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🌎 What’s Happening on Earth

🪐 What’s Happening in Space

🤖 Enabling AI

🍳 This and That!

💡 Lean About..

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What’s Happening On Earth?

US considers ban on China's TP-Link over security concerns, WSJ reports - U.S. authorities are considering a ban on China's TP-Link Technology Co over national security concerns after its internet routers were linked to cyber attacks, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

My Take: …is this really a surprise, or just another of another… This would be a pretty big hit to TP-LINK if it were to happen. Hopefully, Canada will follow. Any SP who had deployed this stuff as a managed service should do the right thing for their customers, however that ends up.

Cox, Amazon, AT&T to get BEAD grants in Nevada - Nevada has released its provisional BEAD winners, with grants going to AT&T, Cox, Amazon's Project Kuiper and more. The largest sums, totaling $323 million, will go to local firms Sky Fiber Internet and Stimulus Technologies.

My Take: Good for Nevada. ~$15M to Amazon Kuiper to service 4,891 homes, representing about 9.5% of the total homes being passed. Who should complain about this? No one. It’s an example of the right provider with the right technology used at the right time. In this case, it’s more interesting as Kuiper hasn’t even launched yet. Not a Starlink in sight. Neither one of them has an existing relationship with Starlink, from what I recall.

System integrators focus on fiber for their U.S. customers - Adegoke said those companies driving the AI phenomenon are using massive amounts of computing power, and they’re “having to buy broadband access and capacity.” He said they’re trying to avoid choking points within the data center by implementing GPUs. But they also need to avoid choking points in the transmission of data. “The network choke will be avoided through fiber,” he said.

My Take: Many lessons learned from integrators working on projects in multiple international regions. The comment on AI is relevant as many discussions of late have been around the need for power, of course, but the need for “transmission power” (i.e. fiber) is also critical AI infrastructure - including resiliency and redundancy.

Here’s how Frontier used AI to revive its ailing B2B business - In an exclusive interview, Frontier EVP for the Commercial Segment Ettienne Brandt told Fierce that by applying AI, it’s been able to cut down on time spent by its sales force on knowledge tasks by 90%. It has also been able to boost the proportion of new revenue coming from new clients from a low single digit percentage in 2022 to just under 50% this year.

My Take: All about efficiencies and then synthesizing data - “Brandt said Frontier had set an internal goal of cutting time spent on non-sales tasks by 80%. When it checked how sales folks trained with the AI agent performed against those doing the same tasks manually, it found a 90% time savings.”

Rural broadband loves these small – but important – regulatory wins - Rural broadband providers just got a couple of early Christmas gifts in the form of regulatory relief. But whether the moves will amount to anything once Trump takes office remains to be seen.

My Take: Take the little wins. They’re important.

Senate Bill Would Fortify Networks Against Climate Disasters - As extreme weather events become more frequent and severe, a newly reintroduced bill would provide $5 billion to strengthen the resiliency of U.S. communications networks.

My Take: This would be a good thing, of course. Spend the money before the problem demands it.

Experts Dissect Broadband Measurement Approaches as Federal Programs Roll Out - As states prepare to deploy major broadband projects, industry experts on Wednesday broke down the complex landscape of performance measurement requirements across federal funding programs.

My Take: Yet another approach to test and measurement? Should we have a North American standard that everyone uses for both terrestrial and non-terrestrial testing?

Canada’s Narrowing Broadband Divide - Using Speedtest Intelligence® data, this report identifies Canada’s Provinces and Territories that are delivering the minimum standard for fixed broadband speeds, as established by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). Based on data from the 1H 2024 (and compared to 1H 2023), it also analyzes performance in other geographic splits, including Urban-vs-Rural and the Remoteness Index. 

My Take: Cool map of Canada’s population density for you Americans who want to learn more about Canada. Other than that, this needs to be correlated with other data. Of course, the source of the test makes a big different in the data outcomes.

The Best Gaming ISPs for 2025: Canada - If you play online games, the quality of your internet connection matters just as much speed. We've collected a year's worth of data to determine the best ISP for gamers in each Canadian province. Who's the top provider where you live?

My Take: And? Read the the article. The best one is actually not even on the list. Flexnetworks, in Saskatchewan.

