Programs - Seventh Continent

The problem of the millennium, which we have repeatedly talked about in this program, hung over Russia. Meanwhile, most people still have a rather vague performance about her - including those who had to think for a long time. Let's try to shed light again: Oleg Rodin talks about the problem of the millennium.

Then Dmitry Atlas - about telephone communications on the Internet.

In conclusion, Mikhail Kretschmer, towards the upcoming international holiday, will open a cycle of essays about women on the World Wide Computer Network.

Radio "Freedom", the program "Seventh Continent". Oleg Rodin talks about the so -called mistake of the millennium.

Rodin

The problem of millennia for computers users has been discussing for several years. The fears are expressed that when the two thousandths occurred, computers that were unimportant to the dates of the new century can fail or believe that the year 1900 has come, since the last two numbers become zeros. Apparently, for some rather complex or somewhat outdated systems based on a date expressed only by these two digits, indicating dozens and units, this is significant: it is not for nothing that crazy money is spent all over the world to amend the programs to avoid problems when switching to the year 2000. However, already many users have at their disposal computers such as IBM PC and quite modern Windows 95 or Windows 98 operating systems. How, in this case, the transition to a new millennium is reflected at work?

A walk in the 2000th year each user of the Windows 95 system can take it himself, having tuned the clock on his computer on December 31, 1999, for example, 23 hours 55 minutes. You can have time to check the work of your favorite programs, say, the Word editor or some games, the Internet explorer or work with graphics. Five minutes later, the timer in the corner of the screen will report to you that it has occurred on January 1, and when a clarifying line or a clock setting window is called, and a year will report the 2000th. Nothing significant with the computer or programs has happened, and the insertion of the date and time in the Word editor regularly makes a message to the edge of the page: January 1, 2000, they do not pay attention to the change of century and other programs, and the Narton's utility monitor also calmly informs: yes, indeed, on January 1, 2000, can there be something else?

If you run ahead of the lines on the indicator of the years in the window "Setting up the date and time", then problems can arise only after a hundred years at the end of the 21st century, since after the date of 2099 it follows the jump in time back for 120 years-in 1980. Yes, here, indeed, problems can arise, but they live for another hundred years. Probably, computers by that time will be replaced by more advanced models more than once, allowing to calmly step over the fourth millennium. For example, on the eve of 2000, the Windows 98 system familiar to many users is doing: firstly, like Windows 95, she calmly tolerates a change in the date and time by the end of 1999 and a jump in the new 2000 year. Secondly, the well-known program for checking the CHECK IT computers Modification 98 has an additional test for your system for work in the next millennium in its “repertoire”: it is called “Checkit-Test-Year-2000”.

The test program invites you to insert a formatted disk into the disco and press the Start key, after which it is required to reboot the computer, provided that the system installation is addressed during the restart first to the diskette, and then to the hard drive. After that, the computer is rebooted by a test dischet inserted into the Disco, formed by the Test-2000 program, it is controlled and a new reboot is carried out, after which the program automatically conducts the same check for the transition from December 31, 1999 to January 1, 2000, which can be partially done manually. However, a test is also carried out by real electronic watches built into the computer. Then the authors of the program thank the user for its use and again invite the computer to restart the computer already in normal mode with a disk extracted from the disc.

However, the test does not end there: you need to insert a test disk again and continue the test, which gives the final results - whether your computer and your operating system are ready for the transition to the next millennium. “You can safely enter in the 2000th year,” I received such a message as a result. It seems that computers equipped with the Windows 98 system are somewhat better prepared for this event, although ordinary users of the Windows 95 system in the majority should not be in wait for the problems of the end of the century. It is quite obvious, however, that everyone can and should at least manually check their computer to cross the temporary line of 1999-2000. However, computer systems related to defense, transport, safety and finances, of course, require detailed professional verification and possible reprogramming to transition to the year of the 2000.

