CommuniCrossings Software for Mobile Learning and Communication

Introduction

• "Network: Any thing reticulated or decussated, at equal distances, with interstices between the intersections." ~Samuel Johnson, Dictionary of the English Language (1755)
  
  
• "The Internet is not something that you just dump something on. It's not a big truck. It's a series of tubes. And if you don't understand, those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and it's going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material." ~Sen. Ted Stevens
  
  
• "Oh, so they have internet on computers now!" ~Homer Simpson
  
  

computer networks; [HSW: intro, quiz (10), internet vs. web?]; video: email, 1:17
switch [HSW]; Packet switching; Circuit switching;
router [HSW: intro, quiz (10)], [video: 6:12]; backbone
CAT5 (cable); Quality of Service (QoS);
home network [HSW: intro; quiz (10); security; videos: intro; 0:45, intro2; 3:16]; speedtest.net
Broadband; Local Area Network (LAN); Internet Service Provider (ISP)
terabyte = 1000GB; petabyte = 1000TB (1 million GB); exabyte = 1000PB (1 billion GB)
Why Broadband Changes Everything (activities it's used for)
HSW: How Routing Algorithms Work
HSW: Top 5 Ways to Troubleshoot Your Broadband Internet Connection
HSW: How hard is it to set up a network between two computers in my home?
HSW: How Portable Internet Devices Work

Phone: wired

T1 line [HSW]; Dialup; modem [HSW];
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) [HSW: intro, quiz (10)], Very high bit rate DSL (VDSL) [HSW];
Verizon FiOS (Fiber Optic Service) [HSW];
100 Mbps DSL is Here & 800 Mbps is Around the Corner
DSL, Now Offering Speeds of 700 Mbps
HSW: How High-speed Dial-up Works

Cable, Satellite, Power-lines

Cable modem [HSW], Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS)

Is 2011 The Year of Powerline Networking?
Broadband Over Power Line Gets Surge From Standard (IEEE 1901)
NIST Lays Out Spec to Turn Power Grid to Network Grid
HSW: Which is better to use for a cable modem -- a USB connection or an Ethernet card?
HSW: Why the difference in speed with my cable modem?
HSW: How does satellite Internet operate?
HSW: How Power-line Networking Works

WiFi

802.11; hotspot; not spots; Wi-Fi [HSW: intro, quiz (10)];
WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) [HSW]
Super WiFi ('WiFi on steroids'); white spaces; femtocell; MiFi

Wi-Fi proven to interfere with aircraft
This Is What Wi-Fi Networks Really Look Like
"Two-way" radio breakthrough doubles Wi-Fi performance
Aircraft bomb finds may spell end for in-flight Wi-Fi
Cars With Wi-Fi Hitting the New Information Highway
Sens. Snowe and Warner want WiFi in all federal buildings (to free up cell phone networks)
NY Times Biffs It on Wi-Fi Conference Overload; NYT: Wi-Fi Overload at High-Tech Meetings
Why Everything Wireless Is 2.4 GHz
A Wider Wi-Fi Stream on Domestic Flights
Wiffler lets smartphones use free WiFi from moving vehicles
F.C.C. Seeks More Input on Wireless Internet Rules
FCC pushed to finalize rules for "white spaces"
FCC votes unanimously in favor of using whitespace for 'super WiFi'
All You Need to Know About White Spaces Broadband
Will We Soon Have Gigantic Wireless Hotspots?
A Simple Wireless Network? Not Likely
Subaru Outback to double as Wi-Fi hot spot
Cell Phones And WiFi Set To Invade NYC’s Subways
Free Wi-Fi Service Coming To (NY) City Livery Cabs
Free Wi-Fi Hotspots Outnumber Paid Wi-Fi in the U.S.
NYC To Get Wi-Fi In Parks, But It’s Free For Only 30 Minutes Per Month

