The Village Green » History

Historic Humor, Web 2.0 Style

Matthew Woolums — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:34:45 +0000

You may have heard of Google Wave and wondered what it was. If so, take a little time to review this humorous reinterpretation of the creation of the Declaration of Independence using online collaboration tools, specifically Google Wave. A little history along with learning about a new online tool has to be a good thing!

We Hold These Truths To Be Awesome: The Founding Fathers Give Google Wave A Try

Is Broadband Access a Legal Right?

Matthew Woolums — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:54:39 +0000

TechCrunch is reporting that Finland has declared that broadband access is a legal right for all of its citizens. This might be a first world-wide. I’m guessing Finland won’t be the last country to declare broadband access a right. In an age where online participation in politics and access to government services is moving to the Internet, it only makes sense that we should all have access. Of course, how that is paid for is another question. How important is broadband access to you? To your country? What flavor of broadband access would you prefer? Wired, wireless, or cellular?

Applause For Finland: First Country To Make Broadband Access A Legal Right

Happy Billion Downloads Firefox!

Matthew Woolums — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 20:48:36 +0000

Firefox recently passed the 1 Billion mark for downloads, and that is a big number. Not as big as a google, but worth recognizing none the less. I can’t help but wonder how many of those were my fault.

Congratulation Firefox. Congratulations to Mozilla. Congratulations to the old Netscape from whence you came.

http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2009/07/31/one-billion-downloads-of-firefox/

France: Internet Access is a Fundamental Human Right

Matthew Woolums — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:30:46 +0000

According to a ReadWriteWeb post, France’s highest court has declared that Internet access is a fundamental right. Nice to see that. Maybe we should have the right to access everywhere. Next up we need our access to be neutral.

Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/aksdareflection/3097022791/sizes/o/

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/is_internet_access_a_fundamental_human_right_franc.php

From a tweet by Karl Fisch - http://twitter.com/karlfisch/statuses/2119924288

Alternate Future? Past?

Matthew Woolums — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 00:45:52 +0000

This video on YouTube is a glimpse from the past, 1969, into the future and let’s us see what telecommunications might be in the 1990s. The whole experience is like looking into an alternate reality!

From Howard Rheingold

Happy Birthday W3

Matthew Woolums — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:51:17 +0000

The World Wide Web turns 20 today. Better watch out, next year it will be old enough to legally drink. Here is link to the TechCrunch article with includes an embedded video from Tim Berners-Lee at TED.

Twenty Years Later, The Web Is Finally Turning Into a Computer

Vinton Cerf on Evolution of the Internet

Matthew Woolums — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 19:43:54 +0000

WebProNews has a nice 19 minute video interview of Vinton Cerf, also known as the father of the Internet. At one point, he describes the initial work on the Internet as just solving a problem of getting interconnected networks to connect in a consistent way. Looks like we’ve come a long way!

More WebProNews Videos

Newspaper By Computer – 1981 Video

Matthew Woolums — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:41:21 +0000

Thanks to TechCrunch for pointing out this 1981 TV news report on a very early effort to provide news via the computer. It took two hours to download the whole newspaper, and apparently the benefit was the ability to copy, print, and save news so you could go back to it later. Hosted on YouTube, so if you are blocked at school, check it out from home. Provided you have a computer at home.

You Need To See This Video (1981 TV Report On Birth Of Internet News)

Most Wired

Matthew Woolums — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 02:02:51 +0000

CNET News is reporting that Forbes has crowned Seattle as the most-wired city. I live in Denver, which came in at number 8. I guess I just take it for granted that I can get online just about everywhere I go. Broadband and wireless were both considered in compiling this list. How wired is your home?

Seattle tops ‘Forbes’ most-wired cities list | Wireless – CNET News

One Billion and Counting

Matthew Woolums — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 19:36:18 +0000

Depending on who’s statistics you want to believe, there are either 1,000,000,000 or nearly 1,500,000,000 Internet users. That is a lot of people, but not even a quarter of the world’s population. A few numbers stand out.

China leads the way in terms of total numbers with 179.7 million, followed by the United States with 163.3 million.
Canada has around 80% of its citizens connected.
India had only around 3% of its citizens connected.

As underrepresented counties continue to develop their network infrastructure, we can all look forward to a different Internet in the future.

ComScore: Internet Population Passes One Billion; Top 15 Countries

Short History of the Internet

Matthew Woolums — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 02:52:33 +0000

Interesting short video on the history of the Internet. I enjoy this sort of thing, thinking that knowing where you have been may shed some light on where you are now, and possibly where you might be next. Credit to Free Technology for Teachers blog for this find. Free Technology for Teachers: The History of the Internet

History of the Internet from PICOL on Vimeo.

The Future That Could Have Been

Matthew Woolums — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 18:20:04 +0000

Very interesting audio slideshow (digital storytelling?) about a project to invent the future from the early 1960’s. The future could have included movable cities transported by hovercraft. Actually, we could use that idea in my district where we have need for new schools in some areas, with underused schools in others. Need more capacity? Just float in a school from one part of town to another!

BBC – Today