The History of the Internet in a Nutshell [more inside]
posted by Miko on Nov 16, 2009 - 59 comments

"...it’s not a title, it’s a job. It’s a position in a kitchen. It comes from an old German word that means 'boss' or 'head of the shop.' In which case I am the chef of my operation, but it’s a production company. It’s not a kitchen, even though we do have a kitchen. That’s the closest thing to chef I am. All the good chefs that I know say that they are cooks employed as chef. All the people that say, 'I’m a chef,' generally aren’t. The good ones will say, 'I’m a cook.' Once people start saying, 'I’m Chef Bob!'—yeah, whatever. I’m Captain Kangaroo. Have a nice day". The Onion AV Club interviews Alton Brown. [more inside]
posted by peachfuzz on Oct 19, 2009 - 110 comments

Facebook agrees to privacy changes [Flash video | article]. [more inside]
posted by shoesfullofdust on Aug 27, 2009 - 43 comments

Keynes & Marx thought "that productivity would grow sufficiently to allow our needs to be met with very little labour," and that humankind's biggest preoccupation in the future would be leading lives of comfortable (or comparative) leisure. Obviously, that has not yet come to pass. But why?** Yochai Benkler (previously), for one, is working on it... [more inside]
posted by kliuless on Apr 25, 2009 - 37 comments

"the scale-free network modeing paradigm is largely inconsistent with the engineered nature of the Internet..." For a decade it's been conventional wisdom that the Internet has a scale-free topology, in which the number of links emanating from a site obeys a power law. In other words, the Internet has a long tail; compared with a completely random network, its structure is dominated by a few very highly connected nodes, while the rest of the web consists of a gigantic list of sites attached to hardly anything. Among its other effects, this makes the web highly vulnerable to epidemics. The power law on the internet has inspired a vast array of research by computer scientists, mathematicians, and engineers. According to an article in this month's Notices of the American Math Society, it's all wrong. How could so many scientists make this kind of mistake? Statistician Cosma Shalizi explains how people see power laws when they aren't there: "Abusing linear regression makes the baby Gauss cry."
posted by escabeche on Apr 23, 2009 - 30 comments

Wanna test if your ISP (or company or university) is blocking or throttling BitTorrent traffic? Want some tools to diagnose network problems in your "last mile" connection? Google to the rescue: M-Lab! Predictably, with the recent announcement and publicity, the servers are now getting hammered. So post this? You can help: Host a Glasnost server (tests for BitTorrent). *Results so far. Coming soon are apps to "Determine whether an ISP is giving some traffic a lower priority than other traffic" and "Determine whether an ISP is degrading the performance of a certain subset of users, applications, or destinations". Power to the People, bay-bee!
posted by spock on Jan 29, 2009 - 58 comments

Mapping the Structural Core of Human Cerebral Cortex. A new study of the connections in the brain has identified the brain's central hub.
posted by homunculus on Jul 4, 2008 - 14 comments

Snail mail isn't that slow, unless you use real snails.... As part of a "slow art" project, Vicki Isley and Paul Smith of Bournemouth University have attached radio frequency identification chips (RFID's) to three gastropods, Austin, Cecil and Muriel. The RFID's will pick up your mail as the carriers amble past an electronic reader and deliver it when (in just a few days! ...or weeks ...or months....) they slip past a second reader.... RealSnailMail! [more inside]
posted by Kronos_to_Earth on Jun 21, 2008 - 15 comments

YouTube on YouTube . . .
posted by huckhound on May 20, 2008 - 11 comments

YouTube Hijacking: A RIPE NCC RIS case study is the definitive look at how actions of Pakistan Telecom caused the global outage of YouTube Sunday the 24th of Feb. 2008. This incident has exposed weaknesses of the Border Gateway Protocol as is outlined by Danny McPherson from Arbor Networks as well as on the Renesys blog.
posted by gen on Mar 2, 2008 - 33 comments

"It's amazing how we rely on them." BlackBerry email service went down this afternoon in "The Americas Network." That's bad. But is over-reliance on a network the worst of it? Or is it the thumb-ache? or the back-ache? or the work-life imbalance? or the shakes?
posted by jbickers on Feb 11, 2008 - 60 comments

Much of the Middle East has been without reliable internet access recently due to the somewhat suspicious cutting of four seperate underwater cables, in seperate locations, within a few days of each other. The problem has been alleviated by re-routing of traffic until ships can reach the cables to repair them, a process which may take several weeks. The problem was initially believed to be caused by anchors of passing ships, but that has since been retracted and deals have already been signed by several companies for new cables. [more inside]
posted by Dillonlikescookies on Feb 5, 2008 - 68 comments

