Alan Emtage
Encyclopedia
Alan Emtage conceived and implemented the first version of Archie
, a pre-Web internet search engine for locating material in public FTP
archives.
A native of Barbados
, and the son of Sir Stephen and Lady Emtage, he attended high school
at Harrison College
from 1975 to 1983 (and in 1981 became the owner of a Sinclair ZX81
with 1K of memory), where he graduated at the top of his class, winning the Barbados Scholarship.
In 1983 he entered McGill University
in Montreal
, Canada
studying for an honors Bachelor's degree
in computer science
which was followed by a Master's degree
in 1987 from which he graduated in 1991. Emtage was part of the team that brought the first Internet link to eastern Canada
(and only the second link in the country) in 1986. In 1989 while a student and working as a systems administrator for the School of Computer Science
, Emtage conceived and implemented the original version of the Archie search engine
, the world's first Internet search engine
and the start of a line which leads directly to today's Altavista
, Yahoo!
, and Google
.
In 1992, Emtage along with Peter J. Deutsch formed Bunyip Information Systems the world's first company expressly founded for and dedicated to providing Internet information services with a licensed commercial version of the Archie search engine
used by millions of people worldwide.
Emtage was a founding member of the Internet Society
and went on to create and chair several Working Groups at the Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF), the standard-setting body for the Internet. Working with other pioneers such as Tim Berners-Lee
, Marc Andreessen
, Mark McCahill (creator of Gopher) and Jon Postel
, Emtage co-chaired the Uniform Resource Identifier
(URI
) Working Group which created and codified the standard for Uniform Resource Locators (URL
s).
Emtage has spoken and lectured around the world on Internet Information Systems.
Emtage is currently Chief Technical Officer
at Mediapolis
, a web engineering company in New York City
.
Archie search engine
Archie is a tool for indexing FTP archives, allowing people to find specific files. It is considered to be the first Internet search engine. The original implementation was written in 1990 by Alan Emtage, Bill Heelan, and J...
, a pre-Web internet search engine for locating material in public FTP
File Transfer Protocol
File Transfer Protocol is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host to another host over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet. FTP is built on a client-server architecture and utilizes separate control and data connections between the client and server...
archives.
A native of Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
, and the son of Sir Stephen and Lady Emtage, he attended high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
at Harrison College
Harrison College (Barbados)
Harrison College is a co-educational grammar school in Bridgetown, Barbados. Founded in 1733, the school takes its name from Thomas Harrison, a Bridgetown merchant, who intended it to serve as "A Public and Free School for the poor and indigent boys of the parish".It thereafter has evolved into...
from 1975 to 1983 (and in 1981 became the owner of a Sinclair ZX81
Sinclair ZX81
The ZX81 was a home computer produced by Sinclair Research and manufactured in Scotland by Timex Corporation. It was launched in the United Kingdom in March 1981 as the successor to Sinclair's ZX80 and was designed to be a low-cost introduction to home computing for the general public...
with 1K of memory), where he graduated at the top of his class, winning the Barbados Scholarship.
In 1983 he entered McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
studying for an honors Bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
which was followed by a Master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in 1987 from which he graduated in 1991. Emtage was part of the team that brought the first Internet link to eastern Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
(and only the second link in the country) in 1986. In 1989 while a student and working as a systems administrator for the School of Computer Science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
, Emtage conceived and implemented the original version of the Archie search engine
Archie search engine
Archie is a tool for indexing FTP archives, allowing people to find specific files. It is considered to be the first Internet search engine. The original implementation was written in 1990 by Alan Emtage, Bill Heelan, and J...
, the world's first Internet search engine
Search engine
A search engine is an information retrieval system designed to help find information stored on a computer system. The search results are usually presented in a list and are commonly called hits. Search engines help to minimize the time required to find information and the amount of information...
and the start of a line which leads directly to today's Altavista
AltaVista
AltaVista is a web search engine owned by Yahoo!. AltaVista was once one of the most popular search engines but its popularity declined with the rise of Google...
, Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
, and Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
.
In 1992, Emtage along with Peter J. Deutsch formed Bunyip Information Systems the world's first company expressly founded for and dedicated to providing Internet information services with a licensed commercial version of the Archie search engine
Archie search engine
Archie is a tool for indexing FTP archives, allowing people to find specific files. It is considered to be the first Internet search engine. The original implementation was written in 1990 by Alan Emtage, Bill Heelan, and J...
used by millions of people worldwide.
Emtage was a founding member of the Internet Society
Internet Society
The Internet Society or ISOC is an international, nonprofit organization founded during 1992 to provide direction in Internet related standards, education, and policy...
and went on to create and chair several Working Groups at the Internet Engineering Task Force
Internet Engineering Task Force
The Internet Engineering Task Force develops and promotes Internet standards, cooperating closely with the W3C and ISO/IEC standards bodies and dealing in particular with standards of the TCP/IP and Internet protocol suite...
(IETF), the standard-setting body for the Internet. Working with other pioneers such as Tim Berners-Lee
Tim Berners-Lee
Sir Timothy John "Tim" Berners-Lee, , also known as "TimBL", is a British computer scientist, MIT professor and the inventor of the World Wide Web...
, Marc Andreessen
Marc Andreessen
Marc Andreessen is an American entrepreneur, investor, software engineer, and multi-millionaire best known as co-author of Mosaic, the first widely-used web browser, and co-founder of Netscape Communications Corporation. He founded and later sold the software company Opsware to Hewlett-Packard...
, Mark McCahill (creator of Gopher) and Jon Postel
Jon Postel
Jonathan Bruce Postel was an American computer scientist who made many significant contributions to the development of the Internet, particularly with respect to standards...
, Emtage co-chaired the Uniform Resource Identifier
Uniform Resource Identifier
In computing, a uniform resource identifier is a string of characters used to identify a name or a resource on the Internet. Such identification enables interaction with representations of the resource over a network using specific protocols...
(URI
Uniform Resource Identifier
In computing, a uniform resource identifier is a string of characters used to identify a name or a resource on the Internet. Such identification enables interaction with representations of the resource over a network using specific protocols...
) Working Group which created and codified the standard for Uniform Resource Locators (URL
Uniform Resource Locator
In computing, a uniform resource locator or universal resource locator is a specific character string that constitutes a reference to an Internet resource....
s).
Emtage has spoken and lectured around the world on Internet Information Systems.
Emtage is currently Chief Technical Officer
Chief technical officer
A chief technology officer is an executive-level position in a company or other entity whose occupant is focused on scientific and technological issues within an organization....
at Mediapolis
Mediapolis (company)
Mediapolis, Inc. is a web engineering company based in New York City. Founded in 1995 the company has built over 300 websites largely utilizing open-source software.Mediapolis owns and operates the DataLounge a popular LGBT Internet Forum.-History:...
, a web engineering company in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Works
- A. Emtage, P. Deutsch, archie - An Electronic Directory Service for the Internet Winter Usenix Conference Proceedings 1992. Pages 93–110.
- Michael F. Schwartz, Alan Emtage, Brewster Kahle, B. Clifford Neuman, A Comparison of Internet Resource Discovery Approaches, Computing Systems, Fall 1992, pp. 461–493, 5(4),
- P. Deutsch, A. Emtage, A. Marine, How to Use Anonymous FTP (RFC1635, May 1994)
- Alan Emtage, "Publishing in the Internet environment", Proceedings of the Sixth Joint European Networking Conference, 1995
External links
- Home page for Alan Emtage
- Before Google ever was (26 October 2008) - Daily Nation Newspaper
- Radio Interview - starts at 36:08 (7 November 2009) - Saturday Live, BBC Radio 4