The CellStream Blog

Defining Virtualization - What is it?

2011-10-30T15:41:00.000-05:00

Virtualization is not a new concept. If you were to look at our Internet History Wiki, in the year 1972 you would read:

The first version of the VM (virtual machine)/CMS) which refers to a family of IBM virtual machine operating systems used on IBM mainframes System/370, System/390, zSeries, System z and compatible systems, including the Hercules emulator for personal computers, released in 1972, was the VM/370, or officially Virtual Machine Facility/370. This was a System/370 reimplementation of earlier CP/CMS operating system. Milestone versions included VM/SP. The current version is z/VM, and is still widely used as one of the main full virtualization solutions for the mainframe market.

So what is Virtualization? Essentially, virtualization is software (sometimes with hardware) that mimics some environment so that packaged software (Server Operating Systems, Desktop Operating Systems, and even applications) and networks believe they are running on their native stand-alone environment. Instead on one computer running one operating system, that computer is actually hosting multiple operating systems that all think they are running alone on the machine. This idea is not limited to operating systems, however. There are five types of Virtualization:

Server
Desktop
Application
Network
Storage

Server Virtualization

In Server Virtualization, software, called a Hypervisor, (with Hardware Assist) allows multiple Operating Systems to run on the same hardware at the same time (similar to the way OSes multi-task apps). This software is installed on a "bare metal" system with no prior operating system on it. Each instance of an OS is called a "guest" or VM (Virtual Machine). Each Guest’s VM is stored as a file on a file-store (DAS, NAS, SAN). The Hypervisor makes OSes think they are running on their own hardware. Some examples of Hypervisors are VMware ESX/ESXi or Microsoft Hyper-V or Citrix Xen Server.

It is possible to install a Hypervisor on top of another operating system with similar capabilities. Examples include VMware Server and VMware Fusion / Workstation.
The justification for Server Virtualization are as follows:

If server resource utilization is low, then combining physical servers into VMs results in higher, more efficient utilization of the server resources
Lowers total power usage (greener)
Rapid provisioning –VMs can be created in a fraction of the time it takes to install a comparable physical server
Allows IT to manage OSes independent of hardware, improving flexibility

Desktop Virtualization

We think of Desktop Virtualization in two contexts:

Putting multiple Desktop Operating System instances into VMs on VM hosts. This is analogous to the benefits to server virtualization. It allows users to have their own access appliance such as thin clients (e.g. Wyse), or tablets (e.g. iPad, Galaxy, etc.). Connectivity between the appliance and the virtual desktop is done via an efficient protocol (e.g. RDP).
Running separate Operating System environments on top of a Desktop OS. This context allows non-compatible legacy or line of business applications to operate within a more current desktop environment by employing the same basic approach as server virtualization (e.g. create a Linux or DOS VM that runs on top of Windows 7, or create a Windows 7 VM that runs on top of Mac OSX). Further, this allows you to run multiple OSes on a desktop (provided there are sufficient resources). This arrangement provides a virtual network environment to the VMs via the Desktop OS such as NAT VMs behind OS connections, or bridging to OS connections, or allowing only intra-VM connections via policy or access control. This context is useful for tech support (recreate user’s experience in a VM), legacy application support, training, or just for consolidating physical computers (don’t carry a Mac and a Windows laptop, just carry one of them). Examples include: VMware Workstation, Parallels Workstation or Desktop for Mac or Microsoft Virtual PC.

Why utilize Desktop Virtualization? We offer the following justifications: a) Desktop Virtualization allows central administration of desktops, including rapid provisioning (e.g. from clones), consolidating of data (e.g. NetApp / EMC file consolidation solutions), and central access control and auditing; b) End-users only need relatively inexpensive, low power devices to be productive, meaning they can have very powerful (lots of RAM, CPU, fast disks, etc.) “desktops” while using low-power (tablet like) UI devices; c) Desktop virtualization can mean greater securityas data sits on servers, not on end-user devices (loss of device no longer means loss of data); and lastly, d) this allows apps to appear on “unsupported” devices (e.g. MS Office running on an iPad).

Application Virtualization

Application Virtualization is software that separates the application configuration layer from the Operating System to enable apps to run on clients without having to actually install the apps on the clients. That is, it makes apps think they are running in their hosted OS, even if they aren’t.
This technique allows centralized configuration and control of the apps, including centralized access control. It solves the problem of application incompatibility within an OS due to resource or configuration conflicts (e.g. two apps that want to “own” the memory or map objects at the same physical address). It should be noted that incompatibilities between an application and its operating system can be addressed by either server virtualization or presentation virtualization, but incompatibilities between two applications installed on the same OS instance can only be resolved with application virtualization.
Application Virtualization requires a network connection between the client device and the app server, with an efficient protocol managing the interface. Examples: VMware ThinApp, Microsoft Application Virtualization, Citrix XenApp, SUN Java Virtual Machine.
Why virtualize applications? Basically, the same reasons as desktop virtualization: greater security, aggregated administration, low cost thin-client UI's with high-power back-ends, allowing apps to “appear” on unsupported platforms (e.g. Office for iPad). Applications can be server-based or desktop based and application virtualization resolves intra-OS incompatibilities between apps without having to create additional servers or VMs.

Network Virtualization

The network in most Virtualization software is essentially ignored by application developers today. It consists of a flat network topology interconnected inside the virtual environment by a virtual switch (Vswitch). The vSwitches support VLANs so basic separation of broadcast domains can be accomplished.
Some manufacturers have released more powerful "Virtual Appliances" that can either add to the Vswitch functionality ( like Firewalls) or replace the Vswitch entirely, providing more robust networking capabilities including VLAN, VRF, and VPN connectivity control.
Reasons that IT professionals will need this extended networking capability include control over logical network structure – location, access control (like access control lists) and performance optimization through routing to answer questions like “Where is the best place?”, and “What is the best way to get there?”.
To date, users have not had “control” of the network to tune the network (e.g. backup operations bursting at certain times). If you want to do this, you must connect to multiple devices (routers and switches), and send hundreds of command line entries to these devices in a pre-planned, pre-tested environment. Granted, many scripts can be created to do this function, but it still requires time and individual control of the network nodes. As we move forward, Virtualization requires the "V-Network" to be “tunable”, like a joystick to adjust network based on application or time. Think of this as network clouds within network clouds that provide a framework for certain applications. This will cause us to translate and transcend network functions to a set of behaviors defined by application programming interfaces agreed by the network community. The result will be the creation of V-Network ecosystems, new intelligent and programmable networks with abstractions of network functions for programmers of applications. It is an exciting time to say the least.

Storage Virtualization

We define Storage Virtualization as the separation of logical location from physical location. For example:

Host-based hardware RAID (controller does mapping)
Host-based software RAID (volume manager / logical disk manager does mapping)
Shared Storage such as Direct Attached Storage (DAS controller does mapping), or NAS with iSCSI, NFS, SMB (NAS hardware / software does mapping), or SAN – Mapping can be at various levels, or VSANs – Virtualized SANs similar to VLANs

Storage virtualization can be nested, such as:

NAS iSCSI carves out a LUN from a RAID array
SAN iSCSI target mapped to multiple storage boxes, each box has RAID array

Why would someone virtualize storage? One example is for Mobility where the physical location changes while logical location stays the same. Another is Replication where duplicate blocks can be created across disks / campus / metro area / wide area network) for high-availability and disaster recovery. From our experience, hosted solutions are least flexible, typically least expensive. SAN/VSAN solutions are most flexible. They can be more cost-effective than DAS/Hosted storage (once scaled). That said, SAN/VSAN often presents higher cost of entry (e.g. need for FC / FCoIP / FCOE switches such as Nexus / MDS).

Summary

Virtualization, although invented long ago, has made major strides in recent years to change the way we store, compute, and collaborate. Going forward, Virtualization is going to be in every system design. Virtualization provides users and IT managers the elasticity needed to interconnect systems, move them, and provide recovery. Virtualition is becomming the new Network Operating System upon which storage, networking and computing reside. As we see the ultimate killer application being "Cloud" based services being further created, developed, and delivered, we expect the features and functions in the underlying virtualization layer to expand and provide clever new capabilities that will redefine networking technologies as we know them today.

Apply Master to ALL Notes Pages in MS PowerPoint

2011-10-05T18:44:00.002-05:00

Epiphany number 3,812!!
After years and years of wondering what on earth is going on at Microsoft that they have done no feature changes of significance to PowerPoint, and frustration whenever I change the Notes Master, that I must go to every slide, one by one, and right click on the notes page, click on Notes Layout, select Reapply Master, then click OK (that is 4 clicks per slide!) a solution has landed!!!
Now, in order to implement this, you must have the "Developer Tab". By default, this tab is not present. So the first step is to enable this tab. Select FILE, the Options and a dialogue box will pop up. In that box, select "Customize Ribbon:

You will see on the right (highlighted) that you need to select the Developer box. Then click OK.
You should now see the Developer Tab.
Click on the Developer Tab. Select Macros. In the Macro Name box, type: ApplyMasterToNotes, then click Create.
A dialogue will open. Paste the following code in between the "Sub ApplyMasterToNotes()" and "End Sub"

' Modified version of code originally posted to 
' msnews.microsoft.com public newsgroups by 
' David Foster in May of 1999

    Dim ctl As CommandBarControl
    Dim oSl As Slide

    ' 700 is the control ID for Layout
    Set ctl = CommandBars.FindControl(Id:=700)
    ActiveWindow.ViewType = ppViewNotesPage

    If (ctl Is Nothing) Then
        MsgBox "command not available"
        Exit Sub
    End If

    For Each oSl In ActivePresentation.Slides

        ' go to the current slide
        ActiveWindow.View.GotoSlide (oSl.SlideIndex)
        DoEvents

        ' Bring up the dialog
        ctl.Execute
        DoEvents

        ' send it the needed keystrokes
        SendKeys "%r{enter}"
        DoEvents

    Next

I suggest you apply this to all presentations so this Macro is available. Now close the dialogue. Don't worry it saved.
Now, go to the View Tab in Powerpoint. Select the Notes Pages View. Click back on the Developer tab. Select Macros. Your Macro is waiting. Select it and run it, and watch every note page get adjusted. What a great feeling!
Once done, save your presentation. You will have to save it as a "Macro Enabled" PowerPoint - FYI.
Now seriously, how hard would it be for Microsoft to incorporate this as an option?
Enjoy!

The Security Weaknesses of IPv6

2011-10-05T18:43:00.000-05:00

It should be no surprise to anyone reading this article that the next generation IP protocol is being exploited by hackers and attackers just like its predecessor IPv4. If you have taken any of our IPv6 courses, you know we discuss the potential security vulnerabilities as well as some of the preventive measures that network designers/managers can and must take to minimize their exposure.

So where are the weaknesses? The answer is that based on the security trends so far, the weaknesses are in several areas. What we will do in this article is to discuss some of these vulnerabilities so that the reader can be more aware of what to tackle as they venture into IPv6.

Let's begin with the dangers of IPv6 Tunnels. For example, Teredo and ISATAP tunnels are easily enabled if you have administrator privileges in the latest Windows versions such as Windows 7. That said, most all Windows versions since XP Service Pack 1 have easily supported IPv6. Furthermore, any of the Linux distributions can have IPv6 easily enabled without a reboot, or have it enabled by default. These Operating Systems support both IPv4 and IPv6 in what we call “dual stack”. Click here, or here, or here to see just how easy it is to enable these features. Imagine a user that reads a little on IPv6 and finds out they can set up one of these IPv6 tunnels out of their corporate or school network. The result is their IPv6 tunnel will allow them to bypass IPv4 security policies and firewall rules as these systems aren't configured in most cases to be IPv6 aware. Quite an incentive. With the firewall bypassed, and security policies essentially disabled for their traffic, is that user's IPv6 tunnel secure? Probably not. What they have inadvertently created is an IPv6 “island” inside their network while still having full IPv4 connectivity. If an intruder can access their tunnel from the Internet end, they can penetrate their machine and now have access into the corporate network from the inside. This IPv6 island has become an entrance point to the IPv4 network behind the firewall. Assuming the intruder is successful, they can now capture information on the IPv4 network and shuttle that traffic out of the corporate cloud via the IPv6 tunnel that is unguarded and unwatched by all the tools normally deployed.

Users are finding that with the near invisibility of IPv6 traffic in tunnels off their corporate networks is that Quality of Service policies that are tuned to control IPv4 packet streams are as unaware of IPv6 as the firewalls. So it is easy for a user to download and install an IPv6 application and bypass any Quality of Service rules such as congestion control or throttling. With wide open access, uploading or downloading video and other bandwidth hungry files is easy with tools like µTorrent, Bitflu, BitTornado, BitTorrent 6, Bits on Wheels, Deluge, KTorrent, Opera, qBittorrent, TorrentFlux, Tribler, Vuze (formerly Azureus), TorrentVolve and BitTyrant (all of these are IPv6 torrent apps). So if your voice over IP network is suffering performance issues, it could be the IPv6 traffic that is consuming bandwidth and there is absolutely nothing in the QoS settings controlling that traffic. From a security standpoint this is another problem that can be exploited to the point where denial of service to IPv4 traffic can occur.

The same issue applies to Internet Service Providers with regards to tunnels bypassing IPv4 controls and protection. For example if the ISP is using controls for torrent traffic in IPv4, users who tunnel out of their locations, through the ISP off to an IPv6 tunnel broker can run IPv6 torrent programs mentioned above essentially disabling the ISP torrent protection, again consuming bandwidth and leaving the ISP scratching their head as to why their attempts to control the traffic are failing. Bring on the Wireshark!

There are many other areas of concern for the Network Administrator and Service Providers beyond the tunneling problems. In December of 2007 the IETF RFC 5095 warned about a weakness in IPv6 that surrounds the Type 0 Routing Header (a feature that allows network administrators to identify IPv6 routers along a given data path. The IETF suggested that this capability be disabled by default as it could be used to instigate Denial of Service attacks. Most router manufacturers immediately modified their default settings. That said, by 2007 IPv6 had been around for many years and the in service devices did not have this protection. There are still reports of this issue being exploited, though most administrators have switched the feature off.

Security of an IPv6 network must be planned from the initial availability and turn up on any network. Since link local addresses are automatically created by IPv6 machines and network discovery can be allowed to be stateless, inadvertent users can easily join an IPv6 network, get a network address from a router instead of the DHCP process like IPv4 and start communicating. Once in, it is a simple process to initiate any number of attacks, from virus dissemination to attempting to take over the network by emulating a router. If the attacker can emulate a router, they can issue Router Advertisements that tell all the users not to listen to the correct router and change addresses or cause the entire network to stop operating. In fact, the IETF has issued RFC 6105 to implement something called “RA Guard” that attempts to guard against these rogue router advertisements by authorizing which router is the real and correct router issuing the messages and directions. A new draft document from the IETF recently points out some flaws in the initial RA Guard specification, so the work continues in this area. This “Man in the Middle” operation must be prevented especially with wireless networks that can be compromised out of sight of security cameras.

Other security threats are being analyzed from Routing extension header problems to DNS query and advertisement weaknesses. So what is the bottom line? As of the writing of this article, every network administrator and service provider must implement IPv6 security measures as swiftly as possible. Upgrading firewalls, router configurations, and policies are vital to maintaining secure networking practices with IPv6. While security such as IPsec was designed into IPv6 from the start, the items identified in this article and the ones we will add as time marches forward (so stay tuned) require vigilance and engineering to minimize IPv6 network weaknesses.

A Network That Works After a Disaster

2011-10-05T18:41:00.002-05:00

Imagine for a moment a scenario that Japan faced: a tsunami of epic size causing a disaster unimagineable in size and impact. Power would be lost, communications services completely wiped out. OK, how about an earthquake? Flood? Remember, that any one of these disasters can cause a huge amount of people to be out of touch very quickly, due to the fact that we depend so heavily on our service providers to connect our homes and business to each other using the Internet. If you think that wireless networks would come to our aide, I remind you they are all connected back to the same infrastructure. So while a cell tower here or there may be up, its connection back to the network will most likely be down.
Here is the interesting thing: all these wireless devices (from laptops to iPads) all have wireless 802.11 radios and a full protocol stack. Most have significant batterypower as well. This first occured to me when I received one of the "One Laptop per Child" laptops after donating one. That laptop had two antennas and came with a radar like wireless capability that allows the laptop users to find each other and connect peer-to-peer. The assumption here is that there is no infrastructure in developing countries.
This idea has been further developed by folks from Georgia Tech and it is called LifeNet: "LifeNet is a WiFi-based data communication solution designed for post-disaster scenarios. It is open-source software and designed to run on consumer devices such as laptops, smart-phones and wireless routers. LifeNet is an ad hoc networking platform over which critical software applications including chat, voice messaging, MIS systems, etc. can be easily deployed. LifeNet can grow incrementally, is robust to node failures and enables Internet sharing. A novel multi-path ad-hoc routing protocol present at its core, enables LifeNet to achieve these features."
LifeNet sets up an ad-hoc network between devices running their software. "In scenarios such as communication in disaster relief, wireless sensor networks, etc. reliability of connectivity is more important and bandwidth requirements are not too stringent. It is critical to establish a baseline wireless channel over which users can communicate and coordinate their on-field activities. The communication solution should be rapidly deployable, self-powered, robust to failures, locally maintainable andextremely easy to use."
This idea is brilliant. All that it requires is that we install their software in our devices and we can begin to set up this type of network connectivity. No infrastructure is needed. It is designed today for 802.11 a/b/g devices. You can read more about LifeNet here.
We think this a great project and encourage our readers to contribute and try the code.

Cutting the Cable

2011-08-20T21:29:00.000-05:00

It is not news that people are cutting the cable to video services. According to studies by Oriella PR Network, the loss of viewers and listeners for print/tv/radio was 26.33% in 2010, and this shows no sign of stopping in 2011. Advertising income is also down 22.03%. The number of print publications/radio/TV Channels that are being taken off the market is up 52.58% with 17.77% already off the market and 14.23% switching to online delivery in 2010.
Cutting the cable means that more and more people are getting their television from what we have called "Over the Top" video delivery - delivery via the Internet. New set top boxes from Boxee Box, Apple TV, Roku provide access to content like Netflix, Vudu and Youtube. Television manufacturers such as Sony are proving interfaces directly on the television itself. Controlling what you watch, when you watch it is the core concept behind these digital video services.
The problems with cutting the cable are obvious, but will soon be conquered:

Watching live sports
Watching news that is live or breaking (careful, CNN already seems to play one Anderson Cooper show over and over each day - sorry Anderson)
Watching live shows such as the Oscars

But these are not always impediments. For example, on the Casey Anthony Court Trial, the HLN coverage was live, if not filled with drama enhancing hosts and poorly timed commercials. A much better uninterrupted feed could be found on the Internet. We are also likely to see the hacks that allow live streaming on the set top boxes today becoming real features in the very near future.
The number of shows now delivered over the Internet is growing immensely. These are often less expensive to produce and distribute, therefore avoiding the complex and extremely expensive licensing issues that are driving content resellers nuts. It is likely that the rising costs of distribution licensing will simply accelerate the adoption of alternative content sourcing and cutting the cable.
What does this mean for the Internet? Simple: more bandwidth needs at the end user as the number of video watching points is going to rise and the dependency on the Internet for video programming is already showing signs of serious market acceleration.

IPv6 Linux Command Line Examples

2011-08-20T21:25:00.002-05:00

Here are some great Linux command line entries you can make to examine and configure IPv6 (assuming your version of Linux ipconfgdoes so).
Let's start with some simple ones.
To verify you have IPv6 running:
csi@csi-virtual-machine:~$ cat /proc/net/if_inet6
fe80000000000000020c29fffef704ce 02 40 20 80     eth0
00000000000000000000000000000001 01 80 10 80       lo
First, let's check the IFCONFIG -A from the Terminal Window:

You can see my machine is running "Dual Stack" since it has both IPv4 and IPv6.
The "netstat -r -6" command displays the routing table in your computer:

We can clearly see the IPv6 Routing table with the Link Local addresses and the IPv6 Multicast groups.
Let's see if there has been any general IPv6 traffic on the interfaces. You can do this with a "netstat -ps -6" command:
csi@csi-virtual-machine:~$ netstat -ps -6
Ip6:
23857 total packets received
0 incoming packets discarded
23857 incoming packets delivered
0 forwarded
5841 requests sent out
1 dropped because of missing route
23793 incoming multicast packets
5780 outgoing multicast packets
Ip6InOctets: 4025297
Ip6OutOctets: 546152
Ip6InMcastOctets: 4015659
Ip6OutMcastOctets: 536762
Icmp6:
84 ICMP messages received
0 input ICMP message failed.
7 ICMP messages sent
ICMP input histogram:
group member responses: 84
ICMP output histogram:
    router solicits: 3
    neighbor solicits: 1
    Icmp6OutMLDv2Reports: 3
    Icmp6InType131: 84
    Icmp6OutType133: 3
    Icmp6OutType135: 1
    Icmp6OutType143: 3
Udp6:
23524 packets received
0 packets to unknown port received.
0 packet receive errors
5770 packets sent
UdpLite6:
Tcp:
123 active connections openings
9380 passive connection openings
62 failed connection attempts
28 connection resets received
1 connections established
245471 segments received
301392 segments send out
908 segments retransmited
0 bad segments received.
31 resets sent
csi@csi-virtual-machine:~$

Pretty cool.
Another way to see the IPv6 Route Table is using the "route" command. The command-line Route tool enables entries in the local IPv4 and IPv6 routing tables, such routes can direct network traffic to local, WAN and internet network map.
Here is an IPv6 route test example:

How about PING and TRACE ROUTE for IPv6? Sure. Here is how you Ping in IPv6:

csiipv6@csi-virtual-machine:~$ ping6 ::1

PING ::1(::1) 56 data bytes

64 bytes from ::1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=255 time=0.743 ms

64 bytes from ::1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=255 time=0.027 ms

64 bytes from ::1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=255 time=0.014 ms

64 bytes from ::1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=255 time=0.011 ms

64 bytes from ::1: icmp_seq=5 ttl=255 time=0.011 ms

64 bytes from ::1: icmp_seq=6 ttl=255 time=0.011 ms

64 bytes from ::1: icmp_seq=7 ttl=255 time=0.012 ms

64 bytes from ::1: icmp_seq=8 ttl=255 time=0.013 ms

64 bytes from ::1: icmp_seq=9 ttl=255 time=0.010 ms

64 bytes from ::1: icmp_seq=10 ttl=255 time=0.011 ms

64 bytes from ::1: icmp_seq=11 ttl=255 time=0.011 ms

64 bytes from ::1: icmp_seq=12 ttl=255 time=0.014 ms

64 bytes from ::1: icmp_seq=13 ttl=255 time=0.011 ms

64 bytes from ::1: icmp_seq=14 ttl=255 time=0.025 ms

64 bytes from ::1: icmp_seq=15 ttl=255 time=0.014 ms

64 bytes from ::1: icmp_seq=16 ttl=255 time=0.019 ms

64 bytes from ::1: icmp_seq=17 ttl=255 time=0.010 ms

64 bytes from ::1: icmp_seq=18 ttl=255 time=0.025 ms

64 bytes from ::1: icmp_seq=19 ttl=255 time=0.020 ms

64 bytes from ::1: icmp_seq=20 ttl=255 time=0.015 ms

--- ::1 ping statistics ---

20 packets transmitted, 20 received, 0% packet loss, time 18998ms

rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.010/0.051/0.743/0.158 ms

Here are the ping6 options:

csi@csi-virtual-machine:~$ ping6 -?

Usage: ping6 [-LUdfnqrvVaAD] [-c count] [-i interval] [-w deadline]

[-p pattern] [-s packetsize] [-t ttl] [-I interface]

[-M pmtudisc-hint] [-S sndbuf] [-F flowlabel] [-Q tclass]

[[-N nodeinfo-option] ...]

[hop1 ...] destination

And here is the Trace route command:

csiipv6@csi-virtual-machine:~$ tracert6 ::1

traceroute to ::1 (::1) from ::1, 30 hops max, 60 byte packets

1 csi-virtual-machine (::1) 0.006 ms 0.004 ms 0.003 ms

Here are the Tracert options:
csi@csi-virtual-machine:~$ tracert6 -h
-A send TCP ACK probes
-d enable socket debugging
-E set TCP Explicit Congestion Notification bits in TCP packets
-f specify the initial hop limit (default: 1)
-g insert a route segment within a â€œType 0â€ routing header
-h display this help and exit
-I use ICMPv6 Echo Request packets as probes
-i force outgoing network interface
-l display incoming packets hop limit
-m set the maximum hop limit (default: 30)
-N perform reverse name lookups on the addresses of every hop
-n donâ€™t perform reverse name lookup on addresses
-p override destination port
-q override the number of probes per hop (default: 3)
-r do not route packets
-S send TCP SYN probes
-s specify the source IPv6 address of probe packets
-t set traffic class of probe packets
-U send UDP probes (default)
-V display program version and exit
-w override the timeout for response in seconds (default: 5)
-z specify a time to wait (in ms) between each probes (default: 0)
There is something known as Path MTU or PMTU in IPv6. You can check Path MTU by doing a Path Ping in Windows, but there is no such command in Linux.
Our other favorite that allegedly does the Path Ping equivelant is "mtr". Here is the MTR usage:
usage: mtr [-hvrwctglspniu46] [--help] [--version] [--report]
                [--report-wide] [--report-cycles=COUNT] [--curses] [--gtk]
                [--raw] [--split] [--no-dns] [--address interface]
                [--psize=bytes/-s bytes]
                [--report-wide|-w] [-u]
                [--interval=SECONDS] HOSTNAME [PACKETSIZE]
Here is an example output of MTR for IPv4 (you have to type Control-C to stop MTR):
My traceroute [v0.80]
csi-virtual-machine (0.0.0.0)                          Sun Aug 7 18:11:17 2011
Keys: Help   Display mode   Restart statistics   Order of fields   quit
                                       Packets               Pings
Host                                Loss%   Snt   Last   Avg Best Wrst StDev
1. 192.168.1.1                       0.0%    15    0.9   1.0   0.8   2.3   0.4
You can see below that it works for IPv6 as well:
My traceroute [v0.80]
csi-virtual-machine (::)                               Sun Aug 7 18:13:49 2011
Resolver error: No error returned but no answers given. of fields   quit
                                       Packets               Pings
Host                                Loss%   Snt   Last   Avg Best Wrst StDev
1. ::1                               0.0%    11    0.0   0.0   0.0   0.1   0.0
We hope this helps you get started on IPv6 on your local Linux machine.

