The internet was seen as a major catalyst for the furry fandom finding one another during the times before we held conventions. During that earlier period in the 1990s, conventions and meets were rare, and finding one another was done mostly through the chat rooms and message boards of the past. There was no bandwidth for video or sharing major animation projects, therefore most of our intimate conversations were textual.

For many younger furries, it was a time that was lost in the annals of a distant history. Instead they found themselves joining in amongst a wave of growing conventions being held in various places around the world on any given weekend. Ones where those in custom fursuits march out in the streets openly rather than feeling a stifling isolation of being cooped up in hotel spaces, with a handful of home made creations, being wary of a hostile media looking for a freak show.

Coming out of 2019, it seemed that the time where furry was just an internet thing was fully behind it. However a series of unfortunate events were in line for 2020, a year that has led humanity to be forced into their rooms by an irate Mother Nature as an easily spread virus has forced governments around the globe to take drastic measures to slow its spread and put strict limits on social gatherings. A situation which has forced both the furry fandom, and the internet that brought it together, back to their roots.

read more

While the pandemic has been chipping away at the furry convention scene, other furs have stepped forward to try and give those in the community events to look forward to over the now dormant weekends. This had started with a group of Furnal Equinox members creating a digital replacement for their late March convention called Keep Calm and Carry Con - Furnal Isolation. More have started to spring up this spring.

They can have internet dealers dens, streaming dance competitions, and other staples that conventions are known for. Accessible from the safety of your own home.

Below is a comprehensive list of conventions. Last updated May 2nd, 2020 12:18 ET.

Please feel free to place any not listed here in the comments below and we will look into adding it if it appears legitimate.

read more

IBM Security, Packet Clearing House (PCH) and The Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) today launched a free service designed to give consumers and businesses added privacy and security protection as they access the internet. The new Quad9 Domain Name System (DNS) service helps protect users from accessing millions of malicious internet sites known to steal personal information, infect users with ransomware and malware, or conduct fraudulent activity.

IBM today announced that IBM Watson Internet of Things (IoT) has been named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide IoT Platforms 2017 Vendor Assessment (Doc # US42033517, July 2017). The report highlights IBM’s Watson IoT Platform on IBM Cloud, which today is being used by thousands of clients and partners across six continents including BMW, KONE, HARMAN and more.

IBM MTN, a leading African telecommunications provider, Wageningen University (WU) in the Netherlands and Prodapt, today announced they are harnessing IBM Internet of Things (IoT) technology as part of the MTN Connected Wildlife Solution. The solution will help predict threats and combat the poaching of endangered rhinos at Welgevonden Game Reserve in South Africa, with the intent to expand the solution to other reserves in future.

IBM Internet Security Systems (ISS) warns against a new wave of security threats during the holidays and provides guidance on how consumers and businesses can protect themselves.

Unable to stage its big fundraiser because of the pandemic, Figure Skating in Harlem is going from the ice to the internet

Power outage? Grab a length of steel automotive brakeline tubing, the straw from a box of Yoo-Hoo, D-cell batteries to make a 6V. Also may require generous amounts of duct tape, electrical tape, bell wire, and boredom.

Nobody likes a slow internet browser; frankly it’s a royal pain in the ass. We have better things to do then sitting around waiting for a page to load only to stair at a blank page. When it comes to slow internet browsers Internet Explorer has a history of being slow and clunky even with the best connection possible. Even their latest update Internet Explorer 9 is still much slower then browsers like Google Chrome or Firefox............

Having a slow internet connection is a pain in the ass. I hate waiting for pages that seem to take forever to load, videos that constantly buffer, and browsers that fail because it takes too long to open a web page. It’s frustrating and I have better things to do just like you, then sitting around losing my mind because my internet speed is slower then the second coming of Christ. So I put together a list of 10 things you can do to speed up your internet...............

Has Trump seen people holding signs on the internet before? It never turns out well.

