The Problem

A website address like gigaom.com is actually an easy-to-remember alias or nickname for a numeric address like 74.200.247.61. (GigaOM actually has several, to deal with the traffic that the website receives.) These addresses can be in the range 0.0.0.0 to 255.255.255.255. Because some of the possible numbers are reserved, there are theoretically somewhat over 4 billion internet addresses available under this system, which is known as IPv4.

Unfortunately, it’s been known for some time that we’re running out of IPv4 addresses. By some measures, only 2 percent of the available addresses remain, and they will be exhausted in mid-February, in just over a month.

So the internet will need to move to IPv6 addresses, which will give us a bunch more possibilities: 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 of them, in fact. There’s some great information available if you want details.

Getting Ready

A lot of the infrastructure of the internet will need to be updated in order to support IPv6, but very little of it has yet been deployed. It won’t be possible to make the transition to “native IPv6″ in the time available. Therefore, a number of short-term fixes are in the works, but the FCC, in a recent paper [PDF], calls them “kludges.”

The short term solutions are necessary because there is not enough time to completely migrate the entire public Internet to “native IPv6″ where end users can communicate entirely via IPv6….These kludges include more efficient use of the IPv4 address resource, conservation, and the sharing of IPv4  addresses through the use of Network Address Translation (NAT).  While these provide partial mitigation for IPv4 exhaustion, they are not a long-term solution, increase network costs, and merely postpone some of the consequences of address exhaustion without solving the underlying problem.

Most users won’t see any immediate effects when the IPv4 addresses run out. But large site operators, like Google, Facebook, and Yahoo, will be affected, so they have agreed to test their readiness for IPv6, or at least the short-term solutions being worked on today, on June 8. In the long term, major infrastructure upgrades will be needed. As the FCC paper says:

[T]he short-term solutions are problematic. The “solution to the solution” is to complete the transition to a native IPv6 network. A native IPv6 network will restore end-to-end connectivity with a vastly expanded address space, will improve network performance, and should decrease costs. Completing the transition of the public Internet to IPv6 will take time.

As for the rest of us, we probably won’t need to do anything in the near future. It will be up to our internet service providers to make the necessary changes to their systems. A few people may need to reconfigure routers and VPNs, and web hosts will need to add some new DNS records.

If you’re interested, you can test your connection here. But don’t worry if you get results like this one.

It just means that your ISP hasn’t assigned you an IPv6 address yet, which will be true for almost everyone.

By the way, Google and Facebook will still be available via the current IPv4 system on and after June 8. So don’t panic. You’ll probably hear from your ISP in coming months, but it’s unlikely that you’ll lose service.

How are you and your colleagues preparing for IPv6?

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Brighthouse is the major cable and high-speed Internet provider for most of Central Florida. In the area where I live, they are actually the only high-speed provider. Web workers, of course, usually need the fastest and best quality connection we can get.

About a week before Christmas, I started noticing trouble connecting to several sites. I blamed the DNS errors on vacation traffic clogging the sites. But by Christmas Eve the issue had spread to almost all the sites I used, making my Internet connection virtually unusable. Extensive troubleshooting determined the problem was outside the house on the cable connection.

I decided to wait until after the holiday weekend to complain. But over the weekend I began seeing reports on Twitter from people I knew in the area experiencing the same problem. They did call — and the customer service people wouldn’t believe or admit that the company had a service problem.

Customer service reps told complaining customers that the problem was their personal router was broken. The offered solution was to plug directly into the cable modem to bypass the router. This was despite the fact that many of the callers were computer professionals who assured the reps that they had done extensive troubleshooting before calling to complain and they knew that the trouble was outside their homes (and some even knew roughly where it was through tracing packet loss). They got nowhere.

This situation highlighted something that can cause frustration for web workers. We are in the top echelon of computer users. We push things to their technical limits. We know ten times more than the typical user that the technical support script is written to help. We frequently know more than the “support” person on the other end of the phone. But convincing them of that can be difficult. How do we manage that?

In this case, the solution to being told there was no service problem was to prove that everyone had a problem. So the affected customers organized ourselves using social media. We started sharing info via Twitter so that we could tell customer service that it wasn’t just an isolated problem because we knew other of their customers that had the same problem. Using this information, some people were able to get customer service to acknowledge there might be an issue.

The biggest help, however, was when the media started reporting the problem. A local TV station and the Orlando Sentinel both picked up the story. Within only a couple hours, the problem that supposedly didn’t even exist was magically solved, after having dragged on for at least a week.

The lesson I came away with was that fighting as a group is more powerful than going it alone — and even better is having a reporter or two in that group.

