Internet2 in Austin

Last night I attended a technical demonstration in Austin at the University of Texas. Certain universities and military research centers (sigh) are involved in developing the protocol for the next generation of internet standards. It's called Internet2. The bandwidth and speed is amazing (geek talk alert:): Last night's conference demo took place in two adjacent concert halls. In the first, the Miro string quartet played live. In the adjoining hall, the performance was viewed in real time on 4 high definition video screens and in 10.2 surround sound. You already know what realtime video looks like now on the internet. This was very cool.

The sound and imagery was fast and stable. The implications for this tech is all over the place, but imagine your TV and internet service being combined--browsing and watching TV, going to class, downloading new CD's and movies (legally) work, watching the kids, all in realtime with no glitches. I'm sure our culture will find a way to use this and make lots of money off of it.

I met some very 'out there' folk last night. A good time was had by all.

Unfortunately no pictures.

I stayed with Sarah Sharp and listened to two new songs that really take her songwriting to a new level. I want to record them as soon as possible.