Introduction to Dear Blocko
Hey there, welcome to another episode of Dear Blocko, the show where I answer questions that you have about your world and my world.
How Different Was the Internet 20 Years Ago?
First question here, let’s see. Matt-a-loo asks, “How different was the internet 20 years ago?” Well, the internet has gone through a lot of changes since its conception in the 1950s. Even going back just 20 years, it was pretty unrecognizable. For one thing, YouTube didn’t exist yet, so neither did I, and I don’t have to tell you how terrible that must have been for entertainment. In 2004, Facebook was just launched. Back then, it was pretty much just a directory of college students and didn’t even have pictures yet, but it still gained over a million users by the end of the year. Clearly, people were bored and needed something.
For a web browser, about 80% of internet users chose Internet Explorer, and the most popular website by far was Yahoo, with 6.5 billion visits each month, compared to Google’s less than 2 billion. Luckily, dial-up internet was already a thing of the past, but the average global internet speed was still only 1 Mbit per second, which is a far cry from the 100 megabits per second the world averages today. I may be biased, but I think it’s obvious that today’s internet is way better. We get to learn a lot.
What’s the Biggest Virus to Ever Attack the Internet?
Next question up, Franny P. asks, “Dear Blocko, what’s the biggest virus to attack the internet?” Malware has been around for as long as the internet has existed. It includes any malicious software like viruses, ransomware, worms, Trojans, and spyware, designed to harm a computer or its users. While they come in all shapes and sizes, the most widely spread malware was a virus created in 2000 known as “I Love You,” the Love Bug, or Love Letter.
While its name doesn’t exactly strike fear in its victims, “I Love You” was the subject line of an email that contained malware in an attachment. Once the curious user opened it, the virus would replicate, stealing passwords and deleting files in its wake. In just 10 days, the virus infected about 45 million computers, or about 10% of those connected to the internet. Overall, “I Love You” resulted in an estimated $10 billion in damages and even caused the Pentagon, the CIA, and the UK Parliament to shut down their email systems.
What’s Happening in Blocko’s World?
And now, it’s time for a question about me and my world. Carmac asks, “Dear Blocko, what have all your friends been up to? Where are the updates?” I’m sorry for the lack of updates. Let me fill you in quickly. Circlia and I got married at our favorite place, Blocko Bell. It was very romantic. She even fought off an alien that crashed the party. Oh, and in this photo, you can see Triangle Bob fell on the wedding cake, and in this one, you can see Greeg trying to eat him.
Speaking of Triangle Bob, he enrolled at Blocktropolis Community College to finally get his degree in macaroni art, but unfortunately, he went to the wrong building and now works as a doctor at the local hospital. It’s been about 8 months, and I think he’s too embarrassed to really say anything at this point. Umm, Rhombus makes leather jackets for dads who are super into pogo sticks. The market for that is surprisingly large here in the Life Noggin world.
The original Blocko from the Glitch Monster Saga visits from time to time; still, he started a band called Knife Noggin. Very metal. And Greeg? Well, Greeg keeps throwing up portals. It became an issue since we don’t really know where they go, and some things keep falling in. You know, I should just peek my head in to see what’s up. Huh, weird. Looks like a cross-section of my world and your world, and it smells like that pink hand soap you find in some restaurant bathrooms. Now, I’ll have to explore this more later.
Ask Your Questions and Support Life Noggin!
So, do you have any questions about your world or my world? Ask your questions in the comments right now and use #DearBlocko so I can find it. It might make it into a future episode of Dear Blocko. Click here to watch more Life Noggin videos. Subscribe to Life Noggin’s Youtube channel so you’re notified every time we upload a new video, and click the like button because it really helps us out. As always, my name is Blocko, this has been Life Noggin. Don’t forget to keep on thinking.
Sources for this video:
https://www.scienceandmediamuseum.org…
https://neal.fun/internet-artifacts/a…
https://neal.fun/internet-artifacts/t…
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/t…
https://futuretimeline.net/data-trend…
https://www.ibm.com/blog/malware-hist…
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