Pat Parseghian
AT&T Bell Labs., Room 2C-472, 600 Mountain Ave., P.O. Box 636, Murray Hill, NJ 07974-0636
The World Wide Web and point-and-click browsers have revolutionized the way one looks at the Internet. The Internet is not just for computer scientists anymore---it links elementary schools, businesses, and homes around the globe. Addresses for resources on the World Wide Web appear in national magazines, local newspapers, and are televised on the evening news. Following a brief overview of the Internet and traditional text-based Internet services, this presentation will focus on emerging multimedia uses of the Internet. Multimedia extensions for electronic mail allow us to share images and sounds. The MBone (Multicast Backbone) supports collaborative tools for audio and video conferencing, as well as a shared whiteboard. On the World Wide Web, one can look at the weather report, read colleagues' technical papers, go shopping, and check the traffic conditions, all before leaving home for the office! While the Internet is straining to accommodate its escalating load, advances in networking technology promise a bright future.
A special session on ``Hot Topics in Acoustics'' is presented at each meeting of the Society. A member is chosen from each of three or four of the Society's technical committees or specialty groups to present a tutorial talk on topics of current special interest. The talks are intended to help acousticians become familiar with issues and achievements that are not within their own primary fields of interest.