Slashdot Mirror


Who Invented Packet-Switching?

Saint Aardvark writes "It's how the Internet works, and now who invented packet-switching is under dispute. A posthumous paper by British scientist Dr. Donald Davies disputes the claim by Leonard Kleinrock to have invented the technique, saying Kleinrock never took it beyond the case of a single node. Kleinrock, whose lab was the first node on Arpanet, is willing to concede that Davies invented the term "packet-switching.""

161 comments

  1. This one is easy ... by BESTouff · · Score: 3, Funny

    ... it's Microsoft, of course !

    1. Re:This one is easy ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Sigh, another victim of Microsoft propoganda. The answer is clearly Al Gore.

      (yes I know he really never said he invented the Internet)

    2. Re:This one is easy ... by Count+Fecal · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      No, no, no. Apple invented it and Microsoft stole it from them.

    3. Re:This one is easy ... by turd191 · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      Then apple must have stolen it from Xerox!

    4. Re:This one is easy ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then Xerox must have taken the initiative to steal it from Al Gore.

    5. Re:This one is easy ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, it was discovered by Natalie Portman. Al Gore only found out about it because she talks in her sleep.

    6. Re:This one is easy ... by Orig · · Score: 1

      No! You are all wrong!
      Everyboddy knows it was Al Gore who invented packet switching.

    7. Re:This one is easy ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nope ... Al Gore

    8. Re:This one is easy ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How can you have the first network node? Unless I am TRULY fuzzy on the concepts involved, it takes two to tango. The minimum number of nodes to have a network is two. Both act virtually simultaneously, neither acts alone.

      Am I missing something or is that guy's website deliberately misleading?

  2. Dispute? by Sc00ter · · Score: 1, Insightful
    "Kleinrock, whose lab was the first node on Arpanet, is willing to concede that Davies invented the term "packet-switching.""



    If Kleinrock conceded, then there's not really a dispute, is there?

    1. Re:Dispute? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "invented the term"

      pretty self-explanitory.

    2. Re:Dispute? by peter_gzowski · · Score: 3, Informative

      Kleinrock conceded that Davies invented the term packet-switching, but not the concept of packet switching. William Gibson is credited with coining the term "cyberspace", yet he is not involved in this debate of who invented the internet.

      --
      "Now gluttony and exploitation serves eight!" - TV's Frank
    3. Re:Dispute? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Well Donald developed a packet based transmission scheme and implemented it at the NPL so they could make better use of their dedicated BT lines, he termed the invention Packet Switching, it was a practical invention not an abstract paper.

    4. Re:Dispute? by xmedar · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Davies did invent packet switching, and Britain would have been well ahead of the US if the R&D had been funded, unfortuantely, Tony Benn MP, at the time the Science Minister refused to fund it, thus allowing thw US to come in and use what had been created in Britain which then went on to be Arpanet and then the Internet. So born in Britain and raised by the Americans. There is an Open University programme (TV that is) that has an interview with Davies as I recall backfrom the 70s I think where he explains packet switching and the series of events that lead to the knucklehead UK politicians cutting the funding.

      --
      Any sufficiently advanced man is indistinguishable from God
  3. Word on the street by gmkeegan · · Score: 4, Funny

    I could have sworn that it was Al Gore. He put all of the packets into a lockbox, then switched it for another lockbox.

    1. Re:Word on the street by josh253 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      He invented pants too.

    2. Re:Word on the street by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No. Mr. Gore invented patents, not pants. He patented the internet, you know.

    3. Re:Word on the street by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't you hate pants?

    4. Re:Word on the street by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've always been thankful for that.
      Those bushes were scratching my balls.

  4. I believe... by dhamsaic · · Score: 0, Redundant

    I believe that was Mr. Albert Gore, ex-Vice President and He Who Was Instrumental In The Creation Of Everything Internet Related.

    --
    Every once in a while I like to masturbate a new word into my vocabulary, even if I don't know what it means.
    1. Re:I believe... by josh253 · · Score: 1

      And pants...

  5. who invented it? by crazyprogrammer · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Al Gore. If he invented the internet, then he must have invented packet switching first

    --
    "the fax machine is nothing but a waffle iron with a phone attached to it." - Grandpa Simpson
    1. Re:who invented it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      hardy har har. WELL worth burning the karama! Add to that the fact that he didn't invent it (obviously) and he never said he did either (a nuance lost on many), and this is a rare instance where 'karma points' live up to their name.

  6. Let me get something straight by Mignon · · Score: 5, Funny
    A posthumous paper...

    I thought it was "publish or perish." Now you're telling me it's "publish and perish"?

    I'm glad I got out of academia.

    1. Re:Let me get something straight by zentigger · · Score: 1

      actually, this would be more a case of perish then publish...

      --

      the above is my personal opinion and does not necessarily reflect that of the little voices in my head

    2. Re:Let me get something straight by Mignon · · Score: 3, Funny
      Moderation Totals: Troll=1, ...

      That must have been my former advisor.

    3. Re:Let me get something straight by Teratogen · · Score: 1

      perish, then publish

      --
      --- even the safest course is fraught with peril
  7. Re:Al GORE of course by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Al Gore Sr created Al Gore...

    Soon Al Gore Jr will create Al Gore Jr Jr, and so on...

    Recursion!

  8. A Posthumous Paper? by z84976 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Ye Gads!!! Forget packetswiching, this person has learned to communicate from beyond the grave!!

    1. Re:A Posthumous Paper? by errxn · · Score: 1

      Now THAT'S asynchronous communication for ya!

      --
      In Soviet Russia, Chuck Norris will still kick your ass.
  9. Patent 01013494052-3490432 by dirtmerchant · · Score: 1

    This memorandum is meant to inform the readers of the website known commonly as "Slashdot" that our client currently holds the patent (number 01013494052-3490432) for the technology known as "Packet-Switching" and will require a per-use fee for the rest of your pathetic fucking lives to utilize this technology.

  10. It's a lie! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Everyone know Gore invented it when he invented the internet!

    ;)

  11. Al wins by majority by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Dr. Donald Davies = 0 votes, Leonard Kleinrock = 0 votes, Al Gore = 4, microsoft = 1, the "I did" votes don't count. And I give 1 vote to CowboyNeal !

    1. Re:Al wins by majority by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Since when has Al Gore won elections where he merely has a majority of the votes? Allowing him to win on that basis would be outrageous, and I should know - Rush Limbaugh told me...

  12. What's the point? by truthsearch · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Flamebait, but I've got karma to burn... Does this really matter? No offense to either party involved. They've both obviously contributed valuable work to society. But this is just another piece of the puzzle, and they can share credit for it. I'm sure it's listed on both of their resumes.

    If anyone could explain why this gains news-worthy attention, please post. If this dispute does in fact matter to anyone but the parties involved, I'd like to know how.

    1. Re:What's the point? by gorilla · · Score: 2

      I think it's fair to say that almost anything which has been invented in the last 2000 years or so has been a joint effort. Some people make the first version, which shows that the concept works, but it's not practical. Some other people take that concept and make a it practical design. Some other people take the practical design and make a product out of it.

    2. Re:What's the point? by mark_lybarger · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      hit the nail on the head there. it's a friday. better this than having anthrax stories all around this place :). i come to slashdot to get away from anthrax, so if squabbles over packet-switching inventors is all they can muster up toady, i'll take it.

    3. Re:What's the point? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because Truth, Honesty, and Integrity matter...

      Well, except for Bill Clinton.

    4. Re:What's the point? by csbruce · · Score: 2

      Does this really matter? No offense to either party involved. They've both obviously contributed valuable work to society. But this is just another piece of the puzzle, and they can share credit for it.

      Seeking individual credit and glory would be one of the motivating factors behind doing any open-source development. For important historical developments, it's only natural that individuals would want to take credit and that other people would find this individual credit news-worthy.

