The Internet Society is organizing a pow wow of big ISPs, web companies and networking equipment providers on June 6 to ceremonially bury the world’s current Internet protocol, IPv4, and permanently implement its successor, IPv6.

Global broadband providers AT&T, Comcast, Free Telecom (which has been very much in the news of late), KDDI, Internode, Time Warner Cable and XS4ALL will form the ISP contingent; Cisco Systems and D-Link will represent the equipment makers; and Facebook, Google, Microsoft’s Bing and Yahoo will make up the Web delegation. According to a statement from society chief Internet office Leslie Daigle:

The fact that leading companies across several industries are making significant commitments to participate in World IPv6 Launch is yet another indication that IPv6 is no longer a lab experiment; it’s here and is an important next step in the Internet’s evolution. And, as there are more IPv6 services, it becomes increasingly important for companies to accelerate their own deployment plans.

Of course, the Internet Society won’t just flip and switch and convert the world to longer IP addresses, but the organization said it wanted to build on last year’s World IPv6 day, by rather theatrically marking the permanent transition of some of the world’s biggest IP properties to the new protocol. The broadband ISPs have promised that by June 6, 1 percent of their residential customers will be accessing the websites, where possible, via IPv6. Cisco and D-Link will make IPv6 the default settings for their home routers, and the websites will permanently enable the protocol on their main webpages. Akamai and Limelight will also recruit other websites to join the initiative, by implementing IPv6 throughout their content delivery networks.

Image courtesy of Flickr user ADoseofShipBoy

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Duke Energy is turning to cellular networks as the backbone for its smart grid. The utility detailed the network plan in a white paper released earlier this month, and revealed one of the most aggressive uses of cellular networks by the utility industry in the U.S.

In the white paper, Duke Energy’s Manager of Technology Development David Masters wrote that Duke plans to invest billion into digital grid technologies, and the utility decided to rely heavily on already available networks like cellular connections for a variety of reasons. Cellular networks are based on existing standards that have been used extensively; carriers will continue to invest in the network infrastructure to the benefit of the utility; and carriers use Internet Protocol as the transport layer. In addition, Masters writes that one of the most compelling reasons is that:

Duke Energy has no desire to be in the communications business. We need to harness already- existing expertise and capabilities that the cellular networks provide in designing, building, and maintaining the communications.

Duke didn’t name specific carriers in the report, but said it would be working with multiple carriers, and already has a relationship with Verizon . This local article in the Charlotte Business Journal also names Verizon as one of Duke’s partners for the smart grid.

Public vs Private Debate

It’s been a big debate in the smart grid industry whether utilities will want to use public networks, or build their own private networks. Vendors selling various equipment have emerged on both sides of the debate. We’ve featured the thoughts of industry guest authors like Narasimha Chari, co-founder, CTO Tropos (Smart Grid Networks: The Public vs Private Debate) and Stephen Johnston, CEO SmartSynch (10 Reasons Why Utilities Want to Use Public Networks for Smart Grid).

As Duke Energy explains it, public networks have a lot of benefits. But many utilities want to build their own private networks like what PG&E and Florida Power & Light are doing with Silver Spring Networks. Some utilities fear that public networks can’t offer them the reliability and security they need to run utility operations.

It seems like at this point a lot more utilities are planning to build private networks, and there are only a few networks I can think of that are connecting smart meters to cellular connections. One reason for that is carriers have tended to charge high prices and there’s been an economic barrier to embedding cellular chips in smart meters.

Communications Node

But Duke is routing around that cellular smart meter issue and designing its network rather differently than many of its utilities peers. Each transformer will connect to a carrier network, and the transformer will be hooked up with something Duke is calling a “communication node.”

The communication node will act as a gateway on the network and will both process and analyze data and connect with devices on the edge of the network like smart meters, home energy systems, plug-in vehicles, and other distribution devices.

