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History of the First Internet

U96 writes "Ever since the Gore claim to have "invented" the internet, its history has been the subject of misinformation and ridicule. The Institue of Internet History contains an accurate, in-depth examination of the early industrial origins of the internet. An interesting read..."

7 of 396 comments (clear)

  1. wow, irony by nomadic · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Ever since the Gore claim to have "invented" the internet, its history has been the subject of misinformation and ridicule.

    Considering Gore never claimed to have invented the internet, you've actually managed to include misinformation in a sentence criticizing misinformation. Well done.

    1. Re:wow, irony by Mr.+Slippery · · Score: 5, Insightful
      We can make fun of all the misspeaking that Dubya does, but we can't mock Gore for saying "I took the initiative in creating the Internet."?

      In context, Gore's words were quite accurate. Just as we say that Bush II invaded Iraq even though he's not out there with a rifle, or we say that "Eisenhower created the Interstate system" even though he wasn't out there with a bulldozer.

      So, no, you shouldn't distort an accurate statement and then mock the distorted version. Especially where there's so much else about Gore worthy of being mocked. I'm all for mocking politicians, just keep it accurate.

      --
      Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
      You cannot wash away blood with blood
  2. Don't forget by dextromulous · · Score: 5, Funny

    Gore has ridden the mighty moon worm.

    --
    There are two types of people in the world: those who divide people into two types and those who don't.
  3. It seems by NIK282000 · · Score: 5, Funny

    That site is internet history as well.

    --
    Dear aunt, let's set so double the killer delete select all
  4. Re:Speaking of misinformation... by Jeremi · · Score: 5, Insightful
    He may not have meant for it to come out like he invented the Internet, but it sure sounds like it


    And that's close enough for a good smear campaign, isn't it?


    If you ever wonder why politicians so often sound like robots when they are speaking in public, this is why: because they have to constantly watch every single word they utter, to make sure that nothing they say (and no subset of anything they say) can be taken out of context and twisted against them. So instead of just speaking their position, they have to run this expensive (O(N^2)) political-defense algorithm on everything they say -- and since very few people can run that algorithm in real time, most politicians end up just repeating a few pre-vetted canned phrases over and over again.

    --


    I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
  5. I heard this story from someone who was there by Raul654 · · Score: 5, Informative

    My advisor (David Mills, first chairman of the Internet Architecture Committee and inventor of NTP) mentioned this once. He said that Al Gore's staff were at every technical meeting related to internet development, and that the funding Gore helped push through Congress was critical to the project. Furthermore, he said after that quote was widely distorted in the media (where Gore rightfully claimed credit for providing the funding), he and several others who *did* invent the internet signed a public affidavit attesting to the veracity of the claim.

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    To make laws that man cannot, and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt.
    --E.C. Stanton
  6. Re:"Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet" by Catbeller · · Score: 5, Insightful

    " If Al Gore didn't have a well-deserved reputation for firing off whoppers, this one wouldn't have stuck."

    He had no such reputation. As the parent post's link points out, it was fabricated by the RNC and various eager writers in 2000.

    Bush, however, has a long history of non-history. Which rarely has been questioned by those self-same eager boys. His arrest record. Drug use. Alchoholism until he was 40. Violent behavior. Horrfying academic record coupled with a well-documented sense of disdain towards university education. Dad's friends' influence in getting him into the champagne unit of the Texas Air National Guard. Failure to show up for duty. Refusing direct orders to report for a physical. Failure to be sent to Vietnam via the Army for refusing said order, which happened to other officers who did not obey orders. Failures of his "businesses". His involvement in the real estate deal in which land granted to build a baseball stadium was instead sold off to build profitable developments, giving him his first real money with which to run for governor. The utter fiscal disaster left in Texas after his tax cuts there. The collapse of the Texas school system, with his blessing. The funeral industry scandal that he involved himself in. The amazing elevation of a no-account dunderhead to governor and then President in less than five years. His daughters: the restauranteur who carded the twins was weeks later ruined by inspectors - business lost as retribution. The retribution against the man who outed the Bush's national guard record - his veterans benefits canceled as he dies from a viral infection caught in service. The vile accusations against McCain in 2000. the unbelieveable memetic attack against Gore in 2000. The Bush brothers control of the electoral process in Florida in 2000. The recount blockage. The fake "riot" in Dade county against election officials, rioters composed of RNC staffers. The shutdown of environmental laws. Of the Microsoft case. The unbelieveable failure to read critical material before 9-11 warning of the attack. the four-year campaign to block the investigation of such. The utilization of a sad, small attack by a couple of dozen fanatics to convince Americans they were at war with Iraq, Iran, Europe, and anyone who looked at us funny. The complete failure to capture the man who actually attacked us. The illegal imprisonment of anyone who looked useful in making the dope look competent in waging war. The flauting of the law in imprisonment and torture of anyone they felt like. Ignoring the Supreme Court in refusing a fair hearing to those tortured. The suppression of the torture news. The suppression of any news that they made inaccurate statement about "evidence" of Saddam Hussein's involvement in the 9-11 idiots' attack. The complete restructuring of the U.S. into a police state, ongoing. Refusing to answer questions put to him by the press. Declarations that the press was an "interest group", and as such, could be ignored or lied to. Creation of special civilian "intellence" filters that culled "facts" from the CIA biomass that the President could use to invade a non-combatant nation.The setup later to blame the CIA for the information they themselves filtered and massaged, and therefore take direct control of ALL intel agencies. War crimes against a non-hostile nation. Imprisonment of citizens of a non-hostile nation. Torture of citizens of a non-hostile nation. Coverup of same. Successful attempts, through RNC-sympathetic corporate board members at GE, Disney, Viacom and AOL-Time-Warner, to "Red State" or "Nascarize" the news operations of NBC, ABC, CBS and CNN, now ongoing as the Brokow, Jennings, and Rathers are being expunged simultaneously along with all non-right-wing thinkers. The current run-up to invade Iran. The destruction of Social Security by tax cuts. The future elimination of public education by the deaths of a thousand cuts to advance a religious and private school system. Censorship. State religion. The complete restructuring of the judiciary to a Chicago-