Salty Sam’s Fun Blog for Children
Number 355
The History of the lnternet
Hello Everyone
lf you are reading this, you must know something about the lnternet.
You might need the help of your parents or grandparents to get to read my blog.
You might be allowed to get it up on the screen by yourself.
So the topic for this week’s blog post is the lnternet – because without it, we would not have met, would we?
You could be forgiven for thinking that the lnternet was invented in order for us to see lots of funny cat videos.
Well, they are good, aren’t they?
l shall be watching some more after l have posted this week’s post.
But anyway, back to my story…
Computers were invented in the 1940s. Today we use computers at home and work and school, even as we travel around.
Did you know that the computer was invented in World War ll as a machine to crack codes?
Europe was trying to defeat the Nazi’s and British scientists were trying to infiltrate their messages that were sent in secret code.
The computer has been developed ever since then.
Since that war, computers have been used by scientists and businesses as well as the military.
ln the 1960s, a business computer would be as big as a room and still couldn’t do what a little laptop can do today.
The computers back then used lots of coloured cards with tiny holes cut in them that went through the machine and were stacked into piles.
A computer can do millions of calculations every second.
Today, when computers stop working properly, it can have a huge impact on our life. We use them to fly planes, take money in supermarkets, look up words in online dictionaries and countless other things.
A computer has a central processing unit which is like a brain, an input unit which is often linked to a keyboard and an output unit which produces the work.
lt also has a memory. Some computers store more information than others.
Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the men who founded Microsoft, had a vision that every house in the country would have a computer on a desk. They called this a home computer. Other people couldn’t understand this concept, but the two men made it a reality through their ingenuity and hard work.
They developed a user-friendly, gooey screen which was in full-colour.
The computers kept on a desk top before this, were controlled by function keys only, not by mouse or scroll pad. The screens were full of greenish text and they had no pictures.
Home computers first went on sale in the 1970s, but most people weren’t buying them until the mid 1980s.
ln the 1980s, external information was stored on floppy disks that were inserted into the computer. Today we use USB sticks or flash drives that have vastly more storage capacity. lf you travel abroad on business and keep forgetting to pack your sticks in your case, you can keep your files in a cloud and access them anywhere in the world as long as you can get access to the lnternet.
So what about the lnternet?
ln 1957, the Soviet Union launched the world’s first man-made satellite into orbit. The satellite, named Sputnik, did not do much except circle the Earth.
But it made the rest of the world think that there were other things to do with scientific developments besides making your home more comfortable with bigger and better television sets – as nice as they might be.
After Sputnik’s launch, many people began to think more seriously about science and technology. Schools added courses on these subjects to help prepare young people for the world of work.
Large corporations in the United States used government grants and invested them in scientific research and development. And the federal (main) government itself formed new agencies, such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA).
They were given the task of developing space-age technologies like weapons, space rockets and the computers needed to work them.
The space race between the USA and the USSR had begun!
During the Cold War, the countries in the West and the Soviet countries were very suspicious of each other because their ideologies (ways of thinking) were very different. (They were capitalists in the West and communists in the Eastern Block.)
America was worried that the Soviets might try to attack their telephone system and take it out with a missile.
ln 1962, a scientist from the Massachusetts lnstitute of Technology (it is often referred to as M.l.T) and the government body ARPA, who was called J.C.R. Licklider, came up with a solution to this problem which was a ‘galactic network’ of computers that would talk to each other.
This network would enable government leaders to communicate even if the Soviets destroyed the entire American telephone system because it worked independently of it.
Then only three years later in 1965, another M.l.T. scientist developed a way of sending information from one computer to another. He called this system ‘packet switching’. This system would break information into individual blocks and send these blocks to another computer.
The information could be kept secret and also safe from enemy attack. This system is now called ARPAnet and it was the beginnings of the lnternet.
The first message was sent in 1969 from one university to another across the state of California. The computers were each the size of a small house and crashed in the middle of the message.