IPv6 Windows Command Line Examples

2011-08-20T21:24:00.002-05:00

Here are some great Windows command line entries you can make to examine and configure IPv6 (assuming your version of windows does so). We will discuss use of the "netsh" and "netstat" commands below. For details on "netsh" click here. For more info on the "netstat" command click here.
Let's start with some simple ones.
First, let's check the IPCONFIG from the Start>Run>CMD in Windows:

You can see my machine is running "Dual Stack" since it has both IPv4 and IPv6. Further you can see that my machine supports multiple IPv6 addresses per interface as the Tunnel Adapter interface has a Link Local and Global Unicast IPv6 address assigned.
The "netstat -r" command displays the routing table in your computer:

We can clearly see the IPv6 Routing table with the Link Local addresses and the IPv6 Multicast groups.
Let's see if there has been any general IPv6 traffic on the interfaces. You can do this with a "netstat -ps IPv6" command:

OK, now let's be more specific. What about ICMPv6? Try the "netstat -ps ICMPv6" command:

Pretty cool. Similarly we can use netstat to view the TCP and UDP packet counts for IPv6:

Another way to see the IPv6 Route Table is using the "route" command. The command-line Route tool enables entries in the local IPv4 and IPv6 routing tables, such routes can direct network traffic to local, WAN and internet network map.
Here is an IPv6 route test example:
C:\Users\Andrew>route print -6
===========================================================================
Interface List
14...00 24 d6 2f 04 df ......Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter
11...00 24 d6 2f 04 de ......Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100 AGN
10...00 26 9e 71 9d 33 ......Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
1...........................Software Loopback Interface 1
25...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 Microsoft 6to4 Adapter
31...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
27...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
30...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #3
44...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #4
===========================================================================
IPv6 Route Table
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
If Metric Network Destination      Gateway
31     58 ::/0                     On-link
1    306 ::1/128                  On-link
31     58 2001::/32                On-link
31    306 2001:0:4137:9e76:3456:2b68:3f57:fef6/128
                                    On-link
10    276 fe80::/64                On-link
31    306 fe80::/64                On-link
10    276 fe80::2dea:c409:e0e:102b/128
                                    On-link
31    306 fe80::3456:2b68:3f57:fef6/128
                                    On-link
1    306 ff00::/8                 On-link
31    306 ff00::/8                 On-link
10    276 ff00::/8                 On-link
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
None
Route options:

route PRINT - Prints out all network route information.
route PRINT -4 - Prints out only IPv4 network route information.
route PRINT -6 - Prints out only IPv6 network route information.

Another great tool for looking at your IPv6 configuration is the "netsh" scripting tool. We have a separate article on netsh here.
Let's first look at the IPv6 addresses - this time through the netsh command:

Here are some other netsh commands to try:

Netsh interface ipv6 show interfaceM
- This command displays the list of IPv6 interfaces. By default, the interface names containing an asterisk (*) are tunneling interfaces.
Netsh interface ipv6 show address
- This command displays the list of IPv6 addresses for each interface.
Netsh interface ipv6 show route
- This command displays the list of routes in the IPv6 routing table.
Netsh interface ipv6 show neighbors
- This command displays the contents of the neighbor cache, sorted by interface. The neighbor cache stores the link-layer addresses of recently resolved next-hop addresses.
Netsh interface ipv6 set teredo client AND Netsh interface ipv6 show teredo
- These commands displays and configure Windows XP.
Netsh interface ipv6 show destinationcache
- This command displays the contents of the destination cache, sorted by interface. The destination cache stores the next-hop addresses for destination addresses.

How about PING and TRACE ROUTE for IPv6? Sure. Here is how you Ping in IPv6:

C:\Users\Andrew>ping -6 ::1

Pinging ::1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from ::1: time

Ping statistics for ::1:

Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),

Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:

Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

Here are the Ping options:

-i HopLimit Sets the Hop Limit field in the IPv6 header. The default value is 128. Ues –i option to set the value of the Time-to-Live (TTL) field in the IPv4 header.
-R Forces Ping to trace the round-trip path by sending the ICMPv6 Echo Request message to the destination and to include an IPv6 Routing extension header with the sending node as the next destination.
-S SourceAddr Forces Ping to use a specified IPv6 source address.
-4 Ping Forced to use an IPv4 address when the DNS name query for a host name returns both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.
-6 Ping Forced to use an IPv6 address when the DNS name query for a host name returns both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.
-t ttl Specify the IPv4 time to live, or IPv6 hop limit, for unicast and multicast packets. The default time to live (hop limit) for unicast packets can be set with ndd(1M) using the icmp_ipv4_ttl variable for IPv4 and the icmp_ipv6_ttl variable for IPv6. The default time to live (hop limit) for multicast is one hop.

And here is the Trace route command:

C:\Users\Andrew>tracert -6 ::1

Tracing route to AndysNew-PC [::1]

over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 ms ms ms AndysNew-PC [::1]

Trace complete.

Here are the Tracert options:

-R Forces Tracert to trace the round-trip path by sending the ICMPv6 Echo Request message to the destination and to include an IPv6 Routing extension header with the sending node as the next destination.
-S SourceAddr Tracert Forced to use a specified IPv6 source address.
-4 Tracert Forced to use an IPv4 address when the DNS name query for a host name returns both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.
-6 Tracert Forced to use an IPv6 address when the DNS name query for a host name returns both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.

There is something known as Path MTU or PMTU in IPv6. You can check Path MTU by doing a Path Ping. Pathping is a Windows based command-line tool used to provide IPv6 information.The Pathping tool provides details about network latency and network loss at intermediate hops between source and a destination. Pathping command works like a combination of ping and tracert.

IPv4, Pathping sends multiple ICMPv4 Echo messages to each router between a source and destination over a period of time, and then it computes results based on the packets returned from each router.
IPv6, Pathping sends ICMPv6 Echo Request messages.

Because Pathping displays the degree of packet loss at any given router or link, you can determine which routers or subnets might be having network problems. It provides more detailed network troubleshooting information as it performs the equivalent of the Tracert tool by identifying which routers are in the path. The program sends messages periodically to all the routers over a specified time period and computes statistics based on the number returned from each node.
C:\>pathping 2001:db8:1:f282:dd48:ab34:d07c:3914
Tracing route to 2001:db8:1:f282:dd48:ab34:d07c:3914 over a maximum of 30 hops
0 server1.example.microsoft.com [2001:db8:1:f282:204:5aff:fe56:1006]
1 2001:db8:1:f282:dd48:ab34:d07c:3914
Computing statistics for 25 seconds...
Source to Here This Node/Link
Hop RTT Lost/Sent = Pct Lost/Sent = Pct Address
0 server1.example.microsoft.com
[2001:db8:1:f282:204:5aff:fe56:1006]
0/ 100 = 0% |1 0ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 2001:db8:1:f282:dd48:ab34:d07c:3914
Trace complete.
Here are the IPv6 pathping options:

-4 - Forces Pathping to use an IPv4 address when the DNS name query for a host name returns both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses
-6 - Forces Pathping to use an IPv6 address when the DNS name query for a host name returns both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses

We hope this helps you get started on IPv6 on your local machine.

Setting up an IPv6 ISATAP Tunnel in Windows 7

2011-08-20T21:22:00.000-05:00

In this article we will discuss setting up and ISATAP (Intra-Site Automatic Tunnel Addressing Protocol) Tunneling in your Windows 7 machine. In order to do this, we will use an ISATAP Server at Sanjiang University in China.

Lets examine the Windows configuration. Since most of the steps require us to use the CMD Prompts in Administrator mode, begin by creating a shortcut to the CMD window on your desktop (right click on the desktop, select "New", select "Shortcut", enter "cmd" in the dialogue), then right click on that shortcut, select "Run as Administrator".
Enter "route print" at the command line. It may scroll off the screen.
You should see default ISATAP adapters. Now, let's create the ISATAP Tunnel. This is done using the "netsh" command (you can read more about netsh here). At the command line, enter "netsh".
You will be at the netsh prompt as shown. Now enter "interface ipv6". Note the prompt changes.
Now enter "isatap"
From this isatap prompt, enter "set router isatap.sju.edu.cn enable". The response is "Ok."
Now open a second command line window and enter "ping -6 ntp.buptnet.edu.cn"
You should get two things: first an accurate IPv6 address (this indicates you are communicating on IPv6 to the DNSv6), and second ping responses. Depending on where you are in the worls, the response time may be bad causing timeouts.

Everything is good to go. Your ISATAP Tunnel is running.
To remove the ISATAP config, go back to the CMD window that has the netsh prompt and enter "set router isatap.sju.edu.cn disable".
Also, if you have been playing a little too much and want to reset the ntesh configurations to default, simply type "netsh interface ipv6 reset", and then reboot.

Installing the Desktop for Ubuntu Server

2011-08-20T21:17:00.002-05:00

We have previously written praise for Ubuntu as an operating system. The regular Ubuntu desktop OS can be found here. Some of you may prefer the Ubuntu Server that can be found here.
If you install the Ubuntu Server, when the system boots the first time, you will find out very quickly that by default a GUI Desktop in not included. Not to worry, there are multiple options. Please read the entire article before you actually proceed.
We assume you have installed the Ubuntu Server and you are at the $ prompt.
First, make sure access to the updates is complete:

sudo apt-get update

Now, there are four desktop options and their associated install commands:

The GNOME desktop with OpenOffice and Evolution
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop
The GNOME desktop with OpenOffice and Evolution
sudo aptitude install --without-recommends ubuntu-desktop
The light weight dektop called xfce
sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop
The KDE desktop
sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop

These installs will take a little time, so be patient. If the screen goes blank - just touch a key like the space bar.
Once complete enter "sudo reboot" to restart the server. The Desktop will be active!
Another option is to install Webmin. Webmin is a web-based interface for system administration for Unix. Using any modern web browser, you can setup user accounts, Apache, DNS, file sharing and much more. Webmin removes the need to manually edit Unix configuration files like /etc/passwd, and lets you manage a system from the console or remotely.
You can install webmin for your server web interface to configure apache2,mysql, FTP servers and many more.
First you need to install the following packages:
    sudo aptitude install perl libnet-ssleay-perl openssl libauthen-pam-perl libpam-runtime libio-pty-perl libmd5-perl
Now download the latest webmin using the following command or from here:
    wget http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/webadmin/webmin_1.470_all.deb
Now we have webmin_1.470_all.deb package install this package using the following command
    sudo dpkg -i webmin_1.470_all.deb
This will complete the installation.
Now you need to open your web browser and enter the following: https://your-server-ip:10000/
Enjoy!

Fixing the Ubuntu 11.x User Interface

2011-08-20T21:16:00.000-05:00

If you own a Netbook or laptop, you may be surprised by the new default look of the latest Ubuntu release. I have tried to like it on my Netbook. I have completely complied with the neverending typing of application names to find my common apps. Some of my colleagues have reported horrible problems, but on my ACER, the new interface has not locked up.
OK - the fix is easy.

Click on the icon on the top left of your screen.
Now click MORE APPs.
Type in "login" in the search and find the login application.
Now click "unlock" and enter the root/admin password.
Now select "ubuntu classic (no effects)"
Finally, restart your computer.

YEAH!

Filtered Search Results - Privacy vs. Information Tailored for You

2011-05-14T08:44:00.000-05:00

In this weeks news, a PR Firm called Burson-Marsteller admitted they were hired by Facebook to smear Google's Social Circle via an alleged whisper campaign claiming the service violated user privacy rights. Both the PR Firm and Facebook later apologized for the action. Tisk Tisk, bad Facebook.

It is not clear whether any of this is anything other than a bunch of noise. We all know our search and web actions are analyzed, tracked, and used to customize what we are shown and what is advertised to us. The idea is to improve the web experience, focus the results to things that are relevant to you (supposedly). To exactly what extent this is done is nearly impossible to assert given the nature of the intellectual property value of the algorithms that compute such filtering. The question really is, are we being filtered too much?

What we see on television or read in the paper, and even online, is filtered information. Someone has examined the facts of information (hopefully), and used their judgement to then assemble a story or peice of information, then created a presentation of that story to us. From whether the information even is presented to the angle of the presentation, most everything we see or hear has been filtered by people we inherently trust (freedom of the press) to do so forthrightly.

The Internet is largely the same. We trust that when we enter our search term that the information in the results has been appropriately arranged in order of relevance, or in terms of the non-organic display areas, that the highest and most relevant advertising is being presented. If it is, I may just click on that link. However, there is one big difference between the Internet and the legacy information distribution: the Internet is based on algorithms, not people. Granted people write the algorithms, but we have already seen what that can do to the stock market. This leaves a burning question: Are the algorithms, this intellectual property of the web systems, actually preventing me from seeing things that may affect my perception of the available information?

The answer to this question may indeed be yes. For example, Facebook will lower or raise the relevance of certain postings on your wall based on youwhther click on them or not, or like them or not. This means that some friends may appear to disappear from your feed, when in fact they have not stopped posting. Another example of this is if you and someone you know type the same search term into Google, you will get different search responses. It is actually a little weird. Experiencing this leads to immediate deeper questions:

If I am not shown the same information as someone else, will I form the same conclusions researching an issue?
If I don't hear about something that could be very important am I as connected as I think I am?
Could entire population perception be affected by this filtering? Could it be inadvertent?
Is anyone testing these algorithms, not just for their assisting intent, but for the negative impact they could cause?

Like the newspaper editors and other who we have trusted to present information in an appropriate way, with the appropriate filtering, we must call on these Internet mega-companies that are in catfights over technology and intellectual property to do what is right, and invest not only competitively, but in protection of the proper filtering performance of their algorithms.

I have no problem counting on computers programmed by intelligent people automating this process, I just have a doubt that these same algorithms will be properly tested, and more completely designed in taking care of the complexity of information that I need properly filtered to be connected today. For example, shouldn't there be certain items that I can tweak in the algorithm beyond what it may calculate itself as my preferences or behavior paterns? Let's say that I am brand new to web searching and I need to use the Internet to find a car part for my car. If I do this for an hour or so, I'll bet the algorithms start thinking I am a car person or mechanic. I may completely abhor cars. Shouldn't I be able to wipe that history so my categorization is reset?

Hopefully the Internet giants will all prove me wrong.

If you are paranoid about all this, I am sorry. There are, nonetheless, some things you can do. One is to use Firefox or Chrome as you web browser and install something called GreaseMonkey. It is an add in that can perform interesting scripting of your web searching and web mail. Once it is installed, you can add a script that can optionally stop web sites like Google from tracking your activity. The script is called GoogleMonkeyR and is available here. There are lots of options for this script and you can check out these usage options here.
Let us know what you think, or any tips you want to share.

Downloading an HD Movie in 8 Minutes

2011-04-14T08:47:00.001-05:00

Comcast revealed last year that it intended to deliver a special high speed option for Internet service at up to 105Mb/s. An article in USA Today reports:

"Extreme 105, [will be] available to consumers in more than 40 million homes in San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Miami, among others.

The service delivers data at 105 megabits per second — more than 60 times faster than a T-1 line, which most businesses rely on, Comcast says.

The new service can download a high-definition movie in 8 minutes, compared with 2 hours and 15 minutes for a standard, 6-mbps Internet connection at home. A TV show would take 20 seconds, instead of 7 minutes."

Are these numbers correct?

A T1 runs at 1.5 Mb/s so the quick math says that 105Mb/s divided by 1.5Mb/s is 70. So the more than 60 times faster is a safe statement, assuming you get the full 105Mb/s.

The download speeds depend on how big the file is. Using the calculator found here, I reverse engineered the assumptions:

So the assumption is that the file is about 5 Gigabytes in size, and without any further information as to format, we think this is about right.

Teaching Kids Electricity with "Squishy Circuits"

2011-04-12T11:00:00.000-05:00

Absolute Genius!

When most kids are taught electricity in 3rd and 4th grade science lab experiments, they are introduced to concepts using unfamiliar electrical components. Most of these things have never been touched and they seem foreign and complicated. Like others, I believe that this causes a learning gap.

This gap has been completely obliterated by something I recently discovered: Squishy Circuits.

Detailed with video and recipes, this ingenious approach to turning kids on to the concepts of electricity using stuff they are familiar with - Play-dough!

That's right! Two types of play-dough - one that conducts (made with salt) the other that resists (made with sugar) and presto, you can build parallel and series circuits, dim lights, make switches, and so much more.

This concept brings electrical science to the level of the children to whom it is being taught.

Check out videos and more here!

US House Votes to Roll Back Net Neutrality

2011-04-12T10:58:00.000-05:00

On Friday, by a vote of 240-179 (click here to see how the individual representatives voted), the US House of Representatives passed H.J. Res. 37, which will stop the open Internet rules adopted by the FCC in December 2010. By using the Congressional Review Act, the measure now needs only a simple majority to pass in the Senate.

It certainly is short and sweet - click here to view the actual document.

You can see and read more on the testimony and the hearing here.

Whether or not you agree with the policy of making each and every bit equal on the Internet (the FCC position), the fact that Congress has stepped in to severely curtail the FCC's ability to regulate what the Internet is, and how it works, or will work, is a very strong and powerfull message.

China's CERNET2 IPv6 Network Will Likely Be the Largest

2011-04-11T11:02:00.001-05:00

I have never liked to attempt to look into a crystal ball and predict the future. At best, I would expect my success to be no improvement on using a Chimpanzee to pick between 2 options and get a 50/50 chance of being correct (no offense to Chimpanzees).

Then there are times one observes the writing on the wall, or examines the tea leaves, whatever those processes used to mean. For example: look at China's CERNET2 IPv6 network. Established in 2004, and becoming a pure IPv6 network in 2006, this network set out to link 25 universities with the next generation IP protocol. Today, the network backbone runs IPv6 protocol and connects 25 PoPs distributed in 20 cities in China with the speed of 2.5Gbps/10Gbps. Meanwhile, the transmission rate of Beijing-Wuhan-Guangzhou and Wuhan-Nanjing-Shanghai is 10Gbps. Each PoP provides the 1Gbps/2.5Gbps/10Gbps access capacity for the access network. CNGI-6IX, the domestic/international exchange point, located in Beijing , interconnects to the six network backbones of CNGI, including CERNET2, China Telecom, China Unicom, China Netcom/CSTNET, China Mobile and China Railcom, by 1Gbps/2.5Gbps/10Gbps respectively, and connects with American Internet2 by 155Mbps-2.5Gbps, the European GEANT2 by 1Gbps-2.5Gbps and Asia-Pacific APAN by 1Gbps.

China had only 278 million IPv4 addresses by the end of last year, according to the China Internet Network Information Center, which is too few compared with its 457 million Internet users, the most in the world. Combine this with the fact that less than 30% of China's current population uses the Internet, and you can quickly understand where this is all going. There are also pending plans to expand this network with a goal of attaching over 1,000 universities.

You can read more about CERNET2 in Wikipedia.

You can also view a presentation on the state of the IPv6 Network in China.

The bottom line is that for China, this will likely be the backbone of the largest IPv6 network in the world.

How fast is the Internet for the average user worldwide?

2011-03-29T20:16:00.001-05:00

This is a great question - and great news - there is an app for that!!
Well, at least there is a web site.
Based on millions of recent test results from Speedtest.net, there is an index that compares and ranks consumer download speeds around the globe. Also plotted is the value is the rolling mean throughput in Mbps over the past 30 days where the mean distance between the client and the server is less than 300 miles. The following screenshot is from the web site called Net Index by Ookla.

Who has the fastest Internet? The US does not even make the top 10!

FCC Releases Latest Data on Internet Access Services, Local Telephone Competition

2011-03-22T11:04:00.000-05:00

This from the FCC yesterday:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 21, 2011
Washington, D.C. – The Federal Communications Commission has released its latest reports on Internet access service connections and telephone subscribership in the U.S.

Titled Internet Access Services and Local Telephone Competition, the two reports are based on data submitted by carriers every six months on FCC Form 477. The reports track changes at the state and national level in the number of subscribers to Internet access service in 72 different combinations of speed tiers, and the number of wireline, mobile and interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone subscribers.
Both reports include data collected by the FCC through June 30, 2010.

Highlights from the Internet Access Services report include the following:

60% of connections were slower than the benchmark 4 megabits per second (Mbps) download speed identified by the FCC as the minimum bandwidth generally required to accommodate today’s uses: high-quality voice, data, graphics, and video.
Growth of fixed broadband service appears to have flattened at 1% in the first half of 2010, to 82 million connections.

Highlights from the Local Telephone Competition report including the following:

Interconnected VoIP grew by 21% between June 2009 and June 2010.
Conventional switched access lines (i.e., traditional wireline telephone lines) decreased by 8% between June 2009 and June 2010.
28% of all residential wireline connections were interconnected VoIP as of June 2010.
An estimated 77% of interconnected VoIP subscribers received service through a cable provider.
The number of subscriptions to wireless phone service grew by 5% in the year.

The Central Office Transformation

2011-01-12T10:03:00.000-06:00

My recent post on the evolution of the telephone has raised much interest, but I am also seeing and predicting that the Central Office is undergoing and will undergo changes that are just as radical. As I said in the prior post, these changes are difficult to envision and agree with at times, especially for long time telecom folks like myself. That said, the average person is no longer simply connected by a telephone. Being connected means having more than that these days. Therefore, folks like me know these changes need to happen and they need to happen fairly quickly.

Let's first remind ourselves of what the Central Office has been up until today. Everyone's telephone services and data services are made up of circuits - telephone lines. The Central Office is a junction or wire center for termination and connection of all these physical circuits. This began with actual wired cross conenction systems and evolved with digital cross connects and switches. the telephone switch and all the realted mutiplexing and cross-connection equipment has been housed in that windowless building called the Central office.

These buildings have been built and rebuilt with ample protection against power failures (most have high capacity generators on site), and are self contained facilities with no only great power protection, but also great air conditioning, security, communications bandwidth (obviously) and space. Slowly, over the past 20 years, thanks to technology the equipment has reduced in size, risen in capabilities and become less power and space hungry. This means that for most Central Offices, there is more space, power and air conditioning than the equipment in the facility actually needs.

What will we put into these emptying but valuable and capable facilities? The answer is to make them miniature, distributed data centers. That's right. It is happening everywhere. Telephone companies are realizing the huge potential of these facilities to provide housing for, and backup/protection of customer servers and computers. So this expansion of services is well underway. I am further convinced this will go much further.

While housing customer systems and selling the associated communications links is a great way to make use of the emptying Central Office space, it is not a far reach to extend tehse services much further. What if the phone company installed racks of blade servers, and then sold access to these server resources so customers don't even have to buy computers? Crazy? Not at all. In fact, the phone company can do this and by using virtual machine technology, actually release/resell the physical servers several times over. The business case is actually quite compelling. This expands the Service Provider offerings into the realm of cloud services that we ourselves are using at CellStream.

The overall impact to customers is huge. They reduce their need for IT staff, for equipment management (computers, servers, switches, and routers), and their data and programs are housed in the highest standardized, secure, power safe, facilities. What is that worth? A lot. Especially when being connected today means having computers or applications or data that must be processed, stored and protected. This is an obvious easy sell to small/medium businesses, but also to entrepreneurs, home office customers, and the even individuals families. Consider the teenagers need to store projects, videos, reports in digital format somewhere, or the family photo album and video library. All these things are digital files that need storage and protection.

These evolving central Office/Data Center facilities will blossom in the3 next two years. To do so we technology solutions to continue to advance. While Virtual Machines are easy to create, the virtual switches and virtual routers also needed to control access, provide security, and control traffic flow are in their infancy. I made mention of this in my blog post back in 2009. The need for complete virtual routing and switching at low cost will be crucial for the small service providers around the world. This means intergration of virtual switches with ACL (Access Control) and VLAN technology into the virtual topology. It also means virtual routers with VPN, MPLS, ACL and routing protocol technology in the virtual topology.

The Central Office is becoming the local Data Center, and these distributed Data Centers will need to internetwork as well to evolve the Internet from a collection of web pages and sites into a collection of distributed, protected, and secure data centers serving a collection of web pages and sites. What do you think?

The Slow Death of the Telephone As We Know It

2011-01-04T20:51:00.001-06:00

Reluctantly, I am being forced to contemplate the notion that the telephone, as I have always know it in my lifetime, is not just evolving, but it is becoming and endangered species. Look at these numbers just released by the FCC as of December 31, 2009:

Overall, 47.9% of all telephone numbers were assigned to end users.
The overall utilization rate for Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (LECs) was 47.3%, down from 48.8 six months earlier.
The overall utilization rate for Mobile Wireless carriers was 66.7%, up from 66.1% six months earlier.
The overall utilization rate for Competitive LECs was 34.0%, down from 34.3% sixmonths earlier.
Since wireless number portability began on November 24, 2003, wireline customers have moved over 85 million telephone numbers to new wireline carriers and wirelesscustomers moved more than 78 million telephone numbers to new wireless carriers.

For those of us who have worked our careers in telecommunications the advancement of technology has always been a welcomed process. Like most of my colleagues, I love new features and functions that make communication better, easier and cheaper. Evolution in communications has been a great thing. I often talk about this evolution in presentations and when I teach.

Phone 1.0 was/is the stand alone telephone most of us have used, hanging on a wall or sitting on your desk. It is made up of a dial, a hand set, and a wire connecting it to a telephone line. Each phone has a specific number. If I want to call you at work, I call your work number. If I want to call you at home, I call your home number. Forget mobility.

