Movie Draft Update, BoJack Horseman S1, Mr. Robot (103-104), True Detective (206), Rick & Morty (201), The Shield (608)
00:53 – Movie Draft Update
04:19 – Feedback
12:34 – BoJack Horseman S1
16:59 – Mr. Robot (103-104)
20:35 – True Detective (206)
28:50 – Rick & Morty (201)
34:50 – The Shield (608)
In 1947 – ENIAC was switched on after being transferred to the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. It operated continuously until October 2 1955.
In 1951 – A recording was made of Beethoven’s 9th by EMI that eventually became used to justify the diameter of the CD.
In 1958 – President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
In 2015 – Microsoft launched Windows 10 as a free upgrade for users of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.
Like Tech History? Get the illustrated Year in Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.
The Hak5 collective is here to host DTNS while Tom is on assignment!
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Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit
Show Notes
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In 1858 – The first use of fingerprints as identification took place in India. William James Herschel, magistrate of Nuddea, India requested local businessman Rajyadhar Konai make a handprint on the back of a contract. Herschel wanted to “frighten [Konai] out of all thought of repudiating his signature.”
In 1997 – Dell announced its entry into the workstation market with the Dell Workstation 400.
In 2000 – Ted Kekatos celebrated the First System Administrator Appreciation Day. He had been inspired by an HP ad showing people bringing gifts to their System Administrator. The day is celebrated annually on the last Friday of July.
Like Tech History? Get the illustrated Year in Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.
Do TV executives have cool heads or heads in the sand? What should movie collectors do for collecting movies?
Peter Wells, Raj Deut and James Croft of Reckoner Magazine in Australia fill in for Tom Merritt who’s on assignment. Jennie’s audio drivers and Australian internet conspire against them, but with the help of Roger Chang, they persevere!
Using a Screen Reader? Click here for YouTube video.
Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org
Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.
Special note:
A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.
If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!
Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!
Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!
Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit
Show Notes
To read the show notes in a separate page click here!
In 1949 – The first jet-powered airliner, the de Havilland Comet, made its first flight. Previously jet engines had only been used to power small fighter aircraft.
In 1981 – Microsoft bought the rights for QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System) from Seattle Computer Products for $25,000.
In 1993 – Microsoft released Windows NT 3.1, completing its attempt to build an advanced 32-bit operating system from scratch.
Like Tech History? Get the illustrated Year in Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.
In 1989 – Cornell student Robert Tappan Morris became the first person indicted under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act after releasing a worm on the Internet. Morris claimed his worm was just measuring the size of the Internet.
In 1996 – Microsoft released Beta 2 of Internet Explorer 3.0, touting customization options like parental controls and the ability to handle shared applications and Web phone calls.
In 2004 – Motorola announced that its next generation of cell phones would be iTunes-compatible. This first Apple phone, the Rokr, was not to meet with much success.
Like Tech History? Get the illustrated Year in Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.
WEEKLY TECH VIEWS BLOG – “Real tech stories. Really shaky analysis.”
With this second issue of WTVB, we are proud to announce that we have doubled the projected number of issues we thought we’d be permitted to post. From here on, it’s all gravy.
Earlier this week, Target and Home Depot shook their heads pityingly and said, “At least we aren’t those guys,” crooking their thumbs toward Ashley Madison, an adultery-promoting web site that was hacked this week. The group claiming responsibility for the hack has demanded the site be taken down, threatening to publicize the data they have obtained on the site’s 37 million clients. If they do release the information, we expect to learn that:
1) The most requested username is Phil Landers.
2) The top reasons for joining are a) “He doesn’t understand me,” b) “She’s frigid,” and c) the classic, “Defiling the holy sanctity of my marriage vows is the only thing that makes me feel alive anymore.”
3) Upwards of 60% of member bios include the phrase “I like pina coladas.”
Aside from the lascivious curiosity a story like this engenders, there are important issues that we need to take pains to understand–the vulnerability of data, the ethicality of “good” hacks–but the most vital takeaway, the one thing we all need to comprehend–and this is especially true for anyone related to me by marriage–is that I had never heard of this site before this week.
Asked if he had any advice for the Ashley Madison management team, having gone through a serious hacking incident of his own, a Sony Pictures executive responded with, “Ashley Madison was hacked?” Then he repeatedly hit his head on his desk and shouted, “Oh, come on!”
