Author Archive

1838: In the small town of Chirlitz of the Austrian Empire Ernst Mach was born. His work in aerodynamics and supersonic speeds, led to the unit of measurement that bears his name. He would die one day after his birthday in 1916.

In 1908 Dr Lee de Forest received a patent for “Space Telegraphy” which described a three-element vacuum tube later called the triode which could amplify feeble electric currents, and proved especially useful for radio reception.

In 1977 – The Enterprise space shuttle orbiter prototype made the first of five “captive-inactive” flight tests, testing structural integrity and performance handline, while attached to the top of a 747 jumbo jet.

In 1965 – The Ranger 8 probe launched on its mission to photograph the Sea of Tranquility on the Moon. The photos paved the way to select the area as the site of the first manned Moon landing.

In 1996 – World chess champion Gary Kasparov defeated Deep Blue in game 6 winning the match 4-2. He would lose the next match a few years later.

In 2000 – Microsoft released Windows 2000, the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and the final Windows release to display the “Windows NT” designation.

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell

Apple’s done with the whole contact list crap, Lightsquared is toast, why Georgia hates the Internet, and more.

Guest: Christopher Mitchell

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Running time: 42:21

Hosts: Leo Laporte and Tom Merritt

BitTorrent creator Bram Cohen talks about utorrent, childhood programming, P2P and more.

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Running time: 01:00:48

In 1880 – the American Society of Mechanical Engineers was founded when 30 engineers from eight states met in the New York editorial offices of the American Machinist

In 1968 – The first-ever 911 call was placed by Alabama Speaker of the House Rankin Fite from Haleyville City Hall to U.S. Rep. Tom Bevill at the city’s police station.

In 1978 – After a particularly harsh January gave them plenty of time for programming, Ward Christensen and Randy Suess completed the Computerized Bulletin Board System (CBBS) in Chicago. It was the first BBS.

Current Geek Episode 192: Star Wars Forever

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell

How many iPads are coming March 7? Yahoo-Alibab deal off, Why you’ll pay for free TV on the Internet, and more.

Guest: Christopher Null

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Running time: 46:36

Hosts: Tom Merritt and Scott Johnson

Computing will be everywhere and so will media, but it will all happen in our minds.

Guests: Russ Pitts and Myriam Joire

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Running time: 45:04

Hosts: Brian Brushwood and Tom Merritt

Amazon getting into originals, Aereo brings OTA TV to your Internets, Walking Dead returns, and more.

Guest: Glenn Rubenstein

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Running time: 1:03:48

In 1897, Ferdinand Braun published a paper in the journal Annalen der Physik und Chemie describing his “Braun tube“, the first cathode-ray oscilloscope, which paved the way for the modern CRT.

In 1946 A few days after its first public demonstration, the first practical all-digital computer, ENIAC was formally dedicated.

In 1995 – Kevin Mitnick was arrested by the FBI on charges of wire fraud and breaking into the computer systems of several major corporations.

In 2005: Chad Hurley and Steve Chen debut their new website, YouTube. It would quickly become the place to share videos, and quickly become hated by the movie and TV industry.