Phone 2.0 was the cell phone. This technology took the telephone and evolved it to be connected to the network by radio. Combine this with a network of radio towers and you now have wireless mobility. Now I simply dial one number and your phone rings whether you are at home, at work, or in the car! Everyone has one of these!

Phone 3.0 was the transformation of the phone into a piece of software. The phone can now reside on a computer appliance or television appliance or even on an appliance that looks like a regular telephone. This digitization of the telephone function when combined with packet transport as in the Internet Protocol, has revolutionized calling internationally and bred the Voice over IP revolution. Skype is a great example of this evolutionary step.

So far all these technologies are backwards compatible, and have not really affected the longevity - but rather simply extended the telephone function, broadening its application. But here is the rub, once the calling device was transformed into software, a new definition of how to use the idea of calling someone took root. It is this next generation of Phone 3.0 that is beginning to look like something completely different, something that may obsolete Phone 1.0.

Let's look at some of these emerging technologies and transformations:

Consider Google Voice: http://www.google.com/voice allows you to get a free phone number, that you can then hand out to everyone. This phone number is for incoming calls and you can configure your voice account to then send your call to your cell number (great if you don't want people to know your actual cell number), or your home or work, depending on where you are. You can configure personalized voice messages for different groups/individuals. If you don't answer, Google Voice will take a voice mail, convert it to text, then email or SMS you or both! It is the ultimate call messaging front end. You can also use Google Voice to make calls out for very low rates, and it integrates with Google Talk on your PC.

Consider all the alternative Phone 3.x applications. We will name just a few:

Magic Jack
Vonage
Skype
Google Talk
Yahoo Messenger
Ooma
and many more.

All these products require a broadband connection, but essentially route your phone calls over the IP network and off the Plain Old Telephone Service network. Some are separate boxes, some have monthly fees, or per call fees. Regardless of the various options, they all do the same thing: make you wonder why you have a regular telephone.

Consider Zingaya: http://zingaya.com/ Zingaya enables voice calls through any computer, right from a web page. No download or phone is required. Zingaya offers this seamless voice calling capability to website operators – whether it’s a huge e-commerce enterprise or your personal blog. Simply embed a “Call” button into your website. Visitors can click that button and the call is immediately forwarded to your land line, mobile phone, Skype account, or other computer. All you need is a website; all your visitors need is a browser and microphone.

Consider Zin.to: http://zin.to/ Zin.to lets your Twitter followers call your cell phone, land line, or Skype account (whichever you select) just by clicking a link that you Tweet to them. For the person calling you: There’s nothing to download and no phone is required – they are talking to you through their browser. For you: You specify who you want to call you - whether it's one friend, or all of your followers. All contact details will be kept private, so you can use Zin.to without giving your phone number or Skype ID away.

It is clear from these options that the plain old telephone is under attack, and has been for a long time. As the younger generation, brought up with these options, faces their choice as to how to be reached, with their iPAD, Computer, or other computing device in hand, one has to wonder if they would ever select an appliance like a telephone. If they don't, then what is their need for the telephone service as us older generation folks know it? The only real question, is how slow will the slow death of the Telephone as I know it be?

We welcome your thoughts.

Where can I find information on writing secure code?

2011-01-04T20:20:00.000-06:00

Great question received just before the holidays.
The security of software is paramount, especially in any communications systems (routers, switches, servers). We are all fimiliar with "patch Tuesdays" as efforts to thwart security holes in software are a constant.
Surprisingly, few Computer Science majors include skills on secure coding. Furthermore, policies and procedures to ensure secure coding practices may not even exist. Just look at the lacking entry at Wikipedia!
Thus, it is a sesitive area for all of us in the communications business.

There is a great site created by OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) that attempts to document the appropriate Secure Coding Practices in the form of a wiki. This is a great starting point. Hundreds of Universities and Corporations are jumping on board.
The CERT team also has a page on Secure Coding.
There is an old site called Secure Coding.org that has a reference to a book and some other materials.

We hope that starts you off in the right place. If you have any additions you think we should make, please let us know.

Parenting the Internet

2010-12-15T21:04:00.000-06:00

This article discusses our tips on "Parenting the Internet". What we mean is, that parents must carefully control the Internet usage in the home, especially when minors are involved. The Internet must be actively parented as we will discuss further.

This article is continually under construction as we learn new strategies and techniques! You can always find the original and updated version here.

Also look for additional information in the following two articles:

Usually, the first topic of discussion on this subject is Parental Controls. Do they work? How should I use them, etc.? I will get to that in a moment. Most kids are required to use the Internet as part of their learning activities in school systems. I have seen this now in 4th and 5th grade. So kids must use the Internet, and we must have a plan as parents.

Rules

First, I would like to establish the Internet Parenting Baseline Set of Rules.

Minors do not get to use or keep computers or other appliances that connect to the Internet in private places, like their bedrooms.
All usage of the Internet by minors must be done in public locations, and with approval/knowledge of the parent. This means that as a parent you must pay attention. Having the kids in a public space unmonitored is as dangerous as having then unmonitored in private spaces. It is easy as a click to hide or close a window that would reveal where they are going.
A clear definition of what sites and applications are allowed and not allowed (things like instant messaging, chat rooms, blogs, and social networking sites MySpace, Facebook, virtual worlds such as Club Penguin, RuneScape, Gaia, Webkinz). Get a list of recommended sites from your school, and save them in favorites.
A clear definition of time and time frame must be made. Some folks like inexpensive kitchen timers that "ding" when time is up. Time can fly when you are running in the Internet.
Parents must routinely monitor Internet usage, especially in the younger minors, where freedom to supervise and be supervised along with the trust must be built. The Internet is not a babysitter -- it's a doorway to the entire world.
Any and all user names and passwords must be shared with Parents, and parents - please provide equal inverse access to some of your passwords. This develops trust.
Open communication about how the Internet works (see discussion later), and an open forum for questions and discussion within the family is critical.
No private email or social networking accounts until High School. Start with a shared email account with your child so you can monitor messages.
Take your child seriously if he or she reports an uncomfortable online exchange. Forward copies of obscene or threatening messages you or your kids get to your Internet service provider. Call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at (800) 843-5678 if you're aware of the transmission, use, or viewing of child pornography online. Contact your local law enforcement agency or the FBI if your child has received child pornography via the Internet.
Promise each other - maybe with a parent/child contract - strict enforcement of the rules.

Parental Controls

Online tools are available that will let you control your kids' access to adult material and help protect them from Internet predators. No option is going to guarantee that they'll be kept away from 100% of the risks on the Internet. So it's important to be aware of your kids' computer activities and educate them about online risks.

Many Internet service providers (ISPs) provide parent-control options to block certain material from coming into a computer. You can also get software that helps block access to certain sites based on a "bad site" list that your ISP creates. Filtering programs can block sites from coming in and restrict personal information from being sent online. Other programs can monitor and track online activity. Also, make sure your kids create a screen name to protect their real identity.

The problem is that these tools can be defeated (just type "defeat parental controls" into your search bar!). That does not mean we do not recommend using them. Just do not depend on them completely, period. I chose to not use them at all, and I advised my children of this fact. It worked better than I expected, as they know danger lurks at every corner.

How The Internet Works and The Dangers That Lurk

The Internet, email and chat-rooms offer everyone the equal opportunity to lie and be lied to. It's easy to say anything and it's easy to pretend to be someone you're not. It's easy in any area of life to get taken advantage of or hurt, and on the Internet it's even easier. A clever, creepy, "dirty-old-man" predator can effectively masquerade as an 8 year old girl, a 14 year old boy, an understanding and caring 19 year old woman, a professional -- ANYTHING.

Warning signs of a child being targeted by an online predator include spending long hours online, especially at night, phone calls from people you don't know, or unsolicited gifts arriving in the mail. If your child suddenly turns off the computer when you walk into the room, ask why and monitor computer time more closely. Withdrawal from family life and reluctance to discuss online activities are other signs to watch for.

Checking on History and Usage

Many sites use "cookies," devices that track specific information about the user, such as name, email address, and shopping preferences. Cookies can be disabled. Ask your Internet service provider for more information.

Using the Internet To Teach Your Kids

The Internet is perhaps the best learning tool ever to come along. If you don't believe this check out the video here (it may be the most interesting 18 minutes you invest in you and your child's learning) then come back and finish reading.

Here is what you need to do:

Get a list of things to have them research.
- Look up a list of inventors.
- Here are so great questions:
  - Why is the sky blue?
  - Why does a tree's leaves change color in the fall?
  - What is static electricity?
  - What is a genetic trait? Give 4 examples.
  - Why can airplanes fly?
  - What virus causes the common cold?
  - How does a superconductor work?
Give your child one of the items or questions from your list.
Tell them they have 10 minutes to research the item, and tell you 2 key things about the item. (With my inventors, I wanted to know what they invented and why their invention was important). Make sure the two things answer a 'why' type question.
Tell them they must provide references for their answers. (I like to have the web source printed out and highlighted).
No matter what they bring you, praise them. Be a "loving Grandparent". Assure them they 'can' do it. Tell them where they could have learned more. If they come back with nothing, give them a second chance.
You will find they will get the answers in about 2 minutes from the Internet, and then spend the rest of the time reading and learning to explain it to you. Do not expect them to get it right or perfect.
Have the child keep the materials in a folder so they can look at it again and read more....they will!

I promise, you will be astonished at what your child can teach themselves. You will also be amazed at what they will teach you.

Here are some other great links:

Rules to Follow When Using Internet Web Sites

Restrict viewing of your profile only to people you know in real life. Setting your profile to “private” allows only trusted friends to view your information. You still have to be careful what you post, but it's less likely that someone creepy will view your personal profile.
Only visit profiles of people you know. Stick with the profiles of people you know and trust. It makes it less likely you’ll run into someone who’ll try to hurt you, but it also helps protect you from downloading viruses and malware to your computer.
Never post suggestive pictures or information on your profile. If you wouldn’t show it to your parents or grandparents, it’s not ok to put it online. You may think it’s just for fun, but other people might get the wrong idea. Also, people can download those pictures, so they might haunt you for a long time to come.
Never post false information about other people. No matter how funny it may seem, don’t do it. Things you say about other people can hurt them now and in the future. Besides which, it’s just as easy for someone to do it to you!
Never post anything on your profile that you wouldn’t say in public. Your profile isn’t private. Colleges are looking to see what you’re doing online and so are businesses. As strange as it may sound, you could end up getting rejected from your top school because of things you post. If that doesn’t convince you, things posted on profiles have been known to break up relationships.
Not everything you read is true. Have you ever pretended to be someone else online? Have you ever said something that wasn’t true? It happens all of the time. Don’t believe everything you read. People pretend to be older or younger and sometimes guys pretend to be girls and girls pretend to be guys. You just can’t believe everything you read, even if you want to.
Never share personal information such as phone numbers, addresses, etc. online. It’s dangerous, plain and simple.
Kids must talk to their parents before meeting anyone in person. "If you’d like to meet someone in person, talk to your parents about it". Ask your parents about meeting the person in a public place, like the mall food court, where your parents can be nearby to make sure you’re safe. That way, you protect yourself, but can still have some fun.
If you’re not sure, talk to an adult. If you see something online that makes you scared, sad, or worried, tell someone. Find an adult that you trust and talk to them. It might be your parents, an aunt or uncle, a coach or a teacher. Whoever you think can help you out and make you feel safe. You should also do this if one of your friends has seen something or looks like they might be in trouble.

There are no measures that will keep your children as safe as having a parent or a parent-figure surfing along side of them or at least frequently leaning over their shoulder -- and discussing with regularity about their experiences on the net. Like most of the rest of the delights in the world, you cannot expect legislation -- and you especially cannot expect industry self-regulation to protect your kids. You need to. You need to be there in the seat next to them. You need to make the time and muster the patience to share your kids' interests.

Before App Stores and Email

2010-11-23T20:55:00.000-06:00

As Thanksgiving 2010 quickly approaches, we are reminded to give thanks for everything we have, no matter how small. This requires that you look back and consider where you have been and what you have accomplished. Understandably, the memories aren't all that great in all cases. Nevertheless, in this mode I was considering the past and remember two significant things in the history of CellStream that were obvious signs of the future to come (if I had only known).

First - Back in the mid 1980's once of the predecessors of CellStream was constituted in an Intel 8088 based PC and two US Robotics modems running RyBBS first, then WILDCAT! later. I was the Sysop or System Operator. It was the TechKnowledge BBS, often called "Protocol Heaven". For those of you not recongnizing the term BBS - it stands for Bulletin Board System. Basically you hooked up your computer to a phone line or two running the BBS Software, and people could use their computers to call your system over dial up (running at 1200 baud at first - that is roughly 100 characters per second BTW), and they could post messages to message groups, exchange software, play games, and many other functions. This preceded email as we know it today by at least 5 or 6 years. Eventually a bunch of Sysops got together and with some clever software add-ins, we formed a network of BBS systems that would dial each other in the middle of the night when the calls were cheap and exchange pre-set pools of message boards adding ones our users had posted and then passing on the pool around the group - it was called Fido-Net.

Why did I call it "Protocol Heaven"? Well, as I have always been fascinated with networking protocols, The TechKnowledge BBS was known to support more networking protocols than anyone else I could find, and trust me, I hunted. I have put a file directory listing of the download diretory at the bottom of the article!

I have been thinking of resurrecting the BBS - just for fun on a Virtual Machine, but alas, none of my 5 1/4 inch floppy disk drives work with anything I have anymore!

Second - Way before the iTunes App Store of the BlackBerry Super Apps was a place called PalmGear. It was a web site that supported folks like us uploading application you could run on your Palm Pilot (another US Robotics creation). You can still find three of our applications online there!

This was 2001 folks!! I still have the original US Robotics Palm Pilot. It still works too.

______________________________________________________________________

Here is a list of the directory from the BBS:

