Net Neutrality video - a MUST see.

Save the Internet | Rock the Vote


For more information on this video and Net Neutrality visit

http://foureyedmonsters.com/neutrality/

The Grid is Coming...high speed internet...but not for you

It's all about the grid, a revolutionary concept that outdates the Internet structure as obsolete. Instead of linking together a "hotchpotch of cable and routing equipment" the grid is built with dedicated fibre optic cables and modern routing centers, no outdated components to slow the deluge of data....really interesting article giving a glimpse of what is coming down the data pike. It's actually here... but now only available to, you guessed it...providers and businesses.....

Although the grid itself is unlikely to be directly available to domestic internet users, many telecoms providers and businesses are already introducing its pioneering technologies. One of the most potent is so-called dynamic switching, which creates a dedicated channel for internet users trying to download large volumes of data such as films. In theory this would give a standard desktop computer the ability to download a movie in five seconds rather than the current three hours or so.

Comcast and Net Neutrality

From a Boing Boing posting by Xeni Jardin, here's an update on Comcast and the net neutrality issue. She writes:


The internet service provider has been under investigation for blocking file-sharing among subscribers, but announced a change of heart today, promising to treat all apps equally -- but they'll still slow down traffic for customers who consume larger amounts of bandwidth than others.

Since user reports of interference with file-sharing traffic were confirmed by an Associated Press investigation in October, Comcast has been vigorously defending its practices, most recently at a hearing of the Federal Communications Commission in February.

Consumer and ''Net Neutrality'' advocates have been equally vigorous in their attacks on the company, saying that by secretly blocking some connections between file-sharing computers, Comcast made itself a judge and gatekeeper for the Internet. They also accused Comcast of stifling delivery of Internet video, an emerging competitor to the cable company's core business.

Comcast has said that its practices were necessary to keep file-sharing traffic from overwhelming local cable lines, where neighbors share capacity with one another. On Thursday, Comcast said that by the end of the year, it will move to a system that manages capacity without favoring one type of traffic over another.

Link.

Update: here's a press release issued by Comcast about a hollow, face-saving, baloney-scented deal with BitTorrent announced today. The bit about "a capacity management technique that is protocol agnostic" effectively means that heavy P2P users will still be throttled, they just won't be identified by protocol.

Spring has sprung

We, Bruce and I, are getting our garden ready for planting. We've been composting through the winter and now it's time for rototilling and mulching the soil. And as my thoughts turn to the green and growth outside I'm reminded of the landscape artist Andy Goldsworthy. What he can do with stone, wood and plants is amazing. If you get a chance to see Rivers and Tides, do so. It's a documentary on Goldsworthy skill in handling nature and natural material in an extraordinary way. Here is a sample of his work.

Alta Mountains

I'm not a great skier but did manage to make it down some pretty impressive slopes.
Here are some views on my way down the mountain.

Photo credit goes to my husband, Bruce, who is a very impressive skier.

May the road rise up to meet you...

Our house, when I was growing up, was always filled with the smells of a boiled dinner on March 17th and the scent of green carnations that we wore to school. I meant to post this on Monday the 17th but was on a plane heading home, then yesterday I forgot..... so to share a bit of Irish sentiment I offer a listen to an Irish classic......




... and may the wind be always at your back.

My drive home

If you go to this you'll see my visual experience that I have each night as I leave work and head home. It's a twelve picture journey that starts at the end and ends with the beginning. I did try and straighten out the sequence but alas flickr did not oblige my efforts.