      "I have never seen a statue of a committee." -- unknown

    5. Re:What's the point? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's great and all, untill you remember that the internet is not packet switched. Sure, some segments are, undoubtedly. The internet at large is a routed system, not the switched system that was the embodiment of the ARPANET ideal.

      Meaning, it's more succeptible to flaws in the network. Eg. If a nuke took out a few good sized router houses, the internet would come to a screatching halt.

    6. Re:What's the point? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You clearly don't now what packet switching is. Please go away.

  13. Ethernet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And I thought that Digital Equipment Corporation developed communications across the ethernet.

    1. Re:Ethernet? by hughk · · Score: 1
      The Ethernet LAN came originally from Xerox who in turn based this on the University of Hawaii's work on Aloha. The full commercial realisation of the Ethernet only came about after a joint project between Xerox, Intel and Digital Equipment. Token Ring, I believe was IBM and came out of something called the Cambridge Ring.

      All of this came somewhat after packet switching, which had grown out of a better way to efficiently to use the bandwidth of fixed links as well as offerring redundancy.

      --
      See my journal, I write things there
  14. This is ridiculous... by mellonhead · · Score: 2, Funny

    Next thing you know someone will claim Steve Jobs didn't invent the GUI and Bill Gates didn't write DOS...

    1. Re:This is ridiculous... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it's really funny the examples you picked, cause actually apple got its first GUI from xerox PARC, and gates actually bought DOS from a friend i think, or something? i saw it on pirates of silicon valley check it out sometime.

    2. Re:This is ridiculous... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stevie stole the GUI idea from xerox parc

    3. Re:This is ridiculous... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hope you realize that Steve Jobs didn't invent the GUI, Xerox did. Steve Jobs bought it from Xerox.

  15. how to tell... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How to tell your a total loss as a human:

    (I determined this after reading the first 15 posts)

    1) If you thought something about Al Gore when you read the write up, you are already half lost as a human being. There is still hope, however, and redemption lies in getting a girlfriend soon, or at least a modicum of action.

    2) If you actually took time to post something about Al Gore, you are totally lost as a human. There is no hope, and you should just as well give up ever having a normal relationship with anyone in society besides your Linux machine named DarkForce.

    1. Re:how to tell... by Count+Fecal · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      I don't think you get it.

    2. Re:how to tell... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I see you too took the time to post something about Gore.

  16. Re:Al GORE of course by stark_fist_05 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Obviously you have never seen Al Gore. It is well suspected that Al is a Robotic Creation devised to bore The Masses into servitude. The mystery is just who is behind this maniacal plot.

  17. Naming Rights and Name Switching by Kailden · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Then again, who invented packets? Who invented bytes? who invented bits? who invented the binary system? (I heard it was sheperds who needed to count lots of sheep so the used thier fingers as representations of powers of two.) Who invented numeric series? who advance math beyond numeric purity? who invented thought? Why does everyone want to take credit for everything? Too many battles are fought over naming rights....when the history revisionists will ultimately decide...not any single inventor. I mean there are still works of music, writing, and math from the Middle Ages on up that are attributed to the wrong people...(who invented inflated biographies?)

    --
    I need a TiVo for my car. Pause live traffic now.
    1. Re:Naming Rights and Name Switching by blazin · · Score: 2

      Imagine all the confusion and offended people when the shepherds were just trying to show them they had 4 sheep...

    2. Re:Naming Rights and Name Switching by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you referring to the so-called "Russian peasant" arithmetic?

    3. Re:Naming Rights and Name Switching by Kailden · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure. I am talking about your fingers being the representations of powers of two...

      I.e
      If a finger is extended then it is a 1 in binary, otherwise a 0

      So for the first six numbers (and zero):

      decimal binary fingers extended
      0 00000 none
      1 00001 thumb
      2 00010 index
      3 00011 index, thumb
      4 00100 middle (thus the joke)
      5 00101 middle,thumb
      6 01000 ring

      so you can count up to 2^4+2^3+2^2+2^1+2^0 (31) on just one hand. Then you can use your other hand for 5 more bits of significant digits.

      --
      I need a TiVo for my car. Pause live traffic now.
    4. Re:Naming Rights and Name Switching by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I believe Claude Shannon (Father of Information Theory, try a google search) coined the term bit for binary digit. He also also decided to use the thermodynamic term 'entropy' to describe information. Lots more, really cool guy. If you've never heard of him, you'll be amazed.

      -Matt

    5. Re:Naming Rights and Name Switching by cicadia · · Score: 1

      Actually, he credits the term 'bit' to the statistician John Tukey.

      Shannon was, though, I believe, the first person to call the uncertainty function re: communications 'Entropy', based on its similarity to the thermodynamic equations.

      --
      Living better through chemicals
  18. What about Paul Baran? by Florian+Weimer · · Score: 5, Interesting

    According to Hafner's and Lyon's "Where wizards stay up late" (an interesting read), Paul Baran was the guy who invented packet switching in the ARPANET context (he called packets "message blocks"). But AT&T (the company which eventually had to provide the communication lines) wasn't very happy about this idea, so he stopped working on this issue. About the same time, Davies started his experiments (and so did Kleinrock). Kleinrock might have considered packet switching in his very early theoretical articles on data communication, but it's not that clear that he was the first one to do practical, large-scale experiments (this was Davies, IIRC), or to consider packet switching the ARPANET context (clearly Baran).

  19. Equal Inventors by Master+Of+Ninja · · Score: 1, Interesting

    These kind of things will be shrouded in the mystery of time forever, i mean come on it was back in 1960 when no-one would think of the importance of the internet.

    An example is of Newton and Leibniz who both claim to have discovered differential mathematics. I seem to remember there were vicious arguments between the supporters of both about it, with Newton bribing some college to declare him the inventor. I think now both are credited with its invention (would be happy if there would be anyone to confirm this).

    The point is that the only ones who will care are their supporters. I think history will both remember them as instrumental in "packet switching".

  20. Patent Whores by Alien54 · · Score: 1
    As long as this does not turn into another legal dispute where some lawyers try to profiteer by holding the internet hostage, sounding like another Pinky and the Brain scheme to take over the world.

    But in truth, this is merely fighting over who gets to put what on their gravestones.

    --
    "It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
  21. The real victim is society by CmdrTroll · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Whether the dispute be over bragging rights (as it is in this case), patent rights, or any other motivation, it is astounding to see how many talented techies are tying themselves up by squabbling over trivial matters like credit and ego.

    This kind of thing, though human nature, does little to counter the commonly-held image of the technology industry as being run by a bunch of self-absorbed, egotistical credit hogs. That's really a shame. It would be so much more productive to society if these people would concentrate more on innovating, applying their talents, and other productive activities. Not on taking credit for what happened 30 years ago. What a terrible waste. As somebody who has his name on several patents but would never waste his time fighting for them, I am ashamed.

    </rant>

    -CT

    1. Re:The real victim is society by mellonhead · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Why am I having a hard time believing that someone going by the nick, "CmdrTroll", has his name on several patents? Let me guess, you invented the first post?

    2. Re:The real victim is society by Tassach · · Score: 2

      What's so hard to believe? It seems the US Patent Office is handing them out for just about any stupid idea these days, regardless of common sense or prior art (One-click shopping, all the "business method" patents, etc). The way it's been going, it wouldn't suprise me if they issued a patent for fire or the wheel.

      --
      Why is it that the proponents of "one nation under God" are so eager to get rid of "liberty and justice for all"?
    3. Re:The real victim is society by Alomex · · Score: 2

      are tying themselves up by squabbling over trivial matters like credit and ego.

      There are other reasons beyond ego. Your entire research fuinding might double if proper attribution is made.

  22. The answer is... neither of them by owlmeat · · Score: 4, Redundant

    According to this document,
    Paul Baran of the Rand Corporation came up with the idea and name
    of packet switching in 1962.

    --
    They stab it with their steely knives,

    But they just can't kill the beast.

