What's after zettabyte?

Cisco is predicting that global net traffic will be over 1 zettabyte in 2016 according  to this PCWorld article. That's a new word for me, that's the first time I've seen the word zettabyte. From a quick search in Wikipedia, zettabyte is a 1 with 21 zeros after it...

So getting your head around that is a pretty daunting task, and the news article makes many comparisons to help the reader cope.

But what is next? Is there a number after that? Have enough people gotten their minds around that number to think of the next one? The whole beginning a word with a "z" in the English alphabet does suggest it's the last of its kind.

The result from searching in Wikipedia is yes, there is one more: yottabyte a 1 with 24 zeros after it. But that's the end of the list... for now.

Of course, that's a word beginning with "y" coming after a word beginning with "z", so are we going backwards now? Will there be that many more really big numbers coming? The news article does go to some great lengths trying to help the reader get their head around the number zettabyte, I'm sure when we get to yottabyte there will be more efforts made to understand the enormity being described... but is the thought of going backwards for 26 letters of the alphabet just too much? Is this just a bit too stressful?

Well, relax, the list of numbers is not in alphabetical order. There is no pressure to go to the next letter up. The order of the one list does not dictate the order of the other list. Whew. So you can relax and just work on getting your head around a 1 with 21 zeros after it... does that make it easier?

And what else can you do with handcuffs?

I reported a while back that I saw an interesting use for handcuffs... motorcycle police use them to handcuff their helmets to their motorcycles when they go on walkabout.

One of the people who was organizing the running clinics that my spouse was leading earlier this year is a bicycle cop... so I had to ask... and yes! they also have an inventive use for handcuffs... they use them to lock up their bikes when they go on walkabout!

So if you see a bicycle that seems to be nicked, under arrest, handcuffed so it doesn't flee... it is probably the bike of a bicycle cop!

Now, we also have police on horses around here - they patrol the paths inside Stanley Park... what do They do with the handcuffs? Hmmm?

Do you have your towel?

Really a question for yesterday, it was Towel Day - May 25, a day to celebrate the life of Douglas Adams. There were events all over the world - see the Towel Day organization website for a list of what was happening where (the one in Greece with home made Pan-Galactic Gargle Blasters sounded like fun).

So did I make a special effort to bring a towel with me? No. Actually I didn't have to... I always carry around a towel... and I didn't realize I was doing it until I thought about it yesterday!

I use a power wheelchair to get around outside, and I have a backpack that always hangs on it. So I always have a coffee mug (yes, I live in Vancouver), a dog-mit to clean my wheels before I go inside (yes, it is fun to see people's reactions when I get Out of the chair to clean my wheels... I can still walk a little, and I don't like the dirt inside my home!), and... a towel. Using a public washroom with air dryers for the hands is a bit annoying when I have to get the chair wet to get it over to the air dryers on the walls to dry my hands... so I always have my wonderful towel.


I would never want to go anywhere without my wonderful towel... these words of wisdom are as true for me as they were for Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent. It's awesome when life imitates art.

Do paper cuts swarm?

It's the one that cuts deep and bleeds that hurts enough for you to notice it... but have you ever noticed that when you look at the one paper cut that hurts, you will always find more paper cuts? And then those paper cuts hurt too!

It's like I've put my hand in a mouth with sharp bits of paper for teeth.

I don't remember getting the ones that didn't hurt enough to notice... but there are many of them.

I don't often get paper cuts... but when I do there are many of them.

So, do paper cuts swarm? Are they a force of nature like a swam of locusts? Not seen too much, but huge when they do happen.

It's not the middle of the winter, when skin is dry and needs a lot of moisturizer to stay comfortable, so it's not just dry skin.

It's probably not from aliens... I do remember how the one that hurt happened: magazine, not aliens.

Maybe it was a swirly, windy, tiny storm of paper dust that swarmed over my hand and then disappeared. I think that must have been it. Just like the little swirly, windy storms that leave crop circles.

... Or maybe it was aliens.