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| The internet, since its inception, has been a blessing for the world. We have grown so fond and addicted of the internet gizmos that literally our breath is dependent on it. Even for the field of graphic design, internet has played a significant role in progress and development of the industry. The tasks that graphic designers used to perform offline are now easily done online.
And who can forget the enormous impact that social media has made in our lives. There are many famous personalities that have contributed significantly to the transformation of internet. We often hear about the cream of the lot, people like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg. But there are some unsung heroes that you might never have heard of, people who changed the internet and also deserve the accolade for their significant contributions. |
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Unknown Personalities that revolutionized Internet:
Following are 10 people who played an enormous role in revolutionizing the way we work on the internet, but you might have not heard of them before. |
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1. Jon Postel - Request for Comment (RFC)
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| I’m sure most of you might not have heard of the name, but Jonathan Bruce Postel made significant contributions to the development of the Internet. He is the architect behind the “Request for Comment (RFC)” document series. Jon also worked on the early protocols and the creation of TCP/IP. He co-developed many of the key Internet standards, including TCP/IP (basic Internet protocols), SMTP (email transfer), and DNS (name servers). |
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2. Julian Assange - WikiLeaks
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We seldom get to know what the secret agencies like CIA and FBI are up to. Not anymore, now we do…courtesy Julian Assange. He was the man behind Wikileaks, a whistle-blowing website dedicated to publishing classified documents from around the world. Julian designed an advanced software for shielding the identities of the people who upload the documents. |
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3. Gary Thuerk - The first Email Spam
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| ‘Spamming’ is a marketing technique of sending unsolicited e-mails to random people for promotional purposes. Albeit controversial in many aspects, it has revolutionized the e-marketing techniques. Gary Thuerk was the first person to send mass e-mailing to customers over the Arpanet for Digital’s new T-series of VAX systems. Consequently, this e-mail went on to become the world’s first spam. |
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4. Scott Fahlman - The First Emoticon
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We use smileys so often, but have we ever thought who invented this in the first place? Scott Fahlman is the man behind the “Smiling Face” emoticon that we use in our instant messaging. By inventing the first ASCII-based smiley emoticon, Scott wanted to help to differentiate between humorous and serious content. |
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5. Peter Thiel - Paypal
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| Online transactions have eased our lives to a vast extent. But do we know who to thank? Yes Paypal…but who was behind this great notion? It is Peter Thiel, a significant figure associated in the set-up of PayPal. Peter began giving a small group of developers the access to its code, letting them to work with its online transaction framework. |
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6. Pierre Morad Omidyar - EBay
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We buy so many things from home with a single click, but have we ever stopped for a second and thought…who to appreciate for this blessing? Pierre Omidyar is the man who set up an online marketplace, called eBay that connected buyers and sellers together. He revolutionized the concept of building trust on an anonymous user. |
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7. Robert Tappan Morris - First Worm Virus
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| One of the most notorious inventions of the internet is the “worm virus”. Ever wondered who is the culprit behind it? Robert Tappan Morris created the Morris Worm, one of the very first worm viruses to be sent out over the internet that inadvertently caused enormous financial damage when it was released in the late 80s. |
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8. Garrett Camp - StumbleUpon
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If you are looking for a website that gives you news and gossips regarding every genre, try StumbleUpon. As a graphic designer, I often use this social bookmarking site to get inspiration. Garrett Camp is person chief architect behind Stumbleupon. According to the website, StumbleUpon has over 6 million users to date and it keeps on increasing. |
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9. Bram Cohen -Bit Torrent
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| Another controversial but highly used concept on the internet is “torrent”. Bram Cohen changed the face of file sharing by developing BitTorrent that instantly shares files over internet. BitTorrent revolutionized file sharing by breaking them up into several little portions. This way, users upload and download files at the simultaneously. |
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10. Michael Hart - eBooks
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Education is the basic requirement to survive in today’s competitive world. But it is damn expensive. So hats off to Michael Hart for instituting the concept of eBooks and making education affordable and accessible to all. Project Gutenberg is the world’s first electronic library that changed the way we read and learn. |
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Do you know any other personality who contributed to the internet but hasn’t got due attention and acclaim?
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I guess they weren’t exactly pioneers, just people that made huge advances.
Awesome article, it’s very informative and interesting