Just a guy in Vermont trying to connect all the dots...
Dan York
Author's posts
Jun 17
Congrats to Keene Ice On The Start Of Their Construction!
Congratulations to the great folks over at Keene Ice on the start of their construction on Marlboro Street here in Keene! It’s been great going for morning runs over the past couple of months and watching the construction evolve. They’ve been posting some photos and comments over to their page on Facebook and it’s been fun to see.
People have asked me about whether we’d be able to have any curling at the new Keene Ice arena. Given the fact that there is an extremely heavy demand for ice time for hockey leagues, figure skating and other ice activities, especially in light of the fact that Cheshire Ice Arena (our one other ice arena in the area) will not open next year, it’s highly unlikely that we’ll be able to figure out a way to do much in the way of curling at the Keene Ice arena.
I wrote last year about the challenges of scheduling in getting a curling club going at an ice arena and that really remains the biggest challenge. I spoke with one of the Keene Ice folks earlier this year and the reality is that getting more than just a couple of hours at odd times is not likely to happen. I think it’s awesome for them that they have so much demand!
And, as someone who enjoys ice skating, I’m very much looking forward to skating at the new arena!
I wouldn’t rule out entirely doing something at the Keene Ice arena… even if it were just some demonstrations and “learn to curl” sessions at some point in time… but our focus continues to be on how we can identify a place for some dedicated curling ice that could let us grow the kind of curling club and curling community that we’d like to see.
If you’re interested, please do join with us and let us know your interested!
And if you get a chance to drive by the Keene Ice facility on Marlboro Street, do check it out – it’s great to see! Let’s make Keene a winter sports destination!
P.S. And yes, in addition to the scheduling, curling ice is also different from skating ice… although there are many ice arenas that work hard to get their ice closer to what you can get at a dedicated curling club.
Jun 17
Congrats to Keene Ice On The Start Of Their Construction!
Congratulations to the great folks over at Keene Ice on the start of their construction on Marlboro Street here in Keene! It’s been great going for morning runs over the past couple of months and watching the construction evolve. They’ve been posting some photos and comments over to their page on Facebook and it’s been fun to see.
People have asked me about whether we’d be able to have any curling at the new Keene Ice arena. Given the fact that there is an extremely heavy demand for ice time for hockey leagues, figure skating and other ice activities, especially in light of the fact that Cheshire Ice Arena (our one other ice arena in the area) will not open next year, it’s highly unlikely that we’ll be able to figure out a way to do much in the way of curling at the Keene Ice arena.
I wrote last year about the challenges of scheduling in getting a curling club going at an ice arena and that really remains the biggest challenge. I spoke with one of the Keene Ice folks earlier this year and the reality is that getting more than just a couple of hours at odd times is not likely to happen. I think it’s awesome for them that they have so much demand!
And, as someone who enjoys ice skating, I’m very much looking forward to skating at the new arena!
I wouldn’t rule out entirely doing something at the Keene Ice arena… even if it were just some demonstrations and “learn to curl” sessions at some point in time… but our focus continues to be on how we can identify a place for some dedicated curling ice that could let us grow the kind of curling club and curling community that we’d like to see.
If you’re interested, please do join with us and let us know your interested!
And if you get a chance to drive by the Keene Ice facility on Marlboro Street, do check it out – it’s great to see! Let’s make Keene a winter sports destination!
P.S. And yes, in addition to the scheduling, curling ice is also different from skating ice… although there are many ice arenas that work hard to get their ice closer to what you can get at a dedicated curling club.
Jun 16
Agenda Available for ICANN 53 DNSSEC Workshop on 24 June 2015 in Buenos Aires
It’s time to talk DNSSEC and DANE in Latin America! The DNSSEC Workshop at ICANN 53 in Buenos Aires will take place on Wednesday, 24 June 2015, from 9:00 to 15:15 ART. NOTE THE LATER START TIME! Previously the workshops started at 8:30am but this time our start is 9:00.
Remote participation information, slides, the agenda and more info can be found at:
https://buenosaires53.icann.org/en/schedule/wed-dnssec
The sessions will be recorded if you would like to listen to them later. Slides will be posted as the date gets closer.
