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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.
I'm confused. I thought Al Gore was the capital.
-F
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.
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."
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.
"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"