Day in Tech History

June 17, 2019

June 18, 2007: Terry Semel of Yahoo Step Down

2007 – Terry Semel was under pressure by the board because of dissatisfaction of his compensation. Terry was brought in to create a partnership with Hollywood, which really didn’t happen. He handed the reigns over to Jerry Yang, who started promising revitalized talks with Microsoft. There are a few that even speculate that was when the buyout of Yahoo began. Jerry Yang stepped down in 200 1999 – Palm announces the m100 2009 – Jammie Thomas-Rasset was found guilty of copyright infringement and ordered to pay 1.92 million to the RIAA. Microsoft announced the Surface Tablet Podcast: Play in new window...

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Head of the Statue of Liberty: Paris World's Fair, 1878

Day in Tech History / Geek

June 16, 2019

June 17, 1885: Statue of Liberty is Delivered

1885 – Arriving in over 200 crates, the Statue of Liberty is fully delivered to New York City. French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, along with Gustave Eiffel, created this statue for America to be a symbol of freedom and friendship between the US and France. Yet, it almost didn’t get assembled due to an argument on who would pay for the pedestal at Ellis Island. President Cleveland finally dedicated the statue on October 28, 1886. Linus Torvolds announces he will leave Transmetta to work for the Open Source Development Labs Flickr co-founders leave the company Compaq announces the Armada line of computers Podcast:...

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Computer / Day in Tech History

June 16, 2019

June 16, 1997: NetPC Announced

1997 – Several computer companies banded together to help create the NetPC. A disk-less computer that got all information, including install – from a corporate server or the Internet. Basically, these would be similar to thin clients or “Dumb terminals” for work computers. No CD drive, no floppy disc and limited disk space. Cases were sealed so nobody could get inside to reconfigure the computer. Installs would be handled via the Internet, therefore, no personal software could be installed. Microsoft and Intel unveiled the system at the PC Expo trade show. NetPC would work with Compaq, Dell, IBM, HP, Acer, Gateway 2000, Mitac,...

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Day in Tech History / Facebook

June 16, 2019

June 15, 2014: Facebook Changes Breastfeeding Stance

2014 – After a major protest from #FreetheNipple, Facebook decided to adjust their stance on photos of breastfeeding mothers. Facebook implemented the initial ban on December 30, 2008. The new rule became: Any baby fully engaged in feeding where nipple was covered could remain posted. However, Facebook did have the right to pull down photos if enough complaints were lodged. 1752 – Benjamin Franklin flies a Kite 1983 – Microsoft eXtended Basic (MSX) 1982 – Arcades and the First Amendment 2006 – Bill Gates announces he is stepping down from CEO of Microsoft Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe! Apple...

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Day in Tech History / Geek

June 13, 2019

June 14, 1938: Action Comics Introduced Superman

1938 – It is one of the geekiest days for people like me. Creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster introduced one of the comic heros in Action Comics. Interesting enough, Superman was suppose to be a bad guy. The first form of him appeared in “Science Fiction #3” in 1933. He looked more like Lex Luthor than the caped crusader. But with a little re-tooling, Superman made the comics and a piece of geek history. 1938 – The First Superman comic 1985 – Apple lays off 1,200 employees 1997 – Tamapittchi, a cellular phone with a Tamagotchi built into it, is released...

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Day in Tech History / Microsoft

June 12, 2019

June 13, 1993: Interactive Television from Microsoft

1993 – Microsoft teamed up with Tele-communications and Time Warner to start the revolution known as “Interactive TV”. The ability to buy product right through the set during a show. iTV would give users a Digital Set Top Box in which they would use to browse, go back and watch video. It even connected to a telephone to let you know who is calling and possibly get SMS messages. 1983 – Pioneer Crossed Neptune 1986 – Activision finalizes the merger with Infocom 2003 – 2.4.21 of LINUX kernal released 2003 – IE for Mac is shut down 2005 – Fedora...

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Day in Tech History / Geek

June 11, 2019

June 12, 1997: 3COM, US Robotics Complete Merger

1997 – Back in February, it was announced that US Robotics be acquired by 3Com Corporation in a $6.6 billion stock swap. This would add to 3Com’s computer networking company against Cisco as they would become the second largest networking company. The merger did go through a series of corporate evaluations before the shareholders agreed to the merger. Eventually, Hewlett-Packard acquired 3Com in 2010 and the companies products were merged into the HP name. Swiss Army Knife is patented Mr. Wizzard passes away First 500,000 watt power radio station – W8XAR – begins tests Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe!...

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Day in Tech History / Microsoft

June 10, 2019

June 11, 1980: Steve Ballmer Joins Microsoft

1980 – Otherwise known as “The 24th Man” (to join Microsoft, that is), Steve Ballmer came on as Microsoft’s first Business Manager. He made only $50k and stock options. Of course 30 years later, Steve succeeded Bill Gates as CEO of the Redmond based software company. Speak and Spell debuts Compaq purchases DEC for $9 million The first cameraphone photo – Philippe Kahn taking a picture of his newborn daughter Apple releases Safari for Windows 1st generation iPhone gets put on the Obsolete list Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe! Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS | More

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Apple / Day in Tech History

June 10, 2019

June 10: Seiko Introduces Ruputer

1998 – Seiko introduces the world’s first wearable PC watch called the Ruputer. It was marketed under the OnHand PC name. The Ruputer had a 3.6 MHz processor and 2 MB of non-volitile storage. The 102×64 monochrome LCD could display data or play games. a joystick with six function buttons were on the Ruputer. This watch could download pictures and had three applications that ran on Windows 95. Ruputer cost $285 Intel releases the 200 MHz pentium processor Microsoft announces they will discontinue MS Money IBM and Microsoft sign a joint development agreement Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe!...

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