In 1999
Father goes to the office
In his new bi-aeroplane
And talks by wireless telephone
To Uncle John--in Spain
Mother goes a-shopping
She buys things more or less
And has them sent home C.O.D.
Via "Monorail Express."
Sister goes a-calling
She stays here and there awhile
And discusses with her many friends
The latest Martian style
And when her calling list is through
She finds a library nook
And there with great enjoyment hears
A new self-reading book.
Saturday, December 9, 2006
"In 1999": Technology According to a student from 1906
In a great book I'm reading, Close To Shore by Michael Capuzzo, he includes a poem by a 1906 prep school student in order to re-create a particular time in history. What's great about it is that he uses 'Martian style' along-side 'wireless telephone' and 'self-reading books'. I feel that the tone of the poem is humorous, but how weird that he would use terms that we use today. And that those terms describe very modern technology!
What is P2P, or Does Anyone Remember Napster?
P2P (peer-to-peer) Communications Model
Peer to peer is direct file sharing between two computers over the internet, who have assigned IP addresses, without downloading from a central server. In essence, in a true peer-to-peer network, the client/server roles are merged and there is no central server (Wikipedia). So each computer then acts as a server from which any other computer can download files, within the network. A little bit about networks, as Robert Molyneux explained in his essay "Computer Networks", most networks are "partial mesh". In other words, not every computer is directly linked to every other computer. The model actually looks like this:
That hazy cloud that is the internet is where we can focus what P2P means in terms of networking. It is almost as if the internet allows for P2P to directly connect every computer. What once seemed improbable, connecting every computer to every other computer, becomes simpler. P2P allows this connection. Because of the power and speed of home computers these days, the next evolutionary step in computer use should be the merging of client/server technology. More home computers could be used in a way that is similar to the way servers are used. This sounds fabulous, right? The sobering thought for all this peer to peer networking is security. With KaZaA, the user had the eventual problem of piggybacking. When downloading files, malicious files would piggyback onto legitimate files and your computer would be harmed in some way by this. Because the network was unstructured, there was no way of regulating this. Also, KaZaA ran a program on the computer called a satellite. This satellite often kept the internet connection open, allowing for programs to be downloaded on your computer without your knowledge. Limewire, one of the newer peer to peer applications, seems to have better security as it is firewalled, and those firewalls can be adjusted.
Bit Torrent
Perhaps the newest and 'safest' peer to peer technology is bittorrent. Bittorrent was created by programmer Bram Cohen and is now maintained by BitTorrent Inc. Bittorrent is an open source application, the code was released to the public. Any client is capable of, "preparing, requesting, and transmitting any type of computer file over a network using the BitTorrent protocol". Bittorrent is the name of a peer to peer file distribution protocol, which means it is a new rule for file-sharing. An interesting bit of information, some people record that 35% of internet traffic is through bit torrent applications. This may be high, but it is still interesting. The way bit torrent works is that the user downloads the executable bittorrent file from the home page. Then, the user searches a separate bit torrent client, like Azureus (available from sourceforge.net) or isohunt. When they've located the file they want, they click on it, and it opens up the bittorrent application. The interesting thing about bittorrent is that the more files you share, the quicker the download. This is called 'seeding'. A 'leech' is a person who downloads more than uploads. This seems to encourage some of the tenets that early web developer Tim Berner's Lee abides by, which is decentralization, openness and fairness. By encouraging people to allow uploads, there is more information for everyone out there, not one person hoarding all the files. Bittorrent is also notable because it distributes this large amount of data widely, without using up huge amounts of costly bandwith. The concern here, as with all peer-to-peer clients is authorized use. Companies encourage the use of bit torrent to download open-source software. As for music, perhaps appropriately copyrighted material found in Creative Commons could be downloaded through Bit Torrent. Apparently Warner Bros. plans to distribute some films via bittorrent.
