Saturday, February 4, 2023
manilastandard.net
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
manilastandard.net
No Result
View All Result
Home Business Columns Digital Life by Chin Wong

Lo and behold

Chin WongbyChin Wong
November 14, 2016, 10:30 pm
in Digital Life by Chin Wong
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Email

THERE is a room in one of the science buildings in UCLA that is ground zero for the birthplace of the internet. In the 2016 documentary by legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog, Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World, we get to see that room—complete with a commemorative plaque about the fateful day in Oct. 29, 1969, when the first message was transmitted over a network from one computer in UCLA to another at the Stanford Research Institute 400 miles to the north.

In the first scene of a 10-part documentary, Internet pioneer Leonard Kleinrock recounts that the first message was a single word: “Lo.” There was nothing profound about the word—one of the computers had simply crashed when it was about to receive the letter “G” to complete the remote log-in.

“The SRI computer crashed, so the first message ever on the internet was lo, as in lo and behold. We couldn’t have asked for a more succinct, more powerful, more prophetic message than lo,” Kleinrock says.

The sense of wonderment in Kleinrock’s observation sets the tone for the rest of the documentary—a freewheeling look at various aspects of what he calls “one of the greatest revolutions” humanity has experienced.

Like a book, the film is divided into 10 chapters, each dealing with a particular aspect of the internet. Herzog, who does the voiceover and the interviews never, actually appears on screen.

ADVERTISEMENT

In Part 1, Early Days, Herzog talks to pioneers like Kleinrock and Bob Kahn, who co-invented TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol-Internet Protocol), the system of rules that makes communication on the internet possible.

Herzog, who describes himself as a novice with a conceptual understanding of the basics of the internet, says the early days look like prehistory from the perspective of today’s explosion of information technology.

“‘Today if you would burn CDs of the worldwide data flow for one single day, and stack them up to a pile, this pile would reach Mars and back,” Herzog says, clearly in awe of the pervasiveness of the internet. “The internet is already permeating everything. Even on the International Space Station, a phone call from one module to the next goes via the internet.”

In Part 2, The Glory of the Net, Herzog explores gains that were made possible because of internet technology and the vast number of people on the network. This includes an online video game in which hundreds of thousands of online users helped design RNA molecules that scientists using supercomputers could not do on their own.

Here we also see autonomous cars that can drive themselves and robotic soccer players that their inventors hope will one day be smart enough to beat the FIFA champions.

Balancing this upbeat view of the internet is Part 3, the Dark Side, which starts with a stark, almost shot of the Catsouras family seated around the dining table behind some cupcakes and croissants, talking about how grisly photos of their daughter Nikki, killed in a car accident in 2006, had circulated on the internet because two California Highway Patrol officers had emailed them to other people.

What made matters worse were the reactions that some people had to the photographs, and the online harassment that family members were subjected to as a result of the leaks.

“I received emails with the pictures attached a short time after the accident,” Nikki’s father says. “It was disguised and I didn’t know who it came from and I opened it up. The bad ones were very hateful. Hateful towards me, towards Nikki, towards our family. It said dead girl walking. Woo hoo daddy I’m still alive.

Nikki’s mother adds: “I didn’t know such depravity existed in humans and I think dogs treat their kind better than humans treat their kind… There is no dignity or respect on the internet because we’re not held accountable. Nobody is there to tell us not to. I have always believed that the internet is a manifestation of the anti-christ, of evil itself. It is the spirit of evil and I feel it’s running through everybody on earth and its claiming its victories in those people that are also evil.”

Some of Herzog’s material—such as his detours into solar flares, Hurricane Sandy, eccentrics who claim hypersensitivity to electrical radiation, and the Fukushima disaster—are only tangentially related to the internet but Herzog’s curiosity and enthusiasm are catching.

There’s a lot more in Lo and Behold—including interviews with uber-hacker Kevin Mitnick and the inventor Elon Musk—that make this documentary worth watching.

The topic is so wide-ranging, however, that Herzog inevitably leaves some stuff out, too. While he has a striking shot of Buddhist monks tweeting in front of the Chicago skyline, there is no mention of Facebook and the pervasive perfumed garden it has built on the internet. The documentary also seemed to be crying out for an interview with Tim Berners-Lee, the man who invented the World Wide Web and gave it away to the world.

Still, the journey is an engaging one, and Herzog’s storytelling skills, his deadpan delivery, and offbeat questions (Do you love your robot?) are enough to hold our interest.

Lo and Behold is available on Amazon and iTunes. Chin Wong

Column archives and blog at: http://www.chinwong.com

Tags: birthplace of the internetLo and beholdReveries of the Connected WorldUCLAWerner Herzog
ADVERTISEMENT
Chin Wong

Chin Wong

Related Posts

Prepping a new Mac, 2016

byChin Wong
December 19, 2016, 6:20 pm
0
8
Prepping a new Mac, 2016

IT’S been five years since I wrote about free software that new Mac users ought to be installing on their...

