Hill Associates - Living in a connected world

tHAWT Episode #105: Sprint Xobni and Twitter

thindson — Sun, 11 May 2008 21:51:00 GMT

This week week was an interesting week for Sprint, lots of ups and downs which prompted the initial discussion for Mark, Dave and myself, they are certainly riding a roller coaster. The rest of the week must have been quiet as we got onto the topics of Xobni and twitter after that which is not so much telecommunications but certainly may have some impact, here are some links relevant to the discussions.

Qwest parts ways with Sprint, hello Verizon

It is all systems go with Clearwire

Will Sprint and Nextel part ways?

Will Deutche Telekom buy one or both?

Google wins victory, really?

Inbox backwards is Xobni

What is this twitter? Well here is mine, not much to see

To play the podcast, you can click here or use the Flash player below.

[mp3]http://hill-vt.com/podcast/tHAWT/tHAWT_050908.mp3[/mp3]

You can visit our tHAWT archive here. You can register for our tHAWT podcast series via RSS feed by adding this link to your podcast aggregater: http://feeds.feedburner.com/HillAssociates-LivingInAConnectedWorldThawt

And if you want to participate in identifying items for our discussion use the key word tHAWT to tag in del.icio.us You can look at what has been tagged by going to del.icio.us/tag/thawt

PodSnacks: Wavelength Division Multiplexing

mgilbert — Wed, 07 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT

We wrap up our multiplexing series with a quick look at wavelength division multiplexing (WDM). In today's episode, Michel and Mark noodle on the concept a bit. Over the next few days we will begin a series of PodSnacks based on requests from listeners. We'll start looking at a few security and Internet issues, among other things.

You can listen to (or download) the PodSnack by clicking here, or you can use the Flash player below.

[mp3]http://podcast.hill-vt.com/podsnacks/2007q2/wdm.mp3[/mp3]

If you have an idea or request for a PodSnack topic, send it to podsnacks@hill.com! You can get a complete list of our PodSnacks here. You can register for our PodSnack series by RSS feed by adding this link to your podcast aggregator: http://feeds.feedburner.com/HillAssociates-LivingInAConnectedWorldPodsnacks.

PodSnacks: Content-Addressable Storage (CAS)

mgilbert — Tue, 06 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT

Today we take a quick look at a storage technology known as content-addressable storage. I'd tell you more, but I have to run. So I'll leave you to give it a listen.

As always, you can listen to (or download) the PodSnack by clicking here, or you can use the Flash player below.

[mp3]http://podcast.hill-vt.com/podsnacks/2008q2/cas.mp3[/mp3]

Checking out Xobni

thindson — Mon, 05 May 2008 15:17:00 GMT

Thanks to Ken from ipadventures who sent me an invitation, I have been trying out an add on to outlook called Xobni, which is Inbox back wards and apparently pronounced Zob-Nee. What Xobni does is provide you with an additional information about the email you are currently looking at based on the analysis of all of the emails you have, irrespective of what private folders you may have filed them away in. The analysis of your emails uncovers the vast social network that exists within these stored documents and I am finding it provides a different and easy way to find things that my nested folder structure is supposed to help with but never seems to. It provides quick access to other people who are currently or have been in emails that have been send by the person. It displays previous conversations, linking emails threads together, it provides a list of attachments, extracts phone numbers from within emails and even gives a graph of the time of day for conversations. The down side of it is that outlook takes longer to start up which is not too much of a concern as I have that running most of the time anyway. It also takes more storage for index files which is currently less the 100MB for me at the moment.

I note that yesterday the Xobni folks have opened up the beta to anyone so there is no need for an invitation anymore. I think this is an add on that is worth looking into if your filing system of archived emails gives you trouble or if you just like to see what your email social network looks like.

PodSnacks: Transmultiplexing (Transmuxing)

mgilbert — Mon, 05 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT

Continuing with our multiplexing theme, today Trevor talks to you a bit about transmuxing.

You can listen to (or download) the PodSnack by clicking here, or you can use the Flash player below.

[mp3]http://podcast.hill-vt.com/podsnacks/2007q2/transmuxing.mp3[/mp3]

tHAWT Episode #104: Bovine Tags

thindson — Sun, 04 May 2008 16:38:00 GMT

In this weeks episode we have Paul, Michel and myself discussing a range of topics. The bovine theme was enhanced due to a recording a well respected instructor once did for us relating SONET in terms of cows and trucks, which we have resurrected some time ago on our wiki. At one point in the discussion, Michel and I bat around some ideas to enhance the femtocell scenario, I really want a cell phone cordless base station if anyone knows of one. Later, Paul also gets a bit upset with us talking too much about carrier Ethernet services, I apologize if this is not what you want to listen too, but we had fun anyway. Below are the links to the stories that we discussed.

The Yahoo Microsoft fight continues

Our SONET wiki page with the bovine podsnack at the bottom

Bovine tagging

Cows, planes and trains

WiFi hotspot and WiMAX bodies merge

Tapioca phones, and other interesting developments amke sure you check out the slide show

Cisco to aquire a femtocell company?

Ethernet handoff between carriers

Tech startups are not just for the young

To play the podcast, you can click here or use the Flash player below.

[mp3]http://hill-vt.com/podcast/tHAWT/tHAWT_050208.mp3[/mp3]

And if you want to participate in identifying items for our discussion use the key word tHAWT to tag in del.icio.us You can look at what has been tagged by going to del.icio.us/tag/thawt

PodSnacks: Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

mgilbert — Fri, 02 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT

Our multiplexing theme continues. Recently, we talked about a multiplexing scheme found in wireless systems, called code division multiple access (CDMA). Today, Paul explains another multiplexing approach that is found in both wireless and wireline systems: Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM).

