Tech Time Warp is a weekly feature that looks back at interesting moments and milestones in tech history.
Tag: Tech Time Warp
Tech Time Warp: Dan Farmer and Wietse Venema unleash SATAN on the world
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
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
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
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
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
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,...
Tech Time Warp: Mocmex sneaks in via digital photo frame
Tech Time Warp: Mocmex sneaks in via digital photo frame
“Beware of Greeks bearing gifts” is the old saying associated with the story of the Trojan horse — the same story that gives Trojan viruses their name. In 2008, a more appropriate saying would have been “beware of relatives bearing...
Tech Time Warp: The arrest of hacker Kevin Mitnick
Tech Time Warp: The arrest of hacker Kevin Mitnick
The story of the man who calls himself the “world’s most famous hacker” contains a moral: It’s often the human element, not the high-tech, that allows intrusion into the most secure of systems — and allows hackers to exist in...
Tech Time Warp: The 2005 Academy Awards phone hack
Tech Time Warp: The 2005 Academy Awards phone hack
When Hollywood’s elite stroll the red carpet at the 92nd Academy Awards on February 9, they’ll need to watch out for flashing cameras, Ryan Seacrest, and… hackers? It’s happened before.
Tech Time Warp: Remembering the commercials of the “Dot-Com” Bowl
Tech Time Warp: Remembering the commercials of the “Dot-Com” Bowl
As we await the premiere of Facebook’s first Super Bowl commercial — a 60-second feel-good spot featuring Chris Rock and promoting the benefits of Groups — it’s easy to get nostalgic about a time 20 years ago when the internet...
