Paul Flaherty
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
computer scientist. He was a renowned specialist for internet protocols
Internet protocol suite
The Internet protocol suite is the set of communications protocols used for the Internet and other similar networks. It is commonly known as TCP/IP from its most important protocols: Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol , which were the first networking protocols defined in this...
and the inventor of the 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...
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...
.
Biography
Flaherty received his Bachelor's DegreeBachelor'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 Electrical Engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
and Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
from Marquette University
Marquette University
Marquette University is a private, coeducational, Jesuit, Roman Catholic university located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1881, the school is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities...
, and his 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...
and PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
.
He joined Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation was a major American company in the computer industry and a leading vendor of computer systems, software and peripherals from the 1960s to the 1990s...
in 1994 and, as the Associated Press wrote:
He held an amateur radio
Amateur radio
Amateur radio is the use of designated radio frequency spectrum for purposes of private recreation, non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, and emergency communication...
Extra class license
Amateur radio licensing in the United States
In the United States, amateur radio licensing is governed by the Federal Communications Commission under strict federal regulations. Licenses to operate amateur stations for personal use are granted to individuals of any age once they demonstrate an understanding of both pertinent FCC regulations...
with the call sign
Call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
N9FZX. Was President, W6YX, Stanford Amateur Radio Club, 1986-1990.
- Station Engineer, W6YX, Stanford Amateur Radio Club, 1990-1994.
- Started the VHF+ mailing list in 1989.
- Married to his Stanford UniversityStanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
sweetheart N6YBV (this number refers to her amateur radioAmateur radioAmateur radio is the use of designated radio frequency spectrum for purposes of private recreation, non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, and emergency communication...
call signCall signIn broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
).
- An avid railfan photographer and past Assistant General Manager of the Niles Canyon RailwayNiles Canyon RailwayThe Niles Canyon Railway is a heritage railway running through Niles Canyon, between Sunol and the Niles district of Fremont in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area, in California, USA. The railway is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Niles Canyon Transcontinental...
.
- Member of the Marquette Chapter of Triangle FraternityTriangle FraternityTriangle Fraternity is a social fraternity, limiting its recruitment of members to male students majoring in engineering, architecture, and the physical, mathematical, biological, and computer sciences...
as an undergrad, where he served as chapter President. He made a habit of challenging his fraternity brothers to drinking contests that he would invariably lose; on one occasion testing the limits of human inebriation to the extent that he required gastric lavageGastric lavageGastric lavage, also commonly called stomach pumping or Gastric irrigation, is the process of cleaning out the contents of the stomach. It has been used for over 200 years as a means of eliminating poisons from the stomach. Such devices are normally used on a person who has ingested a poison or...
.
- Member of the Sunnyvale Rod and Gun Club where he enjoyed target shooting and trap shootingTrap shootingTrap shooting is one of the three major forms of competitive clay pigeon shooting . The others are skeet shooting and sporting clays. There are many versions including Olympic trap, Double trap , Down-The-Line, and Nordic trap. American trap is most popular in the United States and Canada...
.
- While a grad student drove a 1979 Z28 Camaro with T-tops.
At age 42, Flaherty died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in Belmont, California
Belmont, California
Belmont is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. It is in the San Francisco Bay Area, located half-way down the San Francisco Peninsula between San Mateo and San Carlos. It was originally part of the Rancho de las Pulgas, for which one of its main roads, the Alameda de las Pulgas,...
.