121_V22.ZIP   CHAT and transfer files at the same time! 
15_846B.ZIP   Software Setup "Stop" Booklet for Sportster Modems. 
16550U.ZIP    16550 A UART Control Program v1.0 to set UART parameters. 
440RPT.ZIP    A current list of active 440 Mhz UHF ham repe 
550DOC.ZIP    All the Info Needed on 16550 Uart and the Related Boards. 
57600NEW.ZIP  
96CDAGC1.ZIP  96cdagc1 List of Over 1830 BBS in Canada At 9600+. 
96DB0992.ZIP  9600+ bps BBS List for 9/92.  
ABMDEMO.ZIP   ABM vers. of HDLC communications protocol demo 
ACCULINK.ZIP  An asynch outdial service  
ACE175.ZIP    AceComm v1.75 communications program. 
ACE181A.ZIP   AceComm version 1.81 Hi-Speed Modem communication program. 
ACE181B.ZIP   AceComm version 1.81 Hi-Speed Modem communication program. 
ACSPG20.ZIP   Send Text to Alpha Pagers, Emulates Motorola. 
ACU.ZIP       Hayes text regarding new low cost modem line. 
ADDEXT40.ZIP  External protocol manager for comm programs 
AIR80010.ZIP  Search for airlines 1-800 numbers by name.  
ALAD161.ZIP   Aladdin 1.61 Genie navigator  
ALAD162.ZIP   Aladdin v1.62 front end for Genie  
ALAD163.ZIP   New Version of Genie Info Service Aladdin Interface V1.63. 
ALAD170.ZIP   The Genie Network Automated Front End Program. 
ALL_N_1.ZIP   Phone dialer database. Very good.  
ALM101.ZIP    Library Manager for Alladin(Genie auto mesg). 
AM11.ZIP      AutoMate v1.1 Script tool.  
AMAIL210.ZIP  AutoMAIL v2.10 Automated QWK/REP mail.  
ANALG131.ZIP  Analog V1.31 is a Wonderful Commo Log Analyzer. 
APEX40.ZIP    Apex V4.0 Message Processor for OLX and Qmpromail. 
ARCML312.ZIP  More New Features Added to Arcmail 2.07!  
ASM_TERM.ZIP  Simple interrupt-driven terminal w/src/A86asm 
ASYNC.ZIP     Asynchronous communications routines 
ASYNC1.ZIP    COMM driver [.ASM] 
ASYNC2.ZIP    COMM driver [.ASM] 
AT2_13B.ZIP   AT2 V1.3b Send AT Commands to Your Modem.  
ATCOMAND.ZIP  AT Commands for HAYES compatible modems.  
ATCONVRT.ZIP  AT Command conversion chart. Obtained from the Boca BBS. 
ATL_AREA.ZIP  Scanner Freq. for Atlanta Area.  
ATMOD.ZIP     A tine modem communication program.  
ATO68C.ZIP    ATO v6.8C: communications program.  
ATOBR300.ZIP  ATOBRO v3.00: allows you to view CIS forum. 
ATODOC.ZIP    ATO v6.8C: communications program to automate 
ATOSUB21.ZIP  Lists Contents of An Autosig File.  
ATPLUS11.ZIP  At-plus V1.1 Send At Commands to Modem. 
ATSEND15.ZIP  Sends "AT" commands to Hayes compt.form Dos. 
ATSEND18.ZIP  AtSend 1.8: Sends modem AT commands in Batch 
ATTSYSOP.ZIP  AT&T DataPort 14.4/Fax Modem Sysop Pricing Program. 
ATZ120.ZIP    Utility: Send A Text String to Modem Via FOSSIL Interface. 
AUFONT.ZIP    Auto Font Writer for Making Ascii Signs.  
AUTODL20.ZIP  Auto Dialer v2.0, simple modem dialer  
AUTODL33.ZIP  AUTODL Telix v3.1x scripts for protocol initiated transfers. 
AUTOSC10.ZIP  Auto Script v1.0 TSR script player  
AUTOSIG.ZIP   Automates CIS Ziffnet forums.  
B2C10.ZIP     Allow Use of Bfx Fax/Data Front End with Wildcat! 3.X. 
BACKBON.ZIP   How to Get An Echo on the Fido Backbone.  
BACKCOMM.ZIP  Background Communications 1993.  
BACKFILE.ZIP  Logfile Manager Renames Zips Files.  
BACKMAIL.ZIP  TSR personal background file/message transfer 
BATSHELL.ZIP  Batch Shell v1.00: tag files to upload w/GSZ. 
BBPOWERI.ZIP  Power file transfer shell (Bytebrothers) 
BBS0492B.ZIP  Thelist- IBM National BBS List For 04/15/92. 
BBS105.ZIP    BBS 2.05 and Dial 2.13 from Microfox Company. 
BBS110.ZIP    Easy to use Comm program to upload/download from BBS's. 
BBSCOMM.ZIP   The BBS 10+ Commandments!.  
BBSDB12.ZIP   BBS Database Door (lister of boards).  
BBSEE22A.ZIP  BBSee Powerful BBS Disk Catalog System (1-4). 
BBSEE22B.ZIP  BBSee Powerful BBS Disk Catalog System (2-4). 
BBSEE22C.ZIP  BBSee Powerful BBS Disk Catalog System (3-4). 
BBSEE22X.ZIP  BBSee Powerful BBS Disk Catalog System (4-4). 
BBSLAW.ZIP    Electronic Communications Private Act.  
BCALCST3.ZIP  Intellicomm(0.93) script for PCB time deposit 
BD.ZIP        PC Mag util (V11N9-May 12,92) (TSR comm pgm) 
BGDIAL11.ZIP  Background autodialer for MS-DOS 
BGFT301A.ZIP  Background File Transfer (BGFT) v3.01. 1/2. 
BGFT301B.ZIP  Background File Transfer (BGFT) v3.01. 2/2. 
BGFT302A.ZIP  Use BackGround File Transfer in DOS. File 1 of 2. 
BGFT302B.ZIP  Use BackGround File Transfer in DOS. File 2 of 2. 
BGFTS211.ZIP  Background FIle Transfer v2.11  
BGFTW211.ZIP  Background File Transfer 211 add-on  
BIMLOG10.ZIP  Bimodem Log file analyzer.  
BIMOD125.ZIP  BiModem 1.25 - bidirectional protocol w/chat 
BIMPRO31.ZIP  Bimodem Pro (Pampa) V3.1. 
BIN2ASC1.ZIP  Convert Any Binary File to A Text File. 
BKLA104.ZIP   BinkleyTerm Log Analyzer v1.04  
BLDLST11.ZIP  Builds An Userlist from a Pip Message Area. 
BLTCAP15.ZIP  BLTCAP V 1.5 Bulletin Capture Program for ICO 
BNP410.ZIP    Bnp v4.10, Many Bug Fixes, Much Faster.  
BOCA14.ZIP    Some Boca 14.4 Modem Setup Parameters.  
BOCA14FM.ZIP  Optimum Boca 14400 Setup. Help Where Needed. 
BOCAHLP.ZIP   A good selection of Boca.MDM and help files. 
BOXIT14.ZIP   A Utility Program For Slmr Mail Reader.  
BQUOTE12.ZIP  Quoting utility for SLMR/OLX BBS mail readers 
BREAKBOX.ZIP  Software-based RS232 breakout box 
BREAKIN.ZIP   Protect Your PC While Away.  
BRKBX140.ZIP  BrkBox v1.40, RS-232 BreakOut Box; COM 1-4  
BUG13.ZIP     A 3K Complete com program.  
BWS_12.ZIP    Blue Wave Save v1.2 combine saved BBS messages 
BYTECOMM.ZIP  Background COMM pgm w/TC2.0 source (BYTE Mag.) 
C3FAXD.ZIP    Clarion 3 Fax Library. 
C64TERM.ZIP   Color Terminal prg for Logging on to a C64. 
C64TRM5B.ZIP  C64TERM now supports NS16550 UART  
CALL3012.ZIP  SpeedCall 30 ver 1.2  
CALL4.ZIP     Disable call-waiting. with BASIC source.  
CALLERID.ZIP  Use Caller Id Service on Your Computer.  
CALLIT.ZIP    Track call anyone using your modem.  
CARRIER.ZIP   Program to detect CARRIER presence.  
CATBX16A.ZIP  The Catalog Toolbox V1.6a. 
CBIP_KIT.ZIP  Kit for obtaining bin.files- Intnet/Usenet. 
CCREDIR.ZIP   Redirect Complete Communicator phone calls 
CCSP080.ZIP   External file transfer protocol for Speedmodem 
CEXYZ100.ZIP  Freeware Windowed Fossil or Direct Comms Protocol Module. 
CHKCD10.ZIP   Check For Carrier on Specified Com Ports.  
CHKMODEM.ZIP  Finds a modem & checks its status, w/source 
CIL23KIT.ZIP  Add 23 External Protocols.  
CILINK20.ZIP  Cedar Isl& Link v2.0 Terminal program.  
CILINK3D.ZIP  Cedar Island Link v3.0d BBS-oriented modem pgm 
CILNK215.ZIP  Cedar Island Link 2.15. Communications prog 
CILNK233.ZIP  CI Link 2.33, unique terminal program  
CILNK252.ZIP  Elegantly simple to use Mouse-Based COMM pgm. 
CIMOZ2AD.ZIP  Cimoz2ad V1.0. Converts CIM 2.0 data. 
CIS0216.ZIP   Compuserve Access #'S 2400/9600 As of 2/16/93. 
CISBL101.ZIP  CISBill v1.01: organizes CompuServe billing. 
CKCD11.ZIP    Check modem CD status from cmd line, w/TC src 
CKCOMI.ZIP    Check Com Ports/IRQs.  
CKCOMIRQ.ZIP  Ckcomirq v1.00: Diagnostic Software Utility. 
CMFDP500.ZIP  CM-FD-PROT v5.00 CompuMed FD Protocol interface. 
CMODEM44.ZIP  Cmodem v4.40, streaming file transfer protocol 
CMOTION1.ZIP  Commotion 1.0 Fully Functional (Data) Copy. 
CMS204V2.ZIP  Cms v2.04v2: Filetransfer Electronic Mail.  
COCOZEOS.ZIP  Communications Package for Zeos BBS Users.  
COM1234.ZIP   COM1234 Use all 4 com ports at same time.  
COM177A.ZIP   OS/2 beta 6.177n comm (16550A UART support). 
COM2COM.ZIP   Control your computer via modem  
COMBRAIN.ZIP  Combrain Relay Mail Modem Program. Provides. 
COMBT102.ZIP  Send/receive strings from com port.  
COMCAL30.ZIP  COM-CAL v3.0. Calls a selected when called. 
COMCALL1.ZIP  Monitors phone line in your absence.  
COMM.C        COMM driver [.C] 
COMM.DOC      Doc for COMM.C 
COMMIX.ZIP    Shareware PC networking system 
COMMLINK.ZIP  New and Powerful Communications Program. 
COMMO55.ZIP   DESQview-aware comm pgm w/macros,ext.protocols 
COMMO551.ZIP  Commo V5.51. Powerful, Communications Program. 
COMMO552.ZIP  
COMMOCV4.ZIP  
COMMOPNS.ZIP  Tag files from DIR list, write names to file 
COMMOU5O.ZIP  COMMO52 SD BBSs, logons, protocol macros 
COMPR312.ZIP  Compress Almost Any Log Format by of Days.  
COMSET9.ZIP   Test/initialize/reset modem and serial port 
COMST11.ZIP   Comset V11.0. Setup/Test Modems/Uarts. 
COMSYS.ZIP    COM.SYS and VCOM.SYS dated 10-13-93 for OS/2 2.1. 
COMTAP21.ZIP  Comtap v2.1. Serial Communications.  
COMTUTOR.ZIP  
COM_AND.ZIP   Com-and Release 10. Dialing Directory, Macros. 
COM_PKG1.ZIP  COMM drivers (source only) 
COM_PKG2.ZIP  COMM drivers (source only) 
COM_PKG3.ZIP  COMM drivers (source only) 
CONEX61.ZIP   Term emulator: works over DECNET/TCP/COM1-4 
CONEX61D.ZIP  Freeware Terminal Program From Germany.  
CONEX62D.ZIP  Terminal program works over com,PC/TCP,BW/TCP 
COS150.ZIP    COSWORTH the FREE communications software.  
COURSE.ZIP    Listing of Courses.  
CP200.ZIP     Cherry Picker V2.0, New Tagline Manager. 
CSCOM.ZIP     CSCOM: comm program for calling CompuServe  
CSORT100.ZIP  C-Sort 1.00 Sorts Communique dialin directories. 
CSPSETUP.ZIP  CompuCom setup strings; d/l from CompuCom BBS 
CU_100.ZIP    Communique Term Program. Supports IEMSI  
CU_100G.ZIP   Communique v1.00 gamma communications program 
CU_101.ZIP    Communique v1.01 communications terminal.  
CU_111.ZIP    CU Version 1.11.  
CU_200.ZIP    Communique 2.00. Use Learn Terminal.  
DATTRF.ZIP    The DPD.  
DB9_DB25.ZIP  Wiring info: DB9 to DB25 serial connector 
DCEX90.ZIP    Digicom Exchange 1990.  
DCEX91.ZIP    Digicom Exchange 1991.  
DCEX92.ZIP    Digicom Exchange 1992.  
DDE_10.ZIP    Simple phone directory editor for PCPLUS  
DEC92WIZ.ZIP  December Wizard Codes for Satellite Dishes. 
DELUXE2.ZIP   
DEMON25.ZIP   Optimize USR V32/HST/DS 14.4 modem throughput 
DEMONHST.ZIP  Demon HST v2.16. Auto-configure HST modems. 
DEPTY304.ZIP  Communication program with MNP5 support 
DESCRP22.ZIP  Steal file descriptions from PCBoards  
DIAL11.LZH    
DIALCOMM.ZIP  Freeware Communications Program.  
DIALM50.ZIP   A phone auto dialing program.  
DIALT1.ZIP    Reads phone numbers from screen and dials them 
DIALTONE.ZIP  Touchtone (DTMF) dialer for the HP95LX.  
DIGDR409.ZIP  Digiboards Intelligent Driver for Pc/Xeseries from Intel. 
DIRCOP36.ZIP  DIRCOPY. Copy dialing dirs between Comm Progs 
DL400.ZIP     Upgrade for Intel Satisfaxtion 400 ModEM ONLY. 
DLC_247.ZIP   Download Counter v2.47 Max/Binkley.  
DLITE201.ZIP  New Version of Dlite an Online Delphi Term Program. 
DLM120.ZIP    Data Line Monitor. Makes PC a DATASCOPE 
DLOS2.ZIP     DLOS2 allows OS/2 users of DSI Connection 96+ SoftModems to 
DM_100.ZIP    Delmail v1.00 Deletes Old Mail.  
DM_V100.ZIP   Deletes 'Missing' File Entries from Files.bbs 
DNLD400.ZIP   Bug fix for Intel Satisfaxtion/400's eprom. 
DPDQ24.ZIP    DIAL-PDQ v2.4: Maintain telephone directory. 
DRTRK107.ZIP  Doortracking Program, Builds Bulletins.  
DRWY222.ZIP   
DSMODFIL.ZIP  Updated MODEMS.DAT for Procomm, Along with PCinstall. 
DSZ0503.ZIP   
DSZ1109.ZIP   
DTMF.ZIP      Sound Blaster Dtmf (Touch Tone) Decoder. 
DUATSCR.ZIP   
DWIV421.ZIP   Wwiv v4.21 Bulletin Board System, Popular BBS 
DWNCLEAN.ZIP  Clean up your d/l directory based on CATDISK. 
DXV2M.ZIP     Graphical invite to call Data Express BBS.  
ECHO090B.ZIP  Allows you to send a line of text out the com port. 
ED42.ZIP      Easy Dialer v4.2, Phone dialer  
ED44.ZIP      Modem Auto-Dialer Database. v4.4.  
EDIAL33A.ZIP  Easy Dialer - Dial your phone with Modem 
ELINK40.ZIP   EaziLink 4.0: general purpose communications. 
ELSEWR22.ZIP  PC Anywhere clone, operate computer remotely 
EMKIT200.ZIP  EZ-E-Mail:Low cost Internet mail service PC SW 
EMMA22.ZIP    Communications utility for MCI mail users 
ESCCMM10.ZIP  Esc Menu Interface (Deluxe).  
ESPDISK.ZIP   High speed 16550a serial driver for WIN3 & OS2 
ETGCE10G.ZIP  Extended Terminal Graphics Editor.  
EURO0309.ZIP  Euronews 03/06/93.  
EXC12.ZIP     Exc v1.2: Script Processor for Dos.  
EXITCONV.ZIP  Utility to Run Current Doors Under New Ra.  
EXPROT35.ZIP  Easy external comm protocol manager shell 
EZDIAL15.ZIP  
EZPV11.ZIP    New Protocol Engine for X,y,s,g,zmodem. 
EZZCOMM.ZIP   Scripts for ZComm/ProYam from TeleGodziulla 
FAP200.ZIP    File Announce Program v2.00.  
FAST550.ZIP   Documentation for using 16550 serial ports. 
FASTCOMM.ZIP  
FASTFONE.ZIP  FastFone v1.0 automatic phone dialer.  
FAXBUDDY.ZIP  Prints Fast Simple Fax Cover Sheets.  
FAXDIR.ZIP    Troubleshooting Guide for Faxdirect From Wordperfect. 
FAXLIST.ZIP   Dialing utility for use with IBM's PS/2.  
FEB_93.ZIP    Baycom Exchange 02/93.  
FFTMORSE.ZIP  Sound-Blaster Fft Morse Code.  
FIRST110.ZIP  1Streader 1.10 the Complete Offline Reader. 
FIRSTPCB.ZIP  1Streader 1.10 Access Pcb's User's Guide.  
FL_200.ZIP    
FONDIR55.ZIP  FonDir v5.5, Converts BBS list to dialing dir 
FONE2.ZIP     Describes proper wiring for inside your phone 
FONECAL2.ZIP  Modem calls pager when you have phone messages 
FONEF15A.ZIP  Fonefile V1.5a. Complete Name and Address. 
FORSYSOP.ZIP  SysOp discount deal on Sharp's 9600 bps modem 
FPCHK101.ZIP  Tips and Techniques on using a SupraFAXmodem and FaxTalk. 
FRA001.ZIP    Filesra Fixer-Upper.  
FRAFMOS.ZIP   AFMOSCOM is a uniquely designed open COM engine, split into 
FRGLOD10.ZIP  Hams: Yaesu Frg100 SW-RCVR Channel Data Prog. 
FSTHST22.ZIP  Set up US Robotics HST modem for fastest speed 
FTAG30.ZIP    TSR filename tagging utility for comm programs 
FTSCLIST.ZIP  FTSC Document Archive Directory.  
FTSCPROD.ZIP  FTSC Product Code List.  
FTTU110.ZIP   File Transfer Time Utility v1.10.  
FTTU120.ZIP   File Transfer Time Utility Calculator v1.20 
FTV20.ZIP     File Tagger, Time Estimator Combination  
FUTUR122.ZIP  TDD terminal program for the hearing impaired 
FWKLU116.ZIP  FWKLU116.ZIP remote Lookup kit use with FWKCS 
FXTERM.ZIP    Great New Term for Robo "Fx".  
GDSTERM.ZIP   From Gdsoft. Gui Terminal Program Allows External Protocols. 
GE10006G.ZIP  Gedit, Full Screen Message Editor.  
GED0240D.ZIP  New Version message editor [1of2].  
GED0240E.ZIP  New Version message editor [2of2].  
GENIUS15.ZIP  GENIUS v1.5 Comm terminal with EMS/XMS.  
GETFIL16.ZIP  Getfile v1.6 includes file descriptions  
GETFIL17.ZIP  Includes file descriptions when you download 
GETFIL17.ZIP  Includes file descriptions when you download 
GETS15.ZIP    BBS-controlled terminal pgm w/sound/graphics 
GETS15.ZIP    Decent comm program  
GGG_0100.ZIP  TW2 EGA/VGA graphics shell.  
GIFSHOW.ZIP   View a gif file while downloading it.  
GLASSMDM.ASM  COMM driver 
GLASSTTY.ASM  Dumb terminal for GLASSMDM comm driver 
GOLD22.ZIP    Gold v2.2: TSR to use Kermit as an emulator. 
GRAF4MAX.ZIP  Graffiti Wall for Maximus.  
GS25OS2.ZIP   Initial port of ghostscript v2.5.os/2 supt. 
GT1800_1.ZIP  Gt Power V18.00a. Communications program. File 1 of 4. 
GT1800_2.ZIP  Gt Power V18.00a. Communications program. File 2 of 4. 
GT1800_3.ZIP  Gt Power V18.00a. Communications program. File 3 of 4. 
GT1800_4.ZIP  Gt Power V18.00a. Communications program. File 4 of 4. 
GTERM360.ZIP  Land of devastation graphic terminal program. 
GWTERM26.ZIP  Term Program For Global Wars Door Game V2.6. 
H96SYSOP.ZIP  Sysop discount deals for Hayes modems 
HAMCOM21.ZIP  HamCOMM v2.1 Ham Radio Comm program.  
HARVEY_5.ZIP  Harvey's Robot Mailer System. 
HAYDESC.ZIP   Official description of Hayes .32/.32bis  
HAYESESP.ZIP  Sample code for using the Hayes Enh.Ser Port. 
HCOM_108.ZIP  
HOOK.ZIP      Takes a Hayes-compatible modem on or off hook 
HOST.ZIP      Host Modem to Telemate Dox. 
HOT80010.ZIP  Search for hotels 1-800 numbers by name.  
HPB.ZIP       Home-phone-book V2.5. Phone Book Program. 
HS112.ZIP     HS/Link high-speed bi-directional transfer  
HS120.ZIP     HSLINK External Protocol Release v1.20.  
HS120ANN.ZIP  Announcement of HSLINK Release 1.20.  
HS121B6.ZIP   Hs/Link External Protocol Beta Test. 
HSDFQMOD.ZIP  The correct bats for Q-modem 4.31 and hs-link 
HSINST11.ZIP  Info on how to install the HS/Link protocol. 
HSLNK112.ZIP  HS/Link Protocol Driver RELEASE v1.12.  
HSLSER10.ZIP  Hs/Link V1.0g1 Unlock/unprotect Phillips.  
HSLSHELL.ZIP  Shell Makes upload file list for HS-Link.  
HSQMBEW.ZIP   Optimize batch file transfers for HS/Link  
HST32BIS.SET  USR HSTDS V.32bis modem settings for use w/DDC 
HSTUPGD.ZIP   Info on upgrading the USRobotics HST9600 modem 
HST_SET5.ZIP  Setup tips for USR HST/DS/14400/v32bis modems 
HS_FILES.ZIP  Files for needed additions to all COMM progs. 
HS_GAP51.ZIP  Install HS/Link in GAP BBS 5.1  
HS_INST.ZIP   HS/Link external protocol installation tips 
HS_INST.ZIP   Instructions set-up files to install HS/LINK. 
HS_INST3.ZIP  Update Release of Hs-inst V3.0. 
HS_PB117.ZIP  Install HS/Link protocol with ProBoard 1.17 
HS_S1154.ZIP  Install HS/Link protocol in SuperBBS 1.15  
HS_SF30.ZIP   Install HS/Link in Spitfire BBS 3.0  
HS_SLBBS.ZIP  Install HS/Link in SearchLight BBS  
HS_UB208.ZIP  Install HS/Link in UltraBBS 2.08  
HS_VBB54.ZIP  Install HS/Link protocol in Virtual BBS 5.40 
HS_WC215.ZIP  Install HS/Link protocol in WildCat! v2.15  
HS_WC355.ZIP  Batch files for HSLink.  
HTERM.ZIP     Terminal comm for Japanese language w/ reader 
HVACNET.ZIP   Info on an HVAC echo network.  
HYDRAKIT.ZIP  HYDRA-COM v1.0, Bi-Directional Protocol.  
HYPERP11.ZIP  HYPERProtocol v1.1 Very fast and reliable  
HYPERP12.ZIP  
HYPRP11F.ZIP  HyperProtocol v1.1f, fast file transfer module 
IBM_64.ZIP    Logon to 64/128 Boards With IBM Clones!  
ICOM094A.ZIP  Intellicomm Communications v0.94. File 1 of 2. 
ICOM094B.ZIP  Intellicomm Communications v0.94. File 2 of 2. 
ICOM100A.ZIP  IntelliComm Comm v1.0 Unattended 1/2  
ICOM100B.ZIP  IntelliComm Comm v1.0 Unattended 2/2  
ICOMBIF.ZIP   Intellicomm BIF for Canada Remote Systems  
IDFREQ13.ZIP  x-ref freqs with agencies using those freqs. 
IMLFAINF.ZIP  Doc File and Sample Reports from Imlfa10.  
INFOTERM.ZIP  Infoterm Plus. Excellent Comm Program. Mouse Support. 
INFPOP21.ZIP  InfoPop 2.10:TSR utility to help use Telenet. 
INIT_200.ZIP  Database contains more than 400 strings for modem init. 
INPCP100.ZIP  Fast Automated Dialer for PC-Pursuit.  
INTERCOM.ZIP  The INTERCOM Mail and file transfer program. 
INTERU7B.ZIP  INTERCOM UPDATE to ver 1.07b DeltaFile!  
JAN_93.ZIP    Digicom Exchange.  
JAXHOST6.ZIP  JaxHost v6.0; Office-to-home Host Comm pkg. 
JAXHOST7.ZIP  JaxHost v7.0; Office-to-home host comm package 
JCOMM.ZIP     Decent FREEWARE Communications programs.  
K9X.ZIP       This is a Good Comm Program Enjoy It.  
K9XHST_1.ZIP  Canine Express HST v1.10, HST version. 1 of 2 
K9XHST_2.ZIP  Canine Express HST v1.10, HST version. 2 of 2 
KMTRM120.ZIP  Kamterm Version 1.20 Host Mode Terminal Prg. 
KOMM.ASM      COMM driver 
KQWK100.ZIP   KingQWK The first non-beta release!  
LA3.ZIP       Prefix area code finder for LA area.  
LA31.ZIP      Find BBS #'s see their cost per minute.  
LAND106.ZIP   Allows Landscape Printing of ASCII Docs.  
LBCVT20.ZIP   Convert an ASCII capture file to new format. 
LC100.ZIP     Lcom v1.0 Comm/Terminal package  
LC105.ZIP     LCOMM v1.05 Communications Package  
LGIT101B.ZIP  Message Area Popularity Tracker.  
LGRING10.ZIP  Logs time and date of incoming phone calls 
LIB_32A.ZIP   IBM: MT-32/LAPC librarian v1.10 for Sysex  
LINE_STD.ZIP  Info on minimum phone line standards 
LL200E.ZIP    LAN-LINK Ham Communications PPackage  
LN_FLTR.ZIP   Circuit Diagram to reduce phone line noise. 
LOCALZ.ZIP    LocalZ v1.00-offline Zippy scans frm filelist 
LOG2.ZIP      Otw Logging v2.0 by K1otw.  
LOGIN10.ZIP   Implements of Logins Allowed Per Day.  
LOGR10.ZIP    TSR Monitors Your Com Port Reports Usage.  
LOGR11.ZIP    Logs time and date of incoming phone calls 
LS.ZIP        Unix ls utility, better than DOS dir command 
LYNC20.ZIP    COMM PGM: X,X-1K,Y,Y BATCH, Z-MODEM/HOST/CHAT 
LYNC30.ZIP    Lync 3.0 small, fast comm utility.  
M1440ADD.ZIP  Help Info From Boca on Your 14.4 Modem!  
MAINHAY.ZIP   Hayes Modems Mainframe Configurations. 
MAKE9600.ZIP  Turn your Sloooo modem into a SPEDMASTER. 
MAXFH.ZIP     Fix Max/2 QWK File Handles.  
MAXHST3.ZIP   Maximize U.S. Robotics modem  
MBASE003.ZIP  Modem Base: offline BBS filelist handler.  
MBASE41.ZIP   ModemBase4.1 Offline BBS PRG TXT FILE Dbase! 
MC105DOC.ZIP  Multi-Com v1.05 communication pgm, 2of2, docs 
MC105PRG.ZIP  Multi-Com v1.05 communication pgm, 1of2, exes 
MCIMSNGR.ZIP  MCI FaxMail. Requires PAN subscription  
MDIC200.ZIP   The Modem Dictionary V2.00. Freeware. 
MDM400.ZIP    Misc Texts From Intel BBS About Modem/400(E). 
MDMTHRD.ZIP   
MDOC41.ZIP    Modem Doctor, Test Configure Your Modem.  
MDR30A.ZIP    MENUDIRECT v3.0 file/directory program mgr. 
MFS204.ZIP    Mesage Finder System. Works With Bluewave.  
MH060191.ZIP  MaxiHost: Ringback, callback, terminal Host 
MHST122.ZIP   Mankin's Megahost v1.16.  
MHXFR221.ZIP  External File Transfer Protocols for Megahost 2.21. 
MINES230.ZIP  Minefield v2.3 Uses Dorinfo Or Door.sys.  
MKAREA40.ZIP  V4.0 Areas.bbs Editor/Areafix Echo Utility  
MKDLIST.ZIP   Utility for use with HSLink 1.1.  
MLICK43.EXE   Slick Communications v4.3 small fast.  
MLINK100.ZIP  MicroLink v1.00  
MMLG_102.ZIP  Maximus Master List Generator v1.02.  
MMSCPT12.ZIP  MegaScript v1.2 for PCPlus and MegaMail  
MNP.ZIP       
MNPC12.ZIP    MNP protocol - includes Turbo C source 
MNP_10.ZIP    Description of MNP protocols 1 through 10 
MNP_10.ZIP    Description of MNP protocols 1 through 10 
MOD210A.ZIP   Perform basic modem ops w/in a BATch file.  
MODCMD16.ZIP  Sends commands to modem from DOS command line 
MODEM14.ZIP   Modem v1.4 Modem control Software (NOT MNP) 
MODEM20.ZIP   Detailed Explanation of MODEMS!  
MODEM293.ZIP  Procomm Plus 2.01 Modems.dat config. Includes 14,400 Baud. 
MODEM51.ZIP   51 Different Modem Initialization Strings.  
MODEMD52.ZIP  Modem Doctor v5.2s: Serial port modem diagnostics. 
MODEMD52.ZIP  Modem Doctor: Complete modem/UART diagnostics 
MODEMDAT.ZIP  Datastorm Modems Data. 
MODEMDOC.ZIP  NEW! ModemDoctor ver.4.0 Diagnostic utility. 
MODEMS.ZIP    Latest MODEMS.DAT from PCPLUS BBS.  
MODEMTXT.ZIP  Tutorial on operation of Hayes type modems 
MODFEVER.ZIP  Story of a modem addict 
MODM0518.ZIP  Latest Modems.Dat From Datastorm BBS 
MODM0617.ZIP  Latest Modems.Dat From Datastorm BBS. 
MODMART1.ZIP  Informative beginner's article about modems 
MPT110.ZIP    Matt Thomas' MPT protocol v1.10. Upgraded Puma 
MPTLOG10.ZIP  MpT protocol log file analyzer.  
MR0317.ZIP    Megareader 3/17/91. the megamail system  
MRUN109.ZIP   MAIL/RUN 1.09 Write date of last NET/mail run 
MSGFAX12.ZIP  Automates Faxing of *.Msg's.  
MSGOBJ10.ZIP  Docs API for Pip Message Base.  
MSIRIP.ZIP    Press Release From Mustang Software. 
MSI_151.ZIP   Mustang Release of Upgrades to Qmpro OLX. 
MT103SER.ZIP  Maxtools Serial File.  
MUFUS39N.ZIP  Microfusion MF30 terminal emulator w/TP5 src 
MULTFAX.ZIP   Run Class I FAX in a background DESQview window. 
MUTEX102.ZIP  PC to UNIX multitasking windowed comm. program 
MUTEX102.ZIP  PC to UNIX multitasking windowed comm. program 
MXLITE17.ZIP  Easy to Use Communications Program Protocols. 
MYCMM122.ZIP  MyComm v1.22: small, yet powerful, comm prog. 
MYCMM201.ZIP  Mycomm v2.01 Full Featured Comm Program.  
MYCMM211.ZIP  MyComm v2.11 powerful yet small with Zmodem support. 
MYCOMM10.ZIP  MyComm v1.0: small, yet powerful, comm pgm. 
NCBUSY.ZIP    v1.0 Utility to place your modem "off hook." 
NEWPROT2.ZIP  Replacement Protocol.ctl for Maximus 2.01Wb. 
NINF402.ZIP   Netinfo Bug Fix for Automagically Collection. 
NMODM218.ZIP  NModem v 2.18 data transfer protocol  
NMODM236.ZIP  NModem protocol driver w/MNP and 16550 support 
NOISE_1.ZIP   
NULLNODE.ZIP  Connect to TriBBS with a null modem cable. 
OBS072.ZIP    Amsat Orbital Elements.  
OBS114.ZIP    Amsat Orbital Elements.  
ODY15.ZIP     ODYSSEY 1.5 Powerful Comm Program.  
ODY150SH.ZIP  Odyssey v1.50 Multithreaded comm prog w/MNP 
ODYSSEY.ZIP   Odyssey Comm Program. Shareware Version.  
OFFLI154.ZIP  Offline the QWK Offline Reader.  
OFU102.ZIP    Opus Filename Updater for Opus 1.7+.  
OLX_TD.EXE    Offline Express--Replacement SLMR.  
OPDX102.ZIP   Ohio-PA Packet Cluster DX Bulletin.  
OPDX103.ZIP   Ohio-PA Packet Cluster DX Bulletin.  
OTTO.ZIP      Otto V1.5. Lets You Automate Communications. 
OTTO11.ZIP    Otto v1.1: automates virtually any task.  
OZBII22B.ZIP  OZBEXT II v2.2B: external protocol module.  
OZLOG11.ZIP   
OZPR12.ZIP    Processes Ozcis Catalog Files. 
PAGE101.ZIP   PAGEMATE v1.01 Dial another phone  
PAGE30.ZIP    Pagemate Telecom Util. Pager Msgs Modem.  
PAKET51.ZIP   Packet Radio terminal program v5.1.  
PANTHER2.ZIP  Panther 2.0: Freeware communications program 
PAVT150.ZIP   v1.50 Add Avatar, Ansi, Etc Emulations.  
PBILL20.ZIP   Phone Bill V2.00 Analyses Logfiles on Phone Costs. 
PCAMOD.ZIP    PC-Anywhere 4.X New Modem Drivers. 
PCB145MD.ZIP  Latest PCBModem  
PCCP019.ZIP   Communications package. Terminal emulator 
PCCP038.ZIP   Terminal emulator w/script processor, host  
PCFASDOC.ZIP  Fastdoc 2.0 converted for PCPlus 1.1x.  
PCFDL105.ZIP  TSR phone dialer,pluck numbers from screen. 
PCKERM21.ZIP  External Kermit protocol for COMM programs 
PCPABLE.ZIP   Checks if you are calling a PC Pursuit city 
PCPCHEK6.ZIP  Check number's accessibility via PC-Pursuit. 
PCREMOT2.ZIP  PC Magazine util for remote access to your PC 
PCT214A.ZIP   Realtime Satellite Tracker With 3D Graphics. 
PD7.ZIP       Hayes-compatible modem dialer for voice calls 
PDL31.ZIP     Prodigy Download v3.1, Supports delayed d/ls 
PDL315.ZIP    Utility for Prodigy Financial Data Downloads. 
PDL316.ZIP    D/l quotes from Prodigy.  
PDL322.ZIP    Download Stocks From Prodigy. 
PEAK14K.ZIP   Set Courier HST modem to optimum NRAM settings 
PEAKHST.ZIP   EXE program to set up/tune HST dual standard 
PEMAIL10.ZIP  TSR E-Mailbox.  
PEM_TSR.ZIP   Personal-E Mailbox TSR Email Program.  
PF270.ZIP     Port Finder v2.70: displays computer type.  
PGP22.ZIP     Latest Pretty Good Privacy Executables.  
PGP22SRC.ZIP  Latest Pretty Good Privacy Source Files.  
PHONRING.ZIP  Monitor modem for ring, beep via computer 
PHUNUSR.ZIP   How to get a good deal on USRobotics modems 
PHVN0004.ZIP  Protocol Heaven for WILDCAT Q-Modem.  
PHVN0005.ZIP  "Protocol Heaven" version 5.0.  
PICKUP14.ZIP  Written in SALT to enhance your Telix program. 
PILOTV2.ZIP   Comprehensive BBS and Terminal Commun Program 
PILOTV25.ZIP  Pilot version 2.5. A very good comm program. 
PIP200.ZIP    Editor Mail Processor for Pip Message Base. 
PIPELN10.ZIP  TSR connects COM1 and COM2 serial ports 
PIT352_A.ZIP  ANSI terminal program v3.52.  
PKX35A35.EXE  PKXARC Archive Programs  
PMCOM109.ZIP  PMComm telecommunications for OS/2 1.x 2.x. 
PMCOM211.ZIP  Version 2.11 of PMCOMM communications program. Shareware ver 
PMOPGUID.ZIP  Description of modem initialization codes 
PNS51A.ZIP    
POINT156.ZIP  Ppoint Professional Point System.  
PORTID.ZIP    Tells you what port your modem is on. 
POSTLINK.ZIP  Configure Script Files for Combrain Postlink. 
POWER.ZIP     Text file explaining how to be a power user. 
POWERI.ZIP    POWERNODE vI Adds 6-9 protocols to comm pkg 
PP144SY2.ZIP  Practical 14.4k modem Sysop deals Exp. 9/30 
PP3SHARE.EXE  MicroStar Ltd's NAPLPS terminal program.  
PPIII.ZIP     Microstar NAPLPS terminal comm program  
PPLZH25G.ZIP  (Atari ST/TT) Huffman Compression Engine.  
PPV17UP.ZIP   Information on Chipset upgrade for PP14400FXSA 
PRIVACC.ZIP   PC shares phone line with FAX/answer machine 
PRM307.ZIP    Pro-master V3.07. Enhancer for Prodigy Software. 
PROCOM21.ZIP  Procomm 2.01 New Modem.dat, PCinstal.EXE. 
PROD21.ZIP    Spelling Dictionary to use with Prodigy.  
PRODBOCA.ZIP  Set up a Boca 14.4 V.32 EXTERNAL for Prodigy. 
PROM0406.ZIP  ProMenu - external protocol shell 
PROM302.ZIP   Promaster v3.02 Prodigy utility  
PROM304.ZIP   PRO-MASTER: A Prodigy Enhancer.  
PROPORT.ZIP   Run another pgm from modem editor shellout 
PR_RA20G.ZIP  Protocol.ra, External Protocol Setup.  
PR_RA2G2.ZIP  Protocol.ra, External Protocol Setup.  
PSMN12.ZIP    Use images and sculpted 3D screens for PS2. 
PTQWK_B2.ZIP  Ptqwk Mail Door v1.00b2 for Superbbs.  
PVTS109.ZIP   Private Secretary v1.09-Phone Monitor.  
QAT10A.ZIP    QuickAT v1.0; Quick/Fast/Small Modem Utility 
QB1SVW.ZIP    Genie Adjunct: Allows you to play Genie's QB. 
QBCOMM33.ZIP  A great comm program that is Desqview aware 
QBSER21.ZIP   QBSerial routines (COMM routines for QB/PDS) 
QCOM281.ZIP   QCom v2.81 compact communications.  
QCOM290.ZIP   New release of QCOM compact terminal program 
QCOM292.ZIP   Latest Version of Qcom Term Program.  
QCOM293A.ZIP  QCom v2.93 compact communications program.  
QCOM293B.ZIP  QCOM v2.93b. A compact communications pgm.  
QFE42.ZIP     Q-Modem "FON" book Editor  
QKTAG10A.ZIP  On-line file tagger and calculator.  
QKTERM2.ZIP   QKTerm v2.0, Scrabble players term program  
QKTERM42.ZIP  Term pgm for the SCRABBLE DOOR.  
QM5KEY.ZIP    Use cursor keys w/fse in WC! via Qmodem5  
QMGATE12.ZIP  Qmodem Pro Script for Mci and Cis Access. 
QMLOG100.ZIP  Reports QM log file stats to file/msg  
QMMD0793.ZIP  Qmodem MDF Modem Def File 7/93 Update. 
QMMDF816.ZIP  Quick Config Modem Config File.  
QMP150.ZIP    Patch for Qmodempro Ver. 1.X Releases. 
QMP15INF.ZIP  List of Changes Made to Qmodem Pro In V1.5. 
QT541.ZIP     Easy to use menu-driven comm pgm w/XModem prot 
QTALK541.ZIP  Q-talk v5.41 small communications program  
QVT374.ZIP    VT220 terminal emulator with file xfer 
QWKM010B.ZIP  Qwkmerge allows combination of several .qwk 
RACE200.ZIP   Janke's Remoteaccesscallereditor for RA 2.  
RAPC21.ZIP    Ra2 Personnel Checker v2.1.  
RATPAK20.ZIP  A Bundle of Small Sysop Utilities for Ra.  
RAXS101.ZIP   R.emote A.ccess X.itinfo S.plitter for Ra.  
RBCOM341.ZIP  RBcomm: lean and mean DESQview-aware comm prg 
RCMD20.ZIP    RemoteCommand:Doorway for remote drops to DOS 
RECORD12.ZIP  Description Record12 (.Pak).  
RECORD20.ZIP  Record v2.0 Auto record SALT scripts for Telix. 
REMCTL58.ZIP  TSR, remote control computer's answer mode 
REMFAX.ZIP    MVRFAX 1.00 Free Utility for ZyXEL Modems. 
REPLY.ZIP     Point-n-shoot enhancer for ol mail readers. 
RFAX13.ZIP    RainbowFAX LTD: Color fax without a fax card 
RIPTM154.ZIP  Ripterm V1.54. Terminal Program for Viewing Rip Graphics. 
RM506BSP.ZIP  Zyxel S+ Rom Upgrades (Beta Version) S+ Model Only. 
ROBO40_A.ZIP  R-O-B-O-C-O-M-M Version 4.0 (File 1 of 2)  
ROBO40_B.ZIP  R-O-B-O-C-O-M-M Version 4.0 (File 2 of 2)  
ROBO42_A.ZIP  
ROBO42_B.ZIP  
ROBOCLAS.ZIP  Text file of the class on RoboCom  
ROBOM12U.ZIP  Robomail 1.0 to 1.2 Upgrade Kit. 
ROBOTERM.ZIP  Roboterm v3.0 ANSI/ASCII terminal program.  
ROBO_HSL.ZIP  Batch files for simultaneous REP/QWK transfer 
ROBQUO02.ZIP  Rob's Quoter v0.2 Small/Fast quoter; any BBS 
RS204.ZIP     Displays RS-232 serial port status 
RS232OF2.ZIP  Fix port conflicts, turns off all 4 COM ports 
RSHLLGEO.ZIP  For Geoworks ensemble's Geocomm  
RT153_54.ZIP  Patch File to Update Ripterm Upgrade V1.53 to V1.54. 
RUE_200.ZIP   (V2.00) Remote User Editor for Superbbs.  
RUS_COMM.ZIP  Cyrillic editor with modem communication 
RVS110.ZIP    Rview Shell v1.10 Shell for Rview.  
SAFFRON.ZIP   Demo version of SAFFRON File Transfer Program 
SALES35N.ZIP  Online Sales Door, Shows Pcx, Need Sl_pcx12. 
SCOPE140.ZIP  Software RS-232 serial communications  
SCR103.ZIP    New PC Communications program from Britain 
SCR104A.ZIP   Communications program with scripts.  
SCRMGR.ZIP    Low-level script manager creation engine.  
SDIAL501.ZIP  StarDial v5.0, Starlink Dialing utility.  
SDPD101D.ZIP  Streamline Design Digiboard Protocol Module Version 1.01d. 
SDPDL11D.ZIP  Streamline Design (Lite) Digi Protocol Module Version 1.01d. 
SDPL101D.ZIP  Streamline Design (Lite) Protocol Module Version 1.01d. 
SEDIT270.ZIP  Menueditor for Sbbs. Supports Wysiwyg.  
SENDCOM2.ZIP  Send string or file to communication port  
SERIAL.AQM    Serial/COMM port driver (squeezed) 
SERIAL.DOC    Doc for SERIAL.AQM 
SERINT.AQM    Interrupt-driven serial port driver 
SFC33.ZIP     Transfer files from serial to serial port.  
SFUED112.ZIP  Stormfront User Editor v1.12 for Opus 1.7X+. 
SHGIF55E.ZIP  Allows Viewing Gif's as You Download Them.  
SHIPSHOR.ZIP  Coastal Ship Shore Frequencies and Sked.  
SIMPCOM3.ZIP  SIMPCOM v3.0 Simple Comm and Terminal program 
SIMT20C.ZIP   
SINBETA.ZIP   A new X-Fer protocol, DOS functions.  
SKHST105.ZIP  Super8K HST v1.05 FAST transfer protocol 
SKHST105.ZIP  Super8K HST v1.05 FAST transfer protocol 
SKHST106.ZIP  SuperK HST protocol engine. 24 protocols!!  
SLHEAD20.ZIP  Add custom headers to your SLMR reply's.  
SLICK54.EXE   Modem terminal program. Easy setup  
SLICK54.ZIP   Easy to set up but powerful modem terminal. 
SLICK57.ZIP   Slick Terminal v. 5.7 small comm program.  
SLICK64.ZIP   Slick Modem Program Version 6.4. 
SLICKUNP.ZIP  The Unprotect For The Slick Terminal Program. 
SMART400.ZIP  Using Smartcomm Software with Intel 400 Modems. 
SMODEM.ZIP    Send A String to Modem From Command Line. 
SMODMCFG.ZIP  Sample Modem Configurations.  
SMTV11A.ZIP   Script Modem Terminal v1.1. Full Scripting. 
SORTFON.ZIP   A Simple, Free Utility for Sorting the Dialing Directory. 
SORTTLX.ZIP   Move directory listing.  
SPC3.ZIP      LiteSPC v3.00 Capture Serial Port Data.  
SPEED110.ZIP  QWK mail reader; very good.  
SPHM10.ZIP    Salt Programming Hypertext Manual v1.0.  
SPORSTRX.ZIP  This is a List of Settings for Users.  
SPSTRP10.ZIP  Command Line Uuencoded File Preprocessor. 
STARDIAL.ZIP  STARDIAL Standalone AutoDialer for Star Link 
STATUS11.ZIP  Generate mail status bulletin for Postlink. 
SUB100.ZIP    Submover v1.00 Move Messages Based To/From. 
SUB40.ZIP     A Robocomm add-on to change file extensions on Files. 
SUNCOM.ZIP    Turbo Pascal v5.5 communications program 
SUNCOM.ZIP    Turbo Pascal v5.5 communications program 
SUNOU332.ZIP  Calculate Sun Outages for Satellite Receivers 
SUPRAHLP.ZIP  Text File with Help for Suprafax Modems and Line Noise. 
SUPRATXT.ZIP  
SUPRAUP.ZIP   Info on Suprafax V32bis Modem Rom Upgrade.  
SUPRINFO.ZIP  Latest Help Texts From Supra Corp BBS. 
SUPZBATS.ZIP  How to Set Up Szmodem V2.0 (Szmodem.Exe). 
SYSDEAL.ZIP   Sysop discount deal from US Robotics. 921111 
SYSMOD20.ZIP  Money-Saver Sysop Modem Discounts.  
SYSMOD22.ZIP  Money-saver Sysop Modem Discounts Report #22 
SYSOFFER.ZIP  Compucom's sysop offer for new 9600 bps modem 
SZMODMSE.ZIP  Logitech mouse support for SZModem protocol 
SZSUP200.ZIP  Supplemental Utilities For Szmodem 2.00.  
TAG110B.ZIP   TAGFILE v1.10 batch uploading tagging utility 
TAG151.ZIP    Tag! Menu-driven util w/fast, easy tagging  
TAG15106.ZIP  The ultimate file tagging program v1.51.06. 
TAGMIKES.ZIP  List of Over 80 Taglines.  
TAGS3.ZIP     Some Good Taglines.  
TASS35.ZIP    The Answering Service Software v3.5  
TB025.ZIP     TurboBoard v0.25-Asynchronous communication 
TBHV2_0.ZIP   Find Best Bargains when playing TRADEWARS V1 
TBRD040.ZIP   The 1st true NAPLPS bbs/Terminal program.  
TCAN20.ZIP    Telecommunications program.  
TDD56.ZIP     Terminal for hearing/speech impaired users 
TE2_110C.ZIP  High Quality Shareware Comm Program For OS/2 
TEGA.ZIP      Fast ADM3A/SOROC term emulator up to 19200 bps 
TELSCAN.ZIP   Batch file to scan uploads for hostplus.  
TER100.ZIP    Terminate V1.0. the Final Terminal Program. 
TER50.ZIP     Terminate v5.0 Communications Program.  
TERM.ZIP      TSR interrupt-driven H19 terminal emulator 
TERM10E.ZIP   Generic PD terminal with source  
TERMINAL.ZIP  Add-on to the INTERCOM.  
THOST300.ZIP  Small simple host program for modem call-ins 
THP100.ZIP    TinyHost Plus V1.00 Simple host program.  
THSHAM.ZIP    Ham Radio Packet Terminal Program  
TIMESY22.ZIP  Util which will set DOS real time clocks.  
TINYTERM.ZIP  Smallest comm program I've seen. Bare Bones 
TLXDLAXS.ZIP  Two SALT scripts for fast batch downloading. 
TLXTW200.ZIP  Telix Trade Wars 2002 v2.x Scripts version 2.0 
TM042.ZIP     TurMODEM NAPLPS comm terminal program.  
TM120.ZIP     Turbomodem Naplps Compatible Terminal Communications Program 
TMFIN10.ZIP   
TMLINK.ZIP    The Missing Link v1.0, communications program 
TMOD710.ZIP   TModem protocol v7.10 fast external protocol. 
TMOD900.ZIP   Latest version of Tmodem.  
TMODM900.ZIP  TMODEM, fast file transfer protocol module 
TOOPHIDE.ZIP  TOOPWARE's TOOPHIDE hide/unhide files/dirs. 
TOTALTM2.ZIP  Totaltm v2.0, totals the elapsed online time 
TPLZH025.ZIP  Huffman Compression Engine V0.25.  
TR3_20.ZIP    Control a PC from remote.  
TR4_23.ZIP    v4.23 Remote PC communications control.  
TR4_26.ZIP    Operate PC from a remote location, or monitor 
TRAXX30.ZIP   
TRIBBS31.ZIP  Tribbs, Small-Powerful Easy to Maintain BBS. 
TRM20.ZIP     Technical reference manual for Hayes modems 
TSET72.ZIP    Timeset V7.20: Set Your Pc's Clock.  
TSRCOM30.ZIP  TSRCOM version 3.0  
TSRCOMM.ZIP   TSR serial device driver 
TS_50QRP.ZIP  Reduce TS-50 Power to Qrp Standards.  
TT20.ZIP      TurboTerm 2.0 Telcom program.  
TTY.ZIP       Communication control written in Basic  
TURSHOW8.ZIP  Turboshow Naplps Compatible File V. 
TW2_1114.ZIP  Sherrick Morris Classic Trade Wars Door.  
TWVIEW88.ZIP  Trade Wars 2002 Universe Mapping Utility  
T_TERM.ZIP    TNT ITM v1.00 communications protocols  
UARTTY12.ZIP  Displays type of UART chip for all comm ports 
UPDOWN.ZIP    RBBS/TBBS 2.2 UL/DL protocol changer.  
UPLDR101.ZIP  Updates Uploader Name and D/L Count.  
URD101.ZIP    Remoteaccess User Registration Door, v1.01. 
USCRIPT.ZIP   Universal script file for telix. 
USRMAN.ZIP    USRobotics user manual, updated for v.32bis 
USRTRAD.ZIP   USRobotics trade-in offer on 9600 bps modems 
USRUPGRD.ZIP  Information on USRobotics Upgrade policy.  
USR_FAX.ZIP   Fax/Data modem Press Release from US Robotics 
UU161.ZIP     Ultimate Universe Ver 1.61. 
UUEXE515.ZIP  UUEncode/Decode pair from Richard Marks.  
UWPC201.ZIP   PCUnix multi-window comm pgm, w/server src 
UZ.ZIP        Automates routines you do on your d/l files. 
V42INTRO.TXT  Introduction to CCITT V.42  
V42USRGD.TXT  V.42 User's Guide For V-Series Modems.  
VCD10.ZIP     VCD 1.0 Enhanced CD utility for OS/2 DOS  
VFX004WB.ZIP  Votefix V0.04wb Elections by Net/Echomail.  
VISCOM.ZIP    Communication program, browse manual 
VIVA.ZIP      Correct Setting For The Viva 9642e Modem.  
VMG30.ZIP     Voiceman V3.0. Term Program with Built in Fax and Voice. 
VTBAN.ZIP     PC script for Banyan Vines 4.x/Ven-Tel 9600 
WAKE_UP.ZIP   Use Your Modem to Give Yourself Wake-up Call. 
WEAKLNK1.ZIP  Latest version of The Weak Link I.  
WHATIS23.ZIP  What Is It!? V2.3: file identification pgm. 
WHATL275.ZIP  Use 1 phone for modem, FAX, and voice calls 
WHTLN20.ZIP   Allows you to use multiple comm hardware 
WHTPRT40.ZIP  Displays system serial ports & IRQ assignments 
WINPHN10.ZIP  Comma delimited ASCII phone list viewer  
WIZLINK1.ZIP  Communications interface for Sharp's WIZARD  
WIZTERM.EXE   Compact terminal program and easy to use.  
WTERM110.ZIP  Bare Bones Communication, All Thats Needed. 
WXMD100I.ZIP  Public domain WXMODEM protocol driver 1.00i 
WXMD100R.ZIP  Wxmodem v1.00r, 4/91. public domain version. 
WXMDM108.ZIP  WXModem protocol file transfer module, v1.08 
WXTRM305.ZIP  Terminal program for WXModem file transfers 
WXTRM310.ZIP  
XFER57.ZIP    Shell adds multiple protocols to comm progs 
XFR54.ZIP     XFER v5.4 comm prog add-on for ext. protocol 
XNET101.ZIP   Extract Nets/Regions/Zones from Raw Nodelis. 
XPC.FRM       Order form for getting X.PC files on disk 
XPC401.ZIP    X.PC v4.00+ communications driver, with source 
XPORT21A.ZIP  Transfer files via serial port.  
XR301OS2.ZIP  Xrobot 3.01 for OS/2 2.X (32-Bit).  
XRS502.ZIP    Xrs Offline Reader for 286-386-486 Computers. 
YKH121.ZIP    Japanese Vt320, Works w/Modems Decnet.  
YKH122.ZIP    Japanese VT320, req. VGA, uses modem & DECNET 
ZCH1778.ZIP   COMM v17,78 from Omen Technology, help files. 
ZCOM_10B.ZIP  ZCOM-1 v1.0b: Very Easy Comm Program.  
ZDIAL21.ZIP   Maintain Phone Database, Dial With Your Modem 
ZFAX223.ZIP   DOS FAX+voice util for ZyXEL modems. 
ZHINT77.ZIP   150+ ASCII Text Files for help with Modems. 
ZIP152.ZIP    ZIP v1.52: fast serial file transfer utility. 
ZIP161.ZIP    ZIP v1.61: fast serial file transfer.  
ZIPFS162.ZIP  Zip v1.62 Fast Serial File Transfer Util.  
ZIPIT.ZIP     Nice backup utility!  
ZLFLIP10.ZIP  Zenith MinisPort/TurbosPort swaps COM1&2  
ZMAX320.ZIP   
ZOC102B.ZIP   Zap-O-Com Version 1.02 Beta. This GREAT Comm Program just ge 
ZOC110.ZIP    Zap-O-Comm PM terminal application for OS/2, version 1.10. N 
ZR245L1.ZIP   ZyRion v2.45, fast file transfer protocol.  
ZRION101.ZIP  ZyRion, windowed file transfer protocol driver 
ZUPGRADE.ZIP  Fax in form to upgrade your Zyxel Eproms to version 5.XX. 
ZUTIL_F2.ZIP  Utility program for voice on a ZyXEL modem 
ZUTSR100.ZIP  Identify voice calls to a BBS with ZyXEL modem 
ZVM124.ZIP    Zyxel Voice Mail V1.24.