Just when we thought we'd never get anything better than Donald Trump grasping that orb, we get this dark-humored, delightfully awkward pic that just oozes cringe. Naturally, people were ready to flood Twitter with some entertaining captions. 

Queen Elizabeth wore a neon green outfit to her 90th birthday party. What could go wrong? Oh right, the internet...

The internet is reacting to comments made by Donald Trump during a COVID-19-related press briefing held yesterday. Trump claimed that the virus could be treated by bringing "light inside the body" or injecting a disinfectant. Thankfully medical professionals were quick to denounce these claims, and people on the internet have since been creating some excellent memes on the matter. 

This should go without saying, but please don't inject yourself with disinfectant, y'all.

More than six years after Facebook launched its ambitious Free Basics program to bring the Internet to the masses, the social network is back at it again with a new zero-rating initiative called Discover. The service, available as a mobile web and Android app, allows users to browse the Internet using free daily data caps. Facebook Discover is currently being tested in Peru in partnership

Real women have curvy headphones.

Welcome to the first episode of the Internet Musician Podcast! Show notes for Episode #1: Subscribe to the Internet Musician Podcast with iTunes: The first episode of The Internet Musician Podcast, hosted by indie artist and internet music marketing junkie Brian Hartzog (http://www.brianhartzog.net).  In this introductory episode, Brian introduces himself, his indie music credentials and […]

Show notes for Episode #2: Subscribe to the Internet Musician Podcast with iTunes: In this episode, I present “Music Tools for the Indie Artist”, a topic that I recently presented to a local songwriting group.  Specifically, I present the tools and process I use to capture and preserve those moments of musical inspiration–no matter whether they strike […]

Show notes for Episode #3: Subscribe to the Internet Musician Podcast with iTunes: Also in this episode, I discuss the five things you must believe cultivate your DIY music attitude, including: 1. The business has been lying to you. Major label artists are not getting rich off of record sales. Radio is fake. Don’t belive […]

Show Notes for Episode 4: Subscribe to the Internet Musician Podcast with iTunes: As a musician, you need a good website.  You know that. But you really don’t need to spend years trying to understand the technology. You also don’t want to spend tons of time working on your site without knowing if you’re doing things […]

Show Notes for Episode 6: Following my recent appearance on the Film and TV Music Licensing Panel at the MidAtlantic Music Conference here in Charlotte, NC, I definitely have music licensing on my mind.  It’s always been a passion of mind…one of those areas of music marketing that I’ve researched exhaustively for years.  It’s also […]

What is the big thing about targeted Internet traffic? And why do so many people want to know how to drive traffic to their website? Here are 2 facts that will help you understand why you need targeted Internet traffic to your web site.

Exaggeration is the official language of the internet. Only the most strident statements have any impact. Oversteer and oversell, all the time

The other day I was talking to a music fan who’d recently gone to see one of Kate Bush’s widely praised live appearances. Naturally I was keen to hear a first-hand account of this era-defining event, so I asked what it was like.

“The first half was great,” she said. “But the second half got a bit boring.”

It’s a stealth adventure with nowhere to hide and hundreds of respawning enemies waiting to attack you the moment you stand out in any way

I haven’t always been the kind of man who plays videogames. I used to be the kind of boy who played videogames. We’re inseparable, games and I. If you cut me, I’d bleed pixels. Or blood. Probably blood, come to think of it.

Games get a bad press compared with, say, opera – even though they’re obviously better, because no opera has ever compelled an audience member to collect a giant mushroom and jump across some clouds. Nobody writes articles in which opera-lovers are mocked as adult babies who never grew out of make-believe and sing-song; obsessive misfits who flock to weird “opening nights” wearing elaborate “tuxedo” cosplay outfits.

UCLA junior Nia Dennis became an internet sensation with a floor routine inspired by Beyoncé. It earned her recognition from celebrities and a verified Twitter account.

