First of all, we have enjoyed a quiet week. I’ve been catching up on a lot of my work, and Lynn’s been chief cook, bottle-washer, and general all-around trailer guy. It’s a plan that has worked well! Tomorrow is our 39th wedding anniversary, which we will spend on Lummi Island.
Speaking of work, most of you know that I am a freelance web designer, and that I “take my work with me.” So… allow me to digress … perhaps you didn’t know (and better yet, don’t care) …
The Government funded a special unit in 1958 that ended up nurturing the Internet. Eisenhower asked for this, because he was still feeling burned after Sputnik, the big surprise in 1957. Now this was a good use of public funds (don’t you think) …??
This year is the 15th anniversary of the first browser which brought the internet to ordinary people.
The first spam was an open invitation sent to a product demonstration in California sent out in 1978. The first significant worm attack was developed in 1988 by a graduate student. (He is now a professor of computer science).
My opinion: The browser wars are necessary to maintain quality control and some integrity. Netscape and Microsoft battled it out during the ’90s.
The internet was a bottom-priority for news and politics until early 1998, when the events leading up to President Clinton’s impachment were posted on Drudge.
The dot-com bust was not due to the “crash” in the use of the internet. Investors didn’t understand the internet, there were incorrect stock market perceptions, and too many start-ups that had no clue how to manage the money. Internet usage has continued to increase since it’s inception.
On 9-11, although the twin towers contained a large communications infrastructure, the internet was almost entirely back to normal within 2 hours. And that was with it being used heavily.
The Google search engine was founded in 1998, named for a mathematical term “googol” or 10 to the 100th power.
Enough trivia for now! Now the focus seems to be social and political connectivity. When folks want to get something done … they run to the internet. What a WORLD. … Robin
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