ISP Information:
Simply put, this represents the integration of a computer and telephone. Its serious uses include phone registration, fax-back systems, and other systems that record or supply information by simple touch-tone telephone access. A basic use of this technology would be using your computer/modem as an auto- dialer so you don't have to push the buttons on your phone.
ISP Glossary:
CTI - Degrees of Separation Are Likely More Than 6, Especially in E-Mail AgeBy KENNETH CHANGSocially, it may be a small world, but it's hard to get from here to there.In the current issue of the journal Science, researchers at ColumbiaUniversity report the first large-scale experiment that supports thenotion of "six degrees of separation," that a short chain ofacquaintances can be found between almost any two people in theworld. But the same study finds that trying to contact a distantstranger via acquaintances is likely to fail.The "six degrees of separation" notion came from an experiment in1967 by Dr. Stanley Milgram, a social psychologist, where a fewhundred people tried to forward a letter to a particular person inBoston by sending it through people they knew personally. About athird of the letters reached their destination, after an average ofsix mailings.Dr. Milgram's experiment inspired a notion that the billions ofpeople in the world, widely separated by geography and culture,actually form a close-knit network of social acquaintances, that youare a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend ofanyone anywhere.Until now, few scientists have tried to confirm Dr. Milgram'sfindings, which some scientists find unconvincing because of thesmall number of participants and other shortcomings of the experiment.The advent of the Internet enabled the researchers to more carefullyexplore the problem, which is part mathematical -- the structure ofthe network -- and part psychological -- what motivates people toparticipate or not, and how do people decide whom to send the messageto? The answers are of interest both to computer scientists studyingthe ebb and flow of information on the Internet and sociologistsstudying the spread of gossip and cultural trends.http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/12/science/12MAIL.html
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