- •Computers in Our Life (2)
- •Developing of Telecommunications
- •Internet and Modern Life
- •Invention of modems, special devices allowing your computer to send the information through the telephone line, has opened doors to the Internet for millions of people.
- •Mail Service
- •Microsoft Company
- •Satellites and Telecommunications
- •Television is doing Irreparable Harm
- •The Future of the Internet
- •In conclusion, I should add that if we want to keep the Internet usable and fairly fast, we must not only improve the telephone lines and means of access, but also be reasonable in usage.
- •Biological Weapons
- •Airplanes and security
- •The History of Nuclear Bomb Creation
- •The Chernobyl Accident
- •Chemical Weapons
Mail Service
Historical references to postal systems in Egypt date from about 2000 ВС. That time mail was carried from place to place by horse or horse-drawn wagon. It was predominantly government mail. On the other side of the world, in China, mail service had been started early in 12th century ВС. It was used mostly to convey official documents.
The Roman Empire built the most advanced postal delivery system known until that time except for the service in China. In the Roman Empire reliable communication from Rome to governors and military officials in faraway provinces was a necessity. The speed with which government dispatches and other mail could be carried about the empire was amazing for that time. In Europe of the 19th century, stagecoaches began to carry letters and packages, but most mail was still being transported the same way as in the Roman Empire.
Since that time many things have changed. Today we can send our letters using also airmail, the quickest mailing service.
Nowadays there are post-offices in every town and city. If you want to post an ordinary letter or a postcard, you need to buy an envelope with required stamp, write the address on it and put your letter in and send it. For a registered letter, an airmail letter or an ordinary letter to another country, one must buy and stick other stamps on the envelope.
If you want to send a telegram, you can either take it to the nearest post-office or dictate it over the telephone. But if you have the Internet, there is no need to go to the local post-office, you can just connect to the Internet and using your mail program, send a letter or letters to where you need. The only condition is whether your recipient has or not a computer and the Internet. E-mail is cheaper and instant.
If you want to use traditional method and would like your letter to arrive more quickly, you can send it by airmail or express mail.
If you want to send a parcel, you must go to the post-office, hand your parcel to an assistant, who weighs it on scales and gives you the necessary stamps. The amount you have to pay depends on the weight of the parcel.
Microsoft Company
Paul Allen and Bill Gates founded the Company in 1975.
Microsoft is best-known American company involved in software production. Microsoft's wealth and power is growing up for years. It is a giant company. Microsoft's $25 billion market value tops that of Ford, General Motors.
Some time ago, Microsoft dominated the PC market with its-MS-DOS operating system, the basic software that let the computer understand your commands and carry them out, appeared in the beginning of 80s. MS-DOS ran on 90 percent of the worlds IBM and IBM-clone computers. Then, Microsoft has extended that presence with releasing of Windows, which is probably the most important and popular operating system in the World. And now it dominates the market.
Firstly, Microsoft released Windows '95 in 1995. It was a graphics interface environment that ran on top of MS-DOS and replaced DOS in future versions. Then, Microsoft released Windows '98, Windows NT, Windows Millennium, Windows 2000 and Windows XP.
Microsoft also supplies about 50 percent of the world's software applications. Among them, there are three well-known Office Packs; they are also called Microsoft Office programs such as Excel (spreadsheets), Microsoft Word (word processing), Access (databases) and Outlook Express (e-mail)- There were releases in 1997, 2000, and 2002, when appeared Microsoft Office XP. Microsoft is also in the market of networking, multimedia and even books. And as an early supporter of the Macintosh computer, Microsoft virtually owns the Mac application market.
It has been calculated that Microsoft controls 80-85 % of the entire PC software industry. The company has hundreds of products and thousands of employees, making it one of the largest companies. Many of the company's shareholders are now millionaires and a few including Bill Gates and Paul Allen are billionaires. Microsoft is no doubt the fastest growing company in the PC software industry.