http://www.circleid.com/ Postings from Martin Geddes on CircleID en Copyright 2012, unless where otherwise noted. 2011-07-21T08:05:00-08:00 http://www.circleid.com/posts/the_network_of_probabilities http://www.circleid.com/posts/the_network_of_probabilities More...]]> 2011-07-21T08:05:00-08:00 http://www.circleid.com/posts/20100310_is_the_web_a_communications_medium http://www.circleid.com/posts/20100310_is_the_web_a_communications_medium Paul Downey (@psd), someone who I hold in high intellectual and personal regard. I've made an assertion that has Paul snorting his coffee back up through his nose and into his keyboard: that the Web is not a communications medium. Justifying this claim can't be done in 140 characters. Now, there is a sleight of hand I'm pulling off here. You can build communications media on the Web, but my claim is that the Web itself is not one, and that has subtle but significant consequences. More...]]> 2011-03-10T09:33:00-08:00 http://www.circleid.com/posts/84794_goo_goggles_700mhz_us_taxpayers http://www.circleid.com/posts/84794_goo_goggles_700mhz_us_taxpayers claims the open access rules on 700MHz spectrum triggered by Google's bid fleeced the US taxpayer by $7bn. I don't buy it, even as a signed-up fully-paid network neutrality opponent. Firstly, the numbers ignore economics. If the C block was encumbered, that would raise the prices of the A and B blocks. So you need to take a much smaller differential as to the cost of the encumbrance. More...]]> 2008-04-07T10:11:00-08:00 http://www.circleid.com/posts/710223_packet_of_lies http://www.circleid.com/posts/710223_packet_of_lies blocking of various random network protocols with interest. Whilst I remain convinced that blanket "network neutrality" legislation remains just a form of digital gripe water (cures colic for cybernauts), there's clearly a problem. As I previously alluded there's a definite consumer protection issue over what you buy when it says 'Internet' on the tin. So here's tuppence worth of additional input... More...]]> 2007-10-22T15:17:00-08:00 http://www.circleid.com/posts/frustrations_voip_phone_services http://www.circleid.com/posts/frustrations_voip_phone_services More...]]> 2007-05-26T18:24:00-08:00 http://www.circleid.com/posts/help_this_is_not_an_emergency http://www.circleid.com/posts/help_this_is_not_an_emergency Pulver/Evslin proposal on emergency communications, and wish there was as vigorous a debate going on over here. I just hope we in the UK aren't jerked out of complacency by some major disaster -- although widespread use of pre-paid cellular means the problem of sunken landlines isn't as acute. Yet I can't help but wonder why the poor public has to wait for a disaster before they're given partial control over how their number maps to different destinations and services. Why can't I get a voicemail service from someone other than my connectivity provider? Why is ENUM hostage to the telcos, whose interest lies in ensuring that new services can only come from them? More...]]> 2006-04-27T16:25:00-08:00 http://www.circleid.com/posts/disappearing_telephony http://www.circleid.com/posts/disappearing_telephony earlier musings on the different philosophical underpinnings of "Western" telephony and "Eastern" thought. In an oversimplified nutshell, the Western approach puts the individual in the centre of the universe. The Eastern idea is to put the group in the middle. More...]]> 2006-02-02T13:56:00-08:00 http://www.circleid.com/posts/real_network_neutrality_please_stand_up http://www.circleid.com/posts/real_network_neutrality_please_stand_up demanding it by law. There appear to be several different camps, which you could paint as "bottom of IP", "middle" and "top". The bottomistas would see enforced Internet Protocol itself as a premature optimisation and violation of the end-to-end principle. Unhappy that you only get IPv4 or IPv6? Still grumpy that you only have IPv4 and not even IPv6? Really miserable that your VoIP packets are staggering under the poisonous load of IPv6 headers? You're a bottomista. More...]]> 2005-11-15T14:49:00-08:00 http://www.circleid.com/posts/whither_dns http://www.circleid.com/posts/whither_dns More...]]> 2005-09-14T11:14:57-08:00 http://www.circleid.com/posts/urls_ontologically_speaking http://www.circleid.com/posts/urls_ontologically_speaking More...]]> 2005-03-10T13:03:50-08:00 http://www.circleid.com/posts/why_nat_isnt_as_bad_as_you_thought http://www.circleid.com/posts/why_nat_isnt_as_bad_as_you_thought More...]]> 2004-01-15T12:36:20-08:00