The current agenda includes (all times are Argentina Time (ART) which is UTC-3):
0900-0915 – DNSSEC Workshop Introduction, Program, Deployment Around the World – Counts, Counts, Counts
|
0915-1030 – Panel Discussion: DNSSEC Activities in the Latin American Region
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1030-1100 – Presentation: Update on DNSSEC KSK Root Key Rollover
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| 1100-1115 – Break |
1115-1215 – Panel Discussion: DNSSEC Automation
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1215-1230 – Great DNS/DNSSEC Quiz
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| 1230-1330 – Lunch Break |
1330-1445 – Demonstrations and Presentations: DANE and Applications
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1445-1500 – Presentation: Deploying New DNSSEC Algorithms
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1500-1515 – Presentation: DNSSEC – How Can I Help?
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We look forward to seeing you there!
Jun 16
DNSSEC And DANE Activities At ICANN53 In Buenos Aires On 22-24 June
Next week we’ll be in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for the 53rd meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and as per usual there will be a great about of DNS security activity happening. Some great introductions to DNSSEC and DANE – and some outstanding technical talks (and demos!) on Wednesday. Here are the three main activities – remote participation is available for two of them. Do note that all times are Argentina Time (ART) which is UTC-3.
DNSSEC For Everybody: A Beginner’s Guide
On Monday, 22 June 2015, we’ll have the regular “DNSSEC For Everybody: A Beginner’s Guide” session from 17:00-18:30 ART where we’ll do our “skit” dramatizing DNS and DNSSEC. If you have been seeking to understand WHY this all matters, do join in to see! You can watch it remotely (or watch the archive later) at:
https://buenosaires53.icann.org/en/schedule/mon-dnssec-everybody
And yes, I’ll be talking about blue smoke as I usually do… and I’ll be in the skit because, why not? 
DNSSEC Implementers Gathering
After the DNSSEC For Everybody session on Monday, many of us who have been involved with deploying DNSSEC or DANE will travel to a nearby Irish pub (yes, in Argentina!) for the “DNSSEC Implementers Gathering” for food, drink and conversation from 19:30-21:30 ART. Many thanks to CIRA, NIC.AR and SIDN for sponsoring this event. If you will be at ICANN 53 and would like to join, please RSVP to Julie Hedlund by the end of the day on Thursday, 18 June.
DNSSEC Workshop
As usual, the main event will be the DNSSEC Workshop on Wednesday, 24 June 2015, from 9:00 to 15:15 ART. NOTE THE LATER START TIME! Previously the workshops started at 8:30am but this time our start is 9:00.
Remote participation information, slides, the agenda and more info can be found at:
https://buenosaires53.icann.org/en/schedule/wed-dnssec
The sessions will be recorded if you would like to listen to them later. Slides will be posted as the date gets closer.
The current agenda includes:
0900-0915 – DNSSEC Workshop Introduction, Program, Deployment Around the World – Counts, Counts, Counts
|
0915-1030 – Panel Discussion: DNSSEC Activities in the Latin American Region
|
1030-1100 – Presentation: Update on DNSSEC KSK Root Key Rollover
|
| 1100-1115 – Break |
1115-1215 – Panel Discussion: DNSSEC Automation
|
1215-1230 – Great DNS/DNSSEC Quiz
|
| 1230-1330 – Lunch Break |
1330-1445 – Demonstrations and Presentations: DANE and Applications
|
1445-1500 – Presentation: Deploying New DNSSEC Algorithms
|
1500-1515 – Presentation: DNSSEC – How Can I Help?
|
The whole ICANN 53 should be a great event and I’m very much looking forward to it! Beyond our work with DNSSEC, DANE and DNS security, there will also be a great amount of public policy work happening as well.
If you will be there at ICANN 53 please do say hello – you can find me in these sessions… or drop me a note at york@isoc.org and we can arrange a time to connect.
And … if you want to get started with DNSSEC and DANE, please visit our Start Here page to find resources that can help!
