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Virgnia:Internet Capital
cpt kangarooski writes "Wired is reporting that the state of Virginia plans to issue license plates bearing the motto "Internet C@pital." I suspect Network Solutions put them up to it. " Really funny article. Everyone knows that Michigan is the real c@pital anyway.
Visit me on #weirdness on the Galaxynet.
Here's an excerpt:
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Network Working Group
Request for Comments: 8888
Category: Fake Standards Track
A. Gore
UVA/LCS
September 1999
The Commonwealth of Virginia as Internet Capital
Status of this Memo
This document specifies a Fake Internet standards track protocol for the
Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Abstract
The Commonwealth of Virginia is a state of rich heritage and extraordinary
natural beauty. Its attractions are as broad and diverse as its geography
and as abundant as its history. Stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Blue
Ridge and Allegheny mountains, Virginia is a mixture of exciting cities,
historic homes and towns, plentiful resources, and a wealth of recreational
activities.
It is therefore the purpose of this RFC to recommend that the Commonwealth
of Virginia be known for evermore as the Internet Capital of the World.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction.....................................
1.1 Purpose
----------END OF EXCERPT-----------------
I'm confused. I thought Al Gore was the capital.
-F
It was bad enough that we're the home of AOL ... now this.
... quick, someone tell him he pioneer DNA cloning!
We need Al Gore to proclaim something outrageous again to divert attention
What the hell's a "catpital"?
Anyone ever seen the "Virginia is for Lovers" stickers? Heh.
----
We all take pink lemonade for granted.
There is no K5 cabal.
I am not the real rusty.
Hear me out on this one.
Oct. 1999: VA issues internet capital plates.
Jan. 2000: M$ wins contract w/ VA DMV thru y2k glitch.
Mar. 2000: VA allows 12 character ICOW plates; think "IP address".
Apr. 2000: M$ turns VA autos into "internet appliances" running WinCE.
Jun. 2000: VA traffic problems alleviated, M$ cars no longer run.
Graham
Graham
Linux - Fast Pane Relief
The real capital of the Internet is not in the backwoods commonwealth of Virginia.
... but the traffic is lousy (2nd only to LA! woohoo!)
Everyone knows that a disproportionate chunk of the Internet is centered in the Independent Privateer Republic of Fairfax (made up of Fairfax and Arlington counties and the city of Alexandria).
We have nothing to do with the rest of the state. We don't get along with them particularly well either.
My house is 1/2 mile from the UUNet building in Tysons to the north and 1/2 mile from the other UUNet building to the south (on 50). Novell is with AOL out in Dulles (AOL used to be near me in Vienna). In Tysons is Sprint, MCI, TCI, AT&T, Unisys, and just about everyone else.
It's a great place to live, much better than Pittsburgh (CMU should up and move)
Why?
:(
For one thing, we are the telcom capital of the world... Okay, so maybe its not the internet now, but you wait... All these companies will be/are shifting their business towards internet switches, etc..
PS: How many companies are here, you ask? Just in a teeny tiny little area here in Richardson (north of Dallas), we have over 600 different telcom companies. That's not counting the companies in other parts of Richardson or anywhere else in or around Dallas.. (Its about a 2mi * 5mi range called the Telcom corridor)
Ahhhh well... Perhaps in a few years we'll get recognition.
--
"A mind is a horrible thing to waste. But a mime...
It feels wonderful wasting those fsckers."
I currently have no clever signature witicism to add here.
I'll be up in the GR area in a few hours to visit some friends at Calvin. Yes! Michigan! -- The Internet C@pitol! Maybe on my way up I'll pull over and fix the motto on the Welcome to Michigan Sign.
-Al-
P.S. If anyone is driving into Michigan taking I-94 and you see someone hanging upside down by there pant leg from the Welcome sign that goes over the road. PLEASE HELP ME!
I live in Pennsylvania and there are so many damned specialized license plates that it's really starting to get annoying. For example, if you donate money to some "save the animals!" thing, you get a license plate with an owl on it. There are several variations of that theme. Then there's another one for D.A.R.E., one for every public university, and various military ones (I suppose I shouldn't whine too much about those). And there are probably others I don't know about.
