Today is the birthday of the World Wide Web (as we know it).

On April 30, 1993, CERN released their World Wide Web software, including a text client, a simple server, and a library of common code, into the public domain. The original proposal was published two and a half years earlier, on November 12, 1990, but once the protocols and source code for a working system were freely available for use, the foundations of the WWW were in place.

This action, along with the High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991, initiated by (then) Senator Al Gore, led directly to the development of Mosaic, the graphical web browser that ignited the web, later in 1993. It is astounding how far this technology has come in just a decade and a half, particularly having made the leap from an obscure network tool into a primary source of information for the masses.

Wow!

Sunshine and warmer temperatures cause me to venture forth.

For the last few months, I have been focusing on development of a new product and game engine, simultaneously, and I have spent most of the past month indoors. That was not really a problem as the bitter cold changed into grey skies and rain, with moderate cold. Now, however, the temperatures are getting into the 60s and 70s and the sky is mostly sunny, so it is high time to get out of the office for a bit.

On Saturday [April 19], IGDA Detroit will be having a “social meeting” at Penguicon in Troy (near Detroit). The party begins at 5:00pm in an unspecified room on the third floor. I have no particular desire to go to the con itself (so I won’t), but I look forward to talking with other game developers from our area and elsewhere. For more information about the IGDA gathering, visit this link.

For anybody in the East Lansing area, there is also a benefit auction for the East Lansing High School Theater Program, which has been selected to participate in the 2008 Festival Fringe in Edinburgh, Scotland. The auction takes place tomorrow, Friday, April 18; click here to find more information, including a list of items up for bid. If anybody would like to donate directly, contact me (seelhoff@sophsoft.com) and I will provide instructions for doing so.

Finally, and very unfortunately, I have to acknowledge that a friend of mine (in an unrelated field) passed away early last week, so…

Here’s to you, Wayne. You will be greatly missed.