaks money straight back out again, how about putting it into a national trust instead? Since the government is prepared to guarantee everyone's savings in the banks, it might as well go the whole hog and hold the savings as well. A national savings trust could be tightly controlled, and if necessary sold back to banks as the market stabilises. 
2. Do the opposite of the above - de-centralise banking into a series of local or regional building societies. These mutual societies would hold savings and issue mortgages, and while they would be able to lend more broadly, their focus would be on funding local mortgages and businesses. By keeping at least a minimum percentage of their loans within the region, these would not only be small, accountable places to keep your savings, they would also lend towards the local economy and aid regeneration. 
3. If you're willing to raise money from tax-payers - in the current instance at £2000 per head, why not cut out the middle man and just facilitate peer-to-peer lending. Organisations like Kiva have been hugely successful in providing micro-loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries, by pooling small loans from lots of people - $25 per person, across 20 people, so the loss is spread. Could you run a mortgage company on the same principles? Groups like Zopa have suddenly taken on a new importance. 

Le monde du Torrent utilise un vocabulaire bien spécifique qu'il est intéressant de connaitre :

Torrent : petit fichier de type . torrent hébergé sur le net comprenant les informations nécessaires pour le client Bit Torrent au téléchargement du fichier cible recherché (adresse ip Tracker etc etc).

Seed : un client qui possède le fichier complet.

Leecher : un client qui possède une partie ou plus du fichier.

Peers :  Seed + Leecher.

Swarm : Peers qui partagent un même fichier.

Tracker : serveur qui répertorie des Swarms et permet ainsi de mettre les peers et les seeds en relation pour l'échange de fichiers.

Share Ratio : Ratio entre le download, les données récupérées et l'upload, les données partagées. Plus il est proche de l'équilibre plus le téléchargement sera rapide pour tous.

David

Een peer-to-peer-netwerk is een computernetwerk met gelijkwaardige aansluitingen die fungeren als server en werkstation voor de andere aansluitingen in het netwerk. Zie Wikipedia voor meer informatie over de technische term: http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer-to-peer.

PeerSearch is dit principe, dat vooral toegepast is in uitwisselingsnetwerken zoals, vertaald voor recruitment. PeerSearch recruitment is het inzetten van contacten, het netwerk, om de juiste mensen met elkaar in contact te brengen. Meer over peer to peersearch binnen recruitment (of peerrecruitment) zal binnenkort in een artikel toegelicht worden. Daarin zal nader toegelicht worden hoe peersearch binnen sociale netwerken, zoals LinkedIn, Hyves en Xing succesvol kan worden ingezet voor succesvol peerrecruitment.

Jxta is a platform for developing peer-to-peer applications. It supports the definition stated above, plus a lot of infrastructure features that most peer-to-peer applications might need. One example of such a feature is firewall traversal, which is done transparently for us. Also, it has some other very important qualities:

• It is open source and thus publicly available;

• It is programming language agnostic - there is at least a Java, a C++, a Ruby and a mobile implementation;
• It is communication protocol agnostic: it can run on top of TCP, HTTP, Bluetooth etc.

It is important to note that Jxta is not an API - that's why it can be independent of the programming language. Jxta defines a set of protocols, that can be implemented in a variety of different platforms. Currently, these are the protocols specified by Jxta:

• Peer Resolver Protocol (PRP): provides the foundation for sending and responding generic queries between peers
  
• Rendezvous Protocol (RVP): used to help propagating queries between peers
• Peer Discovery Protocol (PDP): used to allow peers to publish and find resources (like other peers, services etc)
• Endpoint Routing Protocol (ERP): provides the mechanism that a peer can use to find routes to other peers, hiding low level details
• Pipe Binding Protocol (PBP): provides the means to make a connection between two peers
• Peer Information Protocol (PIP): used to get information from a peer, like its status or provided services for example

Those are of course very basic definitions of the protocols, but should be enough for now.

Jxta is not difficult to learn but it is extensive. If you are to fully use it, you have a lot to learn. You can find a lot of resources on the internet. There is the official site, which is the best starting point. And the community is active in the mailing lists. Also, I'm currently reading this book, which you can download for free.