P2P and Libraries: Past, Present and Future
Libraries were instrumental is helping to keep P2P networks available. According to ODLIS
Libraries now recognize the advantages of P2P networking for their own use. From the Encyclopedia of Information and Library Science:
Personal Experience
My experience with P2P networks are with the unstructured P2P networks. Three previously popular file-sharing networks, such as Napster, Gnutella and KaZaA were all unstructured P2P networks. Napster allowed users to download files from other users. Napster also spread the use of the compressed mp3 format, which then allowed the audio files to be downloaded more speedily. With dial-up being the most prominent connection, these compressed files were ideal. The search engine would then flood the network with the search term looking for the file. The more popular the file, the more likely the user would be to find it. Herein lies the problem with the unstructured networks. Rather than the network running through a list of files on one central server and locating it, the search goes anywhere and everywhere, sometimes timing out because there are too many files out there to find one less popular individual file. I now use Bit Torrent, it's faster and seemingly safer. There are still timeouts, and files that won't download. Such is the price we pay for free information!
Peer to peer is direct file sharing between two computers over the internet, who have assigned IP addresses, without downloading from a central server. In essence, in a true peer-to-peer network, the client/server roles are merged and there is no central server (Wikipedia). So each computer then acts as a server from which any other computer can download files, within the network. A little bit about networks, as Robert Molyneux explained in his essay "Computer Networks", most networks are "partial mesh". In other words, not every computer is directly linked to every other computer. The model actually looks like this:
That hazy cloud that is the internet is where we can focus what P2P means in terms of networking. It is almost as if the internet allows for P2P to directly connect every computer. What once seemed improbable, connecting every computer to every other computer, becomes simpler. P2P allows this connection. Because of the power and speed of home computers these days, the next evolutionary step in computer use should be the merging of client/server technology. More home computers could be used in a way that is similar to the way servers are used. This sounds fabulous, right? The sobering thought for all this peer to peer networking is security. With KaZaA, the user had the eventual problem of piggybacking. When downloading files, malicious files would piggyback onto legitimate files and your computer would be harmed in some way by this. Because the network was unstructured, there was no way of regulating this. Also, KaZaA ran a program on the computer called a satellite. This satellite often kept the internet connection open, allowing for programs to be downloaded on your computer without your knowledge. Limewire, one of the newer peer to peer applications, seems to have better security as it is firewalled, and those firewalls can be adjusted.
Bit Torrent
Perhaps the newest and 'safest' peer to peer technology is bittorrent. Bittorrent was created by programmer Bram Cohen and is now maintained by BitTorrent Inc. Bittorrent is an open source application, the code was released to the public. Any client is capable of, "preparing, requesting, and transmitting any type of computer file over a network using the BitTorrent protocol". Bittorrent is the name of a peer to peer file distribution protocol, which means it is a new rule for file-sharing. An interesting bit of information, some people record that 35% of internet traffic is through bit torrent applications. This may be high, but it is still interesting. The way bit torrent works is that the user downloads the executable bittorrent file from the home page. Then, the user searches a separate bit torrent client, like Azureus (available from sourceforge.net) or isohunt. When they've located the file they want, they click on it, and it opens up the bittorrent application. The interesting thing about bittorrent is that the more files you share, the quicker the download. This is called 'seeding'. A 'leech' is a person who downloads more than uploads. This seems to encourage some of the tenets that early web developer Tim Berner's Lee abides by, which is decentralization, openness and fairness. By encouraging people to allow uploads, there is more information for everyone out there, not one person hoarding all the files. Bittorrent is also notable because it distributes this large amount of data widely, without using up huge amounts of costly bandwith. The concern here, as with all peer-to-peer clients is authorized use. Companies encourage the use of bit torrent to download open-source software. As for music, perhaps appropriately copyrighted material found in Creative Commons could be downloaded through Bit Torrent. Apparently Warner Bros. plans to distribute some films via bittorrent.
