Demo Slam Finalists

Last fall Google asked it's users to use Google products in creative ways and to submit there projects in video format for a contest known as Demo Slam. Today Google has launched demoslam.com to allow you to view and vote on entries by comparing 2 at a time in pools of 16. It's a single elimination type event and there are some very creative people out there who have gone to great lengths to prove they're the best. How do you get Maria Sharapova to make an appearance in your slam anyway?

The Experiment That Has Never Ended

With IP addresses becoming more and more precious, as we reach the 4.3 billion network address limit, Vint Cerf the man in charge of making the decision 30 years ago says “We had no idea it would turn into the world’s global communications network.”

“It was 1977,” Mr. Cerf said, in an interview last week. “We thought we were doing an experiment.”

“The problem was, the experiment never ended,” 

At current estimates we will run out of IP addresses within the next 12 to 18 months  and the transition to the new system, Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), is well under way. However, the current IPv4 and the new IPv6 are incompatible and there is some concern over how to transition from one to the next. In response Yahoo, Google and Facebook, whose combined traffic is more than a billion visits a day, have agreed to participate in a trial run on June 8, named World IPv6 Day. The participants are hoping that this experiment will shed some light on potential gotchas. 

“I almost wish we could train the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts to come to people’s houses to help out with this,” said Mr. Cerf, now chief Internet evangelist at Google. “This is not just about adding extra numbers,” he said. “It’s a different system.”

Sounds like June 6th is a day to circle on your calendar, or perhaps June 7th...

Source: NYTimes.com

Building A Database For The Robots

European scientists have taken it upon themselves to create a network of databases that future robots will use to  to share information about the world... our world... their world? According to Fastcompany.com "They will, if all goes as planned, use the network to store and retrieve information about objects, locations (including maps), and instructions about completing activities. Robots will be both the contributors and the editors of the repository."

The EU-funded RoboEarth project will ensure that each robot's experiences are saved and made available to the others to search and expand upon in a communal learning experience similar to what we humans know as the internet. May I just say that I love robots!

Google, Facebook, and Others Rumored To Be Shopping For Twitter

According to the Globe and Mail, Google Inc., Facebook Inc., and other interested parties are conducting low level talks with Twitter regarding an acquisition. These talks are said to give Twitter a street value of about $10-billion, nearly 3 times the valuation placed on the company when it raised $200-million in investor capital in December.

Citing a Wall Street Journal report the Globe and Mail say: 

Despite the valuation, the report said Twitter’s executives and board were working on building a large, independent company.

“People familiar with the situation said the company believes it can grow into a $100-billion company,” the WSJ said.

Regardless of the valuation I'd rather see Twitter go solo, or at least not sell out to Facebook! Unfortunately I don't have any say in the matter, and the guys with the money will usually come out on top in these things.

US Military Capable Of Restoring Internet Access

If a government intent on thwarting a social uprising of it's populous choses to cut communications, such as Egypt's early response to the recent demonstrations, the U.S. military could conceivably restore services in order to maintain internet access an inviolable human right. 

John Arquilla, a leading military futurist tells Wired that while it might not be that difficult of a challenge technically for the U.S. military which "has a great deal of expertise on rebuilding communications network, but that's ... very different when the government is interested in resisting," Arquilla says. "This is far less an engineering problem and far more a political one." 

It makes total sense that a country facing internal strife might consider such an action as a hostile act, especially if perpetrated by a foreign power. I guess it really should not surprise anyone that the technology already exists, and as an average citizen I am finding some comfort in the fact that does. 

Joining The Livid Lobster Blog Team

I am very pleased to announce that I have been accepted to be a blogger for Livid Lobster. Specifically I am  writing for webbeat.tv but may also appear in geekbeat.tv or onemansblog.com. If you are unfamiliar with these sites, I encourage you to check them out now. The mere fact that you've found my blog indicates that you have an interest in the type of content that you'll find at these sites. WebBeat and GeekBeat also, and more importantly, have video shows associated with them and hosted by the wonderful duo of Cali Lewis (GeekBeat) and Pelpina Trip (WebBeat). Here is Pelpina's most recent show for your viewing pleasure:

Be sure to follow my posts there and please keep coming back to greatbiggeek! If you've got a story idea please email me greatbiggeek@gmail.com or reach me via twitter @greatbiggeek.

Japanese Rap Duo

I've never been into gangsta rap, I think I was born a little too early to "appreciate" this style of music, but here is a trending YouTube video from Japan that made me sit back and realize just how small this world is becoming. I laughed a bit at the bubble wrap, the bling, the Marge Simpson hair, and Playboy bunny logos. What really bowled me over was the fact that no good gangsta rap video has ever been made with out at least the flash of a piece, er... gun, or whatever the kids are calling them these days, and this video takes the prize in that department. As a geek I did appreciate the iPhone and pimped out Segways :)

Google Hotpot Unleashed World Wide

Google is bringing Hotpot, it's new recommendation service, to the world after a limited release back in November. Hotpot basically allows you to rate restaurants, cafes, hotels and the like so that when you or your friends are searching for such venues Google can provide "trusted" results. The Google special sauce is based on your likes, your friends likes or properties that are similar to those that you or your trusty friends like. Access to the service is made available via the web (google.com/hotpot), google maps (maps.google.com), or your android phone.

Keep an eye out for those Unicorns!

Egypt's Last ISP Goes Silent

Wired's Threat Level blog is reporting the last-standing Egyptian ISP has been shut down prior to today's million man march. "the Noor Group, believed to be the last Egyptian ISP in operation, had provided access to the aviation, banking and financial sectors — including the Egyptian stock market."

“They are completely unavailable at present,” security research firm Renesys wrote of the ISP.

The question now becomes is the efforts of the Mubarak regime to silence communication due to it's desire to stop an organized opposition or is it aimed at stopping news from getting out of the country? Let's hope that this does not breakout into wide spread bloodshed. I hope that neither side sees violence as the solution to this situation.

The question, in this geek's mind, is whether or not we have a basic human right to these services that we've come to enjoy and rely on? Is what Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak doing by cutting off access to these services any different from what the White House might do in a similar situation given the fact that there has been talk of an Internet "Kill Switch" legislation for several years now, and which is apparently being reintroduced soon.

Google And Twitter Team Up For Egypt

According to The Official Google Blog Google, Twitter, and SayNow (a Google acquired company) have worked together to get a new voice to Twitter service up and running for the folks in Egypt. With the Mubarak regime taking down internet access and cellular service in an attempt to quell protester organization through social sites, the companies felt compelled to do something to help the people of Egypt.

We worked with a small team of engineers from Twitter, Google and SayNow, a company we acquired last week, to make this idea a reality. It’s already live and anyone can tweet by simply leaving a voicemail on one of these international phone numbers (+16504194196 or +390662207294 or +97316199855) and the service will instantly tweet the message using the hashtag #egypt. No Internet connection is required. People can listen to the messages by dialing the same phone numbers or going to twitter.com/speak2tweet.

We hope that this will go some way to helping people in Egypt stay connected at this very difficult time. Our thoughts are with everyone there.

Kudos to these tech giants for putting their collective heads together for such an important global cause, in such a timely fashion!

Kudos to these tech giants for putting their heads together and doing something quickly to aid in tis cause!