Survey says that majority of upstream Internet traffic is P2P

61% Of All Upstream Traffic Is P2P [Broadband Reports]

Sandvine, the company that manufactures network management equipment and software, has released a survey detailing Internet usage in the U.S. The key finding in the survey is that 61% of all upstream traffic on the Internet is peer-to-peer file trading. P2P applications compose 22% of all downstream traffic on the Internet.

“Bulk bandwidth applications like P2P are on all day, everyday and are unaffected by changes to network utilization,” said Mr. Caputo [of Sandvine].  “This reinforces the importance of protecting real-time applications that are sensitive to jitter and latency during times of peak usage.  Effective network traffic optimization techniques use sophisticated policies that balance network capacity, application requirements and subscriber quality of experience in real-time.”

You've heard from me on this subject on numerous occasions.  Unfortunately, the 61% of traffic is generated by a much smaller percentage of users. Without responsible network management 61% would be more like 80% and would degrade the quality of the Internet experience for all users on the network, including P2P users.

Sandvine's survey has some other interesting facts about things like YouTube and gaming console traffic on the Internet that I found interesting. Both applications are currently experiencing significant growth in terms of their overall percentage of Internet traffic.

Local Vets Give Insight To Students [KYPost.com]

I spotted this article at KYPost.com in Northern Kentucky. I want to thank these outstanding Insight employees for their service to our country and their willingness to share their experiences with students at Newport High School.

Three Insight Communications employees, who are all veterans, visited Newport High School Wednesday, to discuss their experiences in the military as part of Take a Vet to School Day, a program co-sponsored by Insight and The History Channel.

• United States Army veteran Rob Mize, speaking about his experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan.

• United States Army veteran J.P. Smith, speaking about his 23 years of service, including time served in Germany.

• United States Army veteran Michael James Shebelske, speaking about his experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Kill Switch in Android Phones [Sherman's Security Blog]

Are you interesting in purchasing the new G1 mobile phone with Google's Android operating system? According to Sherman, Google has installed a "kill switch" in Android that will delete "wayward third-party applications." That means if you have a phone powered by Android, Google can tell your phone to delete an application that you've installed. Google says that they'll only use the kill switch to delete applications that are misbehaving.

Apple's iPhone also has its own kill switch, and they've already used it some applications. What do you think of the idea that your cell phone manufacturer can simply erase a program from your phone without your intervention? Is it a good security feature or an intrusion on your privacy?

A New (Fighter) Jet for Google’s Founders? [NYT Bits Blog]

The New York Times reports that Google has started its own air force. A company associated with Google's top executives has recently acquired a Dornier Alpha Jet, a light jet attack and advanced trainer aircraft. Google added the fighter jet to its inventory of Boeing 757, 767 and two Gulfstream V's. 

According to the NYT, the Google Jet is leased to NASA for support of a recent science mission.

<scratching my head trying to figure this one out>