Awesome Internet

(PG-13: Language) Here we go again. The FCC wants less regulation of US internet service providers, even though it’s long been proven that given the chance, ISPs will create unfair situations for their competitors and customers. Speak your mind, America.

(PG-13) “Be mentally prepared for your job.” Ciaran Cassidy and Adrian Chen’s eye-opening short follows the training of newly hired online moderators. Every day, they are expected to view and rate tens of thousands of pictures from social media, dating sites and more.

A user-friendly Internet solution for large households. Plume consists of multiple small routers that plug into a socket in each room. These tiny routers learn and adapt to your usage, and let you manage connected devices through a dead simple app.

(PG-13: Language) exurb1a theorizes about at how our obsessive use of the Internet and smartphones has diminished our ability to pay attention, learn new things, and deal with problems in the real world, and provides some ideas for cutting back on our digital addictions.

The Netgear Nighthawk M1 is the world’s first LTE router that delivers up to 1Gbps downloads and 150Mbps uploads. Its battery lasts up to 24h per charge. It has an Ethernet port, dual-band Wi-Fi and a USB-C port. It will debut on Australian telecom Telstra for ~$270.

Google employees Nat and Lo spoke with their colleagues and visited a ship that lays new Internet cables to give us a comprehensive yet still digestible explanation of how these critical communication links are made and deployed. More here.

Adam Ruins Everything digs a little deeper into the obvious – that free online services sell our data to advertisers. On one hand, targeted ads sustain the free stuff we enjoy (like this website). On the other hand, we don’t know just how much of our data is kept and by whom.

An internet router for parents looking for an easy way to manage their family’s online activity. Gryphon comes with an app that lets you see everyone’s browsing history, allow access to websites  or turn off online access temporarily and more.

GeeFi is a wireless hotspot that should save you from data plans and roaming fees. It supposedly works with cellular networks in over 100 countries, with more on the way. A $10 pass gets you 24 hours of unlimited data (video streaming might be throttled in the future).

So you’ve just encountered the dreaded “Page Not Found (404)” error. You could give up, or you can heed the advice given in Tim Ireland’s educational song, from The Cautionary Campfire Songbook. Full lyrics here.

Portal promises more stable Internet connections by using channels that are normally reserved for radar and other sensitive purposes. It’s not a new approach, but Portal is supposedly the only router that can dynamically switch channels to avoid interference.

A desktop application that makes it easy to select which programs can connect to the Internet. Very useful when you’re using a mobile hotspot and other cellular connections. It also shows the total data consumed for that session. Available for Windows and OS X.

Did you know that Wi-Fi wasn’t originally an acronym but a pun on Hi-Fi? How about the fact that most Americans who are online are browsing Facebook? Or that it’s faster to say World Wide Web than WWW? All those and more in this Mental Floss episode.

Portable Wi-Fi hotspots have short battery lives. Alcatel OneTouch solves that problem for car-bound travelers with the 4G Car WiFi. It plugs into the cigarette lighter port and uses a Micro SIM to provide Wi-Fi to up to 15 users via 3G/LTE.

Brett Gaylor’s Do Not Track is an interactive educational web series about how companies monitor and store your online behavior and data without your awareness, and how it affects you and other people online.

A portable satellite dish that receives free news and other data from Outernet, which takes content from the Internet that people request (or sponsor) and broadcasts it over satellite radio for Outernet receivers (such as Lantern).

A Net Neutrality awareness campaign. See who has the power to influence the future of the Internet. We can help by spreading the word; US citizens can also sign a citizen letter for Net Neutrality.

A mobile hotspot service for frequent travelers. For a flat monthly fee, Anqor will let you go online via the cellular networks in different countries, eliminating roaming fees and the need for multiple SIM cards or plans.

A web app that disguises any webpage to look like the New York Times’ website. It even has the title and image from an actual news article, plus a summary of the article so your cover won’t be blown if someone asks what you’re “reading.”

You Won’t Believe What Happens Next! Actually nothing. Nothing happens next. Glove and Boots take on the disturbing trend of sites that create hyperbolic headlines to grab clicks, despite the lame content that lies beyond.

♬We’re goin’ surfin’ on the Internet!♬ For their latest Somebody Reacts to Something video, The Fine Bros. subject teens to a cheesy 1990s video about how to use the Internet, then questions them about the tech they take for granted today.

Hank Green presents the arguments for and against the principle of Net neutrality. It’s a very biased summary, but it should be. Folks, this is as dangerous as SOPA, and we’re already losing. You can help fight for Net neutrality.

Martin Vargic and Jay Jason Simons are working on a funny but informative illustration that depicts the major players and websites on the Web as countries and continents. The poster also includes stats and other trivia.