But the scientists did not give up trying. Throughout the 1970s, the packet switching system was developed in laboratories in the US, UK and France.
Other university computers were linked up to the network.
At the end of the 1970s, a computer scientist called Vinton Cerf invented a system which helped computers link together. The system worked like an introduction – he called it a ‘handshake’ – and then information could be transferred from one computer to another.
For the first time, computers could talk to each other really well.
Today, this has been developed into ‘lnternet Protocol’. That means computers all over the world have the capacity to link together.
Through the 1980s, scientists and academics (teachers in schools for adults) used these computer links to communicate with each other, sending through files and data. And it was only these kinds of people that used these kinds of systems.
But then another big development happened in 1991, when a British computer programmer called Tim Berners-Lee introduced the World Wide Web. This meant that the lnternet was no longer a channel to send information through instead of using a telephone, but a huge web of information that anyone connected to it could look at.
And this is when we all started using the lnternet more and more.
This is when developing a website for your company, club or school became very important.
This is when people could access all sorts of information very easily with the touch of a few buttons (and maybe a few clicks of a mouse as well). lt could give ordinary individuals more knowledge and empowerment than ever before in the whole of human history. The World Wide Web celebrated being 30 years old in March 2019.
The lnternet started to replace telegraph, telex and fax machines.
A telegraph machine sent messages through wires to someone who had a machine that could receive the message, and then they sent someone (like a postman) who urgently took a piece of paper with the message written on it to an address.
They might have even ridden a bicycle to get there.
A telex machine was like a typewriter that you typed into and the message appeared on a large roll of paper in another office. The office could be as far away as in another country. Telex machines were loved by shipping offices and transport companies.
They could talk to people in real time by typing messages to them and get answers to questions straight away. The machine would start to make a noise when a message was coming through. lt started typing it out and the people working in the office were alerted to come and start communicating.
A fax machine sent a facsimile (copy) of a document (like it was photographed) to another fax machine. People often used to have a fax machine next to their telephone. Nowadays, you can scan a document and send it with an e-mail as an attachment instead.
After the development of the web, search engines like Google helped people to find information they were looking for.
After that, discussion forums and social media took off and everyday, ordinary people could make their voices heard. lt wasn’t just the ruling elite (the upper levels of society and governments) anymore.
People could help each other with experiences and specialized information in response to specific questions. Large families could instantly keep up with the latest family news over long distances on Facebook.
lf you wanted to buy something before the introduction of the lnternet into people’s homes, you had to find a shop listed in a telephone directory called the Yellow Pages. This book was large and still only covered the area that you lived in.
Or you shopped in shops that you already knew about because you lived near them – or otherwise you shopped in places you went to on holiday.
Today, you can find something that you want to buy from the other end of the country – maybe even the other side of the world.
Currently, over one third of the world’s population use the lnternet either at work or home or both. Astronauts in the lnternational Space Station can send tweets from their Twitter Account.
The lnternet has made the world a different place.
lt is one of the biggest revolutions ever.
More writing has been stored in the last few years than in the whole of human history before that.
You can find out information that you would not see on television.
(But you should also know that not all information on the lnternet is correct and not all advice is good! So this can be dangerous. Try to look for information on more than one website or channel if it is about something very important like your health.)
Sometimes this is because only a minority of people are interested in certain types of information.
We call this niche (pronounced neesh), rather than mainstream.
At one time, all people read about the same news from the same newspapers. Now all that has changed.
l will explain what l mean…
Some websites, like YouTube for example, send information to you relating to things you have already chosen to watch. This system is called an algorithm. Everyone has a different one, so populations get different types of information with different news and opinions send to different sections of people.
There is so much information available on the lnternet now. lt can be very educational…
But be warned! The information that you feed into your mind over time has a huge influence on the way you think and the emotions you feel.
This means that you must take the responsibility to CHOOSE to watch and interact with things that will make your life better and not worse. Social media is actually deliberately designed by experts to become addictive!
