Happy Birthday Internet

1. 44

   Writer Foxposted 10 years ago

   The World Wide Web was born on December 25, 1990, when Tim Berners-Lee made the first hypertext communication.  He gave the WWW to the world for free.  It's the gift that just keeps on giving and has connected the world.

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      AMFredenburgposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Wow!

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   Marchelloposted 10 years ago

   Happy b-day internet and thank you Tim for this great base of informations.

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   srsddnposted 10 years ago

   It was a great day for all of us. Thanks for sharing.

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      Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Can you imagine the world now without the WWW?  There would be no HubPages!

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         AMFredenburgposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         We do things so differently today than we did even ten years ago, and I think a lot of us have adapted to the new electronic age without giving it much thought. It's fun to watch old shows like "Matlock" and "Murder She Wrote" to see the differences in culture before the Internet, cell phones, and PCs/laptops. (Of course, J.B. was at the forefront, giving up her old Royal in favor of a PC, learning the ropes of using modems and borrowing gigantic "cellular phones" to make a call.....)

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            jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            I'm still adapting, AMF redenburg. LOL!

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               AMFredenburgposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               I hear you; I think I've caught up, and whammo! Along comes something new. --Aldene

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   LongTimeMotherposted 10 years ago

   lol. Was it deliberately timed as a Christmas gift? That's a nice idea.

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   Thief12posted 10 years ago

   Sorry! Pet peeve of mine, but... The Internet and the World Wide Web are not the same. Although Berners-Lee did finish the first website on December 1990 (posting the project in 1991), the Internet had existed since 1969. However, it was indeed in December 1969 that the first complete Internet connection was completed, so... Happy 44th Birthday, Internet! and Happy 23th Birthday, Web!

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      Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Technically that is correct.  I have a Hub, Quotes about the Internet, that gives the history about the merger of terms. 
      
      One of these quotes from Peter Saffo is:
      "Each time you toss out a 'singing' greeting card, you are disposing of more computing power than existed in the entire world before 1950." Amazing!

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         AMFredenburgposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Amazing is right!

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            Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Bill Gates said this in 1981: "640K ought to be enough for anybody."

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      Patty Inglish, MSposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      That's very interesting! Thanks for that information.
      
      Also, according to several WWII veterans I have interviewed, some small rudiments of what finally became Internet communications were in experimentation during World War II among USA fighting units. Military and govt officials wanted some kind of communications that would disconnect ("go offline" in today's jargon) fast and often in order to stymie the enemy. US military were apparently successful in that. And later, remember those s-l-o-w 14.4 and 28.8 bps modems we had as consumers?? - Our first connections surely went down fast and often in my city! I think the Code Talkers were probably more useful than "internet" experiments in WWII at the time, though. -- Just my opinion.
      
      Merry Christmas, Everyone!

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         Faith Reaperposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Wow, Patty ...really interesting! Thanks for sharing that history. Merry Christmas!

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   Faith Reaperposted 10 years ago

   Very interesting indeed. Thanks for the post. Merry Christmas everyone!

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      edhanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Yes. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2014 to everyone!

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   Ritesh Nisharposted 10 years ago

   Wow..thats really a good info...we are blessed...big thank you to the almighty for that.

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   jansharesposted 10 years ago

   Very cool, Writer Fox. Thanks for sharing. In 1990, I used printed information, a rolodex, the 411 telephone operator, word-of-mouth, phone calls, and telephone books to get information.

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      Patty Inglish, MSposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      At the Industrial Commission and Ohio State U., we had intranets in the late 1980s and early 1990s with email reaching workers only in a single building. No photos or graphics were transmitted, but a few people became skilled in creating images with punctuation marks.
      
      We received data from National Institutes of Health on quarterly CDs. The Internet arrived here in 1996 and was a miracle and a time saver.

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         Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I remember those 'graphics' people made with punctuation marks, or Xs, etc!  They were fun.  A friend of mine was 'courted' by one of our IT experts, and walked in her office to find a big heart on her computer screen one day. 
         
         They're still happily married, BTW!

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            Patty Inglish, MSposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            That's good news - a lasting marriage!

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   Laura-n-Sashaposted 10 years ago

   Just watched "jOBS" last night

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      Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Was it good?

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         Laura-n-Sashaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         It was pretty good, but my husband - who has read everything about Jobs - kept stopping the movie to tell me who was who. Without him, I think I would have been lost.

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            Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            I want to watch the movie with your husband.

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    livewirezposted 10 years ago

    Happy Birthday Internet!

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11. 80

    Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years ago

    Patty, et al -
    
    Would anyone know what might have been used in the early 1980s that (definitely) connected people?  Back in about 1984 or so, an acquaintance of mine who was an early adopter in the embryonic days of home computers showed me how to connect with a discussion board of some sort. This was in (I assume) the DOS era, and he was having great fun posting comments to deliberately irritate someone else who was posting (gosh - maybe he grew up to be a Hubber!).
    
