Best Of
Riding Light
Your dose of feeling insignificant for the week.
Alphonse Swinehart:
In our terrestrial view of things, the speed of light seems incredibly fast. But as soon as you view it against the vast distances of the universe, it's unfortunately very slow. This animation illustrates, in realtime, the journey of a photon of light emitted from the surface of the sun and traveling across a portion of the solar system, from a human perspective.
Linc
Google Earth Pro is now Free
Re: FCC brings down the hammer: Title II proposed for Internet
The FCC vote isn't final, so it is important to back the proposal while there is still time.
This is the funny version of what the fuss is about:
Linc
Re: FCC brings down the hammer: Title II proposed for Internet
You can be sure net neutrality opponents are going to paint this as a government overreach, even though Wheeler himself provides a great example of how Title II enabled the consumer Internet as we know it today.
from engadget:
Wheeler pointed out that the rise of the internet probably would have looked very different if the FCC didn't open up access to networking equipment in the '60s. He also related the tale of his own company, NABU, which provided high-speed cable internet during the '80s, but ultimately failed because it relied on getting access to networks from cable operators. Meanwhile AOL (which owns Engadget) managed to succeed because it was taking advantage of open phone networks -- despite being hundreds of times slower than NABU. "The phone network's openness did not happen by accident, but by FCC rule," he added.
Garg
Re: Ongoing changes to Icrontic in 2015
Improved: The "What's happening" will now order itself by the time it crossed the points threshold, rather than the time the discussion was created. This will allow a more orderly progression, and allow older content to join the list later.
Linc
Re: Super UPS from South Africa
I am posting for posterity. I think it’s cool to keep a log of battery replacement; and when the unit finally dies one day, I will post a RIP I’m sure.
I have this week, replaced my second set of batteries. This time I only got 2 years out of them. I did not have to revert to battery backup that often during the two year period, so I was surprised when they started dying on me so early.
I think I know why. The dead set of batteries I removed were not true deep cycle batteries.
I can’t remember why I bought them, but it has illustrated that buying the wrong tool for the job just costs you more in the long run. I got 5 years out my first set.
Anyways I now have a brand new, decent set of deep cycle batteries in place and will see how long these last.
Otherwise I'm happy to report to those fellow Icrontians that remember me, that I’m alive and kicking and still using the Same UPS I built over 7 yrs ago 
Winga
FCC brings down the hammer: Title II proposed for Internet
The FCC will seek to reclassify the Internet as a utility, which essentially maxes out the level of net neutrality protections available AND says wireless counts:
"I propose to fully apply — for the first time ever — those bright-line rules to mobile broadband"
Some backstory: the FCC chairman's recent change of heart.
If this does come to pass (and I think it will), it will be a spectacular conclusion to a story we've been following as a community for nearly a decade. Big props to @Thrax who did a ton of reporting on net neutrality for us over the years.
Linc