In 2007, developer Dan Kaminsky found a flaw in the addressing of the Domain Name System, or DNS. DNS is found on home to commercial routers around the world. The issue was so severe, that they were not divulging the issue until a patch could be implemented on a wide scale. On March 31st, Kaminsky – along with 16 other developers – gathered at Microsoft to work on a massive patch and synchronize the release so all details could be released as well. The Patch was released in July 8th, 2008. For more information, see the Explaination of the DNS Flaw

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• Yahoo! stock split
• Sega releases the Saturn in Europe
• The first ice cream sundae!

In 1881, a man walked into Edward Berner’s drug store in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. Since it was the Sabbath, the customer couldn’t have the flavored soda water for religious reasons. As he sat at the soda fountain counter, Berner comes to a compromise. Berner put ice cream in a dish and poured chocolate syrup on top. They then named it Ice Cream Sunday. The name will become “Sundae”, the next day.

1994 – The Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits (IIS) released I3enc – otherwise known at MP3. This is also known as MPEG-3. The MP3 moniker did not get chosen until July 14, 1995 (it was .bit before .mp3). MP3 is still licensed to Fraunhofer Institute – therefore, you must pay a license fee to use the popular .mp3 format. There is an open source format .ogg vorbis.

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• PSOne is released
• TI-99/4a is demonstrated on the Mike Douglas Show
• A Legal version of Scrabble hits Facebook

In a very bold move, Jack Tramiel laid off the majority of his staff outside of engineering. This comes in 1984, 3 days after Tramiel buys Atari for $240 million in 10 and 12 year notes.

The employees note that it wasn’t a Hard layoff. One employee stated that no one cared if they looted the building, so they did.

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• ABC joins Hulu
• Microsoft’s first corporate president
• Source code of e-mule was released

Not the email version. In 1937, Hormel came out with the first can of SPAM. The Luncheon meat. Spam was derived from the words Spiced Ham. It is pre-cooked meat that contained chopped pork, ham mean, salt, water, potato starch, and sodium nitrate. So if you have high blood pressure, you might want to stay away from this stuff.

Spam comes in many varieties, including Hot & Spicy, Less sodium (25%), Spam Lite, Oven Roasted Turkey, and others.

SPAM is made in SpamTown, USA – or Austin, Minnesota. McDonalds uses Spam in Guam, hawaii and Saipan. Spam is known as “poor people food”, however, in Hawaii, it is a common meat served.

For their 75th anniversary, Spam introduced Sir Can a Lot.

“The introduction of Sir Can-A-Lot provides an engaging presence that highlights the playful and down-to-earth personality that makes the SPAM brand both unique and timeless,” said Nicole L. Behne, product manager of SPAMfamily of products. “The campaign features him ridding not only mealtimes of boredom, but also helping consumers ‘Break the Monotony.’”

Monty Python‘s version of SPAM came out December 15, 1970 – The first email SPAM happened on May 3, 1978

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• Junction transistor is created
• First Excel macro virus
• Dolly the sheep is born

“Happy Independence Day. In return, we are going to give you a great new way to get email. It’s called “Hotmail“. Be free from your internet service provider!”

That was the call to action on 1996. Hotmail launched their email service as “HoTMaiL” (HTML is upper-case). It is the first web-based email that was later named MSN Hotmail, then Windows Live Hotmail.

Hotmail had many features since its start. Unlimited storage was one big feature. In 1997, Microsoft purchased Hotmail for $400 million, and changed the name to MSN Hotmail. They paired with the Microsoft Instant Messanger, then built items like the calendar, SkyDrive, and more.

After getting stiff competition from Google in 2004, Microsoft changed the service to Live Hotmail.  The service continues on with many updates to compete with Google and Yahoo mail.

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• Major BBS is released
• Who is the President of the Internet
• 1 euro ebay baby goes home
• Stranger Things Season 3 Launched

1991 – IBM’s Jim Cannavino met with John Sculley of Apple. They worked out a deal and signed a sharing agreement. It would allow Mac to integrate with IBM enterprise systems. It would also allow Apple to use the PowerPC with their RISC based Mac to work together.Power PC stands for Performance Optimization with Enhanced RISC. It is also known as PPC. The RISC architecture processor was first meant for personal computers, yet embedded machines adopted them for use. Computers such as the AmigaOS 4, POSIX, BeOS all used PowerPC. Even Windows machines used PowerPC for their NT 3.51 and NT 4.0 OS.

Power PC came in 32 and 64 bit versions. Sony Playstation, Nintendo Wii and XBox 360 all have PowerPC inside.

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• 1886 – Karl Benz drives the first automobile
• 2000 -AOL completes Mapquest Acquisition
• 2009 – McAffee anitvirus wipes out some Windows Machines
• 2012 – A lost Steve Jobs interview was discovered and posted to iTunes

Napster, the file sharing service (started by John & Shawn Fanning, and Sean Parker) that was up since 1999, had a series of trials and tribulations until 2001. After lengthy legal battles with artists like Madonna and Metallica, Napster began to realize their business model is not going to work. They shut down the entire network to comply with an injunction.

