Irony on the rocks with a twist...

Once upon a time, the three major branches of the U.S. Military placed a lowest bidder contract for computers...because these branches had their own procurement offices and funding, the Army ends up with DEC computers, the Air Force ends up with IBM computers, and the Navy ends up with Unisys computers. It would not be until the U.S. invaded Grenada that it was discovered that these three different systems were proprietary, and thus incompatible with one another, meaning they could not communicate or share data (ah, yes...that low-bid government bureaucratic redundancy at its finest). Since no two branches could agree on scrapping their systems in favor of the other one, another solution had to be found. This is where TCP/IP comes in.

TCP/IP is a suite of network protocols devised to allow different kinds of information systems to share data over a network. This required it to be system-neutral in order to allow it to cross the different proprietary platforms. It solved the problem and became an instant success with the DOD, and thus was available for integration into then fledgling Internet. At the time, nobody could have predicted that we would be where we are now. The explosive growth of the personal computer, the Internet, broadband, commercial networks, the World Wide Web, wireless networking, and commercial VoIP, have all served to “stretch” TCP/IP to cover situations for which it just wasn’t designed for. The reason TCP/IP is still around is due to the fact that it is fairly simple and, despite its limitations, it still does work, however, it does have many limitations and potential vulnerabilities that are not addressed through its current configuration.

Since TCP/IP is really a marriage of protocols, it is important to understand what each part does and why:

TCP - is responsible for verifying the correct delivery of data from client to server. Data can be lost in the intermediate network. TCP adds support to detect errors or lost data and to trigger retransmission until the data is correctly and completely received.

IP - is responsible for moving packet of data from node to node. IP forwards each packet based on a four byte destination address (the IP number). The Internet authorities assign ranges of numbers to different organizations. The organizations assign groups of their numbers to departments. IP operates on gateway machines that move data from department to organization to region and then around the world. http://www.yale.edu/pclt/COMM/TCPIP.HTM

The implications of making such a change to the protocols which comprise the "foundation" of modern computer networking is so great that updating these two protocol suites are being accomplished separately. It takes time for a global consensus to reach an agreeable standard concerning protocols.

Acceptance for replacing IPv4 with IPv6 is well on its way, however, no such convergence has taken place concerning updating TCP.

The problem of a new TCP is as complex (if not more so) that the TCPIPv4/v6 changeover which the Internet community has found very hard to deal with.

However, the factors in slow IPv6 deployment largely revolve around the fact that there is no communicated compelling reason to change. Given that a point of time will arise when changes to TCP are necessary for basic performance, it can be expected that, if a migration is conducted with appropriate change management planning, the adoption will be far quicker and far smoother than the IPv6 changeover. However, some basic factors need to be taken into account:

A compelling reason to change has to exist - No major change to core Internet protocols is going to be undertaken unless a compelling reason exists.

A compelling reason to change has to be communicated - Similarly, a major communication project is needed for a change of this magnitude. Trying to do it without formal change management planning would not succeed.

Involvement of major players will help - In particular, major players should be engaged, and planning for total adoption should take into account their adoption schedules. Once again compelling reasons to change have to be communicated: the cost to the market leaders to make the change across all product ranges is substantial, and the economic reasons to stay with current configurations may be compelling. We may be talking about changes to every connected device on the planet here. This could exceed 1 billion devices.

Co-existence with old systems has to be allowed but only for a limited period of time - There cannot be a one day changeover. This is addressed elsewhere in the Internet Analysis Report - 2004, but for a quite substantial period of time the new system must co-exist with the old. http://www.circleid.com/print/752_0_1_0/

Generally speaking, changes to technology are driven by reaching a "critical mass" of sorts. TCP has not yet reached this critical mass, but the continued development of IPv6 is bound to highlight TCP's shortcomings.

