Lifeboat Foundation

Another fleet of satellites on the way.

SpaceX will launch the fifteenth fleet of internet-beaming Starlink satellites to orbit on October 22nd. The company will to offer high-speed broadband internet service worldwide. Millions still lack access to affordable and reliable broadband globally. SpaceX plans to connect those living in rural and remote areas on Earth to the world wide web communication infrastructure that has shaped the 21st century.

If you’re reading this out of morbid curiosity because spiders freak you out, consider that most spiders you see are average-sized, relatively banal arachnids. What would do if you ran into the most massive spider in the world? If you ever find yourself in that position, you can take solace in the fact that it probably won’t attack you. Believe it or not, despite its size, the Goliath birdeater is just another spider trying to make its way in the world. If you know a few amazing Goliath birdeater facts, you might even have a bit of fondness for these mammoth web-spinners.

Being the biggest spider in the world comes with perks. Being bigger than the average human hand means you can take on large prey (it is, after all, called the birdeater, athough that’s a bit of a misnomer), and not many animals will want to fight you. However, the Goliath birdeater isn’t as deadly as some of its smaller brethren, who pack so much poison they could kill a horse with a few nibbles. Curious about spiders? Terrified of arachnids? Stoned and trawling the Internet? Regardless of why you’re here, you’ll find some dank, juicy morsels about the largest spider species in the world.

Starlink, SpaceX’s internet connectivity constellation, is making its way across the skies. Here’s how to see it from London, Seattle, and Houston.

Microsoft is partnering with SpaceX to connect the tech giant’s Azure cloud computing network to the growing Starlink satellite internet service offered by Elon Musk’s company, the companies announced Tuesday.

Starlink is SpaceX’s ambitious plan to build an interconnected internet network with thousands of satellites, designed to deliver high-speed internet to anywhere on the planet.

“The collaboration that we’re announcing today will allow us to work together to deliver new offerings for both the public and the private sector to deliver connectivity through Starlink for use on Azure,” SpaceX president and COO Gwynne Shotwell said in a video. “Where it makes sense, we will work with [Microsoft]: co-selling to our mutual customers, co-selling to new enterprise and future customers.”

Starlink and SES will bring satellite to modular data centers in remote areas.

The largest DDoS attack in history was done against Google on 2017. It was done by a state-backed group.

Read article for more details.

Continue reading “Google Says Biggest DDoS Attack on Record Hit the Company in 2017” »

Sweden is looking to phase out all Huawei and ZTE 5G equipment by 2025 ‘at the latest’

A Swedish regulator on Tuesday banned the use of telecom equipment from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE in its 5G networks. The move comes ahead of the spectrum auctions scheduled to start on 10 November.

The network will enable communications with rovers and support the agency’s plans to have a lunar base by 2028.

Piling Up

SpaceX has launched about 775 Starlink satellites so far but plans to have 42,000 by the time the constellation is complete. At a three percent failure rate — assuming it stays consistent — that amounts to 1,260 immobilized satellites waiting to smash into other stuff in space.

“I would say their failure rate is not egregious,” McDowell told Business Insider. “It’s not worse than anybody else’s failure rates. The concern is that even a normal failure rate in such a huge constellation is going to end up with a lot of bad space junk.”