Networking
January 1 TCP/IP
On January 1, 1983, 400 computers on ARPANET, the predecessor of the Internet, hooked up to each other using Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
Twenty-five years later, TCP/IP powers the modern Internet. Google marks this important anniversary with a very special Google Doodle.
The confetti at the bottom forms the words SYN SYN/ACK ACK — synchronize, synchronize/acknowledge, acknowledge — the three-way handshake of a TCP/IP connection.
Twenty-five years after that first historic handshake, the world is connected. May 2008 bring you even more heartfelt handshakes and meaningful connections.
The NBN is Just Stupid
Why are people talking as if the Philippine National Broadband Network deal makes any sense at all? If the Philippine government wants to get connected, have them hook their offices up to existing Philippine ISPs and be done with it. A government VPN over DSL, cable, and satellite plans from the best providers in each province would cost far less to build and maintain than this $329 million white elephant.
Connectivity is a commodity. The Philippine government is not YouTube; its bandwidth requirements simply do not justify building its own Internet backbone. Whatever your politics are, the NBN is just stupid.
