October 2014 archive

45th Anniversary of the First Message Between ARPAnet Computers (Featured Blog)

Given that CircleID is about "Internet Infrastructure" it would be remiss if there wasn't a mention here that October 29, 2014, was the 45th anniversary of the moment when the first message was sent between two ARPAnet computers located at UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute (SRI). That moment was chronicled well this year by Matt Novak writing on Gizmodo's Paleofuture, complete with photos of the original logs and more. More...

Of Leaf Bags, Yankee Frugality And Our Disposable Society

Lawn bagsThere I was at the Keene dump at 7:00am this week about to drop off nine bags full of leaves that we'd raked up in our lawn. (The down side of all that beautiful foliage we enjoy!) I backed my Subaru Baja up to the massive pile of leaves and got out to start dumping my bags of leaves into the pile with all the other ones.

As I did so, I noticed a guy with a pickup truck about 20 feet away who was meticulously folding up the now empty paper bags that he had obviously used to bring leaves to the dump.

We gave the silent nods of acknowledgement that people often do at the dump... and then curiosity got the better of me and I asked "so do you re-use your bags?"

"Oh, sure! I usually get a good three years out of them," he said.

I nodded... and we both continued our separate work. But what blew my mind at that moment was simply this:

I had never considered re-using the paper leaf bags!

They were just the things you put leaves in and then threw out at the dump. Nothing more than that.

My package of 5 bags cost me $3.29 at my local hardware store. I bought two packages and so my investment thus far was a bit under $7. ($6.58 if we're being precise.) I was figuring I would probably need another set of bags to finish out the season and so I'd buy another set soon.

$10

In my mind just "the cost of doing business" and living in New England. Since the drop-off of leaves is free at our city dump, that $10 is my cost for the season, plus of course the bit of gas to drive out to the dump.

Not a big deal in the flow of our regular household budget.

But still...

$10 can buy other things. $10 could pay for the gas I need to drive back and forth. $10 could be donated to someone who might need it more.

It was a reminder to me that we live in such a consumeristic society where we just think about everything as being disposable. I was thinking about things as being disposable, particularly because these are just paper bags that will automatically degrade along with all of the leaves in them.

But why not re-use them?

By the time I unloaded my nine bags the guy had driven away and I was the only one at the pile. A couple of my bags were ripped from sticks and needed to be thrown in the pile... but I did save seven of them. Just emptied out the leaves and then folded them somewhat back together.

Now I don't have to buy that third set of bags - and if I'm careful I can probably not rip these bags and hold on to them for next year.

The only way out of being a "disposable" society is for us to think about ways that we can indeed reduce, re-use and recycle... and in this case I chose to re-use!

What about you? Do you re-use leaf bags? (If you are in the part of the world that needs them.) Or have you never bothered with leaf bags anyway and just used tarps and such?


You can hear an audio version of this post on SoundCloud:


If you found this post interesting or useful, please consider either:


TDYR – 179 – Leaf Bags And Our Disposable Society

A chance meeting while dumping leaves made me suddenly realize it had never remotely occurred to me to re-use leaf bags... what does that say about my thinking in our disposable society?

Of Leaf Banks, Yankee Frugality and our Disposable Society – http://www.danyork.com/2014/10/of-leaf-bags-yankee-frugality-and-our-disposable-society.html

Of Leaf Banks, Yankee Frugality and our Disposable Society - http://www.danyork.com/2014/10/of-leaf-bags-yankee-frugality-and-our-disposable-society.html

IETF 91 Agenda Available – DNSSEC, IPv6, TLS, BGP and more

IETF LogoIt’s almost time for IETF 91 happening this time in Honolulu, Hawaii! From our DO team, Chris, Megan and I will all be out there and you can expect to see a great amount of IETF-related content coming from us over the next two weeks.  In particular, you can expect to see the normal “Rough Guide” coming out next week in a series of posts on our Internet Technology Matters (ITM) blog.

Today I just wanted to point out that the final agenda for IETF 91 is now available from the IETF’s site in multiple forms:

I personally like the “tools-style” agenda because for each session you can easily get the links to the audio stream, chat room, documents and more.  However, the HTML version on datatracker.ietf.org is also rather cool because you can select which working groups or areas you want to see and get a focused agenda.

Anyway, there is a great amount of work happening at IETF 91 related to ALL of the topics we cover here – IPv6, DNSSEC, TLS, BGP …. All the major Working Groups we follow will be meeting… it will be a VERY busy time for us all!  (I don’t expect we’ll be seeing much of those Hawaiian beaches except out the windows!)

Stay tuned next week for more IETF 91 info… and if you are going to be out there we look forward to seeing you there!

