Geek

July 24, 2013: Chromecast TV Dongle Debuted

Jeffrey Powers @geekazine 0724, Affinion Group, aggregator, AMD, Android, ati technologies, caldera international, chromecast, continental airlines, Credit card, damages, day in tech history, dongle, dr-dos, fandango, Google, IOS, leo laporte, loyalty program, novell, parent company, Podcast, priceline, remote, senate commerce committee, shutterfly, technology history, us senate, vertue, webloyalty 0 Comments July 24, 2024

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2013: Google put on a “Secret Town Hall” meeting. Nobody knew what was going on, although some speculated it had to do with the TV. In their major announcement, Google introduced Chromecast – the HDMI-based set top box that was small enough to plug into the TV and not see it. The 2.83 inch dongle could stream YouTube or Netflix (at the time), along with a feature that turned your Android or iOS device into the remote.

The video would push to the TV while the mobile device could continue on searching, playing games, and more.

Chromecast debuted at $35 with 3 free months of Netflix.

It’s whats known as “Data Pass”. You went up to Orbitz, Buy.com, Fandango, Shutterfly, Priceline or Continental Airlines and purchase something. You are then asked if you want to be a part of the loyalty program. If you say yes, the credit card would be passed to a 3rd party affiliate, like WebLoyalty, Vertue and Affinion. They would then continue to bill your card. This issue broke lose in 2009 and the US Senate commerce Committee started looking into the issue.On Aug 10, 2010, Affinion (parent company to Data Pass) agreed to pay 8 million in damages. An additional $2 million would be paid between 5 – 3rd party companies that included Classmates.com and FTD. A small amount to the millions they swindled for years…

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Caldera International buys DR-DOS from Novell
AMD acquires ATI Technologies
Podcaster Leo Laporte walks over to record the first show from their new TWIT Brickhouse.

Day in Tech History/ Geek

July 22, 1988: Arrests of Fry Guy, Atlanta Three, Legion of Doom

Jeffrey Powers @geekazine 0722, aggregator, amazon purchases, bell south, Bill Gates, circles, darden, day in tech history, federal prison, fry guy, hacker crackdown, historical events, Legion of Doom, Mac OS, mac os 8, mainframe, McDonald, McDonaldland, mcdonalds, paul allen, Podcast, robert riggs, secret service, technology history, telephone networks 0 Comments July 22, 2024

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Hacker Troll — July 22: Arrests of 3 hacking organizations

The Secret Service made some major breakthroughs in Hacking circles in 1989 as three members of the Legion of Doom were arrested. They were charged with hacking into Bell South’s Telephone Networks in 1988.

Franklin Darden, Adam grant and Robert Riggs would be sentenced to time in Federal prison.

The Secret Service also find out who “Fry Guy” is – the employee who hacked McDonalds mainframe for raises. It was part of the “Hacker Crackdown”.

Mac OS 8.0 is released
Bill Gates and Paul Allen sign the MITS agreement
Amazon purchases Zappos

Day in Tech History/ Geek

July 17, 1955: First Town Run on Nuclear Power

Jeffrey Powers @geekazine 0717, accenture, aggregator, apple, Arco, arco idaho, day in tech history, gb, Idaho, Idaho National Laboratory, japan, July, july 17, ntrs, nuclear power, Podcast, professional services, reactor testing station, stitcher, technology history, Tokyo, twitter 0 Comments July 17, 2024

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During a one-hour test in 1955, Arco, Idaho became the first town to be fully electrically run on nuclear power. The small community was powered by the National Reactor Testing Station” (NRTS). NTRS later became the Idaho National Laboratory.

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Apple redesigns the iMac, 20 GB iPod
Accenture purchases Symbian Professional Services

Day in Tech History/ Geek

July 13, 2011: Netflix Splits DVD – Streaming

Jeffrey Powers @geekazine 0713, blogging, bob geldof, day in tech history, DVD, hollywood, John F. Kennedy Stadium, live aid, London, Microsoft, Midge Ure, netflix, philadelphia, Podcast, Qwikster, RSS, technology history, United States, wembly stadium 0 Comments July 13, 2024

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2011 – CEO Reed Hastings announced a bombshell that, in turn, brought on Netflix’s single worst year ever. He announced that they were splitting Netflix streaming from DVD rentals. With that, the price would be doubled – $8 for 2 DVD rental plan and $8 for streaming. If you were an existing customer, you would be grandfathered in until September. This news caused their stock to fall, which continued when Hastings announced the DVD division was to be rebranded as Qwikster, and sold (which, of course, didn’t happen).

1923 – HollywoodLand Sign is dedicated to the people in Los Angeles CA. The sign was shortened to Hollywood where it stands overlooking LA.

1985: Live Aid was first held. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for Ethiopian famine releif. Over 175,000 people attended what was called the global jukebox. The concert was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was one of the first and largest shows broadcast on satellite in 1985.

