In our latest podcast, Professor Alberto Segre from the University of Iowa discusses the transformative power of AI, the origins of the internet, and the potential of quantum computing. Explore how these technologies influence our daily lives and what the future holds.
https://youtu.be/RqSkKahvlPA
#theinternetiscrack #podcast #Technology #AI #QuantumComputing #InternetHistory #PodcastDiscussion
#TechPodcast #internetethics
Professor Alberto Segre (Chair of Computer Science, University of Iowa) says it wasn’t—and he breaks down how the original intent was very different from where we ended up.
We also cover AI, machine learning, and quantum computing—in clear, human terms.
New on Cybercultural: During the mid-1990s, David Bowie's website went from a storytelling structure for the Outside album, into a striking, grunge-inspired design for Earthling. At the same time, Bowie fan sites emerged. https://cybercultural.com/p/david-bowie-website-1995-1997/ #InternetHistory #WebDesign #BowieForever
Created in 1988 by Jarkko Oikarinen in Finland, IRC was designed to enable real-time, text-based communication over the internet. Inspired by the multi-user talk programs on UNIX systems, Oikarinen wanted a system that was more flexible and scalable.
IRC quickly became the backbone of online communities in the 90s and early 2000s, hosting discussions ranging from programming and hacking to gaming and general socializing. Unlike modern chat services, IRC was entirely decentralized—anyone could set up a server, create channels, and communicate without corporate control.
Though its popularity has declined with the rise of modern platforms, IRC still thrives among enthusiasts, open-source communities, and privacy advocates who prefer its lightweight, no-nonsense approach to online chat.
Ever feel like tech is evolving faster than we can understand it?
In our latest podcast, Professor Alberto Segre (Chair of @uiowa’s CS Department) joins us to unpack AI, the internet’s origins, and quantum computing—in plain, thoughtful language.
No jargon. Just clarity.
#AI #QuantumComputing #InternetHistory #DigitalLiteracy #TechPodcast #FediScience #STEM #OpenEducation
Today is the International Open Hackerspace Day! 
I didn’t know about this (thank you for sharing your discovery, @liaizon), but it’s a wonderful coincidence that this very day at 15:00 I’ll be hosting Knitting Our Internet at the newly open SCIFT Makespace! The workshop will most probably be in Italian, but we’ll be open to switch to English if non-Italian speakers are coming.
See this event on Balotta, the local Gancio instance for Bologna 
This is going to be the last stop of the Knitting Our Internet Italy Tour. After the workshop, I’m going to Queen Of Saba’s concert, in case you want to join and see one of the most incredible (and my favorite) artists!
What was the internet like 30 years ago? I'm glad you asked. In 1995, Netscape went public and Microsoft noticed the internet — the browser wars began. Also that year, Amazon and eBay launched, JavaScript and PHP debuted, and the web went mainstream. https://cybercultural.com/p/internet-1995/ #InternetHistory #1995Nostalgia
Humming along in an old church, the Internet Archive is more relevant than ever
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/23/nx-s1-5326573/internet-archive-wayback-machine-trump
Comment: incredibly valuable resource!
BBC: The hidden world beneath the shadows of YouTube’s algorithm. “That’s the vision of YouTube the company promotes – slick, professional, entertaining and loud – but from one perspective, it’s all a façade. Through another lens, the essence of YouTube is more like this video from 2020. Before I watched, it had only been seen twice. A man points the camera out of his bedroom window as a […]
https://rbfirehose.com/2025/03/23/bbc-the-hidden-world-beneath-the-shadows-of-youtubes-algorithm/
@cryptgoat
Looking for the same thing. Please warn me if you found. I don't understand how is impossible on Android to import mozilla bookmarks/history without a shitty Firesync/dont know name . Maybe at least there are a directory to find it ?
You may not be familiar with the name Alice Mary Hilton, but I'd argue she's just as significant as Marshall McLuhan in the history of cyberculture theory. In fact, she invented the word "cyberculture"! What's more, her 1960s focus on the practical impacts of computer automation on society is more important than ever in 2025, with the rise of AI. I'm quite proud of this post, so I hope you click through to learn more about this super-smart lady. https://cybercultural.com/p/cyberculture-alice-mary-hilton/ #InternetHistory
(Versione italiana nel post precedente)
Tomorrow will begin the unbelievable tour of Knitting Our Internet, bringing the workshop around Italy! 
If you’ll be in the places where the workshop will be happening, you are most definitely welcome to join, 
Thanks to the awesome people who will be hosting me! @collettivodemand @reclaimthetech
(English version in the following post)
Da domani partirà il fantasmagorico imperdibile tour de La Nostra Rete, che porterà il workshop in giro per l’Italia!
Se sarete nei luoghi in cui si terrà il laboratorio siete assolutamente invitatз,
Grazie alle persone stratopiche che mi ospiteranno! @collettivodemand @reclaimthetech
Three Hollywood movies were released in 1995 with internet themes: the Keanu Reeves cyberpunk film Johnny Mnemonic (with an accompanying website), The Net with Sandra Bullock, and Hackers. As well as these 3 films, I look back at William Gibson's now extinct mid-90s website, "William Gibson’s Yardshow", and the equally lost to time Johnny Mnemonic net.hunt, an online scavenger hunt. https://cybercultural.com/p/cyberspace-movies-1995/ #InternetHistory #90smovies
I got nostalgic, so I ended up browsing pictures from #DWebCamp2023, and I found these wild shots of me and @timbl. Almost two years have passed, and I still cannot completely believe that I spent time chatting with the creator of the #WorldWideWeb and that he autographed my thesis!
Unbelievable things happen at #DWebCamp.
(Thanks to @mai for the stolen shot 
Fun fact: @mark kindly came and picked me up at the airport and he drove me and TBL to DWeb Camp. The first thing they asked me about while getting to the car was this patch I had, simulating the hammer and sickle communist symbol, but actually representing a sickle popping open an Aperol Spritz. So there was me, super jet-lagged and hungover (because I had my last exam of my bachelor the day before) trying to explain what that was to the creator of #HTML and the director of the #WaybackMachine. It was super embarrassing but it is a great story to tell.
@dweb #TBL #WWW #Internet #InternetHistory #decentralization #HTTP #Web
36 years ago today, Tim Berners-Lee wrote a proposal that led to the World Wide Web, bringing the Internet to the masses. It contained early but recognizable descriptions of HTTP, HTML, and the URI. #InternetHistory #RetroComputing #DigitalRevolution #InnovationHistory https://dfarq.homeip.net/the-1989-proposal-that-led-to-the-world-wide-web/
25 years ago today, on March 10, 2000, the dotcom bubble reached its peak. Within three days, the value of tech startups was in a freefall. The recovery took 15 years. Yes, you read that right. #retrocomputing #techhistory #internethistory #2000snostalgia https://dfarq.homeip.net/when-the-dotcom-bubble-burst/
Ah, GeoCities: the prehistoric playground where everyone's cousin thought they were a web design genius, unleashing a cacophony of Comic Sans and blinking GIFs onto the unsuspecting public. 
https://cybercultural.com/p/geocities-1995/ #GeoCities #Nostalgia #InternetHistory #WebDesign #Throwback #90sMemories #HackerNews #ngated
"The key to [Beverly Hills Internet]'s initial growth over 1995 was helping people who had no technical knowledge of HTML to build a web page on the internet. It offered a “Personal GeoPage Generator” that enabled homesteaders to easily create a home page.
But more than that, and as the name for its users implied, Bohnett wanted to give people the sense that they had a home on the internet."