Jun 16
The Directory Dilemma – Why Facebook, Google and Skype May Win the Mobile App War – an updated version of post I wrote in December
The Directory Dilemma - Why Facebook, Google and Skype May Win the Mobile App War - an updated version of post I wrote in December 2014 on a topic I find critical - http:/
Jun 16
The Directory Dilemma – Why Facebook, Google and Skype May Win the Mobile App War (Featured Blog)
As much as I am enjoying the new Wire app, there is a fundamental dilemma that Wire faces... as well as Talko, Firefox Hello, Subrosa and every other Over-The-Top (OTT) or WebRTC application that is seeking to become THE way that we communicate via voice, chat and/or video from our mobile phones and desktops. That is: How do they gather the "directory" of people that others want to talk to? More...
Jun 15
The Hobson & Holtz Report #812: Algorithms vs. trusted human editors
Intro: Welcome to FIR B2B co-host Paul Gillin, first episode of Digital India has been published.
Quick News: What does Twitter’s future hold with the departure of CEO Dick Costolo?; marketers should follow The New York Times’ lead, which is closing staff access to the desktop version of the newspaper’s home page, forcing them to use mobile devices; training former NFL players provided Paul with some surprises; Harris Poll data reinforces the importance of internal communication; the Media Monitoring Minute from CustomScoop;
News That Fits: Why marketers are betting big on predictive analytics, tech giants decide what news is when they control the channels for delivering the news, Dan York’s Tech Report: for news organizations, this was the most important set of Apple announcements in years, Medium adds Creative Commons license and introduces “Letters,” Internet Society is hiring a media relations manager; listener comments, live streaming is slowing as on-demand listening is growing for public radio, the Onion’s Clickhole is succeeding a mocking clickbait sites, the last week on the FIR Podcast Network, Igloo Software promo, subscriptions should be a key goal for B2B content marketing;
Music from the U.S. Amy Blues Band, and more.
Links to the content in this episode are on Delicious.
So, until June 22…
The post #812: Algorithms vs. trusted human editors appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.
Jun 10
Apple Will Require IPv6 Support For All iOS 9 Apps
“Because IPv6 support is so critical to ensuring your applications work across the world for every customer, we are making it an AppStore submission requirement, starting with iOS 9.” With those words, Sebastien Marineau, Apple’s VP of Core OS, gave a huge boost to IPv6 developer support in Apple’s WWDC Platform State Of The Union (SOTU) address yesterday.
You can watch the Platform SOTU presentation yourself (although you may need the Safari browser to do so). The IPv6 segment begins at 34:16 and Marineau’s statement about the AppStore requirement can be heard at 37:16.
Here, though, is the quick summary.
Why IPv6?
Sebastien Marineau began by talking about IPv6 and why it is important:
In particular he noted that carriers in several regions of the world are now deploying IPv6-only networks and emphasized the importance of making your application work well for everyone, everywhere. He reinforced how critical it is to support IPv6:
“If your application doesn’t work properly with IPv6, it will simply not function on those networks, those carriers and for those customers.”
He also explained how Apple has supported IPv6 for over ten years now since early versions of Mac OS X and from iOS 4 onward.
3 Steps For Developers
He went on to explain three steps all developers can take to make sure their applications work over IPv6 networks:
Those steps are:
- Use the networking frameworks (for example, “NSURLSession”)
- Avoid use of IPv4-specific APIs
- Avoid hard-coded IP addresses
Essentially, if app developers are using the higher level APIs and frameworks and aren’t hacking around at the IP layer, their apps should probably “just work” on top of either IPv4 or IPv6.
Testing Your App Over IPv6
However, Martineau addressed the question of “how do you test your app over IPv6?“, particularly when many app developers may not have access to a native IPv6 Internet connection. He indicated that in an upcoming release of Mac OS X there will be a new feature to help with this:
What I understood Martineau to say was that you will be able to set up a “personal WiFi hotspot” on your Mac and check an “IPv6-only” box. Your iPhone/iPad with your app could then connect to that specific WiFi network to work in an IPv6-only mode. The Mac would then provide the gateway to the legacy IPv4 Internet so that the app on the IPv6-only network could connect out to services on IPv4 servers.
THIS IS HUGE! One of the struggles many application developers have had is to easily create an “IPv6-only” network in which to test systems. Even those of us who are IPv6 advocates/enthusiasts have struggled with making this work well. It typically involves bringing up a second access point (which you are effectively doing with this new configuration) and then turning off all IPv4 services on that access point, which some access points make difficult to do.
Whenever this feature rolls out in Mac OS X, it will greatly help all of us who are working on apps and systems and want to test them in an IPv6-only environment.
