endellion.me.uk IPv6
The earliest overlords of Tinternets had three and twenty computers between them, and therefore thought they had been quite generous allocating a possible 16 million computers on 256 networks. This would surely be adequate for at least a thousand years. Then came the drive towards One Laptop Per Child, and suddenly there is the prospect of the great IP number drought.
When this happens, a computer will come on to Tinternets and be given a number that had already been given to another computer, because there wasn't a fresh number available anymore. This duplication of Internets Numbers will confuse Tinternets, and consequently freeze all data streams. Tinternets will grind to a halt.
The End is Nigh
Gloom-mongers of the IP number drought have variously predicted the end of Tinternets to occur at regular intervals from the beginning of the last decade of the last century. The fact that twenty years on, the 'Nets are still churning away is no indicator of future success. Soon there will be Five Laptops Per Child, and that will necessitate the introduction of a new numbering system
The new Computer Numbers are called IPv6 and were invented many years ago. They are huge, cumbersome, unwieldy and unmemorizable and have therefore not really been used on Tinternets yet. But needs must.
New beginnings
At the moment the most likely home network setup involves several computers connected to a modem/router, all sharing the same IP (version 4) address in Tinternets. With IP version 6, this will no longer be needed. Each device will have its own IP. There are 2128sup> (about 3.4×1038) possible addresses (source: Wikipedia) so every vacuum cleaner can soon be ordering in new bags before the old ones are finished.
Very soon even your refrigeration units will want to go online to gather weather reports so as to facilitate longitudinal energy consumption forecasts. You won't be able to live without your PDA getting in touch with your sound system on the way home from work, telling it to turn up the heating and close the curtains (cross-referencing the seasons first, obviously, but it is winter as I write this). Your PDA will have its own IP v6 address, as well as your doorbell, and your child's seven laptops.
What's even better is the format of the number. Whereas you might have been able to remember your router's IP address of 192.168.0.1, you're unlikely to even want to memorize something like 2001:5c0:1000:b::243/128.
Opportunity knocks
From the IP drought we will step into the IP deluge. Currently the fact that all your home computers are hiding behind a router gives a modicum of protection against hackers and crackers. Under IPv6 every device will be on Tinternets "in the Nude". A little bit like back in the days of Windows 2000 when your shares were accessible from the other side of the world. Every coffee machine and webcam is going to need its own firewall, but nobody is going to install them. This is going to be hacker heaven. The prospect of storing dozens of terabytes of illegal warez on the hard drive in your alarm clock has him drooling so much, he is actually connecting all his Three Laptops Per Child up to Tinternets simultaneously in order to make the IP v4 Numbers run out sooner.
Apple always gives the Most Satisfaction
As with all innovation, Mac owners were the quickest to adopt the new Tinternet numbers. Apparently 52% of IPv6 users have a Mac. This corresponds with the image of the Mac user as a radical, fresh, hip, hot, uninhibited, modern, swish, with-it, young, able, all-singing, all-dancing, smug cunt who hasn't got the foggiest idea what his/her computer is actually doing. Basically the dicks are unable to switch it off, despite 20,000 tutorials on YouTube.
Why Bother?
The Pros and Cons of old and new Tinternet numbers.
| IPv4 | IPv6 |
| Numbers are about to run out | There are enough numbers for all the toasters in the world |
| Numbers are almost memorizable | Numbers are incomprehensible |
| IPv4 routers give basic hardware firewall protection through Network Address Translation. | Individual Tinternets access will allow every possible vulnerability in every possible device to be probed and exploited by the malicious. This would be a dream come true for firewall developers, if only consumers understood the risks and were willing to pay. |
| The Interwebs have sites for you to visit | The IPv6 Interwebs have nothing of note. |
|
Apart from the Dancing Turtle of course. Unless you're one of the übercøøl Mac users, you'll never get to see this delightful turtle, so here is a sneak view: Poor thing looks a little lonely though. Here is the IPv4 turtle for company. |
| This numbering system is being actively used | This numbering sytem seems to be dying some sort of death |
Most of the lists of IPv6-enabled websites are out of date: their links don't go anywhere. Here is a current list of IPv6 webistes.
Google. ipv6.google.com. Excitingly enough, this looks identical to the "normal" google. There's a major difference, though, in that it doesn't redirect to google in your own country.
The Olympics in China in 2008 were "run entirely on IPv6" and had a website to match. http://ipv6.beijing2008.cn/ I don't care a fig about sports though, and besides, it's finished now.
There are some "What is my IP" sites. This is about as exciting as this IPv6 tinternets gets.
http://www.whatismyipv6.net/ and http://whatismyv6.com/ as well as http://www.runningipv6.net/what-is-my-ipv6-address.php and not to forget http://whatismyipaddress.com/staticpages/index.php/what-is-IPv6
Erm, that's it.
Will they sneak it up on you?
Most of the changes occuring to your connection to Tinternets happen without you noticing it, or perhaps you get an email from your ISP saying tinternets will be off in the night or something. They never tell you what they're doing, and quite frankly, you don't care. The IPv6 can't be snuck into your home in the same way, though. It is going to need your cooperation in some way or other. For a start, the equipment you have is not compatible. Even though your Vista has IPv6 enabled by default, you will only get to use it if your ISP uses it, and most don't yet. So you need a tunnel of sorts, which takes effort. Unless you're one of the übercool Apple Airport owners, in which case you have it all enabled by default.
Time to go, have a couple of ssh sessions with some unwitting fanboyz to get back to...