Breakthrough Listen, a project designed to search for alien life, was announced on July 20, the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The big question seems to be if we do find life, should we contact it? While there are very smart people on both sides of the debate, I find myself leaning toward the argument that says HAVE YOU SEEN THE COMMERCIALS FOR PIXELS?! The Twilight Zone episode To Serve Man? If pop culture has taught us anything, it’s that the odds of Independence Day aliens showing up are much greater than that of E.T. dropping by.
But suppose we get a best-case scenario. Say we’re the advanced race. We somehow pick up a stray transmission of their version of I Love Lucy (loosely translated, I assume, as Ahd Vhrdaqqz Vggzzp). That’s where they are technologically–TV’s infancy. We contact them, and they’re ecstatic to hear from us. “Come visit. Share your technology.” And we go, with the best of intentions. But our nature being what it is, eventually there are a couple of superpowers battling to rule this planet, power and domination their only goals. And no matter which of these evil empires wins, be it Comcast or Time-Warner, this naively innocent planet will be subjected to customer service atrocities that they simply can not endure, lacking the decades of escalating inhumanities that have thickened our skins.
Ebay and Paypal officially split this week when Paypal’s name was leaked as a client of Ashley Madison. Ha! No, it was just a business restructuring. Paypal management was quick to assure users that the change would be seamless, with absolutely no reduction in email offers to apply for a Paypal credit card.
Apple hired the former head of global quality at Fiat Chrysler, leading to speculation that an Apple car is in the works. It will undoubtedly be one of the best-looking cars on the market, but each time the autOS (Automotive User Technology Operating System) is updated, service centers will be flooded with complaints that battery life has decreased by half and iTunes libraries can only be accessed via the horn.
Twitter removed background wallpaper from user’s timelines and notification pages. The angry response to this wallpaper change, however, pales in comparison to the Great Wallpaper Conflict of the previous millennium. A five-year-old child, who, let’s just stipulate right now, certainly didn’t know any better at that age, and was, on balance, a really good kid, found a tiny, loose corner of wallpaper sticking out from behind the baseboard in his bedroom. The five-year-old did what a five-year-old does when presented with such an opportunity, and pulled on the wallpaper. As the perfectly straight, two-inch wide column of previously-hidden turquoise paint appeared and seemed to climb the wall, the precocious child became invested in whether it could actually reach the ceiling. It could. The reaction of the child’s father, who had finished applying said wallpaper one day earlier, would put that of the most vocal Twitter trolls to shame.
In addition to requirements that drone pilots keep their drones safe distances from airports and aircraft, The UK’s Drone Code specifies that drones with cameras must remain at least 150 meters from groups of people. This will be easy for me to remember, as it is the exact same restriction my wife places on me after we eat at Taco Bell.
It had to happen. eSports (known to your mother as “people win money for playing a video game?”) has initiated drug testing. That crash you heard was a DualShock 4 controller striking the wall in Barry Bonds’ basement.
There has always been a segment of sports fans who say, “Let ’em take drugs. If they’re roided up and hitting 95 homers a year, great; it’s fun to watch.” In that spirit, we welcome the Adderall or Nothing Tour, where between each round of Heroes of the Storm, contestants are not only encouraged, but required, to wash down an ADHD pill with a full Monster energy drink. This will be a boon for TV coverage, as complete sixty-four-team tournaments, which formerly lasted for days, can be completed in forty-five minutes.
There were multiple stories this week about cars being hacked via the entertainment system. Not to claim that I was ahead of the curve, but years ago I successfully hacked the entertainment system of my friend’s 2002 Chevy Prizm. We were listening to Metallica when he stopped for gas, then, when he was paying, I swapped in a Carpenters CD! It was priceless! He was like, “What the…?” Boy, did I laugh.
That’s another WTVB in the vault. If you read the first issue, thanks for coming back. If this is your first time here, you’ll probably be more careful where you click in the future.
Mike Range
@MovieLeagueMike
Weekly Tech Views Blog by Mike Range is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
In 1959 – Christopher Cockerell’s Hovercraft crossed the English Channel for the first time, celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Frenchman Louis Bleriot’s historic first cross-Channel heavier-than-air flight.
In 1990 – Microsoft became the first software company to exceed $1 billion in sales in a single year, reporting revenues of $1.18 billion for fiscal year 1990.
In 2010 – Wikileaks published classified documents about the War in Afghanistan, one of the largest leaks in US. military history.
Like Tech History? Get the illustrated Year in Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.