    1. Re:The answer is... neither of them by Count+Fecal · · Score: 1

      This site states that Paul Baran's work first appeared in a series of RAND studies published between 1960 and 1962.

    2. Re:The answer is... neither of them by Count+Fecal · · Score: 1

      Correction...
      The site is here.

    3. Re:The answer is... neither of them by mogdax · · Score: 1

      ... and apparently the first production network based only on packet switching (as is IP today) was Cyclades, as described in this interview (in french):

      http://www.isoc.asso.fr/AUTRANS98/lpouzin.htm

      ARPAnet had not "pure" packet switching, according to the same source.

  23. remember who? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    I think history will both remember them as instrumental in "packet switching".



    who both? i didn't read the article...or the headline....

  24. He's Dead by Sloppy · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Whoever invented it, was probably a messenger who died thousands of years ago.

    Packet switching is something that people do in Real Life, where the idea got recycled for use on computer networks. It's not an original idea for this century, and arguing about who invented it, is totally lame.

    --
    As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
    1. Re:He's Dead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You could possibly trace it back as far as the Battle of Marathon, but no farther.

      If the messenger at Marathon had known about packet switching, he likely wouldn't have collapsed and died upon delivering the message single-handedly.

    2. Re:He's Dead by john@iastate.edu · · Score: 2
      Yea, Columbus was a packet switcher, he divided his message, "Here have some smallpox", into three packets, put one on each of the Nova, Pinto, and Santa Montero, and then reassembled it on the other end of the trans-Atlantic hop.

      Seriously, I doubt there was much ancient application of packet-switching -- why would anyone whack parchment or stone tablets into "packets"?

      --
      Shut up, be happy. The conveniences you demanded are now mandatory. -- Jello Biafra
    3. Re:He's Dead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You think he also invented syncronous routing? He took smallpox and returned syphilis.

    4. Re:He's Dead by damiangerous · · Score: 1
      why would anyone whack parchment or stone tablets into "packets"?


      Not stone, of course, but to carry long and/or secret messages by carrier pigeon. It was common for pigeons to get lost, fall prey to predators or even be captured/netted/shot before making it home with their message. Redundancy ensured the message got through and diminished the value of a single "compromised" pigeon.

  25. Bill Gates and Microsoft invented packets by Ukab+the+Great · · Score: 3, Funny

    Bill explained this quite clearly at his press conference yesterday. If Microsoft didn't invent TCP/IP, open source never would have made it.

  26. Correction by kvx · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Microsoft didn't invent packet switching.

    Microsoft innovated packet switching.

  27. All just a bit of history repeating by Aztech · · Score: 5, Interesting

    When it comes to British inventors/inventions this is all too common occurrence, there is some great innovation in the UK but traditionally they concepts aren't followed through to commercialisation.

    It happened to Sir Frank Whittle and the jet engine and consequently the first supersonic fighter, the Bell 1 which was based on the British design after the British Government withdrew funding for the project.

    There was also the debacle over public key crypto research at GCHQ.

    Donald Davies worked a the National Physical Laboratory in Middlesex, unfortunately the British Govt/Grants agency didn't see the potential of the invention at the time and no funded was given, so he went over to APRA who were throwing money at anything.

    Donald died June last year at in Australia, where he went to retire, he didn't get a lot of recognition outside of a few small circles, but he did get quite a few awards from the various computing institutions in the UK, I think he's still relatively unknown in the US, probably because he was too modest, which is why some many scientists can claim to have invented Packet Switching.

    1. Re:All just a bit of history repeating by Aztech · · Score: 2
      Forgot, you can find further deatils here

      "He is not always given full credit for his contribution because Paul Baran, an American working at the Rand Corporation in California, had independently come up with the same idea. However, Baran was focusing on a way to restructure AT&T's telephone system. Davies was creating a data network, and the design of the Arpanet, the precursor of the internet, was changed completely to adopt his technique.

      Also, Davies's term for the idea, which he called "packet switching", was much catchier than Baran's "distributed adaptive message block switching".
    2. Re:All just a bit of history repeating by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Very intesting article, he worked with Turing apparently :-

      "At Imperial he attended a lecture about ACE, one of the first digital computers, which was being built at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), and promptly applied to join the team. There he worked with Alan Turing, the computer pioneer best known for his wartime code-breaking work at Bletchley Park, and stayed for 37 years, a well-respected member of Britain's scientific civil service."

      I guess the civil service bit explains the commercialisation points.

    3. Re:All just a bit of history repeating by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      "unfortunately the British Govt/Grants agency didn't see the potential of the invention"
      This was the blunder of the infamous Tony Benn (or 'Lord Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn') who was Ministry of Technology in the ill-fated 60's Labour government, even though he claimed to be very interested in technology, Benn's time was constantly occupied with criticising the British class system, even though he came from a highly privileged background, private schools and Oxford.

      Motto of the story, always keep your eye on the ball.
    4. Re:All just a bit of history repeating by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not to mention that British guy who broke the sound barrier by reversing the controls... Nowadays all the credit goes to a fictional American test pilot named "Chuck Yeager"

  28. As every well read Illuminati should know. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I believe if you check your sources you will see that Al Gore invented it. He invented all of it.

    As a side note, he also receives a +8 for control of any green group!!!

  29. Robert Hooke (1635-1703) by BillyGoatThree · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Unfortunately I can't find a link. And I'm not sure I've got the right guy. In any case, I distinctly recall reading about a Newton-era, London-based "natural philosopher" revamping the British mail system to be "packet switched" (obviously they didn't call it that then) because he proved that it was cheaper than the old system.

    --
    324006
    1. Re:Robert Hooke (1635-1703) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He also founded Hooke's law: The force of a spring is negatively proportional to it's displacement form equilibrium, and Potential Energy of a spring = 1/2kx^2

  30. Hard to say, no single one ... by ling · · Score: 2, Informative


    It is really hard to tell who invented Internet, must be lots of people. I don't like "Leonard Kleinrock, Professor" webpage to claim he is the inventor. At least show me a publication, tell us you real have the vision on packet switch before you put a single node on. At least, single node is far from Internet. Shanon left us a great paper to tell us what is the limit of communication, we are trying hard to approach it.
    We can not say the company working on Turbo coding invented/discovered Shanon therory, can we?


    Leonard Kleinrock 's work is on Queueing theory, not packet switch. He maybe a pioneer, but not worth the Inventor title. I agree on this, "The Internet is really the work of a thousand people," Mr. Baran said. "And of all the stories about what different people have done, all the pieces fit together. It's just this one little case that seems to be an aberration."



    You agree with me or not? :)

  31. Re:Al GORE of course by errxn · · Score: 1

    It's not just recursion. It's recursion gone horribly wrong.

    --
    In Soviet Russia, Chuck Norris will still kick your ass.
  32. Spanish Inquisition! by Libertaine · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    It had to be the Spanish Inquisition.
    NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!

  33. Davies' Actual Paper by napir · · Score: 2, Informative

    The actual text of Davies' paper is available in Google's cache here

  34. One-node network sims were not that odd then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When this was being considered, the iron to build real networks was relatively expensive and not always very reliable; this continued for some years. Many of us would use multitaking OSs to emulate networks in the 60s and 70s, using software constructs to fake real transmission. Thus the claim that the tests were one node only is not NECESSARILY a valid criticism.

  35. Tesla invented it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just like Tesla invented everything else that's useful and revolutionary in the past century.

  36. humbug by joss · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    It seems curious to me how often some Brit comes along and claims that they invented something a few years after everybody has accredited someone else with the idea.

    There are various excuses for this: sometimes it's official secrets act (computers, public key cryptography, etc), but more often it's a case of "oh, I thought of that but didn't do anything about it". Even as a Brit, my response to these claims is "yeah, whatever". If you did invent it, then you should have made the most of it at the time. As a non-Brit I would be more irritated than impressed by these claims.

    On the other hand, we're not the only nation that has a tendancy to claim we invented everything ;)

    --
    http://rareformnewmedia.com/
    1. Re:humbug by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Flamebait, though it is, there is a kernel of truth there.

