Happy Birthday, Internet! 213
NobodyExpects writes "I'd like to wish a happy birthday to the Internet! Today marks its 40th birthday!
In fall 1969, computers sending data between two California universities set the stage for the Internet, which became a household word in the 1990s. On September 2nd 1969, in a lab at the University of California, Los Angeles, two computers passed test data through a 15-foot gray cable. Stanford Research Institute joined the fledgling ARPANET network a month later; UC Santa Barbara and the University of Utah joined by years end, and the internet was born."
Re:They got started young back in the day.... (Score:2, Informative)
Didn't take long for a wingnut to bring up Gore (Yes I saw your ;) )
Gore never claimed that he "invented" the Internet, which implies that he engineered the technology. The invention occurred in the seventies and allowed scientists in the Defense Department to communicate with each other. In a March 1999 interview with Wolf Blitzer, Gore said, "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."
The sentence, means that as a congressman Gore promoted the system we enjoy today, not that he could patent the science, though that's how the quotation has been manipulated. Hence the disingenuous substitution of "inventing" for the actual language.
Re:When did ARPAnet become "internet" (Score:5, Informative)
When did that transition happen? Late 70s?
Winter 1982/1983. On 7 December 1982, 130 out of 315 hosts speak TCP/IP (RFC 832). On 22 February 1983, that's 230 out of 320 (RFC 846).
Re:And one hour later... (Score:5, Informative)
No, it was actually about 8 1/2 years later, if you don't count the birthday announcements, etc. May 1, 1978 to be exact.
http://www.templetons.com/brad/spamreact.html [templetons.com]
wireless Internet is much older (Score:5, Informative)
Doubts about the date (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Looking forward... (Score:4, Informative)
I know thats why it was originally invented, but I don't think the modern internet is emp resistant.
That's an urban legend [isoc.org].
Re:They got started young back in the day.... (Score:4, Informative)
That's quite a trick considering the net was created in 1969, and Al Gore did not join the Congress until 1977. Maybe he borrowed an Omni from Time Voyager Phineas Bogg and zipped back to the 1960s.
So the Internet, where millions of people and businesses could communicate online, sprung fourth, wholly formed in 1969? Or maybe it was a bit of a process, starting with two computers and ending up with millions? A process that...might have been given a shove (and government funding)...by a politician from Tennessee?
You don't have to take my word for it. Vint Cerf [politechbot.com], inventor of TCP/IP:
Too bad you suckers of Satan's cock were so busy trashing Gore in 2000 that you completely ignored the fact that Bush took credit [fair.org] for patients rights legislation that he fucking vetoed as governor of Texas.
Re:Looking forward... (Score:4, Informative)
Usenet/Fidonet (circa 1982 ....And it was free (no long-distance charges).
That may have been the case in the USA and some other countries, but certainly in the UK, we enjoyed the benefits of 300 baud comms together with the accompanying phone bills- no free local calls then.