Digging a Hole
You’ve no doubt all heard a saying along the lines of “if you keep digging like that you’ll end up in Australia/China/Someother far-flung place”
The big question is “would you really?”
Of course, the answer is out there, in the form of a Google Maps mashup, you can select where you’re going to start digging, and the map shows you where you’ll end up…
http://www.ubasics.com/dighole/
Broadband and the BBC
Well, here we go… it was only a matter of time really before the UK’s Internet Service Providers (ISPs) got all het up over the BBC’s new, legal, peer-to-peer video download service.
It seems that ISPs are objecting to the amounts of data this service will require, and that they’ll have to provide the peak-capacity that their customers have been paying for. Now, if I’m paying for a 4, 8 or 20Mb/sec broadband service, I expect to be able to use services which are going to use that speed to deliver content quickly enough to play “streaming”. Of course, I know about such terms as “user contention” - and that home broadband is provided on a shared-bandwidth principle - ISP’s don’t actually buy enough bandwidth to give every user the full bandwidth they’re paying for all the time. If they did, broadband would be far more expensive, ISP’s work on the basis that not everyone who has (say) a 2Mb/sec connection on a particular exchange/head will use all that capacity continuously. The BBC player however will likely increase the amount of bandwidth they need to provide the service the customer is paying for.
Virgin Media (the ISP I currently use, not through choice, but because I live too far from the exchange for ADSL to be worth buying into) have “peak time, fair use” caps, so if you download too much between 4pm and midnight, you can expect your speed to drop. They suggest if you want to download large files that you schedule them to download off-peak (for example, in the early hours of the morning). While this is fine for Linux ISO Installation images, it is unfortunately not so appropraite for streaming video, as those “peak times” are exactly the times when people are likely to want to use the iPlayer…
Now, I know other TV stations in the UK have had their players on-stream for a while, but I suspect the BBC’s will garner quite a bit more interest from the public… being free and all…
(full story on Wired)
Hosting Review - NCS
As you probably know, a couple of months ago, I switched my webhosting to a small hosting company after an “incident” with my previous host.
So, here are my thoughts on NCS - so far, so good - support while I got my site up and running, familiarising myself with thier online account manager and the like was excellent, even though I was still learning.
The server has been reliable with no downtime that I’ve noticed, and the net connection speed seems quick enough.
I can happily recommend NCS to someone who needs hosting - if their packages meet your needs.
Social Network Overload
Does anyone else who uses multiple tools to keep in touch with friends suffer from “information overload” - whether it’s MSN, AOL, Pownce, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Windows Live Spaces, Last.FM, Flixster, Bebo, FriendsReunited, or the many other social tools…
It’s like the early days of IM (before “mutli-service” clients appeared like Trillian or Pidgin) when it was normal to have several clients running to talk to various different people…
What we really need is a “Meta-Social-Network” - which can collate information from many social networks, and combine all your friends into one seemless place, so for example a single entry appears “status update” on Facebook, a post on Twitter and Pownce, a personal message on MSN Messenger, etc…
Won’t happen.
But if it appears I’m ignoring you on one network, I’ve probably just not had time to check it recently - if you really want to talk to me, the best ways are old-fashioned email, or IM.
New Hosting
If you can read this, the site migration to the new hosting is complete.
Thanks to Tom at NCS for the hosting!
Geeks and Cooking…
Give a geek a challenge, like “Bake a birthday cake for Engadget” and see what a geek can do with…
- Cake mix
- Baking Trays
- Oven
- CAD Software
- 45w Computer Guided Laser Cutter
- Fresh Cream
- Food Colouring
Huh, CAD Software and a Laser?
Email Domesday book.
The BBC are reporting that there is a plan afoot to create an email “snapshot” of modern life.
However they’re asking for emails representing your interests and life - rather than a true representation of the contents of your inbox.
Sensible I suppose - ‘cos a true indication would be one or two “real” emails, then a few hundred offering cheap pharmaceticals, loans, stock advice, dating services, “male enhancements” etc.
(is it just me, or is anyone else seeing a massive increase in “foreign language” spam - I’ve got loads using Cryllic typefaces with subject lines like - “подключение телефонии” )
Recent Movies