A Posible Network Vision - Net Model X

2010-10-28T21:01:00.000-05:00

If you close your eyes tightly and consider the future of the Internet, what does your mind's eye see? Most of us would say "Depends on the day!" Fair enough. Let me share with you what I will call Net Model X for a moment. This is just a capture of one of the possibilities.

The vision starts with deep breathing and relaxation: relaxing the arguments of peer-peer vs. cloud computing, thin vs. thick client, and all the other computing debates. These all become options instead of preferences. Addressing becomes automated and simplified - it disappears. The Internet is a smart, flexible cloud that supports client-server, peer-peer, as well as cloud computing ecosystems concurrently and effortlessly with a special new twist: if you want a computer or server, the cloud simply provides it to you. You don't need a box with memory and disk drive if you want a server. No, all you do is birth a virtual machine inside either your router or the service providers router or a dedicated virtual store on the network. You select the server software of your choice from an online OS vending machine, it installs and you can configure it. You can make this server private or public. Again, addressing is meaningless and fully automated.

The appliance you use can still certainly have disks and memory if you need it (developers likely will), but most of us simply have a killer I/O appliance (a table sized HD screen that can integrate multiple "desktops" with a physical motion detector so my hand becomes the "mouse" and of course the irreplaceable keyboard in the form of a foldable mat that can be standard size, compact or supper compact) and Net Model X does the rest. If I need a farm of servers, then this is provided to me by a service provider attached to the Net Model X. I can install software from a SW Vending machine if I want or use network based applications.

Net Model X costs me money to use. I am billed based on an algorithm that combines processing MIPS with memory consumption and application usage metering plus support - taxing me is eliminated. This billing can be offset by advertising - but a more effective advertising - one that is controlled by me - on things I have interest in. The more I accept advertising, the less my bill is. Advertisers have to pay more to get to hard to reach people, therefore offsetting the higher costs of their services. Regardless, I have consumed less hardware and using less power/cooling/heating at home or work lowering my carbon footprint and lessening the land fill burden of my upgrades. I am also able to do more without as much travel - the usual benefits of networking all still apply. The point is that Net Model X is easily paid for in savings that the technology provides.

My vision of Net Model X blurs quickly in areas like the evolution of television to non-existence, replaced by my ability to watch content as selected from a Video Vending Machine. News and current events will be available in the evolved Twitter model where individuals provide feeds - I can select an event from a global perspective, zoom into the event and then select from one of many feeds to view or listen - like a director would in a TV studio. Social Networking has evolved on Net Model X to one giant tool embedded in Net Model X that like the television director model I can build my circle zoom into the circle and interface with anyone in my circle as needed. The Net X Model also has a new search and information retrieval system that is 1000 times more powerful and accurate than today's grazing model. The ability to focus searching is built into the tools preventing or allowing search results that are more accurate. I'll stop here in this blurry part of the vision since I don't want to confine your imagination on where all this part could go!

So how does distributing and providing Net Model X work? A few more deep breaths and concentration. Delivery requires dedicated teams of people - today's service providers, to deploy the bandwidth, maintain the bandwidth freeways. They are the new "Geek Squad". They are more trained, more knowledgeable than ever before. If Net Model X is broken for someone, then someone has to be reachable locally and in a distributed fashion. They need to have local language and ecosystem knowledge. They provide the bandwidth and the support and earn part of my bill for doing so. I am not sure how long the multiple provider model exists in the Net Model X. After all, for some, it has never existed! It really does not matter, until everyone is served by one method, options will exist.

Mind you, this vision of Net Model X is not completely out of the question. There are a number of network innovations and directions that already hint of this vision as being a real possibility. Then again, now that I am discussing it with the readers of this blog, Murphy's Law will apply, and some of it may never happen. Time will tell.

The CellStream Intranet Story - Visitors Welcome!

2010-08-24T19:51:00.007-05:00

Many of you associated with CellStream already know that we have been busy over the past several months renovating our web presence by adding the CellStream Intranet site. I thought I would write a few lines about it so folks would know what has been going on, become aware of great new information available, and even copy our approach for their own businesses.

Let's start with the selection of methodology and a little history. CellStream was an early adopter of the Microsoft SharePoint system originally released back in 2002. We left a web service called Intranets.com and built our entire intranet/extranet around MS SharePoint 2003. We were anxious when SharePoint 2007 was released for the expected additional features. Our bubble was quickly popped when the upgrade was, well, full of seams, procedures, and required that we buy a $50 Microsoft book for the procedure. Nonetheless, the upgrade worked. About a month later we found that the upgrade has a few dozen really nasty strings attached, and further updates to our Windows 2003 Server kept causing our intranet/extranet to fail. Subsequently we halted all updates, the displeasure offset by our general happiness with SharePoint. Seeking advice, we were told that the move to Server 2010 was not possible without risk of loosing everything we had built. Support from Microsoft went unanswered. This made us huddle and reevaluate our position.

Option 1 was to build a new Server 2010 and rebuild our backoffice and sideoffice databases in SharePoint from scratch. There were a dozen or more consultants ready to bill hourly rates to accomplish this. We guessed the cost would be a round $20,000.
Option 2 was to evaluate the developing CMP (Content Management Platform) software available for free at our web hosting partner. None of us knew much about Joomla or Drupal, and we had no idea what effort it would take to rebuild our services. None of the consultants we spoke to about the SharePoint effort offered any sympathy to these tools, which raised our curiosity to say the least.

There seemed to be little risk in checking out the Joomla and Drupal platforms, so we loaded them from our web site control panel and began to play. After several days playing with these tools, we really appreciated the interface and usability of both platforms. Both are powerful and flexible with many options. That said, the preference was Joomla for its easy interface.

With the selection made we began to experiment with the amount of information we could replicate from our SharePoint site. Shared Calendar - check, in fact even better. Shared file systems - check, just as nice. Shared Project areas - check - in fact even better. A little side note here: we had actually left SharePoint for an online service called Basecamp. We liked Basecamp a lot, but it was not cheap. On Joomla, we use ProjectFork - which we absolutely adore - it contains files areas, time logging, bulletin board note tracking, auto emails, and much more built right in.

At this point we were committed. We moved articles into the site, added FAQs, moved many things from our public web site such as course listings, consulting service and learning services descriptions, News, Events, and even our favorite list of TED.com videos! It was all easy and super fast. The process continues! We are so happy with Joomla, ProjectFork and other tools, we have sent our contributions.

So what is the bad news? We have yet to replace the "list" function of SharePoint. This function essentially created Access/Excel-like databases for us to customize-ably track a myriad of information. We continue our efforts to replace this function. This downfall in the project has been offset by the more robust features of Joomla and the add-on's we have used so far. If you know of a way to replace this capability, let us know!

Tell us what you think of our new Intranet/Extranet venture! We would also love to hear about some of your favorite Joomla add-on's.

Turning Old Computers into Tools for Subscribers

2010-07-22T20:58:00.000-05:00

Written by Andrew Walding

Thursday, 22 July 2010 13:06

This article is directed at my many Independent Telephone/Rural Local Exchange company friends. It is the details behind a story I often talk about at conferences and training sessions.

One of the main challenges for the RLECs is to up the "take-rate" of broadband in their served area. There are a number of barriers we discuss in our POTS to Pipes: Front Office seminar. The proper use of broadband requires an Internet appliance in the subscribers home. For many, the cost of a computer/appliance or the lack of knowledge on how to use one is the critical issue holding them back from access of the Internet.

