ted stevens said the internet is a series of tubes.
ted stevens said the internet is a series of tubes.
who said the internet is a series of tubes?
ted stevens
senators olympia snowe (r-me) and byron dorgan (d-nd) cosponsored and spoke on behalf of an amendment that would have inserted strong network neutrality mandates into the bill. in between speeches by snowe and dorgan, stevens gave a vehement 11-minute speech using colorful language to explain his opposition to the amendment. stevens referred to the internet as "not a big truck," but a "series of tubes" that could be clogged with information. stevens also confused the terms "internet" and "e-mail". soon after, stevens's interpretation of how the internet works became a topic of amusement and ridicule by some in the blogosphere. the phrases "the internet is not a big truck" and "series of tubes" became internet memes and were prominently featured on u.s. television shows including comedy central's "the daily show".
ted stevens
in the normand boiler, the tubes were comparatively straight and a portion of those in the inner and outer rows of each bank were formed into "tube walls" to direct hot gases generated by the furnace through the boiler. in the reed boiler, the tubes were bent into pronounced curves of varying radii to maximise surface area and therefore steam production, and baffles were used to direct hot gases. the lowest section of the lowest tubes of reed boilers was originally bent into tight, "wavy" curves, also to maximise surface area, but this was discontinued by 1901 as it inhibited the flow of water and hence also steam. further, the external diameter of the tubes tapered at their lower ends from  inches (27 mm) to  inch (22 mm) to improve the passage of hot gases between them. they were connected perpendicularly to the chambers at each end, as were the tubes in the normand boiler, to reduce stress. however, in the reed boiler these connections were made by hemispherical faces, which allowed "a certain angular play". the tubes were secured by nuts inside the chambers at each end. handholes gave access to the bottom chambers, and a manhole gave access to the top chamber, allowing rapid replacement of defective tubes. in both types of boiler, the steam-generating tubes joined the top chamber below the designed water line to stop them overheating: in another type of water tube boiler, the thornycroft, the steam-generating tubes joined the top chamber above the water line, and their tops were "observed to get red-hot when the water was low." overheated tubes were liable to fail. large, external "down-comer" tubes transferred water from the top chamber to the two bottom ones. the down-comers thus promoted convection within the boiler, which needed to be rapid because of the small diameter of the tubes, and formed "a substantial part of [its] framework."
reed water tube boiler