Blog #2 I/W/W/B

 The internet is a global network of billions of computers and electronic devices that all use the Internet Protocol Suite. It started in the 1960s when computer scientists started developing systems for time-sharing of computer resources. The “official birthday” of the internet is considered to be on January 1st, 1989. Prior to that date, computer networks did not have a regular way to communicate to each other. Bob Kahn and Vin Cerf created the Internet Protocol Suite which controls how data is moved through a network. Today, we use the internet everyday. From searching, social media, learning, and communicating. The internet is all around us and can connect us from one side of the planet to the other. 

The World Wide Web was created in 1989 by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, a British computer scientist. He created it while at CERN but it wasn’t a CERN project. The World Wide Web is all the public websites or pages that users can access on their computers or devices. The first server was online in 1991 and by the end of the year there were only 10 from around the world. Today, about 5 billion people use the World Wide Web and there are 1.88 billion websites. 

The internet and the world wide web are not the same. The internet is how we access the Web. It is the network that gives us networks for our websites. The Web is a network of pages that are linked by their addresses. The internet makes the connection between the plethora of servers, computers, and devices. So without the internet there would be no web. 

The first website ever created was made by the man who invented the Web. Sir Tim Berners-Lee created the first website. It's still up and running and features hyperlinks to other sites. The link is http://info.cern.ch. This website looks nothing like the websites we can see today all over the web. 

Hedy Lamarr was an actress and inventor that created the technology that is now the basis of today's Wifi, GPS, and Bluetooth systems. During the 1940s, Lamarr went on to think of ideas and innovations that could combat the axis powers. She came up with a communication system that guided torpedoes to their targets by the use of frequency hopping on radio waves. Both the receiver and transmitter would hop these frequencies together which prevented interception on the radio waves. Lamarr has a song written about her by Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp titled, “This Is A Song For Miss Hedy Lamarr.” 

Dr. Jaap Haartsen was the inventor of Bluetooth when he was tasked with finding a short-range radio connection. He eventually came up with a technology that used UHF radio waves at 2.4 Ghz. However, Wifi was also on this frequency so he came up with a way to use the frequency hopping techniques created by Lamarr for Bluetooth connections. The name was made up by Jim Kardach, an intel employee, and originally said the name as a code name until they can make a better one. The name came from a Viking King, Harald Gormsson, who was said to have had a rotting front tooth that was bluish in color. Gormsson was known for uniting Denmark and Norway together, and kardach thought that it was similar to what they were trying to do. Between the patents and issues with licensing, it was impossible to come up with a new name. They continued with the Nordic inspiration by using Nordic characters for “H” and “B” which are the first letters of Harold Bluetooth. 

Many people helped in the creation of WIFI. Starting with Hedy Lamarr and George Antheil, who teamed together to create the frequency hopping communication system. Then John O’Sullivan developed the underlying technology for the development of WIFI completely by accident. Then he and his team worked through challenges to create the first wireless communication system. Many say that WIFI stands for Wireless Fidelity or that its a play on words for Hi-Fi, which stands for High Fidelity. Others assume that the name means nothing and that it was just a catchy name.

-Natalie Kotz