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Microsoft is found to violate the Sherman Antitrust Act
Staten Island girl falls into a manhole after IMing on her phone

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July 12, 1960: Etch A Sketch Debuts

Jeffrey Powers @geekazine 0712, aggregator, Atari, cult, day in tech history, drawing, etch a sketch, Geek, IBM, IPad, iTunes, kickstarter, lego, magic screen, masterpieces, ohio art, pencil, Podcast, popularity, shelves, star wars, star wars memorabilia, stitcher, technology history 0 Comments July 12, 2024

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It is the famous drawing tool that became a cult classic. A toy that is as collectable as the LEGO or Star Wars memorabilia. The Etch A Sketch was first brought out on shelves in 1960. Of course, since then it has taken its popularity to many levels. Some people create masterpieces, while others just play with the dials. I have an Etch A Sketch attached to a pencil, but its size is about the same as an iPad or other Tablet.

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IBM 3663 released
Atari is approved to merge with JTS
100 millionth iTunes song

Day in Tech History/ Geek

July 9, 1982: Tron Movie and Video Game Released

Jeffrey Powers @geekazine 0709, aggregator, amelio, apple, bally, bruce boxleitner, cindy morgan, cult, day in tech history, dith, Encom, game ideas, jeff bridges, Kevin Flynn, legacy, mainframe, microsoft releases, Podcast, RSS, secret diary of steve jobs, sequel, sorts, steve jobs, technology history, tron, video game, YouTube 0 Comments July 9, 2024

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It was a movie that became a cult classic. Tron – The story of Kevin Flynn who tries to figure out if ENCOM stole his game ideas. While hacking into the mainframe, the company sets a trap where Flynn gets sucked into the video game.

The movie debuted in 1982 along with the video game by Bally. Tron starred Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner and Cindy Morgan. It took 17 million to make the movie, it grossed 33 million in return. Tron’s sequel of sorts – called Legacy – was released on Dec 17, 2010. Unfortunately, it did not receive the same status as the original did.

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1997 – Gibert Amelio resigns from Apple
2008 – Secret Diary of Steve Jobs shuts down
2009 – Microsoft releases Silverlight 3

Day in Tech History/ Geek

July 5, 1937: SPAM (The Luncheon Meat) is Introduced

Jeffrey Powers @geekazine 0705, 75th anniversary, austin minnesota, boredom, day in tech history, Dolly the Sheep, E-mail spam, earth personality, excel, excel macro, Hawaii, high blood pressure, hormel, junction transistor, luncheon meat, macro virus, McDonald, mcdonalds, monotony, monty python, oven roasted turkey, Podcast, potato starch, Saipan, salt water, sodium nitrate, SPAM, spamtown usa, stitcher, technology history, United States 0 Comments July 5, 2024

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Not the email version. In 1937, Hormel came out with the first can of SPAM. The Luncheon meat. Spam was derived from the words Spiced Ham. It is pre-cooked meat that contained chopped pork, ham mean, salt, water, potato starch, and sodium nitrate. So if you have high blood pressure, you might want to stay away from this stuff.

Spam comes in many varieties, including Hot & Spicy, Less sodium (25%), Spam Lite, Oven Roasted Turkey, and others.

SPAM is made in SpamTown, USA – or Austin, Minnesota. McDonalds uses Spam in Guam, hawaii and Saipan. Spam is known as “poor people food”, however, in Hawaii, it is a common meat served.

For their 75th anniversary, Spam introduced Sir Can a Lot.

“The introduction of Sir Can-A-Lot provides an engaging presence that highlights the playful and down-to-earth personality that makes the SPAM brand both unique and timeless,” said Nicole L. Behne, product manager of SPAMfamily of products. “The campaign features him ridding not only mealtimes of boredom, but also helping consumers ‘Break the Monotony.’”

Monty Python‘s version of SPAM came out December 15, 1970 – The first email SPAM happened on May 3, 1978

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Junction transistor is created
First Excel macro virus
Dolly the sheep is born

Day in Tech History/ Geek

June 26, 1997: Wireless Applications Protocol (WAP)

Jeffrey Powers @geekazine 0626, aggregator, apple mac g4, barcode, bce, blue gene, calendar calculation, calendar version, day, day in tech history, Electronic engineering, Ericsson, gregorian calendar, historical events, IBM, iPhone, iTunes, january 1, Julian, julian calendar, julian date, mac g4 computers, Microsoft, motorola, ms dos, Nokia, Podcast, RSS, Smartphones, stardate, technology history, twitter, universal time, Wireless access point, Wireless Application Protocol 0 Comments June 26, 2024

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1997 – Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia and Unwired Planet create a partnership to start and build on the Wireless Applications Protocol (WAP) as a non-profit organization. The industry group was formed to keep wireless devices on track, bring Internet connected devices to all who need it, create a wireless protocol that works on all network technologies, make scalable applications and content, and work with existing standards to expand as wireless needs grow.