How the Internet works
How the Internet Works
It has long been known that the Internet was developed in the 60's (around
the time that Unix and
LSD came around).
We know that it was developed as a government project so that in the event
of nuclear attack there would be some sort of communications lines that would
still be available. All the
protocols that
the internet uses were designed so that the network would oeprate even if some
of the other computers on the network got disconnected. The Internet was
later commercialized into what it has become today.
What most people don't realize is exactly where the Internet came from. We
say that the government developed the Internet, but how did they develop it?
The answer is that it came not from the idea of protecting the computer
networks from nuclear attack, but from researching nuclear attack methods.
It was in the late 60's when the first reports came out. Some nuclear testing
was being done in remote regions of South America, where there was a group
of monkeys that had no idea they were being tested on. Not even knowing what
was happening, the US government willfully exposed these monkeys to very high
levels of radiation, as high as 40,000 rads. Amazingly, many of the monkeys
survived, and reproduced at an alarming rate. Not knowing what to do with the
monkeys, the US government decided to research what to do with them.
The monkeys had mutated into strange creatures, able to swing their arms at
alarming speeds. Unable to simply leave them where they found them, which
could have been disasterous for lumberjacks in the area (there were a number
of reports of mutant monkeys dropping down from falling trees), the government
finally decided to use them for their new communications system.
It was in August of 1967 that the first mutant monkey network was created.
A system of pulleys was set up, and set of eight monkeys on either end of the
pulleys were trained to read messages off a computer terminal, and send cards
down the pulleys to the other end where the other monkeys would type the
messages into the other terminal.
The result was a huge success. The monkeys were kept hidden from the public
for many years, and computer networks were able to operate at much higher
speeds than standard phone wires would ever allow. This is how lines such as
T1's and T3's can reach such high speeds. Today, research has advanced so that
a single monkey can operate up to four pulleys simultaneously, and research
has even been done so that the pulleys aren't even conventional pulleys; they
are instead fast-response devices that are based on effects of magnetic
fields.
The effects of the monkey systems are obvious. A few Internet Service
Providers (ISP's) are moving away from the monkey system, but many of them,
especially those in the South such as Info
Avenue and BBNPlanet still use
the system. This means that the monkeys slow down when they aren't fed and
one crazy monkey can bring the entire network down. This is why certain times
of the day the Internet is so slow; the monkeys have not been fed recently.
Recent studies have been shown that the mutated monkeys have been exhibiting
a high rate of microevolution over the years. To put it simply, the monkeys
are getting smarter. This means more revolts against the humans, and more
down times for the computer networks. As consumers, we must tell these ISP's
that are still using the monkey system that we do not approve of their
cruelty to these animals. We want to have efficient networks that do not go
down every hour on the hour for feeding time. We want speed and reliability,
and we aren't going to get that from a bunch of monkeys.
By the way, if you don't believe me, there is an RFC which describes the
protocol by which the monkeys are to be fed and taken care of. It's all
in RFC 2795.
This page created by Paul Brannan
Last modified: Friday, 22-Feb-2002 10:04:21 EST
URL: http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~cout/hubcap/isp.html