This case was partially settled on September 24, 2001, where Napster was ordered to pay $26 million in damages and $10 million in future royalties.Eventually, Napster filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, right before Napster 3.0 was ready to be deployed. On May 17, 2002, German company Bertelsmann purchased for $85 million, however, it was blocked on September 3.

Ultimately, Roxio  purchased the company and re-branded it. They owned it until 2008 when Best Buy would purchase Napster for $121 million. They owned until December 1, 2011 when Rhapsody purchased the service.

Napster was named after a hairstyle.

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• Atari is sold
• Yahoo is redesigned
• Lori Drew’s verdict was overturned

2011 – HP announced the TouchPad, their entry into the tablet market. Using the WebOS software they purchased from Palm back in 2010, the TouchPad introduced some new features, including the ability to sync with the upcoming Pre3 phone by touching the two together. However, the tablet was squashed in September by then CEO Leo Apetheker.

Since then, HP abandoned WebOS, making it open source. They have put out another tablet in early 2013 using the Android software.

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2000 – Remember the days of the Instant Messenger? Yahoo IM or Microsoft Messenger, ICQ, AIM and many more. In 2000, a company called Trillian tried to capitalize on the market by making a IM client that could connect to all of these instant messengers. Only problem is that Yahoo! and Microsoft didn’t want to allow this to happen. They tried to block the software. However, new patches were installed and Trillian was able to access the messengers again.

Trillian (www.trillian.im) is still in existance to this day. You can download for your Mac, PC, Android, iPhone, Blackberry, and more!

Funny thing, in 2004, Microsoft put out a multiple – IM software called IM2.

• FORTRAN is released
• BASIC ships
• The first X-Ray photograph

2000 – Dr. Alan chow and brother Vincent announced they successfully placed a silicon microchip beneath human retinas. The chip is smaller than the head on a pin and only microns thin. These chips also contain solar cells to help power the chip.

In what is called “Optobionics”, the ASR chip is inserted behind the retina in the “subretinal space”. This is a 2 hour procedure and the chip can last up to 8 years after (depending on care).

Full Day in Tech History podcast show notes for June 30

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• IBM unbundles software from Hardware
• President Bill Clinton e-signs the first bill into law
• Global Gaming Factory X announces they will be buying the Pirate Bay

2000 – IBM unveiled the ASCI White – their fastest computer yet. This supercomputer was based on IBM’s commercial RS/6000 SP computer. 512 computers were connected to make this supercomputer. over 8 million processors, 5 Terabytes of memory and 160 TB of disk storage.

The computer was completed on this day in New York, and would go on-line on August 15, 2001 at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.

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• Compuserve acquires TheSource, a major competitor
• Gigabit Ethernet standard is set
• Max Butler pleads guilty to stealing 2 million credit cards

2014 – Trying to be the first provider of over-the-air channels, Aereo was told to shut down completely after a supreme court decision went against the company.

The idea was simple – take the over-the-air network channels and offer them on the Internet. Based in New York, the company opened services in 24 different cities. You could only watch the programming of your area on your PC, Mac or Linux. There were around 28 channels you could choose from and pricing was simply $1 a day.

Aereo was faced with many legal issues, including the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition act. The rebroadcast through the service undermined cable re-transmission fees.

It was also a wake-up call as after the fact, many cable providers started offering live streaming options.

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• 1999 – HydraBBS software was released
• Williamette – a.k.a. Pentium 4 – is announced
• AMD files antitrust suit against Intel
• Motorola introduces the 16 MHz 68020 processor

2008 – Microsoft CEO Bill Gates officially steps down from office. He hands the reigns over to Steve Ballmer, and stays on as Chairman of the Board.

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• Gillette makes the Erasermate – the first erasable pen
• Atari is established

1997 – Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia and Unwired Planet create a partnership to start and build on the Wireless Applications Protocol (WAP) as a non-profit organization. The industry group was formed to keep wireless devices on track, bring Internet connected devices to all who need it, create a wireless protocol that works on all network technologies, make scalable applications and content, and work with existing standards to expand as wireless needs grow.

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• Microsoft retires support for MS-DOS
• The First Barcode was scanned
• IBM Blue Gene/P
• Apple Mac G4 Computers were released

1981 – Microsoft goes through a restructure to incorporate in Washington. Bill Gates would become president, Paul Allen was Executive Vice President. Steve Ballmer would come on full-time with a $50,000 year salary.

The reason why they incorporated? On this same day, Paul Allen sends a proposal to Rod Black of Seattle Computer Products for Microsoft to purchase all rights to 86-DOS for $30,000.  At that point, they had only a non-exclusive license (since September 22, 1980). This was a strategic move because Microsoft had a relationship with IBM, and wanted to re-license for the IBM PC.

