Tech Time Warp: Jean Sammet changes her opinion of computers
In this week’s Tech Time Warp, we’re going back to programming in the 50’s. Introduced in 1959, the programming language COBOL—common, business-oriented language—is still heavily in use today, with an estimated 200 billion lines of code relied upon by government...
Tech Time Warp: First domain name registered in 1985
File this away for your next pub quiz: The first domain name ever registered was Symbolics.com, registered on March 15, 1985, by Symbolics Computer Corporation, a company that specialized in single-user machines running the LISP programming language. For this week’s...
Pioneers in Tech: Annie Easley, “human computer” to diversity champion
As we transition from Black History Month to Women’s History Month, it’s hard to think of a more inspiring group of technology pioneers than the Black women who worked as “human computers” at NASA. Only a few of their stories...
Tech Time Warp: The great Michelangelo scare
Thirty years ago, PC users around the world were left saying “Huh?” after the much-hyped Michelangelo virus turned out to be, well, not much. The virus’ enduring legacy might say more about the media than about a security risk, as...
Tech Time Warp: The origins of the Cult of the Dead Cow
The high plains of Lubbock, Texas—a conservative, church-going area of the country to be sure—are not where you would expect a group of “hacktivists” to have gotten its start, let alone the group that coined the term “hacktivism.” But the...
Tech Time Warp: The history of the indestructible QR code
In the hazy “before times” of late 2019 and early 2020, the QR Code was the butt of many jokes. A QR Code seemed passé—almost like putting “e” or “I” at the beginning of a new device’s name and considering...
Pioneers in Tech: Jerry Lawson, pre-Atari game console designer
In the nascent days of video games, gaming consoles had limitations — namely, users were limited to one game, such as Al Alcorn’s groundbreaking Pong. But a group of engineers at the semiconductor company Fairchild — including the subject of...
Tech Time Warp: Hungarian hacker attempts to extort a job
Most people seeking employment dust off their resumes, respond to listings on Indeed, and wait to be called in for interviews. But, the subject of this week’s Tech Time warp, the Hungarian hacker Attila Nemeth, took a more colorful approach.
Tech Time Warp: Ally McBeal, the dancing baby, and the birth of memes
Oogachaka, oogachaka … readers of a certain age will remember the night in late January 1998 when the titular character on TV’s Ally McBeal danced with a computer-generated baby. The iconic scene—meant to convey Ally’s concerns about her biological clock—not...
Tech Time Warp: Microsoft offers $250,000 to catch the makers of Mydoom
Beginning in late January 2004, an email worm called Mydoom caught the attention of the world—and led Microsoft to offer $250,000 for information leading to its creator’s apprehension. At its peak, Mydoom accounted for approximately one-quarter of all email traffic...