I have started the following initiative with a number of my RLEC friends and success to date has been formidable. Most telephone companies often store their old computers used in the front office. By taking these computers out of the closet, as it were, and wiping them of any pertinent data, then loading them with a free operating system, they can be handed out to the customers in need as a "no strings attached" internet appliance, free of charge. Along with a free month of broadband service, this is usually all that is needed to overcome the barrier.

Here is all you need:

Step 1:

Make sure the computer has all the necessary peripherals and ensure it boots up properly and that everything works.

Step 2:

Go to the following link: UBUNTU and download the .ISO image and burn a CD or two to use as the new operating system. Important Note: You will need an ISO image burner - not a simple copy the ISO image to the CD.

Step 3:

Install he CD into the CD ROM drive and boot from this CD. Install Ubuntu onto the hard disk as the new Operating System. During this process you will wipe the old disk format and any contents on the hard disk.

Step 4:

Once installed, remove the CD (it can be used on the next system). Boot up the the computer and create a simple user and password. Log in, and connect the system to the Internet. test that it is operational, that the major components are installed. This is a good time to run an update, as well as install OpenOffice (a free Microsoft Office compatible package with Word processor, Spreadsheet, Presentation, and more) and any other preferred components.

Process complete!

The computer is now fully functional and ready to be handed out.

But There's More

Check out the System> Administration> Networking area and how easy it is to instruct the user remotely to test their connections!

Lastly, I suggest spending a few instructional moments with the user hitting on the following how to's:

Power Up/Down
Logging in
Accessing the Internet via Firefox
Accessing Email using Thunderbird
The Open Office Suite
Games
Utilities

That should do it. Good luck. Happy Barrier Busting!!

Impolite Travelers

2010-07-22T12:12:00.005-05:00

Just a quick blog to complain about impolite travelers. What is your worst travel experience with an impolite traveler? Would love to hear some others comments and experiences.

As a frequent traveler, I have logged millions of frequent flier miles attaining lifetime status on several airlines. As air travel goes, there has been a steady decay in the service level and fun of flying, even internationally. On a recent cross country flight (EWR to LAX) the passengers in coach received only two drink service cycles, with no snacks (of course limited and pricey on board food was available), and no on board entertainment. This forces passengers to pack on their own meals/snacks to endure the hours of boring travel, and to bring as many gadgets as they can fit underneath the seat in front of them. The result is perhaps the most smelly, cluttered and trash filled cabin possible, something that not even designers of the plane contemplated. I often have flash backs to the days I used Greyhound buses for travel, minus the flight attendants who are present "primarily for my safety". Furthermore, working on the plane has become nearly impossible unless you have a small laptop that can remain open even with the seat back in front fully reclined.

With the degradation of service aside, the horrible behavior, lack of respect, and impoliteness of the travelers that are flying these days is more notable and more annoying. Perhaps my problems have been compounded by a recent streak of events, but my gut feel is that I must learn to accept and expect even more of the same.

On a recent flight between DFW and LAX a couple with three children occupied 4 seats. This meant Mom, seated directly behind me, always had one child in her lap. Regardless of the safety issue, the result was a constant kicking of my seat back for three and half hours and me actually leaning forward to avoid the pounding in my back. My fellow row mate in the center seat moved prior to take off to an open center seat elsewhere in the plane.

On yet another flight from DFW to ORD I was assigned an aisle seat. Next to me in the window was an individual who was three times my size. They were unable to sit in the seat with the arm rest down nor were they able to properly affix their seat belt (even with the provided extension, I am not sure it was ever properly buckled). The result was they occupied their seat plus half of my seat and I sat at a 45 degree angle the entire trip. To top this off, there were two students behind me with their iPods, and they both lowered their tray tables immediately after take off and proceeded to use them as drum platforms for most of the flight (the pounding ceased whenever they went to the bathroom). Thank goodness this flight was only about two hours in length.

I have noticed there are less and less business travelers lately, probably due to budget cuts and the great internet tools that allow online meetings and such. That said, those of us who continue our travel patterns are faced with a very dangerous event that I will call "sudden seat back recline" or SSBR. I was seated one row behind and across the aisle from a business woman who opened her IBM laptop as soon as the announcement was made allowing electronic device usage. About 4 minutes later, a huge explosion of plastic and electronics burst in this poor woman's face as the passenger in the seat in front of her slammed their seat back in to the recline position trapping the laptop screen in the cutout where the tray table fits, and crushing it. No apology from that passenger, they just closed their eyes and went to sleep. We all helped pick up the pieces for the distraught business woman. I always look behind me and then if no one is using a PC recline slowly. If someone is working I respect their needs and don't recline until they finish or their battery dies!

My last example is one of a woman who was sitting at the bulkhead in coach. You cannot have any items in your lap nor at your feet in these seats and several announcements are made regarding this important safety requirement before the flight attendants begin their patrols. In disregard to the PA announcements the woman held her purse on her lap. The flight attendant asked the woman to stow her purse very politely, offering to find a spot for takeoff, and return the purse after it was safe to get up. The woman verbally abused the flight attendant, and when the woman's row mate stepped in to support the flight attendant, abused him as well. It took nearly 20 minutes to resolve the issue, delaying the flight departure. To top it off, when we landed, the same woman was on her cell phone seconds after touch down relaying her story to the called party and vowing never to fly the airline again. I believe a poll of all surrounding passengers would have indicated agreement and relief we would never see this woman on a flight on that airline.

So what is the fix? Some of my fellow frequent fliers say raise the prices and air travel will be returned to the people who need it. I don't think this is viable for the airline nor the traveler. I think a more viable option is for the airlines to take some steps to help all of us. Announcements could be made at the gate regarding passenger etiquette, consideration for fellow passengers/flight crews, and important safety requirements could be reviewed. Sure, for those of us well aware of these things, the announcements will become boring and repetitive. However, it it improves air travel just a little and educates the newbie travelers, the trade-off is worth it. Frankly, I have no idea how to handle the oversize passengers. What do my readers think?

My advice to frequent fliers? Lower your expectations, bring your ear plugs or noise canceling headphones, and cross your fingers.

CellStream On-Line School Continues to Grow

2010-05-30T22:19:00.004-05:00

Back in September of 2009, we launched the CellStream On-Line School (www.cellstream.com/csiols). Since that time the school has become a busy place, and the content continues to expand. Combining broadband and the younger folks depending more and more on the Internet for information and resources, on-line training is a natural step for us. Certainly we are not the leading innovators in this area, but we have been observing what we like and don't like about on-line training, and factoring that into our own on-line school.

These days, we teach almost every course with some use of the On-Line school system. For instance, if you attend one of our hands on lab classes, we register you in the class through the On-Line School and provide access during the course to reference materials, links, and much more. This practice enriches the experience for our students by combining Instructor led classes with on-line materials. Some classes are taught via the web, and the On-Line school provides the meeting place, exercise foundation, and modality that keeps a virtual classroom closely in tune to the materials and to the instructor.

We also provide a number of free ("guest access") classes and reference materials that further enhance our students' knowledge and improved their access to relevant information sources. For example we have built two databases with both Internet and Telecommunications history information, rich with timelines and images. This way when historical references are made in our classes, students can actually look a little deeper via the On-Line school avoiding wasted time searching the trillion web pages that may have information they are looking for.

We continue to improve the experience, and we gratefully accept student input to continually refine and improve our content.

CellStream encourages you to have a look around, and we would love to hear what you think!

Google Buzz - a Few Initial Thoughts

2010-02-28T10:09:00.004-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, Google introduce Google Buzz. I jumped in to test the waters. Right off the bat, it appeared to be a Twitter/Facebook type social networking tool, and in a crowded market of those tools, it seemed like it was a little late to the party.

Well, a couple of weeks have gone by, and I have monitored my Google buddies to see how they have used the tool, and while my sampling is small, I find that just a few of them use the tool. The ones that do have been experimenting and everything seems to work as advertised. I myself have posted a few things, and have found the interface to be 100% functional.

I like how buzz is actually integrated into the Google applications, such as Google Mail. It makes it easy to use, and you can link to Twitter, Facebook, your Blog, etc. so that Buzz will couple everything together for those users. But it does not couple everything, so just like the various chat condensers it is hard to have a presence everywhere.

Bottom Line - it is perhaps a good tool for heavy Google users while at the same time adding yet another cloud social tool in an already busy and crowded market place. Nonetheless, I encourage folks to try it, and you can always turn it off if it does not work for you!

CellStream Online School

2009-09-29T10:17:00.003-05:00

Hello followers of the CellStream Blog!
It has been some time since my last post. One of the reasons is we have been busy evaulating some excellent software to provide a new service we intend to call - the CellStream Online School.
Here is a short list of the products we tried:

All three are 'open source' licensed tools that center around a common theme. They are 'Course Management Systems' (CMS) that allow on-line learning.

Honestly, all products are excellent. Choosing any of them would be a good decision and they all have good reputations, receiving raves from their customers. Our analysis boiled down to the following simple differences:

Moodle was the easiest to use and had the best all round set of features. There are a few minor glitches (their install process is poorly documented, and a couple of features need refinement - but nothing that prevents a top notch experience for the students).
SAKAI was more complex and has features that expand its application beyond CMS to project management and such. It was simply more than we needed.
OLAT was straight forward and easy to use. Like the others, it is under continual development and falls just a hair short on features today.

Bottom line is we chose Moodle and have been very pleased with the features and functionality thus far. Our first courses have been loaded and if you would like to see it , click here and then go to the Cisco How To course (log in as a 'guest').

Look for more announcements on course availability in the future.

Mr. Obama - I have a first step idea for Health Care

2009-08-10T07:54:00.004-05:00

Dear President Obama,
The cost of health care in this country has been out of control for years and something needs to be done. I find few people who disagree. Medicare/Medicaid programs are already government programs that are HUGE budgetary costs to all of us regardless of age.

In the year 2009 we should have no American citizens that do not or cannot receive decent, human, moral, medical care. I would offer that for the most part this is already true. If I am uninsured and I show up at a local hospital with a broken arm or leg, it is highly likely that I will be taken care of, and that someone pays for my medical costs, somewhere.

Where we have started is by introducing a 1000+ page health care reform bill - an all at once attempt to 'fix' the problem. I have received countless forwarded viral emails from friends and associates documenting the problems with this bill from 'reputable' sources. So far, I have looked closely at two of these viral emails because they had citations and strong comments that concern anyone who reads them - including me. In both cases, cited passages in the bill (using quotations) were simply 'made up'. I downloaded the bill and used my PDF viewer to search for the terms cited. I have stopped reading the emails.

To be fair, I have not formed an opinion on the bill one way or the other, yet. Nor have I analyzed the bill and its impact or potential impact. But what I have read, as a function of verifying the assertions made in the two emails I mention, does not align with the interpretations in the emails. So, Mr. President this bill and the amount of garbage it is attracting is perhaps a wrong first step. It is perhaps, too much, too soon with too little factual information available without reading 1,000 plus pages.

For my blog followers, here is a link to the bill:

http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/111/pdf/publications/AAHCA-BillText-071409.pdf

I have come up with a option first step. Since this is not necessarily my area of expertise, it may have wholes, but I respectfully submit it for your consideration. Instead of looking for ways to finance and perhaps control the costs of the health care system that really is not a system, but rather a system of systems, much like the Internet is a network of networks, what I propose is that you pass a simple bill that going forward, makes all insurance companies 'not for profit' while leaving them in the private sector!

The idea comes from a simple set of questions. Let's say my insurance company makes a multi-million dollar profit. Where does this money go? Why aren't my rates lowered? Why didn't I receive a dividend?

Imagine a world where insurance companies actually paid out claims, where doctors offices don't have to have three or four staff members filling out insurance forms. Imagine an insurance system where the focus was on the insured, and not on stock market performance, where executives and managers made a fair salary. I mean, how can an insurance company operate in today's world unable or unwilling to insure people while executives of those companies earn millions of dollars in bonuses? If you meet an honest and good insurance person, who dedicates themselves to the betterment of their fellow humans by providing this service, they will agree. Most of the independent agents I meet agree. It is the big company policies that make their job so difficult. I have heard that insurance companies fund huge lobbyists in Washington and in the states, protecting their interests. If this is true, it is wrong in every way. This means that my money is being used without my permission to benefit the company I am insured by, without me knowing if it benefits me. Seems like taxation without representation. I have further heard accusations that these company policies reward individuals who defer claims payments and find exclusions, and excuses not to pay out claims. Whether these are true or not is not important. What is important is that insurance needs to be simplified, needs to be removed from a profit generation ecosystem into a service oriented ecosystem.

The counterpoint is all too obvious: if no one can "make money" providing insurance, then who is going to do it? The answer is simple - the good people in insurance will do it without hesitation. Not for profit does not mean that hard working, dedicated, professional people do not get paid. I would counter that if this is the reason these companies are in business, then they have lost their purpose, and it is all the more reason their ecosystem needs to be changed.

This, Mr. President, is an important idea. I have no numbers, and I have no true expertise in this area. I simply have a creative idea for a first step in directly reducing the cost and the benefits of a system that has suffered from greed, improper attempts to manage and regulate, and has brought us to the brink of bankruptcy. Good Luck, Mr. President, because we need to do something, but right or wrong the current first step is likely to fail with all the hoopla and misinformation swirling like a tornado around the subject.

A Posible Network Vision - Net Model X

2009-06-20T07:48:00.003-05:00

Speaking at the Wisconsin State Telephone Association

2009-05-25T08:08:00.002-05:00

As many of the CellStream faithful know, we are hugely dedicated to the Independent Telephone market, and have been since the founding of the company in 1998. We were recently invited and happily accepted an opportunity to speak at the Wisconsin State Telephone Association conference.

A short video and interview was made at the conference. Enjoy!

Skype for the iTouch

2009-04-01T11:23:00.003-05:00

It is Wednesday April 1st, the day Skype released its support for the iPhone and iTouch. While I do not have the iPhone, both my wife and I have the iTouch. Here is what you need to know:

In preparation for this momentous day, I ordered ($29) a new earbud and microphone appliance from Apple. It is ridiculously expensive, but really the only source right now. If you have an iTouch, this a mandatory item to make your device an internet phone.

Then I went to the Skype site - click on the download button, then select iPhone (this is stupid, but they do not say iTouch anywhere on the web site, unless you do a search). Realizing this was dumb, I went to the iTunes App store on the iTouch itself. Searched for Skype - and installed the program. Easy.

Ran the application and used my Skype credentials to log in. My contact list showed up, just as if I was on the PC. I repeated the process on my wife's device and we called each other - it worked absolutely perfectly.

Then I decided to have some fun. She called my account again, this time I was on my PC not my iTouch. I selected video call, and things did not work properly. So we tried again and just used the normal voice call - it was flawless. I did a few more tests, comparing calling land line vs. iTouch to iTouch and vs. iTouch to PC. Delay is the same in all. Quality was the same in all (better than cell phone).

This is a no brainer people - if you have an iTouch - you now have an internet WiFi phone! If you have an iPhone, I'll bet you can save minutes by using your WiFi when at home, at the office, or in a WiFi hotspot you can connect to.

I officially predict that the next version of the iTouch will have two additional things: a) a microphone built in, and b) a camera built in.

The down side...well, no WiFi, no phone service. I'm over it. Now both my wife and I have WiTouch!! You heard the name here first!!!

P.S. Just heard on CNN that the app is the number one download today - no surprise.

Cloud Computing and Virtualization - A Missing Link

2009-03-23T16:37:00.005-05:00

I have been messing rather seriously with virtualization recently. Specifically Microsoft Virtual PC and Microsoft Virtual Server products, as well as SUN's Virtual Box. The good news is they all work pretty much as advertised, albeit they have differences. I now have a machine that runs Windows VISTA, Server 2003, Windows 98, SUN Solaris, Ubuntu, all simultaneously! I even found I can run some old software again, even DOS! This capability also helps me to realize that in this machine I have now created a miniature version of what cloud computing is going to be. How cool is that? But, alas, reviewing the functionality or comparing the two products is not the purpose of this posting.

What is more fascinating to me is that within the virtualization layer - something they call the Hyper-V layer - there has to be a virtual network allowing the virtual machines to connect to one another as if they were on an Ethernet. I have been exploring this virtual network, trying to see what you can fiddle with, and what you can't. While my exploration continues when I have spare moments, I am beginning to realize that we are actually in the very early days of the virtualization product cycle. Let be more specific: in order to truly virtualize computing, I need to be able to virtualize a network, and not just with an Ethernet Switch (both Microsoft and SUN advertise they have a virtual Ethernet switch at their virtualization layer). I also think we need virtual routing, with multiple nodes so that I can clearly configure subnetworks and create rules for routing, authentication/access, filtering, and a whole host of other functions.

I would imagine that having a virtual cloud in between my virtual machines is exactly what the developers of the next generation of cloud computing applications will need as well. This way they can simulate cloud computing more authentically and create the applications that we will all need. Of course the same could be said for testing. But, to have a virtual cloud, you need a plurality of network devices, that can be created on demand, and configured between my virtual machines (If Cisco is listening, I would love to be able to install IOS as a virtual machine!). Without this ability, we are apparently relegated to simple Ethernet connectivity in these early days. This limitation can be problematic at best. I recently fired up two Windows 2003 servers as virtual machines and they went crazy (which one was to be the DHCP king, etc.) because I could not separate them from each other on the virtual network, at least not easily.

Having all these cool virtual machines has limited functionality without networking. I have already conceded that running old applications is a good thing, and running an application that is better suited to Linux vs. Windows may be interesting to some. At the end of the day, having four or five virtual machines running does not improve my ability to multitask per se. I know, I am taking the fun out of it. But really - what is the end purpose of this for end users? Has the computing, memory and disk capacity cost shrunk so small that it is just a neat thing we can now do in computing? I have no clear answers today, but perhaps running simultaneous network games would be cool. I think that getting rid of some boxes in my house would be good, but I quickly return to needing a virtual network. For instance: get rid of my router and DSL/Cable Modem would be cool - just make then virtual machines! Now I just plug my cable or phone line into my NIC and I am there! With the kids getting older and needing their own machines, perhaps having one big server running virtual machines for each family member allows them to carry around cheap laptops, but I need Authentication and Authorization services especially if they are connecting from a friends house or the Starbucks.

Another possibility that cloud computing concepts raise - dare I say it - is the reduction of the role of the IT department. No more updating, imaging or software license management. Its all in the cloud. Before I run completely down that rat hole, let me come back to my point and how it connects. Virtualization and simulation go hand in hand. In order to simulate the functions of cloud computing we need to virtualize the cloud. These first steps to virtualization open the door, but the cloud is not without its components of networking and infrastructure. So to simulate we need more components inside the virtual world - more networking components. It will be fascinating to watch this world of virtualization and whether we get these components quickly, and who produces them.

To try vrtualization yourself, check out Microsoft's Virtual PC at http://www.Microsoft.com/Virtualization .

To try SUN's Virtual Box - go to www.virtualbox.org/ .

Life Vests in Planes - I Officially Change My Mind

2009-01-20T21:16:00.004-06:00

A USAir jet crashed today into the freezing Hudson River after a bird strike shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia airport in New York. Miraculously, everyone survived.

The pilot, Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III, was a hero and a good bit lucky, but a hero nonetheless.

I should make clear that I have, for years, asked students in my classes (engineers) to consider why life vests are under your seats in planes. I have been known to say "If you are going to put something under my seat - make it a parachute!" I cite that in my life I have never ever witnessed, seen an image, or read a report of a single person that walked, swam, or has been pulled out of the water after an air plane crash with their life vest on.

Well, today I was proven wrong.

I have seen now people with their life vests on, plucked from a plane that successfully landed - and I can use that word - in water!! While I concede this for today, one in a row does not make a pattern.

This landing will be studied, analyzed, and recreated in the coming months. They will likely load the data into simulators, and one has to wonder if any other pilots will be able to recreate the situation and land safely.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article5527910.ece

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/01/19/hudson-flight.html

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/6217237.html

A Recommendation to Revamp Computer Education in the US School System

2009-01-07T13:48:00.009-06:00

You just read the title and must be thinking, more money, better computers, more teachers, you have heard it all before. Actually, what I have discovered in the past 14 days has amazed me, and it has led me to conclude the opposite. In fact, I am beginning to think that we are wasting money on thousands of desktop computers, networks and software, perhaps even wasting millions of dollars. Consider the information I have been digesting below.

The story starts with a TED Conference video I watched about mid-2008. Here is the link: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/nicholas_negroponte_on_one_laptop_per_child.html

This video inspired me to consider donating to the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program. As I sat on this thinking, I was scanning Amazon.com one day and I noticed that there was an advertisement to "Buy One, Give One" right there at Amazon for the OLPC program. Who says web advertisements are ignored? Needless to say, I clicked on the link and read a little. The simple program was if you donate $399 you give a laptop, and you get one sent to you! [Note: I tried to find the link today - Jan 7th - and it is no longer available, but it may come back]

Well, the real recipient of the "get one" would be my 7-year old daughter as a Christmas gift. Plus, I thought, if children her age are getting this tool, a true measure of the value of the tool, would be to give her the tool and see what, if anything, she would do with it. It was my $399 experiment, if you will.

At our family Christmas celebration, my daughter opened her gift and was thrilled with the 'toy' laptop she had received. It was a cute green and white color, with a handle making it easy to carry, and very much looked the part. "It is a real laptop", I told her, "and later, we will turn it up together." She looked amazed. Keep in mind that this is a child that has a full computer lab (Dell Desktops) between classrooms in her public elementary school and has already mastered the Internet and gaming. As a representative student of her age, she would proudly tell you she knows computers. But does she?

We sat at the kitchen table and opened the XO Laptop Computer. We pushed the power button, and noted these cute little ears that flipped up. Even though we did not know why, we flipped them up. After a little while The screen lit up and she was asked to type in her name on the keyboard that is full QWERTY style and has a rubber cover to obviously make it less susceptible to liquids. After booting, we were presented with a completely non-typical interface. Yet it was entirely obvious, a circle of icons (27 programs in all). By using the mouse pad, if you hover over any of them, the detail of the program name appears. Some of them were really cute, inviting.

We (she) played for over 2 hours. Let me summarize what we found, mostly to my jaw-dropping astonishment:

it comes with a color camera and microphone for video messaging
it comes with a really cool wireless networking system that locates using triangulation wireless access points and other XO machines - the neighborhood; it can use wireless relay to connect others to the Internet (why does Windows make this so difficult?)
it has word processing
it uses Wikipedia as the resource for research by default
it browses the Internet
it comes with a text-to spoken word program that runs in numerous languages (see video below)
the screen flips (like a notepad computer) so that reading and gaming can be enjoyed
it comes with a program that teaches programming (called Pippy) where the child selects preconfigured program modules to add to their own or to glue together - so it teaches by example and entices curiosity (what a concept)
it comes with a program that teaches animation (called Scratch) That allows the user to create animation sequences by dragging scripts in order and then executing those scripts to view the result - genius!
the screen works as clearly in the bright sun as it does inside (wish my cell phone did that)
Terminal allows access to the shell!
it comes with four programs dedicated to music and creating sound - fabulous
there is chat, measuring, painting and, so much more.

Is it perfect? Unfortunately, no. A couple of squabbles for $200 cost: a) it is not exactly fast, but no slouch either, b) it is running Linux and hung once, cured by a reboot, c) why don't they make a slightly more mature one for me?

Let me stop here and ask a question: Why doesn't every child in the United States carry one of these wonderful devices? One could say, well that is the goal of the program: one laptop per child. Well, not exactly. Most of the units built so far have been sent overseas. Meanwhile we pay for thousand dollar plus desktops (probably much more) plus networks and software licenses that provide little of the true meaning and value of computers to our children. Yet here we have a wonderful device available today on the open market for around $200 that would allow students to have their own laptop. Why aren't the school systems buying these XO laptops instead of Dell or HP desktops?

Then there is the major point about actually learning computers. My child only sees the computer as a glorified interface to a program - like a Math Tutor or a Typing Tutor. This is all well and good, but her use is confined by the abilities of the program she is running. Goodness knows the great programs that would emerge for use to extend their already very powerful base set. Would it come from degreed software programmers or kids like her? Goodness knows what great creative new things our children would invent given the kind of learning and access to the computing environment these machines allow.

So here is my recommendation to every public and private elementary school. Buy One and Give One. Save 80% of your budget over those huge desktop computers at the same time. School Districts can write off the donated part of their $399 and give every 1st or 2nd grader through 5th grader their own laptop to use in class every day, to take homework home, to network, to create, and to learn computers. At the same time for every one of those kids in the district that gets one, there is a child somewhere in the world that also gets one, and maybe they can meet each other and learn about each other, and maybe, just maybe, there will be peace on earth one day.

Your thoughts, questions and comments are always welcome. Happy New Year everyone!

Workplace Courtesy and Etiquette

2008-11-12T09:20:00.004-06:00

I have seen this several times before in various forms, but thought it a great item to blog about: Work Place Courtesy and Etiquette.

Let's face it, there is a fine line between good and bad on this subject. On the one hand, work is about work, and work usually makes some amount of noise as teammates interact and collaborate to solve problems and produce output. On the other hand a subdued environment allows focus and concentration. Further, what one person may find stimulating, another may find distracting. Ask those same two people on different days, and they may have different responses!

So overriding all of this is that we need an environment of cooperation and understanding, not one of complaining and inflexibility. Let's look at what things we can all do to make the workplace just a little better for everyone.