Masters says to think of the communication node like “an iPhone for the modern grid”:

It is a device with the future communications capability for multiple networks, with capability to route the data between multiple devices and with enough storage and processing power to enable an extensible ecosystem of data applications which are anticipated to be built over a number of years.

The communication node sounds like SmartSynch’s GridRouter device, and SmartSynch has been piloting the router with Duke Energy. Duke says it has already installed hundreds of thousands of nodes and other grid gear for the network.

Duke actively didn’t want the core of the network based around smart meters and said all of the standard systems on the market wouldn’t work for Duke’s unique footprint.

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Cisco is likely one of the world’s largest company within the tech field. It has over 60,000 workers and the yearly revenue for the corporation is more than $42.0 billion (US $). Cisco is an American based business which is legendary for its network devices.

Cisco began its enterprise with the manufacturing of routers, although they weren’t the first ones to do it. Cisco routers supported a number of network protocols effectively, which many routers in the market were failing to do. This helped Cisco to flourish in the market, but with the creation of the Internet protocol the significance of a number of network protocols disappeared.

Later they made routers which delivered IP packets. There are some products of Cisco that I would like to discuss here and they’re; the Cisco WS-G5483, Cisco Gigabit Ethernet transceiver as well as the Cisco Gigabit interface converter

About the WS-G5483: WS-G5483 is also called 1000Base T gigabit converter. Cisco’s IP based networking is used by many huge businesses even by many governments. The product is similar to the WS-G5482, but has extra features. With the copper connectivity a complete duplex Ethernet is provided.

The product has 2 main options, that make the quality of the connectivity to the work stations excellent; these features are the distribution and wiring closet inter-connectivity. Its big selection of benefits additionally contains a self locking mechanism. The cost of the WS-G5483 is about $260.00

Cisco Gigabit Ethernet transceiver: the Cisco Gigabit Ethernet transceiver was launched by GAO Fiber Optics Toronto, Canada. It is designed for SMF (single mode fiber) and it supports a link length of ten thousand meters on a single mode fiber. It can be utilized with great flexibility and permits real time access to the transmitter supply voltage, temperature, energy (transmitted-received), etc.

Cisco Gigabit interface converter: Cisco 1 Gbps Gigabit Ethernet dimensions are 0.55 x 0.54 x 2.80 (height x width x depth). It’s a hot swappable input/output machine which can be plugged into a GE (Gigabit Ethernet) port. Just like other Cisco compatible items it has many features to offer.

Maybe you’ve been using the technology for quite some time now and you know that you are. But when we talk about VoIP, you really don’t know what is it, right? What is VoIP anyway? It stands for Voice over the Internet protocol. It is also known as Internet Telephony or IP Telephony which is just another way of making your call either cheaper or mostly even for free! Using a phone seems not necessary anymore with VoIP because with VoIP, you can communicate only through your computer sans any of the traditional telephone systems.

VoIP has plenty of advantages over the old phone system. The first advantage of using VoIP is that it’s cheaper than any forms of telephone systems. Many say VoIP is cheap, but almost everybody is actually using it for free. It’s easy. If you have a computer, speaker or headset with microphone and an internet connection, then youc an start communicating without paying anything. If you’re a gadget junkie, you can even make use of high-tech headsets such as the plantronics voyager 510s bluetooth headset which can also be used on your mobile phone.

Using the IP Protocol over the Internet, VoIP transmits the sounds you create over a standard connection. This is how VoIP method lets you communicate without paying beyond your monthly bill. It’s a great news, isn’t it? Prices are soaring high but this service is practically costless and which you can use 24/7. The only thing that you need to pay is your Internet connection. That’s how this technology has radically changed the landscape of the entire communication system.

You only pay for using this technology when you totally replace your PSTN. But you don’t have to worry because the price of this technology is virutally cheaper compared to standard phone calls. This becomes even more practical when you start making international calls regularly. Some people even claim that their international calls cost was cut down by 90% due to VoIP.

