[12155] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
"Ask Dr. Internet" for April, 1998
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Michael S. Hart)
Fri Apr 17 23:34:11 1998
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1998 19:28:40 -0500
From: "Michael S. Hart" <hart@prairienet.org>
To: PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU>
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
This is "Ask Dr. Internet" for April, 1998
Answering Questions from Mid-March to Mid-April
0. How Can I Surf the Web Faster?
1. More On the New Mac Chips
2. More on Year 2000 Leap Year Bug
0. How Can I Surf the Web Faster?
We are getting a LOT of questions on this order, and here is a little
blurb we have made up to let you know why getting a faster modem will
not actually give you as much speed as you think.
The first thing is that 56k modems are more susceptible to line noise
than are 28k modems. . .you may have to put in new phone lines to get
to 56k, and even that may not help as much as you might think. Often
you will get logged in at lower speeds, either due to line noise that
is not in your particular location, or because there aren't enough of
the 56k modems at the other end, and you get a 28k modem answering.
However. . .even if we presume everything is running perfectly as far
as line noise goes, and you get in at 57.6k. . .whey they do not call
these 57k modems baffles me. . .then you still won't double speed!!!!
Here is why.
Let's first presume that your server is fast enough to be paying good
attention to HALF of the people dialed in at any given time. . .these
examples are a GREAT reason to get an outboard modem with bright LEDs
. . .so you can SEE what is happening when you request data.
When I request data, there is usually some SERIOUS LAG TIME before an
electronic file I want even STARTS to download. . .sometimes there is
serious lag time even before the site answers. . . . Then, if it was
a LINK to another site you requested through. . .there will be second
delay periods for each of these before even the first 1% comes down.
If you have an outboard modem, you can actually see how long it takes
for any real packets of information to arrive, no matter what kind of
entertaining things your browser is doing to make you think things on
line are actually happening. . .you might remember when browser logos
only moved when data was moving. . .not so any more. . .they WANT you
to think something is happening when it is NOT happening.
OK. . .now suppose you get connected. . .and we start our testing for
56k modems. . .suppose your server is only packaging data for you 512
bytes at at time, it will take over 100 of these to fill up one modem
packet. . .so you might get a delay between each and every packet for
your 56k modem, while a slower modem would keep working on the packet
setup already there and rolling. . .a 28k modem should work twice the
time before the server has to create a new set of data for you. . . .
A 14.4k modem would work four times as long before inserting commands
for another data setup for you, and hence another delay. If the site
you use can only pay attention to YOU half the time, then each//every
time you double your modem speed, you could only get 50% faster, this
would be 75% of the advertised modem speed.
If you understand this kind of math, doubling your modem speed twice;
actually will only give you about twice the real speed. 75% of 75%??
This is just about 50%. . .this is not exact. . .but it will seem so,
when you are wondering why downloads take so long.
1. More On the New Mac Chips
The thing being advertised on TV is the PPC750, or "G3", which is
twice as fast as a Pentium II at all clock speeds. The fastest Pentium
II is 300MHz. The fastest Mac is based on a 300MHz G3, which is
(roughly) twice as fast.
The copper-based chip is not expected in retail machines until next year.
2. More on Year 2000 Leap Year Bug
I met with a very highly placed government computer systems analyst
earlier this week, who says the US government and military is aware,
and working on, the problem that not all computers are aware that it
WILL be a leap year in the year 2000. [Usually every 100th year NOT
a leap year, except every 400th year. You may want to check this.]
From Edupage:
CHADWYCK-HEALEY TRIES DATABASE FUNDRAISER
Publisher Chadwyck-Healey is trying a new approach to marketing its
ArchivesUSA database -- a fund-raising drive. The company has promised to
make the database free to users in the U.S. and Canada if it can raise
$400,000 through library donations by the end of April. ArchivesUSA
contains a searchable Web index of documents, manuscripts and other
artifacts found in 4,400 libraries and 100,000 special collections in the
U.S. The novel campaign has netted the company $125,000 so far, with an
additional $50,000 pledged. Some librarians have criticized Chadwyck-Healey
for taking a nonprofit approach to a for-profit business, but the company's
president replies: "Such skepticism is entirely appropriate. But I don't
know of another for-profit company that is saying publicly what amount of
revenue they'd like to bring in. This is an experiment, but one that I
think is generally worthwhile." (Chronicle of Higher Education 20 Mar 98)
APACHE OFFERS FREE WEB SERVER ALTERNATIVE
Web server software companies are losing business to a rival product few
people have ever heard of -- Apache. The software -- offered at no cost --
is the loving labor of a loose confederation of programmers who, working in
their spare time over gin and tonics at home and collaborating on the
Internet, wanted to build a better way to serve up Web pages to the millions
of people who want to see them. Once they completed the software three
years ago, they released all of the technical details on the Internet,
allowing any Web site to use it gratis. Apache server software is used by
an impressive range of companies and organizations to run their Web sites,
including Kimberly-Clark Corp., McDonald's Corp. and Texas Instruments Inc.,
as well as the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves. (Ottawa Citizen 20
Mar 98)
APPLE DEMOS 400Mhz MAC
Apple Computer interim CEO Steve Jobs last week demonstrated a Macintosh
running on a 400Mhz copper-based chip, based on technology developed by IBM
last fall. The new microprocessor, which will be produced under joint
arrangement by IBM and Motorola, will be available for Macs in early 1999,
says Jobs. (St. Petersburg Times 23 Mar 98) Meanwhile, analysts are
predicting a new inexpensive, high-powered Apple laptop by the end of May.
The G3/233 will sell for less than $2,000 and will feature Apple's new
PowerPC 750 233Mhz processor. (Tampa Tribune 23 Mar 98)
FINDING A NEEDLE (OR 7,079 PAGES ON NEEDLES) ON THE WEB
A study by the NEC Research Institute says the Internet has exploded to more
than 320 million Web pages, an estimate that does not include millions of
pages that are protected by passwords or "search walls" that block access to
browsers or search engines. The study indicates that the HotBot search
engine has the most comprehensive index of the Web, but even so, covers only
about 34 percent of the indexable pages. Coverage of some of the other
search engines includes: AltaVista (28%); Northern Light (20%); Excite
(14%); Lycos (3%). One of the report's coauthors says that the Web's data
explosion may be better controlled by the "meta-search engines," such as
Meta-Crawler and Ahoy!, which have developed thinking techniques that sense
what readers are looking for and seek out pages not found on most indexes.
(AP 3 Apr 98)
JUDGE DECLARES NSF DOMAIN FUND ILLEGAL
A U.S. district court judge said Wednesday that the $30 Intellectual
Infrastructure Fee charged as part of the Internet domain name registration
process has been illegally collected, because it was never approved by
Congress. "Congress may have intended to grant NSF the authority to collect
the assessment, but it has not yet done so," wrote the judge. "Congress
must pass legislation that more explicitly conveys its intentions." More
than $45 million had been collected in the fund before it was phased out at
the beginning of this month. The judge's ruling came in response to a
lawsuit filed on behalf of the American Internet Registrants Association.
Twenty-three million dollars of the fund was slated to go to the Next
Generation Internet project, which funds universities' and research
institutions' connections to a super high-speed backbone network. The
plaintiffs in the case plan to petition the court for class-action status,
which would allow them to ask that the entire fund be returned to all domain
name holders. (Net Insider 9 Apr 98)
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***
This has been "Ask Dr. Internet"
