Bell Telephone Company
The Bell Telephone Company was started on the basis of holding potentially valuable patents, principally Bells master telephone patent #174465. Theodore Vail took over its operations at that point, becoming a figure in its rapid growth. The National Bell Telephone Company merged with American Speaking Telephone Company on March 20,1880, to form the American Bell Telephone Company, of Boston, the American Bell Telephone Company evolved into the American Telephone & Telegraph Company, at times the worlds largest telephone company. The Bell Patent Association, was not an entity but a trusteeship. It was established verbally in 1874 to be the holders of the produced by Alexander Graham Bell. Hubbard registered some of his shares with two family members. The verbal patent association agreement was formalized in a memorandum of agreement on February 27,1875, the patent associations assets became the foundational assets of the Bell Telephone Company. It merged with the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company to form the National Bell Telephone Company, a little over a year it was reorganized to become the American Bell Telephone Company.
American Bells outstanding stock rose to 258,863 shares by May 1900, both Hubbards and Sanders roles in the newly born company were pivotal to its early survival and its eventual growth to become a corporate giant. Hubbards very early structuring of its service by leasing, instead of selling telephones, was critical to its success. Hubbard insisted that leasing was the option, even if it significantly raised the need for initial capital expenses. IBTCs first non-North American subsidiary was the Bell Telephone Manufacturing Company, established by Hubbard at Antwerp, the Bell Systems Bell Telephone Company of Canada subsidiary, wholly owned by the National Bell, had been established two years earlier. AT&T President Frederick Fish returned Bells single American Bell Telephone Company share to him as a memento after it had converted and canceled. He remained a confident of Bell, who helped ensure the welfare of Sanders deaf son in his adulthood. Under Forbes leadership a new committee was created at its corporate level to reorganize.
The company was recapitalized, with Vail continuing as its head of operations. After leaving the offices of what became the American Bell Telephone Company, Hubbard created the National Geographic Society as its president, ownership of American Bell was transferred to its own subsidiary, American Telephone & Telegraph Company on the second to last day of 1899. AT&T had been incorporated on April 17,1880 as American Bells long lines division to handle its long distance telecommunications, on January 1,1900, AT&T, a publicly traded corporation, owned the major assets of American Bell and thus became the head of the Bell System
Computer network
A computer network or data network is a telecommunications network which allows nodes to share resources. In computer networks, networked computing devices exchange data with other using a data link. The connections between nodes are established using either cable media or wireless media, the best-known computer network is the Internet. Network computer devices that originate and terminate the data are called network nodes, nodes can include hosts such as personal computers, servers as well as networking hardware. Two such devices can be said to be networked together when one device is able to exchange information with the other device, Computer networks differ in the transmission medium used to carry their signals, communications protocols to organize network traffic, the networks size and organizational intent. In most cases, application-specific communications protocols are layered over other more general communications protocols and this formidable collection of information technology requires skilled network management to keep it all running reliably.
The chronology of significant computer-network developments includes, In the late 1950s, in 1960, the commercial airline reservation system semi-automatic business research environment went online with two connected mainframes. Licklider developed a group he called the Intergalactic Computer Network. In 1964, researchers at Dartmouth College developed the Dartmouth Time Sharing System for distributed users of computer systems. The same year, at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a group supported by General Electric and Bell Labs used a computer to route. Throughout the 1960s, Leonard Kleinrock, Paul Baran, and Donald Davies independently developed network systems that used packets to transfer information between computers over a network, in 1965, Thomas Marill and Lawrence G. Roberts created the first wide area network. This was an precursor to the ARPANET, of which Roberts became program manager. Also in 1965, Western Electric introduced the first widely used telephone switch that implemented true computer control, in 1972, commercial services using X.25 were deployed, and used as an underlying infrastructure for expanding TCP/IP networks.
