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 Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 15, #949

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Jan. 15, #949

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

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle has a fun purple category that expects you to find two words hidden in four separate clue words. It’s tricky, but intriguing. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: For planting things.

Green group hint: Not going anywhere.

Blue group hint: Little pieces of something.

Purple group hint: Combine two names.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Gardening tools.

Green group: Unmoving.

Blue group: Things that come in flakes.

Purple group: Words formed by two men’s names.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is gardening tools. The four answers are hose, rake, shovel and spade.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is unmoving. The four answers are frozen, static, stationary and still.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is things that come in flakes. The four answers are cereal, dandruff, salt and snow.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is words formed by two men’s names. The four answers are jackal, levitate, melted and patron.

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Toughest Connections puzzles

We’ve made a note of some of the toughest Connections puzzles so far. Maybe they’ll help you see patterns in future puzzles.

#5: Included «things you can set,» such as mood, record, table and volleyball.

#4: Included «one in a dozen,» such as egg, juror, month and rose.

#3: Included «streets on screen,» such as Elm, Fear, Jump and Sesame.

#2: Included «power ___» such as nap, plant, Ranger and trip.

#1: Included «things that can run,» such as candidate, faucet, mascara and nose.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Thursday, Jan. 15

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Jan. 15.

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.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? I sure did. I did not understand the first two Across clues. What you need to do is read the clue for 1-Across and then the clue for 4-Across together. Then, those two answers go together. Still confused? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

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: Feature of …
Answer: TWO

4A clue: … every clue
Answer: WORDS
(«Feature of every clue,» meaning that all the clues in today’s Mini Crossword consist of two words. And they do, but I found this clue pairing really confusing.)

6A clue: Kindle download
Answer: EBOOK

7A clue: Attempt again
Answer: RETRY

8A clue: Peering pair?
Answer: EYES

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Actor Maguire
Answer: TOBEY

2D clue: Jotted (down)
Answer: WROTE

3D clue: Foul smells
Answer: ODORS

4D clue: Had been
Answer: WERE

5D clue: Rainbow’s place
Answer: SKY

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Jan. 15, #479

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Jan. 15, No. 479.

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

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one. The purple category hopes you not only know a certain team’s iconic players, but you will recognize their names with a different letter. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: No points for you!

Green group hint: Italian league.

Blue group hint: Put up your dukes.

Purple group hint: The Bronx Bombers.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Reject a shot.

Green group: Serie A teams.

Blue group: Benches-clearing brawl.

Purple group: Yankees greats, with the first letter changed.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is reject a shot. The four answers are block, deny, stuff and swat.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is Serie A teams. The four answers are Bologna, Como, Juventus and Roma.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is benches-clearing brawl. The four answers are brouhaha, fight, fracas and rhubarb.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is Yankees greats, with the first letter changed. The four answers are fudge (Aaron Judge), meter (Derek Jeter), terra (Yogi Berra) and word (Whitey Ford).

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