Futurist

There are 396 posts filed in Futurist (this is page 16 of 40).

What does it Mean to be a Gig City? Upload Speeds Powering Entrepreneurs — Next Century Cities

Remember when I pointed out the secret sauce of Google Fiber is the upload speeds? Will Aycock, operations manager of Wilson’s Greenlight community broadband system, agrees.

It’s all about the upload. If you are the owner of a small engineering business with dense blueprints to send to your European clients, or a specialized country doctor who depends on the quick transmission of x-rays, a digital film effects company, or a media artist, your ability to upload your dense information to your clients means business. For GigCity, Wilson, North Carolina, offering gigabit upload speeds to its community is real business for its future.

via What does it Mean to be a Gig City? Upload Speeds Powering Entrepreneurs — Next Century Cities.

The FCC is moving to preempt state broadband limits – The Washington Post

It looks increasingly likely that the FCC will overturn North Carolina’s anti-municipal broadband law, freeing cities like Wilson, NC to provide broadband to whomever it chooses.

Federal regulators are moving ahead with a proposal to help two cities fighting with their state governments over the ability to build public alternatives to large Internet providers.

The Federal Communications Commission this week will begin considering a draft decision to intervene against state laws in Tennessee and North Carolina that limit Internet access operated and sold by cities, according to a senior FCC official. The agency’s chairman, Tom Wheeler, could circulate the draft to his fellow commissioners as early as Monday and the decision will be voted on in the FCC’s public meeting on Feb. 26.

Chairman Wheeler just released the following statement:

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler issued the following statement today regarding a proposed Order on community broadband that he will circulate to his fellow commissioners this week:

“Communities across the nation know that access to robust broadband is key to their economic future – and the future of their citizens. Many communities have found that existing private-sector broadband deployment or investment fails to meet their needs.

They should be able to make their own decisions about building the networks they need to thrive. After looking carefully at petitions by two community broadband providers asking the FCC to pre-empt provisions of state laws preventing expansion of their very successful networks, I recommend approval by the Commission so that these two forward-thinking cities can serve the many citizens clamoring for a better broadband future.”

I wonder if this means the FCC can also veto any spending limitations that state law has shackled municipalities with?

via The FCC is moving to preempt state broadband limits – The Washington Post.

N&O runs horrible broadband op-ed

The Google Fiber op-ed that ran in today’s N&O entitled “Google Fiber deal not in best interest of NC public” is so godawful that I don’t even know where to begin. Written by Dawson Gage, who calls himself an “IT worker, freelance writer, and aspiring law student,” it is incredibly misinformed on so many levels:

I rejoiced when my family first got broadband Internet when I was about 13, but I doubt it has made any of our lives richer or more productive. The usefulness of computers, for the most part, has little enough to do with how fast they are. No one wants delivery vans and school buses that go 20,000 mph.

Is Gage actually suggesting that life isn’t richer than in the days of dialup? Before YouTube, NetFlix, Wikipedia, Facebook, and Google? Apparently, having a mind-blowing amount of the world’s information instantly available isn’t rich or more productive enough for him. I bet he’s a big fan of the abacus.
Continue reading →

Google Fiber: fast download AND upload speeds

fiber_house
Most of the local news stories I’ve read about Google Fiber coming to Raleigh highlight the ability to “download YouTube videos quickly.” Quickly downloading the stuff you’ve always downloaded is cool, but it isn’t an Earth-shattering use case. The real value of Google Fiber is that Google treats the Internet the way it should be treated – like a two-way street.

Other broadband providers will sell you fast connections but those connections are strictly asymmetrical. You may get a 15 Mbps download speed but you’ll only get a 1 Mbps upload speed. You see, Big Telecom wants you to treat you as a “consumer,” meaning you’ll take whatever the media companies choose to give you. They don’t think of you as having anything to bring to the conversation.

Google Fiber is different. Not only can you get 1 Gbps download speeds, you also get equally fast 1 Gbps upload speeds! Your download and upload speeds are equal, exactly how God intended. You become a full partner in the Internet, able not only to download at blazing speeds a multitude of cat videos from YouTube but able offer up your own. Or, you can hold videoconferences with your friends without being interrupted by buffering. Or play video games with others without sluggishness.
Continue reading →

Wake Forest police address concerns about ‘stranger danger’ cases :: WRAL.com

Wake Forest Police have expressed exasperation with citizens sharing information on Facebook about a recent spate of “stranger danger” incidents. The incidents involve men driving a silver or gray SUV and trying to lure kids into the vehicle.

