What does "Ping" mean?

The Story About PING should be in every child's bookcase.

61 posted on 07/02/2006 8:17:27 AM PDT by Woodstock (: >)

LOL!

The ArthurMcGowan ping is a good way to carbon date some FReepers.

62 posted on 07/02/2006 8:17:28 AM PDT by Madame Dufarge

As for its origin, I can only suspect it is from "Hunt for Red October," when Ryan is communicating with Ramius via morse code and tells Ramius to reply with a sonar ping:
I believe the term does originate with submarine pings, but its common internet use predates Hunt for Red October (1990) and is a unix command. If you have Mac OS, Linux, or any flavor of unix, issue a command line; ping www.freerepublic.com and you will get a report on network connectivity between your node and that of freerepublic.

63 posted on 07/02/2006 8:18:07 AM PDT by posterchild (The beer flowed like wine.)

64 posted on 07/02/2006 8:18:44 AM PDT by Leroy S. Mort

To: Slings and Arrows

Unnngh.. puns again..

65 posted on 07/02/2006 8:19:07 AM PDT by Irish_Thatcherite (A vote for Bertie Ahern is a vote for Gerry Adams!|The IRA are actually terrorists, any questions?)

I'm not sure that the Internet "ping" acronym wasn't produced in reference to a sonar ping. But both pre-date THFRO considerably.

66 posted on 07/02/2006 8:19:26 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Guns themselves are fairly robust; their chief enemies are rust and politicians) (NRA)

Originally a sonar term, it was applied to a computer network tool used to test whether a particular host is reachable across an IP network. Ping works by sending ICMP “echo request” packets to the target host and listening for ICMP “echo response” replies.

Today, a ping just means any stray internet communication meant to see if another party is on line and listening.

May I add, in all Christianlovingkindness, that it's not considered good form to post vanities than can be resolved via google and/or Wikipedia, btw.

67 posted on 07/02/2006 8:19:51 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (NYT Headline: 'Protocols of the Learned Elders of CBS: Fake But Accurate, Experts Say.')

68 posted on 07/02/2006 8:19:52 AM PDT by Dog Gone

To: Professional Engineer

Damn, that boy's got a LOT of gums.

69 posted on 07/02/2006 8:20:36 AM PDT by Xenalyte (I want you to remember this face. This is the guy behind the guy behind the guy.)

70 posted on 07/02/2006 8:21:11 AM PDT by Woodstock (: >)

To: maineman; Paleo Conservative

71 posted on 07/02/2006 8:21:20 AM PDT by KoRn

Is this a feeding frenzy?

72 posted on 07/02/2006 8:21:49 AM PDT by maineman

To: FreedomPoster; martin_fierro

Ping = Packet InterNet Groper

Like this?

73 posted on 07/02/2006 8:22:28 AM PDT by Paleo Conservative

74 posted on 07/02/2006 8:22:30 AM PDT by Salamander (And don't forget my Dog; fixed and consequent)

Ping is the Chinese delivery boy Elaine crashed into while trying to apologize to a virgin.

I can relate anything to Seinfeld. Some are Godfather people, I am a Seinfeld person.

75 posted on 07/02/2006 8:23:06 AM PDT by A knight without armor

To: Irish_Thatcherite; All

BTW, I see that the Keyword Faeries have been busy.

76 posted on 07/02/2006 8:23:36 AM PDT by Slings and Arrows (Pray for peace, prepare for war.)

haha. I just remember being a newbie!! :o)

77 posted on 07/02/2006 8:24:42 AM PDT by jackv (just shakin' my head)

To: FreedomPoster

Party-pooper.

You did mean Ping-pooper, right?

78 posted on 07/02/2006 8:25:43 AM PDT by Woodstock (: >)

To: theophilusscribe

16 posts - then an answer. Shoot. I was hoping for an unbroken string of wisecracks and smart assedness.

79 posted on 07/02/2006 8:26:02 AM PDT by don-o (Don't be a Freeploader. Do the Right thing. Be a monthly donor.)

To: Slings and Arrows

80 posted on 07/02/2006 8:26:12 AM PDT by Irish_Thatcherite (A vote for Bertie Ahern is a vote for Gerry Adams!|The IRA are actually terrorists, any questions?)

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