We may run out of web addresses in 2 years

Vint Cerf, the “father of the internet”, has warned that the world is on the verge of running out of the web addresses that allow computers to identify and communicate with each other. 

Cerf, one of the world’s leading computer scientists, has asserted that there’s and immediate need for businesses and consumers to switch to the next generation of net addresses. 

Every computer and online device is assigned a unique IP address, but according to estimates, the pool of unallocated numbers will soon run dry. IP addresses are as crucial to websites as street addresses are for businesses but some network engineers predict that we will run out of them in two years. 

However, Cerf has said that it’s high time that preparations are made now, otherwise some computers might not be able to go online and the connectivity of the internet might be damaged. 

He also said that particularly internet service providers are needed to get ready for the situation and that time was running out for a smooth transition. “This is like the internet running out of telephone numbers and with no new numbers, you can’t have more subscribers,” Times Online quoted him, as saying. 

Cerf and hid colleagues devised the internet system in 1977, and he set in place “internet protocol version four” (IPv4) which provided 4.2 billion addresses. Each IPv4 address is a series of 32 binary digits. However, with the boost in the number of internet-enabled devices , especially mobile phones, less than 14% of those addresses remain vacant. 

According to current figures, the existing IPv4 address will run out in 2010 and possibly as early as next year. But, scientists have already kept aside a new system, called IPv6, which has been ready for implementation for more than a decade. 

Under IPv6, each address has 128 bits and so provides 340 trillion, trillion, trillion different addresses — that is 340,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,00 0,000. And it is believed that this will meet humanity’s needs for decades to come. 

Both the protocol systems will run simultaneously and IPv4 addresses will still work as normal. But if the IPv6 is not widely adopted, then those using it may find themselves unable to connect across the whole internet. 

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has warned that shifting to the new addressing scheme was “critical for the future of the internet economy” and was likely to affect “all businesses that require IP addresses for their growth”. 

Cerf said consumers needed to be aware of IPv6 and to start checking that the products they buy are IPv6 compatible . Most software companies and many hardware companies are already making their products IPv6 ready. 

It is thought that, properly handled, the effect of the introduction of IPv6 on consumers will be minimal, although eventually home routers may have to be upgraded or swapped so they can use the longer addresses. In Asia, governments in China, Korea and Japan have led the roll out of the new protocol.

The Output....

I got inspired to write this post when, after reading a company's recruiting policy, I realised a few facts about having a job.
What bugged me the most was the fact that companies "look for results rather than dedication". They expect you to have achieved everything: good grades, positions of responsibilities won through elections, awards, scholarships.............
I'd like to ask this: Does producing results or winning guarantee a better employee? Is it not common knowledge what strange, twisted measures people use to win awards, or to win elections?
So is it necessary that a person who produces results is a dedicated person who will show the same amount of dedication while working for someone? Is it not equally possible that the person will again use unfair measures for his own benefit, to ascend the corporate ladder, while not contributing anything?
The problem lies within the fact that it's really tough for any person to know that a person is capable without asking about results. How can you judge that a person will benefit your venture without knowing what he has achieved in life? but as I have said, this system has its flaws. If a person is dedicated to something, but if he couldn't achieve results in that field, does that make the person incapable? I say no. There are various factors involved in a person's achievement: inspiration, proper guidance, proper background, downright trickery. If a person does not have these, does that mean that he couldn't achieve? Look at Einstein, for example. Just because he couldn't get good grades at school he was labeled a loser and an underperformer. But that did not matter to Einstein. He went ahead, dedicated in his interests, and achieved something so extraordinary, that no one could match till even now. Bill Gates, dropped from college at an early age to pursue a career in computers. His family and friends criticised him for this.
In any society, there will always be underdogs. They will look as if they are good for nothing, but its the contrary that gets revealed, soon. This primarily due to the fact that it is not necessary that a hardworking person will produce good results. But it is true that his hard work will bear fruit someday. They just have to wait for it.
There is a huge need for a criteria to evaluate a person's capabilities, other than just results. People who produce results somehow adapt to the system and are thus able to perform better, with lesser effort.It is really demoralising for a person to not achieve anything despite of his efforts. This would, in turn make him work less harder the next time, because he will expect less. This chain goes on. But there are some who hold on, who keep working despite failures. These are the people who can truly change the world.

DO WE REALLY WANNA BECOME ENGINEERS???

On weekends away from the daily curricula something upsets me. That something is the question "Do we really want to become engineers?". There are only a few people around (at least what I know) who know what are they are doing with their lives and for the rest of us branded as budding engineers are we not just following the trend.

We all study hard in school at plus two level and to try get into a college of repute. This the general trend that is being followed. I think nowadays it is not your ambition that drives you it is the world around you that shapes your career .I still remember when I first entered class 11 I had no clue about my future . But then what happened I saw some enthusiast around me gearing up for entrance test preparations. Probably they were motivated by their parents. What do I do then ,I can't go against the trend so I also take up engineering as my goal ,God knows why. So I am here with 500 odds other students who probably did the same thing as me and figuring what our future holds for us now.

This is what life is governed by other forces around you . If anyone says that he has a mind of his own , doesn't care what others think about him and has his own way of doing things I would give you a liar.

But my question still remains unanswered are we all doing justice to our lives by pursuing engineering as our profession. Does anybody around me for that matter my seniors has the guts to stand up say that what he has chosen for his life is right for him. An intelligent student must take up engineering or medicine as his career. Is it that simple, probably not . This fact proves it that we are all so governed by the social laws. For that matter what is intelligence is it the art of mugging up and vomiting in the exams. Or is it the art of doing the important portions (as suggested by the teacher ) and cheating the rest in the exams. In my book anybody can be intelligent a last seater can be more intelligent than a topper because he has a mind of his own .Securing marks is not a intelligence quotient. Even Bill Gates was a college dropout . By this I don't to say that all of us should stop studying and we all would become Bill Gates .

Coming back to my point that one should spend some time in search of what is right for him. Agreed that this search is time consuming but we can all give it a try. Here lies one of the greatest disadvantages of the modern world that it has robbed all time out of your life.

So to some it up all I want to say is that all you people out there playing games , sleeping at hostel ,going out with girlfriend, or trying to make them ,attending classes ,all you back benchers sleeping in the class or disturbing the teachers is to take a deep breath and think is this what am I supposed to do in life am ,I doing justice to my life or am I just following the trend .

Google Chrome coming to Android

he new web browser, Google Chrome, launched recently and while it is initially intended for your PC, expect to see it on Android in the near future. Google co-founder, Sergey Brin revealed a few interesting tidbits about the Chrome/Android connection yesterday during the browser’s launch event.

As both Android and Chrome near their 1.0 releases, it is expected the two will begin to work together, even though they were developed mostly on separate terms. “Probably a subsequent version of Android is going to pick up a lot of the Chrome stack,” said Brin and cited JavaScript improvements as an example.

And “Chrome-like” is an example of what the mobile version of Chrome would be called in order to indicate both its relation to the full blown PC version and its mobile status. The age of complete mobile browsing is upon us!

Chrome Baby!

One word says it all this week, Chrome! Will September 2, 2008 go down in history as the day Google launched not just a mere web browser but a new operating system? Aniket thinks so. He foresees Google's Chrome as a complete departure from we have used and something that will one day come pre-installed on small computers, etc.