      Here is the most absurd claim.

    2. Re:humbug by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      "It seems curious to me how often some Brit comes along and claims that they invented something a few years after everybody has accredited someone else with the idea."
      Nobody has came along with any sudden revelations, Donald Davies' papers have been out in the public domain for over thirty years, he sadly died last year, the difference is people are no longer overlooking the significance of his work and are generally looking much deeper into the history of the net, rather than just scratching the surface.

      Basically the net has been full of scientists yelling "hey... look at me, I invented such a such" then consequentially they get lots of press and funding for their new lab or project etc, it's hard to compete with that if you're hidden in history, even in the 60's Mr Davies was a generally shy guy who didn't blow his own trumpet at every opportunity. If you go and read some bio's you will see he wasn't particularly interested in commercial stuff anyway, there is nothing to say he was resentful either, of other vocal people claiming to have invented Packet Switching, or people who made Packet Switching a commercial success.

      I'm not sure if you're a deliberate troll or generally ignorant of any history that goes beyond scratching the surface, I'm not sure which is worse either.
    3. Re:humbug by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't use one company's abuse of patents and history to claim that any innovation in the UK is spurious, BT are a joke, they have been seen as such in the UK for many years, nobody basically in the UK believes BT's claims are valid. Also, this 'patent' BT claim to have is a concern for the US Patent office, there isn't a UK patent for such a joke.

      Packet Switching is quite the opposite, the guy didn't cash in on it back in the 60's or in recent years, the same was true of the Public Key research, the scientists kept quiet for many years and still didn't really comment on their work, in fact the spook behind it, James Ellis died before any of the work at GCHQ was made public.

  37. This is a big mess. by The+Cunctator · · Score: 5, Insightful
    This is something I've done a lot of research about, and in fact have discussed this issue with Kleinrock and Stewart Brand (who is pro-Baran & Davies), and read Davies' paper. The first thing people should know is that Katie Hafner is the author of "Where Wizards Stay Up Late", a book she assiduously researched but which many of the participants within claim she did a bad job on. I think they might be confusing some of it with Janet Abbate's "Inventing the Internet", which I wasn't terribly impressed by.

    This is Hafner's passage of interest:

    By the end of July, 1968, Roberts had finished drafting the RFP...It was a rich piece of technical prose, filled with an eclectic mix of ideas. Kleinrock had influsenced Roberts's earliest thoughts about the theoretical possibilities. Baran had contributed to the intellectual foundation on which the technical concept was based, and Roberts's dynamic routing scheme gave an extra nod to Baran's work; Roberts had adopted Davies' term "Packet" and incorporated his and Scantlebury's higher line speeds; Clark's subnet idea was a stroke of technical genius.

    Then she continues with a quote from Baran that "Everything is tied to everything else" with respect to who did the most important part.

    It's weird, because from my perspective the participants seem to be arguing and use strong language like "spreading lies" to describe the alternative history, but when you look at the specifics, the dispute lies on some very fine nuances which are evidently impossible to untangle now, and may only be creations of recent times.

    The number one question, to my understanding, is whether packet switching is such a central concept that the work by Baran and Davies which details it (since they both built experimental packet-switching networks and then wrote extensively about them, providing a base of information for Roberts) is important, or whether it really should just be understood as a relatively arbitrary (and self-obvious) implementation of multiple-node store-and-forward queuing theory, which Kleinrock is the father of, no question.

    Did Baran and Davies' work matter to the ARPANET? It pretty much has to have. Baran wrote multiple volumes of detailed information from his experimental network; those volumes were available to and used by Bob Taylor, Roberts' boss and (according to Brand, at least) in the Baran camp, and Roberts credits them heavily in his early work.

    All the early documentary evidence points only to Baran and Davies. However, the close association of Roberts and Kleinrock, the fact that Roberts helped Kleinrock do his thesis by doing programming for it (funny fact: the third guy in their little Lincoln Lab thesis group was Ivan Sutherland), and Kleinrock's lab's role as the first IMP site and ARPANET analysis center makes it absurd to believe that Kleinrock's influence wasn't major.

    Of course, framing the dispute this way ignores how crucial the work of BBN was in all of this; they were amazing in designing and building the IMP. While Roberts' RFP had insane amounts of information, the IMP Guys did equivalent amounts of new work and recreation of ideas in their proposal.
    --

    --
    Make mine methylphenidate.

    1. Re:This is a big mess. by alext · · Score: 1

      Most reasonable...

      Did Baran and Davies' work matter to the ARPANET? It pretty much has to have.

      I think so - I read that Davies and a colleague visited Baran and worked with him for a while. (I live near the NPL in Teddington, west London and so can point out to fellow geeks that that's where packets come from. But more importantly, it's the home of the Benny Hill show! (Teddington Studios)).

  38. Invention? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Who Invented what. It's an interesting question, but in many cases it is rather moot and impossible to decypher. If 3 people enter a room, and out comes an idea then you can readily ascribe it to the 3 people who entered the room. But can you split hairs to determine who's idea it was? (maybe it wasn't an individuals, maybe it was but hadn't been completely worked out yet, etc..)

    If 3 people thousands of miles apart develop the same general idea and implement it, no matter how significantly and only communicate about it afterwards, whos the inventor?

    I implemented a line drawing algorithm when I was 14. Having never seen code to draw a line and knowing there had to be a more efficient way than using floats, etc to accomplish it. It worked. A few years later I saw a published article with the same algorithm. It predated me by atleast 15yrs. (Breshnam [sp?])

    Does that make mine less significant? To me it is cool. And tells me that Software patents are a really bad idea.

    When it comes to computers most of the programming population is on equal footing. When presented with a challenege they often come up with the same solutions. This makes tracking invention of some things quite difficult. (As for packet switching, truth is, it existed before computers. Sometimes refered to as snail-mail...)

    As for somebody's remark about someone not publishing much on the subject, so? Doesn't mean he DIDNT invent it. I've strongly influenced software projects I wasn't on. I don't get credit for it, and my boss at the time didn't even know. He seemed suprised I would take some of the credit in a later conversation. (I wasn't bragging at the time, I was explaining why I understood how that project had been implemented.). If the programmer who wrote the application claimed it was her idea I could never win an argument about it. I still know the truth.

  39. The inventor of packet switching. by zerofoo · · Score: 1

    While developing the underlying archetecture of the internet, Al Gore invented packet switching. Of course this was accomplished later in his career. Everyone knows he invented the telephone as well. Watson was his assistant, not bell's.

    -ted

    1. Re:The inventor of packet switching. by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 2

      Um, everyone does know that Gore never claimed to have invented the Internet, right?

      Of course. Everyone on /. is much too smart to fall for that absurd bit of Republican propaganda.

      Of course.

      --
      The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
    2. Re:The inventor of packet switching. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."

      That was a dumb thing to say. Even though he didn't mean what people took it to mean, it's all too easy for people in this soundbyte-infatuated world to take stuff like that out of context.

      Thank God we've at least got the Democratic party, who would never stoop to such a thing.

  40. Wrong you idiot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ethernet was invented by Eric Metcalf who later went on to work for Dec. He was part of the Arpanet team that invented packet switching. Lets face it, Arpanet was in America so how did this UK guy invent it when he didn't even have a friggin network to test it out on? Oh sure, if that's the case I invented nuclear fission too, because I thought about it 20 years ago. Give me a break.

    1. Re:Wrong you idiot by hughk · · Score: 1
      For your first point, you will find that the original Ethernet docs all carry three company names on it. The Ethernet isn't particularly relevant because it is technically CSMA with no switching of packets on the LAN. All that stuff about LAN switches and Bridge-Routers came much later. I think you may be a little confused between a LAN and a WAN. All networks used packets to carry their data, the important point about packet-switching being that packets could take different routes on the WAN and be reassembled in the right order for delivery.

