Sunday, March 27, 2011

Are We Running Out of Interwebs?

It may seem unthinkable, but when you do stop to think about it, it's an undeniable fact: There is a finite number of IP addresses.  What's more, those IPs are running out fast. In fact, ICANN, which oversees Internet domains, has already issued its last block of IPv4 addresses.

The solution?  IPv6.  Sounds like a new Subaru model, I know.

The issue was recently brought to my attention by Dynamic Internet (the Buzzonabudget hosting and data center of choice), who released this news earlier this month: 
New Hampshire data center finalizes IPv6 deployment

SALEM, NH - New Hampshire web hosting firm Dynamic Internet announced that it has completed initial IPv6 rollout and is now assigning IPv6 address space to its clients upon request.
Read on here: http://www.dynamicinternet.com/release_3_14_2011.html
Appears to be a geeky, arcane technical upgrade that matters only to geeky, arcane technical people, right? But it's a big deal. Such a big deal that the likes of Facebook, Yahoo, and Google are going to test it out, all together, at the same time, June 8, 2011. You may not even notice World IPv6 Day (although I bet Google will do something creative with their logo for it) but it'll be an important day in the future development of the Internet.

For further reading, I recommend this article: (The Internet is Running Out of Space) from the San Francisco Chronicle on March 22.

If you're one of those geeky, arcane technical people I mentioned above, check out this black-and-white plain-text wiki.  You'll love it.  http://test-ipv6.com/ipv6day.html

Me, I just "liked" the IPv6 Facebook page.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Breaking News: N.H. firm JitterJam sold for $6M - Mass High Tech Business News

N.H. firm JitterJam sold for $6M - Mass High Tech Business News

Curious to see how this affects the company going forward. We were impressed with them when we met them at TechWorld last fall.

Here's the full press release, FYI.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Representing @ SXSW

I wasn't at SXSW this year (who am I kidding, I've never been and probably never will, I'm not that cool!) but I still kept up with the goings on via the tweeterers and tweetists who were there on the scene.  I follow Pee-Wee Herman @peeweeherman, Eliza Dushku @elizadushku, Duran Duran's Simon le Bon @SimonJCLeBON, as well as even bigger stars like NH's local legends Christine Major @CMajor and Walter Elly @walterelly. If you're into the local social media scene, you already know these two.  If you don't, then you're not into the local social media scene.  Anyway, I particularly enjoyed Ms. Major's cmajor video production report from the ground there in Austin, where she got the goers to describe South by Southwest in one word! As you'll see, some were better at it than others, and she's pretty lenient on the one-word rule. 



As for Mr. Elly, he'll be leading a Social Media Club on Location Based Services on Thursday.  Our Social Media Maven Melanie will be there... maybe he'll tell some SXSW stories, too?

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Men's Journal Tells Readers What We Already Know

Just picked up a copy of the dead-tree edition of the Men's Journal. I had seen a link on Facebook a few days ago, and Rachel Forrest covered it in the Herald, but sometimes you've just gotta have the real thing, and this is one of those times. Especially when the publication doesn't put current content on the web; luckily for you, I scanned it as you can see here. Portsmouth is now routinely named one of the best places in the country to live for a variety of reasons, but typically a national publication will have trouble with the details.  Here, though, MJ does a pretty good job. More than this though, I was most flabbergasted pleased to see eCoast and eBrew get mentions! This is now, in year 12 of the brand's existence, one of the biggest press hits we've gotten yet! They say we exist to link start-ups to angel investors, and sure, that's one goal of many... I think the editors probably got faked out by the eCoast Angels investor group and thought there was a direct correlation.  Certainly by focusing on the beer, they nailed us dead to rights.  :-)

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Dover Eats Fat Tuesday

Everybody knows me as sort of a Mr. Portsmouth. I live here, I work here, I volunteer here. It's rare to see me out and about anyplace else. But on Tuesday, I got a call from my pal David Flood. "Join me for the Fat Tuesday Pub Crawl in Dover tonight," he said. "My treat." "Ummm... Okie dokie," I said.

Because I work until 8PM on Tuesdays, I met up with him late. I missed him by seconds at the Central Wave, which was already stop number 4, I believe, on the crawl. So, I proceeded to catch him up at The Orchard Street Chop Shop. I'm supposed to have a ticket or some kind of wrist band or something, apparently, but "I'm with the camera guy," I told the doorman. He nodded in the direction of the stairs.

I met up with Dave and he was still working the room and directing his assistant Matt to shoot b-roll. Soon, however, he was casually interviewing Koz, the head chef, next to me at the bar. You see, Mr. Flood produces hyperlocal web TV news segments. All the video is online at DoverNH.tv. He calls it "NH's first live and on demand online TV channel." Under this umbrella, he runs multiple programs on a wide variety of subjects, from health and beauty, to home and garden, to food and drink, to local events of interest.

On this Fat Tuesday, he was enjoying himself to be sure, but he was also working. I was a mere observer, and what I observed was that he has an eye for the shot, and an easy rapport with the clientele, the management, and even the entertainment. As the wing-man for this man-about-town, it was clear I was in good hands for the evening.

By the time we hit Fury's Publick House, formerly known as Biddy Mulligans, formerly known as (hmmm... can't remember), everybody was well lubricated for the band, which featured local guitar legend Tim Theriault. If you haven't seen him before, he rocks. A lot.

David Flood of DoverNH.tv interviews a reveler at Fury's

Fury's drew a tough assignment as the last stop on the pub crawl, but Emma and the crew behind the bar took good care of us, despite the decibels and the droves of drinkers.

Summing up, to borrow from Dos Equis... I don't always party in Dover, but when I do, I prefer to party with David, the city's most interesting man!

Go ahead and watch the video now... Enjoy!

(Note the visual evidence of my attendance at 9:05 into the reel; my green and white plaid Celtics hat makes a brief appearance along the bottom of the screen!)