In July 1976, Robert Metcalfe and David Boggs published their paper Ethernet, Distributed Packet Switching for Local Computer Networks, in 1979, Robert Metcalfe pursued making Ethernet an open standard. In 1976, John Murphy of Datapoint Corporation created ARCNET, a network first used to share storage devices. In 1995, the transmission speed capacity for Ethernet increased from 10 Mbit/s to 100 Mbit/s, by 1998, Ethernet supported transmission speeds of a Gigabit. Subsequently, higher speeds of up to 100 Gbit/s were added, the ability of Ethernet to scale easily is a contributing factor to its continued use. Providing access to information on shared storage devices is an important feature of many networks, a network allows sharing of files and other types of information giving authorized users the ability to access information stored on other computers on the network
Hydraulic telegraph
A hydraulic telegraph is either of two different hydraulic-telegraph telecommunication systems. The earliest one was developed in 4th century BC Greece, while the one was developed in 19th century AD Britain. The Greek system was deployed in combination with semaphoric fires, while the latter British system was operated purely by hydraulic fluid pressure, although both systems employed water in their sending and receiver devices, their transmission media were completely different. The ancient Greek system transmitted its semaphoric information to the receiver visually, while the Greek device was extremely limited in the codes it could convey, the British device was never deployed in operation other than for very short-distance demonstrations. The ancient Greek design was described in the 4th century BC by Aeneas Tacticus, according to Polybius, it was used during the First Punic War to send messages between Sicily and Carthage. The system involved identical containers on separate hills, which are not connected to other, each container would be filled with water.
The rods were inscribed with various predetermined codes at various points along its height, water would drain out until the water level reached the desired code, at which point the sender would lower his torch, and the operators would simultaneously close their spigots. Thus the length of time the torch was visible could be correlated with specific predetermined codes and messages. A contemporary description of the ancient telegraphic method was provided by Polybius, the system was estimated to cost £200 per mile and could convey a vocabulary of 12,000 words. The U. K. s Mechanics Magazine in March 1838 described it as follows, hydraulic telegraph may supersede the semaphore and the galvanic telegraph. Byzantine beacon system Fryctoria Heliograph Optical communication Signal lamp Telegraph Connected Earth
Switchboard operator
Each pair of plugs was part of a cord circuit with a switch associated that let the operator participate in the call. Each jack had a light above it that lit when the receiver was lifted. Lines from the office were usually arranged along the bottom row. Switchboard operators are required to have very strong communication skills. Before the advent of automatic exchanges, an operators assistance was required for anything other than calling telephones across a party line. Callers spoke to an operator at a Central Office who connected a cord to the circuit in order to complete the call. Being in complete control of the call, the operator was in a position to listen to private conversations, automatic, or Dial systems were developed in the 1920s to reduce labor costs as usage increased, and to ensure privacy to the customer. As phone systems became more sophisticated, less direct intervention by the operator was necessary to complete calls. As well as the people that were employed by the networks, operators were required at private branch exchanges to answer incoming telephone calls.
Today, most large organizations have direct-dial extensions, smaller workplaces may have an automated system which allows callers to enter the extension of the called party, or a receptionist who answers calls and performs operator duties. Operators employed in healthcare settings have other duties, such as entry, greeting patients and visitors, taking messages, triaging. Experienced, well trained operators generally command a higher salary, in January 1878 George Willard Croy became the worlds first telephone operator when he started working for the Boston Telephone Dispatch company. Emma was hired by Alexander Graham Bell, and reportedly, could remember every number in the directory of the New England Telephone Company. Emma Nutt became the first female telephone operator on 1 September 1878 when she started working for the Boston Telephone Dispatch company, more women began to replace men within this sector of the workforce for several reasons. The companies observed that women were generally more courteous to callers, however, a contributing factor to women entering this workforce was because womens labour was cheap in comparison to mens.
Specifically, women were paid from one half to one quarter of a mans salary, attendant console Operator assistance Private branch exchange Telephone operator Telephone switchboard Media related to Telephone operators at Wikimedia Commons
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, a comedian who addresses an audience directly is called a stand-up comic. Since the 1980s, a new wave of comedy, called alternative comedy, has grown in popularity with its more offbeat and this normally involves more experiential, or observational reporting, e. g. Alexei Sayle, Daniel Tosh, Louis C. K. and Malcolm Hardee. Many comics achieve a cult following while touring famous comedy hubs such as the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal, the Edinburgh Fringe, often a comics career advances significantly when they win a notable comedy award, such as the Edinburgh Comedy Award. Comics sometimes foray into other areas of entertainment, such as film and television, however, a comics stand-up success does not guarantee a films critical or box office success. Comedians can be dated back to 425 BC, when Aristophanes and he wrote 40 comedies,11 of which survive and are still being performed.
