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: “A Logic Named Joe”
Tech Time Warp: “A Logic Named Joe”
If you’re looking for a good tech-related read this summer — something in the genre of Black Mirror — you can’t do any better than “A Logic Named Joe,” a short story published in the March 1946 issue of Astounding Science...
Tech Time Warp: First mobile malware makes its debut
Tech Time Warp: First mobile malware makes its debut
Back in the pre-smartphone days, an international group of hackers set out to prove no technology was safe from malware. In June 2004, the group 29A — 29A being the hexadecimal version of “666” — released the first virus targeting...
Tech Time Warp: Net neutrality debate heats up again and again
Tech Time Warp: Net neutrality debate heats up again and again
Life tends to slow down in early June — unless you’re involved in the net neutrality debate. A surprising number of momentous net neutrality actions have occurred over the years in the month of June, starting with the initial use...
Tech Time Warp: The slow rise of video phones
Tech Time Warp: The slow rise of video phones
Chances are you’ve used Zoom, Skype, or FaceTime in the past week. Video-conferencing is so entrenched in modern life, it’s hard to understand why a May 30, 1996, announcement by AT&T and Intel about their new PC-based videophone left some...
Tech Time Warp: Prince Philip’s inbox gets hacked
Tech Time Warp: Prince Philip’s inbox gets hacked
Harry and Meghan might grab headlines for their privacy settlements and use of social media, but the younger royals are hardly breaking new ground. You might say they’re just following in the family’s footsteps. In 1985, two hackers were arrested...
Tech Time Warp: Happy Bitcoin Pizza Day!
Tech Time Warp: Happy Bitcoin Pizza Day!
This week, Microsoft announced Project ION, its decentralized identification (DID) verification system built on top of the bitcoin blockchain. ION (Identity Overlay Network) is the first such project by a major tech company and could revolutionize the way users log...
Tech Time Warp: Flame, the virus with a massive controlled burn
Tech Time Warp: Flame, the virus with a massive controlled burn
The Flame virus first achieved infamy in May 2012, shortly after the United Nations’ International Telecommunications Union asked a security company to look in to the hacking of Iranian computers. Although not widespread — only a few hundred computers are...
Tech Time Warp: Microsoft introduces the “green-eyed” mouse
Tech Time Warp: Microsoft introduces the “green-eyed” mouse
Here’s a bit of trivia for your next cocktail party: The instruction manual for the first Microsoft Mouse (introduced May 2, 1983, as Microsoft’s first foray into peripherals) was a hefty 120-plus pages long. Yes, more than 120 pages. That...
Tech Time Warp: Chernobyl virus turns twenty
Tech Time Warp: Chernobyl virus turns twenty
Twenty years ago, after dealing with the aftermath of the Melissa virus — launched on March 26 — network administrators weren’t prepared for what happened next. A month later, on April 26, a particularly nasty version of the CIH virus known as...
Tech Time Warp: The hidden surprises of technology Easter eggs
Tech Time Warp: The hidden surprises of technology Easter eggs
Have you ever typed “answer to life, the universe, and everything” into Google? In a nod to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Google returns “42” as a calculator result. Or perhaps you’ve noticed a white X in front of...
