Net Neutrality.. say what?

Ok, so if you've been watching tech news at all in the last few days you're probably heard the phrase "Net Neutrality" thrown all around, and you've probably heard the name Thomas Wheeler (The Chairman of the FCC) tossed around with it, and likely a couple dozen words you wouldn't let your daughter hear.  But here's the real question, what is Net Neutrality, and why should I care?

"What is it?"

Net Neutrality is basically the "Immortal Declaration" of data, that all data is created equal.  Different software or services use different protocols, different ports, styles of transmission, etc.  Basically Net Neutrality says that it doesn't matter either way, data is data and it's all treated the same way, none getting higher priority or faster speeds than the other.

"Why do I care?"

Because if Comcast is allowed to charge for one company to get "faster conduits to users" then the smaller companies out there that can't afford those kinds of things are going to be slower.  Let's clarify this a little more with a very simple example.  If you've got a line that can carry 1000 megabits per second, and two companies are equal over it, they each transfer at 500 megabits per second.  Now company number one pays a premium, so they get 700 megabits per second instead.  The other client didn't pay anything, but they're now being punished by getting lowered to 300 megabits, because that's all that's left.

"But why do I care about that?"

Well, you care because this means smaller companies will be facing bandwidth handicaps, which will cause service issues they can't hope to resolve.  You care because the truest nature of the internet, the fact that it's unbiased, unmoderated, pure data is now gone and you're only getting passable service from the few that are paying the most, while the rest are lost in the crossroads.  You care because the "small guy" trying to start his business with an amazing idea will fail because he's being forced out by big companies, not because the idea was bad.

"No, really, why do I care?"

Jeez, you're really a jerk... ok, you care because your own experience of the internet will be defined not by creativity, or new ideas or passion, it will be defined by who paid more to get it in front of you while the rest of the servers in the world time out.

Am I saying to protest, or get frantic, or start writing letters?  No, I'm saying to know what's going on, be aware, and alert, and then make your own choice on what to do.  Now you know the basics, go read the news and do your research, or don't, and leave knowing just a little more than you did yesterday.

Later!

Meaningful Variables People!

So this one is aimed at the programmers out there, with a little pet peeve of mine.  I wrote the code standard at my company, with the help of the other developers here, but I really have to say that it's just common sense that you don't use variable "integer" to represent an integer unless it's just a counter used in a loop.

In other words, be just a LITTLE bit creative people.  If you're counting inventory, how about "ammtLeft."  If you're working on capacity, "seatsRemaining."  Hell, I don't care if you use "placesForAsses" just put something there that is meaningful!  "Count" doesn't really cut it, nor does "total" in any cases where it might be ambiguous what you're using it to total.

So unless you're like me and you're naming your strings "int" and your floats "string", then please just try to give it 15 seconds of thought and make it just that much easier to let someone else help solve problems without deciphering what you wrote line by line.  Thanks!

How about some common curtesy please?

With the advent of the internet's plethora of chat mediums, from IRC, to AIM, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ (remember that one?), and all kinds of other texting communications I think we're starting to lose touch with our manners.  Let me give you an example.

A coworker of mine whom I have quite a bit of respect for always starts his IMs with a "hi".. usually followed by "how are you" before he even starts talking about work, or his question, or reason for making the contact.

It's worse than just chat though, remember a long time ago, people used to say hello on the phone, ask how the other person was, what was going on, THEN get to the reason that you called?  It was called proper manners.  Now it's "Hi, I need..." and I'm as guilty of it as anyone else is.

Here's the thought... next time you IM someone, say hello first.  Ask how they are, and let them answer too!  Instant gratification and massive increases in communication speed might just have a bigger cost than we realize at first...