After my Internet was back to normal, I realized that besides learning a valuable lesson about how to fight back as a consumer against a recalcitrant utility, the experience had also exposed a major flaw in my business emergency plan.

My “Internet outage” emergency plan has always called for going to family members’ homes, the library, Starbucks or McDonald’s to work. With Brighthouse being the only high-speed Internet provider in this area, all of those locations are likely customers of Brighthouse also and thus in a situation like this would have been as useless as my home service. I am going to have to do some research into alternative options in case of another emergency that renders the cable company’s service inoperable area-wide.

As a web worker, my Internet provider has me over a barrel. I am dependent on them and since they are effectively a monopoly, I have very little leverage with them. This weekend, I got a taste of how that can affect more than just my bill.

Does it worry you to be so dependent on your Internet provider?

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Not often, but it happens. Sometimes I get so intimidated by work that I end up procrastinating online. I started my workday at 6 a.m. last Monday hoping to get the week off to a good start, but I found myself reading a Wikipedia entry on the many versions of “Blade Runner” three hours later.

While these incidents are few and far between, I’d rather avoid them altogether. Every time I catch myself returning to bad habits, I take the following steps to get right back on the wagon:

Step One: Identify where your attention goes. The best way to identify time sucks is to track what you do with your time. For many people, there’s a gap between what they think are their time wasters and what their actual time wasters are. Having accurate data on your hands bridges this gap and gives you the facts.

We’ve covered several applications that do this, but there’s nothing wrong with auditing your time using pen and paper. The disadvantage to this analog approach, though, is that you might not remember to do it the entire day. It might be helpful to keep the pen and writing pad always in plain sight.

Step Two: Block them. While there are paid apps you can download to make site-blocking easier, I prefer free methods because you spend less time worrying about the pros and cons of each app. It’s better to just install the first free option you can find and see if it works for you. After all, you just need something that blocks URLs. It doesn’t have to be feature-rich.

If you’re often using Firefox, you can automatically block certain domains using add-ons such as Leechblock and Invisibility Cloak. For advanced users, there’s also a manual way to do this.

But what if your time suck isn’t a web site? It could be a game or an instant-messaging app. If it’s something you can live without, take the plunge and uninstall it. Alternatively, you can remove easily accessible shortcuts to the program, blocking impulsive access.

Step Three: Know why you’re doing this. For any of this to work, you need to know why you’re taking such drastic measures to eliminate time sucks. This will be your primary motivation. Are you trimming your schedule so you can spend more time with your family? Or do you want to use it to work on personal projects?

Also, apart from simply knowing the reason, you need to have a visible reminder. I like to keep a sticky note near my monitor. On the note is an arrow pointing to the screen, with the words “Is this really what you want to be doing right now?”, which is based on an undistraction created by Merlin Mann.

Step Four: Set goals. It’s hard to quit aimless Internet surfing all at once, so start with modest goals to avoid feeling frustrated. I started with a goal of spending one work hour each day avoiding Internet fiddling. After I found this acceptable and easy, I raised the bar a bit and went on two hours. Whatever your goals are, write them down to get your commitment on paper.

It also helps to schedule these blocks during times when you’re performing high-attention tasks such as writing, rather than low-attention tasks like checking email or scheduling your week. This gives you a better chance of focusing on the task at hand rather than letting your attention drift.

Step Five: Reward yourself. You should have something to look forward to after you’ve reached a milestone or goal. This can be a special home cooked meal, an extra hour of sleep, or going out with friends. As for me, I prefer to keep things simple. Spending more time working on my fiction and comics is enough.

Once you’ve taken control of your compulsive web fiddling, it doesn’t mean that the process is over and you’re completely cured. As I mentioned earlier, it’s easy to fall back on bad habits, particularly if you’re scared or if you lack the motivation to do the things you have to do.

Do you find yourself compulsively surfing the web no matter how productive you usually are? What do you do to avoid it?

Image by ugaldew from sxc.hu

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However, after the initial adjustment, I found that I was actually more productive when I wasn’t connected to the Internet. This happens every time my connection goes out, which is more often than I’d like. If this is the case, maybe I should consciously disconnect myself from time to time? Especially since many other bloggers have recommended it.

Why Disconnect?

One observable benefit of disconnecting from the Internet for a time is that it allows you to better rank tasks according to importance, and even drop tasks that aren’t necessary after all. Many online workers might be able to work like this all the time, but I’m not one of them. Luckily, one hour without Internet access seems to help.

Limiting my time on the web also seems to help prevent me from taking too much time with random surfing. Additionally, if I complement Internet-free time with computer-free time and use pen and paper instead, it’s much easier on the eyes.

