Less than a mile off the west coast of India sits Janjira, an island fort the size of Alcatraz. For over three centuries it remained unconquered, repelling repeated invasions from the Mughal, Maratha, Portuguese and British empires. This tiny island serves as an unexpected crossroads, linking the histories of Ethiopia, Yemen, Iraq, Portugal, India, Britain, and the Netherlands.

Want to know more? Come to my talk!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lock-horns-tickets-1987294047994

We're please to announce the two winners of the ACM SIGCOMM Test of Time Award 2026:

1️⃣ “A buffer-based approach to rate adaptation: evidence from a large video streaming service” Te-Yuan (TY) Huang, Ramesh Johari, Nick McKeown, Matthew Trunnell, Mark Watson. ACM SIGCOMM CCR Volume 44, Issue 4, 2014.

For a comprehensive design and real-world analysis of approaches to adaptive video streaming, showing the effectiveness of using buffer occupancy as the key control variable.

2️⃣ “A Control-Theoretic Approach for Dynamic Adaptive Video Streaming over HTTP” Xiaoqi Yin, Abhishek Jindal, Vyas Sekar, Bruno Sinopoli. ACM SIGCOMM CCR, Volume 45, Issue 4, 2015.

For a thorough exploration of the design space for adaptive video streaming that provides a principled framework for delivering high quality of experience across varying conditions.

Together these papers have had a lasting impact on the design and understanding of adaptive video streaming and continue to influence both research and practice more than a decade later.

Thanks to Bruce Davie (chair, Systems Approach), Keith Winstein (Stanford University), Radhika Mittal (UIUC), and Teemu Koponen (Apple) for serving on the 2026 Test of Time Award Committee.

Congratulations to all the authors!

Btw SF Bay Area friends! I’ll be speaking at Curiosity Guild on Janjira, the tiny island fort that remained unconquered by 3 empires (Mughals, Marathas, Portuguese) over 3 centuries:

June 2, 7:30pm at public works!

Please attend you can! There will be 5 other excellent talks around the theme: Lock Horns

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lock-horns-tickets-1987294047994

surely these criminals will take the money and go live a fulfilling life, and not do something like this again in the future

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/tech-innovation/administrative-tech/2026/05/11/instructure-pays-ransom-canvas-hackers

Introducing Indigo

A beautiful new app for Bluesky and Mastodon and the best way to experience both social networks together. It’s tough keeping up with everyone you care about when they’re split across different networks but Indigo brings them together for a seamless social experience.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/indigo-for-bluesky-mastodon/id6763755310

Although trained in physics, I worked in the computing industry with pride and purpose for over 40 years. And now I can do nothing but sit back and watch it destroy itself for no valid reason beyond hubris (if I'm being charitable).

Ineffable sadness watching something I once loved deliberately lose its soul.