Call for comments - Reconsideration of an aspect of Telecom Decision 2023-358 - Read the interventions - On 6 November 2024, the Governor in Council, through Order in Council P.C. 2024-1172 (the Reconsideration Order), referred the Temporary Decision back to the Commission to reconsider a discrete aspect of that decision. That aspect is whether the three largest ISPs in Canada – Bell Canada, Rogers Communications Canada Inc., and TELUS (and their affiliates) – should be prohibited from accessing the temporary FTTP wholesale service in Ontario and Quebec.

My Take: Some interesting interventions, with the majority seeming to be in favour of scrapping the ability for Tier 1 to participate in fibre-based TPIA. Bell doesn’t like Telus encroaching on its customers. Not sure they’re taking the “bad for competition” stance, although there is mention in their filing.

Senate Passes Defense Bill with $3 Billion in Rip and Replace Funding - The program, which got off the ground in 2021 to reimburse smaller telecom providers for swapping Chinese gear out of their networks, has been facing a funding shortfall of about $3 billion. That’s led to providers being unable to meet the one-year completion deadline and asking the agency for extensions to avoid penalties, all while their equipment continues to age. 

My Take: Maybe TP-LINK will be added to the list 😉 

Broadband prices drop as speeds and competition climb – study - US broadband pricing has dropped in 2024 across both sub-1 Gbit/s speed tiers as well as 1-Gig options thanks in part to rising competition across the sector, USTelecom found in its fifth-annual Broadband Pricing Index (BPI).

My Take: How about someone start tracking upstream and latency?

DOCSIS infrastructure spending rebounds in Q3 - Setting up a more lucrative second half of 2024 for suppliers, spending on DOCSIS infrastructure – including virtual CMTSs and remote PHY devices – surged 26% in Q3, according to Dell'Oro Group.

My Take: Nice to see things rebounding. Has been a while..

telMAX Unveils Canada’s Fastest 4 Gbps Symmetrical Fibre Internet - telMAX is proud to announce the launch of its groundbreaking symmetrical 4 Gbps residential internet package, solidifying its position as a leader in the Canadian telecommunications industry. This innovation underscores telMAX’s commitment to delivering cutting-edge technology and reinforces its reputation as a game changer in the market.

My Take: Why do we need this? $149/month for the first 12 months. It’s a BYOD, so it’s up to the subscriber to provide wired or wireless connectivity. Will need WiFi7, for sure, if you there’s a device that fully supports it. See the earlier article about falling internet prices…

Fiber deployments top another record in 2024 - The U.S. fiber industry set another record in 2024, marketing fiber to 10.3 million new homes, up from 9.1 million new homes marketed to in 2023, according to data compiled by Michael Render, CEO and principal analyst at RVA LLC.

My Take: ..and will likely continue to escalate as funding programs roll out.

This VPN Lets Anyone Use Your Internet Connection. What Could Go Wrong? - A free VPN app called Big Mama is selling access to people’s home internet networks. Kids are using it to cheat in a VR game while researchers warn of bigger security risks.

While the workaround is likely to be an annoying but relatively harmless bit of in-game cheating, there’s a catch. The free VPN app that the video tutorials point to, Big Mama VPN, is also selling access to its users’ home internet connections—with buyers essentially piggybacking on the VR headset’s IP address to hide their own online activity.

My Take: “Big Mama is made up of two parts: There’s the free VPN app, which is available on the Google Play store for Android devices and has been downloaded more than 1 million times. Then there’s the Big Mama Proxy Network, which allows people (among other options) to buy shared access to “real” 4G and home Wi-Fi IP addresses for as little as 40 cents for 24 hours.”

Problem? They’re not hiding it, but the people using it likely don’t care. Maybe their parents do.

What’s Happening In Space?

What’s in Space This Week?

EU launches €10bn space programme to rival Musk’s Starlink - The EU has launched an ambitious €10bn (£8.3bn) space programme with a constellation of 290 satellites to rival Elon Musk’s Starlink, further widening the post-Brexit security gap with the UK.

My Take: They want their sovereign infrastructure and don’t want to be beholden to Elon. This is part of the IRIS2 (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite) constellation.MEO, high and low LEO, with a service target in 2031.

