How the Internet Began

A revelation with an Incredibly Big Message (IBM):

Well, you might have thought that you knew how the Internet started, but here's the TRUE story ....

In ancient Israel, it came to pass that a trader by the name of Abraham Com did take unto himself a young wife by the name of Dot.

And Dot Com was a comely woman, broad of shoulder and long of leg. Indeed, she was often called Amazon Dot Com.

And she said unto Abraham, her husband: "Why dost thou travel so far
from town to town with thy goods when thou canst trade without ever leaving thy tent?"

And Abraham did look at her - as though she were several saddle bags short of a camel load, but simply said: "How, dear?"

And Dot replied: "I will place drums in all the towns and drums in between to send messages saying what you have for sale, and they will reply telling you who hath the best price.

And the sale can be made on the drums and delivery made by Uriah's Pony Stable (UPS)."

Abraham thought long and decided he would let Dot have her way with
the drums. And the drums rang out and were an immediate success. Abraham sold all the goods he had at the top price, without ever having to move from his tent.

To prevent neighboring countries from overhearing what the drums were saying, Dot devised a system that only she and the drummers knew. It was called Must Send Drum Over Sound (MSDOS), and she also developed a language to transmit ideas and pictures - Hebrew To The People (HTTP)

But this success did arouse envy. A man named Maccabia did secrete
himself inside Abraham's drum and began to siphon off some of Abraham's business. But he was soon discovered, arrested and prosecuted - for insider trading.

And the young men did take to Dot Com's trading as doth the greedy horsefly take to camel dung.

They were called Nomadic Ecclesiastical Rich Dominican Sybarites, or NERDS.

And lo, the land was so feverish with joy at the new riches and the deafening sound of drums that no one noticed that the real riches were going to that enterprising drum dealer, Brother William of Gates, who bought off every drum maker in the land.

And indeed did insist on drums to be made that would work only with Brother Gates' drumheads and drumsticks.

And Dot did say: "Oh, Abraham, what we have started is being taken over by others."

And Abraham looked out over the Bay of Ezekiel, or eBay as it came to be known. He said: "We need a name that reflects what we are."

And Dot replied: "Young Ambitious Hebrew Owner Operators." "YAHOO," said Abraham. And because it was Dot's idea, they named it YAHOO Dot Com.

Abraham's cousin, Joshua, being the young Gregarious Energetic Educated Kid (GEEK) that he was, soon started using Dot's drums to locate things around the countryside. It soon became known as God's Own Official Guide to Locating Everything (GOOGLE)

And that is how it all began.

China Receives Burma Ambassador

Time: 1106
Place: Kaifeng, China

This scroll shows the capital city of China. It dates from this time. Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty is 23 years old. As the ambassador from Burma approaches, he could reflect that the diplomatic representatives at the Court was one of the most diverse in the world.

China maintained relations with Egypt, India, Indonesia, and the Khanates of central Asia. Song China numbered 50 million people.

Burma (or Myanmar) was ruled by the Pagan Dynasty under one of Burma’s greatest kings, Kyansittha. He consolidated and expanded Burma’s power in southeast Asia. He is most remembered for peace, maintaining an active diplomacy with his neighbors.

Both China and Burma were to fall to the conquering descendents of Ghengis Khan in the next century.

More info: Kyansittha and Huizong.

A Motley of Nations

Blogging Will Durant’s History of Civilization

Outside of the main civilizations of the ancient history of the Middle East, Egypt, Sumeria/Babylon/Assyria/Persia, there circles a confusing medly of peoples. Some were barbarians; some were civilizations; some were half and half. Durant tries to make sense of them.

The Hittites settled in the area of modern Turkey (called “Asia Minor”). They used the plentiful deposits to move from the bronze to the iron age. They were suppanted by the Phrygians, who were conquered by the Lydians.

To their east and north of Iraq lies the region of the Armenians, a very ancient people, indeed.

From the Semitic peoples (originating from Arabia) there came the Phoenicians who occupied the lands north of Palestine.

Sadly, in this catch-all chapter, Ethiopia gets mentioned in just 4 disconnected pages from the book’s index – like the treatment the USA got in the last two volumes of the series.

Durant's Brief Outline

1. The Indo-European Peoples
   
2. The Semitic Peoples
   

- From Book One, The Near East, Chapter XI. A Motley of Nations.

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I believe that this series is one of the great works of modern history literature. Its material is essential knowledge.

Ramses Wonders Who Done It

Previously in Herodotus

121. (c) Now when it became day, the king entered into the chamber and was very greatly amazed, seeing the body of the thief held in the trap without his head, and the chamber unbroken, with no way to come in or go out: and being at a loss he hung up the dead body of the thief upon the wall and set guards there, with charge if they saw any one weeping or bewailing himself to seize him and bring him before the king. And when the dead body had been hung up, the mother was greatly grieved, and speaking with the son who survived she enjoined him, in whatever way he could, to contrive means by which he might take down and bring home the body of his dead brother; and if he should neglect to do this, she earnestly threatened that she would go and give information to the king that he had the money.

- Herodotus, Book II

More Information: Egypt, Herodotus's Book.

Wisdom from the Past 3/28/11

Any girl can be glamorous. All you have to do is stand still and look stupid.

- Hedy Lamarr

More on Hedy Lamarr.

Chief Joseph

- Another installment in my series
CHURCHILL’S WORLD
Stories of the world during the time Winston Churchill lived in it: 1874 to 1965.

In 1877, when Winston Churchill was 3 years old, the Nez Perce Indians were told that they had to evacuate their lands and move on a reservation. Instead, they tried to immigrate to Canada, or anywhere where they could be left alone.

Their flight and the U.S. army’s pursuit of them was to take them across the Rocky Mountains, through present Yellowstone geysers area, and then north to Canada. They were stopped just 40 miles short of the Canadian border. It was an epic pursuit of 1,600 miles.

It was epic in another sense as well. It was the last, dramatic story in the theme of barbarian versus civilization. In ancient history, barbarian was on offense; in modern history, civilization moved took and held the offense.

This section of my book will tell the story of this campaign and of it’s larger context of a story that goes back to the beginnings of civilization.

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This series consists of short summaries for passages from the book that I am writing. Graphic is that of another Churchill book that I really like.

Other Installments of this series (in progress).

Hope Gets Bombed

It was at Algiers in North Africa in 1943. Bob Hope was there with his USO tour to entertain the troops and to meet General Eisenhower. Ike promised Hope a night of peace and quiet but unfortunately, the Germans chose that night to fly bombers over the town.

As the bombs fell, the general and the star evacuated to the wine cellar. Ike later send Hope a note regretting that Hope had to resign himself to a night in the cellar instead of a bed. Bob Hope replied that it wasn't the cellar that bothered him; it was the stuff flying overhead.