Although Voip is a relatively new technology that has been widely accepted and used by most people as an alternative to the Plain Old Telephone System or POTS, its ever increasing use around the world is has spurred new considerations regarding regulations and security.

Present-day VoIP growth can be compared to the Internet during the early 90′s. The masses are getting more conscious of the advantages from VoIP at home or in business. That’s because it does not only allow people to save on long distance call costs but it also generates a huge amount of income to those who have explored it as a business venture.

You can find a whole range of high technology gadgets to boost your VoIP experience such as the Avaya headsets, and a long line of Avaya accessories as well as other brands. Indeed, telephony has come so far and we even have all the fabulous gadgets to enjoy the developments even more.

You can find a whole range of high technology gadgets to boost your VoIP experience such as the Avaya headsets and others that provide clarity amplified cordless phone or just the plain clarity cordless amplified phone, and a long line of Avaya accessories as well as other brands. Indeed, telephony has come so far and we even have all the fabulous gadgets to enjoy the developments even more.

So this is either great or dumb, and I’ll leave it to you to make up your own mind. The Supreme Court is currently hearing a sexting case, in which police officers have sued their sergeant for reading sexually explicit messages that were supposed to be privately read amongst themselves. The question is, did the sergeant violate the officers’ privacy by reading the messages?

It got weird when the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court asked what’s the difference between a text message and pager.

Now, there’s two schools of thought here. One is to say, “Oh My God! These old people have no idea what they’re talking about, they shouldn’t even be sitting on the bench!” And if they truly don’t know the difference between a text message and a pager, or anything along those lines, then we’re pretty much doomed. Is it too much to ask to have the country’s highest court to understand the everything things people have to deal with?

The other is that the justices do, in fact, know the difference in a practical sense, but are asking simply to make sure they’re on solid legal footing.

I’ll only address the first point because it’s the most pertinent here. For all the work of people like the Electronic Frontier Foundation trying to educate the public on law and technology, it’s a complete waste of time if the judges on the bench don’t know the difference between iPod and iPad, between uploading and downloading, between Internet Protocol and Intellectual Property.

I actually had a conversation with an EFF lawyer back during CES, and he pretty much said just that: you could walk into a courtroom with a rock-solid case, but if the judge doesn’t understand the technological details of your argument you might as well be speaking Aramaic.

We’re probably a few years away from having people who grew up with technology (as we know it today) sitting on the bench. And even that doesn’t solve the problem: I should hope that when I’m 50 years old I don’t understand a damn thing what the kids are doing technologically. I’ll be all, “I remember when the iPhone was leaked…” and some punk kid will be all, “What’s a phone?”

Technology will always outpace law. What are you gonna do?

Oh, dear…

Oh. My. God. Over in the UK, they’re in the process of passing the Digital Economy Bill, which three seconds of research suggests is analogous to the DMCA here in the U.S. Better people than I have already written extensively about why it’s Truly Evil, but this is pretty funny. “Copyright owners are currently able to go on-line, look for material to which they hold the copyright and identify unauthorised sources for that material. They can then seek to download a copy of that material and in so doing capture information about the source including the Intellectual Property (IP) address…” Pretty sure “IP” stands for “Internet Protocol,” but what are you gonna do?

Now, my experience with the British political system includes several episodes of “Yes Minister” and the movie “In the Loop,” so I don’t know where the MPs go for their computer training. (Do you guys in the UK have the Video Professor?) But come on, confusing “Intellectual Property” with “Internet Protocol” just reeks of, “I have no idea what I’m doing, I’m just writing what the lobbyist tells me to write.”

I should probably explain that quoted sentence. It’s a letter written by one Stephen Timms, the Minister for Digital Britain, sent to some other Member of Parliament, MP in the parlance of Whitehall. Timms is basically saying, “We must pass the Digital Economy Bill, for the sake of the Mankind.”

UK readers are encouraged to whinge about the bill in the comments.