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Author Archives: GilPress
The Memory of Sound
Today in 1877, Thomas Edison recorded his voice on the phonograph for the first time, reciting “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Here is his re-enactment of that first recording. Edison offered the following possible future uses for the phonograph in … Continue reading
Posted in Recorded sound, This day in information
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Storing and Moving Paper
“In 1996, digital storage became more cost-effective for storing data than paper.” Morris and Truskowski, IBM Systems Journal, Vo. 42, No. 2, 2003.
Posted in Digitization, Paper
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First Interactive TV
Today in 1977, the world’s first commercial interactive TV service opened for business in Columbus, Ohio. Initially operated out of a remodeled appliance store, Warner Communications’ Qube offered an unprecedented 30 channels of television divided equally between ten broadcast TV … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Pong: First Successful Video Game
Today in 1972, Atari co-founders Nolan Bushnell and Al Alcorn demonstrated the first stand-alone Pong coin-operated arcade unit into Andy Cappa’s Tavern in Sunnyvale, California. Pong, a simulated table tennis game, will go on to be the first commercially successful … Continue reading
Posted in Forecasts, This day in information, Video Games
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World TV Day
Today is World TV Day, declared in 1996 by the UN “in recognition of the increasing impact television has on decision-making by alerting world attention to conflicts and threats to peace and security and its potential role in sharpening the … Continue reading
Hacking and Blue Boxes
Today in 1963, the earliest known use of the term “hacking” appeared in The Tech, MIT’s student newspaper. From a Brief History of Hackerdom: “The beginnings of the hacker culture as we know it today can be conveniently dated to … Continue reading
Help Wanted: Computers and Healthcare
Today in 1972, IBM’s Data Processing Division launched the IBM Health Care Support Electrocardiogram Analysis program, a computer program for cardiologists.
Posted in eHealth, This day in information
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The Uses of Computers, 1937-Future
Today in 1937, Howard Aiken, an instructor in the Department of Physics at Harvard University, having been turned down by the leading manufacturer of calculators (the Monroe Calculating Machine Company), submitted a proposal to IBM, titled “Proposed Automatic Calculating Machine.”
Blogging in the 17th Century
“…modern journalism was born via a precursor of the blog. Nobles, such as Cardinal Mazarin, hired their own “journalists” to report on scandal and sex in the city.
Posted in News, Quotes, Social Networks
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First Computer Virus
Today in 1983, “the first virus was conceived of as an experiment to be presented at a weekly seminar on computer security. The concept was first introduced in this seminar by the author, and the name ‘virus’ was thought of … Continue reading
The Story of Information 