Last-mile networks

There are some examples of last-mile networks that are becoming clearer to me. Consider:

• Telecom: Verizon, ATT or some major company owns the ‘last mile’ of actual physical network that runs from the street into your living room. So irrespective of who provides the actual service in the central routing point, these last-mile owners rake in part of revenue generated.
• Cable: Same with Comcast or Cox. They own the physical last few yards of cable that brings the entertainment to your TV.
• Local healthcare providers (general practitioners, family physicians) can be seen as the last-mile network that big IDNs (Integrated Delivery Networks) and hospitals miss. The big players are always in need to bring in the last-mile players into their network.

Now lets see how new generation companies are changing the rules of game by obviating the need for ownership of ‘last-mile’ networks.

• Vonage and VoIP companies disrupt standard telecom-providers by circumventing the need for specific telephone wiring to the home.
• Dish and DirectTV  work around cable providers  with satellite communication. So does Joost, in terms of content distribution.
• Telemedicine and remote monitoring technologies make it possible to take care of chronic diseases without actually visiting your big hospital ER.

I’m not sure what exactly, but there is a pattern here. Something around the impending value-depreciation of last-mile networks. Stay tuned while I sharpen my mental axe to trim this overgrowth..

Paint.NET

Paint.NET is a free image editing software that will be intuitive to users of the old MS paint. Originally designed as a replacement of the MS paint software, it has grown into impressive and powerful editing tool. It may not have all the bells and whistles of Photoshop, but given the fact that it’s free makes it a great replacement. Check it out if you need to do some heavy-duty image editing.

Avast

I heard about Avast on a recent TWIT podcast. Don’t have any experience with it, but  a reliable freeware anti-virus is hard to find. This may be one, so wanted to bookmark it for future use.

Avast was the top performer in the 2007 anti-virus ranking on AV-comparatives website. Others in that list may have freeware versions too.

CmapTools

IHMC CmapTools is a slightly different take on the mind-map concept. As I wrote in my Freemind post,  mind-maps are an excellent way to organize your thoughts and discussions.

CmapTool is a free application that enables you to layout a ‘knowledge model’. Simply put, it can create a framework of concepts and relationships between them. Although the generic nature of a tool like Freemind will let you do this, but if a layout of concepts is all you want to depict, it’s much easier to navigate and create such models with CmapTool.

I use it to outline projects/ideas/terminologies that have strict hierarchies in them, and relationship definition between individual concepts is possible as well as important.

Freemind

Freemind is an open-source application for creating and editing mind-maps. If you don’t know what a mind-map is, read this article on wikipedia. Mind-maps are a great way to organize information- take notes, brainstorm and explore ideas. I used to depend on commercial mind-mapping software until Freemind came along. I use it almost everyday, and can vouch for it’s effectiveness.

GIMP

GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is the raster-cousin of Inkscape.

Think of it as a free software replacement for Adobe Photoshop. GIMP can be used for advanced image editing, manipulation, and professional graphics creation. Typical uses include creating graphics, logos and animated images; editing photos and converting between different image formats.

Inkscape

Image display started as ‘raster graphics‘, in which an image is represented as a rectangular grid of pixels on a display device. These were gradually replaced by ‘vector graphics‘ which use all the basic geometrical shapes to represent images. Raster images scale with loss of clarity, while vector-based images can be scaled indefinitely without degradation.

Inkscape is an Open Source vector graphics editor. Although it does not have certain features found in some advanced, competing proprietary vector editors (like Illustrator, Freehand, CorelDraw, or Xara X), it is suitable for a wide range of applications like creating icons, maps, diagrams, images of near photographic quality.

Scribus

Scribus is an open source desktop publishing (DTP) application designed for flexible layout and typesetting. It can also create animated and interactive PDF presentations and forms. Example uses include writing small newspapers, brochures, newsletters, posters and books.

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Any technology distinguishable from magic is not sufficiently advanced. [Gregory Benford]