      In the UK, most research centres were networked from quite early on. No packet switches, just quite expensive fixed lines and modem over POTS. It became what was called JANET later and it continues now. Originally it was based on X.25 packet switch technology with own protocols sitting on top. Now it runs IP.

      As for Davies, he was definitely well known and I have one of his books on network security - very knowledgeable. He certainly would have had access to the early networks.

      --
      See my journal, I write things there
    2. Re:Wrong you idiot by man_ls · · Score: 2

      And QDOS was a free operating system! Tim Patterson was disgrunteled that the current version of CP/M wouldn't run on his hardware, and he wanted it to work NOW! So he wrote his own. Quick and Dirty Operating System, he called it. MS bought it for what is pittance now (IIRC, $4000?) remapped the letters a bit, and kept until Windows XP.

  41. Wrong you idiot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Microsoft bought QDOS (which stoof for quich and dirty operating system, as a matter of fact) from Tim Patterson of Seattle Computer solutions, or somthing like that. Then, after they ran the guy out of business they hired him. Get your facts straight you moron.

  42. For more information... by frank_adrian314159 · · Score: 3, Informative
    ... you can always check out this little page by Bruce Stirling.

    This article makes it clear that, although the first tests of packet switching were done in Great Britain, the idea was initially kicked around by the dudes at the RAND Institute. I also have heard speculation that Bell Labs had explored this as a possibility as early as the early '60's, but had rejected it as a way to gain reliability in their network due to cost considerations (A-D converters and computers being a bit more expensive at the time).

    --
    That is all.
  43. why again, europe vs. america by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You know what is going to happen. Some dude from mesopotanian is going to claim that "some" derivative hyptertext bullshit is derived from some 10k bc caveman drawing is derived from some fucking dinosaur. give it a fucking rest. by the way i hate u all

    1. Re:why again, europe vs. america by thaig · · Score: 1

      You mean Britain vs America - Europe is another place :-)

      Regards,

      Tim

      --
      This is all just my personal opinion.
  44. Some background from a well informed article by elliotj · · Score: 2, Informative

    'As with most legends, there is some element of truth at the core of this one, but some considerable confusion over the details. This particular confusion traces back to the work of Rand Corporation engineer Paul Baran, one of the three people with some claim to having independently developed the ideas of packet switching. Baran described some of the methods of packet switching in a series of eleven reports published in 1964 with the title "On Distributed Communications."'

    'The phrase "packet switching" was coined by Donald Davies, another of the three independent "inventors" of packet switching. Davies was working on designs for distributed computer communications at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in England.'

    'The ARPANET development would be closely affected by the third of the independent "inventors" of packet switching--Leonard Kleinrock. ... Before he finished his graduate research, Kleinrock learned of Paul Baran's work, and he cites Baran in his dissertation. But, well before he learned of Baran's ideas for a distributed process network, Kleinrock had analyzed the statistical behavior of such networks. Kleinrock has some claim to priority in the concepts of packet switching, in a 1961 quarterly lab report, "Information Flow in Large Communication Nets," and he published the first textbook discussion of packet switching network behaviors in 1964, Communication Nets: Stochastic Message Flow and Delay.'

    -- The Roots of Packet Switching Networks.

  45. Wrong you idiot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Gore claimed to "have taken the initiative to create the Internet" or something like that, because he voted for some funding to enhance ARPANET, or something like that. So if you want to be pedantic aboout the whole bloody situation, yes, he never claimed to have invented the Internet. But in essence what he did was try to take the credit for something which he played no part in. It's like saying you took the initiative to create Nike running shoes because you voted to fund the Boston Marathon. So get your facts straight you moron.

  46. Like NYT says, these disputes are common by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you see a bunch of particle physicists (particularly if some are from Brookhaven or MIT), just try asking them about who discovered the J/Psi particle. But be ready to get out of the way when physicists start getting thrown across the room!

  47. Re:Al GORE of course by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What happens when pasta and antipasta collide?

    They'd annihilate each other... IF there was such a thing as "antipasta".

    On the other hand, when pasta and antipasto collide, nothing happens except it makes a big mess.

    So tell me, are you antipasto or provolone?

  48. Wasn't it.... by voxlator · · Score: 1

    Hugh Hefner ? Opps, my mistake, it's 'packet switching' they are talking about, I thought they were disputing 'package twitching'...

  49. neither... 'twas the Post Office by Kwantus · · Score: 1

    ... or whoever invented mail. Each PO or similar collection of boxes is a host, postal/ZIP codes usually correpond to IP addresses each box is a port, postcards are packets, envelopes are encryption, both systems have return addresses, multiple transparent transport media (some are point to point; some are token ring; ethernet has no good analogue...), etc. The Internet is just an abstracted, automated Post Office system.

  50. References about the Al Gore Internet smear by Seth+Finkelstein · · Score: 2
    Sigh, maybe it's time to burn a karma point or two. This may be taken to be flamebait, but hopefully the references below will redeem it.

    The story that Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet has been thoroughly debunked by Phil Agre in http://commons.somewhere.com/rre/2000/RRE.Al.Gore. and.the.Inte.html and rebutted further later
    That meme was a creation of Declan McCullagh, a "reporter" for Wired News who is politically a dogmatic Libertarian so extreme that he managed to get a book chapter using him as a poster-boy for Libertarian ideologues, and a different book chapter using him as Libertarian joke-fodder.
    If you think this is flame-bait, the aspect of his fabricated story being a Liberatarian hit-piece on Al Gore was extensively discussed in a debunking by Salon

    After Declan McCullagh was repeatedly taken to task for his hatchet-job, over more than year, by everyone who was there, from Dave Farberto Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerf, Declan finally grudgingly retracted the "story"

    But people still repeat it, because urban legends never die.

    Sig: What Happened To The Censorware Project (censorware.org)

    1. Re:References about the Al Gore Internet smear by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Very impressive, my young Jedi... but can you rebut the story that Al Gore claimed he and Tipper were the inspiration for "Love Story" ??

    2. Re:References about the Al Gore Internet smear by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you can't really believe this all about
      getting at the truth.

  51. Who cares? by thetechweenie · · Score: 1

    I don't really care who invented, I'm just glad they did. Otherwise, we wouldn't be reading slash from work, and getting paid! Damn, I love the life of Network Engineering. Now if only I could have a years supply of Funny Bones!

    --


    Um, this is my sig.
  52. What about Al Gore? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What about Al Gore?

  53. Sun invented it. by laserjet · · Score: 2, Funny

    Sun, being the DOT in Dot Com, invented everything that made the internet possible. Of course, this was back in the 80's when they hired Al Gore to head the whole project. Quite a successful venture, that.

    --
    Moon Macrosystems. Sun's biggest competitor.
  54. I DID YOU FUCK NUTERZ by fux0rz · · Score: 0

    haha in j00 face bizithc!

  55. Another British claim? by jxqvg · · Score: 1

    Please, oh please don't let this turn out to be another BT-style hyperlink fiasco.

  56. online copy of paper by Davies by sstammer · · Score: 2, Informative

    The paper by Davies is available online here.

    Tim

  57. Re:Al GORE of course by errxn · · Score: 1

    Hmm...antipasto or provolove...well, I did just eat lunch...

    Actually, you're not the first person to point out the misspelling on my .sig. It's intentional - just a little use of poetic license, that's all. Of course, the argument could be made that "antipasta" is the plural of "antipasto", I guess.

    --
    In Soviet Russia, Chuck Norris will still kick your ass.
  58. That's nothing: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    L. Ron Hubbard has been doing that for years now!

  59. bill gates invented it by thexdane · · Score: 1

    well since bill gates takes credit for creating open source software seen here at the register.

    it is easy to surmise that good old bill invented packet switching too.

    couldn't be al gore he just stole the idea from bill

  60. I did it again! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I did...but can't remember how and when.
    Or, someone did and I bought rights on his life or simply, like usual, steal the idea.

    Bill W. Gates.

