Tech History Today – May 4

Today in Tech History / May 4th, 2012

In 1995 – German electronics company Escom AG bought the rights to the name, patents and intellectual property of Commodore Electronics Ltd. for $10 million. Commodore had gone bankrupt the year before.

In 2000 – The “I Love You” virus spread to 55 million computers around the world, hijacking hard drives and deleting, renaming, or damaging files. The damage reached billions of dollars.

In 2004 – Apple announced that Steve Jobs would kick off that year’s Worldwide Developers Conference by talking about Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger.

Tech News Today 492: When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong

Shows/ Tech News Today / May 3rd, 2012

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Chad Johnson

New Xbox with 2-year contract costs more! Amazon making sitcoms, Why won’t Facebook take advertisers money, and more.

Guest: Jeff Bakalar

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Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time: 42:37

Tech History Today – May 3

Today in Tech History / May 3rd, 2012

In 1978 – Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) sent the first unsolicited mass commercial email to 600 west coast ARPANET users. The message informed users of DEC’s new computer and operating system with ARPANET support, the DECSYSTEM-2020 and TOPS-20.

In 1997 – In New York City, Gary Kasparov began his re-match match against IBM’s Deep Blue computer. He had won the previous match in February 1996 4-2.

In 2000 – A “geocache” was hidden outside Beaver Creek, Oregon, kicking off the first “Great American GPS Stash Hunt” and the hobby now called geocaching.

Tech News Today 491: The Future Has Four Legs

Shows/ Tech News Today / May 2nd, 2012

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane and Iyaz Akhtar

Can gestures and Cascades save RIM? Donate your organs on Facebook, Twitter uses your friends to stay relevant, and more.

Guest: Kevin Purdy

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Submit and vote on story coverage at technewstoday.reddit.com.

We invite you to read, add to, and amend our show notes at wiki.twit.tv.

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time: 46:37

Tech News Today 490: Facing The Existential Threat

Shows/ Tech News Today / May 2nd, 2012

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Chad Johnson

Microsoft buys some Barnes and Noble love, UK blocks Pirate Bay, can Skype spy on you, and more.

Guest: Russ Pitts

Download or subscribe to this show at twit.tv/tnt.

Submit and vote on story coverage at technewstoday.reddit.com.

We invite you to read, add to, and amend our show notes at wiki.twit.tv.

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time: 52:31