Technology of Cooperation (.gif map), from Howard Rheingold's Cooperation Commons project. Rheingold on Amish technology practices. [more inside]
posted by cortex on Jan 21, 2008 - 6 comments

The return of BIG acting. Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood [more inside]
posted by fearfulsymmetry on Jan 5, 2008 - 61 comments

Some fancy security for 6 to 14-year-old girls Anne's Diary is a Canadian social network for 6 to 14-year-old girls (I read about it on the CBC's Spark blog). It has two interesting security features to fend off child molesters and the like. To sign up for the service, kids need to get a non-parental adult professional as a 'sponsor' who validates their identity and age (much like applying for a passport). Secondly, you get a USB fingerprint scanner with your initial package, and I gather the kids use this to log in to the service. And yes, that's Anne with an 'e'. No Prince Edward Island gable was ever this secure. [more inside]
posted by dbarefoot on Dec 6, 2007 - 31 comments

Decentralized social network: "...build your social network in one place and have other NoseRub clients connect to it instead of you having to build multiple networks on multiple social networks. The best part is NoseRub is released under the open source MIT license." via eHub. Previously related.
posted by yoga on Oct 4, 2007 - 23 comments

"Finding JTAG on the iPhone": a ten-step hardware unlock of the iPhone, allowing it to function with other carriers
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Aug 23, 2007 - 40 comments

Soldiers may no longer use MySpace to communicate with family. The Defense Department will begin "worldwide" blocking access, as of today, to YouTube, Metacafe, IFilm, StupidVideos, FileCabi, MySpace, BlackPlanet, Hi5, Pandora, MTV, 1.fm, live365, and Photobucket on its computers and networks, according to a memo sent Friday by Gen. B.B. Bell, the U.S. Forces Korea commander. Note that most soldiers deployed in war zones don't have access to any network outside of the military network.
posted by dejah420 on May 14, 2007 - 76 comments

You may have seen this excellent map of the internet from xkcd. Still lost? You are here.
posted by loquacious on Dec 16, 2006 - 26 comments

Ramón y Cajal fathered a new science with his elegant sketches of neurons. Since then, the brain has been visualized in a variety of ways: from the microscopic to the functional, from the abstract to the beautiful. The connectome, intellectual heir to the human genome project and proteomics, aims to map the entire brain network as a means of understanding cognition and behavior. Pick your favorite brain metaphor here.
posted by logicpunk on Dec 6, 2006 - 9 comments

Dandelife. Q: "Why would I want to keep my biography on the Internet?" A: "Stories are best shared, don't you think?" [from the about page]
Dandelife.com describes itself as a "social biography network." It allows you to construct an annotated timeline of your life, add photographs (it works with Flickr, with which is shares design elements) and links. Example here; via anh-minh.com.
posted by jokeefe on Nov 2, 2006 - 12 comments

The Enron Explorer from Trampoline Systems "lets you investigate the actions and reactions of Enron's senior management team as the noose began to tighten" (through some 200,000 public domain corporate emails) using Trampoline's SONAR social network mapping platform. (via FutureFeeder)
posted by tpl1212 on Oct 31, 2006 - 1 comment

The Croquet Project is a staggeringly ambitious attempt to create 'an operating system for the post-browser Internet' - a multi-platform, open-source, extensible, decentralised, peer-to-peer, 3D virtual reality metaverse [2,3], designed for 'highly scalable deep collaboration', led by Alan Kay.
posted by MetaMonkey on Oct 1, 2006 - 37 comments

Dapper: The Data Mapper
A recently launched service that allows users to extract data from any website into XML, and transform or build applications and mashups with that data. Described by it's creators as a way to, "easily build an API for any website... through a visual and intuitive process". Plagiarism Today, meanwhile, has cause for concern, "Dapper is a scraper. Nothing more... now the technologically impaired can scrape content from any site... the potential danger [is] very, very real".
posted by MetaMonkey on Sep 5, 2006 - 31 comments

Ad Supported Software It started with email, and now it's everything from IM, maps and photo galleries. But, free network management software? Can this work?
posted by tboz on Jul 28, 2006 - 8 comments

I pooted. Enigmatic billboard advertisements, apparently promoting a Cartoon Network show, Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends seen in several major cities.
posted by ijoshua on Jun 22, 2006 - 54 comments

