The following article was written ages ago… it may not be accurate today. But read it anyway, I put a heap of work into it back in the day.

Google is a search engine; everyone knows that – but how does it actually work. In this article, we will delve into Google’s behind the scenes, from how they crawl the web, to how results are shown to you.
Read the rest of this entry »

The world famous communication and data transfer network known as ‘The Internet’ (yes, that one…) has been included into the nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize. The Italian edition of  ‘Wired’ Magazine lobbied for the nomination, starting a campaign back in November ‘09 saying that “What happened in Iran after the latest election, and the role the web played in spreading information that would otherwise have been censored, are only the newest examples of how the internet can become a weapon of global hope” (Riccardo Luna, Wired Italy editor-in-chief). The magazine launched a website, http://internetforpeace.org/ that outlines the reasons why the Internet shoud be awarded the prize:

We have finally realized that the Internet is much more than a network of computers.
It is an endless web of people. Men and women from every corner of the globe are
connecting to one another, thanks to the biggest social interface ever known to humanity.
Digital culture has laid the foundations for a new kind of society.
And this society is advancing dialogue, debate and consensus through communication.
Because democracy has always flourished where there is openness, acceptance,
discussion and participation. And contact with others has always been the most
effective antidote against hatred and conflict.
That’s why the Internet is a tool for peace.
That’s why anyone who uses it can sow the seeds of non-violence.
And that’s why the next Nobel Peace Prize should go to the Net.

And now they’ve done it, the Internet is nominated. So what we must ask now, is whether this is a good thing. Is the internet worthy of a Nobel peace prize? I’ll leave that up to you. As always I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

>> http://internetforpeace.org