Microsoft builds observatory to spy on Earthlings' spectrum
Microsoft has launched its first European Spectrum Observatory, joining research efforts in Redmond, Seattle and Washington to work out which airwaves might be empty enough to exploit better. The observatory is in Microsoft's Cloud and Interoperability Centre and logs radio use across the spectrum. The logs can then be accessed …
This topic is closed for new posts.
12 guage tin foil hat will be needed.
How do you expect my BRAIN to function in this radio wave soup? It's all part of DARPAs plan to turn us into robots
There's a reason some of those spaces are white.
And a reason I don't want devices sitting in the 1420.40575177 MHz band.
Microsoft Marketing Spokesdroid: Earthlings! We come in peace, to synergize your strategic objectives in a multi-platform holistic manner, leveraging stakeholder solutions to optimise each KPI.
Earthling: Wow! You almost speak our language.
Microsoft Marketing Spokesdroid: We learned English from your radio broadcasts. Which we have been scanning for years. Share and enjoy!
Multi platform????
"multi-platform holistic manner" - translation - it only runs on windows and doesn't talk via open protocols or standards.
Puff Piece
This is just a PR exercise to get journalists to mention certain commercial products.
IMNSHO academic research should be conducted with open source databases and open source tools, so that anyone can be involved without having to pay licence fees or end up with data in binary proprietary formats.
This is nothing more than MS advertising. One day the Reg might write an article about how open source tools are used in research. HINT - CERN use Linux to do all the LHC number crunching. Why don't we hear that from this techie site?
Because lazy Reg hacks do not receive PR releases from marketers on such topics, presumably, so, you know, would have to actually research and write original material.
FAIL.
Re: Puff Piece
The article said the word "Microsoft" so he was contractually obliged to post some angry pro-linux rant on it.
Disclaimer - I am not suggesting that this contractual obligation was to anyone other than the little pixies who whisper in his ear all the time. Anyone who was actually paying him in something other than shiny wurblecoins might notice how damaging he is to their own cause and quickly stop doing so.
Anyway, some of us still think that accusations of "shill" are uncouth.
Here's an idea...
Why don't we use this space to make posts after the article, to actually discuss the issues raised in said article?
Just a thought.
Re: Here's an idea...
@Crisp - the article is just an ad for MS, what is there to discuss?
Re: Here's an idea...
@Crisp - the data is pretty interesting to look at. A lot of the bands I don't recognize (it's been a while since I was a proper RF engineer) but I can certainly pick out a couple of "reserved" areas which are - by the data - almost unused.
In situations where those bands "belong" to emergency services, that's a good thing. Some form of database is going to help a lot, not simply with determining which space is "white" but also which space is reserved by whom - the last thing you need is some clever piece of white space broadcasting kit deciding that ATC frequencies near a remote Alaskan airstrip can be hijacked at 3am. Because you're always going to find that time when they really, really can't.
So. I'd like a legend on this data please. Other than that, it seems to be extremely useful.
Re: Here's an idea...
@Eadon - If it had been Google doing this, would it have been an ad for Google?
Anyway, I'm not sure how you have the energy to keep this up, it certainly tires me out.
RE "Nurse! He's out of bed again!" I think she forgot to increase his........
......dried frog pill dosage.
Re: "...the article is just an advert for MS, what is there to discuss?"
Your postings are always attacks on MS - "what is there to discuss?".
Re: Here's an idea...
Re emergency services - exactly. That space is there for a reason, even if it's unused most of the time. I've seen a real emergency response - the vehicles attending the Potters Bar rail crash went past my office window.
It's far more than the usual two or three vehicles at fairly fast speed. If you haven't seen it you wouldn't believe how fast a squad of full size fire engines, interspersed with police cars and followed by a block of ambulances, can zig-zag through a set of traffic lights at a junction.
When that kind of thing is happening you really do not want someone camping on the frequency to moan about their train being delayed by the crash.
Maybe this is Microsoft's way....
Of making things up to the aliens from "Independence Day", after disasterously putting their whole colonization fleet on Windows 95?
Re: Maybe this is Microsoft's way....
I thought the aliens were using Macs. Which is why they could be nobbled by one connected to their ship.
Clearly this led them to change tactics, and try to get control of some of our superior computing skills. Unfortunately, they seem to have infiltrated Microsoft...
This topic is closed for new posts.
