We had a spirited debate in recent weeks regarding the right way to refer to modern networking devices, particularly those found in datacenters. One of us (Bruce) argued that, if it forwards IP packets, it's a router. Larry pushed back: shouldn't a router interconnect heterogeneous networks, or sit on the border between different autonomous systems?

Further confounding the discussion is conflicting usage by industry players: most networking devices in datacenters, even those forwarding IP packets, are called switches. Put a similar device inside a service provider's backbone? Most people call those things routers—so what's the rule for when to use each term?

This might seem like a trivial thing, but when writing a textbook, it's important that we use terminology precisely and consistently if we want our readers to understand the technology fully. Being inconsistent with standard industry practice would help no-one, even if we believe our stance to be "correct". The good news is that we resolved the issue to our satisfaction, and along the way we gained some insights into how much the Internet has changed since we wrote our first edition in 1995. More in this week's newsletter:

https://systemsapproach.org/2026/04/20/not-your-fathers-internet/

🧵 1/n

Anyone else from outside of mastodon.social notice the downtime from the DDOS? No? Working as intended. 🤙

https://www.engadget.com/social-media/mastodon-was-hit-by-a-major-ddos-attack-that-briefly-took-down-parts-of-the-service-204823221.html?src=rss

After just having responded to the third #curl security report for the evening I noticed a post that cheered me up...

Have a good Friday everyone!

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/moekatib_millions-of-people-look-up-to-steve-jobs-activity-7450947453085749248-K1w-

Renewable energies overtook global electricity demand last year, led by solar growth in China, India
https://apnews.com/article/climate-renewables-clean-energy-china-india-solar-electricity-demand-c412207bc332c5e0f904030ab21389e7?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into Asia @asia-AssociatedPress

The web should be more playful

https://mattwiebe.blog/2026/04/20/bringing-radiant-shaders-to-wordpress/

RE: https://pdx.social/@dadbod/116437799506135617

I'm very happy with my Kobo Libra 2. A big surprise when I got it was that I stopped having insomnia. I used to read books at night on my iPhone (dark mode, low illumination, color adjusted to deduce blue light) and thought it wouldn't affect my sleep. I'd often be awake for a couple of hours during the night, but didn't think it was connected. The day I got my Kobo, the insomnia stopped. E-ink screens rock.

Very few of my books are from the Kobo store. Mostly they're sideloaded using Calibre.

🚨 LIVE ONLINE EVENT 🚨

Publishers vs. preservation: what happens when the web can’t be archived? Find out on PRESERVING THE WEB IN THE AGE OF AI, a LIVE Future Knowledge #podcast recording 🎙️

Join this timely conversation on AI, access & our digital memory with Mike Masnick, Mark Graham, & Kendra Albert.

📆 Tues, April 28
🕙 10 AM–11 AM PDT/🕐 1 PM–2PM EDT
🎟️ https://blog.archive.org/event/preserving-the-web-in-the-age-of-ai/

@masnick.com @mark @kendraserra @AuthorsAlliance