This should by no means imply that nobody is working on TCP's replacement:

Popular potential replacements for TCP
SCTP or Stream Control Transmission Protocol, initially developed by Randall R. Stewart, and Dr. Qiaobing Xie, this has gotten a very warm response from the international community.

DCCP, or Data Congestion Control Protocol, this grew out of UDP, or User Datagram Protocol development.

eXplicit Control Protocol, or XCP, an exciting protocol being developed at the Informational Sciences Institute located at USC

SACK-TCP, or Selective Acknowledgement Transmisssion Control Protocol, out of the Advanced Networking Division of The Pittsburgh Supercomputer Center, a joint effort between the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University.

Additional replacement protocols in various stages of development

S-TCP, or Scalable Transmission Protocol at Cambridge University

FAST TCP, Fast Transmission Control Protocol out of Caltech

BIC-TCP, or Binary Increase Congestion Transmission Control Protocol at the Computer Science Department of NC State University

HS-TCP, or High Speed Transmission Control Protocol at the Center for Internet Research, which is part of The International Computer Science Institute

HS-TCP-LP, or High Speed Transmission Control Protocol Low Priority, at Rice University.

Westwood + TCP an improved TCP Reno (see below) entry by a technical university in Italy called Politecnico di Bari

There are also various experimental TCP implementations named after various geographic locations, (but these seem more like experimental "proof of concept" types of implementations):

TCP Reno
TCP Tahoe
TCP Vegas
TCP NewReno
TCP Net Reno
TCP Niagara

Additional Semi-Related (and exciting) Resources

Sigtran.org- Signal Transport Protocol Website

Technical Data Center

The Information Technology Professional's Resource Center

High Speed Internet Protocol Test Results

Web 100 Project

Net 100 Project

TANSTAAFL!

©2004, J.S.Brown

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In the aftermath of perhaps the most vivid election in recent memory, I feel like a member of the home team crowd at a sporting event; suddenly hushed by a well-executed play by the visitors. In a hotly contested race such as this, there are always penalties and prices to be paid. The democratic process cannot be a spectator sport, but it is never kind to those who choose to participate, even by those who feel they were rightfully vindicated by it.

The steam of pent-up emotions run high as the boiler churns. The insults, speculations, debates, desires, arguments, truths, falsehoods, promises, and results all push the gauge beyond its limits, and there is nothing that can stop the explosion. There is no relief valve in a binary system such as ours; only “on” and “off.” Whether our recent election results bring elation or disillusionment, the resulting release is one of relief that the pressure has escaped its containment.

My metaphoric sojourn is one that does bear the scars of bitter defeat. While my many opponents may gloat in what I deem a puric victory, I must scratch my head and wonder how such a thing could happen. How could the power of ignorance triumph so greatly at a cost that is likely to be paid by the entire world, as it will by the American people? How could so many be deceived? Is this truly the will of the people, or is it the will of the elite? The answers are no doubt there for those who wish to question them, but there seems little interest. The specter and spectacle of the 2000 Presidential Election hangs over our nation like a shroud. It whispers for us to accept what is and never question what we don’t need to know. There is no push to peel back the surface of this election for fear that it might tear the delicate fabric of our nation. Behind the scenes of our nation, the minions of “George W(inston Smith) Bush” clones are quietly revising our past so we are not tempted to question the present, or the future. New enemies will threaten us from without and within, and we must be ready to defeat them.

I cannot help the visions and nightmares that cloud my thinking. I am drawn to the writings of George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Ray Bradbury; (great writers who warned of the possibility of a Dystopia, or Negative Utopia), and Adolf Hitler; (who showed the world how easily it could come true). The world of free ideas has been thwarted in favor of the mindless slogans of propaganda and the fears of the masses being controlled, coordinated, and contained. To speak against the leader is to speak treason. To think thoughts of dissention is to invite acts of terrorism. We should conform, we should obey, and we should confess our sins only as prescribed by the high priests of government, whose benevolent rule is for our own good. Our rights are those we are given by their grace, and our joyful obligation to them for this boon is clear. We are the many workers whose sole purpose is the support of the elite. We are the serfs who owe our very lives to the lords. Their decisions are our decisions, their desires are our desires. There is no deviation from the plan; there is nothing outside the precisely measured world in which they define for us by way of media control, mouthpieces, and propaganda.