How Data Travels from a Wireless Device
HSW: How Municipal WiFi Works
HSW: How Wireless Internet Cards Work
LH: Top 10 Uses for Wi-Fi (That Aren't Just Connecting to the Internet)
LH: Why Is Wi-Fi Coverage So Bad in My House, and How Can I Fix It?
LH: Lifehacker Readers' Solutions for Your Home's Bad Wi-Fi Coverage
HSW: 5 Tips to Improve Your Wireless Connection
HSW: How to Detect if Someone's Stealing Your WiFi
LH: How Can I Find Out If Someone’s Stealing My Wi-Fi?
HSW: How WiFi Cameras Work

Phone: mobile/cell

GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) [ATT, T-Mobile]; CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) [Verizon, Sprint]
2G; 3G; 4G; Long Term Evolution (LTE); High Speed Packet Access (HSPA)
Call it "3G" or "4G," America's wireless networks are still slow
Wireless advances could mean no more cell towers
Mobile web usage highest in Asia and Africa
AT&T to move most 3G sites to HSPA+, vows real 7Mbps speeds
Verizon Wireless Readies Tiered Data Pricing
Verizon to End Unlimited-Data Party
NY town enacts tough cell tower limits
2G, 3G, 4G, and everything in between: an Engadget wireless primer
4G defined: WiMax and LTE don't qualify (ITU)
Please, Just Tell Me When I’m Nearing My (cellphone) Limit
Clearwire Takes LTE Speeds Towards 100Mbps
U.S. Mobile Data Traffic To Top 1 Exabyte
With a MiFi, You Only Pay an ISP Once
Your Own Hot Spot, and Cheap
Mini Cell Phone Towers, Big Impact on the Future of Mobile Apps
Cellphone Carriers Are Turning to Wi-Fi, Too
HSW quizzes: iPhone (10), cell phone (10)

Other Networking

Digital Living Network Alliance (DNLA); Bluetooth [HSW: intro, quiz (10)]; Wireless Gigabit [HSW] (devices)
'sneaker net'; Radio-frequency identification (RFID), Motes (sensor nodes) [HSW]
Wi-Fi Direct to allow Bluetooth-like pairing, media sharing
Wireless body area network allows your body to send status updates to your cellphone
'Wireless' humans could form backbone of new mobile networks (wearable sensors for body-to-body networks (BBNs))
Foodtubes Proposes Underground ‘Physical Internet’ (automatically routed canisters)
Messages From the Wilderness, via Satellite
Mount Everest now 'wired' for Internet, ready for Starbucks
HSW: How the Airborne Internet Will Work
HSW: How Ubiquitous Networking Will Work
HSW: How Interplanetary Internet Will Work

Speed, Reliability

• "There is more to life than increasing its speed." ~Mahatma Gandhi
  
  
• "Time… is what keeps everything from happening at once." ~Ray Cummings, 1922
  
  

Cheap, Ultrafast Broadband? Hong Kong Has It ($26/mo.; 1Gb)
Testing Your Connection’s Speed Just Got Competitive (and Social) (speedtest.net)
Home Internet May Get Even Faster in South Korea (100Mb to 1Gb!)
Cerf: 2011 will be proving point for 'InterPlanetary Internet'
More hotels offer 2-tiered Wi-Fi: Slow costs less than fast
Broadband Speed Is the Tail Wagging the (US) Policy Dog
What would you do with gigabit internet speeds?
Bringing ultra high-speed (1G) broadband to Stanford homes
MIT Researchers Challenge FCC Broadband Speed Claims
US broadband's average speed: 3.9Mbps [site: Speed Test]
US 27th In Broadband Speeds? Slower Than Kyrgyzstan;
Fastest Net Service in U.S. Coming to Chattanooga
Why Broadband Service in the U.S. Is So Awful (info vs. telecomm service)
Your fears confirmed: "up to" broadband speeds are bogus
The REAL connection speeds for Internet users across the world (charts)
FCC: 68% Of U.S. Connections Slower than 3 Mbps Down, 768kbps Up ('broadband' = 4M/1M)
UK Business ISP Timico Challenges Pigeon to Beat Rural Broadband
BT feathers ruffled over pigeon-based file transfer caper ('not spots')
Diary of a Not-spot -- the final chapter
24/7 Internet access is fast approaching but not here yet
99.999% Reliable? Don’t Hold Your Breath
What Was the Biggest Internet Outage of 2010?
LH: How Can I Find Out If My ISP Is Limiting My Download Speed?

