internet

Internet adoption has a positive link with wellbeing, according to an international research project. But it's a mixed picture and cause and effect could be questioned. The research comes from the Oxford Internet Institute, which examined a wide ... range of studies into psychological wellbeing and mental health. They covered a total of 2.4 million people across 168 countries at various points between 2006 and 2021. (Source: ac.uk ) The researchers then cross-referenced the results with figures on broadband and mobile Internet use in the relevant countries at the relevant times. The biggest ... (view more)

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has banned Internet carriers from giving some applications access to "fast lane" speeds. The tweak to recently-restored net neutrality rules aims to close a potential loophole. Last month, the FCC voted to ... restore the principle of net neutrality. Broadly they say Internet carriers must treat all traffic equally. The commission has now published the full wording of the rules which will enforce the principle. One of the most notable elements of net neutrality is speed. Previously used rules explicitly barred carriers from slowing down access when ... (view more)

Researchers say they were unable to find a clear link between Internet use and harm to mental health. However, the results looked at national populations as a whole, rather than individual behavior. The researchers, from Oxford University's Oxford ... Internet Institute, said they were limited by a lack of data and cooperation from major tech companies. The broad research paper, "Global Well-Being and Mental Health in the Internet Age", looked at studies of psychological wellbeing of around 2.4 million people across 18 countries. The researchers looked at changes in reported wellbeing between ... (view more)

A period of increased risk to communication and the Internet could hit earlier than expected. The dangers of a solar storm are genuine, though one expert says she regrets using the term "Internet apocalypse." The risk is that intense solar activity ... could increase the levels of electromagnetic radiation hitting the Earth's atmosphere. That could damage Internet infrastructure such as undersea cables. The risk increases during a period called "solar maximum" where the sun's magnetic field reverses. During this process, the magnetic field around the sun becomes inconsistent, leading to ... (view more)

Amazon has unveiled home devices for receiving its satellite broadband service. It hopes to offer service by late next year but hasn't yet revealed pricing. Satellite Internet is one of the major ways tech firms are attempting to solve the problem ... of high-speed Internet access in rural areas. Installing fiber cable there doesn't usually make financial sense to profit-driven businesses because there aren't enough potential customers to justify the cost of installing it and/or paying for the parts to install it in non-densely populated areas. Such locations are also often outside the range of ... (view more)

Governments in 35 countries imposed complete blackouts of the Internet at some point in 2022 according to a new report. It's the highest figure in the seven years that "digital rights group" Access Now has been compiling data. Perhaps surprisingly, ... China only had one Internet shutdown, while Russia had just two. That's slightly misleading as Russian forces imposed 22 shutdowns in parts of Ukraine during the ongoing war. (Source: accessnow.org ) The country with the most blackouts (for the fifth straight year) was India, with 84. That's a hugely controversial topic as officials say the ... (view more)

Nine in ten Americans are now online according to new figures. But it's the United Kingdom that is "most online" and least subject to Internet restrictions. The figures come from Proxyrack, a company with a clear interest in places where users may ... want to disguise their identity of location. It wanted to see if there was any connection between how widespread Internet use was and how freely people could use the Internet. (Source: proxyrack.com ) The usage figures came from Statista and shows 99,231 out of every 100,000 people in the UK had used the internet recently. That was followed by Japan ... (view more)

Internet users who find themselves distracted online can pay up to $9 a month to block certain websites. The service has some obvious limitations but does prompt debate about Internet addiction. The Freedom service offers users four types of block: ... block all Internet access, block specific websites, block specific apps, or block all sites except those the user has specifically listed. It can cover computers, phones and tablets. After a free trial of seven "block sessions" users must pay for some features. This includes use on an unlimited devices and scheduling. This carries a subscription ... (view more)

Fujitsu has proposed an "endorsement layer" on top of the Internet to tackle bogus information. It's an idea that would certainly face both technological and societal challenges. The idea comes in a white paper (a report designed to provoke ... discussion) written alongside Keio University in Japan. It explores the idea of a "trustable Internet in which people can use information securely." (Source: kaeio.ac.jp ) The concept is simple, if abstract. The writers propose a system that "overlays a layer on the Internet, which has a mechanism to confirm the credibility of the ... (view more)

A US official has beaten a Russian opponent to become head of a major Internet body. The result could make a big difference to online technology, particularly on the issue of blocks and censorship. Doreen Bogdan-Martin beat out Rashid Ismailov to ... lead the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). She prevailed 139-25 in an election where every country had one vote. (Source: politico.eu ) The ITU is a United Nations agency that started in 1865 as a way to make sure telegraph systems in different countries could use a compatible system. It now oversees many cross-border tech issues, ... (view more)