Radio "Freedom", the program "Seventh Continent". Telephone negotiations on the Internet are gradually acquiring commercial significance. About what it is and how to use it is Dmitry Atlas.

Atlas

The development of Internet telephony, which all computer publications are talking about and written, convincingly confirms the case of those who see the universal means of human communication on the Internet. Computer telephony claims to cover the entire communication spectrum: from facsimile communication to video conferences. However, in reality, the development of this sphere is associated with overcoming many very significant difficulties. About myths and realities of computer telephony and there will be a conversation in today's program.

The effectiveness of Internet telephony is many times higher than the effectiveness of traditional methods for transmitting a human voice to a distance. It allows you to digitalize the sound, to achieve compression of the transmitted information and thereby significantly increase the throughput of the transmission lines. It would seem that the creation of the Internet telephony services market will be the largest communication companies primarily. However, so far this has not happened. And the point here is not only that the distribution of computer telephony is fraught with significant losses due to the collapsible drop in prices for international and intercity telephone conversations. The main reason for the apparent "slowness" of many companies that occupy a leading position in the field of telecommunications is the imperfection of the existing Internet telephony technologies to date. These companies, on the basis of many years of experience, were convinced that in conditions of strict competition, it is possible to win the struggle for the consumer in a long -term plan only due to the high quality of the services provided. Completely realizing the continuing potential of the computer telephony market and thoroughly tracking the changes in this market, many telecommunication giants nevertheless, expressed in the sports language, continue to “miss the weight”, consciously postponing the competition until the manageability, reliability and quality of telephone communication based on the Internet, as well as the mechanisms of protection from the unauthorized access.

Each of these factors deserves a separate consideration. Unable to go into technical details, nevertheless, we will briefly explain what is being discussed here.

Strict observance of the secrets of telephone conversations, which is one of the necessary conditions for the large-scale distribution of Internet telephony, is associated with the solution of a number of difficult problems. The user of the computer telephone line must be sure that his interlocutor is actually for whom he gives himself, that his words during transmission on computer networks will not be subjected to intentionally distortion, and, no less important, that someone from the outside will not be able to connect. The relevant standards developed by the International Telecommunications Union impose quite stringent requirements for Internet telephony providers, the non-compliance of which may result in imprisonment of the license and financial losses. It is clear that it takes a lot of time to create really reliable protection mechanisms in this area.

The question of the quality of Internet telephony is often identified with the problem of regulating the quality of the transmitted sound. However, if the quality problem was precisely in this, it could be considered already resolved, because modern network technologies are able to ensure practical continuity of sound, and existing digital coding systems, which have already been described in the “seventh continent”, allow us to achieve sound quality superior to the one that conventional telephone devices provide. In fact, the problem of the quality of Internet telephony is associated with ensuring the uninterrupted functioning of a computer telephone system as a whole and creating an effective management system for it. The solution of these problems is complicated by the existing variety of final users of operating systems installed on computers, of which today only Unix and Windows NT, according to experts, can serve as the basis of the multifunctional systems of Internet telephony.

Finally, controllability of computer telephony systems means the possibility of changing priorities and optimizing the sound information flows migrating in the network. And here there is no reason to talk about the perfection of existing systems.

Nevertheless, computer telephony is already starting to play an increasingly noticeable role and without a doubt it will gradually replace ordinary telephony, as replaces the electronic paper mail. The pace of development of Internet telephony technologies in recent years has been exceeding all expectations.

Issues related to the implementation of computer telephony in Russia have been widely discussed recently on the Russian Internet. We will talk about Russian propagandists of Internet telephony about Russian propagandists of Internet telephony in the next program.

Radio "Freedom", the program "Seventh Continent". Mikhail Kretschmer opens a cycle of essays about women on the Internet.

