Tag: internet

Battle For The Net

If you woke up tomorrow, and your internet looked like this, what would you do? Imagine all your favorite websites taking forever to load, while you get annoying notifications from your ISP suggesting you switch to one of their approved “Fast Lane” sites. Think about what we would lose: all the weird, alternative, interesting, and enlightening stuff that makes the Internet so much cooler than mainstream Cable TV. What if the only news sites you could reliably connect to were the ones that had deals with companies like Comcast and Verizon?

On September 10th, just a few days before the FCC’s comment deadline, public interest organizations are issuing an open, international call for websites and internet users to unite for an “Internet Slowdown” to show the world what the web would be like if Team Cable gets their way and trashes net neutrality.

Net neutrality is hard to explain, so our hope is that this action will help SHOW the world what’s really at stake if we lose the open Internet.

If you’ve got a website, blog or tumblr, get the code to join the #InternetSlowdown here: https://battleforthenet.com/sept10th

Everyone else, here’s a quick list of things you can do to help spread the word about the slowdown: http://tumblr.fightforthefuture.org/post/96020972118/be-a-part-of-the-great-internet-slowdown

Get creative! Don’t let us tell you what to do. See you on the net September 10th!

via Battle For The Net.

 

What is net neutrality?

Net Neutrality is the Internet’s guiding principle: It preserves our right to communicate freely online.

 

Net Neutrality means that the cable/telecom companies must provide us with open networks — and should not block or discriminate against any applications or content that ride over those networks. Just as your phone company cannot decide who you could call and what you say on that call, your ISP should not be concerned with what content you view or post online.

Net Neutrality is what enables the Internet to be such a hotbed for innovation. If you bring a new service online, the cable/telecom companies should deliver it just like they’d deliver content from a corporate behemoth like Google or NBC.

 

Net Neutrality is what gives every startup the same chance to reach customers and users as any existing company. Simply, without Net Neutrality, startups and small business will be subject to discrimination based on a pay-to-play Internet, and the open Internet and the economic growth it has represented will be at risk.

 

What are we fighting against?

On May 15, 2014, the Federal Communications Commission proposed rules that would permit rampant discrimination online, undermining Net Neutrality. The FCC’s proposal would be a huge boon for the cable companies and would undermine the Internet as we know it.

 

Under the proposed rules, cable giants like AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon would be able to create a two-tiered Internet, with slow lanes (for most of us) and fast lanes (for wealthy corporations that are willing pay fees in exchange for fast service).

 

Cable companies would have the power to discriminate against online content and applications — they could pick winners and losers, shake sites down for fees, block content for political reasons, and make it easier for Internet users to view cable content. (For instance, Comcast owns NBC, and so has incentives to make it easier to view NBC content than that of other providers.)

Distance Learning and Distance Working

The Internet has opened the possibilities for so many things never thought possible before. One of them is that of doing things such as shopping, studying and even working from the comforts of one’s home. At first it was just buying things online. Then came courses offered online. And now, even workplaces are flexible in allowing their employees to work from home via the Internet. Some companies even just have virtual presence where they recruit online and operate their business online.

Telecommuting is slowly becoming the norm for most companies who sees its benefits vs the traditional mode of conducting business. Of course, this is applicable to those whose work description mainly involves processes done via a computer. Telecommuting is simply a work arrangement wherein employees no longer have to report to a central office physically because instead they report to work via the Internet whether they are in the comforts of their own houses or that of a local cafe.

For organizations, this is highly beneficial. It means less overhead costs on their part since they no longer need to maintain a big office and pay for rent, utilities and maintenance personnel. Further, this encourages perfect attendance among employees because the excuses for absences due to family matters such as lack of anyone attending to the house or the kids are reduced.

Yet with the upsides come the downsides of the arrangement. Certain work relationships are not established since employees no longer interface with each other in a way that would build personal relationships. Although this reduces the office drama and politics, it still underscores a basic human need of being socially active and forging actual social relationships. Telecommuting also impacts the boss-employee relationship since employees would feel more detached from their bosses because they don’t get to see them daily and experience their constant pressure brought about by their presence alone. The downsides though are mostly just on the psychological which can always be easily remedied.

Another major innovation brought about by the internet is that of distance learning. Now it is possible even for someone in the Philippines, even without the sufficient funds, to learn something from respected teachers in great universities abroad. It is even possible to earn full degrees from most universities by simply availing of their online classes. Distance learning has made education possible for anyone by breaking barriers typically connected to distance and cost.

Distance learning is highly useful for working individuals in pursuit of higher or additional education. It is also useful for people who want to learn something new that might not be totally related to the degree they’ve originally earned. As such, most courses are completed on the student’s own time.