Contrary to viral videos, the FDA says to not use dish soap to wash fruits and vegetables because soap is not meant for human consumption and could make you sick.

L.A. Unified campuses will be closed until at least May 1 due to the coronavirus outbreak, as school employees press forward with plans to distribute computers, provide free internet for students who need it, train families and teachers in distance learning and distribute more food.

Low-income L.A. families are struggling to get students connected to the internet even with promises of help from phone and cable providers. A survey found 16% still unconnected.

IF YOU'VE ever wondered why your BT broadband isn't always performing to its best the firm may have some answers. Simple things can make a huge difference to your speeds and here's all you need to know about your Wi-Fi connection.

BROADBAND companies might not have handled the huge increase in users at home as well as many hoped. Whether you're using Virgin Media, BT broadband, Sky, TalkTalk or others, it seems vast numbers of people have experienced web problems, new research shows.

The coronavirus outbreak shut down Indiana schools until at least May 1, meaning many are moving online. But not all students have internet access.

Some families have said that they were denied free internet access, offered in response to the coronavirus, because of old debts.

Pandemia fez casais mudarem seus planos, mas nem por isso cerimônias deixaram de ser inesquecíveis.

New documents reveal the "strongest evidence yet" of China's crackdown on people in Xinjiang.

Loon — an Internet-providing balloon service owned by Alphabet, Google’s parent company — will give “mountain villagers” in Kenya the opportunity to purchase 4G service.

The “digital divide” is back in the news, with both Democratic presidential candidates and incumbent government officials promising billions to provide high-speed Internet to millions of Americans in rural areas who don’t currently have access to it at home. The digital divide, however, is not a rural problem.

Octoshape announced a partnership with INVISO to deliver Internet TV contribution services throughout Latin America.

"At INVISO, we seek the most innovative and high quality products to serve our customers through the brands we represent,” said Jose Luis Reyes, Vice President for Sales and Operations, INVISO. “In the case of Octoshape, we found a company and a product that bring these qualities to our supply chain, sales and service.”

Octoshape offers an innovative cloud-based solution that provides instant infrastructure for the distribution of both linear and video on demand content. The Octoshape Infinite Uplink service provides point-to-point distribution of TV signals over the Internet for source signal acquisition to traditional IPTV and cable headends as an alternative to traditional methods like satellite and video fiber.

The Digital Development Group foresees dynamic growth in its industry. “On Nov. 21st we launched our first channel. We are excited to announce 5 more channels coming before year-end. On the heels of those developments we believe it is important to continue to define our mission.”

DigiDev is targeting the revolutionary “OTT” technology arena. “OTT” or Over The Top devices piggyback on existing network services in consumers’ homes or offices; pull content from the Internet and deliver it to their TV or Internet enabled device. DigiDev uses OTT technology to deliver programming to billions of desktops, mobile and smart/Internet enabled TV devices around the world.

“The market for digital distribution to 'smart' (Internet enabled) devices (smart-TV, tablet, smart-phones) continues to grow at an astonishing rate,” states Martin W. Greenwald, Chairman and CEO of DigiDev. “AppleTV, GoogleTV, and Roku sales this Holiday season are running considerably ahead of last year’s tally.”

strataconf: StrataWeek: Wireless body networks bring humans into Internet of Things http://t.co/vRgkRtTTKe Pills & tattoo authenticators & NSA leaks

We live in an increasingly connected world. It’s estimated that there will be about 260 million internet-connected devices in the U.S. by 2020, and the next wave of these devices will push our data demand even further. New Bluetooth advancements, for instance, enable devices to perform within a range that’s four times greater, twice the speed, and eight times the […]

The post The Automation Boom is Coming. Will the Internet Be Ready? appeared first on ReadWrite.

18 February 2020

Research Event

Event participants

Andrew Sullivan, President and CEO Internet Society
Chair: Emily Taylor, Associate Fellow, International Security Department, Chatham House; Editor, Journal of Cyber Policy