Krechmer

In general, ask the question "Is this a female case of the Internet?" - Not accepted. In some countries, this can lead to litigation, because there a sign of equality is clearly affixed there between what a man can and that a woman can. In other countries, on the contrary, women are given a strictly defined place - and there everyone knows this place well. But it happens that asking about it is pointless. Because in other places no one can really explain this to you. Since the topic of discussion itself is woven from many, many traditions, situations, contradictions. But in any case, it is worth talking about this.

Here, for example, with us. On the one hand, many still believe that doing technology is not a female business. And to meet a lady, say, a system administrator of a node, is as difficult as finding a woman-specialist woman who is a service station. On the other hand, if you build all the computers in which all our secretaries work (they are now customary to call them referents), financiers from countless accounting and banks, as well as all sellers of air and railway tickets- it will be possible to strive, probably, from the taiga to the most British seas. In Russian -speaking chats, guys are more talkative in fact, although there are many girls there. And, as you know, it is they who inspire many guys to electronic chatter. In the Internet centers of our universities you can find the same way both of them. People of both sexes send Messaji at different ends of the world, roam in the World Wide Web. But discover any of the popular computer magazines, and you will not find practically no chief editor - a woman. Their names begin below on the lists - in the advertising department, the distribution department, sometimes in the design group. But on the other hand, women who directly lead the media are less in the non -memorial world. And, say, Evelyn Liberman -Director of the Voice of America or Georgina Henry, the editor of the Gardian newspaper, is not frequent. It is men who mostly become webmasters. It is they who not only lay fiber between neighboring rooms and cities, set modems and routers, but also equip the world of real virtuality. Websites are developed, fill them with texts, images, sounds. As men have long built cities, so now they model the canons of the information society. Although few people think that we all look at the eyes of men, since it is they - always - are television operators. Regardless of what you are shown - studio shootings, documentary cinema or reporting with a demonstration.

Personal female websites differ from men's. Male is usually more diverse, more diverse, and more thoughtful. But a little more than a year ago I met the website of the website, pleasantly amazing. He belonged to a 20-year-old Moscow student Alexander Filyushkina. She spoke quite well about herself in Russian and English, spoke about her addictions and concerns, and for her favorite music group she developed several separate pages. What were delighted by the guys who entered the website. They left their enthusiasm in the guest book. In addition, student Sasha and his girlfriend Olesya presented the fruits of their literary creativity to the audience - travel notes of their charming adventures. So you can rejoice at life only when you are a sweet 20-year-old girl traveling through other countries in an excellent campaign. However, some time ago, Sashin, the website disappeared from the Internet - it is not at the usual address.

Perhaps one of the most famous women of the domestic Internet can be considered Olya Lyalina. She is a designer and experimenter, she is even considered a legislator of Internet fashion and no -art. The film critic and Kinooman once decided to use the capabilities of the network for artistic and movie experiments. The result was "my boyfriend returned from the war." Later, almost for the first time in history, the work of a network artist bought a network magazine from Germany. Not for so much money, but still bought it. But it is well known that even financial corporations and banks willingly invest money in the works of painting are practically not interested in network, even outstanding works. Their prices are not rising over the years, and they will not be able to hang them on the wall in the office.

If for many Internet computers, information in them stored, convenient interfaces for users, as well as communication lines and some equipment, then for Olya Lyalina is a parallel world with its own laws and language. A little is known: a new generation of network artists has appeared. They do not just post on the servers pictures created in the “Corel-Drone” or in “Three-DE Studio”, but create works, as much as possible using the possibilities of real virtuality. There are works, parts of which are placed on different servers. These are not just paintings, or network slide films, but some virtual-intellectual multidimensional mosaics. They are created not only from images and flowers, but also from ties - both imaginary and real.

Another idea Oli Lyalina is Internet teleportation. A rather exciting and complex process. Not all are allowed to him, but only passed special selection. The author of many interesting inventures himself believes that it is quite possible, with a modern rate of technology development, an hour is uneven, and a day in ten years can reach real teleportation. With the help of, as she believes, all of our favorite Internet.