  61. Just say Both did by C.+Mattix · · Score: 1

    Just say that both of them did. Kind of like Calculus, where everyone says it was pretty much a tie between Newton and Leibnitz ( I know that isn't spelled right.)

  62. Al GORE, but Dubya stole it by T1girl · · Score: 2

    Of course Al Gore invented packet switching, but the Supreme Court unfortunately gave all the credit to Dubya after that whole chad thing down in Florida

    1. Re:Al GORE, but Dubya stole it by betis70 · · Score: 1

      Have you noticed how Florida has been at the center of a number of problem areas lately? First Elian/Alien, then the Chad-wick scandal you so astutely point out, and later the start of the Anthrax hysteria ...

      Anyone else think the US needs to be emasculated, Gator-football be damned?
      ..

      --
      I forget...are we at war with Eurasia or East Asia?
    2. Re:Al GORE, but Dubya stole it by T1girl · · Score: 2

      Hurricanes, wildfires, shark attacks, dengue fever, FSU's sucky 6-2 season, Janet Reno - the place is a portal to hell, I tell ya. (And where was Dubya on Sept. 11? huh? huh?)

  63. Actually you fools, I invented it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My name is Inego Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die.

    My name is Inego Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die.

    My name is Inego Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die.

    STOP SAYING THAT!!

  64. No, no, no by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I invented packet switching. Right after I concieved of and patented the cursor.

    More lame slashdot to come.

  65. Packet swicthing? by Compuser · · Score: 2

    As I understand it, packet switching is akin to
    a post-office system, i.e. the idea is as old as
    society. What does it matter who remade it into
    digital form?

  66. Al Gore!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Al Gore!!!

  67. Who invented it!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think there is one thing we can all agree on, packet switching wasn't invented by a black man.

  68. Gezz who cares, I've invented PACKET SNIFFING by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and no, it wasn't lassie looking for drugs OK????LASSIE CAN'T SPEAK!!!!

  69. Ego is one of the foundations of open source by GCP · · Score: 1

    People who put a large percentage of their lives into creating some big software project without getting paid in money frequently value adulation even more highly. There are other reasons (solving your own problem, for example), but ego is a major driver of open source.

    This isn't a complaint, but then I have no beef with people who do it for money, either. My only beef is with those who do it for ego disparaging those who do it for money as somehow less noble. Both are hoping to get paid, just in different currency.

    Not that there's anything wrong with that. ;-)

    --
    "Those who have never entered upon scientific pursuits know not a tithe of the poetry by which they are surrounded."
  70. Here is the story of how I invented packet switchi by cmdrTacosBitch · · Score: 0, Flamebait



    Kelly had just finished the last summer cheerleading practice.She was the first
    girl in ten years to make the squad their freshman year. Several of the other
    cheerleaders were upset. Kelly wasn't concerned about their thoughts. She shyed
    away from others and had very few friends. She didn't believe in the clicks
    people got into. Kelly is one of the prettiest girls in school. Shoulder length
    reddish blonde hair, acute face with a small button nose, and always smiled.
    Breasts the size of small grapefruits with nipples same size as quarters. Flat
    slightly sculptured belly, slender waist, narrow hips, small plump butt and
    perfectly shaped legs. All wrapped into a 5'4" 115pds frame.

    After showering Kelly dried herself, as she went to her locker. She noticed four
    girls across from her locker talking and snickering. Kelly ignored them. After
    slipping her cotton bikini pantys on, she grabbed her bra. Somebody had cut the
    straps. There was no way she'd be able to wear it now. She turned around to
    confront the now, laughing girls. They quickly walked out of the lockeroom.
    Kelly put on her low cut tank top, and shorts. After throwing her stuff into her
    bag, she headed out. Her breasts stood just as if she had a bra on. Her breasts
    firmly jiggled as she walked to the bus stop. Kelly was headed downtown to the
    library first. Then to a movie.

    Kelly had noticed lately that boys as well as men were looking her over as she
    walked by. Today more so than ever. After she got off the bus downtown. She went
    to walking the 4 blocks to the library. When a old black man walked out of a
    alley. Hey there. Where you headed? (shyly and quietly) Oh, hi. I'm going to
    have lunch with my dad. Kelly walked a little faster. She didn't notice that the
    old black man was following her. Kelly went into the library and looked over a
    couple of books untill it was time to go to the movie. She looked up. Over a few
    tables was the old black man. Since she had noticed men looking her way. Kelly
    was starting to become a tease. So, she walked his way to put the books away.
    She knew he wouldn't do anything in public place. When she was in front of him.
    She dropped the books. Bending over to pick them up. (without bending her knees)
    Her tank top layed so the old black man could get a good look at her white
    breasts. The old black man's mouth dropped open. Oh! Excuse me. (acting as it
    was an acident)

    Kelly headed to the movie. Which was a couple of blocks away. She loved the
    reaction she had got from the old man. The movie Kelly wanted to see was sold
    out. She wanted to see a movie. So, she got a ticket to another. Then she saw
    that another was starting and it was rated R and nobody was around. She went on
    in. Hardly anybody was there. Kelly sat towards the back . The movie started.
    When a nude scene started someone came and sat by her. She didn't even pay any
    mind. She in awe of what was on the screen. This was her first R movie. There on
    the screen was a black slave climbing on top of his master's white wife to have
    sex. Kelly liked the sight of the slave's black skin on the white woman's body.
    Kelly didn't even realize the person beside her had placed their hand onto her
    knee.

    But, when he moved his huge hand upto her thigh. Kelly regained her awareness.
    She turned. It was the old black man. She tried to push his hand away. He just
    leaned over and kissed her neck. He kissed his way down to the tops of her white
    breasts. As he moved his hand upto her shorts. He kissed the tops of her breasts
    as he rubbed her crotch. He then unbuttoned and unzipped her shorts. Even though
    she liked the sight of his black face to her white chest area. She knew she had
    to do something before he got any further. She thought to herself (that she
    shouldn't have teased this old man) As the old black man started pulling at the
    young white girl's shorts. Stop. Or I'll scream. At this time an usher was
    making his rounds. Kelly got up to leave. The usher stopped her. your not old
    enough to see this movie. I know. I came into the wrong movie by acident. Kelly
    left and went home.

    It had been several weeks since the incident with the old black man. School had
    started. Pro football season had started the week before, and Kelly's school was
    going to have their first game tomorrow morning. Today they were having a pep
    rally at the end of the school day. Kelly stopped over Stacy's house for awhile.
    It was about 6:00p.m. Kelly hurried home to help set up things for her dad's
    party. Every month her dad and some of his friends would get together and have a
    few drinks and discuss sports. This was her dad's turn to have it at his house.
    When she got home. Her dad told Kelly that her mother had went out with aunt Mae
    and that she'd be out late. Kelly helped her dad set things up. Most of the guys
    were there. Kelly fixed herself something to eat and took it to her room. She
    turned on the stereo as she ate.

    It was about 8:15 now and Kelly decided she'd take swim as it was unseasonabley
    warm tonight. Kelly danced around to the music as she got her bikini out.
    Without thinking she took her top and bra off. She was in front of the window
    and hadn't pulled the blinds down. She looked outside and noticed Mr. Turner
    looking up at her. Mr.Turner was retired runningback from the local pro team. He
    was black very muscular. He stood about 6 feet tall and weighed around 235
    pounds. Kelly was so embarassed. She hurried away from the window and put on her
    bikini. She thought about not swimming. But, after a half hour she went on down
    to swim. As she tried to sneak by the rec room. Mr. Turner walked out and almost
    bumped into her. Oh! Hi. Didn't mean to run you down. Kelly couldn't even speak.
    By the way. I didn't mean to stare earlier. It isn't everyday you see such
    beauty. That's ok. (very quietly) As she went onto swim.

