[Year 12 IT Apps] Transmission speeds

[Mark]

Hi, holiday-anticipators.

While researching network communication speeds (for a children's book I'm
writing) I discovered a fascinating nugget of knowledge.

In 2012 a record speed was set for bandwidth over a twelve-fibre optic
cable: 1.05 Petabits per second over 52 km.

My arithmetic has never been great, but I calculated that it equates to
122,245 high definition movies (1GB each) per second. One second's
transmission over that cable would take about 14 years nonstop viewing to
watch.

This compares to CAT6 cable's 1Gbps, which equates to about 190 copies of
"To Kill A Mockingbird" per second.

I've written to the IEEE proposing the Mockingbird as a new unit of
bandwidth. I have not heard back from them yet, but I'm quietly hopeful.

BTW, did you know Harper Lee is publishing the sequel to TKAM this year? "Go
Set A Watchman
<http://www.amazon.com/Go-Set-Watchman-Harper-Lee/dp/0062409859/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426470123&sr=8-1&keywords=go+set+a+watchman>"
is due for release in 4 months.

-- 

*"Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and
he'll be warm for the rest of his life." - Terry Pratchett*

Mark Kelly
mark AT vceit DOT com
http://vceit.com
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