1993
The television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine premieres with the episode “Emissary, Part I“. (No. 101) Set on a space station rather than a star ship like the other Star Trek series, this spin-off of the Star Trek franchise will become known for its character development and extended story arcs. The series will earn positive reviews and reliably solid ratings which will steadily decline in later seasons due to the sudden proliferation of science fiction series on television in the late nineties. Science fiction author J. Michael Straczynski will later publicly state that he believes Deep Space Nine was developed by Paramount his pitch for the series Babylon 5, which will debut just weeks later. The two dramatic series, both of which are set on space stations, will vie for the same audience over the next five years, to the detriment of both series’ ratings. The series will run for 176 episodes over seven seasons. Memory Alpha entry
1996
Motorola unveils the StarTAC mobile phone in North America. It is the first clamshell (“flip”) mobile handset and one of the first mobile phones to feature a “vibrate” setting as an alternative to a ringtone, as well as the smallest mobile phone released to date. It’s size was such a key selling point that Motorola launched an ad campaign that included magazine inserts featuring a cardboard model of the phone the exact size of the phone itself to demonstrate its convenient size. It is the successor of the MicroTAC semi-clamshell design launched in 1989, which folded down to reveal the phone’s keypad. Its design was inspired by the communicator from the original Star Trek series. The StarTAC is notable for being among the the first mobile phones to achieve mainstream popularity. Approximately sixty million units will be sold in all. Price: US$1,000 Weight: 3.1oz
1997
Microsoft completes the acquisition of Hotmail, a free web-based e-mail service, for which it paid an estimated US$400 million. Visit the official Hotmail website.
Viacom publicly issues a demand that all internet websites immediately remove any and all unauthorized Star Trek graphics or else face legal action.
1998
The Association of Optometrists website is hacked by “OG” (Older Generation).
The homepage of the University of Costa Rica is hacked by “TikoZ”.
The website of Bolling Air Force Base Washington, D.C. is hacked by “Team CodeZero”. View an archived version of the defaced website.
The website of Davis-Monthan AirForce Base is hacked by “Team CodeZero”. View an archived version of the defaced website.
The website of Marin California K-12 Schools is hacked by “OPTIKLENZ”. View an archived version of the defaced website.
1999
A report issued by the economics ministry of Taiwan reveals that an estimated four hundred thousand small to medium businesses are not prepared for the pending Y2K transition.
The U.S. Mars Polar Lander is launched. Also known as the Mars Surveyor ’98 Lander, the craft is a companion to the Mars Climate Orbiter. Designed to touch down on the layered terrain of the region around the south pole, it will ultimately set down less than 1,000km from the pole, near the edge of the carbon dioxide ice cap during the planet’s late southern spring season. The last telemetry from the spacecraft was sent relayed just prior to entering the atmosphere on December 3, 1999. No further signals will ever be received from the lander afterword, and the cause of the loss of communication will remain a mystery.
2000
The campaign website of Vice President Al Gore displays the date “Monday, January 3, 19100.” The mistake, a result of the Y2K Bug, is spotlighted in the media as being especially ironic given Gore’s passionate insistence that he was instrumental in the establishment of the internet and his attempts to project a tech-savvy image. The date will be corrected by the end of the day.
Yahoo! stocks close at an all-time high of US$475.00.
2001
Intel releases the 800MHz Celeron processor, featuring a 100MHz system bus and a 128KB Level-2 Cache. Price: US$170 in 1,000-unit quantities
Intel releases the 1.3GHz Pentium 4 processor, featuring a 400MHz Front Side bus and a 256KB Level-2 Cache.
Robot Wars sends out letters to amateur robot enthusiasts in an attempt to recruit robots for a new season of the television series scheduled to be shot in March.
2003
Apple Computer introduces iLife, a suite of applications for editing and publishing digital content, at the Macworld Conference & Expo. Price: US$49
2006
Microsoft announces plans to release a patch for the WMF vulnerability by January 10, and it discourages the use of readily available third party fixes, despite the increasingly widespread damage being caused by the vulnerability. The WMF vulnerability effects all Windows systems and is spread simply by loading a maliciously-constructed graphic, making it one of the most potentially dangerous vulnerabilities in history. It is though to have been first distributed on December 28, 2005, and it entered into general public awareness January 2nd.
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