P2P and Libraries: Past, Present and Future
Libraries were instrumental is helping to keep P2P networks available. According to ODLIS
In September 2003, the American Library Association (ALA) joined four other library associations in an amicus brief on behalf of peer-to-peer file-sharing companies Grokster and Morpheus in their defense against an infringement suit brought by MGM Studios and 27 other entertainment companies to ensure that file-sharing technology, which can be used to benefit society without infringing intellectual property rights, is not unduly restricted.Since patrons are not typically allowed to download software onto library computers, this battle was truly to protect freedom of information outside the library, qualifying the use with the idea that peer-to-peer sharing is alright only when it does not infringe on intellectual property rights.
Libraries now recognize the advantages of P2P networking for their own use. From the Encyclopedia of Information and Library Science:
"How will P2P networking affect the delivery of reference services in and by public libraries? The effects are likely to be manifest on two levels. First, it is expected that groupware applications based in significant part on P2P architectures will emerge as important and widely employed services for computer-supported work, and one of the dimensions of computer-supported work is that reference librarians and other information specialists will be integrated into computer-supported workgroups, in a manner akin to the way in which medical librarians have been absorbed into clinical care groups at many hospitals and medical centers. The second dimension of effect will be seen in the way P2P networking enables reference librarians to deal more or less simultaneously with the needs of individuals and groups;"
Personal Experience
My experience with P2P networks are with the unstructured P2P networks. Three previously popular file-sharing networks, such as Napster, Gnutella and KaZaA were all unstructured P2P networks. Napster allowed users to download files from other users. Napster also spread the use of the compressed mp3 format, which then allowed the audio files to be downloaded more speedily. With dial-up being the most prominent connection, these compressed files were ideal. The search engine would then flood the network with the search term looking for the file. The more popular the file, the more likely the user would be to find it. Herein lies the problem with the unstructured networks. Rather than the network running through a list of files on one central server and locating it, the search goes anywhere and everywhere, sometimes timing out because there are too many files out there to find one less popular individual file. I now use Bit Torrent, it's faster and seemingly safer. There are still timeouts, and files that won't download. Such is the price we pay for free information!
What I Learned from Molyneaux and Drew
Molyneux
Molyneux's discourse on computer networks reinforced many things that I 'kind of' knew about networks, but explained them in plain terms. There were two things in particular that I felt Molyneux explained very well. One was the OSI reference model. I am more familiar with the TCP/IP model, and its four layers, Application, Transport, Network and Link. The OSI model, with seven layers is more complicated, but at the same time allows for a more comprehensive look at networking. The most interesting part of OSI model, I feel, is the physical layer. Before reading Molyneux I felt disconnected from the actual physical process of transferring data. We think of cyberspace and it seems intangible. With the OSI model, that flow of data is not intangible, rather it explains how data is transferred as signals.
"Signals are what layer 1 is about"
This second point finally cleared up the difference between analog and digital signals for me. I knew that analog signals were wave forms. Over time, they are described as having amplitude (the height of the wave), frequency (the duration from peak to peak) and phases (the length of time from zero to peak). Interesting, too, was that the initial infrastructure for data networks was done at Bell Labs. I will have to ask my Dad if he worked on that while he was there! The digital signal is different, simpler construct. The positive peaks are 1's and the negative peaks are 0's. As far as I can tell they can not be manipulated, as analog signals can to produce different sounds, because they are in their simplest form. This makes them more usable, because the sameness means as many as possible can be transmitted to many devices, as long as those devices are equipped to recieve digital signals. There is no loss of quality, merely a need to decide if something was a 1or 0, far easier than cleaning up analog signals.
As for Chapter 2's entry by Drew,
Drew
His explanation of wireless local area networks cleared up some of the mystery, I felt, surrounded them. The library I worked at in Las Vegas had recently implemented wireless access points. I wish I had had the background Drew provides to share with the patrons, about how it works, why it only works in some areas, etc. As for why it only works in several areas, I realize it is because of the available access points, explained by Drew.