Time-based Zones

One way to do routine disconnection is by specifying a block of time without Internet access. I’ve decided to disconnect from the Internet for one hour each workday. I’ve set this hour at 1:00 pm, after I’ve eaten my lunch. This allows me to take a nap for half an hour and then use the remaining time to brainstorm using a paper and a pen, so that I’ll be ready when I get back to writing.

You could also schedule an no-Internet day each week. For me, this is harder to implement simply because I always need to look up something, whether it’s a recipe for chicken enchiladas or a map to a place with which I’m not familiar. Still, I prefer to use the Internet less during weekends, unless I’m scheduled to work on a project.

Here are some alternative ways to schedule Internet-free time:

• 10-15 minutes in between timeboxing tasks (usually in 15-30 minute blocks of non-stop work);
• An hour or more before going to bed, which you can spend on relaxing tasks such as reading a book, talking to your family, or writing letters; or
• A half-day in the middle of the week to check how far along you are with your weekly goals or to take a break from hectic projects.

Location-based Zones

It’s also useful to have physical zones where you shouldn’t be online. For me, this includes the dining table and the bedroom. When I’m sitting in front of the dining table, the only thing I should be doing is eating and talking to my partner. In my house, meals are meant to be quality time spent with the family. Doing work tasks during meals — no matter how urgent they may seem — tends to get in the way of that. As for the bedroom, I find that I sleep much better if I don’t access my email or do random browsing directly before I go to bed.

If you’re going to implement these Internet-free zones in your work, remember that you should always do what works for you. While some readers out there are probably less prone to impulsive web surfing, those who find the need for more drastic measures should consider disconnecting. Disconnecting from the Internet from time to time could allow you to connect with new processes and ideas that you wouldn’t have come across online.

Do you decrease or restrict your Internet access to improve productivity? Does it work for you?

Image by abeall from sxc.hu

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It’s always worth taking a network cable if you’re staying in an unfamiliar hotel because it might have expensive Wi-Fi, poor Wi-Fi reception in your room, or no Wi-Fi at all. This cable took a little room in my bag, but I’m very glad I packed it.

Share your travel tips in the comments.

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So how have these connectivity challenges and unexpected expenses affected my web work? And how am I compensating for these…developments?

1. Images

There is no way around uploading and downloading images. With all of the blogging I do, images are key to my work, and although I could link to images using a URL instead of embedding them, it is less reliable so I’ll stick with uploading. Luckily, for the most part, the image sizes aren’t over a MB each, however, when they are, I find that it is too much effort to size them so upload them anyway.

When it comes to images, they are the lowest on the totem pole of bandwidth chompers, so I’m not changing much in this area. If I’m down to my last MBs of bandwidth allowance before the end of any month, I may suck it up and start sizing images although the benefits will be minimal.

Verdict? Not giving up the pics.

2. Audio

I’ve been podcasting professionally and have to upload or email an MP3 regularly to my producer. I also need to upload my own podcasts to LibSyn although I’ve been a bit remiss with that lately since it is usually about Second Life (see “Second Life” header below). The pro-podcasting show MP3 is between 5-6 MB per segment.

Was able to email the files the other day which is a plus. Must do this 1-2 times weekly. So that is 4-8 files or up to 48 MB per month.

Verdict? Got to do audio.

3. Video

The first week I arrived here, a DVD also arrived for me. It contained a 330 MB television commercial for a client. My charge was to use mDialog’s mLoader to compress it and upload it onto mDialog, then convert the compressed file using QuickTime into a .mov file and upload to YouTube.

mDialog’s uploading app is slick, and it was doing a great job compressing the video, but alas, the file was still too large for my connection. Maybe I could have waited a few hours, however, I was also worried about frittering away so much of my bandwidth allowance on a single file.

When it comes to my own blogs, video is something I don’t want to give up. I may have to suck it up and pay an extra $30 for a Gig overage just to keep my personal videos on my blogs. Yet I must be careful to limit myself to just a Gig over per month or my monthly Internet expenses will get out of control.

Verdict? Farm out heavy video uploads to my contractors in more bandwidth-rich places. Suck up any extra expense for uploading my own videos.

4. Video and Audio Skype

Besides video chatting with my folks who are in Florida, I am video chatting and audio Skype-ing with colleagues. And recently, I attended a Tweetup in Anchorage via video Skype.

At first, I wasn’t even sure if I would be able to get clear audio, much less video. But other than the very occasional buggy sound or picture, my overall Skype experience from rural places has been pretty impressive.

Verdict? Skype rules for rural connectivity!