Capacity, Cost

bandwidth cap, bandwidth throttling
SuperPower: Visualising the internet
Study: Humanity can store 295 exabytes of data (1 exabyte = 1 billion gigabytes)
Can You Hear Me Now? Data Overwhelming Cell Networks
(transoceanic) Fiber Capacity Maxing Out?
A Whale of a Bad Analogy for Bandwidth Hogs
Wider (optical) Streets for Internet Traffic
New fiber optic cables promise to bring better, cheaper internet access to West Africa
Technology Races to Meet Tide of Data
Quantum Internet May Become a Reality
Internet Keeps Growing! Traffic up 62% in 2010
The Web Just Keeps Getting Bigger (and Faster!) [3Q '10]
MIT researchers promise an Internet that's 100x faster and cheaper
Huge ISPs want per-GB payments from Netflix, YouTube
Piracy Nearly A Quarter Of Global Internet Traffic, Says Study
Will Netflix Destroy the Internet? American broadband capacity might not be able to keep up with everyone who wants to stream movies
Puppy Cams Threaten Internet, Cisco Says
FCC Finally Admits US Broadband Competitiveness Sucks; Broadband Co's Then Order Their Favorite Politicians To Trash FCC
FCC strikes down free broadband plan
Phone, Internet, TV … And Gas? (bundling utilities)
Is the Internet Sustainable When Everyone On Earth Uses Over 3 Gigabytes of Data Per Day?
(UK) Minister Ed Vaizey backs 'two-speed' internet
Flat-Rate Data Plans Are Dead. Is That a Good Thing?
How Much Should Hotel Web Access Cost?
Internet is the new breakfast (at hotels)
Canada likely to overturn usage-based Internet billing
Charter Follows Comcast With Broadband Usage Caps
Is Pay-Per-Use for Broadband Inevitable?
Why Isn't the Price of Broadband Obeying Moore's Law?
Listen Up, Carriers: 3G Tablets Need a New Pricing Menu
Scientists work to improve Internet capacity
(Oregon) Hunters shoot down Google cables
Google Denies Cables Targeted By Dalles Hunters
Putting the squeeze on the broadband copper robbers (UK)

Digital Divide

• digital divide: "gap between people (and nations) with effective access to digital and information technology and those with very limited or no access at all. It includes the imbalance both in physical access to technology and the resources and skills needed to effectively participate as a digital citizen."
  
  
• "All of us live under the same sky, but we don't all have the same horizon." ~Konrad Adenauer
  
  
• "Globalization, as defined by rich people like us, is a very nice thing... you are talking about the Internet, you are talking about cell phones, you are talking about computers. This doesn't affect two-thirds of the people of the world." ~Jimmy Carter
  
  
• "Will the distance between 'have nets' and 'have nots' increase?" ~S. Weyer, 1988
  
  
• see also: Content Access: disabilities, censorship and "network neutrality"