Will what you access help you to grow in a healthy way or make you feel depressed and inferior to others? Are you in charge of what you do, or are you wandering about aimlessly and being sucked into being influenced by bad influences?
Always ask yourself these questions! You have to be in charge of your own life.
And do not forget to leave your screens alone sometimes and go and interact with friends, family, pets, nature, art, crafts, sports, books and real-life entertainments like theatre too if you want to have a well-rounded, healthy life!!!
At the beginning of this century, the introduction of smart phones meant that people could take the lnternet with them everywhere they went.
They could look at a map and track where they were in a strange city so they wouldn’t get lost. They could shop while they were on the bus home from work. They could watch a movie while they were on the train.
As the number of e-mails sent rose, the numbers of letters sent through the post fell. E-mails were delivered more quickly than snail mail and they were cheaper to send. A lot of people that get piles of spam think that too many e-mails are sent!
But the postmen still had work to do. Because people started buying so much stuff online that although there were fewer letters sent through the post, there were more parcels to be delivered.
To carry the extra load; our Rocky Bay postman has had to switch from a bicycle to a van!
He doesn’t deliver to my lighthouse though and so my parcels go to my Auntie Alice’s house and l pick them up from there.
l am connected to the lnternet though, otherwise l couldn’t write my blog, could l? 
l will speak to you next week.
Bye bye everyone – don’t forget to subscribe to my blog!
lf you like my blog, please support it by telling all your friends and followers about it.
Thank you!
And see you again next Fun Friday!
Love and kisses
Salty Sam
www.christina-sinclair.com
Bill and Bob’s Joke of the Week
Bill: A man goes into a doctor’s surgery and says, “Doctor, doctor, l keep thinking that l am part of the lnternet!”
Bob: So what did the doctor say?
Bill: He said, “You do look a bit of a site!”
Salty Sam © Christina Sinclair 2015
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of material from this blog without express and written permission from this blog’s author and owner is strictly prohibited.
Links may be used to www.christina-sinclair.com
Picture Gallery
World War II code cracker
Sputnik
Telex
Fax machines were connected with telephones
Computer cards had holes punched in them
Floppy disk
Bill Gates (right) and Paul Allen (left) and early desk-top computers
Apple Computers have a different system from Microsoft ones
THE SALTY SAM NEWS DESK
This week, Auntie Alice gave herself a bit of a rest and sat down to do some knitting.
She had had an idea to put some little sacks on people’s plates when they came round for Christmas lunch.
Crackers are very pretty but you can’t get very big presents in them.
Her guests will be able to take their Santa sacks home with them if they want to.
These sacks would look lovely on a table or hung on a tree.
They could also be used as party bags at a children’s party.
NEWSDESK MINIMAKE
MINI SANTA SACKS
You can use brown yarn to make the item look like a real miniature sack or you could use a brighter colour.
You could use the same colour for all your sacks, or use a different colour for each person at the table. In this way, it is easier to make sure the person gets the present that is right for them.
Otherwise you may need to tie a label onto them.
You could put lots of little presents into them or one present that would be too large to fit into a cracker.