Aristophanes comedy style took the form of satyr plays, the English poet and playwright William Shakespeare wrote many comedies. A Shakespearean comedy is one that has an ending, usually involving marriages between the unmarried characters, and a tone and style that is more light-hearted than Shakespeares other plays. Charles Chaplin was the most popular comedian of the first half of the 20th century. He wrote comedic silent films such as Modern Times and The Kid and his films still have a major impact on comedy in films today. One of the most popular forms of comedy is stand-up comedy. Stand-up comedy is a monologue performed by one or more people standing on a stage. Bob Hope was the most popular comedian of the 20th century. Other noted stand-up comedians include George Carlin, Jerry Seinfeld, Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, Louis CK, another popular form of modern-day comedy is talk shows where comedians make fun of current news or popular topics. Such comedians include Jay Leno, Conan OBrien, Daniel Tosh, Chris Hardwick, Jimmy Fallon, David Letterman, a third form of modern-day comedy is television programs in which many comedians band together to make skits, such as Saturday Night Live.
These shows often receive high ratings, likely because many comedians band together to create jokes, one of the most successful comedians is Ellen Degeneres, who has parlayed her comic career into film, television shows, and hosting major media events. In 1986, Ellen DeGeneres appeared for the first time on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson since she began gaining popularity as a comic in the 1980s. Johnny Carson, who launched many contemporary comics careers, would invite them to join him on the couch for one-on-one conversation after their set
Drums in communication
Developed and used by cultures living in forested areas, drums served as an early form of long-distance communication, and were used during ceremonial and religious functions. While this type of hour-glass shaped instrument can be modulated quite closely, its range is limited to a gathering or market-place, ceremonial functions could include dance, story-telling and communication of points of order. Message drums, or more properly slit gongs, with chambers and long. Variations in the thickness of the walls would vary the tones when struck by heavy wooden drum sticks, while some were simple utilitarian pieces they could be highly elaborate works of sculpture while still retaining their function. Often there are small stands under each end of the drum to keep it off of the ground and these drums were made out of hollowed logs. The bigger the log, the sound would be made. A long slit would be cut in one side of the tree trunk, the log would be hollowed out through the slit, leaving lips on each side of the opening. A drum could be tuned to produce a note and a higher note.
For that it would need to be hollowed out more under one lip than under the other, the drums lips are hit with sticks, beating out rhythms of high and low notes. Under ideal conditions, the sound can be understood at 3 to 7 miles, the talking drums or jungle drums is a euphemism for gossip – similar to the grapevine. In Africa, New Guinea and the tropical America, people have used drum telegraphy to communicate each other from far away for centuries. An African message can be transmitted at the speed of 100 miles in an hour, among the famous communication drums are the drums of West Africa. From regions known today as Nigeria and Ghana they spread across West Africa and to America, there they were banned because they were being used by the slaves to communicate over long distances in a code unknown to their enslavers. Talking drums were used in East Africa and are described by Andreus Bauer in the Street of Caravans while acting as security guard in the Wissmann Truppe for the caravan of Charles Stokes.
The traditional drumming found in Africa is actually of three different types, firstly, a rhythm can represent an idea. Secondly it can repeat the accentual profile of an utterance or thirdly it can simply be subject to musical laws. Drum communication methods are not languages in their own right, they are based on actual natural languages, the sounds produced are conventionalized or idiomatic signals based on speech patterns. The messages are normally very stereotyped and context-dependent and they lack the ability to form new combinations and expressions
History of broadcasting
The first broadcasting of a radio transmission consisted of Morse code was made from a temporary station set up by Guglielmo Marconi in 1895. This followed on from pioneering work in the field by Alessandro Volta, André-Marie Ampère, Georg Ohm, James Clerk Maxwell, the broadcasting of music and talk via radio started experimentally around 1905-1906, and commercially around 1920 to 1923. VHF stations started 30 to 35 years later, when people started broadcasting television the first movie that was shown was Batman curse of the green pearl it was 10 minutes long. In Britain this system was known as Electrophone, and was available as early as 1895 or 1899, in Hungary, it was called Telefon Hírmondó, and in France, Théâtrophone ). The Wikipedia Telefon Hírmondó page includes a 1907 program guide which looks similar to the types of schedules used by many broadcasting stations some 20 or 30 years later. By the 1950s, virtually every country had a broadcasting system, most countries have evolved into a dual system, including the UK.
