199 lines
8.2 KiB
Plaintext
199 lines
8.2 KiB
Plaintext
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(word processor parameters LM=8, RM=78, TM=2, BM=2)
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Taken from KeelyNet BBS (214) 324-3501
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Sponsored by Vangard Sciences
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PO BOX 1031
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Mesquite, TX 75150
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August 17, 1990
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courtesy of Double Helix at 212-865-7043
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The following is part of an article on page 160 to 162 of the
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April 13, 1990 issue of Science Magazine by Joseph Palca. It
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tells a little of the history of BBSes or maybe some other
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kinds of BBSs - the type done by institutions between
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minicomputers and mainframes and more:
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...The idea for a computer network was born in the 196O's at the
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RAND corporation, and realized late in that decade by ARPANET, a
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network supported by the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency
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(DARPA - later known for the advocacy of Star Wars among other
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technological state of the art projects).
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Despite the Pentagon's financial support, ARPANET was a fairly
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open environment: pretty much anyone who wanted to get on the
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network could do so.
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"The notion when ARPANET was established was that it was
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primarily to share computing resources,"
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says Douglas E. Van Houweling, Vice Provost for Information
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Technology at the University of Michigan.
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"As things turned out that wasn't the way it got used. It
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got used by human beings who wanted to work with other
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human beings."
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In the 197O's a whole variety of networks joined ARPANET to
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offer connectivity. Some were regional--like Merit in Michigan and
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BARRNET in the San Francisco Bay Area--linking government and
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academic institutions together.
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Others were national, like BITNET and CSNET, which offered
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nationwide services to academic institutions as well as connections
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to other countries. Federal agencies like the National Aeronautics
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and Space Administration and the Department of Energy set up their
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own networks.
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Missing in all of this was the sense of a national framework.
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Then, in the early 198O's, the National Science Foundation entered
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the scene with NSFNET.
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Designed around the six NSF-supported supercomputer centers,
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NSFNET was intended to form a high-speed backbone for a national
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network, linking together not only the supercomputer installations
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but also the regional networks that had sprung up around the
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country.
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Page 1
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In 1987, NSF awarded a 5-year contract to a consortium of IBM,
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MCI Communications Corporation, and the Merit Computer Network to
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operate and upgrade the NSFNET backbone.
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When the Merit consortium took over, the backbone operated at 56
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kilobits per second. Today those lines have been upgraded to 1.5
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million bits per second, and later this year portions of the
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backbone will be improved to 45 million bits per second.
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The appetite of researchers for these facilities has proved
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voracious. Network traffic is most easily measured in packets,
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discreet packages of bits that contain address information and some
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fraction of the particular message being sent.
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In 1988, just over 100 million packets per month were traveling
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across the network. In February of this year, the network carried
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2.5 billion packets. And the numbers have been growinftaS-g by an
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average of 20% per month.
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"In the last month, 10% of all the information that has ever
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been sent, was sent," says [Paul] Huray. "That's an
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incredible statement."
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They are apparently sending graphics.
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They also get things like data from an ultrahigh energy gamma
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ray detector in Utah. Or medical files in another city. Or operating
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a telescope in California from Maryland.
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And it says: "..literally thousands of scientists start their
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day in the United States, and increasingly around the world, by
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reading mail sent by their colleagues.
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Even for relatively low speed networks, people get hooked on
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electronic mail because, as Michael M Connors, director of Computing
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Systems at IBM says, "it beats the soles off the U.S. Post Office."
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[I would say it is also easier to write and send - no looking for
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envelopes and stamps and no printing out and tearing away
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perforations and access to previous mail and instant answer and
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so on. (maybe that is why the Post Office nickname is US SNAIL)]
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It also says
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"Getting an exact fix on who is using the network is difficult
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because of the way the network cultures have evolved: it is against
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the unwritten rules of network protocol to see what is inside an
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individual packet. But just like the post office can tell where a
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letter is going without knowing what's inside, network operators can
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group packets into certain general categories by information in
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their address fields.
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Approximately 30% carry electronic mail from one user to
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another, and about the same amount are transmitting files among
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users. Another 2O% fall under the heading of interactive
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applications which include things like using the network to work on
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a computer at a different installation. And 15% are taken up by
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directory inquiries. (?)
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Page 2
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These are also used of course for research and a mathematical
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problem was recently solved very quickly this way. {See the Science
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section of the Tuesday June 26,1990 New York Times also listing on
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Keelynet as PROBNET at 214-324-3501}.
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Of course that depends if it is a field in which people are
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allowed to acknowledge and use progress. In the medical it probably
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wouldn't make much of a difference. Everything must go through a
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gradual series of tests and no one is allowed to use their brain.
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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Vangard notes...
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Of course, we know the value of the computer as a networking
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tool, although we at KeelyNet don't at present support a
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Conference, perhaps we should open up one or more as a
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communication tool for our users.
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Our earlier version had one on Gravity, one on Biology and a
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third on Ecology, we shut them down after they our first system
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crash and never opened them back up. Let us know if you'd like
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such a service. Thanks....Jerry/Ron....Sysops - KeelyNet
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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If you have comments or other information relating to such topics as
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this paper covers, please upload to KeelyNet or send to the Vangard
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Sciences address as listed on the first page. Thank you for your
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consideration, interest and support.
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Jerry W. Decker.........Ron Barker...........Chuck Henderson
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Vangard Sciences/KeelyNet
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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If we can be of service, you may contact
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Jerry at (214) 324-8741 or Ron at (214) 484-3189
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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FINIS
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Page 3
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