Wireless standards
When we were asked to compare our computer specifications to those set forth by the College of Law, one that I didn't completely understand, but found to information about was the IEEE 802.11. As far as I can tell my computer can use all the standards, according to this article as it displays as IEEE 802.1x. I believe it means that my laptop can talk to a variety of other devices. So far that seems to be the case!
Molyneux's discourse on computer networks reinforced many things that I 'kind of' knew about networks, but explained them in plain terms. There were two things in particular that I felt Molyneux explained very well. One was the OSI reference model. I am more familiar with the TCP/IP model, and its four layers, Application, Transport, Network and Link. The OSI model, with seven layers is more complicated, but at the same time allows for a more comprehensive look at networking. The most interesting part of OSI model, I feel, is the physical layer. Before reading Molyneux I felt disconnected from the actual physical process of transferring data. We think of cyberspace and it seems intangible. With the OSI model, that flow of data is not intangible, rather it explains how data is transferred as signals.
"Signals are what layer 1 is about"
This second point finally cleared up the difference between analog and digital signals for me. I knew that analog signals were wave forms. Over time, they are described as having amplitude (the height of the wave), frequency (the duration from peak to peak) and phases (the length of time from zero to peak). Interesting, too, was that the initial infrastructure for data networks was done at Bell Labs. I will have to ask my Dad if he worked on that while he was there! The digital signal is different, simpler construct. The positive peaks are 1's and the negative peaks are 0's. As far as I can tell they can not be manipulated, as analog signals can to produce different sounds, because they are in their simplest form. This makes them more usable, because the sameness means as many as possible can be transmitted to many devices, as long as those devices are equipped to recieve digital signals. There is no loss of quality, merely a need to decide if something was a 1or 0, far easier than cleaning up analog signals.
As for Chapter 2's entry by Drew,
Drew
His explanation of wireless local area networks cleared up some of the mystery, I felt, surrounded them. The library I worked at in Las Vegas had recently implemented wireless access points. I wish I had had the background Drew provides to share with the patrons, about how it works, why it only works in some areas, etc. As for why it only works in several areas, I realize it is because of the available access points, explained by Drew.
"The Access Point (AP) is a transmitter/receiver that acts as a connections between wireless clients and wired networks."Our library had only one AP, and because of that, instead of users being able to walk anywhere in the building and re-connecting to the network via the next AP, they lose their connection. However, the building is small, only one floor, so the area that is covered is fairly large. Even extending to the parking lot, according to some patrons.
Wireless standards
When we were asked to compare our computer specifications to those set forth by the College of Law, one that I didn't completely understand, but found to information about was the IEEE 802.11. As far as I can tell my computer can use all the standards, according to this article as it displays as IEEE 802.1x. I believe it means that my laptop can talk to a variety of other devices. So far that seems to be the case!
Making the Grade!
In this week’s module, Hardware, Software and Network basics, we were asked to view the computer specifications recommended by SIRLS and the College of Law. The College of Law recommends that if students are buying a computer for school, they include the specifications on their list. I am happy to say that my computer is up to their standards in every category. I initially thought that I may have had one or two minor things that were out-of-date. The guidelines were last updated August 15, 2006, and I purchased mine in December of 2005. Given the speed that technology makes advances, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that my bit of technology has kept up.
The College of Law first urges students to purchase a laptop, rather than a desktop computer. The reason behind this is, as it is for all laptop recommendations, mobility. With a laptop a student can almost take their work with them anywhere. I say almost, because we are not quite a wireless campus yet! But, Student Union access, College of Law access, and access at the IC in the main library is quite a large range of places to take your laptop. Additionally, there are several shops on University that offer free wireless, though you wouldn’t want to work on highly sensitive materials on their unsecured networks. But, the main point is that with a desktop, none of those options are available to you.
The hardware that I have is exactly as listed on the site. The only differences are that in some cases I have more than the minimum required specifications. For example, I have a 1.4 GB Mhz Intel Celeron processor, while the College of Law recommends a minimum 1.0 GB Mhz processor. I also have 33.4 gigabytes of usable space on my hard drive, slightly higher than the 30 gig, recommendation. I have an Ethernet card (this I specifically made sure of when purchasing the laptop) and an internal wireless card. The only thing I don’t have on the list is a security kit. I’m not really sure what one of those is, but since it’s on the list, I will be looking into it a bit more.
