SBC: Fiber close to the home (Node) test in Connecticut

Julie Fishman:

Extending optical fiber into the home wasn’t labor intensive, she said. The most crucial part of the experiment was the testing to make sure the new equipment and network were reliable, she said.
The next step for SBC is to begin a $4 billion installation project that will put fiber in the company’s networks throughout the country. Connecticut is very much part of that project, which is why Norwalk was part of the field test, Esposito said.
In existing neighborhoods, SBC says it plans to use FTTN architecture, which means “fiber to the -node.” That system brings optical fiber to a central point in a neighborhood, within 3,000 feet of homes already being served.

Note that this is NOT fiber to the home, rather it’s fiber to the node. DSL speeds will be faster, but hardly competitive with the services now available in Japan, Korea and other more advanced countries. SBC can certainly do better. Note that the speeds should be 2 way.

Snowkiting


Paul McHugh on skiing’s next frontier:

Kites may do for winter sports what they’re already accomplishing for windsurfing. Six years ago, big U-shaped kites were a rare sight at windsurfing spots. Conventional triangular sails attached to masts and boards dominated the scene. Now, at Bay Area sites like Crissy Field, Coyote Point and even rough offshore spots like Waddell and Scott Creek, it’s easy to see kites bobbing in the sky while riders on small, twin-tip boards skip nimbly over the waves.
According to longtime snowkiter Ken Lucas, utilizing wind power with a kite on snow may wind up even more popular than on water.