 

Slides: Reboot the Open Realtime Revolution – #MoreCrypto (Fall 2014)

Olle Johansson is back with another set of excellent slides about VoIP security and the need to have “MoreCrypto” everywhere. It’s a great set of slides that talks about where we have come from and where we need to go.  Definitely check it out on SlideShare at: Reboot the Open Realtime Revolution – #MoreCrypto (Fall 2014) or in the embedded version below:

Youth Curling Open House Saturday, Nov 1, 2014, at Petersham Curling Club

If you have children from age 5 all the way up to 21 and are curious if the sport of curling might be something for them to consider, you can check it out at a Youth Curling Open House happening tomorrow, Saturday, November 1, 2014, at the Petersham Curling Club about 45 minutes south of Keene in Petersham, MA.  You can come by any time between 9:00am and 12noon and actually get on the ice to try it out.   Learn about “throwing” the rocks (we actually slide them), using the brooms and about some of the strategy that many of us find so fascinating… you should even get a chance to play a bit of a game!

Plus you’ll get to meet some of the great youth already playing in the Petersham CC youth curling program and to learn about the benefits of the program.  It should be a great time!  Please see the flyer below for more info (click/tap on it for a larger version).

Getting to the Petersham Curling Club is pretty straightforward. From Keene, NH, just take Route 32 past the Keene airport and follow it all the way down through Athol, MA, and on over to Petersham, MA.  The PCC is right on Route 32. (See the PCC directions page for more info.)

If you can’t make it tomorrow but are interested in learning more, the Petersham youth curling program takes place on Saturdays from now through March.  For a local NH contact, you can email me as I help coaching the “Little Rocks” (ages 7-12) program at the PCC.  You can also connect with the Petersham youth curling program on Facebook.  Youth curling is a great experience – the kids learn a great amount about the sport and have a lot of fun along the way!

2014 youth open house flyer

Curling Season Underway At Petersham Curling Club

petersham-curlingWant to get started curling now?  While we continue the work of building the Monadnock Curling Club, you can get started right now at the Petersham Curling Club (PCC) about 45 minutes south of Keene, NH, in Petersham, MA.

The season has begun there and curling leagues are running all nights of the week and on the weekends. There are leagues for men, women, mixed teams, competitive teams, beginners and youth.  You can contact the Petersham CC to find out how to get more involved. If you have never tried curling before, they do offer “Learn To Curl” clinics from time to time.

Several of us involved with this Monadnock Curling Club effort curl down at Petersham CC because it is the closest curling club to Keene.  It’s a great place and an awesome group of people!

As far as getting there, it’s a straightforward (although winding and twisting) drive down Route 32 (the road by the Keene airport) that goes down through Richmond, NH, then over into Royalston, MA, and then Athol and finally Petersham.  The PCC is right on Route 32 so as long as you stay on the road you’ll get there.

Please do check it out and consider getting started with curling today!

Youth Curling Open House Saturday, Nov 1, 2014, at Petersham Curling Club

If you have children from age 5 all the way up to 21 and are curious if the sport of curling might be something for them to consider, you can check it out at a Youth Curling Open House happening tomorrow, Saturday, November 1, 2014, at the Petersham Curling Club about 45 minutes south of Keene in Petersham, MA.  You can come by any time between 9:00am and 12noon and actually get on the ice to try it out.   Learn about “throwing” the rocks (we actually slide them), using the brooms and about some of the strategy that many of us find so fascinating… you should even get a chance to play a bit of a game!

Plus you’ll get to meet some of the great youth already playing in the Petersham CC youth curling program and to learn about the benefits of the program.  It should be a great time!  Please see the flyer below for more info (click/tap on it for a larger version).

Getting to the Petersham Curling Club is pretty straightforward. From Keene, NH, just take Route 32 past the Keene airport and follow it all the way down through Athol, MA, and on over to Petersham, MA.  The PCC is right on Route 32. (See the PCC directions page for more info.)

If you can’t make it tomorrow but are interested in learning more, the Petersham youth curling program takes place on Saturdays from now through March.  For a local NH contact, you can email me as I help coaching the “Little Rocks” (ages 7-12) program at the PCC.  You can also connect with the Petersham youth curling program on Facebook.  Youth curling is a great experience – the kids learn a great amount about the sport and have a lot of fun along the way!

2014 youth open house flyer

Curling Season Underway At Petersham Curling Club

petersham-curlingWant to get started curling now?  While we continue the work of building the Monadnock Curling Club, you can get started right now at the Petersham Curling Club (PCC) about 45 minutes south of Keene, NH, in Petersham, MA.

The season has begun there and curling leagues are running all nights of the week and on the weekends. There are leagues for men, women, mixed teams, competitive teams, beginners and youth.  You can contact the Petersham CC to find out how to get more involved. If you have never tried curling before, they do offer “Learn To Curl” clinics from time to time.

Several of us involved with this Monadnock Curling Club effort curl down at Petersham CC because it is the closest curling club to Keene.  It’s a great place and an awesome group of people!

As far as getting there, it’s a straightforward (although winding and twisting) drive down Route 32 (the road by the Keene airport) that goes down through Richmond, NH, then over into Royalston, MA, and then Athol and finally Petersham.  The PCC is right on Route 32 so as long as you stay on the road you’ll get there.

Please do check it out and consider getting started with curling today!