An Important Step
Now, to be clear, most iOS app developers probably won’t have to do all that much to support IPv6. If they are already using the higher level APIs and networking frameworks they should be all set. The exact mechanisms of IP address handling are not a concern of theirs. However, some app developers will have to make some changes, particularly if they are directly using IPv4 addresses as any kind of identifier or in logging.
More importantly, the requirement for AppStore submission will require app developers to test their applications with IPv6 networks, and that alone will suddenly cause the millions of iOS app developers out there to have to learn at least something about IPv6 (if nothing else, the fact that it exists).
Most significantly, though, this step by Apple means that all the iOS apps that run on iOS 9 will work well over the IPv6-only networks that are starting to be deployed. Even in dual-stack (IPv6/IPv4) networks, this should mean that iOS 9 apps will work better in those environments when, for instance, IPv6 may be faster. (More needs to be understood here about the specifics of the IPv6 support.)
And… this also will help take away the argument used by some network operators who are still not moving ahead with IPv6 that “why should we deploy IPv6 when apps don’t support it?”
Apple’s answer is that, as of iOS 9, all iPhone/iPad apps will support IPv6!
Kudos to Apple for taking these steps, creating this new AppStore submission requirement, and also providing what sounds like a new and easy way to create IPv6-only networks!
We’re looking forward to iOS users being able to use ALL their favorite applications on an IPv6-only network!
P.S. If you want to get started with IPv6, please visit our Start Here page to find resources tailored for your role or type of organization. The time to make the move to IPv6 is TODAY!
Also, hat tip to Adam Iredale on Twitter, who first brought this new requirement to my attention, and to Borja Reinares who provided some more information.
Jun 09
Will iOS 9 Make My iPad2 Usable Again?
I have one very simple question amidst all the media hype about Apple's WWDC announcements yesterday:
Will iOS 9 make my iPad2 usable again?
Yes, all that other stuff announced yesterday sounds cool... but I have this more basic question.
You see, I made a mistake.
I believed Apple when they said that iOS 8 would run on an iPad2. I mean, the device is from 2011 - it was "only" three years old when iOS 8 came out last year. It was still working very well with iOS 7 and I was excited to try out iOS 8.
To be crystal clear, Apple is correct - iOS 8 does "run" on an iPad2. But...
... it... r...u...n...s... s... o... o... o... o.... o.... o... o... ... g... l... a... c... i... a... l... l... y... ... s... s... l... l... o... o... o... w... w... w... l... l... l... y... y... y...
... that it's hardly worth using. It takes a long time to open up applications, to bring up the keyboard, to switch between applications, etc. It is so slow that I've really stopped using it for almost everything but occasionally reading documents when traveling.
Yes, I do realize this is a very definite "first world problem" in that much of the world doesn't have access to even a device such as an iPad2. So who am I to complain about how slow a device is?
I acknowledge that.
But the iPad2 did work very well with iOS 7 ... and the cynical view is that iOS 8 seemed to be a way to make all of us iPad2 users get frustrated enough to buy new devices. And sure, that's perhaps great for Apple's revenue (assuming we don't buy an Android device instead) ... but it's not great for all the electronic waste of discarded devices. I'd like to continue using what is otherwise a perfectly fine device.
In the WWDC announcement yesterday, Apple's Craig Federighi mentioned that iOS 9 was slimmed down to be able to be upgraded easier over-the-air. He said that it was to help make sure it would run on all devices.
My request to Apple would be simply that - please make iOS 9 truly run on the iPad2!
If Apple is going to claim to still "support" the iPad2, they should do so in a way that lets you use the device in the manner in which we used it when we purchased it.
Or... they should simply be truthful about it and drop the iPad2 from the list of supported devices. Then we all who have them can at least know and not bother upgrading iOS. (And we can figure out what we want to do with the device...)
Will iOS 9 make my iPad2 usable again? I don't know... but I'll definitely be upgrading when it is released because at this point I don't know that Apple can make the device worse than it is running iOS 8. :-)
UPDATE: - On September 30, 2015, I wrote about my own experience with an iOS 9 upgrade and pointed to some of the comments here on this post.
Photo credit: an image of a massive glacier by David Stanley on Flickr