My last discussion here on BlueSocket was how to circumvent the log-in page to connect to Xbox Live. Another annoyance I have had with UALR's internet is the total banning of torrents and peer to peer, even if it is for legitimate purposes. Is it possible to circumvent UALR's block on torrents? Maybe to a few peoples' surprise, to an extent, yes it is!

The cause of this problem is BlueSocket automatically detects when peer to peer software is being used on a system. When it detects such software, it raises a red flag on your NetID and blocks you off the network until you get on your knees and beg for the IT guys to give you back access.

The solution to this problem then would be that you would need to actually download the files from a remote location and then get them somehow in one direct transfer. There are many protocols which we can do this that are not considered P2P. The best one for this job, however, is HTTP :)

Meet TorrentFlux. TF is a fully fledged web-based BitTorrent client that literally uses your web server's resources to download torrent files at blazingly fast speeds - often 100mbps. Once the web server has downloaded the torrent file in question (and it can be as large as you need it to be), all you have to do is download it straight from your browser just like you would download any other file off the internet. Ingenious, eh?

Now we've got another problem. How do we actually use TorrentFlux? You're going to need to find webspace and a host that supports it! Right now I'm looking into Woldo-Host.com; they have a pretty good quality plan for about 5$ monthly, and I'm pretty sure they support TF. 35$ is quite inexpensive, especially for webspace. That's about half the price of an Xbox 360 or PS3 game!

Once you get your webspace and have TF installed, all you need to do is simply upload your .torrent file into its downloader, go away for a little while as it downloads the file(s), and then simply download the finished transfer onto your computer. The final transfer from the webserver to your PC is done over the HTTP protocol, which BlueSocket recognizes as being completely legitimate!

Notice: I just edited the link to the site I was looking in to. What I had posted was actually a typo. Woldo-Host.com is the correct link.

Bit torrent est un protocole d'échange de fichiers en réseau. Ce protocole est rapide, fiable et sécurisé. L'idée de base est que plus un fichier est téléchargé donc populaire plus des parties de celui-ci seront disponibles sur la toile et plus le téléchargement sera rapide (inversement moins le fichier est populaire à un instant donné moins des morceaux de ce fichier seront disponibles est la vitesse de téléchargement en sera donc affectée).

Pour commencer à télécharger des données il faut un client Bit torrent. Le client officiel Bittorrent 6.1 très léger et en langue Française comparable au client le plus populaire utorrent est très bien pour commencer avant d'essayer d'autres clients comme Azureus Vuze plutôt lourd avec des fonctionnalités multimédias inutiles.

Le téléchargement d'un fichier avec le protocole Bit torrent se fait en deux étapes :

- Premièrement, il faudra trouver et télécharger à partir d'internet vers son disque dur un fichier de type .torrent (quelques ko). Ce fichier contient toutes les données nécessaires pour permettre au client Bittorrent de télécharger le fichier cible recherché (qui peut être de tout type : vidéo, musique, iso, word, pdf etc etc). Il est souvent de forme nom de la ressource.torrent. Pour en trouver le plus simple est de  taper dans un moteur de recherche "nom de la ressource recherchée" + torrent. Des sites sont spécialisés dans le référencement et stockage de ce genre de fichiers comme le site www.seedpeer.com

- Deuxièmement, il faudra ouvrir le client BitTorrent 6.1 et aller dans le menu fichier/ajouter un torrent et choisir le fichier précédemment chargé sur le disque, le téléchargement pourra alors commencer.

La suite bientôt.

David

De held van recruitment filosofie Peer search Goudsmit is geboren op 15 maart 1913 in Amsterdam en overleden op 10 december 1999). Voorbeeld en goeroe voor Peersearch: Goudsmit, was een Nederlands acteur, die bij de Nederlander bekend werd door zijn rol Anatevka ( ook wel, Fiddler on the Roof) Maar liefst zo'n 1100 keer speelde Goudsmit in Nederland en in Londen.

Hij was ook vaak te zien in televisieprogramma's. Zo speelde hij een rol in de favoriete jeugdserie van peer to peersearch Q en Q in 1974. In een andere jeugdserie, Thomas en Senior (1985-1988), speelde hij de rol van Senior. Van 1984 t/m 1999 speelde hij in Sesamstraat als 'Lex' (de opafiguur), waardoor ook de jongere generatie hem leerde kennen.

