History of IP Version 6 (IPv6)

One of the major challenges for the next generation of the Internet is whether the Internet is capable to connect billions of people and devices worldwide. The key part of the technology which makes this huge feat possible is the Internet Protocol (IP). IP is defined by Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development as an addressing system which specifies the communication that take place between one device and another. OECD is one of many organisations which help encourage the deployment of IPv6. Meanwhile, Procurve Networking defined IP as the foundation of the TCP/IP communication procedures used to convey data, voice and video packets over the Internet.

Currently, the IP version in use is IP version 4 (IPv4), and every device must have an IP address in order to communicate. However, IPv4 addresses are nearing full usage, where only 8% of addresses remaining in March 2010 and it is expected to run out in 2012. This rapid growth of the Internet has already been addressed since 1991 and the solution for this insufficiency of internet addresses is creating a new, improved version of IP which will also address almost all of the problem faced when using IPv4, which is IP version 6 (IPv6).

During the early development phase, IPv6 was referred to as IP Next Generation or IPng. A team of engineers and scientists under the Internet Engineering Steering Group, or also known as Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) were appointed to define the next generation internet protocol in 1991.

The first documentation which documented the IPv6 standard is Request for Comments (RFC) number 1183 which wrote about the IPv6 base protocol. Other RFCs which covered the details of IPv6 is RFC 1884, RFC 1885, RFC 1886 and RFC 1933. These are the documents made during the early days of IPv6 development.

OECD starts to work on encouraging the deployment of IPv6 by doing conferences in 2008. However, IPv6 is still in its early age, where only 1.45% of the top 1000 websites and just 0.15% of the top one million websites in the world had an IPv6 website in early 2010. Operating systems has also been developed to support IPv6. From a study in January 2010, over 90% of the installed base of operating system is IPv6 ready, but often it requires extra configuration, mainly Windows XP which makes up 67.81% of the number of operating system being used. However this study was made before the new version of Windows, Windows 7 was manufactured. Windows 7 support IPv6 by default and no configurations need to be made. Therefore, all type of operating systems should be able to support IPv6 by default now.

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The History of Kindle - The Device Which Revolutionized the EBooks' Market

By launching Kindle in 2007, Amazon has at the same time established for good the ebooks' market. Kindle ebook reader is the most sold product in the world within this category. If the idea came from Jeff Bezos himself, the implementation of the project was made possible by a number of innovations between 1970 and 2000. Since then, Kindle has had three successful versions.

How was Kindle born? First of all, Kindle was simple idea, made possible by the creation of the ebook, of electronic ink and by the emergence of electronic readers. Jeff Bezos, Amazon's CEO made the connection between his personal and professional interest for books and the fact that the book was the last bastion which hadn't been switched to digital. Kindle's starting point lies in this issue and in a strong personal conviction.

But the Kindle project was only possible because other players have made the concept feasible. First, there is the invention of the ebook as a scanned file. The first file of this type was produced by Michael Hart for the Gutenberg Project. It was a scan of the Declaration of Independence and this is considered the moment electronic ink readers were born. The electronic ink has been studied since the 70s by Xerox, and the company E-Ink was founded in 1997, thus marking another turning point for the reading field.

Kindle's first version is available for sale for on November 19, 2007 and it is priced at 399 dollar. The success is huge ever since its launch and the entire stock is up in less than five hours. The success was ensured by the outset by a few things that other competing products do not have: free 3G, greater speed, the ability to access the Kindle store directly from the device, a comprehensive catalog. Indeed the first Kindle catalog included over 88.000 titles and the number will reach 500.000 in 2010 and is currently getting close go the million.

Besides increasing the number of titles available in store, each version came with more modern and rounder design, a lighter, more refined and faster device and a longer lasting battery. The third version is now equipped with the new Pearl screen. The highlight of the drive is not only its performance but also its price. Wi-fi version (no 3G) of the new device was put on sales at a highly competitive price making sales explode.

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Den Computing . . . A Bit of Fascinating History

I define Den Computing as having a computing device of manageable physical size mounted on or tucked under a table in a small place. The title, Den Computing, was chosen to dramatize the evolution of computers from the early "Tally Sticks", which were dark brown length of bone with a series of tally marks carved in three columns running the length of the tool, to the modern digital computing machines with their stunning capabilities and speeds.

Den Computing would have been a Science fiction story few decades ago. Even back in the fifties and sixties, computers were stone-age machines by today's standards. They computed but with limited capabilities, occupied inordinate floor space, consumed massive amounts of power, had gigantic price tag, and were as reliable as New England's weather.

