Activision is Founded

1979- Activision was founded by four ex-Atari, Inc. game designers: David Crane, Larry Kaplan, Alan Miller and Bob Whitehead. They teamed up with Jim Levy to produce game cartridges for the Atari 2600 game system.  This, in fact, was the first company that developed game cartridges only. The company started with an investment of $700,000.

This Day in Tech History podcast show notes for October 1

• EPOCOT opens
• The original Apple Mac is retired
• Microsoft Search Perks

IBM

This Day in Tech History podcast show notes for September 30

• Commodore announces the CBM8032
• IE 4.0 is released
• MPAA asks for an injunction of RealDVD

2001- With one version of the Apple OS X under it’s belt, “Puma” – or OS X 10.1 is released to the public. Updates would include extended DVD support and the ability to burn DVD – RW. There were still a lot of people against this new version of software. A lot of Mac users still liked OS 9 and thought OS X is a “superfluous” upgrade.

This Day in Tech History podcast show notes for September 29

• CERN is formed
• Lenovo recalls 526,000 batteries
• Zimbra Password exposure.

Amazon.com

2011 – Jeff Bezos announces a new line of Kindle products including the Kindle Fire. This 10 inch tablet was Amazon’s rival to the iPad. It ran a version of Android that connected with Amazon store. The Fire would cost $199 and came with 30 days of Amazon Prime.

2008 – British Secret Service admitted they have been looking for the next agents. They mention that they have been looking far and wide for spies. That is why they went to Facebook. MI6 placed 3 ads on Facebook to look for people seeking career change.. ability to shake a good martini is preferred.

This Day in Tech History podcast show notes for September 28

• eDonkey shuts down
• IE overtakes Netscape as the #1 browser
• Bill Gates, Paul Allen, and Kay Nishi accept new IBM contract

1996- Famous hacker Kevin Mitnick is indicted on 25 charges for a 2 and a half year hacking spree. Police believed Mitnick had stolen Millions of dollars in software from different corporations. Mitnick faced up to 200 years in prison if found guilty. He was first arrested on February 15th, 1995.  He was sentenced to 46 months and an additional 22 months for violating the terms of his 1989 supervised release. He was released to supervised release on January 21, 2000 and finally released on January 21, 2003.

This Day in Tech History podcast show notes for September 27

• Disney nixes Disney Mobile
• iTunes 7.0 is released
• Atari dumps inventory – Litterally – into a landfill

1914 - The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is formed to regulate business in the US. President Wilson issued this to “Trust bust”. The FTC is controlled by a 5 member panel that serve in 7 year terms. They govern all fair trade practices.

Companies like Microsoft and IBM have been under the microscope with the FTC and the FCC.

This Day in Tech History podcast show notes for September 26

• 414′s testimony
• Kentucky shuts down 141 gambling domains
• Iomega Zip across america

2006 - The book iWoz: from Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-founded Apple and had Fun Doing it. (**WHEW!**) came out. It was a book that was written to dispel some of the rumors and misconceptions on many different items.

This Day in Tech History podcast show notes for September 25

• Red Hat Linux 7.0 Released
• Ultima Online, the first MMORPG
• OS/2 Warp 4

ebay

This Day in Tech History podcast show notes for September 24

• 30 years of Compuserve Services
• USS Enterprise launched
• Qualcom infringed on Broadcom patents
• Myst released

Pheonix

This Day in Tech History podcast show notes for September 23

• Yahoo Instant Messanger 9.0
• Morse Code alphabet is invented
• Nintendo Koppai is founded (later renamed to Nintendo)

eBay

This Day in Tech History podcast show notes for September 22

• Intel launches several Celeron D chips
• Microsoft opens the San Antonio center
• Compaq Deskpro 4000N debuts