It's F'ing Dethklok! Also known as Death Klok Metacolpyse, this cartoon from the creator of Home Movies will debut 20 episodes on Cartoon Network in August. It's been called "Spinal Tap meets Scooby Doo meets Norway, and will feature guest appearances by metal superstars. It'll be months before the high decibel violence and comedy commences, meanwhile comedy and metal nerds can see this 82 second leak.
posted by Blingo on Apr 16, 2006 - 23 comments

The Future of the Web
A fascinating, breathless hour-long talk (+Q&A) recently given by Sir Tim (mp3 & mp4, no transcript available). For the lazy, this recent interview covers much the same ground. [more inside]
posted by MetaMonkey on Apr 2, 2006 - 16 comments

"In keeping with Channel 40's policy of bringing you the latest in blood and guts and in living color, you are going to see another first -- attempted suicide." The 1976 multiple-Oscar-winning movie Network is said to have been partially inspired by this suicide. [Aug. 4, 1974 Washington Post story (PDF)]. This guy doubts that a tape exists.
posted by spock on Mar 28, 2006 - 30 comments

Networks are everywhere. Connectionists think of our brains as neural networks. Some people think networks are changing society. Some people would like to use networks to change society. Others think of the earth as a self-organising network.
posted by MetaMonkey on Jan 12, 2006 - 9 comments

Google and Wal-Mart to launch the Google Computer [GoogleFilter] - Rumor-merchants around the industry are abuzz with speculation that Google is about to launch a no-frills, $200 networked computer via (ahem) Wal-Mart. They will also announce Google Cubes, media and home automation control devices. Will this be a watershed event or an infamous folly? Film at 11.
posted by LondonYank on Jan 3, 2006 - 61 comments

It all started with American Pro Football. But soon inventors had one, then rockabillies and even cowgirls. Now there's even a Hall of Fame dedicated to the luminaries of network media. Seeing that's, uhm, people like us, i suppose the question is, do we agree with the list? Is anyone missing. How many of them should be deleted? And are there really no women working in this field?
posted by MrMerlot on Dec 7, 2005 - 13 comments

Trafficing in unsecure data? - ticket those schmucks on your network who screw your carefully planned security measures with their sloppiness.
posted by sourbrew on Dec 1, 2005 - 10 comments

The end of all other anonymous proxies? The only disadvantage I found - it's one-time login, if you disconnect, next time you'll have to get another user/pass pair. But vpnsecurity.org is charging $40 monthly...
P.S. Correct link is https://vpn.google.com/getpass/ but I couldn't use https in URL field.
posted by snark9 on Oct 16, 2005 - 29 comments

Robot planes may make phone towers obsolete "...it's a "Stratellite", and its makers believe it will revolutionise the broadband and wireless industry; if it ever gets off the ground.

Wisconsin communications company Sanswire on Tuesday unveiled its almost-finished prototype of a hard-framed, unmanned airship designed to fly in the stratosphere 21km above the earth and send broadband and cellphone signals to an area the size of Texas."

This in my opinion is an example of truly innovative technology.
posted by jaydedx on Apr 13, 2005 - 25 comments

Pretty and pretty interesting: unrooted haplotype networks -- diagrams showing the relation and mutational distance between different sets of DNA, with haplotypes represented by circles proportional to haplotype frequency, joined by lines proportional to mutational difference between haplotypes -- in cichlid fish (on page 3 ) [pdf], in stone loach fish ( on page 3) [pdf], in lesser prairie chickens (on page 6) [pdf] and in a ring species! (on page 2) [pdf]
posted by orthogonality on Mar 25, 2005 - 14 comments

A nice article on some of the engineering and economics aspects of WiFi, and the history of frequency regulation in the USA.
posted by freebird on Aug 16, 2004 - 9 comments

IMWatching. Monitor the online times of your buddies.
posted by srboisvert on Jul 17, 2004 - 7 comments

The Educator's Bed and Breakfast Network Lodging for US $34 per couple per night, and breakfast too! Required - a house of your own (or maybe a large apartment, I suppose) to host fellow members. Membership costs $35 per year with a one-time $10 initial registration fee. "Educators" is a broad category which includes teachers of all sorts, writers, journalists, researchers, librarians, probably DJ's....many bloggers...
posted by troutfishing on Jul 14, 2004 - 5 comments

Akamai is having some issues. It turns out a lot of really large companies use Akamai as their DNS host and apparently most of their DNS servers are no longer responding. And it's not like this is the first time. Geeks are in a tizzy. Whither the decentralized network?
posted by bshort on Jun 15, 2004 - 19 comments

iNetwork calls itself "an in4mation network by E.T.D." I discovered it through its amazing New York Skyscrapers subsite:

In addition to individual building entries and background info, it contains links to other resources, NYC webcams, clickable maps of locations of NYC skyscrapers, a forum for NYC skyscraper-related discussion and more.

