Internet

Prior to the widespread internetworking that led to the Internet, most communication networks were limited by their nature to only allow communications between the stations on the network, and the prevalent computer networking method was based on the central mainframe method. In the 1960s, computer researchers, Levi C. Finch and Robert W. Taylor pioneered calls for a joined-up global network to address interoperability problems. Concurrently, several research programs began to research principles of networking between separate physical networks, and this led to the development of Packet switching. These included Donald Davies (NPL), Paul Baran (RAND Corporation), and Leonard Kleinrock's MIT and UCLA research programs.


This led to the development of several packet switched networking solutions in the late 1960s and 1970s, including ARPANET and X.25. Additionally, public access and hobbyist networking systems grew in popularity, including UUCP and FidoNet. They were however still disjointed separate networks, served only by limited gateways between networks. This led to the application of packet switching to develop a protocol for inter-networking, where multiple different networks could be joined together into a super-framework of networks. By defining a simple common network system, the Internet protocol suite, the concept of the network could be separated from its physical implementation. This spread of inter-network began to form into the idea of a global inter-network that would be called 'The Internet', and this began to quickly spread as existing networks were converted to become compatible with this. This spread quickly across the advanced telecommunication networks of the western world, and then began to penetrate into the rest of the world as it became the de-facto international standard and global network. However, the disparity of growth led to a digital divide that is still a concern today.

Following commercialisation and introduction of privately run Internet Service Providers in the 1980s, and its expansion into popular use in the 1990s, the Internet has had a drastic impact on culture and commerce. This includes the rise of near instant communication by e-mail, text based discussion forums, the World Wide Web. Investor speculation in new markets provided by these innovations would also lead to the inflation and collapse of the Dot-com bubble, a major market collapse. But despite this, Internet continues to grow.

Friendster

The Friendster site was founded in Mountain View, California, United States by Jonathan Abrams in March 2002 and is privately owned. Friendster is based on the Circle of Friends and Web of Friends techniques for networking individuals in virtual communities and demonstrates the small world phenomenon. It currently has more than 70 million members worldwide and is mostly used in Asia. Based on Alexa.com, Friendster ranked 2nd most visited website in the Philippines while Yahoo! is the most visited website in the Philippines, and third party friendster-layouts.com is 16th. It is estimated that nearly 90 percent of internet users in the Philippines have Friendster accounts. David Jones, vice president for global marketing of Friendster, said that "the biggest percentage of users is from the Philippines, clocking in with 39 percent of the site's traffic."

Source:wikipedia

History of AMD

Over the course of AMD's three decades in business, silicon and software have become the steel and plastic of the worldwide digital economy. Technology companies have become global pacesetters, making technical advances at a prodigious rate — always driving the industry to deliver more and more, faster and faster.
However, “technology for technology's sake” is not the way we do business at AMD. Our history is marked by a commitment to innovation that's truly useful for customers — putting the real needs of people ahead of technical one-upmanship. AMD founder Jerry Sanders has always maintained that “customers should come first, at every stage of a company's activities.” Our current CEO, Hector de Jesus Ruiz, continues to carry the torch, saying, “Customer-centric innovation is the pre-eminent value at AMD. It is our reason for being and our strategy for success.”
We believe our company history bears that out.



