Part four

UNIT 1. BIRTH OF THE NET

QUIZ

Test your knowledge of Internet staff!

1. How many colours are in a “Web Safe” palette?

256 / 200 /216

2. Name the first graphical web browser

Visu Tech/ Netview/ Mosaic

3. Which came first, “org.” or “com.”?

4. The first mouse was made of …..

Metal/ plastic/ wood

5. In what year did the Queen of England send her first email?

1993/ 1976/ 1984

6. What does “hex” stand for?

Hexadom/ nothing/ hexademical

7. Which of the following is not a protocol?

TCP/P / Ethernet / WWW/ ISP

8. What organization assigns domain names?

Internic / W3C / WWW Board

9. What year did Tim Bernes-Lee develop the World Wide Web?

1989 / 1991/1987

10. What is the previous name for Java?

Oak/ Latte / Power +

What’s your score?

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BIRTH OF THE NET

The Internet has had a relatively brief, but explosive history. It grew out of an experiment begun in the 1960's by the U.S. Department of Defense. The DoD wanted to create a computer network that would continue to function in the event of a disaster, such as a nuclear war. If part of the network was damaged or destroyed, the rest of the system still had to work. That network was ARPANET, which linked U.S. scientific and academic researchers. It was the forerunner of today's Internet.

In 1985, the National Science Foundation (NSF) created NSFNET, a series of networks for research and education communication. Based on ARPANET protocols, the NSFNET created a national backbone service, provided free to any U.S. research and educational institution. At the same time, regional networks were created to link individual institutions with the national backbone service.

NSFNET grew rapidly as people discovered its potential and as new software applications were created to make access easier. Corporations such as Sprint and MCI began to build their own networks that they linked to NSFNET. As commercial firms and other regional network providers have taken over the operation of the major Internet arteries, NSF has withdrawn from the backbone business.

NSF also coordinated a service called InterNIC that registered all addresses on the Internet so that data could be routed to the right system. This service has now been taken over by Network Solutions, Inc. and other registration services in cooperation with NSF.

When the World Wide Web began in 1990, few suspected how successful it would become. There are now millions of websites and billions of web pages. But as many people are well aware, the Web can be painfully slow. Most people still connect to the Internet using 56 Kbps modems and telephone lines. Because the data-carrying capacity of telephone lines, known as bandwidth, can be low, receiving electronic data may take a long time. New technology promises to address this problem.

Connecting to the Internet using fiber optic lines and via cable TV and satellite increases bandwidth dramatically, making the Web more useful. Expect to see an explosion of e-commerce, collaborative projects, videoconferencing and virtual environments. Many of these applications are under development or already in use in some form.

Internet English Website

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