Goudsmit overleed op 86-jarige leeftijd in een ziekenhuis in Amsterdam.

In de Peer to peer search filosofie zal Lex Goudsmit voort blijven leven.

Momenteel ben ik ook bezig met het ontwikkelen van recruitmentoplossingen op het gebied van peersearch:
- recruitment consultancy
- interim corporate recruitment
- Inhouse trainingen peersearch

At first login, after assigning with a name, location and a picture, the application looks like an ordinary Google Map with my name on it. From here, the first thing to be done, is to find my home, or any place I would like to call home, on the map and click on my own thumbnail image. A menu appears and one of the options is "Establish my Home here", which gives a starting point and a place to return to if one gets lost. This all might seem rather basic, but the fun starts, when other people start the same. When 'travelling' around the globe one finds many other homes of other participants and also their thumbnail avatar. When meeting another, you get the immediate chance to start chatting with each other and getting acquintant. A faster way to meet new people is hardly possible.

Let's start at the beginning.

Two years ago it all started with the idea, to make a virtual world, using the real globe and as such, using Google Maps as a grid. Internauting on the website of Twinverse, it becomes very clear that it was meant to be a globe-based virtual environment based on peer-to-peer technology, which uses the computers of the users who are connected to the application, in stead of one or more servers. This is the main difference between Twinverse and for example Second Life, which is almost all server based. Also it was meant to be in 3D, like most other virtual world are already.
Another feature that is very interesting, is under the tab "user content" and shows, in chronological order, all text, photo's and video's that have been added by users to the maps, by using "maptags". Readers who are more interested in the technical details will enjoy Joaquin Keller's blog "In the Computronium".

It was just bad luck perhaps, that nobody was interested to download the software and start using the application. According to Jamal B, who is one of the creators, it was because of this that they have changed their plans for a while and have started with this webbased application in 2D, like it is now.

But the dream is not over, it is just getting started. Although many features still have to get finished and a lot of wishes are still to be fullfilled, the strongest wish, as to build this application in a 3D version is still alive.

Give it a go, it is worth it!

Orbene, nonostante la battaglia delle Major su questo fronte, la società RealNetworks, che da sempre è in prima fila proprio per studiare e realizzare sistemi di protezione dei DVD messi in commercio dalle case di produzione cinematografica, ha deciso di fare il “salto della barricata” e di proporre uno strumento, il programma RealDVD, che garantisce agli utenti di poter realizzare la copia di qualsiasi DVD (naturalmente le indicazioni del prodotto raccomandano di farlo solo per uso strettamente personale), anche quelli che possiedono i sistemi di DRM per la protezione dalla duplicazione. Una contraddizione che parrebbe strana, se non fosse che da quando il mercato del “ripping” è diventato più vasto di quello dell’home video, era abbastanza logico che le società di software specializzate in questo settore, si mettessero al lavoro per venire incontro alle esigenze non solo di chi produrre, ma anche di chi usufruisce di contenuti video.

L’Associazione delle case di produzione cinematografica americana, la MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), che vede fra i suoi iscritti colossi del calibro della Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, NBC Universal, Paramount, Disney e molti altri, non potendo tollerare un atteggiamento di questo genere da parte del “traditore” RealNetworks, ha immediatamente fatto sapere che ricorrerà a vie legali per fermare l’uscita sul mercato di RealDVD. Da parte sua, RealNetworks ha sfoderato le unghie, affermando di essere pronta a sfidare i giganti in tribunale, per dimostrare che il loro prodotto non solo è in linea con le richieste del mercato e quindi degli utenti, ma anche con le nuove frontiere della tecnologia digitale, a cui i colossi di Hollywood (sempre secondo RealNetworks) dovrebbero adeguarsi il prima possibile.

Ma qual è il segreto di questo RealDVD che incute tanto terrore alle Major cinematografiche? E’ presto detto: anziché scardinare il sistema DRM di protezione dalla copia, questo software lo aggira, aggiungendo uno strato ulteriore alla codifica del DVD capace di “coprire” i codici di sicurezza del DRM. Uno stratagemma tanto semplice quanto efficace, che non poteva che venire da chi ha contribuito in maniera determinante alla creazione dei sistemi di blindatura delle copie di film in DVD.

