Tech Time Warp: Meet AROK the Robot
Remember Rosie the Robot, George Jetson’s trusty maid? Well, Rosie had nothing on AROK, the robotic assistant created by Chicagoan Ben Skora in the late 1970s. Weighing in at 275 pounds and standing 6 feet, 8 inches, tall, AROK (that’s...
Tech Time Warp: The backstory behind your HP printer
For the modern user, HP is just another big-name brand in the world of PCs and printers. But the history of Hewlett Packard (which incorporated on Aug. 18, 1947) is downright charming — and predates the start of Apple, Microsoft,...
Tech Time Warp: Microsoft Issues Alert on Blaster Worm
Fifteen years ago, Microsoft had a big problem on its hands. Machines running Windows 2003/XP/2000/NT were being infected by a nasty worm known as Blaster. On Aug. 11, 2003, Microsoft issued an alert warning of Blaster, which exploited a vulnerability...
Tech Time Warp: Code Red worm puts users on high alert
Following a month of DDoS attacks and security bulletins, computer users were on high alert Aug. 1, 2001, as they waited to see whether the Code Red Worm would reappear to wreak more havoc.
Tech Time Warp: Happy 50th Birthday, Intel!
Your Intel insides are officially middle-aged. On July 18, 1968, Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, formerly employees of Fairchild Semiconductor, officially founded microprocessor giant Intel in Santa Clara, California. Differing from other tech fairy tales, Intel didn’t get its start...
Tech Time Warp: A Look Back at Antennagate
In general, Apple products work so well—and the company has such a devoted customer base—that it’s easy to forget that even Apple has had its missteps. It’s been eight years since Antennagate, when the launch of the revolutionary iPhone 4...
Tech Time Warp: DESCHALL Project Cracks 56-Bit Encryption
On June 17, 1997, a group of friends proved that it didn’t take too much effort—or computer power—to bring down 56-bit symmetric encryption, then the U.S. Department of Commerce’s standard for security. Since 1976, the government and financial institutions had...
Tech Time Warp: Pittsburgh Supercomputer Center Connects to NSFNET
If you’re schooled in tech history, you’ve heard of ARPANET, the U.S. Department of Defense precursor to the Internet. But ARPANET wasn’t the only network to pave the way for the Information Superhighway. Also worthy of mention is NSFNET —a project...
Tech Time Warp: Maxis, Creator of SimCity, Goes Public
Once they’ve taken care of their basic needs, your Sims should get busy celebrating June 1. After all, on that date in 1995, software company Maxis—the gaming company founded by Will Wright and Jeff Braun—went public. Wright developed the idea...
Tech Time Warp: Highlights from Bill Gates’ 1995 Internet Memo
For a guy quoted in 1993 as saying “The Internet? We’re not interested in it,” Bill Gates certainly had a major change of heart by May 26, 1995, when he sent a memo titled “The Internet Tidal Wave” to his...
