I'm famous! (Or not.)

Okay ... I'm acknowledged! (Well, that is true. Even if it is only on page 116.)

The recent decision by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to migrate from IPv4 to IPv6 in military networks underscores how policy can have a profound effect on network performance and even unintended consequences.

While to some IPv6 holds a promise of "increased security" and "support for wireless applications," these are very arguable points from an engineering perspective and, even if true, need to be seriously weighed against performance in environments with the unique link characteristics of military networks.

In "Internet Protocol Header Compression, Robust Header Compression, and Their Applicability in the Global Information Grid," E. Ertekin et al. show that moving from IPv4 to IPv6 increases the overhead due to packet headers by 50 percent. This will have serious performance impacts on capacity-constrained links, especially tactical radio links that need to keep the payload size small, resulting in a large percentage of the total payload dedicated to the header.

The authors present an excellent summary and comparison of current header compression schemes that can be used to mitigate this problem and present a good overview of the application of these techniques to the global information grid. Specifically, the article examines the use of two compression schemes developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and their applicability for military applications: Internet Protocol Header Compression (IPHC) and Robust Header Compression (ROHC). It is interesting to note that the DoD directive, while intending to standardize on IPv6 supposedly for increased robustness and interoperability, also trades that robustness for decreased link utilization and shifts the point of interoperability to the type of header compression a given system engineer chooses to implement.

Follow the first link ("Network-Centric Military Communications") to read the guest editorial. A subscription is required for access to the full text of the article.

Network-Centric Military Communications | IEEE Communications Magazine

Where are the Jules Vernes, alive today to change our ways?

Ray Bradbury is asking these questions, and more, in the Wall Street Journal. Don't miss the part about Canada!

Are you the madman he's looking for?

Where is the madman who'll take us to Mars?

Excerpts are from Amazon and All Music Guide. Her albums are available on Rhapsody and at ITMS.

The swirl of Egyptian strings, hip-hop beats, love, and politics can make strange bedfellows, but Brussels-born and Washington, DC-based vocalist Natacha Atlas, chanteuse and belly dancer, makes sense of it all.

... full of exuberance, reflection, and yearning that are at once compassionate and militant ... Atlas's serpentine vocals entwine the listener in tales of passion, injustice, and the mysteries of life.

... one of the most intriguing and original artists blending international cultures into a common musical language.

... while singing in Arabic, Hindi, English and French, she draws her musical backing from drum & bass, Parisian vaudeville, R&B, ambient dance, pop, rap and film music, and never once do her sonic movements feel remotely gratuitous.

... snake-hipped, seductive, and sophisticated with a feral emotional core ... the songs swell shaabi style, incorporating trippy beats, guttural cries, sinuous strings, and a disturbing yet undeniable beauty ...

This is music of the cells, the body, and the roaming spirit; yet another way to free the mind and have the flesh follow.

Natacha Atlas

"The wait hasn't killed me yet, but it's getting close."

A colleague of mine rented one this week. It looks quite nice. He said it was definitely turning a lot of heads on the freeways.

Mustang Fever, All Over Again

And it's way, way down inside

From the editorial review at Amazon: "Even listeners who don't share the faith expressed in these songs will have trouble resisting the unflinching intimacy of the performances."

ITMS has the standard 30-second samples. Tracks 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 are the uptempo gospel songs.

'I've Got That Old Time Religion In My Heart' - Iris DeMent, Lifeline

From the All Music Guide:

When Kasey Chambers sings, she manages the not-unremarkable accomplishment of splitting the difference between Emmylou Harris's crystalline purity and Lucinda Williams's rough-hewn emotional honesty, and the most startling thing is you sense she sounded like this before she ever heard of either artist.

Wayward Angel is the work of a strikingly talented singer and songwriter, and it's simply a pleasure to hear Kasey Chambers work -- anyone who doubts that this woman is a major artist needs to hear this album as soon as possible.

East Coast tour dates are coming up Real Soon Now.

Kasey Chambers

I'm gonna learn the best way to walk
I'm gonna search and find a better way to talk
I'm gonna spit and polish my old rough-edged self
Til I get rid of every single flaw
I'm gonna be the World's best friend
I'm gonna go around shaking everybody's hand
Hey, I'm gonna be the cotton-pickin' Rage of the Age
I'm gonna be a diamond some day

If you don't get it, you just don't Get It.

This four-CD box set marking the 100th anniversary of Louis Armstrong's birth contains some of his most groundbreaking, historic works.

Recorded when Armstrong was emerging from the influence of his idol, Joe "King" Oliver, these discs feature the main staples of the Armstrong canon. The jewel of the collection is "West End Blues," with Armstrong's stratospheric, pyramid-structured solo, which ranks as one of the greatest in the history of music. The sessions also mark an important technological breakthrough, with the transition from acoustic to electrical recording.

All in all, this set shows that Louis Armstrong's heroic talents enabled him to become the alpha and omega of 20th century music.

From Rhapsody's Artist Snapshot:

"The Reverend Satchelmouth is the beginning and the end of music in America." So said Bing Crosby, and how right he was, because Armstrong is the single most important figure in twentieth century popular music.

If there's an artist who wasn't directly influenced by his astounding improvisations, and most importantly, his phrasing, then he was influenced by those who were.

Armstrong did more with time, nuance, and personality than whole armies of musicians.

But forget about influencing others -- if his music doesn't fill you with tingles of joy and delight then you just may be dead. And don't fret if you are six feet under; Pops will be serenading you in heaven. For how can there be a heaven without Louis?

Complete Hot Five & Hot Seven Recordings

His tenor and falsetto tell you of the complicated emotions harbored by an acutely perceptive blues musician in the denigratory South; so does his guitar playing, which amazingly often mixes leads with chords. Johnson's thematic lyrics -- further bespeaking his restlessness, fatalism, and defiance -- are stately in their imagery.

The Complete Recordings of Robert Johnson

Most riveting are the numerous traditional numbers, the songs that were clearly closest to the Man in Black's heart. "Banks of the Ohio," "Old Chunk of Coal," "Hard Times," and the entire disc of previously unreleased gospel tunes are powerful statements, tunes where you feel privileged to hear Cash sing one more time, the way he wanted.

Unearthed Johnny Cash