S Korea, Internet Powerhouse of the World!

Not just the World of Warcraft... the WORLD! That's right, for those who were unaware (including myself, until I heard a recent BBC World story highlighting broadband statistics) South Korea leads the world in average broadband speed at a whopping 15 Mbps!!! That is 10x the world average of 1.5 Mbps, around 2x the second place finisher Japan, and more than 3x the pitiful 3.9 Mbps average in the US which ranks 17th in terms of speed... (source)
Not surprisingly, they also lead the world in internet traffic per capita. At an average volume of 30 GB per person per month, South Korea's internet traffic dwarfs that of the lowly 7.0 GB average in the United States, let alone the 5.0 GB of Japan or Western Europe (source)! Of course this is expected... I mean if you had a faster connection wouldn't you download more information?!?

But South Korea also boasts an excellent record of making internet access available to much of their citizenry. Perhaps not first thought of by most as one of the best examples of Democracies around the world (though certainly in Asia!), many South Koreans feel that they have an inherent right to obtain internet access; and with over 94% of households having some form access to the net, it appears they are right!!! (source)

Of course I shouldn't complain... Living in the Netherlands where we are in 4th place with 74% of households online (compared with ~51% in the U.S.!), and an average speed of 4.9 Mbps (coming in 7th place!). We actually lead the world in the number of broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants: 38.1 compared with ~33 in Korea and ~27 in the U.S. This of course must mean our broadband providers are doing relatively poorly in terms of speed, since our average traffic is so dwarfed by S. Korea... (source)

But what do all these statistics have to do with the price of tea in China? Well I'm glad you asked, because it's just countries like China (and Iran, Sudan, Cuba, etc.) that represent very different attitudes towards internet connectivity than our friends to the south of the 38th parallel! In fact, reporters without borders have labelled such countries the "Internet's Black Holes", as their governments routinely restrict the content their citizenry is able to access on the internet (source). The US has made some news on Monday, in an effort to give voice to those residents of countries which would limit or filter their access to the world wide web. As the Secretary of State puts it:
"In the 21st century, expression and assembly are carried out on the Internet so we are going to continue to support those people who wish to circumvent and be able to communicate without being blocked by their own government"
Basically what they've done is lifted the restrictions on the export of internet communications software to these countries, which should make it easier for social networking sites such as Twitter, Buzz, and Facebook to make inroads into these otherwise closed societies. This is all in the wake of the Iranian demonstrations on their Independence Day a few weeks ago, when the government shut down internet communication out of the country yet a few digital videos of the tamping-down of demonstrators made it out days later in hard copy, and were posted on the internet; and after Cuba got some bad press when a political prisoner died from pneumonia related to the conditions of his imprisonment...
The bottom-line is that information and communication has rapidly become a new vital life resource because of the ways the internet is able to deliver it to everyone and anyone's front doorstep at the click of a button. Countries that wish to compete in a global marketplace require a citizenry which is highly connected, to be able to develop in a rapidly changing world and to innovate and grow ahead of their competitors (for education, news, social movements, etc.). But perhaps even more so, countries that wish to SURVIVE are going to have to be able to brook dissent and criticism from their citizenry, and respond accordingly (i.e., as do most Democracies, for example). Because 200+ years ago, Paul Revere rode 15 miles spreading the news of revolution to 40+ riders who went on to deliver his message. Whereas today, one post on Twitter has the potential to reach millions of followers, all across the globe, in less than a minute (depending on how many Mbps you can get!)...

Related news updates:
US to upgrade fiber-optic networks...
Google to spearhead their own upgrade plans...

Talking to yourself doesn't mean your crazy (... if you're doing math!)