You can listen to (or download) the PodSnack by clicking here, or you can use the Flash player below.

[mp3]http://podcast.hill-vt.com/podsnacks/2007q2/ofdm.mp3[/mp3]

PodSnacks: Network Interface Unit (NIU)

mgilbert — Thu, 01 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT

OK, some of you apparently like the basics! So let's go back to them. Our topic today is a much used term, but one with a lot of variation in practice. The term is network interface unit (NIU). This is the place where the carrier's network touches the customer's network. Sounds simple enough, but from that simple definition we find an enormous amount of variation as we move from service to service and carrier to carrier. Take a few minutes and listen in while I explain the concept.

As always, you can listen to (or download) the PodSnack by clicking here, or you can use the Flash player below.

[mp3]http://podcast.hill-vt.com/podsnacks/2008q2/niu.mp3[/mp3]

PodSnacks: Code Division Multiple Access

mgilbert — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT

We recently talked about multiplexing in general. Today we focus on a specific form of multiplexing that is primarily found in wireless systems (although it can be (and is) also used in the HFC cable plant of a cable company. The technique is known as code division multiple access (CDMA). Today, Paul explains it to Michel, and to you.

You can listen to (or download) the PodSnack by clicking here, or you can use the Flash player below.

[mp3]http://podcast.hill-vt.com/podsnacks/2007q2/cdma.mp3[/mp3]

PodSnacks: Link State Database (LSDB)

mgilbert — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT

Enough of the basics! For today, we're going to give the more technically oriented members of our audience a little something to chew on. Our topic today comes from the world of routing, specifically, OSPF. We're going to talk about a construct known as the Link State Database (LSDB). This is a critical part of the OSPF world. The LSDB contains all of the information a router knows about the area of the network it inhabits. It is based on this information that an OSPF router calculates its routing tables. A bad LSDB means, quite likely, a bad routing table. Take a few minutes and listen in while I explain the concept.

As always, you can listen to (or download) the PodSnack by clicking here, or you can use the Flash player below.

[mp3]http://podcast.hill-vt.com/podsnacks/2008q2/lsdb.mp3[/mp3]

PodSnack: Multiplexing

mgilbert — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT

Let's go back to basics, at least at first. In today's PodSnack we're going to talk about multiplexing in general and in it's most basic forms. Then, in the coming days, we're going to explore other multiplexing-related issues.

You can listen to (or download) the PodSnack by clicking here, or you can use the Flash player below.

[mp3]http://podcast.hill-vt.com/podsnacks/2007q2/multiplexing.mp3[/mp3]

tHAWT Episode #103: Aussies Love Their Lamb

thindson — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 16:36:00 GMT

In this episode of tHAWT we are back to our more usual session of two or three of us over a Skype call. This week we have Paul, Mark, and myself. As usual we discussed various items that came up in the telecom world this week, indicated by the links below. However when Paul observed that we Aussies are strange because of an ad that encourages Australians to send their mums a bouquet of lamb chops, I couldn't resist adding the classic Sam Kekovich ads, which probably speak more to our sense of humor than to our love of lamb.

Qwest launches 20 Mbps DSL FTTN

Reinventing the telco from heavy reading

AT&T says Internet to hit capacity by 2010

Burlington Telecom progress

Microsoft's live mesh

A series of clasic Sam Kekovich lamb ads 1 2 3

T-Mobile will have Android

Fighting Botnets with Botnets

To play the podcast, you can click here or use the Flash player below.

[mp3]http://hill-vt.com/podcast/tHAWT/tHAWT_042508.mp3[/mp3]

And if you want to participate in identifying items for our discussion use the key word tHAWT to tag in del.icio.us You can look at what has been tagged by going to del.icio.us/tag/thawt

PodSnacks: IP Multimedia Subsystem

mgilbert — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT

We've had a few podcasts on IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), but Paul and I thought a brief podsnack to give a high-level definition might be a good idea. Then, if you are curious, you can go listen to some of the other podcasts we've done on this topic. The entire set of IMS podcasts and related blogs can be found here.

You can listen to (or download) the PodSnack by clicking here, or you can use the Flash player below.

[mp3]http://podcast.hill-vt.com/podsnacks/2007q2/ims.mp3[/mp3]

PodSnacks: The Chained Layers

mgilbert — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT

Back to the OSI Reference Model for a moment. You may sometimes hear reference to the chained_layers. This is a reference to the first three layers of the model, so named because chaining them together creates the fabric of an inter-network. In today's snack I'll take you through what this concept means and what equipment you will find implementing the chained layers.

As always, you can listen to (or download) the PodSnack by clicking here, or you can use the Flash player below.

[mp3]http://podcast.hill-vt.com/podsnacks/2008q2/chained_layers.mp3[/mp3]

PodSnacks: Firewalls

mgilbert — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:00:00 GMT

If you are connected to the Internet (and if you aren't, how on earth are you reading this blog?), then you might be in trouble. The Internet is a packet network that works on the datagram model: each packet is routed independently and all of the routers within the network know (implicitly or explicitly) how to get to any possible destination. It is this magic that makes it possible for you to reach any web server across a single connection. But if you can reach anywhere, then anywhere can reach you.

If you are at work, there's a good chance that sitting between you and the Internet is a firewall. If you are at home, you should have a firewall there as well. You might even have a firewall on your computer. Today, Dave and Mark talk a bit about firewalls, what they are, and what they do.

You can listen to (or download) the PodSnack by clicking here, or you can use the Flash player below.

[mp3]http://podcast.hill-vt.com/podsnacks/2007q2/firewall.mp3[/mp3]