    I'm positive it was in that time period, not later.
    
    BTW - around the same time (1983 or so), had a fairly robust intranet system at the Austin American-Statesman; it allowed us to hyphenate and justify our copy, so we knew how many column inches it was, and then send it off to be edited, etc. We could also message other staff members. 
    
    A few years later, we had a wide-area intranet set-up at TxDOT - we could send IM-type messages, even to other buildings across town, and tap into various internal databases. We also published an electronic newsletter that was available statewide to all offices (Texas has more than 250 counties). Interestingly, we had some of those things before we got our first fax machines. I remember several of us 'playing' with those when they very first hit our offices, to see how they worked (back then, they used rolls of thermal paper).  I left there in 1991, so those things were prior to that year.

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       bBereanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Some businesses, and most universities had some form of internal networking prior to www becoming accessible.  In those early formative years, who remembers Prodigy, Compuserve and of course later, AOL?  You basically logged into their networks and it was like a mini www, with email, shopping and chats. 
       
       I sold Real Estate in the mid '80s and remember the MLS computer consisted of inputting data from a green screen through a modem and getting a thermal printed list on that awful paper.  It was amazing high tech to our customers though, saving time by producing a list of just houses meeting their specific parameters.  Not everyone had access, as it was an add on service for the MLS.  Others just had books, and no way to search.

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          Patty Inglish, MSposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          I heard about NewsNets and MailNets in the late 1970s and early 1980s that science fiction convention enthusiasts used in order to discuss conventions, new books, films, fanzines, etc. I never saw the discussions, but heard about arguments on these 'nets in reports in science and sci-fi magazines.

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             Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years agoin reply to this

             Patty - I think he was either on one of those, or maybe AOL.  Or both.  I don't remember what kind of computer he had (probably something like an old Commodore), but he was into science fiction (that's what registered with what you posted), and the AOL thing sounds familiar, too. 
             
             Pensacola would be great - you've been there, haven't you?  Beautiful!  I edited my other post - was trying to respond to two people! Any idea of a timeframe?  Everyone n my family is freezing in Ohio this week.

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                Patty Inglish, MSposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                It's in the 30s and 40s today and tomorrow in Central Ohio for the most part, but it has recently been below 20 degrees for too many days for my taste. I no longer have a garage, so am tired of scraping snow and ice and sliding on sidewalks.
                
                I was in Central Florida once - when I was two years old! It rained the whole time. Pensacola is usually more sunny without being broiling, according to friends who have lived there. Not sure about a timeframe right now, tho.

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                   Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                   That's what I'm hearing from the rest of my clan up there and from my HS friends. I'm one of the only defectors.   I will probably be there in late March or early April - I'll send you a message, in case you're still in town.
                   
                   
                   Pensacola is beautiful!  A friend of mine lived there for a few years, and I got to visit her for a long weekend. She simehow found a condo right on the beach so it truly was like living in paradise.  We also went briefly to Destin - which is beautiful, too, but has become trendy.  I can't wait to hear what you decide to do.  And don't forget about Texas! 

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                      Patty Inglish, MSposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                      OK, all good.
                      
                      One friend in Central Texas reports 100 degrees F daily for over three months straight every summer. I'll avoid that area. lol

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                         Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                         Lol!  Well we did have one brutal heatwave in 2011 - but that was exceptional. It's drier here than on the coast (less humiid). It's 58 degrees here right now, and it was a gorgeous, clear day.  We do hit 100 degrees at times in the summer (have to be honest). I think they get those days in Pensacola, too, but probably have breezy nights.  Our summer nights are nice here.
                         
                         How about at least coming here for visits - you know a couple of us here!

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                            Patty Inglish, MSposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                            That would be fun

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          Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          Bingo!  I'm pretty sure I saw that person using AOL.  Thanks - I would not have gone to sleep tonight if I hadn't learned the answer!

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    bBereanposted 10 years ago

    Okay, in honor of the internet, I want you all to take just a moment and be silent, then do your best modem handshake impression, followed by another brief moment of silence...ready?   Go!
    
    No fair explaining yourself to anyone within earshot, either. 

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       Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       ---------> * <---------
       
       (That's the best I could do for the handshake)

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       snakeslaneposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       
       
       whirrrdingdingwhirr

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          bBereanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          static
                 static
                        static
                               screech
                                        static
                                               screech
                                                        tone.............ah, music to our ears!

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             Patty Inglish, MSposted 10 years agoin reply to this

             That's it!

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    SEEMA AQUAposted 10 years ago

    happy Birthday Internet

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14. 44

    Writer Foxposted 10 years ago

    "The World Wide Web has become in a few years the largest cultural endeavor of all times."
    – Ricardo Baeza

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