It’s official: We’re all out of Internet addresses. But don’t panic, this doesn’t mean the end of the Internet. It just means an end to the current naming system, known as Internet Protocol version 4. Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is standing in the wings ready to fill our daily Internet demands.

As we highlighted in a blog post on this topic last year, IPv6 will provide a much larger pool of numbers for use as IP addresses. Expressed mathematically, IPv4 provides addresses equal to 2 to the 32^nd power or about 4.2 billion. IPv6 provides addresses equal to 2 to the 128^th power. Two, times two, times two, etc. … 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 addresses to be exact.

We’ve come a long way from 1969 when the Internet began as a research tool. Since then, we’ve exhausted more than 4 billion IP addresses.

Regarding these final IPv4 address, this blog post from The Wall Street Journal notes, “The batches of numbers were distributed to five regional addressing organizations around the globe, who will allocate the numbers to ‘service providers’ – a broad group that includes Internet operators, Web companies and others – over the coming months.”

Most likely consumers won’t feel any impact from the switch to IPv6 – which will happen over several years – but it’s certainly interesting to reflect on the fact we’ve reached a new level in our use of the Internet.

President Obama is pushing for high-speed Internet access as part of a larger plan to bolster the American economy. In fact, his goal is for 98 percent of the country to have access to broadband Internet.

The announcement was part of Obama’s State of the Union address last month and calls for making “500 megahertz of wireless airwaves, or spectrum, available over the next decade to meet the growing demand for broadband services, including the widely popular Apple iPad and proliferation of smartphones,” according to this Reuters article.

The article also quotes Obama as saying, “This isn’t just about a faster Internet and fewer dropped calls. It’s about connecting every part of America to the digital age.”

A November 2010 report on home broadband Internet adoption in the United States used Census data to assess broadband access and usage. Findings included:

• 7 of 10 American households used the Internet in 2009.
• Income and education are strongly associated with broadband Internet use at home.
• Broadband Internet adoption was higher among white households than black or Hispanic households in 2009.
• Urban residents are more likely than rural ones to adopt broadband Internet access.
• Lack of need or interest, lack of affordability, lack of an adequate computer, and lack of availability were all stated as the main reason for not having home broadband Internet access.

So in reviewing these findings would you agree the government needs to make an investment in wider broadband access? Share your comments!

Have you ever been completely overwhelmed by work? At some point, just about all of us hit a time when we’re one more task, one more e-mail or one more memo from putting our heads down on the desk in defeat.

Feeling overwhelmed at work can be the result of a number of factors, including hitting a growth spurt as a business, dealing with staff cutbacks or even being unorganized. Regardless of the reason, it’s hard not to feel discouraged. So, what can you do to get your schedule under control and workload reduced to something slightly more manageable?

• Get focused. Part of work-related stress comes from getting caught up in a cycle of meetings, e-mails and other tasks that crop up throughout the day. Shut your door – physical and virtual – and stay focused on the task at hand. Yes, it’s easier said than done, but you’ll probably find you actually complete tasks faster when you stay on track rather than stopping and starting a dozen times.
• Be realistic – to yourself and your supervisor. Unless you’ve found some extra hours in the day, there’s truly only so much you can accomplish in a given workday. While it’s tough to tell your boss you just can’t head up another project, you have to say “no” from time to time. It’s better to say “no” up front rather than having to scramble at the end to turn in a mediocre report or a late presentation.
• Take breaks. You may feel that burning the midnight oil is the only way to meet your deadlines, but tired work usually produces poor results. Allow yourself a lunch break, a coffee break or time to hit the gym before work. Stepping away from a project can give you a renewed perspective and the chance to see things in a different light.

What’s overwhelming in your job? How are you addressing it? Or are you drowning? Share your tips and advice!

Even if you aren’t a regular user of location-based tools like Foursquare, Gowalla and Facebook Places, you’ve probably heard of them and possibly seen businesses touting specials available to people who check into their business using such apps.

Foursquare announced its 6 millionth user last week and reported 3,400% growth in 2010 – a number pretty much any company would be happy to promote. Users logged more than 380 million check-ins last year and the app continues to grow in popularity. As this article from Gigaom.com points out, even with 6 million users worldwide, Foursquare isn’t quite mainstream. Only 4% of Americans are using such located-based services, according to the Pew Research Center.

Twitter, for example, wasn’t exactly mainstream when it started either. Facebook’s initial audience was college students. Not all technology explodes onto the scene to infiltrate our daily lives immediately. So as businesses, don’t immediately discredit what might be seen as “niche” services appealing to a small audience. That’s not to say you should jump on every tech bandwagon, but keep your ear to the ground and your mind open to the ways these tools could benefit your business.

What are some tools you adopted early on for your business that yielded great success? What tech are you watching closely?

There’s a good chance you’re already looking forward to Friday, but here’s one more reason to declare “TGIF:” Friday is Fun at Work Day.

For some people, everyday is Fun at Work Day. We’re not yet sure who those people are, so if it’s you, please chime in and let us know. For the rest of us, fun and work occasionally go together but most of the time the focus is on “work” rather than “fun.”

So, circle Jan. 28 on your calendar and get ready to have fun at work. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Surprise the office with a Keurig coffee machine and treat everyone to a morning cup of java (or make it a really fun day and have two cups).
• Set up Rock Band in the conference room and have a lunchtime concert (ripped jeans and tattoos not required).
• Take a 30-minute afternoon break and have an office scavenger hunt. The winner gets an extra vacation day.
• Let employees bring their dogs to work (well-behaved ones only!) and then head outside for a quick game of fetch.

Your employees have been probably been working hard during the first month of 2011, so Fun at Work Day is the perfect opportunity to let everyone blow off a little steam and reconnect as co-workers. Let’s hear your ideas for having some fun at work.