Ian Clarke (computer scientist) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ian Clarke
|
|
|---|---|
Ian Clarke in October, 2019
|
|
| Born | 16 February 1977 |
| Citizenship | Ireland, United States |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Known for | Freenet peer to peer software, Revver |
| Awards | 2003 Technology Review Young Innovator |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Computer science, artificial intelligence |
Ian Clarke (born February 16, 1977) is a super smart computer scientist from Ireland. He's famous for creating Hyphanet, which is a special kind of internet software. He also came up with other cool ideas for sharing information online.
Contents
Ian Clarke's Early Life and Big Ideas
Growing Up and Early Discoveries
Ian Clarke grew up in a town called Navan in Ireland. He went to Dundalk Grammar School. While he was there, he showed how clever he was!
He won first place twice at the Young Scientist Exhibition. This is a big competition for young inventors.
- In 1993, his project was about making a "C Neural Network Construction Kit." This was about teaching computers to learn.
- The next year, in 1994, he won again. His project was about using light to see inside things.
University Days and Freenet's Beginning
In 1995, Ian went to the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He studied Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. He even helped bring back the Artificial Intelligence Society at his university!
For his final project, he designed a new way to store and find information online. It was called "A Distributed, Decentralised Information Storage and Retrieval System." After getting a good grade, he shared his idea online in 1999. He asked for volunteers to help build it.
This project became known as Freenet. It's a special kind of internet software where people can share information privately. It got a lot of attention from news and tech companies.
Ian Clarke's Career and Innovations
Starting New Companies
After university, Ian worked as a software developer. But he soon wanted to build his own ideas.
- In 2000, he moved to California and started a company called Uprizer, Inc. He wanted to use some of his Freenet ideas for business.
- Uprizer got a lot of money from investors, including Intel Capital.
- In 2001, Ian wrote about an idea called FairShare. This idea was about finding new ways to pay creators for their work online, instead of just using copyright rules.
Creating New Software and Tools
In 2002, Ian started another company called Cematics LLC. He worked on many new projects there:
- Locutus: A search tool for businesses.
- WhittleBit: A search engine that learned from what users liked.
- 3D17: A tool for people to work together on websites.
In 2003, Ian moved back to Scotland. He kept working on exciting projects:
- Dijjer: A way to store website information across many computers.
- Indy: A system to help people discover new music together.
Awards and Video Sharing
In 2003, Ian Clarke was recognized as one of the top 100 innovators in the world under 35. This award came from the MIT Technology Review.
Later, the company he worked with, ChangeTv, became Revver Inc.. In 2005, Revver launched a website where people could share short videos. What made Revver special was that it was the first site to pay video creators for their work. This was similar to Ian's earlier FairShare idea.
Latest Projects and Inventions
In 2006, Ian moved to Austin, Texas. He started a new company called SenseArray. This company created a smart system for showing ads online.
In 2009, he released something called Swarm. This was a clever way to make many computers work together on a single task. It made complex computing much easier.
In 2012, Ian co-founded OneSpot. Their goal was to create "ads that don't suck." He designed a system that could find the best ads for people online. In the same year, he also made LastCalc, an open and flexible online calculator, available for everyone to use.