Be aware of what you say and how loud you say it. Being sensitive to others is important here, as well as knowing when it is OK to be a little louder than usual. In a cubicle environment, a low voice is all that is needed.
Control that speaker phone. It is OK to use speaker phones while you are on hold or momentarily while you look for something. But using a speaker phone when there is no group is annoying at the least and disrespectful at worst. Use a conference room whenever a speaker phone is necessary.
Control that cell phone. Cell phones are a necessary part of any persons life and work these days. Being able to be reached when away from the desk is important. But using the cell phone appropriately is just as important. When attending a meeting, mute the ringer, or if you are expecting an important interruption, use the vibrate feature. If you have a smart phone - stop using it to do emails! You have just interrupted the meeting. If you elect to interrupt your meeting, do so gracefully and respectfully. You may be costing the company hundreds or dollars by just having everyone wait while you take your call. People with superb etiquette skills here will often change their voicemail greeting to advise callers they are in a meeting and to call back after a certain time. Here is an important point: if you or someone is calling you is so important that you have to interrupt the meeting you are in - you have just signalled to everyone in the meeting that they are less important!
Proper use of email. Email is a great tool for communications, but proper etiquette is very important. First, email should not be used in lieu of a phone call or discussion that can be accomplished in less time. Trying to convey feedback and feelings in email (emoticons won't work) is usually very difficult. Second, email can consume people to the point they really do little else but email - do you remember that being in your job description? Also, distribution of information via email is risky as well as resource consuming. Use the office server system to save a presentation and then email the link rather than emailing the presentation. Lastly organize email so you are an effective teammate. It says a lot when you ask a co-worker to resend something just because you can't locate it: did you delete it as unimportant? did you throw it in the pile of disregard for now emails?
Be punctual. Of course, we have trouble making things happen on time every now and then, but certainly not every time. Make sure you advise people if you are running late. When someone calls a meeting or is expecting you to be somewhere at a certain time, showing up 5 or 10 or 15 minutes late is disrespectful and poor etiquette. Worse: show up late and ask for a summary of what has been discussed to the point you arrived! Would you do that to an important customer? Then why do that to your teammates? Be on time and be ready. Your team will return the respect.
Know when to "shut the lid". So many of us have lap tops that allow us to bring internetworking and other powerful tools with us wherever we go. When you are meeting one-on-one or in a team, and you are not using the tools, shut the lid. Suddenly stopping to do an email or respond to a chat session is not multitasking. Only a few can do a good job at simultaneously using the PC or smart phone while attending or being part of a meeting. Usually they are not the ones that say they know how. Again - it is a sign of disrespect to those who are focused, and poor etiquette rather than productive behavior.
Avoid smelly lunches. So many people eat at their desks, and sometime this can be very productive. The problem arises when either they bring something really yummy smelling or something really awful smelling. Either way it is a losing situation as it causes a distraction. If you are going to eat at your desk, eat something that will not smell, like most sandwiches. Cooked items almost always smell. Be considerate of your office mates, and they will meet you in the lunch room!
Cleaning up after yourself. Leaving food in the lunch room refrigerator or leaving a mess in the lunch room is a sign of laziness and disrespect to others. Not fixing something that is broken or needs service is the same thing. So be respectful of others, clean up after yourself, in the lunchroom, in meeting rooms, etc. Also, fix things that need repair or service, like put paper in the copier, refill the coffee pot, call tech support for the broken copier. These are not menial tasks, they are part of working with others in a common environment. If you are above doing these things, then where does that leave me?
Avoid negative rumours and respect privacy of others. It is so easy to spread bad news, and bad news travels fastest in any work environment. However true, being the communicator of negative rumours will eventually lead to problems, and you don't want to be perceived as a busybody or "chicken little". It is best to be a person others can count on to take a problem and solve it rather than talk about it. If you respect others, they will respect you, and they will trust you with seeking your guidance and assistance. Here is the closing thought on this subject: if you are smart enough to identify and discuss the problem, be smart enough to solve it.
Be an "earner" not a "deserver". The best teammates in work places do all of the things above, and then they put icing on their approach. The icing is they never act or talk about what they deserve. Some people feel that they deserve more pay, or more time off. Naturally that depends on a number of issues. If you really want to avoid problems, avoid deserving. If you earn respect by doing the items above, and you earn time off by working hard, or earn more pay because you invest in yourself to be the best at your job function, you will help your team and your company in an courteous and respectful manner. That is what open competition is about - earning.

Good luck, and we hope these things help someone somewhere. We definitely did not cover everything. Did we miss a couple? Please feel free to comment or add other ways we can be more courteous and respectful in the workplace.

A Great Travel Tool

2008-11-09T07:48:00.008-06:00

Nothing against travel agencies, but with all the travel tools and web storefronts, who needs a travel agent anymore? We have talked about frugality and ways to save money with travel (see our blog: Traveling Light).
One of the challenges of coordinating your own travel is that you usually end up with three emails: 1. The airline reservation, 2. The hotel reservation, and 3. The rental car reservation.
One way to fix this is to do everything at one of the travel mega-sites like Expedia, Travelocity, or Orbitz. Sometimes great deals can be had there, but usually they charge $5 to $15 as fees to the process. If you travel a lot - that adds up.
In this blog, I want to share a great tool that can help solve the online travel shopping challenges, as well as coordinate co-workers and friends, and provide - well - a little fun and challenge into the travel spectrum as well!
Here it is - and it is 100% free - www.tripit.com Just navigate, sign up for a free account using the email address you send email from (very important), and you are ready to simplify and coordinate your travel. No they don't nag you with emails.
I have been using Tripit for almost a year. Here is what it does for me:

I send my received reservation emails (they come in a hundred different formats, with a bunch of advertising) to plans@tripit.com and these emails are processed, with all the key information extracted, then placed on a "one page" itinerary that I can print and take with me or access from my mobile phone!
I can link the TripIt calendar with my outlook or gmail calendar and easily insert the key travel components into my calendar!
I can link my account with my friends/family/business associates and share my travel as well as see their travel all in one place. This is particularly great for business associates, as we can see when we will be in the same city on the same dates - in fact TripIt will let me know this!
Linked friends in TripIt are automatically tracked/analyzed as to who has the most number of trips, days on the road, distance, cities and countries visited. This throws a little fun competition into the mix - and as you can see - I am #1!!! LoL.

What travel agency ever did all this?

A story worthy of Re-reading

2008-10-19T16:26:00.004-05:00

Flying Story of the Year (unfortunately) from August 21st, 2000

Flying stories are pretty much like fishing stories. You never hear them until you are at the lake or river or casting with another fisherman. It is then that it seems that everyone has one. Once the first story is told it is usually followed by a barrage of stories, each topping the other in some small or significant way.

Like most of my fellow telecommunications professionals, flying is just part of our lives, though I wish the same went for fishing. The hub system of airline travel has yielded a paradigm that for the most part transports thousands and thousands of us safely, if not occasionally on time, to our global economic points of contact. Driven by meetings, trade show events, consortiums, presentations, standards bodies and the rest of the plethora of reasons to be ‘on the road’, we must pack the carryon, grab the laptop and take to the blue skies often. I wonder what it is like to take to the fish-filled blue waters instead.

Nevertheless, I wanted to capture the essence of the pure rush of adrenaline that for the last hour and a half has been gushing through my arteries and veins. Adrenaline that causes multiple incohesive thoughts to dash in and around your brain. Adrenaline that causes you to shift uncontrollably in your seat and your fingers to shake much like the immediate moments after a fender bender or incredible roller coaster ride. I would not call it an adrenaline rush, but rather a slow continual building to the point of near panic. It is not hard to see why some people do crazy things in this physical state. Furthermore, now an hour and a half later, there begins the normalization of feelings and of perception. Odd that the most vivid memory of the events that just occurred to this writer and about 100 other passengers on Flight 488 to Toronto from Dallas is that of the adrenaline effect. Yet of all those airline and fish stories I have heard, I recall none that spoke of this feeling. I do remember even some lurid details of the flights others have described, the events of which are astounding, incredible, unbelievable, and in some cases outrageous. However, I do not remember anyone describing their feelings, their sense of lack of cohesiveness, of control and how adrenaline taken in heavy doses for continual amounts of time causes fear and insecurity and discomfort beyond words.

There is a certain numbness that overcomes those of us who travel moderate to heavy amounts. In less than 20 seconds, I have been cured of that problem. We are back at 33,000 feet on our way for the second time to Toronto. The captain just announced “This is the PA I didn’t get to make on the first attempt to go to Toronto…” Clearly he had his day in the hot seat. In fact as I disembarked the first attempt at flight 488 I almost hugged the man, and as I held his hand firmly in mine thanking him for getting us home alive, he said “Boy, what a first day as a Captain. I have been flying these planes for 9 years as a co-pilot and never had anything like that happen to us.” I witnessed three hairs turn gray on his head as he uttered the words. Along with everyone else, we were in the process of processing the overdose of adrenaline and coming to terms with the fact that flying is not a normal, every day event. That at 33,000 feet you life hangs by the thread of engineering and design, and most of all a good measure of luck.

I asked what on earth had happened. “We lost #2 engine and oil pressure” he said matter of factly, rehearsing for a probable dictation he would have to deliver for the airline report to the FAA in the next several minutes. And that is another thing that adrenaline messes with: Time. I can’t say I can accurately recall anything with regards to a definitive timeline from the last hour and a half. I know the order things happened in, but as far as how long it was from one thing to another – forget it. Loosing a #2 engine is an instantaneous thing, kind of like a laser failing on an OC-3 card. There is little you can do to prevent it, and it happens with little warning. The plane swerved left and right and then banked seemingly uncontrollably to the left shaking and shuddering in such a way that I never want to feel again, and I am likely to dream about many times. Back safely in Dallas, I asked several of the other frequent flyers, “Have you felt anything like that before?” Every one of them said the same thing “I have never felt anything like it.” Unlike the laser, when #2 engine decides to be relegated to the mechanic’s hands, 33,000 feet is a long way up and 20 minutes from DFW airport seems like 3 hours. We limped all the way back to DFW with engine #1 screaming and the plane wallowing up and down, left and right.

There are a couple of details that to the reader may appear bone chilling, but as I continue to come off my adrenaline overdose, they seem expected, almost normal. Orange books. Within moments of the event, the flight attendants scurried up and down the aisles carrying orange binders and in somewhat frantic voices choreographing the page to be on, the section to turn to and the procedures to follow. Passengers got moved about the cabin. Strong males placed in strategic door and exit opening locations with full instructions on what to do. The flight attendant told my co-passenger one row behind me “If I am unconscious, please throw my body down the slide and out of the aircraft.” He responded “Of course.” All this while the plane made two 360 degree circles over a very large lake as though the pilot was sizing up the opportunity to ditch us in the water and the engineering brain busies itself calculating that 33,000 divided by 5,500 and the terminal velocity to distance to ground contact calculations are being run, re-run, and re-run. Simultaneously this engineer mutters “Come on darlin [to the plane], just get us on the ground, that is all we need from you right now.” Like the plane was actually listening to my pleading.

I recall in 8th grade, Mr. Wilson from my High School gym class told us while trying to accomplish 100 pushups with the rest of my class how in World War II he was on a boat, and everyone was brave and a hero. That was until the first submarine fired a torpedo at the boat. He said that at that point strong men fell to their knees praying for salvation or crying for their mothers, their wives, and their families. [I just ordered a Dewar’s – it was offered free of charge. I am not a drinking man, but the plane hit a good bump and the adrenaline has burst upward again for everyone on the new flight 488 to Toronto.] I haven’t had a memory of that time or that event for, well, the best part of 20 years or more. But I remembered it today. Everyone got just a little religion on Flight 488 to Toronto today. Perhaps even a little Dewar’s [there are several passengers back with the flight attendants giggling and laughing about saying their Hail Mary’s. Thank goodness for the free drinks].

As a telecommunications professional, I must inform you of the almost absurd actions I personally took. My thoughts were out of control. I thought of my wife and daughter and unborn child back home. If I typed a love message on the PC, would it be found? Perhaps if I scribble something in my Day timer like a farewell it would be found and delivered to my family. I wanted so badly at that moment to talk to them. My cell phone was out of the question. The AT&T phone in the seat back in front of me came into focus. It took me two credit cards and no less than five dialing attempts to actually place a call. My fingers were non-cooperative. My mind could not find numbers to dial. To this moment I can’t think of my wife’s cell phone number. I dialed the house. The ring is answered by the answering machine: my daughter singing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” which brings an instant tear to my left eye. What?! Voice Mail! I hated voice mail more than anything I have hated at that moment. I left a message that I have asked my wife to save since I want to remember what I said. Something like “We are in an emergency, I am on the plane, they don’t know if we can land, I love you both so much…pause…I WILL call you when we land, wherever that is.” Click. What a silly thing to say. What is the right thing you should say? For future reference, the AT&T Air-phones work even if engine #2 is scrap metal.

For those of you who have read through this airline story, you probably have some of your own. After all my years of flying with what I thought were ‘events of importance’, I have had my threshold setting adjusted today along with everyone around me. Most of them are sleeping now as their drop in adrenaline has left them ready for naps. The details of what happened are seemingly overshadowed by the impact this event had on me physically and mentally. The new flight attendants on this flight are cool, calm, relaxed, in other words numb. In time I will return to that state. In time I expect my adrenaline will be processed and removed from my system. The details will be forgotten. The fear, the intensity, the urgency, and fragility of the event will be cast into errored memory forever. With time I will indulge the details, boast the facts and perhaps somewhere, fishing on a quiet lake, will put this event into my list of tall stories. Thankfully, I have that opportunity.

By: Andrew M. Walding
Copyright: CellStream, Inc., 2000
(Walding is a telecommunications consultant for CellStream, Inc. And can be reached via e-mail: andy@cellstream.com)

Observations re: Optical Expo 2008

2008-10-17T10:43:00.006-05:00

We all know that when the tech bubble burst, so did the hype bubble surrounding optical networking. If you had listened to the grand visions of the future back then, by now we should all have OC-48 to the house and terabit links would be the primary network interface inside the Internet. Sky high promises, predictions, and acquisition payments are things of the past. So it was with great interest that I plunked down the entry fee to attend this year's Optical Expo 2008 (held on October 6 & 7) to take measure of reality and see how this market space and technology were doing (plus it was in Dallas and next to a large shopping mall and great restaurants should it be a disaster).

It was more of a conference than an Expo. About 20 vendors had tables and backdrops in one ballroom, a few with equipment, some with actual people in the booths, but very few. Everyone else attended presentations and panel discussions in ballrooms next door. I must say there were few young engineers, but most seats were filled with greying, late career people, many of whom I recognized as having been doing the same thing for too many years to count.

The presentations I attended were superficial, bar one, and offered little excitement, and many promises mixed with equal part complaint. The promises are for 100Gig Ethernet, all out at a range where delays are still highly likely. The complaining was about being able to do 100G and make money. All the vendors essentially complained the service providers/network admins were wanting prices too low to make profit, while the represented network people said to expect deeper cost reduction expectations the longer they have to wait. "We have an Ethernet cost curve expectation" said the presenter from Level(3). It was all friendly enough for public consumption, but, clearly, no one is making money in optical networking nor did they see a way to profitability.

I can't help but go a little further on the presentations quality - some were downright terrible. We should have had a gong-master that simply interrupted and sat down the presenters (NEC/Ericsson, Nortel, and Tellabs were particularly bad). One presenter from Nortel went so long he had to be cut off. It would have been OK if he had something interesting to say, or said it in an engaging way, but he was not close on either count. He simply went on about PBB and PBT (Provider Backbone Transport) even though six months ago large carriers abandoned Nortel's offering. He sounded and looked like a captain who was prepared to sink with his ship all the way to the bottom, but who knows.

I have watched G-MPLS standards essentially get ignored by this market segment. You can only whittle so much out of the cost of a laser and transponder. The major cost target for this market segment does not preclude CAPEX, but clearly the current way of provisioning everything by hand drives OPEX to the stratosphere.

It came through in presentation after presentation - static control is preferred. There is a religion here that needs to retire so optical networking can be reborn. Automation of provisioning and integration of the optical network into the MPLS control plane seems to be a huge step toward reducing OPEX costs and perhaps balancing the cost/price battle these folks are in. One vendor stated "MPLS is simply too complex" and "the OA&M is just not complete". My jaw hit the ground - and my neighbor/row mate and I looked at each other with raised eyebrows and he said "was that an admission of stupidity?" I could not muster an answer. Several others who overheard him barely contained their giggles. I could not help but linger on the second statement - "well complete it then, dummy!" I kept the thought to myself, well, until now. The representative from Nokia/Siemens was the only presenter that took a full on approach and discussion of MPLS, but then went in completely the wrong direction with the issues. The Level(3) speaker that followed began by going off his script, ruthlessly slamming the Nokia/Siemens MPLS discussion pretty hard, then began his script.

An interesting revealed data point was that at Level(3), SONET holds the larger share of network transport today while "Ethernet transport is less than 20% of capacity, but it is growing very fast". The OPEX savings were also made clear by Level(3) "we already have 100G combined capacities" and there are "costs associated with managing all those connections" (10x10G or 2X40G plus 2x10G instead of 1x100G). That screamed OPEX to me. I felt like I was the only one who got the message after talking about this with about 20 random people at the luncheon.

So the carriers need 100G soon if not today, yet so many of the speakers whined about agreed standards, and interoperability that the message was clear. It won't be very soon, at least not a fully compliant and interroperable offering. This all aligned perfectly with the sinking stock market.

I was left with a couple of key thoughts:

What if routers (Cisco and Juniper were not present) can make packet forwarding decisions above the 100Gig speed and implement 100Gig interfaces? Do we really need all these transport solutions?
Seems that G.709 is the way forward for this industry - is this right?
Why can't these companies get their heads around MPLS and common control plane to lower the OPEX costs? Why were they blaming it on OA&M - just a stall tactic?
Where are the young creative engineers to infuse progress?

Your comments are welcome.

Technology Tracking Your Driving

2008-09-23T10:29:00.003-05:00

There are a couple of interesting technology developments that you should consider the next time you hop in your car and decide maybe you exceed the posted speed limit: a) your car may have a "black box", and b) your toll tag may be recording your speed between toll booths.

Let's take on the issue of the "black box". There have been a number of articles published on this subject (including AutoWeek "Black Box On Board" 9/22/08) and if you are an auto enthusiast you are probably well aware on these systems. There are really two: 1. EDR or Electronic Data Recorders, and 2. VSDR or Vehicle Status Data Recorder. They are different. EDR's typically record events beginning 5-10 seconds before a crash (slamming on the brakes or a skid). The idea is to provide manufacturers with feedback on the performance of their safety systems. VSDR's on the other hand contains several days worth of information on driving patters (speed, braking, cornering g's, transmission and engine analytics, etc).

There are pending federal regulatory requirements require EDR type devices on all vehicles as of Sept. 1, 2012, but you car may already have such a device.

The intent is noble, right? Just a bunch of software that can store what happened so that we are safer in future designs of Air Bags and traction control or stability control systems, you say? Not so fast. Law Enforcement wants access (and they can court order you to turn over this information) to this data to help with accident analysis/recreation. You can just hear the hand rubbing at the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as well as the insurance companies. Let's say there is an accident, and the data recorders reveal that one car was exceeding the posted speed limit, never had full brake pressure, and never turned to avoid collision? What if the other car has no such device? Who is at fault? Could you get a speeding ticket next time you take your car for inspection? Can a police officer pull you over, plug in his laptop of hand-held scanner and issue you a summons even though he never saw you do anything? Could your auto manufacturer void the warranty based on how you drive the car? Could you insurance change based on that same information?

The second area of interest is the toll-tag. Naturally they are great conveniences, no more complete stop at the toll booth, and usually discounted rates, as well as saving fuel. Yes, but what if you get a ticket in the mail because a clever piece of software analyzes the date and time you pass a pair of toll booths and then does some simple 5th grade math to calculate your speed versus the distance between the booths? Should you get a ticket? If this is reported to your insurance, should you pay more? And on and on.

These are interesting questions that technology is putting before us. Some will side on the privacy issues, others will side on the safety issues. Most, I would think, have no idea any of this is actually going on.

What do you think?

School Lunch Education for Parents

2008-09-19T09:13:00.003-05:00

I could not help but be moved by Ann Cooper's presentation (link: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ann_cooper_talks_school_lunches.html) on school lunches. Let me just encourage you to watch:

a. Ignorance is making our kids sick

b. Your school district is paying less than 60 cents per day on your child's lunch and close to $2 per day for the staff and overhead!!

c. There are more prisoners in the US than farmers

d. most 8 year olds today are going to die at a younger age than when their parents will die

e. One in Three 8 year olds will have diabetes by the time they are adults

Go to your child's school - visit with them at lunch, they will love you for it! More importantly take note of the cafeteria and the foods being prepared for the kids. This will probably make you do in earlier in the day, to see what efforts are being made by your child's school to actually cook food. Ask them where the school gets its food. See for yourself...and then tell us what you find.

At CellStream we endeavor to make great networks greater, because what it means to our knowledge, our understanding, and to support our children in their ability to share and communicate. We rarely take time to think about what Ms. Cooper focuses on - we are what we eat! Gotta run to meet my kids for lunch....

Darwin's Gap

2008-09-07T20:45:00.000-05:00

This is one of those momentarily deep contemplation posts that begs for comment, outrage, or possibly total ignorance.

With all the talk lately about Darwinism and the application of Darwinian theory to technology, development and design (i.e. progress in technology is thought by some to be a Darwinian chaos of survival of the best ideas), I can't help but point out one major flaw in Darwinian Theory.

This flaw is quite simple really. It is captured in this simple question "Is it possible that a great thing failed to survive?" For example, consider that as time moves forward, the human race will reduce the number of spoken languages to the few or maybe even one that everyone is able to use (historically, the number of spoken languages has been reduced dramatically over time). Could we then say that those languages are the best because they have survived? Moreover, is it possible that a great language known by few could die even though it was better than all the others?

I think this is possible, and I call this phenomenon Darwin's Gap. It is a gap in which it is possible that some of the best may, even by accident, not survive. This gap is a dangerous place in technology, because falling into Darwin's Gap may be great inventions, ideas, and creativity. As much as we depend on the Darwinian Theory to generically move development and technology forward, we must as managers and developers, in the framework of the London Underground, mind the Darwinian Gap.

Enrich Your Mind and Energize Your Creativity

2008-09-07T20:30:00.003-05:00

8/15/08 - Original Post Date

If you create technical solutions, write code, create inventions that will change the world (o.k. - inventions that make money will do!), then like us you probably need to take your brain the the "Creativity Spa" every now and then for recharge the creative juices.

Imagine for a moment some fresh thinking - great ideas - opening your horizons - all from leaders in the technology and design field just like all of us. Imagine a place where in 20 minutes or less a breath of fresh thinking will invigorate you to think, to imagine and to dream. We are saying all of this and we aren't being paid for it!!!

We have a great place for all our friends: visit www.ted.com and watch a video...in fact - our prescription - watch one a day. They are all free. Tell us your favorites....

A Quick Review of Google Chrome

2008-09-07T20:30:00.002-05:00

9/4/08 - Original Post Date

You have probably heard from a million people about the arrival of Google's home grown browser called "Chrome". We downloaded it today and tried it out. Here are our impressions.

I suppose it is only proper to tell you that I am a very happy user of Firefox, and I always install the latest released versions whenever they become available. I am also a happy user of "Zotero", a FireFox Add-In that allows me to capture information from the web, catalog it, and reference it for use in courses, reports, and consulting work. Getting me to change from this happy world is going to be difficult.

So first impression: a breath of simple fresh air. I love tabbed browsing, and Chrome essentially puts tabs at its forefront of the interface. Well done! The installation was flawless, trouble free on VISTA Business, and even all my favorites were properly imported.

After a half day of usage, my note pad had entries like "fast", "simple", "not a bug yet", "no compatibility issues yet". As the day wore on, and I had started and stopped the browser several times, I began to like the "home page" that keeps track of the most popular places I was visiting. I also appreciated the readability of the browser interface and URL entry bar.

At the end of the day, I had stumbled on a couple of quirks. First, when I used Chrome to access our corporate intranet at CellStream, the Windows Sharepoint 2007 interface did not display properly (in fairness, only Windows Explorer is perfect with Sharepoint, and even FireFox has an issue or two). Second, the lack of a default "Home" button stuck me a couple of times. It is really just a slight change in how you use the browser, but we added a "Home" item to our Bookmark list.

Bottom Line: an excellent first release Google! What is to come has us fascinated. Will this be the new operating system launchpad of the future? Will add-ins like Zotero and Morning Coffee be available over the coming months? If so, look out FireFox and Explorer. We anxiously await the new release of Windows Explorer and will report.

08/19/2008 - 2008 Subaru Outback Review

2008-08-19T11:01:00.000-05:00

A week long rental from Hertz in Maine licensed from Vermont, cloaked in light green metal flake over tan leather and multicolored interior dash with attractive fake (? - too hard to tell) wood trim. This is a tall wagon with four wheel drive and a perfect size and feel to it. The interior is total and complete quality. Nothing cheap, nothing out of place and full of options like dual zone climate control, auto-stick, power everything, cruise, 6 disc CD, and on and on. This car immediately has the air of a luxury car, competing head to head with interiors from BMW or Mercedes. I actually found myself saying that if you covered the Subaru logo on the steering wheel, blindfolded someone and put them in the drivers seat, they would say this could be a Bimmer!! There is a long and slim sun roof that opens uniquely with two glass panels. It was cool, but honestly too loud when open. The slightly taller stance has an air of SUV confidence and was noticeably easy to get in and out of. Pillar-less front and back doors are really cool and different but the rear windows do not go down all the way and tilt awkwardly. But that is the only beef I have. The rest of the body style is sporty, current, and without quirks or curiosities. The boxer engine pulls firmly though not aggressively until you get up in the rev range. It is smooth as silk and - dare I say it - very Porsche-like in sound on the inside. Shifts are smooth and nothing binds even when manually shifting. Clever arrows display when it is time to up or downshift. The drivetrain was on the sporty side of smooth, and I thoroughly liked it. As each day passed - I liked the car more and though it had over 8000 miles on the clock there were no creaks, rattles or shimmies even over some pretty large pot holes. This is a perfect anti-SUV family haul-about. With no third row, it is clearly a wagon. With the four wheel drive system, it is perfect for north of the Mason-Dixon and it inspires confidence and grip, as I tested it in rainy conditions with no wheelspin or sliding. You honestly get a lot of car for a starting price of $22k or thereabouts. This is a surprisingly good package that I would say we don't hear enough about.

