Kyle Vanhemert writes for Wired about a talk by graduate student Greg Borenstein on the future of camera technology. “The gist of Borenstein’s talk: Cheap cameras are getting better and better, and researchers are finding more and more to do with them,” writes Vanhemert.
Visiting Scholar Michael Schrage speaks with Jared Bowen of WGBH about the hack on Sony pictures ahead of the release of “The Interview,” as well as subsequent widespread Internet outages in North Korea. “I think this is a very, very serious breach and it sets a very dangerous precedent,” says Schrage.
Dr. Howard Shrobe speaks with New York Times reporter Nicole Perlroth about his work at DARPA on Internet security. Shrobe explains that his goal was to “offer a menu of technical options that companies who make computers and computer software could introduce into the commercial stream.”
Cory Bennett of The Hill writes about a broad effort to tackle cybersecurity challenges at MIT, Stanford and Berkeley. “MIT will examine the immediate policy concerns, such as how to protect vulnerable financial and medical data, as well as emerging technologies like self-driving cars and drones,” explains Bennett.
BostInno’s Elise Harmon writes that a $15 million grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to MIT could “help pave the way for a comprehensive cybersecurity policy.” The gift to MIT is part of $45 million in total to MIT, Stanford and UC Berkeley as part of the foundation’s Cyber Initiative.
MIT’s Daniel Weitzner speaks with BetaBoston’s Nidhi Subbaraman about a new cybersecurity policy initiative supported by the Hewlett Foundation. Weitzner explains that researchers will examine what kind of laws and public policy are needed to make “[technologies] more trustworthy.”
Thomas Davenport of The Wall Street Journal cites work by Professor Sanjay Sarma on radio frequency ID devices (RFID) and the Internet of Things. “Sarma argues that with RFID, many conservative companies blundered their way through incremental states that were successively worse,” writes Davenport.
Brooke Borel profiles edX CEO Professor Anant Agarwal for Popular Science. Agarwal recalls what the experience of failing his physics midterm as a college freshman taught him about how the quality of education varies throughout the world.
In an interview with Robert Siegel of NPR’s All Things Considered, Ethan Zuckerman of the MIT Media Lab apologizes for his role in creating the pop-up ad. Zuckerman expresses concern that the Internet’s reliance on advertising has made people far more accustomed to surveillance by advertisers.
Ethan Zuckerman of the MIT Media Lab writes for The Atlantic about the consequences of designing an Internet funded almost exclusively by advertising. “The fallen state of our Internet is a direct, if unintentional, consequence of choosing advertising as the default model to support online content and services,” writes Zuckerman.
Dr. Andrew Lippman of the MIT Media Lab writes for The Boston Globe about the importance of developing policies that allow open and affordable Internet access. Lippman outlines five principles that he argues adhering to will help to achieve this goal.
Gill Plimmer of The Financial Times interviews Professor Graham Jones about how social media has influenced how people gossip. “English speakers are increasingly talking not just about what other people say and do, but about the thoughts and feelings behind their words,” writes Plimmer.
Ph.D. candidate Josephine Wolff writes for Slate about the potential for allowing offensive computer security measures in order to protect networks. Wolff argues that the risks of endorsing these measures outweigh the benefits.
MIT's Daniel Weitzner joins a panel on the PBS NewsHour to discuss the Internet, 25 years after the introduction of the World Wide Web.
Forbes interviews Stephen Carson, Director of Communications and External Relations at MIT OpenCourseWare, about the program’s mission to advance knowledge by getting universities around the world to share content through the Internet.