[Originally published related to INF312/STS311]
Another assignment for my i312 course.
The short animated film explained the basic process of data transfer over a network and the Internet.
First and foremost, I learned that data packets are boxy little devices that are routed by robotic arms and moving platforms. In all seriousness, the process of data transfer across a local area network is a complex one that errors frequently; however, the system has been programmed to compensate to ensure the valid transfer of data. While it can be easy to think that the connection is as simple as a circuit-based system, like standard telephone systems, computer networks are designed to be better able to handle a much higher data load.
Systems are designed to check for security breaches at multiple points on the transfer path. The proxy, the firewall, the switches and routers are all able, in their own way, to check the packet for proper “security clearance”. There is no single device that needs to be a security guard for the network.
The network has to be incredibly fast. The process that was explained in a twelve-minute production happens in fractions of a second. For a data packet of 32 bytes to reach the blogger.com site takes sixty-five milliseconds. Technology’s ability to stream video to our computers in real-time is a testimony to overall ability and accuracy of the system.
The short film was an informative look at the workings of data sharing across a network that would be educational for anyone not of a computer background.

[Originally published related to INF312/STS311]
Below is another reflection for my i312 course. This one concerned a documentary about the origin of the Internet.
The documentary was very informative, detailing the origins of the Internet. The Internet was created by an organic process that found inspiration in random places.
One theme of the documentary was the organic nature of the development of the Internet. For example, e-mail and the World Wide Web were both “killer apps” that were never foreseen by the original scope of the project. The beauty of ARPANET, and now the Internet, was that it only outlined a foundation for other projects to flow across it. New protocols and new technologies can be developed and implemented with little change, if any, to the original network design.
Another theme highlighted by the work was the origin of ideas for this new technology. Between a study of mice influencing the packet to a post office being a model of a node, this “new” network is simply a revolution of current thought. The theories of the distributed network were found outside the new technological world.
Lastly, the most interesting point of reflection while watching the piece was the government interaction. The government, via a $1,000,000 original budget, had set the framework for the network that virtually everyone in the academic community uses everyday. The actual development of the network was organic, without real government interference or guidance. However, even with all of that, an act of Congress was still required to actually make the technology something useful to everyone. The act that allowed public access to the network is probably the most interference the government has ever truly exhibited in the execution of this technology, short of the original charter, and it was the most needed.
Where the Gutenberg printing press was the instrument that ushered in the first “information age”, the old ARPANET (which from my server logs, still operates in some form) was the Gutenberg network of the technological information age. The next question is where this network will will take us from here. Will these same basic technologies guide information sharing for the next 25 or 50 years? Will there be a new ARPANET-style program that equally reforms the way we think about information management? If the organic nature of ARPANET is any indication, it is up to us to figure it out.