Browsers, Search Engines, and Survelliance

Browsers, Search Engines, and Surveillance

Last week, we introduced some major themes

Non-linear vs. linear ("the Stream")
Native Apps vs. the World Wide Web
- Hyperlinks as windows/bridges
- Social media as fences/walls ("blind")

This week, we'll be extending those themes as we talk about

How the Internet Works
The Anatomy of a Browser
Search Engines
AdBlockers, Advertising, Tracking
Social Media, Free Speech
Dark Web

Chapter 1

How the Internet works

Almost all of it goes through only 30 exchanges

Exchanges?

Internet exchange points (IXPs) are physical infrastructure through which Internet service providers (ISPs) and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) exchange Internet traffic between their networks

Photograph by Taryn Simon

Transatlantic Sub-Marine Cables Reaching Land, VSNL International, Avon, New Jersey These VSNL sub-marine telecommunications cables extend 8,037.4 miles across the Atlantic Ocean. Capable of transmitting over 60 million simultaneous voice conversations, these underwater fiber-optic cables stretch from Saunton Sands in the United Kingdom to the coast of New Jersey. The cables run below ground and emerge directly into the VSNL International headquarters, where signals are amplified and split into distinctive wavelengths enabling transatlantic phone calls and internet transmissions.