1996
After a loss of $61 million over the Christmas season, Apple Computer replaces Michael Spindler with Gil Amelio as CEO. Amelio will proceed to radically streamline the company’s operations. He will reduce the number of Macintosh motherboard designs from five to two, consolidate Apple’s six hardware architectures into a single core Mac system, and reorganizes the company into two divisions: AppleSoft for software development and Macintosh for hardware development. Visit the official website of Apple Computer.
1998
America Online (AOL) completes the acquisition of CompuServe and the sale of ANS Communications. Steve Case, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AOL sends an email to CompuServe members reading, “…Now that CompuServe has joined with us, I want to assure you that we will maintain CompuServe as a separate service, here and internationally, running on its own network…”
The website of PC Concepts is hacked by “zipoff & Hosser”. View an archived version of the defaced website.
1999
Sun Microsystems begins shipping the SunPCi expansion card for Sun Ultra workstation computers, featuring an Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) 300MHz K6-2 processor, the Caldera DR-DOS operating system, 256MB – 645MB RAM, Sound Blaster sound, serial/parallel/USB ports, and 24-bit graphics. Applications running on the card can access the workstation’s drives and network connection. Visit the official Sun Microsystems website. Price: US$495
2001
The Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode “Secrets” first airs. In the episode, a school teacher is murdered after a student discovers a classified ad in which she is seeking sexual partners. In presenting the classified ad to the detectives investigating the case, a police computer tech in the episode characterizes the internet as “the red light district of the new millennium.”
Touchstone Pictures releases the comedy film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen and starring George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson, to 809 U.S. theaters in a nation-wide release. The film loosely follows the story of Homer’s Odyssey, and it is based on the 1989 novella A Dozen Tough Jobs by Howard Waldrop, which itself makes elaborate allusions to the story of Hercules in a plot set in depression-era Mississippi. It is the first full-length, live-action Hollywood film that is digitally enhanced from beginning to end. Cinesite, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Eastman Kodak Company, electronically altered nearly every frame of the film to give it an old-fashioned, nostalgic look, although the film was filmed in June and July. In one scene, a cow is struck by a vehicle. The computer animation is so life-like that the American Humane Society will demand to be shown how the effect was produced. Produced on a budget of US$26 million, it will gross US$3,647,208 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing MPAA Rating: PG-13 Running Time: 1 hr 42 mins
2002
Michael R. Mennenga broadcasts his first show in the form of an internet radio broadcast on Book Crazy Radio. The program, which is half a hour long discussion of fantasy literature and writing, is the first in the series that will eventually become known as the Dragon Page podcast. Mennenga will be one of the pioneers of the podcast communication form, and the Dragon Page will become the longest-running book podcast on the web, featuring guests such as Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, and Robert Jordan. Visit the official DragonPage website.
The website of the Colombia Department Nacional de Planificación is hacked by “KabraLzZ”. View an archived version of the defaced website.
The website of the Partizan Football Club is hacked by “SoiraM”. View an archived version of the defaced website.
2003
Australia’s first cloned sheep, Matilda dies unexpectedly of unknown causes.
2005
Hewlett-Packard announces the development of the first “crossbar latch” nanoscale transistor, which they claim
UPN announces that it is canceling the series Star Trek: Enterprise at the end of its fourth season.
2006
Tiger Telematics, the manufacturer of the Gizmondo handheld video game system, files for bankruptcy.
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