Adesso restiamo ad aspettare i passi della macchina legale americana, che si faranno sentire presto, vista l’importanza e la spettacolarità del caso.

www.fiction-tv.it

www.cartoonmag.org

www.magseries.org

]]> http://cartoonmagseries.wordpress.com/?p=2334 Mon, 06 Oct 2008 07:57:46 +0000 inotelefilm http://cartoonmagseries.wordpress.com/2008/10/06/le-major-del-cinema-contro-la-riproduzione-pirata-dei-dvd/ Che il problema di copiare DVD sia un argomento caldo da tempo, lo sappiamo tutti. Che sul mercato ci siano parecchi prodotti, molti dei quali addirittura freeware, per rippare i film in DVD, anche aggirando le protezioni DRM (Digital Right Management) che dovrebbero impedire la duplicazione di film home video, è risaputo. Le Major cinematografiche americane da tempo cercano di contrastare questo fenomeno, che è strettamente relazionato a un altro grosso problema per l’industria cinematografica, ovvero il file sharing, o peer to peer (p2p), cioè lo scambio di file attraverso reti di condivisione fra i computer di migliaia di utenti. Se infatti si riesce a rippare un DVD (cioè a farne una copia), e poi lo si decomprime con un codec tipo il DivX, allora il film arriva ad avere una dimensione in MB tale da poter essere agevolmente scambiato via reti p2p, diventando di pubblico dominio e violando in questo modo una vera montagna di leggi sul copyright, ovunque nel mondo.

Orbene, nonostante la battaglia delle Major su questo fronte, la società RealNetworks, che da sempre è in prima fila proprio per studiare e realizzare sistemi di protezione dei DVD messi in commercio dalle case di produzione cinematografica, ha deciso di fare il “salto della barricata” e di proporre uno strumento, il programma RealDVD, che garantisce agli utenti di poter realizzare la copia di qualsiasi DVD (naturalmente le indicazioni del prodotto raccomandano di farlo solo per uso strettamente personale), anche quelli che possiedono i sistemi di DRM per la protezione dalla duplicazione. Una contraddizione che parrebbe strana, se non fosse che da quando il mercato del “ripping” è diventato più vasto di quello dell’home video, era abbastanza logico che le società di software specializzate in questo settore, si mettessero al lavoro per venire incontro alle esigenze non solo di chi produrre, ma anche di chi usufruisce di contenuti video.

L’Associazione delle case di produzione cinematografica americana, la MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), che vede fra i suoi iscritti colossi del calibro della Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, NBC Universal, Paramount, Disney e molti altri, non potendo tollerare un atteggiamento di questo genere da parte del “traditore” RealNetworks, ha immediatamente fatto sapere che ricorrerà a vie legali per fermare l’uscita sul mercato di RealDVD. Da parte sua, RealNetworks ha sfoderato le unghie, affermando di essere pronta a sfidare i giganti in tribunale, per dimostrare che il loro prodotto non solo è in linea con le richieste del mercato e quindi degli utenti, ma anche con le nuove frontiere della tecnologia digitale, a cui i colossi di Hollywood (sempre secondo RealNetworks) dovrebbero adeguarsi il prima possibile.

Ma qual è il segreto di questo RealDVD che incute tanto terrore alle Major cinematografiche? E’ presto detto: anziché scardinare il sistema DRM di protezione dalla copia, questo software lo aggira, aggiungendo uno strato ulteriore alla codifica del DVD capace di “coprire” i codici di sicurezza del DRM. Uno stratagemma tanto semplice quanto efficace, che non poteva che venire da chi ha contribuito in maniera determinante alla creazione dei sistemi di blindatura delle copie di film in DVD.

Adesso restiamo ad aspettare i passi della macchina legale americana, che si faranno sentire presto, vista l’importanza e la spettacolarità del caso.

www.fiction-tv.it

www.cartoonmag.org

www.magmovie.org

]]> http://tecnofauno.wordpress.com/?p=3 Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:34:47 +0000 tecnofauno http://tecnofauno.pt.wordpress.com/2008/10/03/mr-piratebay-in-silenzio-stampa-sputtanato-in-tv/ Problemi alla Baia dei Pirati: Peter Sunde l'amministratore di The Pirate Bay si è dato al silenzio stampa dopo esser stato tradito dai media tradizionali.

