2011 – Eric Schmidt shows off the new Google Chrome OS but with an added feature as he introduced Google Chromebook – a personal computer with the Google Chrome OS built-in. The device loads straight to the browser where you can install applications for functionality on your Chromebook. The first Chromebook would begin selling on June 15, 2011.
Since then, Google has released the Pixelbook, Pixelbook 2, and the newest Pixel Slate – their tablet offering.
2001 – TAT-14, the Transatlantic cable begins commercial service. A dual, bi-directional ring configuration using Dense Wavelength-Division Multiplex (DWDM) – Sixteen wavelengths of STM-64 per fiber pair. It carried 640 Gbps, and connectedGermany, the UK, Denmark, France, and the Netherlands with the US.
Even though there have been a couple failures, TAT-14 is still in service.
2014 – Foursquare tried to re-organize and turn into a review-based app more than a check-in app. They moved the check-in over to a new app called “Swarm”. Because of this, they froze all mayorship spots so people would start moving to the new Swarm app, then writing reviews on Foursquare.
Unfortunately, people didn’t “swarm” to the new app like they hoped.
Foursquare brought back the mayor option in Swarm, and then revamped it into the “Mayorships Game”.
2012 – Facebook – trying to get a hold on photosharing – decides to not wait for their iPhone app to come out but instead purchase Instagram for 1 billion dollars ($300 million and 23 million shares of Facebook stock). The reason Facebook made the purchase was for the close to 50 million Instagram users. Facebook had plans to keep both companies separate, but found later that joining the two via databases would help both companies grow. The companies finalized the deal on September 6, 2012.
Mark Zuckerberg’s first Interview after Facebook IPO
2014 – Mark Zuckerberg told the press he called President Barak Obama to bring his concerns to the table. The Facebook post talked about trust on the Internet, keeping it a shared space and how we should work together to create a secure environment.
“I’ve called President Obama to express my frustration over the damage the government is creating for all of our future. Unfortunately, it seems like it will take a very long time for true full reform.”
The NSA stated they do not use their technical abilities to impersonate US company websites. The refuted all reports.
2008 – SXSW Interactive keynote, Mark Zuckerberg was being interviewed by journalist Sarah Lacy. There was a lot of anticipation for the event, but things went south quickly (no pun intended). During the interview, Lacy starts talking about these books Zuckerberg writes into but never formally asked him about it. She gets a little befuddled because Mark was not picking up the ball.
She verbally notes the stall, which Zuckerberg replies “You have to ask a question.” That brought the audience into the conversation with a standing ovation. Trying to continue, Lacy finally made a question out of this story with Mark giving a 2 minute answer and not divulging that he “burned those books”.
Lacy then went to the audience for affirmation of the book burning. However, she instead got the comment “Talk about something interesting!”
Sarah responded with “Try to do what I do for a living. It’s not as easy as it looks…” That brought the audience into the conversation.
After that, people took to Twitter, wondering why Lacy wasn’t asking questions.
Finally, they ended the keynote with Lacy saying “I’m sorry to torture you for an hour.” The comment was not well-received.
1956 – The U.S. Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) was disclosed to the public. SAGE is a computer that connected hundreds of radar stations in the US and Canada as a one-stop monitoring of the sky.
SAGE was commissioned and developed by MIT.
The project started in 1950 and SAGE became fully operational on June 26, 1958 (DC-01). By 1980, many SAGE sites were fully dismantled as other airborne detection systems took its place.
2008 – Facebook made an initiative to remove any picture showing breastfeeding. In return, 11,000 women posted pictures in protest.
On June 15, 2014, after the #FreeTheNipple campaign brought success, Facebook officially changed their stance on the subject. According to their “Does Facebook Allow Breastfeeding” FAQ page:
Yes. We agree that breastfeeding is natural and beautiful and we’re glad to know that it’s important for mothers to share their experiences with others on Facebook. The vast majority of these photos are compliant with our policies.
Facebook’s policy also states if people complain or its too questionable, they have the right to remove the photos. Basically, the baby must be fully engaged in the feeding so the nipple is covered.
There is still a lot of controversy surrounding this issue.