Technologies

Computing’s Top Prize Goes to Ethernet Creator Bob Metcalfe

The network technology first linked the computers of schools and offices. Now it connects us all to the internet.

Bob Metcalfe has won the 2022 Turing Award, the computing industry’s top prize, for creating the Ethernet standard that today connects billions of devices to wired and wireless networks.

The idea behind Ethernet emerged in a May 22, 1973, memo Metcalfe wrote to his bosses at Xerox PARC, the Palo Alto Research Center famous for a series of seminal computing inventions. Fifty years later, Ethernet connects virtually every laptop and smartphone to the internet.

The Turning Award, named after pioneer and famed World War II code-breaker Alan Turing, is bestowed by the Association for Computing Machinery and comes with a $1 million prize. It’s often referred to as the Nobel Prize of computing. Previous Turing Award winners include dozens of luminaries who invented chip designs, encryption, programming tools, the web, the internet, and the AI technology that’s become so hot today.

Metcalfe also founded 3Com, a company that profited greatly from the commercialization of Ethernet, and worked as a columnist, professor and venture capitalist, among other careers.

«It’s my sixth career,» Metcalfe said in an interview. He’s writing software to try to use computers to simulate geothermal energy plants and other complex real-world systems. «My attitude is I want to do simulation not to optimize things, but to discover them.»

Metcalfe’s law

Metcalfe also is famous for Metcalfe’s Law — an idea he had, though not a title he came up with. The law states that the value of a network increases proportionally to the square of the number of devices that can use it.

«It was a good way to make a sales pitch at 3Com,» Metcalfe said of the idea. Later, though, he validated the idea by connecting Facebook’s membership total with its revenue. «For the first 10 years of Facebook, there’s a perfect fit.»

Ethernet speed boosts

Wired Ethernet began at Xerox PARC with data transfer speeds of 2.94 megabits per second. Now it’s reached 800 gigabits per second — about 272,000 times faster. Another doubling is in the works, to 1.6 terabits per second.

Wired Ethernet ports have faded from laptops and never arrived on phones. But the technology was adapted to the Wi-Fi standards, bringing new convenience and ubiquity to the internet. (Metcalfe prefers Wi-Fi’s original name, Wireless Ethernet.)

Token Ring grudge

Today, it’s nearly universal in digital devices, but Ethernet had stronger competition in its early days. The top of the list of rivals was IBM’s Token Ring.

«Token Ring was a 20-year pain in the neck. Finally, we killed it,» Metcalfe said.

He’s still sore about it, he said in a half-joking tone.

«I’m only human. I bear a grudge against those bastards,» Metcalfe said. «It’s been 50 years. You’d think by now I would have forgiven them all, but the Token Ring people are not invited to my dinner parties.»

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Thursday, July 3

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for July 3.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s Mini Crossword stumped me in a few spots. 8-Across had me thinking of a couple different words, but I landed on it eventually. Need answers? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Glaswegian or Edinburgher
Answer: SCOT

5A clue: 2025 Pixar film about a boy who gets abducted by aliens
Answer: ELIO

6A clue: Strong string
Answer: TWINE

7A clue: Religious devotee with a shaved head, maybe
Answer: MONK

8A clue: Calligrapher’s assortment
Answer: INKS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Attach, as a button
Answer: SEWON

2D clue: Sound of two glasses being «cheers-ed»
Answer: CLINK

3D clue: Noises from a pig
Answer: OINKS

4D clue: «Little piggy»
Answer: TOE

6D clue: «Did I overshare?»
Answer: TMI

Technologies

Starlink Plans to Send 42K Satellites Into Space. That Could Be Bad News for the Ozone

Technologies

Scary Survey Results: Teen Drivers Are Often Looking at Their Phones

New troubling research found that entertainment is the most common reason teens use their phones behind the wheel, followed by texting and navigation.

A new study reveals that teen drivers in the US are spending more than one-fifth of their driving time distracted by their phones, with many glances lasting long enough to significantly raise the risk of a crash. Published in the journal Traffic Injury Prevention and released on Thursday, the research found that, on average, teens reported looking at their phones during 21.1% of every driving trip. More than a quarter of those distractions lasted two seconds or longer, which is an amount of time widely recognized as dangerous at highway speeds.

Most distractions tied to entertainment, not emergencies

The top reason teens said they reached for their phones behind the wheel was for entertainment, cited by 65% of respondents. Texting (40%) and navigation (30%) were also common. Researchers emphasized that these distractions weren’t typically urgent, but rather habitual or social.

Teens know the risks

The study includes survey responses from 1,126 teen drivers across all four US regions, along with in-depth interviews with a smaller group of high schoolers. Most participants recognized that distracted driving is unsafe and believed their parents and peers disapproved of the behavior.

But many teens also assumed that their friends were doing it anyway, pointing to a disconnect between personal values and perceived social norms.

Teens think they can resist distractions

Interestingly, most teens expressed confidence in their ability to resist distractions. That belief, researchers suggest, could make it harder to change behavior unless future safety campaigns specifically target these attitudes.

The study’s lead author, Dr. Rebecca Robbins of Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said interventions should aim to shift social norms while also emphasizing practical steps, such as enabling «Do Not Disturb» mode and physically separating drivers from their devices.

«Distracted driving is a serious public health threat and particularly concerning among young drivers,» Robbins said. «Driving distracted doesn’t just put the driver at risk of injury or death, it puts everyone else on the road in danger of an accident.»

What this means for parents and educators

The researchers say their findings can help guide educators and parents in developing more persuasive messaging about the dangers of distracted driving. One of the recommendations is that adults need to counter teens’ beliefs that phone use while driving is productive or harmless.

While the study’s qualitative component was limited by a small and non-urban sample, the authors believe the 38-question survey they developed can be used more broadly to assess beliefs, behaviors and the effectiveness of future safety efforts.