Recentemente tra i milioni di file condivisi da gli utenti della Baia sono comparse anche le foto di una autopsia di due bambini e la Baia è stata prontamente sollecitata a rimuovere ogni riferimento a tali contenuti.

Sunde si è opposto a tale censura dichiarando che non stava a loro giudicare cosa i cittadini potessero o non potessero condividere:

"Le persone possono esprimersi e diffondere il materiale che ritengono importante - ha sottolineato Sunde - è una delle cause per cui combattiamo e anche se questo diritto può essere impugnato per infastidire qualcuno è più importante che venga garantito piuttosto che venga negato"

Successivamente Sunde ha accettato di presenziare ad una trasmissione televisiva per trasmettere e spiegare anche tramite i media tradizionali questi concetti facendosi promettere dall'emittente che avrebbe avuto il tempo e lo spazio all'interno della trasmissione per illustrare agli ascoltatori il funzionamento dello Scambio Informativo sulla Rete.

Purtroppo ad interromperlo è stato direttamente il padre dei due bambini uccisi proiettato su un maxi-schermo che non ci ha pensato due volte ad intimare l'amministratore della Baia affinchè le immagini venissero rimosse.

Sentendosi tradito dalla promessa mancata Sunde ha deciso di troncare ogni rapporto con i media tradizionali e ritirarsi in silenzio stampa:

"Non abbiamo alcun interesse a comparire sui media tradizionali poiché è lampante che non siano degni di fiducia nè intendano diventarlo".

Fonte: Punto Informatico

Presentación de la Encuesta sobre el Equipamiento y Uso de Tecnologías de Información y Comunicación en los Hogares 2008

El Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) ha hecho público los últimos datos sobre el equipamiento de los hogares españoles a lo largo del ejercicio 2008, en el que se observa un aumento del número de internautas de un 11% con respecto al ejercicio anterior, así como un crecimiento que sitúa el número de usuarios que visitan Internet en España en 17 millones de personas. Por otro lado, el informe recoge que el 51% de los hogares tiene acceso a la red, con un crecimiento superior a un millón de hogares al año. Por Comunidades Autónomas, el mayor equipamiento se observa en Madrid (71,9%), Cataluña (71,0%), País Vasco (66,4%) y Comunidad Foral de Navarra (66,3%). Asimismo, el ordenador de sobremesa con un 52,2% aventaja al portátil (26,6%), lo cual indica, a pesar de las últimas estadísticas de crecimiento tecnológico, que el PC es más demandado. Con respecto a la utilización de las redes P2P (Peer To Peer), o bien, actividades de ocio relacionadas con contenidos audiovisuales en 2008, el 52,4% de los usuarios de Internet se ha descargado y/o escuchado música de sitios distintos a radios emitidas por la red. De esta manera, según los datos ofrecidos por el INE, el 41,6% se ha descargado y/o ha escuchado música en sitios distintos a televisiones emitidas por Internet y el 41,1% ha sido radioyente o telespectador de radios o televisiones emitidas. La tercera parte de los usuarios ha usado aplicaciones para compartir ficheros P2P.    

El informe presentado por el INE ha dejado claro que cada vez son más las personas que se acercan a Internet y utilizan las Nuevas Tecnologías en su vida diaria, sobre todo en los hogares españoles, en los que el uso del ordenador con acceso a la red es cada vez más solicitado.

Asimismo, con lo que respecta a otros dispositivos, la telefonía fija o móvil se mantiene con respecto al ejercicio anterior. Sin embargo, la Televisión Digital Terrestre (TDT) ha crecido en más de 15 puntos en 2008, por lo que es de suponer que la cobertura en 2010 será total.

El apagón tecnológico es una de las asignaturas pendientes por parte del Ejecutivo, el cual presentó los Presupuestos Generales en el Parlamento de los Diputados la semana pasada. Evidentemente, los efectos de la crisis financiera y económica que azota a medio mundo, incluido Estados Unidos y todos los países integrados en la Unión Europea (UE), no ha tenido efectos negativos en el presente año, pero es posible que en 2009 y 2010 se produzca un estancamiento, o bien, mejorando las ofertas de equipamiento, se dispare de nuevo la compra y adquisición de ordenadores de sobremesa, portátiles, teléfonos móviles o televisores de plasma con TDT incluido.

