Category: Tech Insight
Tech Time Warp: A eulogy for the Blue Screen of Death
The news that Microsoft will soon retire the infamous “Blue Screen of Death,” aka BSOD, in favor of an all-black “simplified UI for unexpected restarts” has inspired a wave of nostalgia for the screen every Windows user has learned to...
Tech Time Warp: 25 years of exploiting poor Pikachu
One of the first pieces of malware designed to target children turns 25 this month. Take a look back in this edition of Tech Time Warp. First detected in June 2000, the Pikachu Pokémon or “Pokey” virus played on a...
Tech Time Warp: The secrets to the Apple II’s success
The Apple II, designed by Steve Wozniak in 1977, was a groundbreaking self-contained machine, with screen, keyboard, power supply, and electronics all in a single plastic unit. The first Apple IIs were shipped on June 10, 1977, and cost $1,298....
Pioneers in Tech: The chance to own the image of a visionary
If you have a couple of hundred thousand dollars to spare, you currently have the opportunity to purchase the only known photographs of the world’s first computer programming visionary, Ada Lovelace. Discover her legacy in this edition of Pioneers in...
Tech Time Warp: Celebrating milestones in Sims history
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the release of The Sims, an occasion the gaming company Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) marked with a re-release of The Sims, The Sims 2, and their respective collections of expansion packs, along with...
Tech Time Warp: Thank you, Steve Wilhite, for the best GIFt ever
Chances are, you shared or received a GIF today, whether on social media or a messaging application. In 1987, developer Steve Wilhite and his team at CompuServe had no idea the impact they would have on modern communication when they...
Tech Time Warp: Remembering the video phone skeptics
Since March 2020, many office workers rarely go a day without hopping on a quick Zoom or Teams call. However, back on May 30, 1996, when Intel announced its new PC-based videophone, few could imagine a day in the future...
Tech Time Warp: Ignoring patches leads to a “Sadmind”
Woe to those who ignore the security patch. Technology history is filled with opportunities to say “I told you so.” A golden example is the story of the “Sadmind/IIS worm” of 2001. Learn more in this edition of Tech Time...
Pioneers in Tech: Happy early birthday to Ivan Sutherland, the “Father of Computer Graphics”
As we celebrate the early birthday of Ivan Sutherland—the “Father of Computer Graphics”—this edition of Pioneers in Tech takes a look at his groundbreaking legacy. Born May 16, 1938, in Hastings, Nebraska, Sutherland invented the Sketchpad for his doctoral thesis...
Tech Time Warp: A Blaster from the past
Although early conclusions suggest a cyber attack was not the cause of the historic April 28 power outages in Spain, Portugal, and parts of France, only time and the inevitable investigations will tell. The blackout does bring to mind another...
