Tech Trivia
November 10, 2004 : What’s In a Name?
On November 9th 2004, the well-known web-browser ‘Firefox’ was released, although it had earlier been called something entirely different altogether. Originally created in 2002 by members of the Mozilla community, the browser had the codename “Phoenix”. This was supposed to reflect the project’s aim to “rise from the ashes of Netscape Navigator” after it was…
Read MoreNovember 2, 1936 : BBC Basics
“Gentlemen, you have now invented the biggest time-waster of all time. Use it well.”, said Isaac Shoenberg, head of the EMI research team that developed the first fully electronic television system to be used in regular broadcasting. Continue reading … …Free MSP Standard Access Required Thank you for reading MSP Marketplace Create your FREE account…
Read MoreOctober 10, 2023 : “A Thousand-Year Name Extension”
Around a thousand years before electronics, a monk called Poppo was asked to prove his faith, because Sweyn Forkbeard was having doubts about his baptism. Legend has it that Poppo proved his faith by holding a red-hot metal glove, yet he remained unharmed. Continue reading … …Free MSP Standard Access Required Thank you for reading…
Read MoreOctober 1980 : Halloween, Early AI & Ghosts …
AI isn’t something that’s just emerged in the last couple of years. Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde had distinct personalities and if these names sound familiar it’s because they were the four ghosts that chased Pac-Man around his maze, each with different styles of trying to catch him, a kind of ‘AI’. Continue reading ……
Read More‘Stooky Bill’ : 02 October 2025
In days gone by, a Scottish person with a broken appendage might well have said their arm or leg was held in a ‘stooky’ (or ‘stookie’) which meant a plaster-cast. It’s thought the word comes from ‘stucco’ (plaster) although the term also has a derogatory meaning for a ‘stupid person’, so perhaps it’s no surprise…
Read MoreFalcon 1 Launched : 28th September 2008
Rocket Man! This week on September 28 2008 SpaceX managed to finally get the Falcon 1 rocket into space. Founder Elon Musk was obviously thrilled, although curiously he wasn’t hungry – even though he’d skipped breakfast earlier that day. It was because he’d had such a big launch. Continue reading … …Free MSP Standard Access…
Read MoreQ. Why Do Python Programmers Wear Specs?
A – Because they don’t see sharp! That’s a programming humour for you. And talking of programming, there’s currently an explosion of code being auto-generated by AI and before long, human-coders may go the way of the early switchboard operators. Hmm, possibly! Yet can you imagine painstakingly programming computers, line-by-line with assembly language, punched-cards and…
Read More25 Years of Google
Did you know that Google was incorporated 25 years ago, in September 1998?Or that it was originally made from Lego? (sort of) Google began as a research project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin when they were students at Stanford in 1996. Originally named “BackRub.” the name “Google” is a play on the word “googol,”…
Read More28 Years Ago : eBay (& Amazon by Comparison)
Whilst eBay’s market cap is dwarfed by that of Amazon (i.e. circa 24 billion dollars compared to circa 1.4 trillion dollars), it’s easy to forget eBay helped shape online purchasing too. Before it was rebranded as eBay in 1997, the site was originally called AuctionWeb. Founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995, it was an experiment…
Read MoreAncient Data-Disasters
So far in 2023, Canada’s had wildfires devouring over 30 million acres, an expanse comparable to Kentucky. This has already surpassed Canada’s earlier record set in 1989, where flames ravaged more than 18 million acres.As the wildfire-season isn’t over yet, using the 1989 figures (much less than 2023) 18 million acres could yield in the…
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