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In the earlier days, the internet was easy to compare to a real world object: take an onion and at the core are the main tier-1 service providers exchanging data. On the outer layers lie the smaller providers and on the outside the users.

But this has been always an inadequate metaphor. An orange with its segments would probably be better. But the actual data draws a completely different picture.
The core of the internet is made of about 100 autonomous systems (e.g. Google, AT&T Worldnet) directly connected to each other that hold together the fabric. The next layer contains around 15,000 peer-connected systems (Those can pass data with-and-forth without having to go through the core.). An additional of 5,000 autonomous systems have only a single connection to the fabric and could therefore be cut off too easily.

So what do you now say if asked by your non-tech savvy friends or relatives? — Try the DIMES Visualizer

There has been a survey on O’Reilly’s web site on why people write free documentation. This alone would have been noteworthy but now there is even a wrap-up about the results.

I do not want to give any details, because the (proposed) answers of the survey are an oversimplification by themselves and I’m not inclined to add another layer of fuzziness.

This is definitely what we all have waited for: wireless electricity transmission!

The full title of the paper presented is Wireless Power Transfer via Strongly Coupled Magnetic Resonances which reads a little less spectacular, but gives a hint about the method used.

Now it is only a small step to Power over Ethernet on the WLAN!

Data lifecycle management is one of the buzz words of this year. But in the current marketing lingo, this refers only to enterprise grade systems and structured data. You have to have very much data in order for this to be worth the trouble.

But what to do on a small scale? Ignoring the problem is the worst thing to do. The amount of data is never going to decrease and sorting out what to do with the pile of documents when nothing can be found is a frustrating labor.

If using a document mangagment solution is out of choice, then structuring the data by hand is the only choice left.
It is definitely worth the hassle, but how to sort it all?

For projects it is easy, just pack everything into one folder (structured or not) and keep it on a read only media after the project ended.
For all the other data, retention periods are the way to go. No one really needs all data ever created. Most of it can be discarded after a certain time, especially revisions and slightly modified copies. The rest of the unused data can be put on slower, read only media to protect it from bit-rot and accidental loss.

Hence, the main goals of data mangement don’t differ much between large integrated systems and small home made rulesets and neither do the counter measures.

So before going into summer holidays, it is a good time get rid of all the unnecessary data lurking around. You surely want to come back not only to a clean desk but also a clean desktop!