View by Decade: 2000 1990 1980 1970 1960



2000







2007
AMD demonstrates Accelerated Computing platform that breaks teraflop performance barrier
AMD introduces ATI Radeon™ HD 2000 series graphics processors to deliver The Ultimate Visual Experience™ graphics for desktop and mobile platforms
2006AMD acquires ATI to create a new, innovative processing powerhouse CrossFire™ multi-GPU gaming platform debuts
AMD LIVE!™ media center PCs debut
Dell Inc. announces it will offer AMD processor-based systems
AMD begins revenue shipments of processors from Fab 36
AMD's Shanghai Research and Development Center (SRDC) launches to focus on the development of AMD's next-generation mobile platforms
AMD demonstrates the industry's first native quad-core x86 server processor
AMD is a founding member of The Green Grid, an open, global organization designed to decrease IT facility energy usage patterns
2005 AMD introduces AMD Turion™ 64 mobile technology for notebook PCs and AMD Athlon™ 64 X 2 dual-core processor for desktop
AMD introduces the world's highest performing processors for 1-8P x86 servers and workstations
AMD files landmark antitrust litigation against Intel for illegally abusing its monopoly to exclude and limit competition
Spansion™ goes public
AMD announces grand opening of Fab 36 in Dresden, Germany
ATI GPU is featured in Microsoft Xbox 360, revolutionizing high-definition gaming
2004AMD demonstrates world's first x86 dual-core processor
AMD announces the 50x15 Initiative with the goal of accelerating affordable Internet access and basic computing to 50 percent of the world's population by 2015
Advanced Micro Devices (China) Co., Ltd. is established, headquartered in Beijing
ATI is listed in the NASDAQ 100
ATI introduces first 110nm GPUs (ATI Radeon™ X800 XL)
2003 AMD and IBM sign joint manufacturing technology development agreement to develop future generation manufacturing technologies
AMD Opteron™ processor and AMD Athlon™ 64 processor debut
With Fujitsu, AMD forms FASL, LLC, and a new company: Spansion™
AMD forms strategic alliance with Sun Microsystems and acquires National Semiconductor's x86 business
ATI introduces ATI Radeon™ 9600 XT: world's first high volume 0.13um low-k chips
2002AMD acquires Alchemy Semiconductor for low-power, embedded processor technology
AMD Cool'n'Quiet™ technology debuts with Athlon™ XP family: helps lower power consumption, enables quieter-running system, and delivers performance on-demand to maximize users' computing experience
ATI launches ATI Radeon™ 9700 Pro: world's first DirectX 9 graphics processor
2001
AMD Athlon™ MP processor debuts: the company's first multiprocessing platform
AMD HyperTransport™ technology is adopted by Agilent, Apple Computer, Broadcom, Cisco Systems, IBM, nVidia, Sun, and Texas Instruments
2000AMD is first to break the historic 1GHz (one billion clock cycles per second) with the AMD Athlon™ processor
AMD introduces AMD PowerNow!™ technology with Mobile AMD-K6®-2+ processors
ATI Radeon™ graphics technology debuts: leading product for high-end gaming and 3D workstations
ATI acquires ArtX, Inc., a graphics chipset company


1990






1999
AMD Athlon™ processor becomes first seventh-generation processor for Microsoft® Windows® computing
Vantis, AMD's programmable logic business, sold to Lattice Semiconductor
1998
ATI is first company to introduce a complete set-top box design
ATI ships its ten millionth AGP chip
1997
AMD introduces the AMD-K6® microprocessor: helps drive PC prices below $1,000 for the first time, making PCs affordable to average consumers
ATI is first graphics company to provide hardware support for DVD acceleration and display
ATI is first graphics company to release products supporting Accelerated Graphics Port, the new industry standard
1996
AMD acquires NexGen, a microprocessor company
ATI releases industry's first 3D graphics chip, first combination graphics and TV tuner card, and first chip to display computer graphics on a television
ATI enters the notebook market with the industry's first notebook 3D graphics accelerator
ATI establishes ATI Ireland
1995
AMD introduces AMD-K5® microprocessor: first independently-designed, socket-compatible x86 microprocessor
ATI is first graphics company to ship Mac-compatible graphics boards
1994
AMD and Compaq Computer Corp. form long-term alliance to power Compaq computers with Am486 microprocessors
ATI introduces Mach64™: first ATI graphics boards to accelerate motion video
1993AMD Am486® microprocessor family debuts
AMD establishes joint venture with Fujitsu to produce Flash memory products
ATI goes public; stocks are listed on NASDAQ and Toronto Stock Exchange
1992
ATI introduces Mach32™: first ATI integrated graphics controller and accelerator in one chip
ATI releases VESA Local Bus (VLB) products, followed by peripheral component interconnect (PCI_) products
ATI establishes ATI GmbH in Munich, Germany
1991 AMD's Am386® microprocessor family debuts
ATI introduces Mach8™ chip and board products: first ATI products to process graphics independently of the CPU

