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: The First Ethical Hacker
Tech Time Warp: The First Ethical Hacker
These days, the concept of an ethical hacker is so commonplace the profession has its own Certified Ethical Hacker designation, bestowed and governed by the International Council of E-Commerce Consultants. The ethical hackers of the world put their genius to...
Tech Time Warp: Spam email celebrates its 40th birthday
Tech Time Warp: Spam email celebrates its 40th birthday
As you work long hours to ensure your company complies with GDPR by May 25, it’s worth noting that proper use—or misuse—of data has been an issue for at least 40 years. Just ask Gary Thuerk, the self-described “father of...
Tech Time Warp: The Sasser worm teaches a lesson
Tech Time Warp: The Sasser worm teaches a lesson
In early May 2004, computer users worldwide learned a hard lesson: Don’t procrastinate when it comes to installing a security patch. Users at the Taiwanese post office, the train station in Sydney, and some of Wall Street’s biggest banks found...
Tech Time Warp: John McCarthy introduces LISP
Tech Time Warp: John McCarthy introduces LISP
Ask Alexa who coined the term “artificial intelligence,” and she’ll tell you John McCarthy. As a computer pioneer, John McCarthy provided the world with much more than a name for AI. He also developed the LISP programming language, one of...
Tech Time Warp: Java gets its start
Tech Time Warp: Java gets its start
The software that runs millions of smartphones and made the Internet more functional celebrates an anniversary this week. On April 8, 1991, James Gosling and a Sun Microsystems development team—then known as the “Green” development team, working on a project...
Tech Time Warp: Even UNIVAC was susceptible to viruses
Tech Time Warp: Even UNIVAC was susceptible to viruses
It’s easy to think about viruses as a product of the PC era. But, one of the first viruses ever created affected UNIVAC computers. Although ANIMAL was ultimately a benign creation—a game spread by a separate program called PERVADE—its creator...
Tech Time Warp: U.S. Census Bureau signs UNIVAC contract
Tech Time Warp: U.S. Census Bureau signs UNIVAC contract
With the next census just two years away—it takes place April 1, 2020—it’s worth remembering the machine that computerized the U.S. Census Bureau’s operations. The bureau signed a contract on March 31, 1951, to use the UNIVAC, or the UNIVersal...
Tech Time Warp: Edmund Berkeley, a giant brain of computing
Tech Time Warp: Edmund Berkeley, a giant brain of computing
Computer history is filled with quirky individuals—and Edmund Berkeley, born March 21, 1909, is among the most fascinating. It’s hard to pinpoint what Berkeley should be most known for: Founding the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)? (Relations with ACM later...
Tech Time Warp: Homebrew Computer Club Meets in a Garage
Tech Time Warp: Homebrew Computer Club Meets in a Garage
Never underestimate a group of guys who want to hang out in the garage. After all, the Homebrew Computer Club began meeting In programmer Gordon French’s Menlo Park, California, garage in March 1975 — and while the neighbors might have...
Tech Time Warp: A Look Back at the Ping-Pong Virus
Tech Time Warp: A Look Back at the Ping-Pong Virus
Thirty years ago, a little bouncing ball was driving computer users bonkers. Discovered at Italy’s University of Turin in March 1988, the Ping-Pong virus was a boot sector virus affecting MS-DOS machines. It spread via infected floppy disks. (Remember those?)...
