Broadband Article RoundUp: U2 in 3D, $137 Billion in Investment, Musical Experiment, and more...

It's time again for everyone's favorite, the Broadband Article Roundup!

Here are some of the stories I've found interesting over the last week for your reading pleasure:

"U2 3D" Brings Hyperreal Arena Rock to the Multiplex
This story is about a new 3D recreation of a U2 concert that can be seen at some iMAX theaters wearing special glasses. While the article doesn't specifically mention the use of broadband, one factoid did catch my eye. To record this 3D video requires 20MB for a single frame. At 24fps, over the course of the production they ended up with a petabyte--or a thousand gigabytes--of data on their servers. And since they use the word "servers" that suggests that at some point all that data will be flying over a network somewhere.

Fascinating story with video that tells the tale of how Kenya's largest broadcaster has started a YouTube channel with videos about what's happening in that country. While less than 1% of its citizens have access to broadband, this effort to leverage YouTube has been instrumental in allowing people outside of Kenya to keep up with what's going on, providing a direct link into what's happening on the ground.

$137 Billion Investment Required by 2010 to Close Gap Between Demand and Supply of Broadband Access
This article highlights the findings of a recent Nemertes Research Study that predicts by 2010 demand for broadband will outstrip supply. And that to close that gap it'll require $137 billion globally, which they claim is roughly 60-70% beyond what service providers were currently planning to invest. To be honest, that number doesn't seem all that big to me, and certainly not insurmountable. I should admit, though, that I say this in light of last night's Democratic debate when Obama alluded to the $2 trillion we're going to end up spending in Iraq over the course of the war. It seems to me that if we can shake the couch cushions enough to support burning through more than $10 billion a month in Iraq, finding another $100 billion to invest in our own country's infrastructure shouldn't be that hard...right?

17 Ways You Can Use Twitter: A Guide for Beginners, Marketers, and Business Owners
Before going any further, a twitter is a microblog. To become a twitterer, you create an account on their site and then start writing short posts describing what you're doing throughout the day. While it's primarily gained popularity as a consumer tool used to keep in touch with friends, I've long wondered about its possibilities as a professional tool for businesses. Well here's the first post I've seen diving into that topic, providing a number of interesting suggestions for how this unique online tool can be used to expand and enhance your business.

Muxicall
Had to include this as it's one of the neatest things I've seen in a while. Go to the site and you'll see a rectangle made up of smaller rectangles with the names of musical notes on them. Hold down shift and scroll over the notes and you'll begin to create music. You can choose from piano, strings, and drums. Whenever you play a note a colored circle expands featuring the light spectrum associated with that note. And for better or worse, this is a collaborative site, meaning anyone who wants to come to it and start playing can, which can lead to a bit of a cacophony. At the same time, it's kind of neat knowing that you're playing music of sorts with strangers. I highly recommend checking this out if you like neat, easy-to-use experiments with what's possible online.