Invention of the Internet

Many people think that the Internet is a recent innovation, when in fact the fundamental ideas behind the Internet have been around for over a quarter century.

The development of what we now call the Internet started in 1957 when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first satellite, beating the United States into space. The powers behind the American military at the time became highly alarmed as this meant that the USSR could theoretically launch bombs into space, and then drop them anywhere on earth. In 1958 the concerns of people in the US military triggered the creation of the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

DARPA's initial role was to jump start American research in technology, find safeguards against a space-based missile attack and to reclaim the technological lead from the USSR. After only 18 months after the creation of DARPA, the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency had developed and deployed the first US satellite. DARPA went on to have a direct contribution to the development of the Internet by appointing Joseph Licklider to head the new Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO).

It was the job of the IPTO to further the work previously done my members of the "SAGE" (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) program and develop technologies to protect the US against a space-based nuclear attack.

Licklider envisaged the potential benefits of a countrywide communications network, influencing his successors to implement his vision and to hire Lawrence Roberts who at that time was carrying out research with networks which was also being funded by DARPA.

Roberts led development of the ARPANet network architecture, and based it on the new idea of packet switching. A special computer called an Interface Message Processor was developed to realise the design. The ARPANet first went live in October 1969, with communications between the University of California in Los Angeles and the Stanford Research Institute.

The first networking protocol used on the ARPANet was the Network Control Program. In 1983, it was replaced with the TCP/IP protocol, which is still the standard used today.

In 1990, the National Science Foundation took over management of what was then called the NSFNet, and significantly expanded its reach by connecting it to the CSNET in Universities throughout North America, and later to the EUnet throughout research facilities in Europe.

Thanks in large part to the NSF's free-thinking management, and the growing popularity of the web, the nature of the Internet changed quickly in 1992, when the U.S. government began pulling out of network management and commercial entities offered Internet access to the general public for the first time. This change marked the beginning of the Internet's astonishing expansion. According to a survey conducted by CommerceNet and Nielsen Media Research in 1997, the number of users worldwide was believed to be well into the tens of millions. The so called Internet explosion coincided with the advent of increasingly powerful yet reasonably priced personal computers with easy-to-use GUI's (Graphical User Interfaces). The result was an attraction of recent computer converts to the Internet, and new multimedia capabilities, the size, scope and design of which allows users to:

• connect easily through ordinary personal computers

• exchange electronic mail with friends and colleagues

• post and update frequently, information for others to access

• access multimedia information that includes sound, photographic images and video

• access diverse attitudes and perspectives from around the world

• to directly and transparently communicate between computers

Today, the Internet is not owned or funded by any one institution, organisation, or government, it is a self-sustaining widespread information infrastructure accessible to hundreds of millions of people world-wide. The Internet is, however, directed by the Internet Society (ISOC), which is composed of volunteers. ISOC appoints the IAB (Internet Architecture Board) sub-council, the appointed members of which decide on standards, network resources, and network addresses. The day-to-day issues of Internet operation is taken care by of curtsy of a volunteer group called the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force).

In brief a small number of governing boards work to establish common standards, few rules or single organisation bind the Internet, essentially the Internet is in the most part an ungoverned global network of networks.

Here is more input from others:

• The Internet was invented by the US Department of Defence as a means of communication if we were attacked by Russia. That was in 1969. The WWW on the other hand was invented by an Englishman called Tim Berners-Lee in Switzerland in 1989. The Internet dates back to the 1950s and 60s, although few of us knew of it then as it was part of the American defence system.

• Some say development started in 1957 when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first satellite.

• I think it's the difference between pop culture and invention that confuses people. The origins of the Internet stretch back to the 1950s and the invention of the World Wide Web to 1989, but the Internet IS a newish innovation as far as pop culture is concerned as it only really kicked into the lives of the vast majority of us after the 1989 invention of WWW.

• DARPA was created in 1958. But this only started the research that led to create the Internet. The Network Control Protocol (NCP) was finalized and deployed in December 1970 by the Network Working Group (NWG), led by Steve Crocker. But it was not until RFC 768 "User Datagram Protocol", RFC 791 "Internet Protocol", RFC 792 "Internet Control Message Protocol, RFC 793 "Transmission Control Protocol" were ratified in 1980 and 1981 that the Internet took shape. Modern protocols like e-mail, ftp, telnet, http ... all depend on these underlying protocols. The ARPANET host protocol was switched from NCP to TCP/IP as of January 1, 1983. The underlying protocols that run the Internet have fundamentally changed since this date. Much later on Mar. 11, 1999 Al Gore claims to have invented the Internet: "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet." References: http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.shtml

Source: wiki.answers.com

Who invented the computer mouse

A device that controls the movement of the cursor or pointer on a display screen. A mouse is a small object you can roll along a hard, flat surface. Its name is derived from its shape, which looks a bit like a mouse, its connecting wire that one can imagine to be the mouse's tail, and the fact that one must make it scurry along a surface. As you move the mouse, the pointer on the display screen moves in the same direction. Mice contain at least one button and sometimes as many as three, which have different functions depending on what program is running. Some newer mice also include a scroll wheel for scrolling through long documents.