Rivada brushes off regulatory setback for proposed broadband constellation - Rivada Space Networks remains confident it can reclaim priority Ka-band spectrum rights for nearly 600 proposed broadband satellites, more than two months after Liechtenstein’s telecoms regulator rescinded its license.

My Take: Rivada seems to be taking a number of punches lately but, at the same time, continues to sign some pretty significant market deals.

Eutelsat orders 100 LEO satellites to replenish OneWeb constellation - Most of the 654 satellites in OneWeb’s current generation were launched between 2020 and 2023, giving the constellation a design life extending to around 2027-2028.

My Take: Call it 15% being replaced. I assume that means the ones being replaced will be de-orbitted. I thought that was bad for the Ozone. Anyway, this is the reality of the space business, and their constellation is a 10th the size of Starlink.

Elon Musk and SpaceX Face Federal Reviews After Violations of Security Reporting Rules - Federal agencies have opened at least three reviews into whether the company and its leader complied with disclosure protocols intended to protect state secrets, people with knowledge of the matter said.

My Take: Uh, oh. I think Elon will be OK, though. I hear he knows some pretty powerful people moving to Washington.

My Take:

Welcome to coverage like never before - One NZ Satellite TXT is here. With this initial service,  customers with an eligible One NZ phone and plan who are out of traditional cell-tower coverage can now send and receive TXTs anywhere in New Zealand they have a clear line of sight to the sky.^”

My Take: Starlink strikes again! Of course, the find print - TXT messages will take 3 minutes. However, at times it may take 10 minutes or longer, especially during the first few months and service availability depends on the model of mobile phone.

China kicks off Guowang megaconstellation with Long March 5B launch - It is not the first Chinese megaconstellation to begin being constructed this year. The Qianfan/Thousand Sails project, a Shanghai-based megaconstellation, started later but has already sent its first 54 satellites into orbit across three launches this year. 

My Take: “The Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) confirmed the success of the launch two hours after liftoff. Aboard were the satellite Internet low-orbit 01 satellite group, according to SAST, revealing no information about the number of satellites, nor basic details such as their orbits, satellite mass and manufacturer. “

The Ground Segment’s Digital Shift Moves from Education to Implementation - As technological advancements reshape the satellite communications sector, the ground segment faces a transformative shift towards a virtualized model. Underpinning this shift is the introduction of Digital Intermediate Frequency (DIF) technology, which will enable digitization to reach the satellite ground segment. 

My Take: Virtualization and digitalization. If they can get Optical ground-satellite working, the need for RF and spectrum allocation will be a thing of the past as well.

SpaceX Wants to Incorporate Starbase as a New City in Texas - SpaceX wants to incorporate Starbase as its own city in Texas. The Starbase production site in Cameron County, Texas, is home to development of SpaceX’s Starship rocket. 

My Take: Will the city have a Mayor or a King?

US Pushes to Bypass Regulator, OK More Starlink Launches at Space Force Base - After the California Coastal Commission denied an increase in SpaceX launches at Vandenberg Base citing Elon Musk's politics, the Pentagon moves to boost annual launches from 36 to 100.

My Take: I guess the Military gets what the Military wants.

Elon Musk says Starlink inactive in India after second device seized - Elon Musk said Starlink satellite internet is inactive in India, his first comments since authorities seized two of the company's devices in recent weeks, one in an armed conflict zone and another in a drug smuggling bust.

My Take: Well, maybe he can’t always have his way.

Space2Sea Voyage of Legends in Antarctica: Join William Shatner, Neil deGrasse Tyson, former NASA astronauts and more in free webinar on space and science - This Friday (Dec. 20), several cultural and scientific icons including "Star Trek" star William Shatner, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, Apollo 16 moonwalker Charlie Duke as well as astronauts Scott Kelly and José Hernández will answer selected questions from an Antarctica-bound luxurious expedition vessel on the Space2Sea Voyage of Legends organized by the FUTURE of SPACE initiative.

My Take: Using SpaceX's Starlink internet connectivity, the webinar will stream live from the waters of Drake Passage, and you can tune in here on Friday at 9 a.m. ET (1400 GMT). A YouTube embed will appear on this page at start time.

NGSO Fixed Satellite Service Spectrum Priority in the US: Payload Research - Last month, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) updated its spectrum sharing rules for Non-Geostationary (NGSO) Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) systems to establish quantified interference protection criteria for satellite systems based on their level of spectrum priority.   