I had to work a little bit to find the specifications for my computer. They all centered on the My Computer icon on my desktop, but the information I needed was in various little pockets. I right-clicked and opened the properties window for the computer to find out the processor and RAM information, as well as double-checking that my computer is running Windows XP. To find out the hard drive capabilities, I just opened the my computer icon, and clicked on c:/ to find out what my space capabilities were. The area that contained the rest of the information was in a place I had never been too. After right-clicking on My Computer, this time I chose the option ‘Manage’. This opened the Computer Management window. There is an option on the list called ‘Device Manager’, and here is where I found the relevant information. It lists all the devices installed on the computer, and you can right-click the ones you are interested in to learn more about there properties. This was a very useful tool.
SIRLS doesn’t add too much to the College of Law’s specs, except that they feel students should definitely own their own computers, while the College feels it provides enough resources for students to not have to won their own. My personal experience is that it has been so convenient to have my own. This way I can download any necessary software, and have a reliable source of connection to the internet. That really would be what I would recommend to anyone taking a virtual course, exactly what these two pages list. Windows XP may be replaced with Vista, but the only course of action a student could take is to find out if their hardware will support this future OS. Living on-campus with a LAN network is ideal, but a high-speed modem did just as well when I was a purely virtual student. The only new pieces of software a student might want to have, that I use through campus computers is Dreamweaver and Adobe Acrobat, full-version. These seem to be useful to have, and with a student rate, it’s almost feasible!
The last thing I have to say is go Firefox, all the way. It is a far superior browser to Explorer. I could only use Explorer this summer in Ireland, and I missed my tabs. Now I would miss tabs and live bookmarks...
The College of Law first urges students to purchase a laptop, rather than a desktop computer. The reason behind this is, as it is for all laptop recommendations, mobility. With a laptop a student can almost take their work with them anywhere. I say almost, because we are not quite a wireless campus yet! But, Student Union access, College of Law access, and access at the IC in the main library is quite a large range of places to take your laptop. Additionally, there are several shops on University that offer free wireless, though you wouldn’t want to work on highly sensitive materials on their unsecured networks. But, the main point is that with a desktop, none of those options are available to you.
The hardware that I have is exactly as listed on the site. The only differences are that in some cases I have more than the minimum required specifications. For example, I have a 1.4 GB Mhz Intel Celeron processor, while the College of Law recommends a minimum 1.0 GB Mhz processor. I also have 33.4 gigabytes of usable space on my hard drive, slightly higher than the 30 gig, recommendation. I have an Ethernet card (this I specifically made sure of when purchasing the laptop) and an internal wireless card. The only thing I don’t have on the list is a security kit. I’m not really sure what one of those is, but since it’s on the list, I will be looking into it a bit more.
I had to work a little bit to find the specifications for my computer. They all centered on the My Computer icon on my desktop, but the information I needed was in various little pockets. I right-clicked and opened the properties window for the computer to find out the processor and RAM information, as well as double-checking that my computer is running Windows XP. To find out the hard drive capabilities, I just opened the my computer icon, and clicked on c:/ to find out what my space capabilities were. The area that contained the rest of the information was in a place I had never been too. After right-clicking on My Computer, this time I chose the option ‘Manage’. This opened the Computer Management window. There is an option on the list called ‘Device Manager’, and here is where I found the relevant information. It lists all the devices installed on the computer, and you can right-click the ones you are interested in to learn more about there properties. This was a very useful tool.
