Heading for a fall without the 'Net

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: GIBBS & BRADNER
09/13/05

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* Net Insider columnist Scott Bradner realizes how dependent
he's become on Internet-based resources
* Links related to Gibbs & Bradner
* Featured reader resource
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THE LATEST HOME NETWORK EQUIPMENT PREDICTIONS

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Today's focus: Heading for a fall without the 'Net

By Scott Bradner

My Internet link has been down for the last five days. This is
not any kind of tragedy along the lines of what has been
happening in New Orleans and the Gulf area, but it did bring
home to me how dependent I've become on Internet-based resources
for my daily life.

I won't go into my frustrations with Verizon
<http://www.networkworld.com/news/financial/verizon.html> other
than to say that while many employees there have been working
quite hard to get my line back up again, too often that work has
involved convincing Verizon higher-ups that the customer (me)
actually wanted his service restored.

The pattern was that as soon as one supervisor was convinced to
dispatch someone, there would be a shift change and the
convincing, first by me of a new customer agent, then of the new
supervisor by the customer agent, would have to be done all over
again. As I submit this, the line is still down six days after
the problem started and five days after the line became
unusable. Note that I have a business, not consumer service. I
have no idea how bad the response would have been for a consumer
DSL line.

I haven't been totally without Internet connectivity. I have
been using dial-up since the problem started, but it's a bad
substitute for the always-on T-1, and the dial-up does not
support mail to my <mailto:sob@sobco.com> e-mail address or my
Web site. It turns out that most of my day-to-day activities at
work and at home involve accessing the 'Net in some way. A lot
of the use is mundane and personal, such as following the news,
looking up miscellaneous information, including phone numbers,
driving directions and movie schedules; listening to music,
tracking the real-time stats of motor races, exchanging e-mail
with my sister and capriciously Googling just about anything.

Speaking of the news, I feel like I'm in the news Dark Ages,
having gone from actively seeking news from many sources on
topics I find interesting to being at the mercy of the
commercial TV news channels. I'm amazed at the random topics
that I've gotten in the habit of Googling based on some mention
in the news or on some Web page. I seem to be becoming a
personification of the adage of knowing more and more about less
and less, but maybe that is a feature of the Age of Google that
we are living in. I also use the 'Net extensively in my Harvard
day job (a job that does not stop when I leave the office). I
have to keep up-to-date concerning security topics and threats
and monitor university activities. I also need good connectivity
for my consulting - researching for these columns, looking for
patent prior art, checking out new companies and new
technologies and so on.

I'm embarrassed to say that I've been caught not practicing what
I preach: I have neglected my back-up Web site for the last six
months, so it's far from being up-to-date. I'll be happy when
(if?) Verizon gets my connectivity back and, at least for a
little while, may recognize my current state of dependency.

Disclaimer: Harvard has no opinion that I know about my T-1
outage, so the above represents my own thoughts.

The top 5: Today's most-read stories

1. McAfee, Tech Assist top anti-spyware test
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlgibrad6954>

2. What's the best way to protect against spyware?
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlgibrad6955>

3. Google hacking <http://www.networkworld.com/nlgibrad6749>

4. Supermarket chain freezes Internet access
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlgibrad6750>

5. Cisco warns of another IOS bug
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlgibrad6751>

_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Scott Bradner

Bradner is a consultant with Harvard University's University
Information Systems. He can be reached at <mailto:sob@sobco.com>

_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Tacit
Network World Executive Guide: Staying Focused on the Moving
Target that is Storage

Keeping pace with evolving storage strategies, architectures,
and trends is not unlike keeping pace with your organizations
underlying capacity needs. From ILM strategies to SAN management
to the threat of those USB memory sticks, this Network World
Executive Guide will help you stay focused on the moving target
that is Storage. Register now and get a free copy of Network
World's Storage Executive Guide.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=114173
_______________________________________________________________
ARCHIVE LINKS

Gibbs archive:
http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/gibbs.html

Bradner archive:
http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/bradner.html
_______________________________________________________________
FEATURED READER RESOURCE

GARTNER'S SECURITY HYPE-O-METER

What is hype and has it influenced your network security
efforts? At a recent Gartner security summit, analysts described
what they say are "The Five Most Overhyped Security Threats,"
risks that have been overblown and shouldn't be scaring everyone
as much as they seem to be. For more, click here:

<http://www.networkworld.com/weblogs/security/009180.html>
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