My Take: You can dig deep into spectrum allocation in this article!

Enabling AI

AI-powered blood test spots earliest breast cancer signs - A new screening method that combines laser analysis with a type of AI is the first of its kind to identify patients in the earliest stage of breast cancer, a study suggests.

My Take: AI being used for good things. Forget chatbots. Stuff like this is the real use case. No one would complain about carbon emissions if early detection of cancer saved their lives and resulted in less invasive treatments.

AI’s emissions are about to skyrocket even further - Since 2018, carbon emissions from data centers in the US have tripled. For the 12 months ending August 2024, data centers were responsible for 105 million metric tons of CO₂, accounting for 2.18% of national emissions (for comparison, domestic commercial airlines are responsible for about 131 million metric tons). About 4.59% of all the energy used in the US goes toward data centers, a figure that’s doubled since 2018.

My Take: I wonder how much carbon this newsletter emits.. It is interesting, though, that there are more articles of late detailing how AI will kill the planet - one way or another.

Worry About Misuse of AI, Not Superintelligence - AI risks arise not from AI acting on its own, but because of what people do with it.

My Take: As with everything else, the “thing” isn’t the issue, it’s what people do with “the thing”.

How Claude Became Tech Insiders’ Chatbot of Choice - A.I. insiders are falling for Claude, a chatbot from Anthropic. Is it a passing fad, or a preview of artificial relationships to come?

My Take: I’ve never used Claude. I have no need to Chatbots.

Google Deepmind VEO2 - Veo creates videos with realistic motion and high quality output, up to 4K. Explore different styles and find your own with extensive camera controls.

My Take: From what I’ve been reading, this is about the best there is out there, producing excellent content and results. Take a peek at the sample on the site

Nearly one in four US workers use generative AI on a weekly basis, often without clear rules - The Financial Times (FT) reports that by September, less than half of surveyed companies had established concrete rules for AI use. As a result, many employees are experimenting with these new technologies in secret.

My Take: …and likely sharing all sorts of information that they shoulnd’t be sharing…

Why It’s Time to Get Optimistic About Self-Driving Cars. Robotaxi adoption shows that the tipping point is near - Wuhan, the capital of China’s Hubei province, is striving to become “the world’s first driverless city.” So far, around three in every 100 taxis there are robotaxis, developed by Baidu’s autonomous car division, Apollo Go.

My Take: Wuhan… Wuhan… Let me think.. What do I know about Wuhan?

Learn About

Daylight Saving Time (DST) has a complex history intertwined with global events, energy conservation efforts, and societal needs. The concept of shifting clocks to make better use of daylight is often attributed to Benjamin Franklin, who humorously suggested in 1784 that Parisians could save on candles by rising earlier. However, the modern practice of DST began during World War I when Germany first adopted it in 1916 as a means to conserve fuel and resources

The United States followed suit in 1918, implementing DST as a wartime measure. After the war, it was repealed in 1919 due to concerns over its effectiveness and public resistance. DST saw a resurgence during World War II when the entire nation adopted it year-round for similar energy-saving reasons

In the decades that followed, the absence of a standardized approach led to confusion as various states and localities switched between DST and standard time at will. This inconsistency prompted Congress to pass the Uniform Time Act in 1966, which established a more uniform system for observing DST across the country

Despite its long-standing practice, DST has come under increasing scrutiny due to its numerous negative effects on health, safety, and productivity. The biannual time change disrupts circadian rhythms, leading to significant health consequences. Studies have shown a 10% increase in heart attack risk and an 8% increase in stroke risk in the days following the spring time change

Mental health is also affected, with an increase in depression cases observed in the weeks following the shift to DST. The sudden change in sleep patterns can exacerbate mood disorders and seasonal affective disorder

Safety concerns are equally pressing, with a notable increase in traffic accidents and workplace injuries immediately following the shift to DST

Recognizing these issues, there have been increasing efforts to eliminate the biannual time change. The Sunshine Protection Act, introduced by Senator Marco Rubio, proposes to make DST permanent nationwide. While the bill passed the Senate in 2022, it has yet to clear the House of Representatives

At the state level, many legislatures are considering bills to abolish the time change. As of 2024, nineteen states have passed laws or resolutions to move toward daylight saving time year-round, pending Congressional approval

However, federal regulations currently prevent states from adopting permanent DST without congressional action

Sleep experts and medical professionals largely support ending the time changes, but many advocate for permanent standard time rather than permanent DST. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine argues that standard time aligns better with human circadian rhythms and would be more beneficial for public health and safety

As debates continue, it's clear that the practice of changing clocks twice yearly is increasingly viewed as outdated and potentially harmful. While the path forward remains uncertain, there's growing momentum to find a more stable and health-conscious approach to timekeeping.