So I have always been a fan of talking aloud to work out problems. In high school I caught a few odd stares from students and teachers alike, and in college people just thought I was crazy. That is until I joined a study group where we talked out the problems (increasingly more difficult!) together, aloud. When it was under the guise of a conversation, I supposed, it didn't seem so odd. When I did it alone in my office in grad school, my colleagues just thought I was a little crazy (or maybe just an eccentric academic).
But new research at the University of Granada indicates that talking aloud improves both speed AND accuracy when solving math problems. They took several graduating seniors who majored in mathematics and recorded them solving difficult problems. Those who spoke aloud to themselves (as well as those who drew pictures to represent the problem) were more likely to find the solution, and did so in a shorter time, than those who didn't!!!
The paper doesn't appear to be published yet in the Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology (and I can't seem to find Revista de investigación psicoeductiva), after an exhaustive search of the internet I can only seem to find press releases and news articles about the finding. But I will update this post with a link when the publication is available on the web...
SciAm: http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=find-x-and-say-your-work-09-12-28
Guardian: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6866135/Thinking-out-loud-helps-solve-problems.html
RedOrbit (more detailed): http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1801621/talking_aloud_helps_to_solve_mathematical_problems_more_quickly_according/index.html

Google Chrome, and Privacy Issues...

So, apparently I'm not the only one who reads Terms & Services Agreements or Privacy Statements. And perhaps even more notably, apparently I'm not crazy or anal-retentive to do so; since contraversy was  recently stirred up regarding the T&S agreement of Google's new browser: Google Chrome. Apparently their agreement included sufficiently broad language to retain for Google any copyright or other reserved intellectual property rights to property created using their browser (unless such material has been previously protected by you).

Here is the language in question: "By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display, and distribute any Content which you submit, post, or display on or through, the Services."

Now based on my prior experiences with Google, I did not see this as an intentional dash for picking up the IP of all users ignorant enough to skip over reading the Terms & Services agreement. Instead, I understood it to be a mistake in rushing the software to market; they probably copied and pasted text from other T&S agreements and their lawyers did a quick/dirty editing job...  Nonetheless, the presence of such broad and overarching language still needed to be addressed before I start doing anything remotely creative in Google chrome.

True to form, Google responded almost instantaneously with not only an immediate remedy but an apology (which really isn't necessary, and to be honest is quite rare from a software company). Thanks Google! Keep up the good work!

And a BIG thanks to all the whistleblowers out there who keep the big companies honest!!! Long live Net Neutrality and the Internet Whistleblower!!!

Update on Pro-Google Tirade (Facebook!)

Awhile ago I posted a tirade about the content of privacy policies of online service providers, citing google as a leader in protecting user privacy. I simultaneously condemned myspace, and implied a lot of social networking sites could go a lot further to protect their users' privacy. Well, I recently gave a second look to facebook's privacy policy (the most recent update was in December 2007) and they've fixed it!!! I must admit the last time I checked it was about 3-4 years ago, but the section which has been updated to my satisfaction (sometime in there) is as follows:

We may be required to disclose user information pursuant to lawful requests, such as subpoenas or court orders, or in compliance with applicable laws. We do not reveal information until we have a good faith belief that an information request by law enforcement or private litigants meets applicable legal standards. Additionally, we may share account or other information when we believe it is necessary to comply with law, to protect our interests or property, to prevent fraud or other illegal activity perpetrated through the Facebook service or using the Facebook name, or to prevent imminent bodily harm. This may include sharing information with other companies, lawyers, agents or government agencies. (source: http://www.facebook.com/policy.php)

Now while it is true that "good faith" could be construed either narrowly or broadly, I believe this policy goes a long way toward making me feel that they will take my privacy seriously in all situations; as compared with myspace's statement which still contains no qualification for requests by law enforcement (legal and/or constitutional, or otherwise). Anyway, I now feel comfortable enough to create a facebook account, and I wanted to revise my previous implications about social networking sites in general!

The greatest difference between myspace and facebook, of course, would be that my new favorite facebook is a licensee of the TRUSTe privacy program. I haven't covered
all of TRUSTe's policies, but so far it looks like the membership is (at least) a good sign for an online service provider. The fact that myspace is a subsidiary of the Murdoch empire, I guess I'm not that surprised it doesn't support this third party privacy program...
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