Friday, October 30, 2009

Internet Pigeon Protocol

One of the quirkiest stories in Tech Report this week was a pigeon that flew faster than the internet.

An experiment was carried out in rural New South Wales where a car, a pigeon, and a Telstra ADSL 2 connection all raced to deliver a 700mb file. The pigeon won. The internet connection dropped out twice, and eventually failed to send it.

This kind of non-electronic data transfer is known as a "sneakernet". They're actually widely used today. Online DVD-rental services send digital media by post. Oil companies generate vast data files from seismic surveys, and have to take them back manually. If you've ever carried work files home on a USB because they were too big to email, you've used a sneakernet.

Read more here

Smart cities of the future


In September 2009, Cisco invited regional media to Incheon, South Korea, to see how next-generation networks can transform cities.

Interview: Michael Malone, CEO, iiNet


iiNet CEO Michael Malone speaks about why he thinks the Australian government's proposed mandatory internet filtering is inappropriate.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Internet of Things

Finland has just made it a legal right to have 1mbps broadband.

It's well below the fastest speeds available in most countries, though still better than many Australians enjoy. And by 2015, Finland will expand that legal right to 100-megabit broadband access.

More importantly it signifies that internet access is starting to be seen as a utility rather than a luxury.

As governments increasingly put services online, they have a duty to ensure that citizens can access them easily and for a fair price. But even more critically than this, connectivity is vital for the "Internet of Things".

Read more here

Friday, October 2, 2009

Internet censorship in Australia

Back in February 2008 Sky News Business Channel was the first media organisation to uncover that the Australian government's planned internet filter would be compulsory even for adults.