Internet use keeps climbing, with video being the big driver in recent years. Google’s YouTube, which started up in 2005, already accounts for about 10 percent of Internet traffic. What does that mean for internet service providers?

Internet service providers have been serving us an “all-you-can-eat” internet service for years. That has worked great, because they have had more bandwidth than they knew what to do with and we have enjoyed the simplicity of a flat price and our pick of each of the packages they provide us. However, every year, our demands grow, some of us really taking advantages of our unlimited freedom. However, just like most things, there comes a time when something depletes. But can the internet really run out?

If you have not noticed, many service providers are starting to limit internet usage; controlling the traffic. In addition to that, some providers are limiting downloads for individuals per month. Two of the culprits are Time Warner and Comcast who are placing bandwidth caps and limiting file sharing practices for their subscribers. Rob Malan states, “One greedy person on that network knocks the whole neighborhood offline.” That makes since, but should someone suffer because of one person? If we look at similar situations, the answer is, unfortunately, yes.

Cable companies have started implementing new ideas for increasing capacity, but it is only a matter of time before us consumers take advantage of the increase. We get more freeway, we use more freeway, right? Cable companies can devote additional channels to data, or they can “split the node” to reduce the number of households on each cable. A new modem technology called Docsis 3.0 that is starting to roll out this year can increase download capacity on a cable to 160 mbps. However, this is costly and time consuming, costing billions to upgrade, and at least 3 years to do so.

Phone companies have great advantages because unlike cable companies, which share usage amongst its subscribers, phone companies operate digital subscriber lines that are not shared. Not to mention, phone companies can upgrade for little cost and time.

It is unfortunate that cable and phone companies have sold more bandwidth they can provide for everyone, but for us “greedy” consumers, it is one way we are currently able to afford internet. By oversubscribing, phone and cable companies are able to provide a network and affordable internet for us all. Internet is something that practically everyone uses, and we take advantage of the freedom that we have, but what will happen in the future. Internet usage is not decreasing; it is increasing at a phenomenal rate.

So, can the internet really run out? NO, but be prepared for some solutions to keep that from happening. Internet usage will keep increasing, service providers will keep growing to compensate, and we will always be connected.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a3l7UWY5gA[/youtube]

I have always been interested in Science. It is a wonderful topic and very important in the way you look at many things. Philip Bourne, professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of California San Diego, wondered how science was left behind. In his hopes to brings science back a bit closer to the cutting edge by combining user-generated video content with tagging and communities he has created a wonderful educational tool – SciVee.

In the constantly evolving and changing world of science, simple and swift access to information is key. In addition to Phillip Bourne, a group of scientists who felt that scientific distribution was in need of a transition from text to multimedia have collaborated and produced SciVee, an online social network where members of the scientific community can join forces to generate and revise articles, create personal profiles, and publish their work online.

“SciVee is about the free and widespread dissemination and comprehension of science.
SciVee, created for scientists, by scientists, moves science beyond the printed word and Lecture Theater taking advantage of the internet as a communication medium where scientists’ young and old have a place and a voice.”

You can also view a video of Phillip Bourne who gives an overview of the SciVee project.

The site revolves around the site’s upload feature, which lets all users post their articles and attach them with a video to create a “SciVee.” Others, modified as necessary, and then posted publicly to the network, can then review these “SciVee” videos.

Like most video-sharing sites these days, the entire operation revolves around a Flash player that provides instant gratification. What is interesting here is that SciVee breaks it down into two categories: one for standalone videos and another for what it calls a “pubcast” which lets you link up the video to a related research paper. Viewers can watch the video in the left hand corner of the screen while the paper scrolls to match what topic the narrator is talking about. There is also a simple table of contents on the left, which lets you jump to the video and text portion at the same time. It somewhat reminds me of my Spanish class videos in which words matched with videos and vice versa.

I think pubcast is a neat way to present a scientific concept, and offers users a chance to read, or watch science with some useful resources. I am a frequent visitor to a site called ScienceDaily and they feature videos, but not as educational as SciVee if that makes since.

With several partnerships with many prolific organizations including the National Science Foundation, SciVee is quite a success in its current beta stage and I feel it is a winner, as not only an educational tool, but also a magnificent way for scientist to learn from each other and transform text to media, which is what users want these days.

MC Hammer, Geoffrey Arone and Anthony Young of Flock have launched a new video website specifically aimed at allowing viewers to share videos of themselves dancing. What is it called?

DanceJam. If you search for dancing videos on YouTube, you will see that there are  thousands of videos of people getting down. One of them is the popular comedian getting down to a variety of songs. Hammer, Arone and Young are looking into funneling some of that user energy into their site, DanceJam.

You just are not just dancing to entertain millions of people. Users will vote, and if you win, you will get prizes. What kind of prizes, I am not sure, but that is not bad at all.

“There will be many iFlip video camera winners. Upload a video of yourself doing your favorite dance. When we launch, users will vote, and the best dancers will get prizes and a shot at fame! So go ahead and start uploading videos.”

So will they be able to stay afloat in this growing digital media online world? I think so. They have already raised 1 million dollars in hopes of being the one stop place for your hippest dance routines. I’m not a dancer, so you won’t see my videos showing up on the site. Check it out. Watching people dance is a fun thing to do and I look forward to the site opening to the public.