But it's also got sections on Functionalism and the city of Viipuri ("a study of the 1930s Functionalistic architecture in the city of Viipuri in pre-war Finland"), the development of the square-rigged sailing ship from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the 19th Century, and, uh, Trini Alvarado ("an amazingly underrated NYC film and stage actress"). Something for everyone!
posted by languagehat on May 5, 2004 - 2 comments

"We are now deep in the trackless swamps created by thoughtless, feckless UI design — full of glitz and GUI, signifying nothing." In The Luxury of Ignorance, Eric Raymond attempts to set up a network printer in Linux.
posted by reklaw on Apr 13, 2004 - 23 comments

U.S. Catholic priests abused 10,600 children The SNAP network exposes myths about priest pedophilia. Perhaps we'd be better off if Mel Gibson made movies about the real victims of Xtianity.
posted by skallas on Feb 27, 2004 - 37 comments

Italy-wide blackout ongoing I'm right in the middle of a nation wide blackout. 2 hours without electricity so far, luckly sunrise is near. Guess now I know what they guys in U.S. East coast has felt. Link goes to italian language realtime news on event, for interested italians abroad.
posted by elpapacito on Sep 27, 2003 - 22 comments

MS Chat and the US Army Although a very interesting article on the logistics behind networking an entire battlefield - this bit worried me slightly:- "What's funny about using Microsoft Chat," he adds with a sly smile, "is that everybody has to choosean icon to represent themselves. Some of these guys haven't bothered, so the program assigns them one. We'll be in the middle of a battle and a bunch of field artillery colonels will come online in the form of these big-breasted blondes. We've got a few space aliens, too."
posted by robzster1977 on May 21, 2003 - 17 comments

The Self-Healing Minefield From the current Village Voice: "Utilizing commercial off-the-shelf computer chips and 'healing' software, the networked minefield detects rude attempts to clear it, deduces which parts of itself have been removed, and signals its remaining munitions to close the hole using best-fit mathematics."

Bonus ubertasteless Flash animation courtesy of DARPA here. Color me fascinated and repulsed in equal measure.
posted by Armitage Shanks on Nov 27, 2002 - 40 comments

Employing a rather breath-taking counter, Netsizer claims to track the growth of the internet (users and hosts) in real time based on a methodology briefly and unsatisfyingly explained here. According to Netsizer the number of internet users already tops 800 million, but the Cyber Atlas is projecting 700-950 million users in 2004. Does anybody really know what's going on?
posted by taz on Sep 1, 2002 - 7 comments

A search engine to help you find things you don't know about. gnod stands for The Global Network of Dreams, and is a test of artificial intelligence. Building a database from the user choices, it helps you find books, music and misc. other by having you enter in things that you like, and based on what other people like, it shows you stuff you ought to like, too (which is slightly different from what Amazon does, showing you what other people have bought). Don't know if all the Amazon Associate links detract from it all or not
posted by crunchland on Aug 30, 2002 - 25 comments

It's just like the film Network. Former BBC anchor David Ickes, who claimed he was "the son of god" in 1991 has got a new job at the Sci-Fi channel ranting. In Network, anchor Howard Beale has an on air nervous breakdown. Instead of taking him off the air, the network gives him a weekly show to rant to the nation. Oddly, Icke's idea about reality is very similar to Philip K. Dick's Valis, Grant Morrison's The Invisibles and a recent mefi discussion.
posted by drezdn on Jul 4, 2002 - 6 comments

"Your contract with the network when you get the show is you're going to watch the spots.... Any time you skip a commercial.....you're actually stealing the programming" According to Jamie Kellner, CEO of the Turner Broadcasting system, you're committing a crime if you don't watch every commercial during a broadcast. Even going to the bathroom doesn't seem to be a good enough excuse to him for missing a commercial. While I sympathize with those who are trying to create and maintain business models for content and programming in these days of advanced technology, arguing that the use of this technology is some kind of moral lapse is both laughable and insulting.
posted by gspira on Apr 29, 2002 - 38 comments