The Great Geek Manual

1714
Englishman Henry Mill receives a patent for the first typewriter. (No. 385) He will never successfully market his invention and, while it will later be recognized as the first in a long evolution of devices, his design will die with him. The patent is titled, “An artificial machine or method for the impressing or transcribing of letters singly or progressively one after another, as in writing, whereby all writing whatever may be engrossed in paper or parchment so neat and exact as not to be distinguished from print.”

1838
Samuel Morse and his partner, Alfred Vail, give the first public demonstration of their new invention, the electric telegraph at the Speedwell Iron Works in Morristown, New Jersey.

1884
Paul Gottlieb Nipkow is granted a German patent (No. 30,105) for an “electric telescope” comprised of a scanning disc and a selenium cell.

1927
The first commercial transatlantic telephone service between New York and London is inaugurated.

1931
Thomas Alva Edison submits his last patent application before dying.

1949
The first atomic clock, based on earlier theoretical work by Isidor Rabi, is constructed.

Dr. Daniel Chapin Pease and Dr. Richard Freligh Baker become the first people to photograph genes at the University of Southern California.

1967
International Business Machines (IBM) Data Processing Division introduces Virtual Storage Personal Computing, a new program that will allow inexperienced users to easily use a computer terminal for day-to-day problem solving.

The Surveyor 1 spacecraft is reactivated after almost six months of lying dormant on the Moon’s surface.

1978
French Public Law 78-17 goes into effect. The law establishes the Commission on Freedom and Computers and lays down the requirements that must be met by organizations that collect and process “personal” data. The Commission tracks the operation of databases containing personal data. either in the public or private sector.

1980
00:00:00 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) or 00:00:19 International Atomic Time (TAI) marks the beginning of the first Global Positioning System (GPS) epoch, its first week zero. In the GPS system, dates are expressed as a number representing the week of the year and a number representing the day of the week. As a ten-bit field, the week re-zeros every 1,024 weeks, or 19.6 years.

1981
Jack Tramiel steps down as president of Commodore International, but will remain active as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). James Finke steps into his role as president and Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Microsoft and Seattle Computer Products sign an agreement giving Microsoft the non-exclusive right to market 86-DOS operating system for US$10,000 and an additional US$10,000 per sub-license, and another US$5,000 if the source code is sold with the sub-license.

1983
The Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is held January 6 – 9 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Several landmark computing advances are unveiled, including the Apple IIe. The event is attended by 1,056 exhibitors and 78,126 guests.

At the Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Apple Computer introduces the Apple IIe, featuring 64KB RAM and the ProDOS operating system. Price: US$1,395

At the Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Apple Computer introduces the Lisa computer, which will ultimately prove to be a commercial flop. Of the fifty thousand units Apple hoped to sell in the first year, only about fifteen thousand will actually be sold. The system is based on the Xerox Star and was developed at a cost of approximately US$50 million. Price: US$9,995

At the Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Mattel introduces the Intellivision II video game system. The system features a 12K ROM, 10K RAM, a built-in voice synthesizer, stereo output, keypad controllers, an optional keyboard, optional joysticks, a redesigned Intellivoice and 2600 game adapter. The system is backwards compatible for use with existing Intellivision games. Mattel also introduces a 49-key music keyboard which converts the Intellivision to a music synthesizer.

At the Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Texas Instruments (TI) introduces the Compact Computer 40 and the TI-99/2 Basic Computer.

At the Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Unitronics unveils the Expander tape player for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System, which allows users to play 16K games and convers the system into a 16K computer with a 64-key keyboard.

1984
At the Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Coleco Industries introduces a disk drive for the Adam computer.

Hitachi announces that it has developed the world’s first memory chip with a 1 Megabit capacity. Visit the company’s official website.

1990
The Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is held January 6 – 9 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event is held on 750,000 square feet, where 1,350 exhibitors demonstrate products and services in 95 categories.

At the Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Atari demonstrates the handheld Atari Lynx video game system. The system was developed by R.J. Mical and Dave Needle, who were the engineers behind the Commodore Amiga home computer. Price: US$149

1992
British retailer W H Smith announces that it will stop selling vinyl LP albums in March.

The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “New Ground” first airs. (No. 510) In it, Alexander, Worf’s son, comes to live on the Enterprise, and the crew monitors a shuttle as it tests an experimental form of propulsion. Memory Alpha entry

1995
The Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is held January 6 – 9 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Las Vegas Hilton, the Mirage, and Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. As the video game industry continues to shift its focus from the CES to the upcoming E3 show in Los Angeles, they continue to withdraw their presence from the CES. However, Nintendo reveals the technical specifications for the pending Ultra 64 game system, and Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI) reports they have finished developing the system, leaving it ready for production. Microsoft’s Bill Gates unveils Microsoft Bob, a “social interface” for desktop computing. Visit the event’s official website

1997
Canon, Inc. formally announces its intentions to discontinue manufacturing personal computers and to sell off its twenty percent ownership in NeXT Software, Inc. to Apple Computer.