We have become the inhabitants of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. We no longer see the chains holding us fast, instead we believe ourselves to be free. We are fed a constant stream of images, thoughts, emotions, and fears, yet we think them to be our own. When one of us manages to break free from the chains and tells us of the “real world” outside, we mock and ridicule them. We consider them heretics, fools, and traitors. We pity them, and force them to be “re-educated” until they willingly sit down as the chains are clapped on them and all thought of the “nonsense” they spoke before is excised from their minds.

Let us Review for those who have just joined us.

In our nation, intelligence has been made synonymous with radical liberalism, which in turn has been made synonymous with all ills of society, such as: socialism, communism, and evil plots to undermine “Traditional American (Bullshit) Values.” Our universities and colleges are breeding grounds for these “immoral radical leftists” who want to wipe out Christianity, think gays should be able to get married, want to legalize drugs, support genetic research, and think any attempt to ban abortion is wrong.

Part of the long term plan to undermine American liberalism was outlined by Lewis F. Powell in a confidential memorandum date August 23, 1971, a mere two months prior to his nomination to the United States Supreme Court. The (totally non-political tax-free church) Right has mobilized its forces in a desperate crusade to combat these immoral influences, and a major victory was won last Tuesday when (nobody questioned) Bush (mandate from the heavens) was reaffirmed by (God), the Electoral College, and the Popular Vote; along with Fair and Balanced reporting (Pro-Bush News-Speak) disseminated by the (Karl Rove Ministry of Propaganda) News Media, which made it all possible.

Just like Adolf Hitler, these people who are now in charge have provided us with their plans from the start. They never hid anything from those who wanted to take the time to find out. They even have a website where anyone can see what they are all about. It demonstrates clearly that so often, the easiest method for getting away with anything is to do it in plain sight. Whenever necessary, media misdirection can be employed as well.

Is nobody the least bit suspicious about the “sudden” invasion of Falluga, Iraq? For months it seemed our political leaders were content to contain the insurgents of this city, now “...all peaceful avenues have been exhausted.” Could it be that someone (Bush) was lying when they said they weren’t playing politics with our service members lives? Could it be that more of our mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, and cousins are destined to come home anonymously hidden from view in flag-draped coffins? Apparently the majority of Americans don’t give a damn, because they voted to let it all happen. Bye-Bye Miss American Pie.

TANSTAAFL!

©2004, J.S.Brown

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American Idiot

By Green Day

Don't want to be an American idiot.
Don't want a nation under the new media.
And can you hear the sound of hysteria?
The subliminal mindfuck America.

Welcome to a new kind of tension.
All across the idiot nation.
Everything isn't meant to be okay.
Television dreams of tomorrow.
We're not the ones who're meant to follow.
For that's enough to argue.

Well maybe I'm the faggot America.
I'm not a part of a redneck agenda.
Now everybody do the propaganda.
And sing along in the age of paranoia.

Welcome to a new kind of tension.
All across the idiot nation.
Everything isn't meant to be okay.
Television dreams of tomorrow.
We're not the ones who're meant to follow.
For that's enough to argue.

Don't want to be an American idiot.
One nation controlled by the media.
Information age of hysteria.
It's going out to idiot America.

Welcome to a new kind of tension.
All across the idiot nation.
Everything isn't meant to be okay.
Television dreams of tomorrow.
We're not the ones who're meant to follow.
For that's enough to argue.

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“This was an awakening for those who had not slept; and a dream for those who were awake; and a vision for those who could not see.”

