Tech Time Warp: Have you ever wondered about the history of cut, copy, and paste?
For many of us, using the keyboard shortcuts for cut, copy, and paste is as second nature as flipping a light switch. Whether you’re a Mac (Command-) or a PC (Ctrl+) user, these shortcuts make life easier and word processing...
Tech Time Warp: Reflecting on the Ken Thompson hack
In 1983, Ken Thompson and Dennis M. Ritchie received the prestigious A.M. Turing Award for “their development of generic operating systems theory and specifically for the implementation of the UNIX operating system.” However, this look back at technology history is...
Pioneers in Tech: How Barbara Liskov revolutionized computer science
After earning a bachelor’s degree in mathematics in 1961 from the University of California, Berkeley, Barbara Liskov applied to graduate school at Princeton University. In response to her application, Liskov received a form letter informing her the school didn’t accept...
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...
