I heard the news that Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon, died today at the age of 82. I was twelve years old when he walked on the Moon. Things were pretty much black and white when you were a kid […]
In 1991, Linus Torvalds released his first version of the Linux operating system kernel. As of 2006, approximately two percent of the Linux kernel was written by Torvalds. As thousands have contributed to the Linux kernel, he still remains one of its largest contributors. Learn
The Apple vs. Samsung trial started three weeks ago in San Jose, with each side accusing the other of a myriad of patent infringements. Despite several recommendations by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh to settle the dispute out of court, no resolution was found so
In 1995, Windows 95 debuted. Windows 95 integrated Microsoft’s MS-DOS and Windows products. It featured significant improvements over its predecessor, Windows 3.1 in regards to its graphical user interface (GUI) and in its relatively simplified “plug-n-play” features. Learn more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_95. In 2006, Pluto was
Geek Facts for August 24th – Windows 95 and Pluto’s Demotion Read More »
In 2008, Edson Smith of the UCLA Mathematics Department announced the discovery of the 45th Mersenne prime number. Mersenne Prime numbers all take the form of (2 to the power of P) – 1, where P is a known prime number. The Mersenne Prime number
Geek Facts for August 23rd – A Big Prime Number and Jaguar Read More »
In 1989, the first ring of Neptune was discovered. The ring was confirmed by NASA’s Voyager 2 which was the first spacecraft to observe the planet Neptune. Learn more at http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/image/neptune.html.
In 1888, William Seward Burroughs was granted a patent for the “Calculating-Machine.” In 1886, Burroughs was a founder of the American Arithmometer Company which, in 1904, became the Burroughs Adding Machine Company. In 1953, it became the Burroughs Corporation and in 1986, merged with Sperry
Geek Facts for August 21st – A Calculating-Machine and a Google Birthday Read More »
In 1985, the Xerox 914 copier took its place at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. The culmination of inventor Chester Carlson’s work on the xerographic process, the Xerox 914 copier was introduced in 1959. It was one of Xerox’s most successful products
As initially reported late last week, pod2g identified an issue with SMS messages, aka text messages, in iOS. The SMS flaw allows the sender of the message to enter an address on its reply line that is different from the address that appears on its “from” line. This
In 2002, Sony released the Clie PEG-SJ20 handheld computer. Priced at $199, the SJ20 featured 16MB RAM, a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, a backlit monochrome 320×320 pixel screen, Palm OS 4.1, and a memory stick slot. Learn more at http://reviews.cnet.com/tablets/sony-cli-peg-sj20/4505-3126_7-20300828.html. In 1996, Netscape Communications released version
Geek Facts for August 19th – Clie, Netscape, AMD and SOHO Read More »
In 1985, Microsoft released the first version of QuickBASIC (QB). It was released on a single 5.25″ 360KB floppy disk. QuickBASIC versions 2.0 and later contained an Integrated Development Environment (IDE). Learn more at http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/QuickBASIC.htm. In 1993, Version 2.00 of the MS-DOS bulletin board system
Geek Facts for August 18th – QuickBASIC and RemoteAccess BBS Read More »
In 1877, Asaph Hall discovered Mars’ moon, Phobos. Phobos is named after the Greek god, Phobos, whose name means fear. Learn more at http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Mar_Phobos.
In 1988, IBM introduced software for artificial intelligence. Artificial Intelligence is the study of man-made computational devices and systems which can be made to act in a manner which would be considered to be intelligent. Learn more at http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~isb9112/dept/phil341/wisai/WhatisAI.html.
In 1977, the “Wow! Signal” event occurred when a radio signal was received from deep space. The “Wow! Signal” event occurred at Ohio State University where its radio telescope, The Big Ear, received the signal. The event got its name from the notation made by
