Roy Mark

Billionaire space tourist Guy Laliberte said Oct. 6 the only problem he is having at the International Space Station is hitting his head in the weightless environment environment of the space station. Laliberte, founder of the Cirque du Soleil, arrived at the ISS Oct. 1 for an 11-day stay after blasting off from Kazakhstan early […]

The U.S. Senate Oct. 5 unanimously approved legislation that would allow states to petition the Federal Communications Commission to operate wireless jamming devices in correctional facilities. Current law prohibits interference with wireless services, a safeguard to ensure the dependability of 911 emergency calls and to protect the rights of legitimate users of wireless services.The bill-the […]

Mirroring the current congressional debate, the IT industry generally supports health care reform but is uneasy with many of the legislative solutions currently on the table. According to a survey released Oct. 6 by CompTIA, the IT industry is closely watching the debate, particularly provisions involving small businesses.The survey shows 76 percent of IT firms […]

The House Republican leadership warned President Obama Oct. 2 that expanded network neutrality rules and the formal codification of those rules will jeopardize future broadband network investment by carriers. Moreover, the minority leadership claimed, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski is inserting politics into the National Broadband Plan the FCC is preparing for Congress.“We believe […]

House Republicans continued their pushback to proposed new network neutrality rules Oct. 5 with 20 House members sending a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski insisting that the FCC prove any market failures before approving any new regulations.The letter came hours after the FCC said it plans to vote later this month on […]

The Federal Trade Commission issued new guidelines Oct. 9 that require bloggers receiving cash or an in-kind payment for product reviews to disclose the connections they share with the seller of the product or service. The rules are part of a wider effort by the FTC to redefine disclosure requirements between endorsers and advertisers. The […]

While NASA satellite data clearly shows the Arctic is thinning, researchers from the British Antarctic Survey and the University of Bristol say the “dynamic thinning” of glaciers now reaches all latitudes in Greenland and has intensified on key Antarctic coastlines. Working with millions of NASA satellite measurements, the researchers claim the ice sheets are shrinking […]

NASA’s first laser ranging effort to track a spacecraft beyond low-Earth orbit on a daily basis is producing distance measurements accurate to about 4 inches; by comparison, the microwave stations tracking the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter measure its range to a precision of about 65 feet. The precise laser measuring of the LRO’s location is a […]

Guy Laliberte, the billionaire founder of Cirque du Soleil, arrived at the International Space Station Oct. 1 and-to no one’s surprise-slapped on a clown nose and began yukking it up with crew members of the space station. Laliberte is the seventh paying (reportedly $35 million) space tourist to travel to the station.Laliberte blasted off into […]

Two key chairmen of U.S. House committees Oct. 1 urged Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to revise or appeal the agency’s controversial “harm standard” that would trigger a personal health record data breach notification.Under the current rules, for companies that secure health information using encryption or destruction, no breach notification is necessary. For […]