Tech Time Warp: Tech begins moving toward accessibility
Accessibility is a top priority of developers today, and with good reason. As Tim Berners-Lee, W3C director and inventor of the World Wide Web, has said: “The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of...
Pioneers in Tech: Elizabeth “Jake” Feinler’s domain names
The use of .com, .edu, .org, etc., is so commonplace you might not have contemplated its origin story. But someone had to make sense of what became the internet—and that someone is Elizabeth “Jake” Feinler, who managed the internet’s host...
Tech Time Warp: Remembering Microsoft’s Z80 SoftCard
Microsoft’s recent success with the Surface doesn’t change the fact the tech giant is primarily known for software. After all, Windows and Microsoft Office are ubiquitous in corporate life. But don’t let these juggernauts erase memories of the Z80 SoftCard,...
Tech Time Warp: Melissa virus opens eyes to risks of cybercrime
In 1999, the internet seemed like a more innocent place. Few of us were aware of the risks associated with logging on. But then the Melissa virus came along and opened our eyes. Reportedly named after a Florida stripper, the...
Tech Time Warp: John Vincent Atanasoff named inventor of the digital computer
The story of the Atanaoff-Berry Computer, or the ABC, has plenty of interesting twists—not the least of which is a March 19, 1972, court ruling pronouncing co-inventor John Vincent Atanasoff the rightful inventor of the electronic digital computer. Previously that...
Pioneers in Tech: Frances Allen, first female Turing Award winner
Legendary IBM computer scientist Frances Allen, who passed away on her 88th birthday in August 2020, is an exemplary technology pioneer to recognize during Women’s History Month. Allen grew up on a dairy farm and attended a one-room school in...
Tech Time Warp: Torpig malware collects stolen financial data
Once upon a time, you could avoid malware by staying away from “seedy” websites. But the Torpig botnet—aka Sinowal, aka Mebroot—proved that even reputable business websites could be compromised and refer traffic to malicious download sites. First spotted in late...
Tech Time Warp: Harvest computer decodes secrets for the NSA
On February 27, 1976, a ground-breaking supercomputer was quietly decommissioned at the National Security Agency, with its story only to be told years later, once declassified. The one-of-a-kind Harvest computer—a special model of the IBM 7030, or Stretch—was specifically built...
Tech Time Warp: Technology and the right to privacy
One of the great ironies of modern life: Technology has made life easier, but it’s also made life more complex. It’s great that location data has made the road atlas obsolete, but how much privacy can you reasonably expect when...
Pioneers in Tech: The first African American PhD in Computer Science
The contributions of the Black community to technology history are only just beginning to be recognized, with “hidden figures” such as NASA’s Katherine Johnson finally receiving the accolades they deserve. Another tech pioneer that should be a household name is...
