Tech Time Warp: The golden age of Minitel
With all eyes on Paris thanks to the 2024 Summer Olympics, it makes sense to turn our attention to a uniquely French chapter in technology history: the Minitel. You may remember this innovation from your French language textbook, much like...
Tech Time Warp: A look back at Olympics technology innovation
The 2024 Paris Olympics is already being hailed as groundbreaking in the use of artificial intelligence to protect athletes from online abuse and answer their questions quickly via an exclusive AthleteGPT service. But, as you will see in this edition...
Tech Time Warp: Fond memories of the Famicom
Whether gamers or not, the NES, or Nintendo Entertainment System console, is ubiquitous with childhood for Americans who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s. But casual observers may not know that before Nintendo brought the NES to the American...
Pioneers in Tech: Nikola Tesla’s vision for wireless communication
This edition of Pioneers in Tech looks at the legend of Nikola Tesla—not only do electric cars bear his name, but also his alternating-current (AC) electric system remains the basis of electricity today. Plus, the “Tesla coil” he invented is...
Tech Time Warp: California adopts groundbreaking ergonomics standard
Texting thumb. Mouse shoulder. Computer hunchback. In today’s always-on world, it’s far too easy to overdo your use of technology. You can effortlessly end up on the path toward a repetitive stress injury (RSI). In this edition of Tech Time...
Tech Time Warp: The curious history of QWERTY
From time to time, your inner Mavis Beacon might wonder about the seemingly nonsensical arrangement of your keyboard. What’s the story behind QWERTY? You’ll find out in this edition of Tech Time Warp! On June 23, 1868, Christopher Latham Sholes,...
Tech Time Warp: Far past time to move to AES encryption
In May 2024, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and Federal Partnership for Interoperable Communications (FPIC) released a whitepaper warning government agencies about the dangers of relying on the Data Encryption Standard (DES)—a nearly 50-year-old technology—for cybersecurity. Let’s get...
Pioneers in Tech: Nicholas Metropolis & and the MANIAC
While not the namesake of an Academy Award-winning film, “Nicholas Metropolis” is a name you’re not likely to forget once you’ve read this edition of Pioneers in Tech. Born on June 11, 1915, in Chicago, Nicholas Constantine Metropolis was recruited...
Tech Time Warp: ExploreZip offers yet another reminder to beware the unexpected attachment
The timing of news that pirated versions of Microsoft Office software are spreading “malware cocktails” is interesting. After all, it was also in early June (back in 1999) that the ExploreZip virus destroyed Microsoft Office files the world over. Let’s...
Tech Time Warp: The staying power of COBOL
In this edition of Tech Time Warp, we see how technology moves quickly. Each new iPhone renders the previous generation obsolete, with the earliest models now firmly in the quaint antique category. That’s why it’s so remarkable that COBOL, a...