Por otra parte, el 51% de los hogares tiene acceso a Internet, con un crecimiento superior a un millón de hogares al año, lo que supone que un 7,7 millones de viviendas familiares se pueda conectar a la red.

Las líneas ADSL, con un 67,9% de penetración, es la tecnología más utilizada. En cuanto a la utilización de la red, la descarga de formularios y envío de cuestionarios, o bien, informarse en los portales de las Administraciones Públicas, cada vez está teniendo una mayor acogida, por lo que un 27,4% se ha descargado alguna vez un formulario y un 16% lo ha cumplimentado y enviado desde el equipo informático con conexión a la red.

El uso del Messenger, o bien la llamada mensajería instantánea, la lectura de Blogs y el envío de mensajes en el chat o a través de los servicios SMS son algunos de los usos más comunes por la comunidad internauta.  

Fuente: Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE).

Link en la red:

http://www.ine.es/prensa/np517.pdf

Jorge Hierro Álvarez

Consultoría de Nuevas Tecnologías e Internet

http://jorgehierro.wordpress.com

l'amico mi chiede una mano a trovare in rete i due film (ovviamente pagando) ... NIENTE! non si trovano dagli editori, nei negozi specializzati, da eBay, nei negozietti dell'usato!

indovinate dove li ho trovati? .. su eMule!

riflessione: se scarico da eMule compio un'azione illegale, ma l'alternativa semplicemente non c'è

dunque le major hanno il diritto di perseguire penalmente chi scarica illegalmente un film, ma nessuno le obbliga a rendere disponibili le opere; non crediate che succeda solo per film secondari (ma chi decide cosa va conservato?) : l'anno scorso mi è successo con film di Pasolini e Fellini ... fate la prova!

quindi ad oggi le reti illegali P2P sono le uniche dove sono disponibili opere fondamentali ... non è una follia?

Le motivazioni che hanno portato alla revoca del provvedimento saranno depositate nelle prossime ore ma il sito, che giuridicamente ha sede in Svezia, è tornato immediatamente accessibile.

“Sul sito non si scambia alcun file, Pirate bay si limita a indicizzare del materiale che altri mettono a disposizione, esattamente come fa Google: che facciamo, mettiamo sotto sequestro pure Google?” precisa l’avvocato Giovanni Battista Gallus, che assiste Peter Sunde, uno dei responsabili di Pirate bay.

Il sequestro aveva suscitato roventi polemiche sul web: le autorità italiane erano state accusate di essere “fasciste” e di limitare la libera circolazione del pensiero. “The Pirate bay” fa dal canto suo registrare da anni numeri record nel cosiddetto “peer to peer”: sulle sue pagine sono disponibili circa 1 milione e 200 mila file gratuiti e registra ormai circa 15 milioni di utenti al mese. Di questi, oltre 400.000 sono italiani.

Fonte: BlogGiando

I’m often asked by friends, to help them, their friends, their neighbors ………. the list goes on endlessly, to reconstruct a computer that is not responding properly, has become loaded with malware, or in some instances, has been taken over by a hacker.

Earlier this year, I was called upon in just such a situation, which is when I discovered CrossLoop; a free remote desktop application with a simple and distinctly user friendly interface, which CNET’s Download.com has recognized as one of The 10 Best Downloads of 2007.

After spending some time viewing an excellent introductory video on CrossLoop, available on YouTube, it was easy for me to see that this neat little application had all sorts of possibilities.

It struck me right away that the typical computer user using CrossLoop, doesn’t need to know anything about ports or protocols, or any other complicated jargon, and with CrossLoop up and running, connection to the remote computer can be accomplished within minutes. Even some of my friends, who are moderately techno competent, are now using this neat little tool to rescue their family’s and friend’s computers.

The individual needing assistance installs CrossLoop and runs the main application, then goes to share, and provides the access code to you. You then enter the 12-digit access code, click the connect button, and on connection the CrossLoop server does all of the behind- the- scenes work.