    Kelly swam and relaxed poolside for a couple hours. She went on upto the
    bathroom and took a shower. Dried herself. Then, slipped on a robe. She went
    across the hall to her bedroom. As Kelly entered her room she looked to see who
    was coming up the stairs. It was Mr. Turner. May I use the restroom. Sure. Kelly
    pushed at the door. The door sounded like it closed. But, it came open slightly.
    Kelly saw Mr. Hicks looking through his upstairs window towards her. He must be
    around 73 years old. Kelly turned on the radio and started dancing. Her robe
    came open. Mr. Hicks just stared as she danced. Kelly turned off the overhead
    light after turning a lamp on. She thought to her self. She'd realy give
    Mr.Hicks a surprise. She slipped her robe off. Exposing her totaly naked body to
    him. After all he was in his house and to old to do anything. She danced around
    for a few more seconds. Then she layed down on her bed. Mr.Hicks still had view
    of her. Kelly was turning into a real tease and was liking it. She rolled over
    onto her belly, so that Mr.Hicks would get a good look at her butt.

    She heard the bathroom door open. She glanced at a mirror across the room, and
    noticed her door was open slightly. She thought about getting up and closing it.
    But it was to late. Mr.Turner was in the hallway next to her doorway. Kelly
    acted to be asleep. After a few seconds she heard the door close. Kelly figured
    that he pulled the door closed. But, when she heard some movement. She became
    terrified. She kept her eyes shut as if she was sleeping. She then felt
    Mr.Turner run his hand up the back of her white thigh. Kelly trembled as he
    caressed her young white buns. She instantly felt herself getting wet inside.
    Mr.Turner kissed her white butt. Kelly liked this but knew it was wrong. She
    turned over onto her back. Don't!

    Then she saw him. Totaly naked huge black man. Huge biceps, a very muscular
    chest, ripple tummy. Kelly let out a quiet gasp as she noticed his huge erect
    penis. It must be 11inches long and realy fat. She couldn't get her eyes off of
    his huge black monstercock. Mr.Turner walked upto her face. Suck on it. No! as
    she thought ( that would be gross) He rubbed his black cock across her lips a
    couple times. He then went to the foot of the bed and knelt down. He kissed the
    young white girl's thighs working his way up. Don't! Stop! I'll scream. As
    squeezed her legs together. He kissed her blonde pubic hair, then lower belly.
    Kelly became speachless as he kissed white belly and licked at her bellybutton.
    Mr.Turner wasn't going to take a no for an answer at this point. He kissed his
    way to her teenage white breasts. He kissed and sucked at her nipples at the
    same time ran his hand to her young pussy.

    Kelly let out a moan, as he inserted his finger inside her. She tried to push
    him away. Even though she was enjoying what he was doing. Kelly knew this was
    bad and besides he would most likely rip her in half. Mr.Turner rubbed at her
    teenage pussy for moment to lubricate the outside of her pussylips. Mr.Turner
    climbed onto the bed to mount her little white body. Kelly held her legs
    together. Please don't It will hurt me. It only will hurt for a moment. Ohhh! As
    Mr.Turner rubbed his huge black cock up and down her little pussy. He pushed
    forward. No penetration. He gave big shove forward. Still no penetration of the
    little white girl's pussy. He pushed again and finaly managed to get his
    cockhead inside her. Kelly tightened up. He pushed a little deeper. She felt his
    huge black cock press against her hyman. She knew that one more push would pop
    her cherry. Just as he drew back. A knock at the door. Kelly! Kelly! Are you
    awake. As the door opened. Mr.Turner jumped off the side of the bed.

    Hi dear. Mmmom! Yes. Are you ok? ya. Dad, said you'd be late. The movie was sold
    out. So, I came home early. Are you sure? That you are ok. Yes. Just tired. I've
    told you to pull the blinds down. You are old enough now that guys will love to
    see you dress and undress. You sure seem nervouse. Is there anything wrong? No
    mom! Well, you look flush and sweaty. I'll get the thermetor. No. That's ok. I'm
    alright. Ok. Call for me if you need me. Goodnight. Goodnight mom. Kelly was
    trembleing. Mr.Turner jumped up and dressed and quietly went back downstairs
    where there were still a few men gathered having their last drink. Kelly finaly
    fell asleep a couple hours later. But, within another hour she woke up from a
    bad dream. Her mother rushed in and comforted her. Kelly couldn't tell her
    mother that she dreamed about being raped by twelve black men.

    After this Kelly quit teasing men for a couple weeks. She started slowly once
    more. She would mostly like old black men. She would go without a bra and leave
    a button undone then lean over in front of them. During the holiday vacation.
    When her parents were at work. Kelly even went totaly naked. Except a long
    winter coat. She rode the public bus all the way downtown. She aboat croaked
    when an old black man sat beside her. They talked awhile. He was headed to work.
    He was going to retire in the spring, after 40 years of service. When he looked
    the other way. Kelly undid the top button of her coat. Which exposed just a
    little of the tops of her white breasts. Your a very pretty young lady. You need
    to be careful. Someone may try to have their way with you. I can take care of
    myself. Here's my stop. Take care.

    Kelly felt ashamed. She stopped such things. Untill the last day of school. She
    had worn her white blouse and plaid skirt.(the catholic school girl look) She
    decided to walk home since it was very nice day out and school let out early.
    She was walking through the park. She was nearing the walk bridge across the
    creek. She heard some voices coming from under the car bridge nearby. There were
    three black hobos. There was nobody else in sight. They were washing theirselves
    in the creek. She starred at them. They only had their pants on. But, she liked
    the sight o their black chests. Kelly also knew that they would most likely see
    her cross the walkway. She was realy excited. After a moment she slipped her bra
    then pantys off and put them in her backpack. This excited her. Even though they
    were to far away to notice. She only had two blocks to go to get home from the
    park. When she walked across the walkway. The men whistled and yelled to her.
    They were close enough to see that she was a pretty girl. Kelly liked this but
    ignored them. But, then she noticed they were following her. She picked up her
    pace. A short distance from the street. They caught her. One of the black hobos
    grabbed her. Turned her around. Man! We're goin to have a good time today. As he
    saw her quarter sized pink nipples poking through her blouse. Then a cop drove
    by. Then backed up. The men ran off. Mam! Were they bothering you? As the cop
    walked upto her. No sir. He was a tall black man in his fortys. He took a double
    take when he noticed her pirky breasts through her blouse. You need to watch how
    you dress. Your asking for trouble.

    That night she dreamed of Mr.Turner fucking her. She woke up in a sweat. She was
    showering when her parents yelled in at her. Honey! We're headed to work early.
    Kelly wondered more and more what it would feel like to be fucked by a black
    man. Mr.Turner was very gentle with her. She couldn't believe how close she came
    to being fucked. Kelly thought to herself-(I know it's wrong. But, I'm going to
    find out today) She put on her bikini pantys then bra and her summer sundress.
    After slipping on shoes she went downtown on the bus. Remembering the first
    experience with an old black man. She walked towards the alley where she first
    saw him. It was almost 10:00a.m. Ahead was a tall old black man. It might even
    be the same man. Kelly acted as if she didn't notice him. She walked as if going
    to the library. Hey baby! Don't you say hi to your friends? So, she knew he was
    the same man and he remembered her. Oh. Hi. (acting not to be interested) Hey!
    You want a puppy. (Knowing this was a ploy) (Even though she was scared-she was
    going through with her plan) Sure! Where is it? Down here. In a box. Directing
    her to the alley. Kelly nervousely followed. I sleep here and this puppy came
    upto me and had no tags. A third of the way through the alley. There were stacks
    of large cardboard boxes with blankets on them. There were five other old black
    men laying on their blankets. Untill they seen her. Kelly started to leave. Not
    soon enough. They surrounded her.

