Vinton Cerf

Vinton Cerf sounded an alarm when some U.S. lawmakers wanted to fence off Internet pornography by creating an ".xxx" domain name: He didn't see how adult sites could be forced to move there. Persuaded largely by Cerf's arguments, the lawmakers opted instead for a ".kids.us" domain that kid-friendly sites could voluntarily inhabit and that would respect global differences by being an American address.

Gordon Crovitz of the Wall Street Journal's editorial page reopens the ancient debate over who invented the Internet with a column Monday calling out the notion that it was the government as an "urban legend. "  And while I'm gratified in a sense that he cites my book about Xerox PARC, "Dealers of Lightning," to support his case, it's my duty to point out that he's wrong. My book bolsters, not contradicts, the argument that the Internet had its roots in the ARPANet, a government project.

Gordon Crovitz of the Wall Street Journal's editorial page reopens the ancient debate over who invented the Internet with a column Monday calling out the notion that it was the government as an "urban legend. "  And while I'm gratified in a sense that he cites my book about Xerox PARC, "Dealers of Lightning," to support his case, it's my duty to point out that he's wrong. My book bolsters, not contradicts, the argument that the Internet had its roots in the ARPANet, a government project.

Regina Dugan, who spent the last 21/2 years as the first female director of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, has accepted a job as senior executive at Google Inc., a spokeswoman for DARPA confirmed. Dugan was the 19th director of the Pentagon's research arm, founded in 1958 after the Russians sent Sputnik into space. The agency's founding mission was "prevention and invention of strategic surprise. " To that end, DARPA has funded the development of science-fiction-style technologies including a robotic cheetah and prosthetic limbs that can be controlled with the mind.

Regina Dugan, who spent the past two and a half years as the first female director of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), has accepted a job as senior executive at Google, a spokeswoman for the agency confirmed. Dugan was the 19 th director of the military agency, founded in 1958 after the Russians sent Sputnik into space. The agency's founding mission was "prevention and invention of strategic surprise. " To that end, DARPA has funded the development of science-fiction-style technologies including a robotic cheetah and prosthetic limbs that can be controlled by your mind.

Google Inc. has hired Internet pioneer Vinton Cerf to float more ideas and develop products, adding another weapon to the online search engine leader's rapidly growing arsenal of intellect. Cerf's defection from MCI Inc., announced Thursday, represents the latest coup for Mountain View, Calif.-based Google, which has been amassing more brainpower as its payroll has nearly quadrupled to 4,200 workers during the last two years.

* Tuesday, 7 p.m.: Jay Leno, host of "The Tonight Show," talks about the show and his forthcoming book. America Online. Keyword: Centerstage * Wednesday, 4:30 p.m.: Vinton Cerf, regarded as the "father of the Internet," discusses the impact of the communications revolution on daily life. Internet. http://father ofnet.nationalgeographic.com * Wednesday, 6 p.m.: Tune in for live coverage of the vice presidential debate between Democrat Al Gore and Republican Jack Kemp. Internet. http://www.

As appealing as the borderless Internet may be, Yahoo sports producer Tonya Antonucci is willing to sacrifice the idea for a shot at Webcasting the Olympics. Broadcasting rights to the Games and other copyrighted sports events typically are sold regionally. So to win future rights, online businesses such as Yahoo are looking to break the Net into regions.

It's easy to think that cyberspace, a so-called virtual community of computer experts, scientists and university students (or anyone else with a computer and a modem) who communicate electronically via computer networks, is disconnected from the world. But when it comes to ethical issues such as computer abuse, the behavior in cyberspace parallels the real world. There are stealing, joy-riding, practical jokes, invasion of privacy--even kiddie porn.

Retired IBM Corp. computer scientist Frances E. Allen, whose work helped crack Cold War-era code and predict the weather, today will be named the first woman to receive her profession's highest honor. The Assn. for Computing Machinery has granted the A.M. Turing Award for technical merit to no more than a few people each year since 1966.

Google Inc. has hired Internet pioneer Vinton Cerf to float more ideas and develop products, adding another weapon to the online search engine leader's rapidly growing arsenal of intellect. Cerf's defection from MCI Inc., announced Thursday, represents the latest coup for Mountain View, Calif.-based Google, which has been amassing more brainpower as its payroll has nearly quadrupled to 4,200 workers during the last two years.

Vinton Cerf sounded an alarm when some U.S. lawmakers wanted to fence off Internet pornography by creating an ".xxx" domain name: He didn't see how adult sites could be forced to move there. Persuaded largely by Cerf's arguments, the lawmakers opted instead for a ".kids.us" domain that kid-friendly sites could voluntarily inhabit and that would respect global differences by being an American address.

Paul Baran, who helped build the foundation for the modern Internet by devising a way to transmit information in chunks, has died. He was 84. He died Saturday at his home in Palo Alto of complications from lung cancer, said his son David. Paul Baran became one of the pioneers behind "packet switching," which helps a communications network withstand an attack by bundling and dispatching data in small packages, while working on Cold War military research for the Rand Corp.