CrossLoop enables you to see the screen, and control the mouse and keyboard on the remote computer. Many users have commented that it feels just as if you are working side by side with the remote user, on the same PC. I second that perception. Awesome!

If you need to transfer files during your session, you’ll find that it’s a snap. What could be easier than using drag and drop to copy a file or folder onto a dialog box?

Security is built into all aspects of a CrossLoop session. Data is encrypted at the end-points before being transmitted using a 128-bit encryption algorithm made up of a randomly generated 12-digit access code.

The CrossLoop help page is one of the most complete I have seen. It provides a step by step text and pictorial guide to the process, so that even newbie support techs should have no problem looking like a pro.

Bottom line: If you have the skills, and you have the opportunity to provide tech support to your family or friends, then CrossLoop is the must-have tool for the job. It’s a powerful productivity tool that enables you to quickly collaborate with anyone, anywhere in the world.

CrossLoop Quick Facts:

Connect Any Two PCs

Available in 21 Languages

File Transfer Capability

Switch control to make collaboration easier

View Only and Share Control modes

Download the latest version at: Download.com

The judge has ordered a new trial based on faulty jury instructions in Capitol v. Thomas, a case about which I wrote in the Recording Industry Shows How to Lose by Winning for news.com just a year ago.

Words fail me not because a new hearing has been ordered, or because I fundamentally disagree with the mental gymnastics the judge has exercised to find fault with some of the jury instructions.

No, words fail me because the judge concluded his opinion with the following:

Her alleged acts were illegal, but common. Her status as a consumer who was not seeking to harm her competitors or make a profit does not excuse her behavior. But it does make the award of hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages unprecedented and oppressive.

A jury set the award in the underlying case based on the evidence it was presented, not the jury instructions now in question.  The judge has thrown out a jury because the defendant's behavior, while illegal, was common.

I hope he exercises the same reasoning when he hears criminal cases where the illegal behavior is common.

]]> http://timmijr.wordpress.com/?p=108 Wed, 24 Sep 2008 04:52:47 +0000 timmijr http://timmijr.pt.wordpress.com/2008/09/24/buddy-tee-the-power-of-p2p/

The design is called the buddy tee.  The graphic is a playful illustration of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) or One-to-One (1 2 1).  It has the symbolic meaning of being united and working toward common goal. 

The peer-to-peer creative power increases exponentially; i.e. it’s faster, better and more without the limitation and restriction of multilayer structure of typical organizations.

Basically, with the advent of "new media" and creative landscape democratized, is it exciting to see many great online community services in a variety of domains from publishing to photography, tee design and manufacturing like Wordpress, Flickr, Threadless… we can go on and on…  we can take it for granted, it has taken ages to get to this stage - treasure and enjoy openness and freedom to create. 

Pirating games may get you in as much legal trouble as exchanging music on peer-to-peer networks. Two gaming sites have uncovered evidence that Activision is going around suing pirates, taking an aggressive, case-by-case approach much like the RIAA and MPAA.

According to a report by Edge Online, Activision has sued a New York resident for allegedly copying Call of Duty 3 for the Xbox 360 and other, unnamed games. Activision seeks $30,000 to $150,000 in damages "for each infringement of each copyrighted videogame." After looking into the issue, GamePolitics uncovered six other instances of piracy-related Activision lawsuits. Settlements in those cases ranged from $1,000 to $100,000, the site says, adding that five of the six defendants lacked representation.

Why haven't more tongues been wagging about these cases? Apparently, the settlements forbid defendants from making "any public statements that are inconsistent with any term of this Stipulation to Judgment and Permanent Injunction." GamePolitics points out that the clause "would make anyone think twice about discussing the case."

Of course, we're not entirely surprised to see members of the gaming industry getting litigious. Since last year, several high-profile game studios like Epic Games, id Software, Crytek, and Infinity Ward have sounded off about game piracy on the PC. Strangely, however, all of the aforementioned lawsuits seem to have been about console games. (Thanks to Shacknews for the tip.)

Update: The lawsuits may not be related to file sharing. GamePolitics has received a message from one of Activision's attorneys, who says his law firm has "never filed any litigation against a file-sharer on behalf of Activision."