day in tech history

Dave Winer

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January 11, 2001: Podcasting is Technically Created

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Dave Weiner
Dave Weiner adds enclosure to RSS 0.92

2001– Dave Weiner added a new functionality to the RSS feed called “Enclosure“. It was defined as passing any audio file (mp3, wav, ogg, etc), video file (mpg, mp4, avi, mov, etc), PDF, or ePub (electronic publication) into the syndicated feed. Weiner demonstrated by enclosing a Grateful Dead song in his website at Scripting News. This was an idea that was proposed by Tristan Louis.

It wasn’t until Adam Curry and crew started iPodderX and in  February 2004 the name “Podcasting” was coined by Ben Hammersley. But its roots all come back to this day when RSS 0.92 was demonstrated.

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TI-83 Graphing Calculator

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January 10, 1996: TI-83 Graphing Calculator

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TI-83 Graphing Calculator
TI-83 Graphing Calculator

1996 – Texas Instruments announced it would release the TI-83 and became one of the most popular calculators. The TI-83 had many graphing modes including polar, parametric, sequence and function graphs. It could also run statistics, trigonometry and algebraic functions.

The TI-83 was replaced by the 83 Plus in 1999 which added flashable memory for upgrades. This calculator is still available today and you can get the Texas Instruments TI-83 Plus Graphing Calculator on Amazon.

The TI-83 had a Zilog Z80 processor at 6 MHz and 32 kb of RAM. You could use 4 AAA batteries or the power supply to run. Price was $125

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  • Apple releases the Macintosh Plus
  • Microsoft settles with Caldera
  • A court rules against Rambus due to their “Spoliation” of documents
iTunes

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January 9, 2001: Mac OSX, iTunes Media Platform Announced

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iTunes
iTunes

At MacWorld 2001, Steve Jobs announced Mac OSX – the base OS for Apple for the next couple decades. With Darwin, an open source BSD Unix service, 2D (Quartz), 3D (OpenGL) and Quicktime (QT5). The programming language of Classic, Carbon and Cocoa allowed programs from OS9 to run. Cocoa is an object oriented API for new apps.

OSX became available on March 24, 2001 for $129

Jobs also announced the PowerMac G4 with “Power to Burn”. Based on the PowerPC G4 chip at 733 MHz. Four models coming with CD-RW and Superdrive, 133 MHz system and memory bus, AGP 4x graphics and nVidia graphics.

Finally, Jobs announced iTunes – Their interface was simple and powerful. Create playlists and burn CDs in one window. You can also take an MP3 player and connect to iTunes to drag and drop titles. Finally, iTunes has an internet radio function to listen to all your favorite stations.

Below is the keynote from 2001 also showing off iDVD, iMusic, and the Powerbook G4 Titanium.

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Bell Labs Complex Computer

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January 8, 1940: Bell Labs Complex Computer

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Bell Labs Complex Computer
Bell Labs Complex Computer

1940 – a full-scale relay calculator designed by Bell Labs engineer Dr. George Stibitz, becomes operational. The machine was first designed in February 1938, and construction began in April, 1939. Although the device was ready by October, 1939, it didn’t go into operation until this day.

The Complex Computer used 400-450 binary relays and initially could only run complex multiplication and division. The machine had to be modified to do addition and subtraction. In September, the device was connected to phone lines, sending information to a teletype unit.

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  • the DOJ drops the IBM anti-trust case
  • Night Trap will get re-released when the video game industry puts out the new rating system.
  • Netgear is founded
  • Palm Pre is announced
Nikola Tesla

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January 7, 1943: Nikola Tesla Passed Away

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Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla

Born in 1856, Nikola Tesla was the inventor of alternating current. Tesla even worked for Edison from 1882 to 1886. He then started the Tesla Electric Light & Manufacturing company in where he worked more on AC electricity.

This started the “War of Currents”, which we talked about on January 3rd when Edison electrocuted Topsy, the Elephant.

Tesla was also known for many patents and inventions, including the Tesla coil, Electro-magnetic motor, incandescent electric light, electric railway system and many more. He was known for X-Rays, radio, the remote control and wireless communications.

Learn more about Nikola through Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age book at Amazon

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XBox

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January 6, 2001: Microsoft XBox Unveiled

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XBox
XBox

2001– It was CES where Microsoft unveiled the XBox video game system. The system had a 733 MHz processor, hard drive and 250MHz graphics processor. The console didn’t release until November 15, 2001.

XBox was the first American gaming system since the Atari Jaguar, which folded in 1996.

XBox live was added to the unit in 2002, but it was the ability to mod the XBox so people could turn their consoles into a XMBC (XBox Media Center).

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Richard Stallman

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January 5, 1984: GNU Project Founded

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Richard Stallman
Richard Stallman

1984 – Richard Stallman quit his job at MIT to begin the writing of GNU software. GNU – a recursive acronym for “Not Unix” and reference to the song “the Gnu” – is an operating system that is compatible with Unix software. Stallman wanted to bring a free software operating system for the masses to use as they needed. The open source community would then be able to grow the OS with their own code additions.

Even though no real stable version of GNU yet exists, Linux is based on the GNU kernel.

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  • v 2.0 of Perl is released
  • Steve Jobs accepts CEO position at Apple
  • Steve Jobs announces he has a “Hormonal Imbalance”
Topsy

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January 4, 1904: Thomas Edison Electrocutes an Elephant

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1904– To show the effects of how dangerous Nikolai Tesla’s Alternating current was, Thomas Alva Edison filmed the electrocution of the elephant, Topsy. This was falsely advertised as the first Elephant to be born in America by the Forepaugh Circus. Topsy was named after a slave girl in the book “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”.

Topsy was sold to Cony Island’s Sea Lion park. Her handler, William Whitey Alt, used Topsy to try and go after police. He also was involved in an incident where he used the elephant as an intimidation factor to the local police. Alt was fired and the owners of Luna Park were ready to get rid of her but no one wanted Topsy.

The owners planned to euthanize her by hanging, but the American Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals stepped in and said hanging was a needlessly cruel means to killing. After debate, it was finally arranged that the Edison Electric Illuminating company of Brooklyn would perform the electrocution.

The electrocution was witnessed by 1,500 who payed for their seats at Coney Island, along with 100 media personnel.

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