This and That!

How to Use Your iPhone to Text Over Satellite When You're Adventuring - Curiously, even though satellites are available from anywhere on the planet, you can only text by satellite when you travel in the United States and Canada. This means there are two common scenarios that might come up when you travel. One is when you go into the wild; cell towers don’t always stretch their signal into national and state parks, near rivers, or in some rural areas. Another is in downtown areas; tall buildings and poor infrastructure can zap cell signals as well. But in these places, a satellite connection is still viable.

My Take: Still viable, but not constant. Yet.

Consulting firm McKinsey to pay $650 million to resolve US criminal opioid probe - McKinsey & Co has agreed to pay $650 million to resolve a US Department of Justice investigation into the consulting firm’s work advising opioid manufacturer OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma on how to boost sales.

My Take: I guess that Bulletproof solution wasn’t. Did they not think this one through to the end? Did the logic tree break?

Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time - “The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t! Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation,” he wrote.

My Take: Just pick one and stick with it. Perhaps it made sense in 1784 when people had to preserve candles. Today, we have all those fossil fuels to keep those lights burning! ;)

The position of the magnetic north pole is officially changing. Why? - The updated version of the World Magnetic Model was released on Dec. 17, with a new prediction of how the magnetic north pole will shift over the next five years. Here's why it was changed.

My Take: At least someone is paying attention..

'Stranded' NASA astronauts' return to Earth delayed until at least 'late March' 2025 due to SpaceX capsule issues, NASA reveals - Due to a delay with SpaceX's Dragon capsule, NASA's Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who were meant to spend 10 days in space in June 2024, will now not return to Earth until late March 2025 at the earliest, NASA announced.

My Take: The longest amount of time someone has spent on the International Space Station (ISS) is 374 days. This record was set by Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, who completed their mission on September 23, 2024. They surpassed the previous record of 370 days, 21 hours, and 22 minutes, which had been set just a few months earlier in September 2023 by cosmonauts Sergey Prokopiev and Dmitry Petelin, along with American astronaut Frank Rubio

Infographic Of The Week

My Take: For reference, Canada has 41 births per hour, which also continues to track the metric that Canada is 1/10th of everything US-related. The dollar is headed that way way as well 😉. The Complete list has many at “0”.

Podcast Recommendation

He built a $1M/MRR dinner club app in 2 weeks with 0 employees

Episode 657: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) and Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) talk about the $10M ARR dinner club app, the history of Black Friday, and ChatGPT prompts that work like cheat codes.  

Listen Here!

Movie/Streaming Recommendation

Knock At The Cabin

IMDb: 7/10

JMDb: 7/10

"Knock at the Cabin" is M. Night Shyamalan's latest thriller, offering a tense and thought-provoking experience. The film follows a family of three vacationing in a remote cabin when they are suddenly confronted by four strangers with an unthinkable request to save the world.

Dave Bautista (known in the wrestling world as Batista) delivers a standout performance as Leonard, the leader of the intruders, brings a mix of menace and vulnerability to his role. The entire cast, including Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldridge as the couple Eric and Andrew, contribute to the film's gripping atmosphere.

Shyamalan's direction is crisp, utilizing tight camera work and clever transitions to maintain suspense throughout. The movie explores themes of faith, sacrifice, and the nature of reality, challenging viewers to question their own beliefs and moral boundaries.

While the premise is intriguing, some may find the ending less satisfying than hoped for, and the film occasionally struggles with pacing. However, "Knock at the Cabin" remains a solid entry in Shyamalan's filmography, offering enough twists and ethical dilemmas to keep audiences engaged and discussing long after the credits roll.

Until Next Time

Comments here are my own and do not represent the opinions, views or thoughts of any person, company or organization that I may be associated with.

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