The link from the Wired story that has the actual picture of the plate says that that "Virginia offers more than 150 specialized plates...". 150!?!? That's ridiculous! Isn't the primary point of license plates to identify the car for legal purposes? How is a Virginia cop supposed to recognize 150 different license plates so he knows that one or another isn't a fake? What do you say when you see a hit-and-run or something?
cop: Did you see the license plate?
you: Yeah. It was 32DFJ-23.
cop: What state?
you: Uh, I dunno. It had a picture of a rabbit, I think. Or maybe it was a Klansman. All I know is that he had a carrot or a flaming cross.
cop: uh-huh.
Now I'm not really suggesting that these types of plates are going to enable people to remain anonymous from crimes (no security through obscurity!), but I'm just "nostalgic" (imagine that at 19 years old) for the days when Virginia's license plate was Virginia's license plate and they all looked the same. Do you have to pay to get a special "internet" license plate (probably)? It sounds like a stupid scheme to get more money from the super-consumers that the internet has contributed to. If you really need to express your personality to people behind you in traffic, just get a bumper sticker. It just seems really lame to try to pigeonhole your personality through some government-created license plate.
How would you pronounce "Internet C@pital?" "In-tur-net Cat-pit-ul"
:D
Internet Cat Piddle? Sounds like Mr. Bigglesworth is involved somehow!
netsol did actually put them up to it:
Network Solutions and Northern Virginia e-business, Strategic-INFO developed the plate and worked with Virginia Delegate Jeannemarie Devolites to garner support for it from Virginia's General Assembly.
rm -rf ~/.signature
"There is no surer way to ruin a good discussion than to contaminate it with the facts."
and Maine is "Vacationland", and New Jersey is "The Garden State". Since when did these things have to make any sense?
----
We all take pink lemonade for granted.
There is no K5 cabal.
I am not the real rusty.
Since 1995, Virginia, or more specifically Tysons Corner has been the "center" of the internet, topologically speaking. The MAE East public peering point has and still is the most populated peering point. At one time over 60% of
all internet traffic, and some 80% of international traffic passed through MAE East.
Recently however the proliferation of private peering has significantly reduced those
numbers (of course a significant ammount of private peering occurs between backbone routers at
the MAE East location(s).
As for where the Internet was born, The Pentagon in Arlington, VA is technically the correct location, while the Implementation began in Cambridge, MA.
As for Sillicon Valley? Well they were the capital of the previous revolution,
the Personal Computer. They might even say they are the center of Net VC, and Net Companies, but
not the Internet itself.
The State Capitol is in Richmond. It is a building.
The Inbreeding Capital of America is West Virginia. It is a place.
And there you have it.
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If we're not supposed to eat cows, why are they made out of steak?
"Internet Capital"? Like "Internet Money"? Perhaps they mean "Internet C@pitol" instead? Sheesh! Can't the State even spell?
/capitalized/ : the building in which the U.S. Congress meets at Washington
Very interesting etymology on capitol vs. capital...
Main Entry: capitol
Etymology: Latin Capitolium, temple of Jupiter at Rome on the Capitoline hill
1 a : a building in which a state legislative body meets b : a group of buildings in which the functions of state government are carried out
2
3capital
Etymology: French or Italian; French, from Italian capitale, from capitale, adjective, chief, principal, from Latin capitalis
1 a (1) : a stock of accumulated goods especially at a specified time and in contrast to income received during a specified period; also : the value of these accumulated goods (2) : accumulated goods devoted to the production of other goods (3) : accumulated possessions calculated to bring in income
3 [2capital] a : a city serving as a seat of government b : a city preeminent in some special activity "the fashion capital"
This is just as bad as all the Internet IPOs. Every politian has to jump on the "Internet Bandwagon". Unfortunately, the people who claim they are the most "wired" are usually the most clueless.
As was pointed out in the article, there really is no center of the internet. It's built on the hub and spoke system. Almost any major metro area can claim to be "internet capitol". Usually, they are just satisfied with "the next silicon valley".
Its funny, in the Midwest, we have several areas competing to be the Silicon Prarie!
And I'm sure all this will play well over in Europe... These stupid politians keep forgetting that the internet is only partially based in the US.
---- Proudly marching to the beat of a different kettle of fish.