fuel economy in car commercials

"Matthew Russotto" > wrote in message
...
> Nice try, Lloyd, but nobody made that claim in this thread. Gore said
> he "took the initiative in creating the internet". And fools like
> "Decarian" try to defend that statement as if it were true.

Which the references prove is correct.

Now in attempting to argue the opposite you have been caught in a lie.

BYTE Magazine > Vox Populi > 1999 > August

Al Gore Created The Internet?

(Al Gore Created The Internet?: Page 1 of 1 )

By Robert Frantz

August 16, 1999

Welcome to Vox Populi, the column written by you. Every so often, we will
offer Byte.com readers the chance to write their very own column on whatever
crosses their mind.
This month, our very own columnist Robert Frantz jumps on the box to discuss
those interesting tales involving our country's vice president. So, what did
Al Gore say ... and just what did he mean?



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Have you heard the jokes about Al Gore saying he created the Internet? Well,
I'm
here to tell you what Gore said is absolutely true, even though he was still
in
law school when the ARPANET was first switched on in 1969 and was not an
engineer in a previous life. And it does not depend on the meaning of the
word
"is." It does however, demonstrate the unreliability inherent in analog
communications and illustrate the need for reliable digital communications.

The issue of communications has bothered me ever since Bill Clinton wagged
his
finger at us. When we communicate verbally, it is a form of analog
communications, in that each word can have a range of meanings. In digital
communications, each bit of information is either 1 or 0. There are no
shades of
gray. The decision as to what is meant is relatively simple. This is what
makes
digital communications reliable. If noise is added to a digital signal, but
it
is not strong enough to flip the decision on a received bit of information
from
0 to 1, or vice-versa, then the information is not degraded in any way. With
analog communications, any noise or uncertainty added to the information
degrades it.

What does this have to do with Al Gore and the Internet? What Gore actually
said
in his interview on CNN was, "During my service in the United States
Congress, I
took the initiative in creating the Internet." In the process of making the
rounds of the joke circuit, this was shortened to, "I created the Internet."
That is analog "noise" -- when information is added to, or subtracted from,
verbal communications. Digital communications would be the equivalent of
repeating Gore's statement verbatim, whenever it was referenced. It would
probably make for a lousy joke, but in many cases, the reliability of
communications is a serious matter. Just think what sometimes happens when
air-traffic controllers are unable to communicate reliably with airline
pilots.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
"Now, if only we could apply digital communications principles to political
discourse, think of the confusion, and even wars, that could be avoided."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----



Many people who have read or heard Gore's actual statement interpreted it to
mean Gore was taking credit for initiating the creation of the Internet,
because
he used words that sound similar. Was his use of these words a purposeful
attempt to mislead? Maybe, I don't know. Certainly, there is a sizable
population of people who have no idea Gore did not initiate the creation of
the
Net. The fact that "initiative" sounds like "initiating" and "creating"
sounds
like and has a similar meaning to "creation" is another facet of the
problems
with analog communications. They are two representations of information,
which
are very similar, yet mean different things, so it is relatively difficult
to
decide what is meant. If digital-communications principles were applied to
verbal communications, no two words would sound alike, or have similar but
different meanings.

So what did Gore mean? When he said he took the initiative, that only means
he
did more to promote the Internet than anyone else in Congress at that time.
Furthermore, Gore's use of the word "creating" implies he realizes the
creation
of the Internet is an ongoing work in progress, not something created
overnight.
So, taking what Gore said literally, he took credit for providing leadership
in
Congress to promote the building of the Internet. Something which, as far as
I'm
able to determine, Gore actually did do.

When communications is attempted, there are three areas that may fail. They
are
the transmitter, the medium, and the receiver. In verbal communications, the
transmitter is the speaker and the words he chooses. The medium may be a
telephone wire, a TV broadcast, or an Internet Web page. The receiver is the
listener, who must decide how to interpret what he hears.

A major problem that seems prevalent today is when one or both the latter
two
areas fail, the transmitter of information is exclusively blamed for the
problem. Mistakes in interpretation by receivers of information are
characterized as intentional dishonesty on the part of the transmitter of
information, to the point where accurate statements are called lies.

By being noise-resistant, and simplifying the decision process at the
receiver,
digital communications makes information transfer much more reliable than
analog
communications. Now, if only we could apply digital communications
principles to
political discourse, think of the confusion, and even wars, that could be
avoided. Well, one can dream ...

"Brent P" > wrote in message
...
> Oh, heaven forbid I want people to make decisions for THEMSELVES. To
> control their OWN LIVES. To RETAIN THEIR PROPERTY.

Whats stopping you Brent? Can't you keep a job?