5. Second Life

Ever since I heard I was moving to Tok, I began researching to see what Internet access solutions would be available to me, I’ve panicked about my Second Life activities. Would I have to give them up? I shuddered to think, especially when my Second Life Web-based machinima TV show – REAL BIZ in SL – was starting to take off. In fact, we had the entire month of January booked in advance with guests from around the world (companies and nonprofits using Second Life).

I finally had my show manager push back all the guests until February when I knew (or hoped) I’d be in Anchorage rather than risk getting to Tok and finding out my avatar wouldn’t budge.

The other day, I finally tried to log into Second Life, expecting it to be a futile effort. I got in. I was also able to get onto Skype audio at the same time.

I made a note before logging in of my bandwidth usage to see what I was in for. Turns out a little over half an hour on Second Life with Skype is almost comparable to several hours on video Skype. Each ate up about half a Gig. If I limit my video Skyping or Second Lifing to 2x a month, that means 1-2 Gigs of my 10 Gig allottment gone.

Verdict? Be strategic and frugal, definitely not bandwidth happy, but don’t totally give up Second Life.

6. Bandwidth Paranoia

Every time I get a particularly large file attached to an email now, I look at it with a sinking feeling. “How much is that going to cost me?” is the first thing that runs through my head. And “Do I really need that file?” follows shortly after. I have to admit I’ve stopped downloading funny photos and videos from friends already.

For business, I respond to anyone sending me something that seems large and ask them to send it my my assistant or a colleague for viewing, vetting, optimizing, sizing or distributing in any way. I’m preparing everyone on my team with their new role as “Large File Handler” as needed.

Verdict? Paranoia will save me money.

Once I get my next bill, I’ll know if I have to be even more stringent with my big file policies and processes. When I saw my first DSL bill at $258, I almost choked. That was the last month of December along with the entire month of January paid in advance.

I’m just a high-speed gal in a slow-speed world. You just do what you gotta do.

What are you paying for connectivity? And could you still do your job without it?

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A little about me: Last spring I left a fulltime position as a reporter, columnist and blogger for The Philadelphia Inquirer and joined your world as a home-based freelance writer — doing the same amount of work for half the money! I continue to write a Philly-focused column and blog for the newspaper. What I’ll offer for WWD readers will be more wide ranging, talking about ways to work efficiently wherever and whenever you’re traveling, along with throwing out ideas for stretching your travel budget to the max.

My first topic is a basic for the business traveler whose working life depends on web access, and is one that many of you probably have some experience with.

How do you avoid surprises when you check into a hotel, find your room and fire up the laptop to check e-mail or do other work online?

The great majority of hotels of all brands, sizes and comfort levels, both domestic and foreign, have high-speed Internet access these days. Many chains promote it in their advertising, and most of the time it’s “free,” which really means it’s included in the room rate.

But as strange as it may seem, the more luxurious and expensive your hotel is, the more likely it is you will have to pay extra for access. The fee is usually no more than $10 a day, perhaps not a big deal if you, your employer or client has shelled out $150 to $300 for the room. But we’re talking here about some really nice places, including Ritz-Carltons, Four Seasons and full-service, four-star Hiltons, Marriotts and Sheratons, virtually all of which have the annoying policy of adding on the fee.

Exceptions do abound: Often the fee can be included in negotiated corporate room rates or will be waived if you’re fairly high-ranking member of a hotel’s frequent-guest program.

I’ve always avoided the Internet access fee by, usually of necessity because of budget constraints, by staying in three-star or occasionally two-star hotels.  I use Hampton Inn a lot because, first, I know I’m not going to pay the fee, and I also know what else I’m going to get. Every room in the chain, a Hilton division, has a good-sized work desk and comfortable desk chair, and a nifty tray designed specifically to let you work on a laptop while reclining in bed or the lounge chair.

But I’m not just endorsing one brand. Most of the other mid-priced divisions of the hotel chains don’t charge the fee and have made strides in recent years in making it easier to work in your room, with decent desks and chairs. Most Choice Hotels, which run the Comfort Inn and Quality brands, lower-priced Marriotts, including Fairfield Inn and Garden Inns, and all Best Westerns have no access fee. Even some lower-priced brands are the same, with exceptions like Motel 6.

I have found only two ways to make sure you know in advance whether you’ll be hit with a fee: Look at the “policies” or “services and amenities” page on the individual hotel’s web site to see what the policy is, or call the hotel directly and ask. And that leads me to another topic I’ll provide more advice on soon:

How do you get the lowest room rate? The short answer is often the old-fashioned way: Pick up the phone and haggle.

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The service is launching on nonstop flights between New York and San Francisco, New York and LA, and New York and Miami. Like everything else about air travel, it’s not free – but the $12.95 per flight charge should be easier to swallow than $15 to check another bag.

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