The Need for a Common Internet Infrastructure

The original vision for the public Internet that some may assume still applies was that of an open commons of free information exchange on the World Wide Web. As personal expression became further possible through popular hosting services, that expression became a reality for increasing numbers of people who at the time didn’t have and …

The Tech Coup

Book Review: The Tech Coup: How to Save Democracy from Silicon Valley by Marietje Schaake The lives of most people worldwide are dominated by information technology in an inescapable way—even the poorest people (or perhaps especially the poorest people) need their smart phones to survive. Beyond just the end devices, the back end processing and …

Building a Sustainable Home

Book review: Building a Sustainable Home: Practical Green Design Choices for Your Health, Wealth, and Soul by Melissa Rappaport Schifman The point at which current methods of housing construction are no longer sustainable is clearly in view—it’s actually been within sight for some time. In this book Melissa Rappaport Schifman describes her actual experiences in …

Lesser Known Terrestrial Communications Means (4 of 4)

This is the fourth of four articles to suggest solutions to the problems that would be caused on Earth from the loss of satellite services. I briefly describe the situation in a previous posting at Impending Space Junk Disaster. This article discusses the use of lesser known terrestrial communications systems to provide connectivity to replace …

Revisiting Terrestrial Microwave (3 of 4)

This is the third of four articles to suggest solutions to the problems that would be caused on Earth from the loss of satellite services. I briefly describe the situation in a previous posting at Impending Space Junk Disaster. This article discusses the use of terrestrial microwave to provide connectivity to replace that which is …

HF Radio to Mitigate Loss of Satellites (2 of 4)

This is the second of four articles to suggest solutions to the problems that would be caused on Earth from the loss of satellite services. I briefly describe the situation in a previous posting at Impending Space Junk Disaster. This article discusses the use of High Frequency (HF) radio to provide connectivity to replace that …

Mesh Networks to Mitigate Loss of Satellites (1 of 4)

This is the first of four articles to suggest solutions to the problems that would be caused on Earth from the loss of satellite services. I briefly describe the situation in a previous posting at Impending Space Junk Disaster. This article discusses the use of mesh networks to provide connectivity to replace that which is …

Design for 360 Degree Camera

Camera enclosures for outdoor use require associated mechanical pan and tilt equipment if the camera is needed for anything further than just general area coverage. Not only do these mechanical devices take critical seconds to slew to position, they also require regular maintenance. What if the pan and tilt functions could be done purely electronically, …