-J.S. Brown

An artist in modern times has a wealth of options concerning their expression. There exists as many mediums and methods for the creation of art that it boggles the mind. Artists today generally end up specializing in a narrow band of mediums where they feel comfortable creating their art.

If we go far back enough in time, we see these choices begin to strip away, one-by-one, until finally, we see ourselves in a cave using primitive methods to inscribe simple symbols on the walls. These artists are really no different from their more modern brethren. The significant difference lay in that they were limited by the times and circumstances in which they lived. They lacked the resources, opportunity, and scope to do anything more than put their images on those cave walls. This is all they had, and they made the best of it.

It is possible to trace through time the evolution of humans and the progression of human art. Following closely in the footsteps of our cave painters are those artists who saw shapes in fragments of rock and used crude tools to refine those shapes. As our ancestors’ ability with such tools evolved, so did their ability to create works of art. We find carvings made of all sorts of materials: tusk, bone, rock, wood, metal, clay, and so on. Those items which have survived into our time demonstrate our crude beginnings and the promise of more refinements to come.

As we found our way out of the various ages of development, our art has grown more sophisticated, more able to produce emotion and wonder, more meaningful to a broader audience of people. It has helped us mark the times, and it has given us something greater to aspire to. Art was perhaps our very first window towards communication with each other; at the very least, it allowed us to provide at least a “sketch” of individual ideas and feelings that could be shared collectively. In this way it was bound up in our religious and spiritual traditions for thousands of years.

When people discovered they had something to express that wasn’t always about religious or spiritual matters, art began to outgrow its narrow confines and burst forth as a way of expressing the entire human condition; this would prove to be a critical turning point in our social and individual evolution. Art ceased to exist for a specific purpose other than for its own sake, people began to recognize they too, had a purpose that did not necessarily begin or end with mere survival, but with attaining something just beyond their reach. Art begins to show us that existence can be so much more than simply breathing, eating, excreting, breeding, and dying.

The artist challenges his or her work to show them something about themselves or the world around them. They dive into their work with a desire to live within the process of creation until they touch something inside them they cannot understand nor deny. It fills them with light and darkness, with anticipation, and dread. It touches every inch of their being, and for that moment, they are cosmic, orgasmic, whole, and enlightened. The medium, the art, the expression, they all blend into one to become a microcosmic universe and the artist alone is the God of that universe. For some, this happens every single time, for others, they struggle to find that place and reconcile it with everything else around them. This feeling can become like a drug that never fully satisfies. It can both save and damn the artist for all time. We all have seen the results of a great artist, whose tragedy flows as water or blood; knows too much, sees too much, hears too much, and understands too much. They can no longer abide the separation of their universe from the universe we all must share. Their creation consumes their soul, their addiction consumes their body, and their insanity consumes their mind.

Human art is an expression of the times in which it is expressed. It is a reflection of all that is. It makes no judgments, rather it allows all to assign their own. Art both mirrors and mocks as each tries to understand how it “fits” into the individual understanding of every conscious being that experiences it. Art need not always be a vision, or a sound, a word, or a feeling. It is what it is, yet it is rare for any two individuals to come away with exactly the same understanding of it. We believe our art defines us, yet it is we who define it. It is we who determine what it stands for and how it affects us. What may begin as nothing more than a therapeutic expression for the artist can somehow be transformed into a spectacle for others to immerse within.

Art is the ultimate expression of human philosophy. It asks questions for which there are no answers, it provides answers for which there are not yet questions. It shatters boundaries and it retreats to safety without providing any reason. Art exists and yet it has no quantifiable or logical purpose, other than to show us just how much we do not know. No matter how great our knowledge, no matter how infinite our wisdom, no matter how powerful we may be, art has the power to strip us naked and reveal our weakness for all to see. When we see ourselves through it, we are transparent and lacking, yet we are somehow strengthened by the fact that it shows us just how little of our total potential we have reached.

TANSTAAFL!

© 2004, J.S.Brown

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