I never knew it, but in December of 2003 Tim Berners-Lee was awarded a knighthood for his lovely little hypertext programming language ‘HTML’ that changed the nature of the Net. In the late 1980’s, before he invented the language that makes it possible for you to read these words, there were no pictures or even a ‘browser’ to display them. The term ‘World Wide Web’ hadn’t even been coined and every institution viewed the Net with black screens and white letters. After Tim’s invention, there was mayhem.

He designed it purely to help his fellow particle physicists at CERN in Geneva communicate about projects they were working on. And what he designed isn’t even the real Internet, it’s just a highly visible part. The real history of the Internet is an amazing story.

Just to let you know, the man is as genuine as he looks. I once wrote an email to him for a children’s Internet workshop I was preparing, asking what he thought the future of the Net looked like. He wrote me a very nice and insightful response and wished me well with my project. How marvelous, I thought, here’s the guy who invented HTML taking time out to send me a note.

I don’t know if you know this, but Tim never received a dime for his invention.

VTGirl recently posted on the subject of Net Neutrality. Here’s what Mr. Bernards-Lee, Father of the Internet, has to say about it…

(edit: The first step is over and the vote is in! The House Judiciary Committee Votes Yes!!!)