Invented by Douglas Engelbart of Stanford Research Center in 1963, and pioneered by Xerox in the 1970s, the mouse is one of the great breakthroughs in computer ergonomics because it frees the user to a large extent from using the keyboard. In particular, the mouse is important for graphical user interfaces because you can simply point to options and objects and click a mouse button. Such applications are often called point-and-click programs. The mouse is also useful for graphics programs that allow you to draw pictures by using the mouse like a pen, pencil, or paintbrush.

Who invented the computer

This post for those people who are asking 'who invented the computer?'

Charles Babbage is most often credited with the invention of the computer...

It is difficult to identify any one device as the earliest computer, partly because the term "computer" has been subject to varying interpretations over time. Originally, the term "computer" referred to a person who performed numerical calculations (a human computer), often with the aid of a mechanical calculating device.

Hero of Alexandria (c. 10–70 AD) built a mechanical theater which performed a play lasting 10 minutes and was operated by a complex system of ropes and drums that might be considered to be a means of deciding which parts of the mechanism performed which actions and when.

The "castle clock", an astronomical clock invented by Al-Jazari in 1206, is considered to be the earliest programmable analog computer.

Wilhelm Schickard's 1623 device was the first of a number of mechanical calculators constructed by European engineers.

In 1801, Joseph Marie Jacquard made an improvement to the textile loom that used a series of punched paper cards as a template to allow his loom to weave intricate patterns automatically.

In 1837, Charles Babbage was the first to conceptualize and design a fully programmable mechanical computer that he called "The Analytical Engine".

Source: Wikipedia.

Sony Ericsson t700 mobile phone

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Obama wins historic US election

Democratic Senator Barack Obama has been elected the first black president of the United States.

"It's been a long time coming, but tonight... change has come to America," the president-elect told a jubilant crowd at a victory rally in Chicago.

His rival John McCain accepted defeat, saying "I deeply admire and commend" Mr Obama. He called on his supporters to lend the next president their goodwill.

The BBC's Justin Webb said the result would have a profound impact on the US.

"On every level America will be changed by this result... [it] will never be the same," he said.

Mr Obama appeared with his family, and his running mate Joe Biden, before a crowd of tens of thousands in Grant Park, Chicago.

Many people in the vast crowd, which stretched back far into the Chicago night, wept as Mr Obama spoke.

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer," he said.

He said he had received an "extraordinarily gracious" call from Mr McCain.

He praised the former Vietnam prisoner of war as a "brave and selfless leader".

"He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine," the victor said.

He had warm words for his family, announcing to his daughters: "Sasha and Malia, I love you both more than you can imagine, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House."

But he added: "Even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime - two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.

"The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. But America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there."

Hours after Mr Obama's victory was announced, crowds were still celebrating in Chicago and on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC.

From red to blue

Mr Obama captured the key battleground states of Pennsylvania and Ohio, before breaking through the winning threshold of 270 electoral college votes at 0400 GMT, when projections showed he had also taken California and a slew of other states.

Then came the news that he had also seized Florida, Virginia and Colorado - all of which voted Republican in 2004 - turning swathes of the map from red to blue.

Several other key swing states are hanging in the balance.

In Indiana and North Carolina, with most of the vote counted, there was less than 0.5% between the two candidates.

However, the popular vote remains close. At 0600 GMT it stood at 51.3% for the Democratic Senator from Illinois, against 47.4% for Arizona Senator Mr McCain.

The main developments include:

Mr Obama is projected to have seized Ohio, New Mexico, Iowa, Virginia, Florida, Colorado and Nevada - all Republican wins in 2004.
He is also projected to have won: Vermont, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Delaware, Massachusetts, District of Columbia, Maryland, Connecticut, Maine, New Jersey, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, Rhode Island, California, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon.
Mr McCain is projected to have won: Alaska, Kentucky, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, Kansas, North Dakota, Wyoming, Georgia, Louisiana, West Virginia, Texas, Mississippi, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, South Dakota.
Turnout was reported to be extremely high - in some places "unprecedented".
The Democrats made gains in the Senate race, seizing seats from the Republicans in Virginia, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Colorado. They also increased their majority of the House of Representatives.
Exit polls suggest the economy was the major deciding factor for six out of 10 voters.
Nine out of 10 said the candidates' race was not important to their vote, the Associated Press reported. Almost as many said age did not matter.
Several states reported very high turnout. It was predicted 130 million Americans, or more, would vote - more than for any election since 1960.

Many people said they felt they had voted in a historic election - and for many African-Americans the moment was especially poignant.

John Lewis, an activist in the civil rights era who was left beaten on an Alabama bridge 40 years ago, told Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church: "This is a great night. It is an unbelievable night. It is a night of thanksgiving."

Besides winning the presidency, the Democrats tightened their grip on Congress.

The entire US House of Representatives and a third of US Senate seats were up for grabs.

Democrats won several Senate seats from the Republicans, but seemed unlikely to gain the nine extra they wanted to reach the 60-seat "super-majority" that could prevent Republicans blocking legislation.

Source: BBC