Cox Crow

Anybody Want a Peanut?

The discussion, as it were, on a certain status code dragged me into reading about another situation: the Great weblogs.com Link Rot of 2004. There's a good bit of wailing and gnashing of teeth, in among the thanks and concerns about Dave Winer's health. There's also some misunderstanding about how the Net works.

• All things within the weblogs.com domain are not necessarily on the same host.

  There are complaints that some sites remain up, while most went down. Those sites have not been co-located with the others for some time now. NetCraft's survey can, perhaps, make this a little clearer.

  • www.weblogs.com
  • doc.weblogs.com
  • radio.weblogs.com

• There are technical solutions to the problem of load that do not require link rot.

  They do, however, require knowledge. The problem of imminent failure can be addressed through adequate communication, which will provide the time necessary for others with knowledge to help.

Turning things off and waiting for complaints is standard BOFH operating procedure in situations where the operator does not know who uses a service. I've done it myself. It works like a charm.

4:25:40 PM # Google It!
categories: System Administration

He's Representin

Ernie, the attorney, points out that Louisiana State Senator Michael J. Michot is piloting a program to solicit opinion from his constituents.

"In today’s technology-driven world, it’s important to use every available tool when it comes to aiding the public in their interaction with their legislators," Senator Michot (R-Lafayette) said. "With this program, we’ll be able to more accurately gauge how citizens feel about the issues, and which subjects they feel are most important in a cost effective and efficient manner."

This is an excellent development: get some opinion to go along with those polls.

3:14:45 PM # Google It!
categories: Politics

Drat, Competition

The ITU Strategy and Policy Unit quotes Ovum Consulting analyst Jan Dawson's warning about unclad DSL.

However, although naked DSL is primarily offered as a defensive strategy, it could have nasty knock-on effects on other aspects of incumbents' businesses. Many customers see mobile for voice and DSL for Internet access as the ideal combination, but are forced to maintain both a fixed and a mobile voice subscription in order to receive DSL service. Once this barrier is broken down, we could see rapid abandonment of the PSTN voice line in favour of mobile.

The other hit incumbents will take is from voice over IP. Once users are convinced that VoIP offers a carrier-grade service, they will be able to drop their PSTN lines and use VoIP for their calls from home and office and mobile for their calls outside the home. The combined threat of line losses to mobile and VoIP explains the reluctance of ILECs to make more noise about their naked DSL services.

Let's translate: if we unbundle voice services from the data line, customers will buy voice services from someone else. If they buy voice services from someone else, they'll either buy from a wireless provider or from a VoIP provider. They may even buy the data line from someone else. And where would we be then?

But, customers are already buying the data line from someone else. And they are already buying voice services from someone else. The only customers you retain are those who have no choice. What do you have to offer?

Generally speaking, if you have to force your customer to remain your customer, he'll flee as soon as there is opportunity. There is no pride in being the least respected industry.

1:55:31 PM # Google It!
categories: Industry