SIRLS doesn’t add too much to the College of Law’s specs, except that they feel students should definitely own their own computers, while the College feels it provides enough resources for students to not have to won their own. My personal experience is that it has been so convenient to have my own. This way I can download any necessary software, and have a reliable source of connection to the internet. That really would be what I would recommend to anyone taking a virtual course, exactly what these two pages list. Windows XP may be replaced with Vista, but the only course of action a student could take is to find out if their hardware will support this future OS. Living on-campus with a LAN network is ideal, but a high-speed modem did just as well when I was a purely virtual student. The only new pieces of software a student might want to have, that I use through campus computers is Dreamweaver and Adobe Acrobat, full-version. These seem to be useful to have, and with a student rate, it’s almost feasible!
The last thing I have to say is go Firefox, all the way. It is a far superior browser to Explorer. I could only use Explorer this summer in Ireland, and I missed my tabs. Now I would miss tabs and live bookmarks...
What Would I Ask Sir Tim Berners-Lee?
Sir Tim Berners-Lee is an interesting person, he seems uncorrupted by the temptation to make money off his invention, the internet. As one article briefly mentioned, his partner at the time became a multi-millionaire as one of the founders of the web-browser, Netscape. And yet Tim Berners-Lee still works in a small office at MIT, only recently winning the 1.3 million euro Millenium Technology prize, a modest amount of money compared to other internet moguls. From this modesty, I wonder what kind of ethos guides his life decisions.
Based on a statement made in one article he said that,
And in yet another article the term ethos was used again, that web science
Based on a statement made in one article he said that,
"A good blogger when he says that something's happened will have a point to back, and there's a certain ethos within the blogging community, you always point to your source, you point all the way back to the original article."
And in yet another article the term ethos was used again, that web science
"has its own ethos: decentralization to avoid social and technical bottlenecks, openness to the reuse of information in unexpected ways, and fairness."This second view of ethos is written by Tim Berners Lee. If asking him about ethos, his moral outlook, I would like to know what, in greater detail, it might be. By being such a strong proponent of open and fair use, it may be a good guideline for librarians to use.
Internet Activities
This week's module involved Internet History, and familiarizing ourselves with some basic internet terminology. In the first exercise I located the IP address of the computer I use. It is my laptop, IP address 128.196.107.20. This search reminded me of registering my computer for campus access. To register the computer one needs to locate the MAC address which is different than the IP address. From what I understand, the MAC address is the physical address of the adapter you are using. I imagine that this is useful for internet security here on campus, because once you have the MAC address you must go through student link and officially register the address with the University. As a employee at the university library's reference desk, I try to use the term adapter address. The term MAC confuses everyone, as it is the most popular term for Apple's Macintosh computers!
The second part of this exercise was to find out where the IP address 66.253.148.213 was located. Using ARIN WHOIS, two entries came up that conatined the IP address in their ranges. One was Distributed Management Information Systems, Inc., located in Illinois. The more interesting entry is Royal Entrada Real Oeste Apartments on University. More interesting because that address is right up the street from me, which somehow makes the address more tangible.
The tracert activity was actually very frustrating for me, at first.
No matter how many times I tried, when I ran the command prompt program the hops always 'request timed out'. At 30 hops, I had hoped for more of a response than that. I wondered if it was my computer. In class I tried it on the lab computer, and it immediately came up with several IP addresses. I did not write any of those down, however, so I was unable to look them up on the ARIN database. However, today I finally recieved one IP address in response to my tracert! I used the tracert command to trace arizona.edu, instead of www.arizona.edu. I'm not sure why that worked instead. The IP address came up as 128.196.128.233 which, when searched through ARIN, appears to be the UA main address. This result was different from the Royal Entrada Apartments IP address search. Thre was no range of addresses. The following is from the result:
I had heard of a few network commands before, like ipconfig, ping and finger most recently. Ipconfig I used, as described before, to find my computer's IP address and MAC address. Ping we talked about in class, and I had heard the term 'pinging' other people's computers. The finger command I just recently learned about when reading about the internet and coke machines in activity 6. I put two and two together to figure out that the addresses they listed were to be 'fingered' in command prompt. I actually got a response from one by typing in the command: finger drink@drink.csh.rit.edu. The response I got was, "Welcome to the CSH drink server/ Drink User info on Drink/ Balance: 0". I can't believe they've got these machines hooked up to the internet. Laziness is the mother of invention this time.
