The sale of Video Games began to really heat up in 2005 as Illinois Governer Rod Blagojevich signs a bill into law restricting the sale of violent video games to minors. You could be fined up to $1,000 for selling games with adult ratings. Immediately, video game groups sued, claiming the law is a restriction on free speech.The law would be deemed unconstitutional and repealed by US District Judge Matthew Kennelly.
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…
Back in 1886, Gottlieb Daimler gets into his new invention. It looks like a horse-drawn buggy, but it has a one cylinder 1.1 HP engine mounted in the back seat. The first car got up to 16 km/h Seventeen years later, in 1903, Ford Motor company sells it’s first car. A Model A to Dr. Ernst Pfenning of Chicago. It was a twin cylindar combustion engine.
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”.
John Scopes was an activist and a teacher. In what was called the “Scopes Monkey Trial“, John was charged on May 5th, 1925 of teaching evolution in his Tennessee classroom. On July 21 he was found guilty and fined $100. The central argument in the case was the Butler Act, prohibiting that human evolution, or any Biblical account of origin could be taught.Scopes verdict was overturned, but only because of a technicality. The Judge fined Scopes and not a jury.
2012 – At the premier of the Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, CO. James Eagan Holmes opened fire in one of the theaters. Holmes killed 20 people and injured many. He is currently being evaluated for insanity with a court date of Feb 13, 2014.
In a step to protect companies from any post Y2K problems, in 1999, President Bill Clinton signs a bill into law protecting companies from legal action.
Today I have signed into law H.R. 775, the “Y2K Act.” This is extraordinary, time-limited legislation designed to deal with an exceptional and unique circumstance of national significance—the Y2K computer problem.
In signing this legislation, I act in the belief and with the expectation that companies in the high technology sector and throughout the American economy are serious in their remediation efforts and that such efforts will continue. Many have worked hard to identify the potential for Y2K failures among their systems and products, taken reasonable measures to inform those who might be injured from Y2K failures of steps they could take to avoid the harm, and fixed those systems and products, where feasible. If nonetheless there are significant failures or disruptions as we enter the Year 2000, plaintiffs will turn to the courts seeking compensation. Responsible companies fear that they will spend millions or more defending Y2K suits, even if they bear little or no responsibility for the harm alleged. Frivolous litigation could burden our courts and delay relief for those with legitimate claims. Firms whose productivity is central to our economy could be distracted by the defense of unwarranted lawsuits.
Apple released a series of new items in 2000, including a new “button less” mouse, iMovie2 and the iMac DV series with the PowerPC G3 processor. But they also introduced the PowerMac G4 Cube – a 450 or 500 MHz computer with Velocity Engine – A Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) which operates concurrently with existing integer and floating-point. Add with it 2 Firewire ports, 10/100BaseT Ethernet, Modem and 20 GB hard drive and you had a serious system at the time. The cube could not take cards because of it’s case sizes and the DVD drive was located on the top of the device. It was designed with a case that made it possible to eliminate the fan.
Hungarian immigrant Andy Grove, along with Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce founded Intel in 1968, as Integrated Electronics Corporation. Intel was actually the trademark of a hotel – They ended up buying out the name.