Not sure if people saw this, but Google is planning on rolling out "ultra high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the United States."  It sounds like they're doing this as a sort of proof-of-concept, in an effort to convince the FCC that a workable nationwide ultra high-speed internet access scheme is practical and affordable.  According to the Big G, they can "deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today with 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections," and they "plan to offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people."  Here's some more information.

http://chccs.k12.nc.us

 

CHCCS unveils new web presence 

Today, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools released a new district website. We wanted to familarize our staff and listserv subscribers to the new features as this site is unveiled to the public. 

The revisions were made in response to feedback we collected from staff and listserv subscribers last spring in a communications survey. The new format seeks to place dynamic content on the homepage, while seeking to preserve much of the familiar navigation of the old format.

The Town of Chapel Hill's new website appears to have gone live today.  It sure is a snazzy new look, but I haven't found much yet in the way of new features.  The menu navigation seems to be more intuitive than the old website, and it seems to be much easier to use from a casual visitor's perspective.  But I'm still not having an easy time finding archived material without a help from my dear friend Google.  Have you had a chance to check it out?  What do you think?

I have a simple question:  How do you classify digital networking?

I ask because I think we are at a critical juncture in our society.  The idea of "being connected" is foreign to some folks and completely natural to others.  In my personal life, I have found that this split seems to heavily correlate with age.  The younger you are, the more you "get" the idea of a digital network ("The Internet" to most folks), while the older you are the more likely you will view it as an unnecessary and frivolous endeavor.

I know that this is a "political" board but it seems like we have a lot of very "tech-savvy" people that post here.  Is anyone else concerned that a contractor's mistake today, resulting in a cut in a fiber-optics network in Chapel Hill, resulted in a loss of communication amongst courthouses and county offices in all 100 NC counties?

Cut fiber line knocks out state courts' communications

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/4949649/

I find this kind of disconcerting myself.  It seems like the design of these systems has made us far, far too vulnerable.  I think this is a political issue because it raises concerns for public health and welfare , at least IMHO.