Staying in Touch With Technology (older adults)
Cuban asks Obama, Google chief for free Internet
Digital Age Is Slow to Arrive in Rural America
National Broadband Map; New broadband map has flaws (incomplete, incorrect or out of date; slow; no pricing)
President Obama Details Plan to Win the Future through Expanded Wireless Access (to 98% of Americans)
Obama Says Plan to Expand Wireless Access Is Critical
UK Gov't Admits That Protecting Big Record Labels More Important Than Getting Poor Online
Cuba welcomes new internet cable link with Venezuela
F.C.C. to Propose Expanding Broadband Service to Underserved Areas (elim. rural phone subsidies)
A virtual counter-revolution: powerful forces are threatening to balkanise it
San Jose seniors are getting plugged in to technology
Where's All the Free Wi-Fi We Were Promised? Municipal WiFi was supposed to bridge the digital divide.
Google's Schmidt sees Web access for billions more
FCC broadband plan will put US in "second tier of countries"
The Better-Off Online
Stimulus funds help wire rural homes for Internet
For US minorities, new 'digital divide' seen
Linking Pockets of Europe to High-Speed Internet (satellite)
More Americans have broadband but 'digital divides' remain
Why don't Americans want broadband? ('many people don't see the need for this "Internet" thing at all')
Canadians spend more time online than any others
Two-thirds of U.S. Internet users lack fast broadband (< 5M dl)
Broadband Providers Pretending Metered Billing Is About Helping The Poor
Extending Broadband Service to the Disconnected (rural)
Broadband A Legal Right In Finland
UN reveals global disparity in broadband access
The top 20 countries on the Internet, and what the future might bring
Just two Chinese ISPs serve 20% of world broadband users
An Order of Seven Global Cyber-Guardians Now Hold Keys to the Internet
Google report shows where its content is blocked
North Korea opens up Internet for national anniversary
Does Open Data Help The Rich Exploit The Poor?
Iran: Exporting the Internet (to Afghanistan)
Hibernia Plans High-Speed Trans-Atlantic Cable (for NY-London traders)
Lack of broadband access finally getting attention
The Future of Broadband Is Here Today – And You’re Going to Miss It FCC
Table Disservice (no ebooks in NYC indep cafes)
The New Coffee Bars: Unplug, Drink, Go
No E-Books Allowed in This Establishment
HSW: What are the most wired countries in the world and why?

Kill Switch

• Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act ('Internet Kill Switch')
• Summary: Presidential powers to shut down parts of internet indefinitely (only 4 months?) with no congressional oversight
• rationales: cyber 9/11 (fear); prevent power/utility grid takeover by hackers (except typically those aren't on internet); Chinese doing it (but so far only for censorship reasons)
• problems: no traditional electronic borders; multiple international pathways; spoofing; predicting effects? domestic-only use? if implemented, security more vulnerable? (hackers would find a way to use)
• note: see also Security: cyberwar and Content Access: censorship

Libya Blocks Internet Traffic
When the Internet Nearly Fractured, and How It Could Happen Again
Egyptians Were Unplugged, and Uncowed
Intimidation cut off Egypt from the Internet, not a 'kill switch'
Internet 'kill switch' bill gets a makeover
What Is the Best Way to Protect U.S. Critical Infrastructure from a Cyber Attack?
Egypt Leaders Found ‘Off’ Switch for Internet
Egypt Turned Off the Net With a Big Switch, Not Phone Calls
Egypt move revives US 'kill switch' debate
Internet is easy prey for governments
How Was Egypt's Internet Access Shut Off?
Could a U.S. government crackdown take America off the internet?
Egyptians Find New Routes to the Web (landline phones; fax machines; ham radio)
Internet ‘Kill Switch’ Legislation Back in Play
Survey: 61% of Americans support an Internet kill switch
Internet ‘Kill Switch’ Legislation Back in Play
Internet 'Kill Switch' Could Cause Chaos
Senators decry link between Egypt, 'kill switch' bill
Egypt Restores Internet Service
Senate To Sneak Through Internet Kill Switch Bill
There Is No 'Internet Kill Switch' Legislation... And Pretending There Is Distracts From The Real Debate
Ex-CIA Chief Says US Gov't Should Be Able To Shut Down The Internet
Schneier: internet kill switch
No internet “kill switch” for Australia, says Conroy
LH: How to Foil a Nationwide Internet Shutdown

Governance

Number Resource Organization (NRO) [NRO site] "Regional Internet Registry (RIR)"
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) [ICANN site]
Internet Society (ISOC) [ISOC site]
Internet Architecture Board (IAB) [IAB site]
The National Broadband Plan: 1. Some Assembly Still Required (speed not the only issue); 2. In Defense of ...; 3. Are We in for All, Or Just Enough; 4. Power of Data Driven Thinking
The man behind the National Broadband Plan (Q&A)
UN mulls internet regulation options
FCC Expands Role
Sarkozy: We Must Regulate The Internet To Ensure Freedom
International Internet Treaty proposed by Europe (to protect the net from political interference which threatens to break it up)
Bill Introduced To Pressure Countries That Seek To Break The Internet
HSW: who owns internet?

[updated: 10-Mar-2011] [.pdf]