2019 was the best year in human history. It’s all downhill from here. That’s the claim made in a fascinating book I’m reading, called The End of the World is Just the Beginning by Peter Zeihan. The book is long and complex, but I will recklessly attempt to summarize the ideas from the book in… Continue Reading
Articles
Why maintenance windows are important – as shown by a very wet plumber
I recently came across this video on Youtube which shows a plumber try to replace a water pipe in an apartment without turning off the water. The video lasts 14 minutes. That’s 14 minutes of high-pressure hot water spraying everywhere. The plumber ends up drenched, probably with some minor burns, and the apartment (and the… Continue Reading
Cyclomatic Complexity for voice networks
Who here knows what McCabe Cyclomatic Complexity is? Anyone? <silence> It’s a term from computer science that defines the complexity of a computer program. I have a degree in computer science (kinda*), and I’ve never heard of this term – so don’t feel bad if you are not familiar with it. At Award Consulting we… Continue Reading
How to move an 11,000 ton central office building – without interrupting service
I recently came across the video below, which shows how Indiana Bell physically moved their 8-storey, 11,000 ton central office building, while still providing access to employees and customers, and without any interruptions to phone service. I’m tempted to say something about how modern technology is amazing, except that this happened in 1929! You can… Continue Reading
Formula 1 Crashes – and layers of protection
As a kid growing up in England, I used to watch the Formula 1 Grand Prix races on Sunday afternoons. My Dad and I were TV-buddies, sitting enthralled as the drivers raced at over 200 miles per hour, on twisting, winding tracks in exotic cities across the world. When I moved to the US, I… Continue Reading
Huge growth in robocalls signed with SHAKEN certificates
In June this year, 37% of calls signed with B-level attestation were robocalls, while only 7% of unsigned calls were robocalls. In other words, if you see a call that has been signed with a STIR/SHAKEN B-level attestation, that means it’s more likely to be a robocall. That isn’t how things were supposed to work…. Continue Reading