1980




1989
ATI assists in establishment of VESA standard for graphics industry
1988Work begins on AMD Submicron Development Center
1987
AMD acquires Monolithic Memories, Inc. and enters programmable logic business
ATI debuts EGA Wonder™ and VGA Wonder™
1986
ATI secures major contract with Commodore Business Machines to supply 7000 chips per week
1985AMD is listed in Fortune 500 for the first time
ATI incorporates
ATI develops its first graphics controller and first graphics board product
1984
AMD is listed in "The 100 Best Companies to Work for in America
1982
At IBM's request, AMD signs an agreement to serve as a second source to Intel for IBM PC microprocessors

1970









1979
AMD debuts on the New York Stock Exchange
1979
Production begins in new AMD Austin manufacturing facility
1972
AMD goes public
1970
AMD introduces its first proprietary device: the Am2501 logic counter

1960










1969
AMD incorporates with $100,000; establishes headquarters in Sunnyvale, California

Source: amd.com

History of Intel

Intel was founded on July 18, 1968 with one main goal in mind: to make semiconductor memory more practicle. Intels first microprocessor, the 4004 microcomputer, was released at the end of 1971. The chip was smaller then a thumbnail, contained 2300 transistors, and was capable of executing 60,000 operations in one second. Shortly after the release of th 4004 the 8008 microcomputer was released and was capable of executing twice as many operations per second then the 4004. Intels commitment to the microprocessor led to IBM's choice of Intel's 8088 chip for the CPU of the its first PC. In 1982, Intel introduced the first 286 chip, it contained 134,000 transistors and provided around three times the performance of the other microprocessors at the time. In 1989 the 486 processor was released that contained 1.2 million transistors and the first built in math coprocessor. The chip was approximately 50 times faster then Intels original 4004 processor and equaled the performance of a powerful mainframe computer. In 1993 Intel introduced the Pentium processor, which was five times as fast as the 486, it contained 3.1 million transistors, and was capable of 90 million instructions per second (MIPS). In 1995 Intel introduced its new technology, MMX, MMX was designed to enhance the computers multimedia performance. Throughout the years that followed Intel released several lines of processors including the Celeron, the P2, P3, and P4. Intel processors now reach speeds upwards of 2200 MHZ or 2.2 GHZ.

ENIAC The First Computer Generation

ENIAC, short for Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer,[1][2] was the first general-purpose electronic computer. It was the first Turing-complete, digital computer capable of being reprogrammed to solve a full range of computing problems,[3] although earlier machines had been built with some of these properties and it could not store a program. ENIAC was designed and built to calculate artillery firing tables for the U.S. Army's Ballistic Research Laboratory.

The ENIAC held immediate importance. When it was announced in 1946 it was heralded in the press as a "Giant Brain." It boasted speeds one thousand times faster than electro-mechanical machines, a leap in computing power that since then has typically taken fifteen years rather than just three. This mathematical power, coupled with general-purpose programmability, excited scientists and industrialists. The inventors promoted the spread of these new ideas by teaching a series of lectures on computer architecture.

The ENIAC's design and construction were financed by the United States Army during World War II. The construction contract was signed on June 5, 1943, and work on computer was begun in secret by the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Electrical Engineering starting the following month under the code name "Project PX". The completed machine was unveiled on February 14, 1946 at the University of Pennsylvania, having cost almost $500,000. ENIAC was shut down on November 9, 1946 for a refurbishment and a memory upgrade, and was transferred to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland in 1947. There, on July 29, 1947, it was turned on and would be in continuous operation until 11:45 p.m. on October 2, 1955.

ENIAC was conceived and designed by John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert of the University of Pennsylvania.[4] The team of design engineers assisting the development included Bob Shaw (function tables), Chuan Chu (divider/square-rooter), Kite Sharpless (master programmer), Arthur Burks (multiplier), Harry Huskey (reader/printer), Jack Davis (accumulators) and Iredell Eachus Jr.[5]

Source:wikipedia