For those of you that like reading..

Here are some interesting facts about the INTERNET.. and about me as well..

The INTERNET kicked-off about twenty years ago when the government wanted to unload an old network it no longer had use for. That network was called DARPA. After this transition it was known as Arpa-Net. Only Universities were allowed to access it at first. Much later came the new access providers (called ISPs). Something was happening, but no one was quite sure exactly what that was as of yet. All eyes were on this new and still unexplored technology.

Suddenly, and seemingly out of nowhere the early INTERNET was born! It was amazing! In the beginning the entire downstate New York region was served by just a few pioneers who had a vision of what would become the greatest thing that has ever existed to date. A world where everyone was connected together! Those early networks were SPEC.NET, LI.NET and PANIX. I believe only the first of those, SPEC.NET still exists. That, by the way, is where I started!

Among SPEC.NET's first customers were SPRINT (the phone company), GANNETT (the media company behind USA Today) and more. They even connected Cold Spring Harbor Labs. SPEC.NET is now a part of ACCESS HIGHWAY who I still support and help out from time-to-time. When things get tough I always come in to rescue them. We are friends for all time, and I recommend them highly for Dialup in all of Downstate New York and Nationwide DSL and T1 circuits.

The INTERNET began on 56k and T1(1.5mb) lines and the end-users like you were connected by dialups on modems at 2400 baud (slow-motion at best even with text). When 9600 and 56kbps modems came about it was considerably faster, but still nowhere near the speeds of today, and the speeds of tomorrow!

Then it happened all over again! A rebirth! A graphical interface to it all. PRODIGY introduced a graphical browser using an old Ham Radio imaging protocol called NAPLPS. Boom! Internet Explorer and Netscape were born next. From that moment on the INTERNET was no longer a text-based world!

Now most of us connect at blazing speeds of 20 Megabits per second and faster, so web pages, and even High Definition Video load quickly. There is no more waiting on the Internet, the World Wide Web is really all over the world, and things are only going to get better!

I hope you enjoy this website and all it offers. It is a gift to all of the kids (including the big kids like me) of the Long Island New York area, as well as people all over the world!!     - Al Thiel