Lawrence Roberts, who helped design the Arpanet and oversaw its implementation in 1969, dies at 81 (Katie Hafner/New York Times)

Katie Hafner / New York Times:
Lawrence Roberts, who helped design the Arpanet and oversaw its implementation in 1969, dies at 81  —  In late 1966, a 29-year-old computer scientist drew a series of abstract figures on tracing paper and a quadrille pad.  Some resembled a game of cat's cradle; others looked like heavenly constellations …