Internet turns 35, still a work in progress

因特网35岁了 仍在摸索中前进

Steve Crocker was a graduate student in 1969 at UCLA in the computer lab when the first network connection was made in what has become the Internet (Agencies)

　

　

Thirty-five years after computer scientists at UCLA linked two bulky computers using a 15-foot gray cable, testing a new way for exchanging data over networks, what would ultimately become the Internet remains a work in progress.

University researchers are experimenting with ways to increase its capacity and speed. Programmers are trying to imbue Web pages with intelligence. And work is underway to re-engineer the network to reduce spam(junk mail,垃圾邮件) and security troubles.

All the while threats loom: Critics warn that commercial, legal and political pressures could hinder the types of innovations that made the Internet what it is today.

35年前，美国加利福尼亚大学洛山矶分校（UCLA)的计算机科学家们用一条15英尺长的灰色电缆将两台庞大的计算机连接在一起，试验一种通过网络交换数据信息的新方法。直到今天，因特网最终的发展前景仍然在不断探索中。

大学研究员在试验增加互联网功能和速度的新方法，程序员们尝试着将智能元素和网页密切结合。为减少垃圾邮件和解决网络安全问题而重新设计网络的工作也正在进行中。

而威胁一直忽隐忽现：批评家们提醒说商业、法律和政治压力会阻碍各种进步和创新，而正是这种创新促使因特网发展到今天。

Stephen Crocker and Vinton Cerf were among the graduate students who joined UCLA professor Len Kleinrock in an engineering lab on Sept. 2, 1969, as bits of meaningless test data flowed silently between the two computers. By January, three other "nodes" joined the fledgling(新诞生的) network.

Then came e-mail a few years later, a core communications protocol called TCP/IP in the late 70s, the domain name system in the 80s and the World Wide Web - now the second most popular application behind e-mail - in 1990. The Internet expanded beyond its initial military and educational domain into businesses and homes around the world.

Today, Crocker continues work on the Internet, designing better tools for collaboration. And as security chairman for the Internet's key oversight body, he is trying to defend the core addressing system from outside threats.

1969年9月2日，斯蒂芬·克罗克和文顿·瑟夫等毕业生加入了UCLA的教授莱恩·克莱因罗克领导的工程技术实验室，当时，只是一些无意义的实验数据在两台计算机间静静地传输。到了第二年一月份，又有3个“节点”加入到这个初具雏形的网络系统中。

几年之后，电子邮件出现了，这是在70年代晚期被称为TCP/IP的核心通信协议。80年代出现了域名系统，1990年，万维网问世，并成为仅次于电子邮件的最流行的应用工具。因特网已经超出了它最初在军事和教育领域的应用，开始走进全世界的商业领域和家庭。

如今，克罗克仍然继续从事因特网研究，致力于设计更好的沟通工具。作为互联网主要监督机构的安全主席，他正在尝试保护核心地址系统不受外界威胁。

He acknowledges the Internet he helped build is far from finished, and changes are in store to meet growing demands for multimedia. Network providers now make only "best efforts" at delivering data packets, and Crocker said better guarantees are needed to prevent the skips and stutters now common with video.

Cerf, now at MCI Inc., said he wished he could have designed the Internet with security built-in. Microsoft Corp., Yahoo Inc. and America Online Inc., among others, are currently trying to retrofit the network so e-mail senders can be authenticated - a way to cut down on junk messages sent using spoofed addresses.

Many features being developed today wouldn't have been possible at birth given the slower computing speeds and narrower Internet pipes, or bandwidth, Cerf said.

他承认他协助建立的因特网远没有完善，需要不断改进来满足多媒体日益增长的需要。目前，网络供应商们只能做“最大的努力”传输数据信息包。克罗克认为，为防止现在视频中常见的（播放画面）遗漏和不连贯，需要更好的（技术）保证。

现属美国MCI电信公司旗下的瑟夫说，他希望他能设计带有内置安全系统的因特网。微软、雅虎、美国在线和其它公司目前正尝试翻新网络系统，使发邮件的人能够被识别，以此来减少通过伪造地址发送的垃圾邮件。

瑟夫说，英特网刚出现时，计算机处理速度较慢，带宽较窄，因此我们今天开发出的很多功能在当时根本无法实现。