Microsoft appears set to display a new version of its search engine early next week. The boys in Redmond have been scratching their heads trying to compete with the behemoth that is Google for the past few years. Looks like this may be their latest attempt at assassination.
Sometimes I feel bad for Microsoft. They have to compete with both Google and Apple. Then I remember all the unfair things Microsoft has done to stifle competition in the past and I stop feeling bad.
Here is an hilarious article[timesonline.co.uk] from The (London) Times. Foxnews.com’s title is even more hilarious: “Report: The End of the Internet Is Near”. OMG!!! Gather up the Ponies!!
Messr. Harris at The Times either has no idea what he’s writing about or owns a ton of stock in Cisco or Juniper. Or perhaps both. The following line from the article is particularly ridiculous:
If, for example, Google wants to support IPv6, it will need to build a whole new IPv6 web service, complete with new domain names, servers and bandwidth.
Hogwash, my good chap! The only bloody thing good ol’ Google will need to do is get IPv6 addresses from its ISPs. Its servers undoubtedly already support IPv6 as do almost all recent Un*x and Windows OSes (Linux and Mac OSX included). All Google will have to do is tell its servers what each one’s IPv6 address is and everything will work just the same as it has. No need for a new domain name, new servers, or new bandwidth. And certainly not any new code for their web services.
In fact, what I said above isn’t even necessarily true: Google doesn’t need to get an IPv6 address from its ISPs because there is an IPv6 prefix[wikipedia.com] already reserved for all the old IPv4 addresses. In essence, if you have an IPv4 address, you already have an IPv6 address that will route to all other IPv6 addresses–if only your upstream ISPs supported IPv6.
I tend to believe that Google has already prepared for this. I’m betting that their servers are already configured for IPv6. Their routers are probably configured for IPv6. Google might even have pure IPv6 connections to the Internet already. It’s hard for me to confirm my suspicions, though, because I don’t have a pure IPv6 connection to the Internet although I could setup something like 6to4[wikipedia.com].
Messr. Harris pumps the same old doom-and-gloom line that has been going around since the mid-1990s. Yes, friends, back when IPv6 was started the “experts” were prediciting we would run out of IPv4 addresses within a few years. Over a decade later, the new “experts” are predicting another three years.
Here’s a prediction: NASA will land men on Mars before IPv6 makes its way down to the home user, and I’m talking about his Cable/DSL router, not his actual PC.
With yesterday’s introduction[reuters.com] of Google Health, we can now add personal health records and related information to the types of data Google is storing. This service includes connections to pharmacies, like Walgreen Co. and CVS Caremark, and other health groups. It will “allow patients to schedule appointments, refill prescriptions, receive diagnostic results online, and instantly add their doctors’ email addresses to a list of contacts.”
This service sounds very useful and is likely to be used by many people. My concern is that as the diversity and sensitivity of data Google is storing increases, so does it’s attractiveness as a target for those with malicious intent. According to Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice president for search services and user experience, the service involves an additional layer of security and the data is stored separately from Google’s other data. Mayer stated that, “We certainly have put in place the foremost privacy policy[google.com] that we could construct.” We all hope so!