08/15/2008 - 2008 Volkswagen Jetta Reviewed

2008-08-15T10:59:00.000-05:00

This was a two day rental from Hertz at Birmingham airport in the UK. A right hand drive automatic 2.0L turbo-diesel power plant started smoothly, did not smell, and had a faint diesel sound that was only apparent at cold start. Dark Blue with nice alloy wheels and a dark leather interior was classy and upscale. The dash was neatly arranged out but the steering column switches were hard to see and the actions were poorly labeled. I never particularly liked the interior, particularly the choice of blue lighting of the gauges and the radio, but it was not cheap looking. Frankly the dash comes off as unnecessarily gimmicky. It poured with rain as I drove out to Herefordshire on twisty perfect UK back roads. The car was comfortable and solid. The wipers were fully automatic and adjusted perfectly to different water conditions. The engine pulled strongly, and had a good rush of turbo power. But the rush came in delayed fashion and then poured on a little too strong. I never enjoyed putting the foot down to pass on narrow two lane roads as the transmission took too many seconds to downshift and the power came on with a noticeable delay, but that said, the job got done. I also would not say the handling was outstanding, but it was good and went unnoticed even when I went into 40 mph bends at 60. There were a couple of times I had to slow it down as I was clearly on the edge of the cars capability to stick. The trunk was large and depending on price, this was a good car, not a great car until you talk about mileage. The care averaged 39mpg on my rental period. This was exceptional and with diesel fuel even more expensive in Europe than the US, a large 4 door sedan like this (large in terms of most everything else on the road) getting this kind of performance makes it a great choice for a European car.

07/27/2008 - 2008 Ford Mustang Reviewed

2008-07-27T10:58:00.000-05:00

This was a week long rental in Raleigh/Durham NC. My candy red (missing a pearlescent finish which would have made it beautiful) over black, and I mean flat black everything interior had about 12000 miles on it. Let's start with the interior. The dash is totally retro and being an older guy who once bought a '69 Stang 289 with a three speed manual, I loved the layout and design. The center stack part is modern and barely goes with the overall look and feel. The seating position was good, but adjustments are minimal, and if you like a hood poking out in front, you see plenty of it in this car. The plastics are really cheap, and there is way too much of the same texture and color. I imagine this would get old and boring very quickly. In stark contrast are the chrome surrounds on air vents and gauges. Against flat black - stark seems a gentle word. They stick out so loudly, they almost hide the expanses of cheap plastic - it almost works. One interesting function that will surprise you if you have never experienced it is that every time you open the doors, the windows retract slightly then revert upon door closure. The shifter is perfectly positioned, though it took a day to discover the O/D button concealed on the passenger side of the shift lever. This was important, because on down shifts, the O/D to 3rd is a double bump and the revs come up quickly on exit ramps. This downshift is actually a great part of the car. I could never tell if I had the V6 or the V8, and the sounds emitted were wonderful. There was plenty of power and the tires spun easily in the dry (sorry Thrifty - it was an accidental find - honestly). At higher RPM (anything over 3000) the engine was a big raspy at times, but it says "All American", and no one would confuse this with anything Japanese, European, or otherwise. I discovered that manually shifting the automatic under medium acceleration was actually quite cool, with stout and short shifts. Very sporty. What makes this car is the looks outside. While this was a plane-Jane rental with no wings, it looked great. Loved the fastback, loved the retro front. The ride was great, and with just a little upscaling of the interior plastics, this would be a great car. Mileage was not great, but not bad either. I was constantly tempted to push the throttle as any sports car should entice the driver. But drive normally, this car would be a good. choice. Congratulations Ford on having produced a truly good 'pony" package, true to its heritage. While GM struggles to catch up with a Camaro and Dodge was late with the Charger, you have always provided us a Mustang, and this one is nothing to be ashamed of. With gas prices being what they are, I could see a little less power, maybe a turbo, and this pony can keep running free.

7/23/2008 - 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee Reviewed

2008-07-23T10:56:00.000-05:00

a 2.5 day rental out of SFO airport, this was a way too big rental and a way too gas guzzling design for Chrysler/Jeep. First let me say this is a big SUV, but with only two rows and therefore only seats 5. I am sure this means something for 4-wheel drive enthusiasts, but for day-to-day and family SUV usefulness, this car/SUV is dumb. The numbers on the outside said 4x4 but there was no lever, no switch, and no indication of anything four-wheel-drive inside. The car came equipped with an auto-stick, and the transmission felt as heavy as the entire car. The plastics inside were cheap and mono-colored. Everything inside the bland silver paint job was bland black. The seats were comfortable enough, but no gauges and simple readouts seemed to have suffered from the cost cutting bean counters at Jeep. The engine was responsive but not in a sharp manner - I would call it mushy power. Handling was typical SUV though I must say the body was taught and there were no rattles or squeaks anywhere. Luckily the SUV came with satellite radio and I was distracted by Blue Collar 103 enough not to notice the overall cheapness of fit and finish. This is a purpose vehicle, and I would never consider it for normal SUV duties due to its tendency toward 4x4 driving that I could rarely or never experience. Just before returning it, I filled it up with $40 of gas after just a little over 130 miles - a total of less than 15 mpg. Terrible especially considering the not new news of oil prices.

6/18/2008 -- 2008 Kia Spectra Reviewed

2008-06-18T10:55:00.000-05:00

This was a week long rental in San Jose. The car was a lovely pearlescent red but middle of the road equipped version with about 600 miles on it. Initial meeting involved popping the trunk from the remote key fob. When I did so it flew open and slammed pretty hard against the back window glass. Ouch! But no damage, and while it did this a couple of other times, I got used to holding the super light trunk so it didn't fly open so hard. Not the best of starts, but my lowered expectations were quickly corrected. Let me just say - that if this is the cheapest car Kia makes, it is a really good car. It was tight, smooth, shifted predictably, and very quiet. The interior had just the right finishing touches. Everything was there except cruise control. What I found perfect was the sun visor flexibility and the remote trunk release. All easy to find, and like everything else on the car easy to operate. Plenty of cup holders, and even an iPOD jack! The plastics never felt cheap, nor expensive. Just right. The heat was high, and the A/C blasted cold quickly. There was no apparent power loss due to running the A/C either. The car actually felt larger and much more expensive than it was. It was never tinny and the motor and tranny were really good. It was as if I were driving a Toyota Corolla, not a Kia. The suspension was soft, but very predictable in normal and spirited driving. Manually shifting revealed not binding or lurching at all from the drive train. At the end of the trip, I could not help but also admire the mileage. I figured it got around 27-28 mpg with a lot of stop and go and traffic driving. Not bad.

Winds of Change for Regulated Services

2008-02-06T20:13:00.000-06:00

Original Post: 2/6/08

Voice over the Internet Protocol (VoIP) has pretty much been considered part and parcel with other Internet services like email, web browsing, and file transfer. In this way, the regulators have considered VoIP as an unregulated service. This is where VoIP service providers like VONAGE, Google Talk and Skype have been hiding. For most of us, we understand that this is a deeply fought issue with many facets and complications and no clear answers. [heck - if I had the answers would I be blogging them here?]

On January 30, NECA (National Exchange Carrier Association www.neca.org), the group that administers the FCC's charge access plan, issued a paper called "Providing Local Exchange Telephone Service Using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology Reporting Guidelines". This paper essentially re-writes the rules on providing VoIP services for incumbent providers, finally allowing carriers to continue to receive regulated charges while really providing the service under the Internet Protocol.

The meaning of this is fairly simple, great news, and very late in arriving: the telephone companies, especially the independent and rural ones, can now use the latest IP-based voice technologies and not be penalized by loss of NECA funds (pooling, cost study, and universal service) as these services remain in the regulated realm. This means they can in some cases lower their costs, expand their services, and stay in business! The paper clearly underlines the value of softswitches and gateways as being the way forward to providing services expansion.

Hopefully these are the early winds of change in this area that are sorely needed. What this paper does not solve is the issue of VONAGE, Skype, and Google Talk. These remain safely in the unregulated arena under the "naked DSL" umbrella. Clearly there is more to come.

Router Simulators for Cisco Certification

2008-01-15T20:20:00.000-06:00

1/15/2008 - Original Post Date

I am often asked about acquiring simulators for certification on Cisco platforms. There really are a number of choices:

You can rent time on someone's lab. These are usually inexpensive, and some labs come preset to exactly what you need where as others leave it up to you to configure and study (check out our own lab rental here). Either works.
Ok so you don't want to pay. That is tough, but you can get a little for free. You can download a simulator:
http://routersimulator.certexams.com/ccna-simulator-download/download-router-simulator.html

http://www.gold-software.com/CertCCNARouterSimulator-file6843.html
http://www.ipflow.utc.fr/index.php/Cisco_7200_Simulator
http://dynagen.org/
http://www.gns3.net/download
More serious? You can buy your own lab setup - just go to www.ebay.com and enter CCNA or CCIE in the search tool, and presto. You can expect to pay $700 or so for CCNA and closer to $2500 for CCIE. Be wary of the ones that get much cheaper than that.

A Difficult Decision In Legal Case

2008-01-09T20:22:00.000-06:00

1/9/08 - Original Post Date

Recently, an interesting legal issue has arisen as to whether a suspect can be compelled to reveal a computer hard drive's encryption password. I am no lawyer, but as explained to me, you can be required to turn over a key to your house so it can be searched, but the same does not apply to a combination for a safe that you may have in your head. Consider then usernames and passwords. Like combinations to unlock a safe, these are in your head. So in question is whether the alleged individual must turn over the password to their encrypted files which may or may not contain child pornography.

Some will argue that this is a human rights violation, or violation of privacy should the law be changed to require folks turn over passwords. They will likely cite that you could accidentally go to a XXX web site and therefore end up with accidental pornography somewhere on your computer. This is entirely possible, but possession of pornography is not necessarily against the law - the issue here is child pornography, and as I understand it, due to its illegality this is much harder to get hold of, and is highly unlikely to just appear on a average persons' hard drive.

Other will argue that the law must catch up with technology, and these passwords and keys are simply the new digital age keys, so they must be turned over in the light of sufficient legal suspicion. After all, they will say, if there is nothing to hide, who would care.

Let's face it, pornography has found a new outlet in the internet, and those of us who are parents have battled the issue since day one. Recently, Australia banned all pornography on their culdesac of the internet except when someone demands it from their service providers, placing the responsibility on the service providers to block the illicit traffic somehow. I have discussed that subject with many people I know, and all seem to like the idea here in the States.

Bottom line on this one is it is a complicated issue that hopefully the lawyers and the judges will properly analyze and reach reasonable conclusions. We all await in interest how this item turns out.

12/24/2007 -- 2007 Hyundai Sonata Reviewed

2007-12-24T09:00:00.000-06:00

This was a week long rental in Burbank, CA. Our car was a gold middle of the line version from AVIS. The first thing that strikes you in this car is the smoothness of the engine and transmission when in normal drive mode. Our car had the auto shift feature, which is a right move, then forward - backward for gear changes. It makes sense, but everyone notices you move the shifter. The transmission does not like this idea. It worked well enough but there are jerks and clunks warning you not to do this very much. After several days, I figured it out - short shift on the upshifts and DON'T downshift below 3rd - and all works great! In normal mode, not knowing, you would swear this is a Honda or a Toyota it is so smooth. The ride is supple and smooth as well, though when you hit the rougher stuff, the suspension pings a little rather than being a dull thud. The steering is very light although with good on-center feel. Seats are comfortable and there is plenty of room n the back for passengers. In fact, we were impressed by the luggage space as well. The interior does show a little of the less expensive nature of this car. The plastics are not low rate, but they aren't expensive looking either. The cluster is easy to figure out and I liked the buttons all over the steering wheel. That said, I wonder if the car was a longer term member of our stable if it would actually become boring. After 5 days, one thing jumps out: gas mileage. We averaged about 27 miles to the gallon overall! Pretty impressive over the 400 or so miles. I would also say this car is good enough for anyone with respectable power, good road manners (to the point of being almost boring) and comfort for five. On several long jaunts we have five people in the car and no one complained.

AT&T Outage Should Disturb You

2007-12-19T20:21:00.000-06:00

12/9/07 - Original Post Date

If you haven't heard by now, AT&T had a huge outage on its network in its BellSouth region. When I say huge I mean really huge. Here is what AT&T had to say: "On Monday evening, AT&T experienced a disruption in its Internet service in the nine-state Southeast region which impacted customers' ability to surf the Web. The root cause of the disruption is still being investigated but appears to be an equipment impairment. Network technicians were able to restore service slightly before 11 p.m. We continue to monitor the situation, but it this point it appears that service has been successfully restored. We apologize for any inconvenience this is causing customers."

Come on now. Later in the day they claimed is was "an isolated router failure" (these quotes are from Brad Meyer, AT&T's spokes person. They blamed everything on the DNS services, and then also said they accidentally did something on the backup in Washington DC. All very cryptic at best.

By the following week, it was evident that AT&T had also suffered from a complete failure of it customer support system that apparently clogged for hours without any help to users.

Why is this disturbing? Well, on the one hand you could say that you get what you pay for: you want cheap internet service where the service provider can barely make any money, then don't expect a customer service liaison per customer in a massive outage situation. On the other hand, it is a warning to all service providers of how intertwined the internet usage has become for many people. If something fails you have to have backup plans, and clearly AT&T, as well as others I am sure, has some Grand Canyon level gaps here. Thirdly, I have heard rumors that the outage was really an optical network failure inside the AT&T network and had nothing to do with a router or DNS server. If this rumor is true, it confirms something I have felt about the optical cores of networks for a long time: It is time to re-engineer them.

Most people don't know that the optical cores of all networks are essentially provisioned. This means that people create large cross connect tables mapping an input channel to an output channel. None of this is automatic (like IP routing where backup paths are selected by software applications running in the routers). For redundancy purposes, the folks who do this work, build backup scenarios (alternate cross connection maps) that are executed by the optical switches should failures occur, or they try to design networks in ring topologies so if one direction fails, traffic can be sent the other way around the ring. On the surface this is all very convincing, but the bare honest truth is that these methods are only reliable if plenty of spare bandwidth is available in the backup scheme, and as the network grows or is modified that these plans are updated and verified. One example where things fall apart quickly is if you protect one fiber with another, and never test the backup, will it work if the backup is needed? The network is ready for a complete overhaul of the core design processes and how automation can be inserted into this process.

Hopefully, now that we have had a major wreck at the intersection, someone will install a traffic light.

11/6/2007 -- 2007 Honda Civic 4-door Reviewed

2007-11-06T09:00:00.000-06:00

This week I rented a white 4-door Honda Civic at Thrifty in San Francisco. The car has about 7K miles on it and it in fairly good shape for a rental. I have never driven the new Civic platform and 1st impressions were intriguing. The cockpit is unusual with a two tiered analog/digital setup but not a turn-off like a Saturn with the center mounted gauges. The top tier viewable above the steering wheel, has a digital speedo viewable to everyone inside and outside the car as well as temp and fuel. The lower tier, viewable through the steering wheel, has a large analog tachometer and shifter gear indicator. Turn signals are in the upper tier. It is unique and is a function of the sloping windshield that is large and way in front. The rest of the radio and cabin controls are simple but stick upward in an odd angular way. Nothing complex, and everything is natural. Seats were perfectly supportive. This is Honda's basic transport answer and it is that. Outside the design is very contemporary and not small. The Civic is bigger than most small cars and looks nice. The engine is peppy and seems to get OK gas mileage but it won't squeal the tires. The gearing is notchy and if you shift down there was surprising thrash in the drive line. Leave it in Drive and it is smooth as silk. The ride was firm, and noticeably noisy on some surfaces. I had thought the Dodge Caliber was noisy but this Civic is just as loud. In fact, I think the Caliber is not such a bad buy compared to the Civic which is not a complement to Honda. Price would be important to make the final statement here, and I have no idea what the price comparison is like. On some twisty roads, the car handled great and at freeway speeds it's engine is quiet and revs nice and low. An MPG meter would be a good addition in a car like this but is not present. The sound system is adequate with no bass at all. So it is basic utility with no neat features anywhere. Miles per gallon measured 28.54 over almost 200 miles in the week I had the car. Not too bad considering it was mostly stop and go California commuting - but never ran the A/C.

Two Needed College Software Engineering Classes

2007-10-26T20:19:00.000-05:00

10/26/07 - Original Post Date

I have had the wonderful pleasure of speaking to new graduates entering the technology business as software engineers. It is 2007, and spam, viruses, worms, Denial of Service attacks and all other forms of malicious attacks on networks, servers and hosts are daily occurrences. It is technological terrorism albeit at many different levels. The expenses associated with this are well documented on web sources. You would think that leading schools producing Software and Computer Scientists with degrees would have significant training and exposure to these subjects.

So as I spoke to new grads, I asked for a show of hands: "How many of you understand what it means to write secure code?" So far not one hand has been raised. "OK, how many of you have studied network security issues, and how basic security breaches occur in systems?" Again, no hands. Well, that is a fib, I actually had one say they took a class on it outside university.

If alarm bells are going off with you, then good, because they are with me too. So here is my advice to the Universities who pride themselves on producing degreed engineers ready to take on today's distributed computing and networking challenges: You need to have security as a secondary qualification to every software engineering degree you offer. You also need to have secure coding as a fundamental skill regardless of language.

Once upon a time, humans built large walls around their cities to make them secure. Live inside the castle wall you are safe. Outside the castle wall, you die. We don't live that way today because we evolved technologically with tools and methods that made the walls unnecessary. The same needs to happen with computing and networking. That means that these universities need to wake up and get current.

If your university has already done this - we would love to hear from you.

Traveling Light

2007-10-23T20:17:00.000-05:00

October 23, 2007 - Original Post Date

No, this is not about packing less on your next trip. This is about spending less. Yeah, yeah, yada yada you say. But give me a few more sentences. For the past two years, we have been striving to lower our travel costs at CellStream - this in light of rising prices - especially in hotels and rental cars. If you do a lot of travel, you know what I mean. To this end we think we have done pretty well lately although we are not satisfied yet and would love to hear what others can add. So lets get right to our proven methods to date:

1. Start all your travel planning at one web site: www.kayak.com . This is the best travel search engine out there. It searches even the Travelocity's and Expedias. We could go on and on about what we like about kayak, but that is not the point.

Start with the plane travel. We love the way you can quickly adjust dates and times through their user interface. This tip alone will save you hundreds - even thousands if you are a road warrior. Now go to the hotel and rental car searches - get baselines for all this.

Join every frequent flyer program you can. If you fly a lot, you can select the least cost air fare and earn privileges. This can be helpful when flying stand by, getting upgrades, and getting preferred access to seats, check in, and boarding.

When checking in - always ask about how full the flight is. If you are willing to move your seat - you might get a empty seat beside you. Remember that all the seats take off and land at the same time!

2. Once you have your flights, now go to Thrifty or Dollar sites to compare rental car prices to that of the Kayak search. We sometimes find their web site to be cheaper. We seem to end up getting the best deal with a fair number of locations from Thrifty. They also have a Blue Chip Rewards program that we urge you to join. Rent X number of days and you get a day free. They send you certificates and there is essentially no restriction - you can use the certificates on any car. We have found good rates on Expedia as well.

Certainly you can find cheaper alternatives to Thrifty and Dollar, but they usually require you take a shuttle as they are not in the airports we frequent, and if schedules are tight, this can be problematic. This does not mean that using Hertz or Avis is a good idea because they are convenient. Quite the opposite. They cost more - even the corporate programs! We often save 20-75% by avoiding Hertz, Avis and National.

3. Do the same for hotels. Check the sites of your favorite chain, then compare to kayak search results. Whatever you do - join a hotel rewards program. The nights add up and you get free nights after a while. Honestly the free nights aren't the best deal. Once you reach upper tiers you will get better rooms, amenities thrown in and preferred treatment. It is a no brainer.

That said, be careful. We know people who will only stay at a given hotel chain "for the points". Nine of ten times, they pay a price for this, and the price is not worth it. Make sure you look at it with a spreadsheet!

4. Consider transport not a rental car. Here is a great example: when traveling to Atlanta, you could rent a car for $35/day for 3 days or you can take the Marta train for about $3 a trip, a taxi from the Marta station to your hotel or business runs less than $10. For the cost of one rental car day, you can get around for all 3 days using alternate transport. Ask hotels about options like this at your destination.

5. Travel is stressful and many people satisfy the need for a good feeling by eating. This can get costly and unhealthy, so the next two tips are about food:

Don't eat at the airport. A little planning and you can avoid this - even make it a challenge. Plus it is healthier. We tend to get on a plane and eat. Or to get to the hub and eat. Brown bagging your lunch and switching off the "I have to eat" thinking will save money and inches on your waist. We burn no energy sitting in a seat for 3 hours. This does not apply to delayed flights of course.

Don't eat at the hotel or at least not if you can avoid it. OK, some hotels have great restaurants, but most are over priced. Ask the front desk for a restaurant list, or check into a hotel that has a suite kitchen so you can make your own.

We hope this helps someone, and welcome additional thoughts.

A Great Tech PodCast and Web Site

2007-10-15T20:17:00.000-05:00

10/15/07 - Original Post Date

For about three months now, we have been regular watchers of the (nearly) daily podcast from www.webbalert.com . Delivered with enthusiasm, an animated Ms. Webb presents important industry news and commentary that keeps us up to date on the tech industry. Since Webb Alert is without huge sponsorship, they tend to call things how they see them, and we like a little irony and sarcasm, if at least for the entertainment value. Then again, some of the stinging quips are well earned. All this in less than 5 minutes of your valuable time. Plus the site has great links to current events. Someone is going to grab the rights and sponsor this site and then it will become sedate and probably boring. So watch now while it is fresh and fun.

Our First Experiences with Windows SharePoint 2007

2007-10-08T20:15:00.000-05:00

October 08, 2007 - Original Post Date

As those of you close to us know, we have been big fans of Microsoft's SharePoint concept since initial release several years ago. We have, in fact, recommended it to every small/medium business owner that will listen to us! The entire CellStream back office became converted to this online database system. Was it perfect - well, not exactly. There were areas that needed improvement and we had high hopes MS would continue to expand the capabilities and functionality.

Earlier this year, we got wind that MS was not only planning a major revision to SharePoint, but also that a new feature they call PowerPoint Library was going to be supported. Let's explain a little on this feature. PowerPoint is a fine Office tool, but honestly has never gone beyond writing presentations in nearly 2 decades. Office 2007 was a major improvement in our opinions, but PowerPoint continued to miss an important feature: the ability to reuse slides in a managed database method. As those of us who create presentations know, when you create presentations, each one has a complete slide set, and normally people cut and paste slides. This causes tremendous repetition in the presentation files, and as a slide is improved, it is very difficult to know where the latest version of any given slide is. This can lead to bizarre moments where presenters suddenly don't have a new version, or when authors search for a particular slide that they need...which presentation was that in? It is possible to purchase software that does this, but it does not come cheap, and we had heard horror stories. So when MS offered up the SharePoint solution we were listening.

So the new feature was earmarked as being able to create slides in a database fashion, and then build presentations from the database! This means you can create slide histories, know where updates are, and minimize the management of large numbers of slides. Sounds too good to be true doesn't it? We were anxious to see this feature and this feature alone prompted us to jump into SharePoint 2007 this September.

Research revealed that the upgrade procedure was complicated. We think MS better fix this as the average small/medium business owner is not going to try this on their own. We were told to purchase a SharePoint 2007 book from MS that detailed all the possible issues and stages of the upgrade. Naturally, with the entire back office system running on this tool, there was no room for errors or loss of data. So the first very important step was to image our server so in the event of catastrophe, we could return to "Go". We urge anyone attempting this to do the same. The 1155 page book is called "Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007: Administrator's Companion". Second, we ran the entire process on a simple offline server just to verify we had all the necessary software packages (you don't just use the MS SharePoint 2007 DVD, you need .Net 3.0 and many other tidbits thankfully, if not poorly explained in the Admin Guide).

Six hours later, we completed the actual server upgrade without any major hitches, or so it appeared. Our \\companyweb intranet was operational with a new improved look and feel that we instantly liked. Almost as instantly there were problems. Microsoft, for whatever reason, no longer uses the \\companyweb as the root for the SharePoint system! There is a new root and while our 'companyweb' pages were upgraded and still reachable (at least internally) we now had two web sites! The Admin guide offers little on this which is a total surprise, nor does the Microsoft web. So we thought - fine, we will move the web pages and merge the two sites. We still have been unable to do this. Again - all works, but it is not as pretty as we would like.

The next day we received problem reports that remote access to the SharePoint intranet was inoperable. We found out that it was partly operable and we saw error logs aplenty. Research on the MS web revealed that SQL Server 2005 had to be reconfigured for remote access - this had not been any issue prior to the upgrade. Once that was fixed we seemed back to normal.

With all seemingly settled, it was time to set up the PowerPoint Library. As we explored, it became obvious that SharePoint 2007 has had many new features added which is great news. The library function worked great - at least we thought. Turns out there are little annoying 'gotchas' all around. Here is a list of these bugs:

Internet Explorer with VISTA is not perfect with SharePoint 2007 Library functions
The hover over Calendar function has stopped working from the prior version and we have no idea why
The views (which conveniently used to appear on the right border in the prior version) use a drop down box all the way on the left of the screen in 2007. We find this less convenient and hokey.
After making an edit, SharePoint 2007 always returns to the default view, not the last one you were using - again a step backward
SharePoint takes over your server functions like email and other items - we have yet to explore this more, but in our testing, we found Exchange failed after the upgrade, so we did not move onto exchange in the production environment.

The good news is as follows:

More features and the wonderful Library Function for PowerPoint
No damaged databases or lost info in the upgrade, though it was not for beginners.
Love the new look and feel options and the new web seems designed for larger businesses which is a good thing for MS
If you are a new user to SharePoint - start with 2007...you will love it

We continue to explore SharePoint 2007 as this is written, and we will do a follow-up in another blog post.