The only netiquette violation I have ever seen is via email. My mom was just learning how to compose emails, and she sent everything in CAPS for awhile. I didn't realize how much it seemed like shouting until I got those emails from her. She is much more considerate these days ;-)
The second part of this exercise was to find out where the IP address 66.253.148.213 was located. Using ARIN WHOIS, two entries came up that conatined the IP address in their ranges. One was Distributed Management Information Systems, Inc., located in Illinois. The more interesting entry is Royal Entrada Real Oeste Apartments on University. More interesting because that address is right up the street from me, which somehow makes the address more tangible.
The tracert activity was actually very frustrating for me, at first.
No matter how many times I tried, when I ran the command prompt program the hops always 'request timed out'. At 30 hops, I had hoped for more of a response than that. I wondered if it was my computer. In class I tried it on the lab computer, and it immediately came up with several IP addresses. I did not write any of those down, however, so I was unable to look them up on the ARIN database. However, today I finally recieved one IP address in response to my tracert! I used the tracert command to trace arizona.edu, instead of www.arizona.edu. I'm not sure why that worked instead. The IP address came up as 128.196.128.233 which, when searched through ARIN, appears to be the UA main address. This result was different from the Royal Entrada Apartments IP address search. Thre was no range of addresses. The following is from the result:
NetType: Direct AssignmentThe term Direct Assignment I am interpreting as a direct connection to the server, rather than bouncing around, perhaps the connection I have goes directly to a central server? The fourth server is interesting, too. I wonder why Purdue is listed? Does UA use Purdue's servers? Cool name for the server, BTW. I wonder if there is an Arthur and Merlin server out there...
NameServer: ARIZONA.EDU
NameServer: NS-REMOTE.ARIZONA.EDU
NameServer: CS.ARIZONA.EDU
NameServer: PENDRAGON.CS.PURDUE.EDU
I had heard of a few network commands before, like ipconfig, ping and finger most recently. Ipconfig I used, as described before, to find my computer's IP address and MAC address. Ping we talked about in class, and I had heard the term 'pinging' other people's computers. The finger command I just recently learned about when reading about the internet and coke machines in activity 6. I put two and two together to figure out that the addresses they listed were to be 'fingered' in command prompt. I actually got a response from one by typing in the command: finger drink@drink.csh.rit.edu. The response I got was, "Welcome to the CSH drink server/ Drink User info on Drink/ Balance: 0". I can't believe they've got these machines hooked up to the internet. Laziness is the mother of invention this time.
The only netiquette violation I have ever seen is via email. My mom was just learning how to compose emails, and she sent everything in CAPS for awhile. I didn't realize how much it seemed like shouting until I got those emails from her. She is much more considerate these days ;-)
Wireless City in England
I was just looking at my live bookmarks, and the BBC reported that the city of Norwich, England
is 'one giant hotspot'. I had heard there were some cities in the U.S. that were close to this, but it is truly amazing to think that you could walk anywhere and use your laptop with its wireless card.
You can read the rest of the article, which includes the guidelines for use imposed by the county council, here.
is 'one giant hotspot'. I had heard there were some cities in the U.S. that were close to this, but it is truly amazing to think that you could walk anywhere and use your laptop with its wireless card.
More than 200 antennas are positioned around the city, mainly on lampposts, creating blanket wi-fi coverage.
The city is one giant hotspot, utilising a mesh network which means users can get seamless internet access as they wander the streets.
Kurt Frary, who managed the project at the local authority said: "As a mesh network, if one of the lamppost aerials were to fail, the whole system will compensate to find a way through.
'Glitch free'
"We had 1,800 connections in the first week, more than 2,500 in the second and 3,000 in the third.
You can read the rest of the article, which includes the guidelines for use imposed by the county council, here.
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