Changes

Mr. Postel died from complications related to heart surgery. It happened at a critical time in the history of the Internet's development, as the [[Bill Clinton|Clinton]] administration prepared to transfer oversight of the network to the organization he helped to build, [[ICANN]].<ref>[http://www.isoc.org/postel/lat.shtml ISOC.org]</ref>

Mr. Postel died from complications related to heart surgery. It happened at a critical time in the history of the Internet's development, as the [[Bill Clinton|Clinton]] administration prepared to transfer oversight of the network to the organization he helped to build, [[ICANN]].<ref>[http://www.isoc.org/postel/lat.shtml ISOC.org]</ref>

==Beginnings of the Internet==

==Beginnings of the Internet==

While a graduate student and researcher at UCLA, Jon became one of the primary developers involved with the [[ARPANET]].<ref>[http://www.postel.org/remembrances/iana-pr102098.html Postel.org]</ref><ref>[http://www.usc.edu/dept/pubrel/trojan_family/spring99/Postel/postel.html USC.edu]</ref> After UCLA he briefly worked at Mitre and SRi, before coming to the [[ISI]], where he spent the remaining 21 years of his career, attaining the position of Director.<ref>[http://www.usc.edu/webcast/archive/events/postel/ USC.edu]</ref> As a researcher at ISI, Jon made many achievements regarding protocol design and verification, multimedia computing and communications, electronic commerce, the domain name system, and specific Internet protocols. These protocols include the [[TCP/IP]], the [[SMTP]], and the [[DNS]].<ref>[http://www.isoc.org/awards/postel/memory.shtml ISOC.org]</ref> While Mr. Postel was primarily a researcher he immediately recognized the need for organization to make the network of packet-switching into a medium of universal communication. Thus, he became the [[RFC Editor]], who is responsible for issuing documents that specify how Internet computers interoperate, and founded [[IANA]], the central coordination hub of the Internet.<ref>[http://www.usc.edu/webcast/archive/events/postel/ USC.edu]</ref> Jon was known for doing the extremely important, but equally unglamorous, administrative and organizational work that was necessary to create and maintain the Internet. He was not one to seek out fame and glory, and much of his life he received neither, but he was trusted by those around him to manage some of the most important network developments and standards.<ref>[http://www.postel.org/remembrances/crocker-story.html Postel.org]</ref>

While a graduate student and researcher at UCLA, Jon became one of the primary developers involved with the [[ARPANET]].<ref>[http://www.postel.org/remembrances/iana-pr102098.html Postel.org]</ref><ref>[http://www.usc.edu/dept/pubrel/trojan_family/spring99/Postel/postel.html USC.edu]</ref> After UCLA he briefly worked at Mitre and SRi, before coming to the [[ISI]], where he spent the remaining 21 years of his career, attaining the position of Director.<ref>[http://www.usc.edu/webcast/archive/events/postel/ USC.edu]</ref> As a researcher at ISI, Jon made many achievements regarding protocol design and verification, multimedia computing and communications, electronic commerce, the domain name system, and specific Internet protocols. These protocols include the [[TCP/IP]], the [[SMTP]], and the [[DNS]].<ref>[http://www.isoc.org/awards/postel/memory.shtml ISOC.org]</ref> While Mr. Postel was primarily a researcher he immediately recognized the need for organization to make the network of packet-switching into a medium of universal communication. Thus, he became the [[RFC Editor]], who is responsible for issuing documents that specify how Internet computers interoperate, and founded [[IANA]], the central coordination hub of the Internet.<ref>[http://www.usc.edu/webcast/archive/events/postel/ USC.edu]</ref> Jon was known for doing the extremely important, but equally unglamorous, administrative and organizational work that was necessary to create and maintain the Internet. He was not one to seek out fame and glory, and much of his life he received neither, but he was trusted by those around him to manage some of the most important network developments and standards.<ref>[http://www.postel.org/remembrances/crocker-story.html Postel.org]</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/196487.stm News.BBC.co.uk]</ref>

The level of control he had over the burgeoning Internet was underscored months before he past away; he redirected half the Internet's 12 directory-information computers to his own system. Jon later told authorities that he was only testing how such a transition would run.<ref>[http://www.isoc.org/postel/lat.shtml ISOC.org]</ref> Despite this level of power and authority, Jon was a soft-spoken man who undertook his work in an open and transparent manner.

The level of control he had over the burgeoning Internet was underscored months before he past away; he redirected half the Internet's 12 directory-information computers to his own system. Jon later told authorities that he was only testing how such a transition would run.<ref>[http://www.isoc.org/postel/lat.shtml ISOC.org]</ref> Despite this level of power and authority, Jon was a soft-spoken man who undertook his work in an open and transparent manner.