Pigeon-powered internet packet goes under the hammer at Christie's
25 years after taking flight, a surviving packet from the world's most impractical network has attracted a $4,000 bid..
25 years after taking flight, a surviving packet from the world's most impractical network has attracted a $4,000 bid.
The short version
- The unusual lot is a surviving IP packet from a 2001 experiment in which Norwegian Linux enthusiasts decided to find out whether the internet could, in fact, run on birds.
- The idea dates back to April 1, 1990, when American network engineer David Waitzman published RFC 1149 , titled A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers.
- Written in the wonderfully dry language of an official internet standards document, the April Fools' proposal outlined how carrier pigeons could transport IP datagrams between locations.
What happened
It noted that avian carriers could provide high bandwidth, although latency would be another matter entirely. Most people appreciated the joke and moved on.
Why it matters
The Bergen Linux User Group (BLUG), however, decided to actually build the thing.
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at The Register — Networks via the links above and below.