Read more

Our state of privacy

byChin Wong
November 28, 2016, 8:05 pm
0
8
Our state of privacy

THE seminar-workshop gathered representatives from the Office of the President, the Philippine National Police, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the...

Read more

Sierra tips and tricks

byChin Wong
November 7, 2016, 10:35 pm
0
8
Sierra tips and tricks

IT’S been a few weeks since I upgraded my MacBook Air to macOS Sierra, and the instability I experienced with...

Read more

Dirty Cow

byChin Wong
October 31, 2016, 10:35 pm
0
8
Dirty Cow

IMAGINE there was an invisible hole in your wall through which strangers could come and go and gain access to...

Read more

Upgrading to Yakkety

byChin Wong
October 24, 2016, 10:30 pm
0
8
Upgrading to Yakkety

I UPGRADED the operating system on my MacBook Air last week and I figured I ought to do the same...

Read more

Upgrading to Sierra

byChin Wong
October 17, 2016, 10:30 pm
0
8
Upgrading to Sierra

I FINALLY got around to upgrading my 11-inch MacBook Air (circa 2014) from El Capitan to Sierra this weekend, crossing...

Read more

Print Edition

View More

Recent Posts

  • Trending destinations in the Philippines
  • Hong Kong’s ‘luckiest spots’ to visit in the Year of the Rabbit
  • Empowering Little People through fashion
  • Level up your look with Style by Lazada
  • Albert Andrada Paris Fashion Week 2023 show moved to July
  • Cebu-based micro-enterprise continues to innovate, diversify
  • Pharma firm releases new Access to Medicines report
  • Sustainable packaging takes centerstage at Propak PH

Advertisement

Latest News

Cebu-based micro-enterprise continues to innovate, diversify

byOthel V. Campos
February 4, 2023, 7:10 pm
0
8
Pharma firm releases new Access to Medicines report

Multi-awarded micro-enterprise Sandria’s Delicious Concept is rebooting systems to start anew projects stalled by the health crisis, building more connections...

Read more

Pharma firm releases new Access to Medicines report

byManila Standard Business
February 4, 2023, 7:00 pm
0
8
Pharma firm releases new Access to Medicines report

Biopharmaceutical leader Takeda recently released its Access to Medicines Progress Report 2022, highlighting the company’s efforts in broadening access to...

Read more

Sustainable packaging takes centerstage at Propak PH

byManila Standard Business
February 4, 2023, 6:50 pm
0
8
Sustainable packaging takes centerstage at Propak PH

The World Packaging Organization (WPO) called on stakeholders and players in the packaging and manufacturing industries to educate people better...

Read more

LandBank engages Lake Sebu stakeholders on capacity building

byManila Standard Business
February 4, 2023, 6:40 pm
0
8
Sustainable packaging takes centerstage at Propak PH

The Land Bank of the Philippines through its foundation conducted trainings on financial literacy and natural farming in Lake Sebu...

Read more

E-commerce enabler gets 3-star award as Lazada partner

byManila Standard Business
February 4, 2023, 6:30 pm
0
8
E-commerce enabler gets 3-star award as Lazada partner

Leading e-commerce enabler for brands in the Philippines, etaily, was the recipient of the 3-star certification from the Lazada Partners...

Read more

Advertisement

ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube

ABOUT US

Manila Standard

Manila Standard website (manilastandard.net), launched in August 2002, extends the newspaper’s reach beyond its traditional readers and makes its brand of Philippine news and opinion available to a much wider and geographically diverse readership here and overseas.

Digital Edition

In tone and content, the online edition mirrors the editorial thrust of the newspaper. While hewing to the traditional precepts of fairness and objectivity, MS believes the news of the day need not be staid, overly long or dry. Stories are succinct, readable and written in a lively style that has become a hallmark of the newspaper.

Download – Today’s Paper

Search

No Result
View All Result

6th Floor Universal Re Bldg., 106 Paseo De Roxas cor. Perea Street, Legaspi Village, 1226 Makati City Philippines

Trunklines: 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Pop.Life
    • Newsmakers
    • Hangouts
    • A-Pop
    • Post Its
    • Performances
    • Malls & Bazaars
    • Hobbies & Collections
  • Technology
    • Gadgets
    • Computers
    • Business
    • Tech Plus
  • MS ON THE ROAD
    • Sedan
    • SUV
    • Truck
    • Bike
    • Accessories
    • Motoring Plus
    • Commuter’s Corner
  • Home & Design
    • Residential
    • Commercial
    • Construction
    • Interior
  • Spotlight
  • Gallery
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • Events
    • Seminars
    • Exhibits
    • Community
  • Biyahero
    • Travel Features
    • Travel Reels
    • Travel Logs
  • Pets
  • Advertise with Us

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Install Manila Standard Web App

Install App