The Abacus, invented in Babylon around 2400 BC, is the earliest actual computation tool known. It was an arrangement of lines drawn in the sand, with a systematic set of pebbles that can be displaced. Many centuries later, namely in the 2nd century BC, ancient Chinese invented a more sophisticated "Abacus" device known as the "Chinese Abacus". That may have been the first computing device of a manageable size to fit in small space and be suitable for den computing.

Mechanical analog computing devices appeared several centuries later in the medieval Islamic world. The earliest known mechanical analog computer was the "Antikythera Mechanism" discovered in 1901. It is believed to have been designed to calculate astronomical positions.

The ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer)[was the first general-purpose electronic computer, announced in 1946. It was designed specifically to calculate artillery firing tables for the United states Army's Ballistic research Laboratory. It represented a significant technological leap, as it was more powerful and vastly faster than all earlier electromechanical devices.

The first commercial Digital computer produced in the United States was UNIVAC I (UNIVersal Automatic Computer I), It was designed by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, the same team who in 1946 had developed the Analog computer ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer) for calculating artillery firing tables for the United states Army's Ballistic research Laboratory. The power of the new Digital computer was highlighted, when in 1952 CBS used a UNIVAC I machine to predict the results of the presidential elections. It correctly predicted that Dwight Eisenhower would win with a sample of only 1% of the voting population.

Unlike modern digital computers however, UNIVAC was hardly a machine suitable for Den Computing. It required a floor space no less than 400 square feet, weighed 29,000 pounds, consumed 125 kW of power, and ran at a clock frequency of 2.25 MHz By contrast, a modern laptop computer can run a clock frequency 1000 times faster, consume 5000 times less power, and weigh near 5,000 times less. That is Den Computing.

I define Den Computing as having a computing device of manageable physical size mounted on or tucked under a table in a small place. The title, Den Computing, was chosen to dramatize the evolution of computers from the early "Tally Sticks", which were dark brown length of bone with a series of tally marks carved in three columns running the length of the tool, to the modern digital computing machines with their stunning capabilities,speeds and reduced size.

Den Computing would have been a Science fiction story few decades ago. Even back in the fifties and sixties, computers were stone-age machines by today's standards. They computed but with limited capabilities, occupied inordinate floor space, consumed massive amounts of power, had gigantic price tag, and were as reliable as New England's weather.

The Abacus, invented in Babylon around 2400 BC, is the earliest actual computation tool known. It was an arrangement of lines drawn in the sand, with a systematic set of pebbles that can be displaced. Many centuries later, namely in the 2nd century BC, ancient Chinese invented a more sophisticated "Abacus" device known as the "Chinese Abacus" which can be still found in certain locations. That may have been the first computing device of a manageable size to fit in small space and be suitable for den computing.

Mechanical analog computing devices appeared in various forms and configurations several centuries later in the medieval Islamic world. The earliest known mechanical analog computer was the "Antikythera Mechanism" discovered in 1901. It is believed to have been designed to calculate astronomical positions.

The ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer) was the first general-purpose electronic computer, announced in 1946. It was designed specifically to calculate artillery firing tables for the United states Army's Ballistic Research Laboratory. It represented a significant technological leap, as it was more powerful and vastly faster than all earlier electromechanical devices.

The first commercial Digital computer produced in the United States was UNIVAC I (UNIVersal Automatic Computer I). It was designed by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, the same team who in 1946 had developed the Analog computer ENIAC The power of the new Digital computer was highlighted, when in 1952 CBS used a UNIVAC I machine to predict the results of the presidential elections. It correctly predicted that Dwight Eisenhower would win with a sample of only 1% of the voting population.

Unlike modern digital computers however, UNIVAC was hardly a machine suitable for Den Computing. It required a floor space no less than 400 square feet, weighed 29,000 pounds, consumed 125 kW of power, and ran at a clock frequency of 2.25 MHz By contrast, a modern laptop computer can run a clock frequency 1000 times faster, consume 5000 times less power, and weigh near 5,000 times less. That is Den Computing.

Bertrand is a professional with more than 35 years of Engineering and management experience in the Electronics industry. He received his education in Liberal Arts, Science, Engineering and Operations research in French and Ivy League American Universities. He is a lecturer on engineering subjects, a technical writer and Editor, a researcher and a strong advocate of Human Engineering and Engineering Ethics,
Bertrand resides in Connecticut with his wife Ping. Together they enjoy the peacefulness of rural life, fine dining and travel.
Web: http://www.dencomputing.com/|

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