In article >,
Vendicar Decarian > wrote:
>
>
>> Vendicar Decarian > wrote
>> >Gore gets the credit for creating and pushing through the legislation
>that
>> >created the internet.
>
>> "Matthew Russotto" > wrote in message
...
>> That deserves an Aunt Judy guffaw:
>>
>> HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
>
>While Conservative Russotto laughs, here in the reality based community we
>laugh at his ignorance....

I'm not conservative, but I've noticed it seems to be a point of pride
with nutcase leftists to defend the proposition that Gore "took the
initiative in creating the Internet". Fact is, he did no such thing.
--
There's no such thing as a free lunch, but certain accounting practices can
result in a fully-depreciated one.

In article >,
Vendicar Decarian > wrote:
>
>
>> Vendicar Decarian > wrote:
>> >While Conservative Russotto laughs, here in the reality based community
>we
>> >laugh at his ignorance....
>
>"Matthew Russotto" > wrote in message
>news
>> I'm not conservative, but I've noticed it seems to be a point of pride
>> with nutcase leftists to defend the proposition that Gore "took the
>> initiative in creating the Internet". Fact is, he did no such thing.
>
>You are a liar Russotto. Just like every other NeoCon in existance.

Not a NeoCon and not a liar.

>Watching you as you spend your last seconds of life against the wall will be
>very pleasurable indeed.

Revolutions of the sort you refer to have the habit of eating their
own, often early on before eliminating their opponents. It might be
me watching you spend your last seconds of life against the wall.
--
There's no such thing as a free lunch, but certain accounting practices can
result in a fully-depreciated one.

You are a liar Russotto. Just like every other NeoCon in existance.

Watching you as you spend your last seconds of life against the wall will be
very pleasurable indeed.

Al Gore and the Internet

By Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerf

Al Gore was the first political leader to recognize the importance of the
Internet and to promote and support its development.

No one person or even small group of persons exclusively "invented" the
Internet. It is the result of many years of ongoing collaboration among
people in government and the university community. But as the two people
who designed the basic architecture and the core protocols that make the
Internet work, we would like to acknowledge VP Gore's contributions as a
Congressman, Senator and as Vice President. No other elected official, to
our knowledge, has made a greater contribution over a longer period of time.

Last year the Vice President made a straightforward statement on his
role. He said: "During my service in the United States Congress I took the
initiative in creating the Internet." We don't think, as some people have
argued, that Gore intended to claim he "invented" the Internet. Moreover,
there is no question in our minds that while serving as Senator, Gore's
initiatives had a significant and beneficial effect on the still-evolving
Internet. The fact of the matter is that Gore was talking about and
promoting the Internet long before most people were listening. We feel it
is timely to offer our perspective.

As far back as the 1970s Congressman Gore promoted the idea of high speed
telecommunications as an engine for both economic growth and the
improvement of our educational system. He was the first elected official
to grasp the potential of computer communications to have a broader impact
than just improving the conduct of science and scholarship. Though easily
forgotten, now, at the time this was an unproven and controversial
concept. Our work on the Internet started in 1973 and was based on even
earlier work that took place in the mid-late 1960s. But the Internet, as we
know it today, was not deployed until 1983. When the Internet was still in
the early stages of its deployment, Congressman Gore provided intellectual
leadership by helping create the vision of the potential benefits of high
speed computing and communication. As an example, he sponsored hearings on
how advanced technologies might be put to use in areas like coordinating
the response of government agencies t!
o !
!
!
natu
ral disasters and other crises.

As a Senator in the 1980s Gore urged government agencies to consolidate
what at the time were several dozen different and unconnected networks into
an "Interagency Network." Working in a bi-partisan manner with officials
in Ronald Reagan and George Bush's administrations, Gore secured the
passage of the High Performance Computing and Communications Act in
1991. This "Gore Act" supported the National Research and Education
Network (NREN) initiative that became one of the major vehicles for the
spread of the Internet beyond the field of computer science.

As Vice President Gore promoted building the Internet both up and out, as
well as releasing the Internet from the control of the government agencies
that spawned it. He served as the major administration proponent for
continued investment in advanced computing and networking and private
sector initiatives such as Net Day. He was and is a strong proponent of
extending access to the network to schools and libraries. Today,
approximately 95% of our nation's schools are on the Internet. Gore
provided much-needed political support for the speedy privatization of the
Internet when the time arrived for it to become a commercially-driven
operation.

There are many factors that have contributed to the Internet's rapid growth
since the later 1980s, not the least of which has been political support
for its privatization and continued support for research in advanced
networking technology. No one in public life has been more intellectually
engaged in helping to create the climate for a thriving Internet than the
Vice President. Gore has been a clear champion of this effort, both in the
councils of government and with the public at large.

The Vice President deserves credit for his early recognition of the value
of high speed computing and communication and for his long-term and
consistent articulation of the potential value of the Internet to American
citizens and industry and, indeed, to the rest of the world.