Did you know that…

• The word cyberspace was first used in the early 1980s by an author of an award-winning science fiction novel entitled Neuromancer. The name of the author was William Gibson who created a make-believe cyberspace with no actual physical space involved. Unbelievably, the imagined cyberspace that Gibson created in his fantasy later turned out to be an actual cyberspace where mass computer connectivity all over the world became a practical reality.

• Within two weeks after the death of Princess Diana, wife of Prince Charles of Great Britain, the British royal family’s home page registered 35 million hits and 700,000 condolence e-mails.

• Today, we hear of phrases like wireless world, wireless internet access, mobile internet access or wireless application protocol (WAP). They all mean the same thing. It is having access to the Internet even without a computer. No wires. No cables. No modems.

• A US consulting company made a study saying that the Internet will reduce worldwide demand for paper. Ironically however, more papers are being used in offices.

• As early as the early part of 2000, in Singapore, public schools are allowing students to borrow laptop computers like library books for children to take home at night and return back to the library.

• Cyber romance is now made possible by the so-called cyberspace dating. There is a cyberspace which has been attracting thousands of members since it went on-line. A monthly fee of dating website ranges from US$5 to US$15.

• In Vietnam, a computer project assisted by a Venice-based non-government organization and funded by the European Commission was launched for the blind. Some years ago, the blind are taught to create and use a braille and audio library. The blind are taught to use the computer and they are also taught to access books, articles, and encyclopedias anytime they want. A blind teacher helps the blind children learn keyboard skills.

• In the United States, investors have lost millions in recent years in on-line investment scams. The modus operandi of the fraudsters involve the so-called "pump and dump" schemes where promoters jack up stocks’ prices by making false and misleading claims about the company and later sell their own shares in cash taking advantage of the artificial high prices. Through Internet, the fraudulent scheme is easily, speedily and anonymously done by someone with a computer.

• The "I love you" computer virus that was allegedly released last May 4, 2000 from the Philippines – at a time when there was yet no law against computer hacking, reportedly bogged down about 45 million computers worldwide including those at the Pentagon and the British Parliament. At that time, the love bug also caused disruptions in productivity that amounted to millions of US dollars.

• Unbelievably, almost any kind of information – print, images, sounds or videos can be turned into a stream of bit and relayed over the Internet including music. However, this also enables people to copy and share music illegally since there are Internet technologies that make possible the widespread Internet distribution of copyrighted materials. To store music in digital format, MP3 technology is used. In digital format, music is then stored and transmitted across the Internet.

• The National Federation of the Blind some years ago lobbied with one of the biggest American service providers to make its software compatible with programs, the blind use to convert digital information to speech or Braille. The American service provider acceded to the request because of fear of violating the provisions of the US Disabilities Act.

• Have you heard of the so-called "perfumed email?" Internet has developed a new sensory dimension by hooking up special rechargeable scent cartridges with nozzles to a computer.

• The most publicized capture of a computer hacker was made in February 1995. The person apprehended for computer fraud was Kevin Mitnick, an American who is gifted with a photographic memory. Unbelievably, Kevin Mitnick can be shown a long list of computer passwords for a minute or two. He could still remember and recite the list verbatim after an hour. At least three books have been written about his hacking activities. Not only did Mitnick pirate computer programs and gained access illegally to many computer systems – he was also a phone phreak who made free telephone calls through illegal connections.

• The first TRO (temporary restraining order) issued to a cyberstalker occurred in 1997 when a US Texas District Judge issued a TRO without notifying the suspected cyberstalker on the ground that the matter was "in the nature of an emergency." In this case, the judge served the TRO by posting the notice on the Internet and delivering it to the accused via e-mail. The act of the judge is unprecedented in the history of cyberspace jurisprudence.

• World Wide Web or Web for short is now a household term. Its usage has been spreading at an incredible speed all around the world. People call this phenomenal growth of web as Webolution. It was a software engineer and programmer by the name of Tim Berners-Lee who invented the world wide web.

• When computer hackers strike, nobody is spared. Not even the computer system of the US Pentagon, Air Force, Department of Justice or the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

• There is a computer crime known as "salami slicing." This involves the electronic transfers of funds from hundreds or even thousands of small accounts. Often times, the account holders do not notice the theft of the small amounts. But when the small amounts are added up, the amount of funds stolen becomes significant.

• A computer virus called Michaelangelo is a kind of virus that hits computers only on a specific date – March 6 which happens to be the birthday of Michaelangelo, the famous artist. This virus was first detected in April 1991. This virus is still dormant in some computers and comes alive only on March 6 of every year.

• Cyber cops is a term coined to refer to private citizens who go out of their way to prevent computer crime by helping track down computer fraudsters.

• Today hackers and crackers practically mean the same thing. However in the past, they mean different things. Crackers then referred to malicious hackers. On the other hand, hackers originally referred to people who did not have malicious intent but were just obsessed to learn more about computer systems. Many hackers then were just computer hobbyists who derived pleasure tinkering with computers. Today, the terms hackers and crackers mean the same thing. Phone phreaks, who use the telephones to explore the cyber world were among the early hackers in the 1970s.

Have a joyful day!