After a month of negotiations, Seattle Computer agreed to the purchase for $50,000. However, that was not the end of it, as they found out of the IBM deal. They finally settled years later for $1 million.

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• Michael Jackson brings Social Media Down
• Geocities was hacked
• AOL hits 30 million users

2008 – Nokia announced they have purchased Symbian outright. They originally owned 46% of the company, and bought out the remaining 54% for $410 million. But then the company turned around and created the Symbian Foundation – a group that would house and give away the software code.

The group and software would remain functioning until 2010. Symbian Foundation then closed, citing that it would change to a legal entity, responsible for licencing software and intellectual property.  The transition completed in 2011.

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• Symantec acquires Ghost software
• Florida Judge grants Apple permission to continue lawsuit against Psystar
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit releases

1983 – Paul Mockapetris and Jon Postel run the first successful test of the distributed Domain Name System (DNS). This automated process was to take over failing Arpanet and CSnet protocols because those relied on address books.

DNS uses a hierarchical distributed naming system for the Internet or any private network. It associates the domain names with numerical IP addresses.

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• Nintendo 64 is launched
• The Typewriter is patented

2009 – Kodak announced they would ended the production of Kodachrome color film. Once the leftover film is distributed, there will be no more made. That lasted until December, 2010.

Kodak created their iconic Kodachrome film in 1935. This is a non-substansive, color reversal film was used in still photos and cinematography. It used the subtractive color method – which required a complex chemical system to make the negative.

Kodachrome was invented by John Capstaff, who worked for a competitor until Eastman bought the company out.

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• Dean Fox leaves Atari
• IBM and NNSA announce Blue Gene/L
• Kodak ends production of Kodachrome film

1948 – What was first expected to be a practical use computer, the SSEM, or Small-Scale Experimental Machine became the first stored-program computer. Basically, it stores program instructions into it’s electronic memory. This 32-bit word length, cathode-ray tube computer was designed to only run subtraction and negation through hardware. Other functions could be run, but only through software.

The first program was run on this day. It was written by Professor Tom Kilbum. The seventeen-instruction stored-program took 52 minutes to run. The program was tasked to find the highest proper factor of 2¹⁸ (262,144).

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• Start of the Summer Solstice
• Congress Robot Caucus
• SSEM runs first program
• Final Cut Pro 10 was released to very negative reviews
• Google and Nest Acquire Dropcam

2014 – Microsoft and Google agree to the Kill switch technology. In a California bill SB-967, Smartphones built after July 1, 2015 will consist of a hardware or software option to “kill” the phone. Further, a $500 to $2,500 fine will be issued to anyone selling a stolen phone.

Once switched, the device will not be able to turn on, even during a hard reset.

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• 1926 – First wireless phone is demonstrated
• 1989 – Lotus 1-2-3 version 3.0 is released
• 2000 – IBM 1GB Microdrive
• 2003 – Wikimedia Foundation is founded
• 2009 – Nokia purchases Nortel

1984 – Jim Gettys and Bob Scheifler announced collaboration of a new operating system in the X Window System. This gives the basic framework for a GUI. Currently, it is refered to as X11, R7.7.

I’ve spent the last couple weeks writing a window
system for the VS100. I stole a fair amount of code
from W, surrounded it with an asynchronous rather
than a synchronous interface, and called it X. Overall
performance appears to be about twice that of W. The
code seems fairly solid at this point, although there are
still some deficiencies to be fixed up.

We at LCS have stopped using W, and are now
actively building applications on X. Anyone else using
W should seriously consider switching. This is not the
ultimate window system, but I believe it is a good
starting point for experimentation. Right at the moment
there is a CLU (and an Argus) interface to X; a C
interface is in the works. The three existing
applications are a text editor (TED), an Argus I/O
interface, and a primitive window manager. There is
no documentation yet; anyone crazy enough to
volunteer? I may get around to it eventually.

Anyone interested in seeing a demo can drop by
NE43-531, although you may want to call 3-1945
first. Anyone who wants the code can come by with a
tape. Anyone interested in hacking deficiencies, feel
free to get in touch.

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• AOL Software glitch
• Apple iPhone 3G S is released
• X Window System is released

2007 – Terry Semel was under pressure  by the board because of dissatisfaction of his compensation. Terry was brought in to create a partnership with Hollywood, which really didn’t happen. He handed the reigns over to Jerry Yang, who started promising revitalized talks with Microsoft. There are a few that even speculate that was when the buyout of Yahoo began. Jerry Yang stepped down in 200

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• 1999 – Palm announces the m100
• 2009 – Jammie Thomas-Rasset was found guilty of copyright infringement and ordered to pay 1.92 million to the RIAA.
• Microsoft announced the Surface Tablet