1997
Version 2.0.28 of the Linux operating system is released. Visit the official Linux website.
1998
Iowa Community College is hacked by Eric Burns also known as “Zyklon”.
The Softex NCP website is hacked by “insect!” View an archived version of the defaced website.
The Tallahassee Freenet website hacked anonymously by somebody clearly intent on destroying all of the system’s files. The system is shut down as a protective measure, but not before thousands of users’ home directories and email is deleted along with numerous system files.
The Umeå Universitet website is hacked by “ToxicEdge”. View an archived version of the deface website.
1999
Universal Pictures releases the science fiction horror film Virus, directed by John Bruno and starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Sutherland, and William Baldwin, to 2,018 U.S. theaters. In it, an electrical signal from outter space infects a Russian research vessel with a malevolent alien lifeform. Produced on a budget of US$75 million, the film will gross US$6,013,640 its opening weekend. IMDB listing (MPAA Rating: R) Running Time: 1 hr 40 mins
2000
Apple Computer releases Mac OS X Server 1.2. Code-name: Pele1Q10
Patrick Spence passes the development and maintenance of Renegade bulletin board system (BBS) software, one of the most popular BBS systems of the mid-nineties, to Jeff Herrings, after Herrings offered his assistance in making the system Y2-compliant. Herrings will step down as the active developer in October 2001. The system was originally written by Cott Lang in Pascal and based on the Telegard BBS, but on April 23, 1997, Lang passed development on to Renegade BBS utility authors Patrick Spence and Gary Hall. Visit the official Renegade development website.
2001
Wikipedia, a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia, is launched by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger with the post of its first entry. The encyclopedia initially begins as a complementary project to Nupedia, a free online encyclopedia that features articles written by experts and formally reviewed, but Wikipedia will rapidly outpace Nupedia in terms of popularity. By the end of 2001, Wikipedia will grow to include approximately twenty thousand articles spread across eighteen languages. By the end of 2010, the project will include seventeen million articles. The name “Wikipedia” was coined by Larry Sanger; it’s a portmanteau of the words “wiki” and “encyclopedia.” Visit the official Wikipedia website.
Yahoo! launches Yahoo! Industry Marketplaces.
2002
In the case of Eldred v. Ashcroft, the Supreme Court of the United States rules in a 7-2 decision that the 1998 Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA) is constitutional. The CTEA extends the terms of U.S. copyright protection by an additional twenty years.
The Star Trek: Enterprise episode “Silent Enemy” first airs. (No. 112) In it, the Enterprise comes under attack by a mysterious alien race while the crew scrambles to install experimental phase cannons to boost the ship’s defensive capabilities. Memory Alpha entry
2003
Microsoft launches its Xbox Live online service in Japan. Xbox Live starter kit feature several games, a voice communicator, and a one-year online subscription. Price: US$58
Sony announces that it has shipped over fifty million PlayStation 2 video game consoles worldwide to date, including 21.5 million in North America, 16 million in Europe, and 12.5 million in Japan.
2006
The Stardust capsule successfully returns to Earth at the end of its six-year mission with a cargo of dust collected from the Wild 2 comet. The capsule re-enters the atmosphere at a record speed of 28,860mph, faster than any previous man-made object. Its speed is reduced to 14.8 feet per second by a parachute before landing in Utah, where it is retrieved by NASA scientists. The mission is the first to successfully collect cometary material, and it marks the first time extraterrestrial samples have been collected aside rock samples gathered during the Apollo missions, which ended in 1975. Visit the official Stardust Project website.
2007
Version 6.2 of the FreeBSD operating system is released. Visit the official FreeBSD website.
2008
At the Macworld Conference & Expo, Apple introduces its ultraportable MacBook Air, which it describes as the “world’s thinnest notebook.”
Apple releases version 1.1.3 of the iPhone OS.
2009
In an internal Apple memo, Steve Jobs announces that will be taking a six-month leave of absence through June 2009 in order to better focus on his health and to prevent his health issues from detracting from the company. In his place, Jobs leaves Tim Cook in charge of the company’s day to day operations. Read the memo at Apple’s official website.
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