1995
GameFAQs, a website that hosts a large database of profiles and walkthroughs of video games, is launched by Jeff “CJayC” Veasey. In May 2003, the site will be acquired by its sponsor, CNET Networks. Visit the website.
1996
Microsoft releases the first beta-test version of Internet Explorer 3.0 for the Macintosh. This version adds support for Cascading Style Sheets, HTML 3.2, and Java applets.
1998
Avadis Tevanian, a senior vice president at Apple Computer, testifies that Microsoft tried to intimidate Apple into abandoning the development of its QuickTime software which directly competes with Microsoft’s own media player.
GT Interactive, an American video game developer, acquires OneZero Media for about US$15 million in common stock. Visit the company’s official website.
Titus Software, French software publisher, concludes the acquisition of BlueSky Software, an American software company.
1999
US District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issues his 207 page Findings of Fact, ruling that Microsoft has a monopoly on operating systems in the Intel-compatible personal computer market. The ruling further finds that Microsoft has engaged in anti-competitive behavior, using its power to restrict competition and harm American consumers. The ruling is a pivotal victory in the long-running antitrust trial that represents a major setback for Microsoft.
2001
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) introduces the 1.6GHz Athlon XP 1900+ processor, featuring a 64KB Level-1 data cache, 64KB Level-1 instruction cache, 256KB Level-2 cache, three pipelined FPUs, and a 266MHz system bus. It supports MMX, 3DNow!, Enhanced 3DNow!, and 3DNow! professional instructions. It incorporates 37.6 million transistors in a 0.13-micron process. Code-name: Thoroughbred Price: US$269 in 1,000-unit quantities
Build 0.1 of Aurora SPARC Linux, a distribution on Fedora Core, is released. The release comes after Red Hat dropped support for the SPARC architecture after version 6.2 of Red Hat Linux. Visit the application’s official website.
Nintendo begins shipping the GameCube and six game titles in the US. The GameCube features a 485MHz 128-bit custom IBM Gekko PowerPC CPU, a 162MHz ATI Flipper GPU, 24MB 1T-SRAM, 16MB DRAM, and a 16-bit Macronix DSP Sound Processor. Price: US$199.95
2003
Brazilian police arrest eighteen hackers in a massive operation dubbed “Trojan Horse,” which involves two hundred five law enforcement officials and thirty-three search warrants. The hackers are allegedly part of a gang which is responsible for stealing more than ten million dollars in a single year by breaking into banks and their clients’ computers over the Internet.
Intel releases the 2800MHz Celeron 2.8 processor, featuring a 128KB Level-2 Cache and a 400MHz Front-side bus.
The last Abilene Network segment is upgraded to 10Gbps.
Microsoft establishes a five million dollar fund for tracking down hackers who target the company’s Windows operating systems, including a US$500,000 bounty (US$250,000 each) for information leading to the arrest of the individual or group who unleashed the MSBlast and Sobig viruses. Some critics will claim that the rewards have more to do with public relations than with crime prevention.
The Star Trek: Enterprise episode “Twilight” first airs. (No. 308) In it, an anomaly causes Archer to lose his short-term memory. Much of the episode takes place in an alternate future after the destruction of Earth in which Archer (with the help of his caretaker T’Pol and Captain Tucker), seeks a way to correct the past. Memory Alpha entry
Version 2.5.0 of PhpMyAdmin, an open source tool written in PHP for administering MySQL over the internet, is released. This version introduces a MIME-based transformation system. Visit the application’s official website.
Version 5.8.2 of the Perl programming language is released. Visit the official Perl website.
Voyager 1 exits the solar system some 26 years after its launch and over eight billion miles from Earth.
Warner Bros. releases the sci-fi action film The Matrix Revolutions, directed by The Wachowski brothers and starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Hugo Weaving, to 3,502 US theaters. In it, the human city of Zion defends itself against the massive invasion of the machines as Neo fights to end the war at another front while also opposing the rogue Agent Smith. It’s the third film in The Matrix trilogy, and it’s the first live-action film to be released simultaneously in regular and IMAX theaters. Critics and fans alike criticized the film as being anti-climatic, while praising its action sequences. Produced on a budget of US$150 million, it will gross US$48,475,154 domestically in its opening weekend. Visit the film’s official website. IMDB listing (MPAA Rating: R) Running Time: 2 hrs 15 mins
2004
Apple Computer releases version 10.3.6 of its Mac OS X operating system.
Buena Vista Pictures releases the animated film The Incredibles, directed by Brad Bird and featuring the voice talents of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer Fox, Jason Lee, Brad Bird, Samuel L. Jackson, and Elizabeth Peña, to 3,933 US theaters. In it, a family of undercover superheroes, while trying to live the quiet suburban life, are forced into action to save the world. Produced on a budget of US$92 million, the film will gross US$70,467,623 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing (MPAA Rating: PG) Running Time: 1 hr 55 mins
Researchers successfully send data using a 10 Gigabit Ethernet link between the University of Tokyo and the CERN research center in Geneva, Switzerland, breaking the Internet speed record. The T110 delivered a sustained 7.57Gbps throughput running standard 1500-byte Ethernet packets over a single TCP connection across an 11,490 mile (18,500 km) link using a uni-processor AMD Opteron system on each end of the connection. The connection is fast enough to transfer a full-length DVD in less than five seconds.
The Star Trek: Enterprise episode “Cold Station 12” first airs. (No. 405) In it, a space station crew is held hostage as Dr. Arik Soong, played by Brent Spiner, and his Augments work to obtain hundreds of Augment embryos in hopes of reviving the new species. Memory Alpha entry
A trailer for the film Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith premieres before The Incredibles.
2006
According to surveys conducted by Netcraft, Ltd., the internet reaches the milestone size of 100 million websites for the first time on this day at the end of a year in which roughly 27.4 million sites had been created. The number indicated that the internet has doubled in size since May 2004, largely due to the proliferation of of blogs and small business websites that have resulted from the launch of free blog hosts. In 2005, 17 million new websites had been created. The first Netcraft survey in August 1995 found 18,957 hosts.
2007
China’s first lunar satellite, Chang’e 1 enters orbit around the Moon.
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