By 1955, practically every family in North America and Western Europe, a dramatic change came in the 1960s with the introduction of small inexpensive portable transistor radio, the greatly expanded ownership and usage. Access became practically universal across the world, Australia developed its own system, through its own engineers, retailers, entertainment services, and news agencies. The government set up the first radio system, and business interests marginalized the hobbyists, the Labor Party was especially interested in radio because it allowed them to bypass the newspapers, which were mostly controlled by the opposition. Both parties agreed on the need for a system, and in 1932 set up the Australian Broadcasting Commission. The first commercial broadcasters, originally known as B class stations, were on the air as early as 1925, the number of stations remained relatively dormant throughout World War II and in the post-war era. The broadcasting system was deregulated in 1992, except that there were limits on foreign ownership.
By 2000,99 percent of Australians owned at least one television set, Australian radio hams can be traced to the early 1900s. The 1905 Wireless Telegraphy Act whilst acknowledging the existence of wireless telgraphy, in 1906, the first official Morse code transmission in Australia was by the Marconi Company between Queenscliff and Devonport, Tasmania. The first broadcast of music was made during a demonstration on 13 August 1919 by Ernest Fisk of AWA – Amalgamated Wireless, a number of amateurs commenced broadcasting music in 1920 and 1921. 2CM was run by Charles MacLuran who started the station in 1921 with regular Sunday evening broadcasts from the Wentworth Hotel, 2CM is often regarded as Australias first, non-official station. It was not until November 1923 when the government finally gave its approval for a number of officially recognised medium wave stations, all stations operated under a unique Sealed Set system under which each set was sealed to the frequency of one station. Part of the price of the set went to the government via the Postmaster-Generals Department, apart from extremely limited advertising, this was the broadcasters only source of income
United States
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power.
The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations.
In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders
Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders is a 1988 graphic adventure game by Lucasfilm Games. It was the game to use the SCUMM engine, after Maniac Mansion. The project was led by David Fox, with Matthew Alan Kane as the co-designer and co-programmer, like Maniac Mansion, it was developed for the Commodore 64 and released in 1988 for that system and IBM PC. An Apple II version was planned, but never released. The following year in 1989, the game was ported to the Amiga, the story is set in 1997,10 years after the games production. The Skolarians, another ancient alien race, have left a defense mechanism hanging around to repulse the Caponians, the parts are spread all over Earth and Mars. Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders was developed and published by Lucasfilm Games and it was the second game to use the SCUMM engine, after Maniac Mansion. Like Maniac Mansion, Zak McKracken was initially developed for the Commodore 64, the project was led by David Fox, with Matthew Alan Kane as the co-designer and co-programmer.
Fox consulted with New Age writer David Spangler for the game materials, the game was originally meant to be more serious, resembling the Indiana Jones series, but Ron Gilbert persuaded David Fox to increase the humorous aspects of the game. The game was heavily inspired by many popular theories about aliens, ancient astronauts. The many places visited in the game are common hotspots for these ideas, such as the pyramids of Egypt and Mexico, Stonehenge, the Bermuda Triangle, and the Face on Mars. The Skolarians are based on the Greys alien, while the Caponians are primarily based on the Men in Black, with their Cadillac-shaped spaceship, the Caponians have heads shaped like Easter Islands Moai statues. All official versions of the game except the FM Towns port require the player to copy protection codes whenever they fly outside of the United States. The codes were printed in black on a brown paper sheet included in the game package to make photocopying more difficult. They consisted of Commodore 64 graphics characters, making it difficult for would-be software pirates to include them in a file with a pirate copy.