    Don't I'll scream! One of the black men pulled out a knife. No you won't.
    Unless! Kelly stood there while the black men fondled her. Two of them fondled
    her breasts and two others played with her firm butt. One watched the street as
    one of the black men unzipped her sundress and slipped the straps off of her
    shoulders. Her dress fell to her ankles. Please! Don't hurt me. The man with the
    knife walked upto her. Not saying a word. Cut the right strap of her bra. With
    the other black men laughing he cut the left strap. Starring into her eyes he
    ran the knife across the tops of her breasts. Then suddenly cut her bra in half.
    Kelly's bra fell to the ground. Exposing her firm white breasts to the old black
    bums. They all got quiet. Starring at the young white girl. The black man put
    the knife up. Then with two hands grabbed her pantys and ripped them from her
    petite teenage body. Kelly felt herself getting wet. Even though she was
    terrified. Here she was a virgin about to be raped by six old black men in an
    alley downtown. She didn't even know if they would kill her or not.

    Kelly just watched as the man in front of her dropped his pants and undershorts.
    He was black as midnight. His cock was hard pointing towards her. It was smaller
    than Mr.Turner's. But, Kelly didn't see how it would fit into her. Kelly shaked
    like a leaf and tears started to run down her face. The black man's cock pressed
    against her belly as he stepped closer. He shoved her down onto a blanket. He
    knelt down and pushed her legs apart. She was to scared to fight back. She
    looked to the side as he mounted her. She noticed that the other men's dicks
    were larger and fatter. He whispered to her I'm the nice one. The others would
    just ram it inside you. He rubbed his black cock up and down her blonde pussy 4
    or 5 times to slicken her up. He then pushed forward. Without sucess. Then
    another, and another. Your one tight chick. One more huge shove forward and
    Kelly felt his cockhead push inside her. Then another push and he was touching
    her hyman. He pulled back. Then with a smile gave a quick shove forward. Kelly
    screamed out in pain as his black dick ripped through her hyman.

    The black man took pleasure at the painful look on her face. Your just a spoiled
    white brat. As he slammed all 8 inches of his cock into her. Blood ran down her
    butt. He squeezed her white tits so hard she thought that they would pop. She
    felt his hairy black balls slamming against her white butt. The other black bums
    were urging him to hurry. They wanted their turn. The pain subsided after a
    couple minutes or so and Kelly was starting to enjoy the fucking she was
    getting. She wrapped her legs across the backs of his. Kelly let out moans of
    delight as the black man pounded his cock into her white pussy. She was about to
    climax when she felt the man cum inside her. With one more lunge forward. He
    pulled out of her. Who's next. She's a fine piece.

    The next black hobo ordered her to her hands and knees. Like a dog you know.
    After penetrating the young white girl from behind another got infront to force
    her to suck him. She learned quick how to suck. Kelly first thought it was gross
    to have a man's dick inside her mouth. After a couple minutes she even started
    enjoying cocksucking. The man behind her fucked her as hard and fast as he
    could. Making her buns and tits bounce around. She felt herself building to a
    climax again. This time she squeeled in delight as she climaxed and felt the
    black man cum inside her pussy. The old black man in front was cumming into her
    mouth as the man behind pulled his black cock out and squirted a couple times
    across her butt. The two black men quickly stepped away from the petite white
    girl. When another layed beside her and directed her on top of him.

    Kelly sat on his 12 inch black snake. She let out a gasp in dispair as the last
    4 inches went inside her. It was uncomfortable as he fucked her. But, after a
    moment it felt good being stretched this far. She figured he must have the
    biggest dick in the world. To her surprise one of remaining black men knelt
    behind her. He pushed her forward. He guided his 10inch black cock to her white
    butt. He gave a hard continued push. Kelly screamed and tears appeared again as
    she felt like she was being ripped in half. Without hesitation the black men
    fucked her hard and unmerciful. One in her white ass and the other in her blonde
    pussy. Even though it hurt after a few minutes of being double fucked. Kelly
    yelled out in another orgasm. As the black man inside her butt squirted streams
    and streams of cum inside her. Then the last black man traded places with the
    man that was buttfucking her.

    As he started buttfucking the teenage white girl. He yelled out. Hey! we're a
    oreo cookie. Kelly was getting exhausted and was going limp. It felt like she
    would pass out. Then she orgasmed again. After she came off of her third orgasm,
    the man pumped her white ass full of his black seed. He quickly withdrew from
    her as the man under her. Rolled over on top of her. He went to fucking his
    black 12 inch pole in and out of her as fast as he could. He sucked on her white
    breast. When he started cumming inside her he bit down. Kelly let out a yelp.
    This didn't stop her from climaxing again, for the fourth time. The man stood
    up. She was exhausted and just layed there. To her amazement they were still
    standing around naked. We want you to meet Bubba.

    Kelly was amazed when she saw Bubba. He was about 50yrs.old 6ft.6in. tall
    220pds. His cock must be around 14 inches long. As he mounted Kelly's little
    white body. He told her that he was going to fuck her brains out. It looked like
    a black monster mounting a little white doll. He entered her slowly. Even though
    she had been reamed out several times. It was slow going for him to get his
    black cock into her. After getting 10 inches inside her white pussy. He started
    fucking her hard. After a few minutes his huge black balls were smacking against
    her white butt cheeks. Kelly orgasmed first. Then she felt him shoot a couple of
    squirts of cum inside her pussy. He pulled his huge black cock out of her and
    finished cumming all over her flat white belly. After he stepped back. She was
    surrounded by the other six black men. They jirked theirselves off all over her.
    She was drenched in cum. Her hair and face was covered with cum. Her white
    breasts, belly, pubic hair, pussy, and butt was also was covered with cum. She
    thought to herself I can't move. She figured that she was about to pass out with
    exhaustion.

    Kelly just layed there naked and covered with cum. The black men were dressed.
    When she saw reflections of flashing lights. The black men had went to the
    entrance of the alley. Kelly heard them talking to what seemed like police
    officers. She slowly got up and peeked around the corner. It was the police. She
    grabbed her sundress. As she walked out the otherside of the alley she slipped
    on the dress. Her shoes had fallen off during all the fucking. Her breasts,
    pussy, and butt ached from the pounding and stretching. She was drenched in cum
    which was starting to dry on her now. No place to clean up. Oops. Excuse me. She
    bumped into a lady. Are you ok. Yeh! Sure. Kelly walked three block as everyone
    starred at her. Since she was such a mess. People kept asking if she was ok. She
    got home on the bus. She threw her sundress in the washer, showered. Redressed
    and fell asleep on the coach.

    --
    --I like to lick the shitty bits off Cmdr Tacos crusty ass
  71. Something to keep in mind by inkswamp · · Score: 1
    Bear this in mind. History is not what happened in the past, but rather how we got where we are now.

    Even if Davies beat Baran and/or Kleinrock to packet-switching, it may be irrelevant (besides, I've read that Baran and Davies came up with working concepts simultaneously and independently; IIRC, there is even a quote from Davies in Where Wizards Stay Up Late that acknowledges this.)

    What matters is whose ideas were used to get us to where we are now. This does not reflect on the brilliance of Davies (I know you Brits tend to get a little indignant when you feel you've been downplayed) but rather on the historical relevance of what he did. A lot of great ideas end up being historically irrelevant, for better or for worse.

    People often get hung up on this concept of who did what first. What matters is how we got here, where we are now. From what I understand, little of what Davies did matters to how we got where we are, so whether he got there first is sort of a side-issue, and IMO, a bit of a waste of time to debate.

    --Rick

    --
    --Rick "If it isn't broken, take it apart and find out why."
  72. What about Paul Baran by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Read wired issue 9.03 Founding Father
    or go to it on the web at:
    http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.03/baran.ht ml

    you think people would read documented facts.

  73. ummm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    all geeks do is argue if we united we really could design a super race but no you gotta argue about dumb stuff like packet switching. oh wah wah wah
    i'm really going to pay alot of attention to this story

  74. Algore invented it, of course by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Algore invented packet switching, and the internet. Where have you been the past couple of years?

    Imagine Algore and the team he would have assembled in charge now, post 9/11...boggles the mind.

    Clinton calls terror a U.S. debt to past:

    http://www.washtimes.com/national/20011108-47010 0. htm