21Dec 2013 by R&O No Comments
First Lady of The Internet

First Lady of The Internet

Internet, People
Many moons ago, the internet was a barren landscape of computer nerds and curious onlookers. Before the days of Google, Facebook and YouTube, Marg Meikle, CBC's sardonic yet utterly charming 'Answer Lady' on the Vicki Gabereau show, contacted me for some Internet help. If my memory serves me correctly, she wanted to connect to this nerdy new computer network at home, a sometimes challenging and always frustrating endevour at that point in time. She invited me to her very groovy (her words) pad in Kits and we worked on her various computer maladies while she brewed tea and chatted about interesting stuff, all of which I can no longer remember. I helped Marg with her Internet connection (a dialup SLIP connection) that day and she jumped straight in, surfing, posting,…
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15Dec 2013 by R&O No Comments
Netscape Flashback

Netscape Flashback

Internet, Of Interest, Technology
Way back in 1995 Netscape was king. It was king because it was a direct descendent of Marc Andreessen's ground-breaking Mosaic software, one of the first cross-platform web browsers available to users on the newly paved superhighway. Those were the days. Sort of. Unfortunately for the Netscape company, who saw part of their future in the secure transactions business, a 27 year-old graduate student in France broke the security code that allowed their commerce server software to offer security to its customers. This, in the world of web server software companies, was a very bad thing. Up to that point, Netscape advertised that its security was bulletproof and would allow all types of sensitive financial transactions to take place over the internet without fear of credit card numbers and bank…
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13Apr 2009 by R&O No Comments
CBC Radio – 1994 Almanac Show

CBC Radio – 1994 Almanac Show

Internet, People, Technology
Here's another radio broadcast from 1994 on good old CBC Radio 690. I appeared on the Almanac afternoon show with host Cecilia Walters and Marg Meikle, known then as CBC's Answer Lady, to discuss the Internet. The technology was fairly new to most in 1994 and a mysterious and little understood technology which is reflected in some of the listener's questions during the show. Note the use of IRC to create a chat room and how Internet use was deemed primarily for business with little mention of home access. As with the CKNW broadcast below, listen to this broadcast and compare the Internet in 1994 to what is available now. It's staggering how much things have changed in such a short period of time. Note: Since that show in 1994,…
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