World IPv6 Day

Wednesday, June 8th, is World IPv6 Day. This is a day many major internet companies have decided jointly run a test on the future of the internet. The test is running Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), instead of the existing standard of IPv4, to see if anything breaks. Google estimates very few people will have any issues, guesstimating about 1 in 2000 people. Google has set up a Test Site so people can see if they are ready in advance. Google also published World IPv6 Day begins 24 hours from now. Websites, start your engines. with more information.

IPv6 is necessary because we are running out of IPv4 addresses. If you aren’t familiar with IP addresses, you can think of them as phone numbers for everything that connects to the internet. If IPv4 is our existing 10 digit number, IPv6 would be like having a 12 digit number, which greatly increases the options for phone numbers. Since we’re using more devices to connect to the internet we need to have more number options.

 

The Blame Game

I just read my second article about a 19 year old Florida college student who killed himself while broadcasting live on the internet. Condolences and sympathies aside, my frustration with these articles and some of the comments posted along the articles is the attempt to blame the internet site for his death. The internet did not kill this person. The website did not kill this person. This person tragically felt the need to remove himself from this world and chose to share his final acts with the world via the internet. I remember when similar circumstances the blame was pointed towards the method chosen, whether it be a gun or drug overdose, which was just as incorrect. The problem lies within the person and we need to figure out how to correct that. Banning the internet, guns, or drugs will not stop people from committing such acts, just change the methods used. Figuring out why people are doing this to themselves and helping them work through it is the direction we need to head.