The codes do not have to be entered when flying into the US or when the player is at an airport in another country, if the player enters the wrong codes five times, Zak gets locked in the Kathmandu jail and his guard makes a lengthy anti-piracy speech. Nonetheless, pirated versions of the game popped up anyway, in which the player may enter any code. This freed enough space to include the codes on the main disk, the Commodore version of Zak McKracken did not have CBM DOS files, but was not protected and could be backed up
Heliograph
A heliograph is a wireless solar telegraph that signals by flashes of sunlight reflected by a mirror. The flashes are produced by momentarily pivoting the mirror, or by interrupting the beam with a shutter, the heliograph was a simple but effective instrument for instantaneous optical communication over long distances during the late 19th and early 20th century. Its main uses were military and forest protection work, heliographs were standard issue in the British and Australian armies until the 1960s, and were used by the Pakistani army as late as 1975. Most heliographs were variants of the British Army Mance Mark V version and it used a mirror with a small unsilvered spot in the centre. The sender aligned the heliograph to the target by looking at the target in the mirror. Keeping his head still, he adjusted the aiming rod so its cross wires bisected the target. This indicated that the sunbeam was pointing at the target, the flashes were produced by a keying mechanism that tilted the mirror up a few degrees at the push of a lever at the back of the instrument.
If the sun was in front of the sender, its rays were reflected directly from this mirror to the receiving station. If the sun was behind the sender, the rod was replaced by a second mirror, to capture the sunlight from the main mirror. The U. S. Signal Corps heliograph mirror did not tilt and this type produced flashes by a shutter mounted on a second tripod. The heliograph had some great advantages, anyone in the beam with the correct knowledge could intercept signals without being detected. In the Boer War, where both sides used heliographs, tubes were used to decrease the dispersion of the beam.5 degrees to 15 degrees. The distance that signals could be seen depended on the clarity of the sky. A clear line of sight was required, and since the Earths surface is curved, under ordinary conditions, a flash could be seen 30 miles with the naked eye, and much farther with a telescope. The maximum range was considered to be 10 miles for each inch of mirror diameter, mirrors ranged from 1.5 inches to 12 inches or more.
The record distance was established by a detachment of U. S, the German professor Carl Friedrich Gauss of the University of Göttingen developed and used a predecessor of the heliograph in 1821. His device directed a beam of sunlight to a distant station to be used as a marker for geodetic survey work. Similarly, the story that a shield was used as a heliograph at the Battle of Marathon is a modern myth, what Herodotus did write was that someone was accused of having arranged to hold up a shield as a signal
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of signs, messages, writings and sounds or intelligence of any nature by wire, optical or other electromagnetic systems. Telecommunication occurs when the exchange of information between communication participants includes the use of technology and it is transmitted either electrically over physical media, such as cables, or via electromagnetic radiation. Such transmission paths are divided into communication channels which afford the advantages of multiplexing. The term is used in its plural form, telecommunications. Early means of communicating over a distance included visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, other examples of pre-modern long-distance communication included audio messages such as coded drumbeats, lung-blown horns, and loud whistles. Zworykin, John Logie Baird and Philo Farnsworth, the word telecommunication is a compound of the Greek prefix tele, meaning distant, far off, or afar, and the Latin communicare, meaning to share.
Its modern use is adapted from the French, because its use was recorded in 1904 by the French engineer. Communication was first used as an English word in the late 14th century, in the Middle Ages, chains of beacons were commonly used on hilltops as a means of relaying a signal. Beacon chains suffered the drawback that they could pass a single bit of information. One notable instance of their use was during the Spanish Armada, in 1792, Claude Chappe, a French engineer, built the first fixed visual telegraphy system between Lille and Paris. However semaphore suffered from the need for skilled operators and expensive towers at intervals of ten to thirty kilometres, as a result of competition from the electrical telegraph, the last commercial line was abandoned in 1880. Homing pigeons have occasionally used throughout history by different cultures. Pigeon post is thought to have Persians roots and was used by the Romans to aid their military, frontinus said that Julius Caesar used pigeons as messengers in his conquest of Gaul.
The Greeks conveyed the names of the victors at the Olympic Games to various cities using homing pigeons, in the early 19th century, the Dutch government used the system in Java and Sumatra. And in 1849, Paul Julius Reuter started a service to fly stock prices between Aachen and Brussels, a service that operated for a year until the gap in the telegraph link was closed. Sir Charles Wheatstone and Sir William Fothergill Cooke invented the telegraph in 1837. Also, the first commercial electrical telegraph is purported to have constructed by Wheatstone and Cooke. Both inventors viewed their device as an improvement to the electromagnetic telegraph not as a new device, samuel Morse independently developed a version of the electrical telegraph that he unsuccessfully demonstrated on 2 September 1837
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