1968
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer releases the science fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey, directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter, Leonard Rossiter, and Douglas Rain, is released to US theaters, four days after its April 3rd premiere at the Uptown Theatre in Washington, D.C. It will be nominated for four Academy Awards and win one for Best Visual Effects. Produced on a budget of US$12 million, the film based on the Arthur C. Clarke novel 2001: A Space Odyssey. IMDB listing MPAA Rating: G Running Time: 2 hrs 19 mins
1992
[Comdex] in Chicago, Illinois the Microsoft Corporation introduces the Windows 3.1 operating system, which provides IBM and IBM-compatible computers a graphical user interface (GUI). Windows 3.1 features improved support for CD Audio, MIDI, modems with speed up to 9600bps, sound cards, and Super VGA monitors. The operating system abandons “Real Mode,” a vestigial environment dating back to the Intel 8086 processors. It introduces scalable TrueType fonts and the Control-Alt-Delete command (also known as the “three finger salute”), and it refines the object Linking and embedding (OLE) concept, allowing users to cut and paste data and objects between applications. In total, the software is comprised of over three million lines of code. Price: US$149.00 it was code-named: Janus
1997
Microsoft acquires WebTV for $503 million – but vested at $425 (since WebTV was a young company). The box eventually became MSN TV and subscription models were available until Sept 30th, 2013 when Microsoft shut the service down.
1998
Jasc Software releases version 5.0 of Corel Paint Shop Pro for Windows. This version features several improvements in its user interface and, for the first time, support for layers. As the lack of an ability to work with layers was the application’s major disadvantage in the graphical editing software market, version 5.0 is a major advance.
1999
International Business Machines (IBM) introduces the RS/6000 Model H70 as the world’s fastest 64-bit, four-way web server. The server, designed to host ecommerce sites, bench tests at 11,774 hits per second.
2000
United States District Court Judge Edward Johnstone dismisses a US$33 million dollar lawsuit brought by the families of three girls killed in a 1997 school shooting against several media corporations, ruling that Michael Carneal’s actions at Heath High School in Paducah, Kentucky were unforeeable and that product liability law doesn’t apply to the ideas contained in media such as films and video games. The prosecution contended that exposure to films such as The Basketball Diaries, games such as Doom, Mortal Kombat, and Quake, and pornography were, in part, to blame for the Heath High School shootings.
2001
The United States Department of Commerce announces its intent to transfer the management of .edu domains from VeriSign to Educause. Under the new arrangement, community colleges will now be able to officially register .edu addresses.
Version 7.0 of the Ghost is released. Ghost is a disk cloning utility, originally produced by Binary Research and purchased by Symantec in 1998. The name Ghost originated as an acronym for “General Hardware-Oriented Software Transfer”. Version 7.0 is marketed as “Norton Ghost 2002 Personal Edition”.
2002
Version 0.2 of the Camino open source web browser is released.
2005
Hitachi announces that it has successfully increased the data density of harddrives to 230GB per square inch using a technology called perpendicular recording. The breakthrough has the potential to lead to one-inch 20GB and three and a half inch 1TB drives by the year 2007. Perpendicular recording aligns data bits ninety degrees to the plane of the recording medium. Read more at Electronics Weekly.
2006
Apple Computer creates Braeburn Capital in Reno, Nevada to manage its assets and to avoid some California state taxes. The name Braeburn is a variety of apple.
2008
Carl Icahn gets a seat from Motorola to be on the board of the spin off Mobile Device company
Yahoo says to Microsoft – You are undervaluing our company, in the heated MicroYahoo offer.
2009
Police in the U.K. decide that not only is the Google Street View car a great idea, that it should be adopted for their police force. The cars are designed for motorists who speed through intersections and show unsafe driving practice.
Intel revamps their processor logos and rating system – introducing the i3, i5 and i7 – getting away from the “Core” moniker.
The FCC begins hearings to begin a broadband policy revamp. The plan is to improve broadband access. Federal stimulus money will be used to help increase access and usage.
An entertainment columnist working with News Corp is fired after he downloads and reviews an unauthorized version of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”
An Arizona teen is arrested for a rash of burglaries. How did the Police find out? Well apparently, his cell phone called the cops and let them listen in while he boasted about the activities.
2011
To protest the PS3 hacker lawsuit, Anonymous initiated “Operation Payback” – taking down the Playstation network for weeks. It also caused a lot of negative feedback from the customers.
DISH Networks acquired Blockbuster video for $228 million.