Today in Tech History – May 4, 2017

Today in Tech History logo1995 – 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.

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.

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

Read Tom’s science fiction and other fiction books at Merritt’s Books site.

DTNS 3022 – A New Hulu Hoop

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comFacebook’s hiring thousands of humans to monitor disturbing posts, Hulu launches it’s live TV effort and a tiny full Android phone for $70.

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A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you are willing to support the show or give as little as 5 cents a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, Jack_Shid, tgstellar, KAPT_Kipper, and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes
To read the show notes in a separate page click here!

It’s Spoilerin’ Time 168 (w/ Nicole Lee)

American Gods (101), The Expanse (213) Better Call Saul (303), Fargo (302), The Leftovers (303), Justified (603), Summer Movie Draft, and Triage. With special guest Nicole Lee.

01:15 – Summer Movie Draft
05:19 – Triage
09:09 – American Gods (101)
20:32 – The Expanse (213)
24:44 – Better Call Saul (303)
32:46 – Fargo (302)
37:40 – The Leftovers (303)
43:27 – Justified (603)

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Daily Tech Headlines – May 3, 2017

DTH_CoverArt_1500x1500Hulu launches Live TV, Facebook hires 3,000 more monitors, and a 4-inch phone for $70.

MP3

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

Follow us on Soundcloud.

A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you are willing to support the show or give as little as 5 cents a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the theme music.

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, Jack_Shid, tgstellar, KAPT_Kipper, and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes
To read the show notes in a separate page click here!

Today in Tech History – May 3, 2017

Today in Tech History logo1978 – 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. Spam before it was spam.

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

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

Read Tom’s science fiction and other fiction books at Merritt’s Books site.

DTNS 3021 – Windows 10 S(igh)

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comMicrosoft takes on Chromebooks with what may be its best laptop yet. Plus China creates its own online encyclopedia and whether Samsung DeX brings the dream of a phone that’s a desktop too.

MP3

Using a Screen Reader? Click here

Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

Follow us on Soundcloud.

A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you are willing to support the show or give as little as 5 cents a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, Jack_Shid, tgstellar, KAPT_Kipper, and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes
To read the show notes in a separate page click here!

Daily Tech Headlines – May 2, 2017

DTH_CoverArt_1500x1500Microsoft launches Chromebook competitors, Intel patches an old chip vulnerability and Facebook insists it can tell your emotions but won’t target you with ads because of how you feel.

MP3

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

Follow us on Soundcloud.

A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you are willing to support the show or give as little as 5 cents a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the theme music.

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, Jack_Shid, tgstellar, KAPT_Kipper, and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes
To read the show notes in a separate page click here!

Today in Tech History – May 2, 2017

Today in Tech History logo1887 – 65-year-old Rev. Hannibal Goodwin applied for a patent on his nitrocellulose flexible film. He beat the Eastman Kodak company by two years, but his vaguely-worded patent led to a 27-year legal battle.

1983 – Microsoft announced the two-button Microsoft Mouse built for IBM computers and meant to be used with the new Microsoft Word processor. Microsoft only sold 5,000 of the 10,000 made.

2000 – The United States government shut off Selective Access of the GPS system. That meant accurate positioning was no longer restricted to the US military. Positioning accuracy on the first day without Selective Access went from a 45-meter radius to a 6-meter radius.

Read Tom’s science fiction and other fiction books at Merritt’s Books site.