The IPv6 Debacle...

Non-geeks, look aside.  This post can only cause you pain.

The Internet that most people know runs on the Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4 for short).  Decades ago the Internet gurus realized that the 32-bit addresses in IPv4 meant that we'd run out of IP addresses relatively quickly (there are only 2^32, or about 4 billion, IP addresses available in IPv4).  IPv4 has some other problems as well, but the lack of address space was the biggie.

So along came Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6 for short).  IPv6 solved the address space problem by moving to 128 bit addresses (enough to give every molecule in the universe it's own IP address).  It introduces many other changes as well, but the address space expansion is the biggie. 

But there's one little niggling problem: nearly all the software written for every computer is incompatible with IPv6.  Almost everything will have to be revised or rewritten, and the fixes are not trivial.  Oops.

Around the same time (mid 1990s) that the IPv6 forces were trying to convince the whole world to rewrite all their software, technologies called Network Address Translation and Port Address Translation (NAT and PAT for short) started to become popular.  Very popular.  These technologies let enterprises (and homeowners) have multiple computers or other devices on their local area networks using “private” IP addresses. 

These are a bit like the street addresses we see in cities: Boston has a 100 Broadway, and so does New York and a bazillion other cities and towns.  But this doesn't cause confusion, because we know that 100 Broadway in Boston is in Boston, not New York.  Similarly I can have a computer with an IP address of 10.0.0.1 in my home (my “town”), and you can have one with the same IP address in your home.  NAT and PAT are what make this possible.

So with NAT and PAT, much of the driving force behind moving to IPv6 is removed.  We no longer need that gigantic address space.  Meanwhile, software writers are still creating new software packages that are incompatible with IPv6.  In fact, very few programmers have ever created an IPv6-compliant program – they don't even know how!  So IPv6 has become a “nice to have” instead of a “must have” – and since it's such a costly thing to move to IPv6, that means we'll likely never do it.

Here's a much more technical dive into the IPv4 vs. IPv6 struggle...

Billions for AGW Research...

Here's where the motivation for “cheating” on the AGW science comes from: billions of dollars falling out of the sky, but available only to those scientists whose research objectives contribute in some way to the AGW story.

To be fair, a good part of this money is going to strictly observational programs that are an unalloyed good.  For example, some of this money will pay for satellites to survey the polar region ice coverage, and for other satellites to measure basic climate data (temperature, humidity, pressure, albedo, etc.) worldwide.  But it's also true that over a billion dollars a year will go to projects like climate modeling, and these grants, you can be certain, will not go to AGW-skeptical scientists...

French Missile Technology...

Abandoned at WalMart...

Senators Questioning NASA About Faulty Weather Data...

ClimateGate has consequences...

This Is Why...

Well, that didn't take long!  This is why we need the Tea Parties, or at least their influence...

Militarism...

The world's press often portrays the U.S. as a militaristic nation, spending vast sums on weapons and armed forces.  And it's true, at least in absolute terms – and current events certainly make the U.S. appear to be the world's policemen.  But there's more to the story (with some very nice graphics)...

That Arctic Ice Shortage...

Remember all those breathless news reports just a few months ago about how the Arctic Ice levels had dropped precipitously, and Al Gore's minions were ranting about the poor polar bears?  Well, never mind...

Those Tea Parties...

Michael Barone weighs in...

Bumper Sticker of the Day...

Via my brother Mark:

Note that the license plate is from Maine – not exactly a conservative bastion...

Morning in Lawson Valley...

I walked our dogs at around 3:30 this morning, and was treated to a cool, humid air (we're expecting rain later today) that carried the scent of blooming ceanothus down the hillside to my nostrils.  Absolutely lovely, that was.  A bit of sage was in there as well.  The nearly full moon peeked between clouds; when it was out the valley was lit brightly enough to see the green of the hillsides and the pink of the peach tree flowering in our front yard.

I love chaparral mornings like this...

ClimateGate: Roundup...

The British Parliamentary Committee report on ClimateGate is out.  It's exactly the whitewash the skeptics expected...

Yale to Greens: Climate change?  Fuggetaboutit...

NASA admits that its temperature data is even worse than the rest of the IPCC data.  A real accomplishment, that...

Weather forecasters are not drinking the Kool-ade...

Esquire writes about Marc Morano and the “global warming hoax”.  Amazing to see this in the mainstream media...

Nice piece on climate modelers adjusting the data to make their models produce the “expected” result.  Scientists behaving badly, and all that...

Our Economy is Going Where?

Wonky (and scary) analysis...

British Press on Obama and Obamacare...

I'm envious of a press that writes this pungently (Nile Gardiner in the London Telegraph):

Indeed, in the last few days, Barack Obama and Joe Biden have strutted across the country with a vain swagger that would make a peacock blush, from the vice president’s classless, foul-mouthed victory boast at the White House, to the president’s contemptuous mocking of his political opponents at a rally in Iowa. Both leaders have been beaming like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, living in their own Tim Burton-like fantasy. And what have they actually achieved? The passage of a massively controversial, divisive and hugely expensive health care reform bill via a Democrat-dominated Congress in the face of overwhelming public opposition, and without a shred of bi-partisan support.

I'd probably enjoy their liberal version of this just as much.  Their press is like a nice Thai food dinner – spicy and tasty – whereas the American press is more like a bowl of cheap oatmeal that's had all the flavor cooked out of it...

California Crazy...

Just when I thought Californians couldn't possibly get any crazier...

Small Business Tools...

An interesting collection of free or cheap web-based tools for small businesses...

The Solar System Musicbox...

Very cool.  Take a few minutes to understand what this is showing you, and enjoy the celestial music as you learn...

November...

Howard Fineman – not exactly a cheerleader for the conservatives – predicts a disaster for the Democrats in November...

McCardle vs. Waxman...

Megan wins.  Hands down.

The Cheonan...

Can you say “uh oh”? 

Last week the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan exploded and sank with considerable loss of life.  After an investigation, the South Korean government is now saying they think it was a North Korean mine.  Story and analysis.

The Korean peninsula is one of the least stable and most dangerous places on earth right now.  There's the potential for a human disaster of very large proportions there, and the paths to a peaceful resolution all seem improbable...