[ale] OT: Re: ping

[Michael H. Warfield]

On Tue, 2006-08-22 at 12:48 -0400, Robert Reese wrote:
> *********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
> On 8/22/2006 at 12:02 PM S C C wrote:
> 
> >On 8/22/06, Rev. Johnny Healey <rev.null at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> I was under the impression that PING was a reference to the sound a sonar
> >> makes.
> >>
> >> This is according to the inventor of ping:
> >> http://ftp.arl.mil/~mike/ping.html <http://ftp.arl.mil/%7Emike/ping.html>
> >>
> >
> >>From that article:
> >" From my point of view PING is *not* an acronym standing for Packet
> >InterNet Grouper, it's a sonar analogy. However, I've heard second-hand
> >that
> >Dave Mills offered this expansion of the name, so perhaps we're both right.
> >Sheesh, and I thought the government was bad about expanding acronyms! :-)"

> IIRC, you are; my memory indicates that the term was patterned after
> the sonar ping, and afterward the term's acronym was invented as you
> suggest.  Again, if memory serves, this was a common computer geek
> trait back in the 70s and 80s: come up with a cool term then make up
> the acronym to fit.

	One of my favorite acronyms comes from Michigan State University.  Back
in the early 70's the Computer Lab Consultants group (help desk) decided
to have a contest to name their new consultanting newsletter.  The
winner came up with naming it "Acronyms", "Accumulated Consulting Rumors
On Nothing You Might Suspect".  Don't know if it still retains that
masthead now, but it wouldn't surprise me a bit.

> But I'm old.  We all know what can happen with old memory.

	:-)  Been there.  Still there.  Getting worse!

> Cheers,
> Robert~

	Mike

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>    * Microsoft is NOT a standard. *
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Michael H. Warfield (AI4NB) | (770) 985-6132 |  mhw at WittsEnd.com
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