It’s a very frightening situation and any parent’s worst nightmare. People are afraid and rightfully so. They want answers, and if the police aren’t giving them then these folks will fill the void using social media outlets like Facebook and NextDoor.

I’ve seen how social media can help solve crimes. It works. Nothing helps police efforts like citizens working together. Instead of blaming it for “heresay,” Wake Forest PD should embrace social media as a “force multiplier” to solve crimes. If there are rumors that should be quashed, they should go online and set the record straight. It’s a new world we live in, after all.

Leonard said the police department has received other reports on social media that investigators have looked into, noting that they have had to use resources to track down "inaccurate information and hearsay.""If you see something that looks suspicious in your neighborhood, call the police department first rather than posting it on Facebook," Leonard said.

via Wake Forest police address concerns about 'stranger danger' cases :: WRAL.com.

Photos from the Google Fiber announcement

Google Fiber is coming to the Triangle

Google Fiber is coming to the Triangle


I was able to attend yesterday’s Google Fiber announcement. As I walked towards the auditorium in the North Carolina Museum of Natural History, I was attracted to a table out front that displayed shiny plastic. Spying my Canon camera in my hand, the helpful woman staffing the table asked “would you like a media pass?”

Feeling like the limo driver in the Bud Light “Dr. Galakawicz” commercials, I answered “yeaaassss, I would” and smoothly hung it around my neck.

Inside, I hung out with the media pros and snapped photos with wild abandon. I’ve collected the shots into my Google Plus album. Check them out!

These four lucky cities are now officially getting Google Fiber – The Washington Post

Yesterday’s Google Fiber announcement has gotten some press in WaPo this morning. Unfortunately, it has hit one of my pet peeves:

After months of speculation, Google confirmed Tuesday that its ultra-fast Internet service will soon be coming to four more cities — Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville and Raleigh-Durham, N.C. Those regions, along with more than a dozen cities in their immediate vicinity, will be the latest to benefit from high-speed Internet provided by the search giant.

Uh, sorry to disappoint you, Mr. Fung, but that’s five cities, not four: Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Raleigh, and Durham.

The mayors of both Raleigh and Durham spoke at the press conference yesterday. Both cities’ Chief Information Officers spoke about the project and put in incredibly long hours to get their cities where we are now. Both cities have completely different permitting processes, different infrastructure, different laws and regulations. The way outsiders lump Raleigh and Durham into Raleigh-Durham has always annoyed me (and will be the topic of an upcoming blog post).

And saying it’s just Raleigh and Durham isn’t even accurate, as the nearby municipalities Carrboro, Cary, Chapel Hill, Garner, and Morrisville are also included. These cities’ mayors were also present but are overlooked by the reporter.

It’s just as big a deal to these other cities that they are getting Google Fiber. It would be nice if they got a little credit for their hard work, too.

via These four lucky cities are now officially getting Google Fiber – The Washington Post.

Raleigh gets Google Fiber

Google Fiber is coming to Raleigh

Google Fiber is coming to Raleigh


Last week, word leaked out that Google was hosting two events this week: one in Raleigh and one in Durham. Of course, it doesn’t take a genius to guess that Google Fiber is on its way to the Triangle. Word now is that Charlotte will also get the gigabit-speed Internet service.

I hope to attend the upcoming meetings to learn more about this service, after having fought a long battle to bring truly high-speed Internet to the state. I have no special inside track on the goings on, though, so I’ll likely learn about it like everyone else: through the media. It would’ve been great to receive an invitation, though, but in the bigger picture I’m just glad that a cause I’ve supported for many years will finally become reality.

The Goog and The Gov will hold a 1 PM press conference today to announce the news.

Tablets and E-readers May Disrupt Your Sleep

Screen time before bedtime disrupts your sleep, a new study says. I love the science of sleep.

People who receive a tablet or e-book reader for the holidays might wind up spending some sleepless nights because of their new gadget.

That’s because the light emitted by a tablet like an iPad can disrupt sleep if the device is used in the hours before bedtime, according to a new Harvard study.

People who read before bed using an iPad or similar "e-reader" device felt less sleepy and took longer to fall asleep than when they read a regular printed book, researchers found.

via Tablets and E-readers May Disrupt Your Sleep.

Talking trance

Man, I don’t know what happened but it sure was interesting! I returned from my Digital Connectors talk tonight around 6:50 PM. I then settled down to catch up with some of my friends’ activities on Facebook. When I got up from my chair about 20 minutes later it had seemed to me as if two hours had passed. I could not believe the clock was moving as slowly as it was. It was as if I were in some kind of a trance!

I know I get energized when talking with groups (and especially kids) but to have time draw out like that for me was really amazing. Not sure what went on there but I’m glad it did!