Tech Time Warp: Michael Dell launches his empire from a dorm room
Think back to your freshman year of college and the activities that ensued in your dorm room: Cramming for tests? Late night pizza? Perhaps some partying? Great memories, right? At least until you compare your freshman year experience to Michael...
Tech Time Warp: Bill Gates and the blue screen of death
We’ve all been there: A big presentation in front of the boss is felled by tech trouble. The Wi-Fi goes down, the HDMI cable suddenly fails, an unfortunate video autoplays, etc. Next time this happens, all you need to do...
Tech Time Warp: The 411 on the 414s
Some hackers break into networks in search of confidential information, often with the idea of selling it on the dark web. Others want to disrupt a competitor’s operations. But for some, the hacking itself is the primary goal: Can it...
Tech Time Warp: Looking back at the world of phone phreaks
The disturbing phenomenon of Zoom-bombing has made attempts to conduct normal business (such as a city council meeting) difficult during the COVID-19 pandemic. Zoom’s simplicity makes it widely accessible yet open to security flaws. It’s interesting to note the videoconferencing...
Tech Time Warp: Dan Farmer and Wietse Venema unleash SATAN on the world
Amid the health, economic, and technology concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s nice to take a break and look back at a simpler time. This week, we take a look back to when a Purdue University student named Dan...
Tech Time Warp: A look back at the first VPN
As more white collar employees are instructed to work from home to contain the spread of COVID-19, there has been an abrupt uptick in VPN usage. It’s estimated VPN use has increased almost 66 percent since March 11, 2020, in...
Tech Time Warp: The evolution of videoconferencing
Remember a couple of weeks ago, before you knew the term “social distancing,” when you dreaded your next conference call? Fast forward a few days, and your next Zoom/GoToMeeting/WebEx is your lifeline to the outside world during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tech Time Warp: Twitter takes flight at SXSW 2007
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey made headlines this year as one of the first big names to pull out of the now-canceled SXSW 2020 — due to the spread of Coronavirus. With the hallways of the Austin Convention Center empty this...
Tech Time Warp: MyLife virus tempts users with screensavers
Sometimes a computer user gets tired of flying toasters. That was the gamble taken by the creators of MyLife, a worm with multiple variants infecting PCs in March and April 2002.
Tech Time Warp: The Leap Year Bug, Y2K’s lesser known counterpart
As we like to chuckle about now, Y2K ended up being a bit of a yawn. But do you recall the year 2000’s other calendar-based tech issue, the Leap Year Bug? Ultimately, it didn’t result in any major catastrophes either,...