Data Management

TECH TREK

Chinese Media Accuse Cisco of Lax Security

China’s state-run media could be in the early stages of a wave of attacks against U.S. telecommunications giant Cisco, according to Tech In Asia.

A pair of Chinese media outlets — China Economy and Informatization and the Caijing National Weekly — singled out Cisco on the same day, calling for the company to be investigated. According to Tech In Asia, the accusations are (a) pretty light on substance, and (b) similar to those made by U.S. officials against Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE last month.

The Chinese reports claim that Cisco is conspiring with U.S. officials to attack competitors — namely, Huawei and ZTE — and suggest that Cisco has control over China’s network infrastructure.

Tech In Asia also points out that a “Voice of China” radio spot had much the same gist, as did an article in the China Enterprise Report.

Tech In Asia goes on to hypothesize that a formal investigation into Cisco could be in the offing.

China’s Tablet Boom

China’s tablet market grew more than 62 percent in the third quarter from the previous year.

According to Reuters, 2.6 million tablet PCs were sold in China in the third quarter, up from 1.6 million in 2011.

Apple reportedly holds a 71.4 percent market share — down one point from the second quarter — while Lenovo is No. 2 at 10.5 percent. Chinese maker Ereneben is at 3.6 percent, and Samsung is at 3.5 percent.

Potential Game-Change for Canadian Torrent Users

A rash of lawsuits could be pending in Canada, where last week a court ruled that ISPs must hand over information on illegal file-sharers.

According to Torrent Freak, Canada-based NGN Prima Productions — long-time thorn in the side of U.S. BitTorrent users who allegedly shared the movie “Recoil” — had filed a lawsuit in the federal court in Montreal. The company claimed that data collected by Canipre, an anti-piracy company, showed that 50 IP addresses spread across four Internet Service Providers had engaged in copyright infringement of Recoil.

As such, NGN Prima claimed that the ISPs should be ordered to fork over the details of the suspected pirates, which would allow NGN to pursue damages.

Canada complied, a move that Torrent Freak and the Vancouver Sun, among others, think could alter the nation’s file-sharing landscape.

Kenyan Sports Videos Go Viral

Two videos of Kenyan children re-enacting famous sports scenes have gone viral and, if the creator of the videos has his way, could change life in Kenya for the better.

According to Mashable , the videos, which were shot in West Nairobi, Kenya, feature children who have lost their parents to AIDS and political turmoil — or who were just abandoned. The videos’ creator, Dan Freiman, a Canadian MBA student who had volunteered at the kids’ orphanage, wants to use the videos to raise money for the children.

One video recreates Bill Buckner’s famous flub in the 1986 World Series, while the other reenacts Larry Bird’s steal in the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals.

Freiman hopes the videos will help springboard his effort to raise US$56,000 to purchase and level a nearby field and create an area for the kids to play. The videos, which have been seen hundreds of thousands of times on YouTube, have thus far helped garner $8,000.

David Vranicar is a freelance journalist and author ofThe Lost Graduation: Stepping off campus and into a crisis. You can check out hisECT News archive here, and you can email him at david[dot]vranicar[at]newsroom[dot]ectnews[dot]com.

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