Wednesday, September 11, 2013

#Week1: EMAIL

Here comes my second post! Andddd i'm gonna talk about EMAIL! Tadaaaa!
Okayyy *sigh*...
I bet many of us are so used to emails that we may potentially get bored when someone brings up such an obviously familiar topic.
BUT (okay there's a but here so i hope you guys are getting a bit more excited!)... But have you ever thought about how the symbol '@' goes inbetween the user's login name and the name of his or her host computer? Why '@' was chosen as the signature of email but not other symbols, for instance, '#, $, ^, &, *,...'? What was the first email message?, etc...
I guess not so many of us would ever get a hand on exploring about those stuffs. So that's why you should read today's blog entry as I will be covering fun facts about email!

To kickstart, I would like to introduce:
Father of Email: Raymond Samuel Tomlinson

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Ray Tomlinson is a US computer engineer who implemented our email system in 1971 on ARPANET. In fact, Tomlinson had not been specifically tasked to develop email, but he was working out some useful applications for MIT's ARPANET project. Even though Tomlinson took some time to work on email , it was "mostly because it seemed like a neat idea". However, emails used across the APARNET network was actually turned out to be such a brilliant invention, since back in the days, messages could only be sent to those who used the same computer as the sender. 
By using a file transfer protocol that he was working on called CYPNET to adapt the SNDMSG program, Tomlinson was the first person to be able to invent and send electronic messages to any computer on the ARPANET network. This has significantly increased the popularity of email as email is still considered as one of the most important killer apps of the internet. 
---> and for those who don't know what ARPANET is, it is actually our first internet, or we can refer to it as PAPA of the internet - according to mr.Choy's joke in class, if you guys can remember haha!

The '@' Sign and Its Meaning

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For most of us,  '@' is so familiar that we may not bother to ponder its meaning. We use it numerous times everyday without giving it much thought as it has become an intergrate part of our lives. However, Ray Tomlinson deliberately chose the symbol '@' as a signature of email which is short for "at"to identify which user was "at" what computer. In other words,'@', which is an important part of our email address, can be refered to as our internet identity.
Technically, '@' helps seperate the user name from its host. To break it down, the host name (i.e: yahoo.com) helps signify the machine at which the user can be found, at least virtually. As a matter of fact, even though the host name functions just as same as the domain name, it is more specific than the domain name. Meanwhile, the user name typically is the name we use to log in. 

The First Email: "QWERTYUIOP"?

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In late 1971, Tomlinson sent the first message between two computers that were side-by-side in his Cambrigde, MA lab. He was sending test messages back and forth from one machine to the other until he was satisfied that the program worked. Even though, "QWERTYUIOP" is widely quoted to be our first email, Tomlinson described it as insignificant since "QWERTYUIOP" was the only message that he could recall in a bunch of forgettable test messages. Hence, "most likely the first message was QWERTYUIOP or something similar", he concluded.

Here are some other facts about email:

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I think that's it for #week1's blog! I hope you guys have learnt something interesting about email beyond its technical function!
To round up everything, let's watch this youtube video:
And I'm so so so sorry since i couldn't insert this video into my blog and i dont know why so here's its link :(..

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

#Week 2: I Love Skype

I love Skype.
I love love love love Skype!

Okay i must admit that Skype, other than many social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter or Google Hangout, doesn't provide its users with "that" entertaiment function of updating friends' feeds in a fraction of second, viewing news, or stalking (nooo!). However, Skype to me really knows how to promote deeper, more meaningful human interpersonal interactions. Here, I'm talking about its function of bridging the gap created by physical distance. 

Years ago, who would imagine that we could possibly conduct face-to-face interactions from distant places? All we had was handphones, written letters, post offices, stamps, late delieveries, etc...which may, eventhough partially help us keep in touch with others, not function effectively as a platform of maintaining strong relationships. More importantly, let's say that we are very determined to pursue relationships with our distant partners. But what can we do if super expensive international calls must be made in order to get to the other person? I bet we might feel hesitated when pressing those phone numbers.. However, no worries, we have Skype now!

I know i'm a little bit (perharps too much) excited with Skype! However, I seriously have to say without Skype, there's no way i can keep up with my super long distance relationship. Skype really is a hero that acts as the most incredible communication tool helping establish and maintain me and my boyfriend's emotional connection (the most important ingredient in every healthy relationship, i guess?!). 


With Skype, we now can see each other face, we can know how the other person's been up to (i.e.: how long his hair is right know, how many weight he has lost for not knowing how to cook but can't take fast food anymore), we can be in each other live, we can finally feel the love. 
Okay too much for my cheesy personal stuffs! 

Now let's explore some interesting facts about Skype:


Skype

Tadaaa! I guess now you guys have gained an in-depth understanding about one of the most popular softwares in the world through this super cute illustration right?!

That's it for this week's blog! 
Buh-byee!