NKDA Archives » How the Web works
Understanding the Web's Architecture (...more)
Though this isn't a technical course there are some important lessons to be learned by taking a closer look at how the Web actually works. And it's really not difficult. Some of the language might be new but the ideas...
September 20, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Let's start with the Internet (...more)It might seem obvious to you, but many don't really understand the difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web. To help us make a clear distinction I'll introduce the Internet, quickly, here to help us understand what Tim...
September 13, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Understanding the Web's Architecture (...more)Though this isn't a technical course there are some important lessons to be learned by taking a closer look at how the Web actually works. And it's really not difficult. Some of the language might be new but the ideas...
September 23, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Why has the Internet spawned so much creativity? (...more)Thankfully, this question has many answers. Throughout our history we have never experienced a global communications medium so broad and powerful yet efficient, a universal information space so empowering for individuals, a linguistic tool so dynamic and expressive, and a...
March 16, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
End-to-end (...more)One of the central questions behind TFOI is this: Can anyone really own the Internet? In other words, can it be substantially privatized? We know that there are already thousands of companies who are making money by using the Internet....
March 4, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Enhanced communication through shared knowledge (...more)TBL (WTW p. 162): "When I proposed the web in 1989, the driving force I had in mind was communication through shared knowledge and the driving "market" for it was collaboration among people at work and at home. By building...
January 29, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Layers (...more)In chapter ten TBL begins his treatise on the social forces of the web. The Web is more a social creation than a technical one. I designed it for a social effect - to help people work together - and...
January 27, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Network Effects (...more)Time for a proper post on Network Effects. A network effect occurs when the value of a good or service to a potential customer is dependent on the number of customers already owning that good or using that service. Equivalently,...
January 19, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
What is Hypertext? (...more)W3C Definition, Hypertext: text which is not constrained to be linear Before there was HTML (definition) there was SGML For the advent of Hypertext we owe much to Ted Nelson. Transclusion, says Nelson, is a term to define virtual inclusion,...
January 15, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Bringing it all together (...more)Ok I know I said that this wouldn't be a technical course.....so here's probably the last post I'll make on the inner 'plumbing' of the web. Here we can picture the basic components of the web working together. This is...
January 12, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack
How are web resources identified? (...more)So HTTP is the rule book for communicating on the web.....but what about identifying, disovering and locating web servers in the first place? Only slightly more complex is the notion of addressing on the web. Some analogies to think about:...
January 12, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Communication on the web (...more)How do truckdrivers or taxi-cab drivers communicate using CB radios? They use codes and signals like the ones I found on this goofy flash site. Hypertext transfer protocol is the 'rule book' for codes and signals that web browsers use...
January 12, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Content and Presentation (...more)While content (aka data - text, video, audio, graphics) lives in a database, it gets 'dressed up' to come out on display. A simple and popular way of dressing up content for display on the web is HTML (hypertext markup...
January 12, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Web Servers (...more)What do web browsers browse? Web Servers! Microsoft's Internet Information server (shown here) is a popular one. So is Apache. Web Servers are just software programs that manage files for display on the web. Other programs might exist between the...
January 12, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Web browser (...more)A web browser does much more than just browse. It presents and manages information in many different ways providing a conduit and console with which you can manage your computer and its relationship to the web. For our purposes we...
January 12, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack
