newVideoPlayer("doctorwhopirate.flv", 475, 376);20 years ago today, during a broadcast of a Dr. Who episode on WTTW channel 11 in Chicago, a video pirate took over the airwaves dressed as Max Headroom (remember him?). Wearing a mask and standing in front of a moving background, the video pirate rambled for a couple minutes in a tough-to-understand voice and then voluntarily went off the air. Who was this prankster, and what was he trying to accomplish?
newVideoPlayer("yps3bday.flv", 475, 288);
The PS3 turned one year old today. We wiped off our dusty PS3 and threw it a birthday party with this cake that Sony Computer Entertainment of America had delivered to our house, in a stunt in the style of the Wii Ice Cream Truck. The cake was delicious, thank you, Sony. The party was going ok. Wii and Xbox 360 Elite showed up, but Halo Xbox 360 Legendary Edition was out with his groupies, the Halo 3 Fanboys. The sad thing was, no stellar PS3 games showed up to the party. Maybe next year, PS3. We still respect your record-breaking Protein folding capabilities and supercomputer performance.
The birthday party is going to be at Chuck E. Cheese near the Bergen Mall in North NJ. You’re invited. (Don’t tell Wii.)
Today is the 50th anniversary of Russia’s Sputnik satellite. Sputnik translates into “Traveling companion of the earth”, was “23 inches in diameter and 184 pounds, with four feathery antennas swept back like a windblown comb-over from its high-gloss sphere.” Some credit the unexpected launch of Sputnik with kicking off the space race. Steven Winn’s piece on the satellite is sweeping and moving and every gadget head should give it a pass. [SFGate]
The ramen fan is probably as old as some of you readers out there, but we’ll call it the 10th anniversary of this thing and give it a go anyway. I enjoy a nice hot cup of cup ramen every morning (not the best ramen, but I’m lazy), so having a fan cool down my noodles is a fantastic idea. Would I pay $5.99 at a cheap Chinatown store for this? Definitely. Would I adapt this to other foods like stews, soup, and even steak? You bet your ass. [Ramen Fan via Digg]
Today the compact disc (or ‘CD’ as the hipsters are calling it) turns 25. I know how you feel, CD. After 24, when you can rent a car and trash the shit out of it for only like an extra $50 in insurance, it’s all downhill. But since Philips and Sony developed your form and birthed you in Langenhagen, Germany, over 200 billion CDs have sold.
The secret to your success? I think it’s not the “futuristic” silver finish, but a sweet spot of form factor that, while not as small as today’s MP3 players, drove the success of DVDs and possibly next-gen DVDs as well. Happy anniversary/birthday Mrs/Mrss CD. Would anyone like to share their special CD moments with the rest of the class? I remember buying the Jewel ‘Pieces of You’ for make out music. I honestly don’t remember if I ever “used” the CD. [pcnews]
Today, Lego turns a ripe old age of 75. Founded in 1932 by carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen from Billund, Denmark, the company made wooden toys. The trademark name didn’t come until 1934, inspired from the Danish words “leg godt” (play well), and it wasn’t until 1949 that Lego began producing their now-famous interlocking bricks.
The design finalized in 1958 and it took another five years to find proper materials to produce the blocks. So even though Legos are one of those “why didn’t I think of that” ideas, creating the actual product was a painstaking process. Luckily that process will pay off for generations to come.
Ahh, Legos. I actually have none in my home at the moment, despite a plethora of other adult adolescent gear. Maybe it’s a good day for a run to the store. [earthtimes via neatorama]
Grundig’s cult Audiorama speakers, a must-have in every Seventies shag-pad, are being re-released to celebrate the German firm’s centenary. Available in 2008, the speakers, which boast a 360-degree sound field, are expected to retail for 600€, around the $820 mark. [I4U News]
Today is the 15th anniversary of the Thinkpad, and the first model was the the IBM 2521, a pen operated tablet that shipped on July 19th 1992. Reg Hardware, who researched this history, says it had a 20MHz 386SX proc, 4-8MB of memory, a 10-inch 640 x 480 monochrome screen, and a 2.4Kbps modem. OMG, this article is making me feel so old. [Reg Hardware via JKOnTheRun]
This is John Shepherd-Barron, the scottish guy who invented the first ATM. First installed 40 year ago by Barclays, it worked with Carbon 14-impregnated cheques, the same radioactive material that is used to date fossils. But fret not: not only it wasn’t radioactive enough but they were soon replaced by cards and now even dogs can use them. The next step according to him:
He says that moving money around costs too much, so ATMs will disappear in just a few years. Instead, he predicts the cellphone will become our next purse for all kinds of transactions.
The ATM also brought other things, like the 4-digit PIN number. Shepherd-Barron thought that he could use his six-figure army number as his password, but his wife thought otherwise: “Over the kitchen table, she said she could only remember four figures, so because of her, four figures became the world standard.”
The man who invented the cash machine [BBC News]
At last, here’s the new MacBook Mini, complete with LED-backlit screen, optional 32GB Solid Storage Drive 8-hour battery life and Core 2 Duo processor in a slim 2.68-pound 0.88-inch glorious black design. It looks like at the end it wasn’t announced last tuesday, like the rumorlosersmongers predicted.
Oh, and it comes from Sony. With Windows Vista. And unfortunately, is Japan only.
It’s the new Sony VAIO Type T 10th Anniversary which comes with everything that you wish in a modern sub-notebook: 1,366 x 768 11.1-inch panoramic screen, 1GB memory, 80GB hard drive and DVD dual layer recording. The HD and the DVD-R can be changed for a 32GB flash SSD and a 160GB hard drive respectively. In two words: I WANT. More specs and the price after the jump.
