• A subnet mask defines how many bits are used for the network address and how many for the host address.
• Every machine on the same physical network sees all the data packets sent out on the network. As the number of computers on a network grows, network traffic will grow many fold, bringing down performance drastically
• First, an IP address is a 32-bit number expressed in binary. A subnet mask in compared to the 32-bit IP address – it is also 32-bits long. Anywhere where there is the number 1 in the subnet mask, the corresponding bit in the IP address is part of the network identifier. Anywhere where there is the number 0 in the subnet mask, the corresponding bit in the IP address is part of the host identifier. Without a subnet mask, we can’t tell just by looking at the IP address which part identifies the network and which part identifies the host.
IP address: 11111111.11111111.00110001.00010100
Subnet mask: 11111111.11111111.11110000.00000000
Red = the network ID
Green = the host ID
There also seem to be unspoken rules about when the world can poke fun at certain events. Scientists at the University of Colorado at Boulder recently explored the “How soon is too soon?” theory, analyzing why tragedy often results in laughter. They found that time, emotional distance, and the size of the tragedy all play a role. When unfortunate events happen to large groups of people, the level of humor increases as time passes, as opposed to smaller tragedies, which are