Yet again, there are downsides to this type of arrangement. Similar to telecommuting, the psychological and social dynamics of a typical live classroom setting is foregone in an online space especially one where students are merely required to complete the courses on their own.

Although the practice of telecommuting and distance learning is a widely accepted practice, it will be a long time before most businesses and schools in the Philippines gravitate to such an arrangement. Although there is a huge number of Filipinos who find employment via such means and there are a number of local universities offering open courses, it would still be a long time before traditional businesses and schools give up their traditional means in exchange for the more modern and seemingly practical and cost-effective ones. After all, the Philippines still remain a largely social country where the social aspects of education and work is very important.

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The Internet: Making Collaborations Easier

The Internet is probably the best tool that has ever happened to man in this technological age. With the Internet, thru the world wide web, there have been several changes in the way man communicates and go about his work.

Perhaps the best contribution of the Net to the workforce has been that of email which allows for instant communication between employees and businesses that transcends physical barriers. In recent years, other forms of communication enhancing workforce efficiency has been developed. The most essential of which are collaboration tools such as video conferencing programs, file sharing programs and other real time online collaboration tools.

This works best for companies whose offices are far spread out over vast geographical locations. For one, in our organization, using emails to circulate memos and advisories is more efficient than relying on messengers to carry hard copies to branches which are in other parts of the region. Likewise, email has become a means to gather ideas and brainstorm on certain strategies even without meeting face to face.

But in recent months, online communication has diverged from the usual chat and email programs to include video calls and online mood boards – well at least for our department. Using Skype, I am able to meet with potential suppliers in Manila without me or them having to actually travel to one’s office. Likewise, HR has experimented with online interviews in the extreme case that the candidate cannot make it to a physical interview.

Another online collaboration tool we’ve come to appreciate recently is MoodShare where we get to share our ideas for a particular project in real time to our colleagues. MoodShare is an online mood board where we can attach pictures or texts or designs that would convey how we want a particular project to go. Authorized members can either view or edit the contents and in a sense it becomes a collaborative effort on all our parts to contribute ideas till the time a project is seen to completion.

Apart from these, there are still vast applications that our organization can use such as Google Docs or other online editing tools which would allow several people to work simultaneously on a presentation, document or spreadsheet.

Yet with all these technology surrounding us, there are still challenges we face. One of them is that of acceptance among majority of the employees. Admittedly, not everyone in the company is open to using online collaboration tools. Most are still stuck in the traditional business setup wherein hard copies of documents are needed to get anything done. Case in point was when I tried introducing the Google Calendar to get everyone’s schedule in sync. Unfortunately, some were not able to go with the bandwagon resulting still to a more traditional means of synchronizing schedules. Resistance to change is always a challenge to implementing technology, no matter how great or useful that technology is.

Another hindrance to fully implementing these kind of tools is that 80% of our operations is still in a geographical location that is fairly near each other. So the need for immediate communication possible via online tools becomes less important. Only departments who regularly communicates to the 20% of our operations appreciate the value of online tools and are more susceptible to using such.

Another more pressing issue we face now is actually that of security. In any organization, especially mid-size to large ones, there is always a possible threat to data security. Hence, it is advisable that instead of relying to the world wide web for interoffice collaboration (emails, chats, file sharing, etc.), intranet should be considered. Intranet, or an internal network, is something that is guaranteed to give an organization the much needed security that extranet, or commonly the Internet, cannot provide.

Basically, by allowing employees to use web-based email clients or other web-based collaboration tools, the risk that the employee can pass on any confidential company information such as sales data is high. When I was working in the BPO industry as an agent, our Internet usage was limited to merely the basic tools of our trade and for our communication tools we used the company’s internal programs. The bosses were allowed unrestricted access to web programs however. However, in small organizations, unrestricted access is available to all employees. Management simply trusts their employees not to divulge sensitive information.

Of course there are considerations organizations must have when deciding if they will go with an intranet or just the available and more convenient internet. A powerful server and a functioning IT department are just some of the considerations which all boils down to the cost a company is willing to spend. But when one thinks of the alternative – confidential data leaking to unknown and untrusted channel, I think the cost is worth the investment rather than risking a company’s fate on implicit trust of their employees.

In conclusion, the Internet, has proven its vast use to any organization that it is seldom an organization exist now a days without any Internet interface. In fact, the trend amongst organizations now, be it private or public, is to be present in social media channels. Yet as much as the internet can be a powerful tool to any business organization, for it to fully realize its potential, employees must first be susceptible to change. Further, organizations must also evaluate the security risk they face if they will rely solely on the Internet for their communication tools.

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