Words that were re-invented by the Internet
Innovations and new technology always brings with it new terminologies and new vocabularies but they can also reinvent definitions for existing words. In this article we look at six words the internet reinvented.
To Surf and Serve
Have you ever had a hankering to be involved with some of today’s latest cutting edge scientific projects. Maybe rub shoulder with the teams searching for extraterrestrial intelligence, or join the hunt for very large prime numbers or test algorithms for predicting the three-dimensional shape of protein molecules from their linear formula?
Who Runs the Internet ?
Contrary to ‘popular’ belief the internet is not run by the a secretive group of ‘internet elders’, nor is is contained in a little black box with a flashing red light. Who runs the internet is a pretty big question, and one that we can help clarify with a handy info-graphic in this article.
How do Fibre Optics Transfer Data?
Fibre optics represents an evolutionary leap in the speed and bandwidth capacity of telecommunications systems. Copper cable, once the standard for phone lines, can transmit a few million electrical signals per second, while fibre can handle a staggering 20 billion light pulses per second.
Learning to Let Go – Self Organising Systems
We like to think that things that work well come about through good organisation, rigorous planning and strong front led management. But is this really true ? If we look at nature there’s some excellent examples of self-organising systems that “just seem to work”. Can we learn from this and learn to “let go” ?
Emoticons … a history
Emoticons … those little smiley characters crop up everywher , texts emails , twitters. They instantly convey a whole gammat of meaning. Today you even get some representing Elvis, a rose and Homer Simpson. But who invented them and when ?
How does the Open Source model work ?
On the face of it, in a capitalist society where you only work for financial and personal reward where the profit margin is everything, the open source model shouldn’t work. So what is it and how does it work?
The Internet – Who ‘invented’ it ?
If you type origin of internet’ into Google, the results will give you some idea of how complex the story of its evolution is! However, it is possible to offer a potted history of it.
Can Machines think – CAPTCHA and the Turing test
Can machines think ? Computer genius Alan Turing tried to answer this philosophical question by devising the Turing test. You might be surprised to find that you take part in this regularly with CAPTCHAs
Charles Babbage – Computer Pioneer
Charles Babbage is widely regarded as the father of the computer. But without electricity what could an early 19th century computer possibly be like.
Knickknack Googlewack
Google is often taken for granted .. you type in a phrase, you get instant intellisense help, you hit “search” and seconds later you get hundreds of thousands of results. The speed when you think about it is mind boggling.
How does a computer CPU work ?
Computers are a part of everyday life. At it’s core is the CPU. But what is it and how does it work?
How Does Google Work?
Ever wondered how Google works? How it finds those results so quickly ?
Here’s an info graphic that goes someway to explaining it …