1998
The US Lunar Orbiter is launched. It will it reach the Moon on January 11th, where it will conduct a survey of the Moon’s surface from a low polar orbit. Its survey will include mapping the surface composition, measuring magnetic and gravity fields, recording of lunar outgassing events, and seeking out possible ice deposits. The data the orbiter collects will help scientists develop plans for a potential lunar base and theories regarding the formation of the Solar System.

1999
Hayes Microcomputer closes down. Its assets will be acquired by Zoom Telephonics on April 7, 1999. Founded in 1978, Hayes was the first manufacturer of modems for personal computers.

2000
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) releases the 800MHz Athlon processor, featuring a 512KB Level-2 cache and a 200MHz Front-Side Bus.

The Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is held January 6 – 9, takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada. Visit the event’s official website.

At the Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Compaq Computer, and KryoTech demonstrate a 1GHz Athlon processor running in a Compaq computer with a specially designed cooling system.

At the Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) releases the 800MHz Athlon processor.

Thousands of travelers experience departure delays due to a significant three-hour government computer failure. All three New York City airports, all three Washington area airports, Boston’s Logan International Airport, New Jersey’s Teterboro airport, the Philadelphia airport, and the Raleigh-Durham Airport are all directly affected.

2001
The Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is held January 6 – 9, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

At the Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Microsoft unveils the Xbox video game system. It features a 733MHz processor, a large hard drive, and a 250MHz graphics processor.

2003
The anime series Wolf’s Rain premieres in Japan on Fuji TV with the episode “City Of Howls”. It will run for one season of twenty-six episodes.

The Macworld Conference & Expo is held over five days at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California. Visit the event’s official website.

2004
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) releases the 2200 MHz Athlon 64 3400+ processor, featuring a 1024KB Level-2 Cache and a 800MHz Hyper Transport.

Apple Computer announces the sale of the two millionth iPod, less than six months after hitting the one million mark.

Apple Computer discontinues its Xserve 1U rackmount line of server computers.

At the Macworld Conference & Expo, Apple Computer releases iLife ‘04, a suite for creating, managing, and publishing digital content. Price: $49

At the Macworld Conference & Expo, Apple Computer releases the first iPod Mini. It featured a 4 GB storage capacity. The iPod Mini retained the touch-sensitive scroll wheel of the third generation iPod; however, instead of the four touch buttons located above the wheel, the buttons were redesigned as mechanical switches beneath the wheel itself-hence the name click wheel. To use one of the four buttons, the user must physically push the edge of the wheel inward over one of the four labels. Price: US$249

Intel releases the 1200 MHz Celeron M 310 and the 1300 MHz Celeron M 320 processors, featuring 512KB Level-2 Caches and 400MHz Front-Side Buses.

A study released by TruSecure, a firm specializing in risk management, states that around fourty-five percent of files downloaded from the KaZaA peer-to-peer network contain malware which could compromises a computer’s security, making KaZaA one of the most significant threats to corporate security in the coming year. Senior analyst Bruce Hughes urges companies to warn their employees about the dangers posed by such filesharing application to both business and private computers.

2005
Microsoft releases a beta 1 of Microsoft AntiSpyware for Windows. The application is a repackaged version of GIANT AntiSpyware, which was acquired by Microsoft on December 16, 2004. Visit the application’s official website.

2006
Google announces Google Video.

Hewlett-Packard (HP) stops pre-installing Apple Computer’s iTunes on its computers and announces a new partnership with RealNetworks to install Rhapsody on its Compaq and HP brand computers.

Kevin Marks releases the massively multiplayer online geo-political simulator Cyber Nations for web browsers. In the game, players create and run fictional nations. Visit the game’s official website.

Romar Entertainment releases the fantasy film BloodRayne, directed by Uwe Boll and starring Kristanna Loken, Michael Madsen, Matthew Davis, Will Sanderson, Billy Zane, Udo Kier, Michael Pare, Meat Loaf, Michelle Rodriguez, and Ben Kingsley, to 985 US theaters. It is based on the video game of the same name. Produced on a budget of US$25 million, it will gross US$1,550,000 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing MPAA Rating: R Running Time: 1 hr 34 mins

2007
Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest producer of thin-film transistor liquid crystal displays announces the development of the first double-sided LCD panel capable of displaying images on both sides of a mobile display.

2008
Systemax Inc. announced an agreement on the acquisition of the CompUSA brand, e-commerce site, trademarks, and sixteen retail outlets in Florida, Texas, and Puerto Rico.