SANTA SACK (KNIT TWO)
DIFFICULT VERSION (IN PHOTOGRAPH)
Using 4mm knitting needles and green dk yarn cast on 21 stitches
Sl1 (k1, p1) repeat the last 2 stitches until you reach the end of the row
Sl1 (p1, k1) repeat the last 2 stitches until you reach the end of the row
Sl1 (p1, k1) repeat the last 2 stitches until you reach the end of the row
Sl1 (k1, p1) repeat the last 2 stitches until you reach the end of the row
Repeat the last 4 rows 6 times
Knit 8 rows of stocking stitch
Purl 1 row
Purl 1 row
Knit 1 row
Purl 1 row
Purl 1 row
Purl 1 row
Change to white dk yarn
Purl 1 row
Purl 1 row
Cast off
EASY VERSION
Using 4mm knitting needles and green dk yarn cast on 21 stitches
Knit 40 rows of garter stitch
Knit 8 rows of stocking stitch
Purl 1 row
Purl 1 row
Knit 1 row
Purl 1 row
Purl 1 row
Purl 1 row
Change to white dk yarn
Purl 1 row
Purl 1 row
Cast off
TO MAKE UP EITHER VERSION
Using over-sew stitching, sew side seams and bottom seam with right sides together
Turn the sack the right way out
Crochet 60 chains into a length of green yarn
Thread the chain evenly through the channel at the top of the sack and tie the ends together
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PLEASE CONTACT:
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Quick Quiz
Do you know what these slang words and phrases mean?
- Argy-bargy
- Do one’s nut
- Gaffer
- Knees up
- Marbles
- Miffed
- Numpty
- Paddy
- Skive
- Chuffed
lt’s the Weekend!
HOW TO MAKE A STARFlSH TREE TOPPER
Auntie Alice has been very busy this week helping to decorate the village hall ready for all the parties that will take place there this coming Christmas season.
The volunteers put lights around the windows and chains across the ceiling.
They found the large tree to put up but could not find the decorations to go on it.
They looked everywhere they could think of to try and find the box of decorations and still couldn’t find it.
They had been working all day and were beginning to get very tired so they really didn’t feel like looking anymore.
Then someone had the great idea of making some new decorations with a beach theme.
They could spray shells gold and silver and hang them up instead of baubles and tie some of cinnamon sticks together to look like bundles of drift wood.
They could get some white cord that looked like rope to wrap around the tree instead of tinsel.
Everyone thought it was a great idea for a beach community!
They didn’t have anything to put at the top of the tree though, so Auntie Alice knitted them this starfish.
STARFISH PANEL (KNIT 10)
Using 4mm knitting needles and white sparkly dk yarn cast on 2 stitches
Knit 1 row
Continue knitting in garter stitch and increase 1 stitch at the beginning of each row until you have 12 stitches on your needle
Then decrease 1 stitch at the beginning of each row until you have 1 stitch left on your needle
Cast off
TO MAKE UP
- Using over-sew stitching and with right sides together sew 5 panels together to make a star front
- Using over-sew stitching and with right sides together sew 5 panels together to make a star back
- Sew a face onto the front
- Using over-sew stitching and with right sides together sew around the starfish but leave a little hole at the bottom so that you can push him onto the top of a tree
- Turn the starfish out the right way and pull out the points of the star
If you prefer to put a decoration onto your starfish rather than a face, knit the following pieces, curl them around, sew the ends together and sew onto the front of your starfish.
Using 4mm knitting needles and green dk yarn cast on 10 stitches
Cast off
Using 4mm knitting needles and red dk yarn cast on 15 stitches
Cast off
Please note that the material on this blog is for personal use and for use in classrooms only.
It is a copyright infringement and, therefore, illegal under international law to sell items made with these patterns.
Use of the toys and projects is at your own risk.
©Christina Sinclair Designs 2015
Quick Quiz Answers
- An argy-bargy = an argument
- To do one’s nut = get angry
- A gaffer = a boss
- A knees up = a party
- Marbles = good sense
- To be miffed = annoyed
- A numpty = an idiot
- A paddy = a tantrum
- To skive = to get out of doing some work
- To be chuffed = really pleased
How to use these words in a sentence:-
l had an argy-bargy with him
He did his nut when he found out
l’ll have to tell the gaffer about this
We are going to have a knees up on Saturday and you are welcome to come
l think he has lost his marbles
l was really miffed about it
He is such a numpty
He threw a paddy when he couldn’t get his own way
He is such a skiver – l never see him doing any work
l was so chuffed about winning
Awesome blog! I have never seen anything else like it.
l am so glad you like my blog. l have a lot of fun writing it!