I’m sure most of you have heard about the big Tier 1 networks whining about people hogging connection speeds with file sharing and video watching. With that said, why did Comcast announce that they will be coming out with speeds of 100 Mbps by 2010? If you’re going to charge more for speed, why do I want a fast connection. It’s like giving someone who has a spending problem a Platinum credit card.
Yeah, it’s been quiet for a while. Actually, it’s been too quiet. I’m currently in the middle of redesigning my site and decided to add a feature I got working on my development box. It actually only took about 10 minutes to get this up and running, so I figured I would go ahead and lock it in for data aggregation purposes. It’s in my sidebar, but may migrate as I do more updates and additions. I figure if I do one of these a day and rebuild one page a day, it will only take me a few weeks to get all of my changes. With that said, here’s to more free time and a finished site. 
So, I was perusing CNN today, getting my daily news fix, and I stumble across this article about the off year elections. I get about a third of the way down the page and read the following quote:
“The thing I like about this fellow is he grew up on a farm”
Yeah…
My brain actually stopped after I read that.
A friend and colleague of mine, Thomas Vander Wal, made the New York Times today in an article titled, “’Folksonomy’ Carries Classifieds Beyond SWF and ‘For Sale’,” which is quite an interesting read. Thomas was my boss when I worked at FHWA in 2003 and 2004. He has since moved on (October 6th, 2005) from INDUS and FHWA to start his own consultancy, InfoCloud Solutions, which, from my understanding, is still in the process of final business paperwork.
Thomas focuses on all things information based and how users relate to their digital life around them in the form of their “Personal InfoCloud.” More on this subject can be read about on Thomas’s “Personal InfoCloud” site, and on his personal/professional site under “Off the Top” which is a place of frequent thoughts, ideas and musings.
Thomas coined the term “Folksonomy” in late 2003 when it first appeared in del.icio.us, a social bookmarks manager. His work has raised eyebrows in the technology community and has put people, mainly developers in the beginning, on a new path of thinking and how individuals truly use, not just web, but the information that surrounds their lives. Thomas has spoken at several conferences on this subject including Webvisions 2005, BayCHI and MIT, just to name a few.