In the spring of 2013, the Software Studio paid a visit to a room in the basement of Boelter Hall at UCLA now called the Kleinrock Internet History Center. The room is home to the Interface Message Processor (IMP), a modified military computer that was installed here in 1969. It’s significant because IMP #1 at UCLA sent the first communication to IMP #2 at Stanford on October 29, 1969 (causing it to crash immediately). This was the first data transmitted over the ARPANET, which later evolved into the Internet. A reproduction of the project logbook is in the room, which records the historic moment: “talked to SRI host to host” at 22h30.

Reproduction of the original project logbook.

The Interface Message Processor cabinet.