Writings and Musings

Bob Frankston (bio)

Welcome to my writings.

If you want the recent essays check out the sidebar on the left or, better, go to Further Readings for a curated list of essays.

Other essays are listed in chronological order and then by category. The main essays are in larger letters and minor documents (such as messages posted on discussion sites) are indented and in smaller letters. The documents themselves are located on this site (www.Frankston.com) and as well as external sites.

Note that I'm currently writing shorter transient posts on Facebook as "Bob Frankston". I'm gathering links here.

You can send me Email. Note this unique address is only valid for the next few days.

The best way to link to a document is as http://rmf.vc/keyword.

By default only the most recent posts are shown, to see:
Recent By Date Posts from the last few months
Columns Columns written in 1998-1999 -- blogging before blogs. Look here for my more recent columns.
All All posts -- hundreds

Writings and Updates by Date

Some of the recent entries are also listed on the sidebar. Secondary items such as postings on other mailing lists are indented. Note that the year shown is the year the essay was updated. An essay written in 1979 might be listed under 2009 if it was updated recently.

Glossary 01-Jan-1999 (Updated: 05-Apr-2005 Definitions for some of the terms I use in my writings.
Open Access 11-Nov-1999 As we build Internet connectivity atop the existing telecommunications infrastructure we need to assure that there is a separation between connectivity and the services that are built upon the connectivity.
Much Fuss about the DNS 12-Jul-1999 The domain names (as in www.frankston.com) seem to be a scarce resource as companies try to secure their own ".com" names. There are also too few Internet addresses to go around. Alas, the "crisis" is due to a lack of understanding of the role of the domain names. There are more appropriate mechanisms already available.
Columns 04-Jul-1998 (Updated: 25-May-1999 These columns represent a first attempt at posting short opinions
The IP Infrastructure 12-Apr-1999 This essay captures much of what I've been trying to explain about what the IP infrastructure really is and what it means. Very briefly, it provides a connected infrastructure and creates a new marketplace that takes advantage of this connectivity. In order to understand this it is necessary to have a basic understanding of what underlies the Internet. This understanding is necessary for those making policy decisions and is essential for being a literate member of today's society. I'm writing companion essays on the new literacy and on the difference between computer science and the needs of the IP infrastructure. If you'd like to be notified when they are available, [Notification], "send me a note"
Y2K, Area Codes etc 20-Mar-1999 The Y2K problem and Area Code splitting are the results of failing to understand the difference between how we use information informally and how we must representation it in computer systems and on the Web.
Bob Frankston
Copyright 1997-2023