Tom Merritt's Blog, page 1197

Tech News Today 516: All hash, no salt

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell

LinkedIn has a horrible day, will Facebook disappear? IPv6 rends the Internet in twain, and more.

Guest: Rene Ritchie

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Running time: 42:47

Tech News Today 515: A curtain for your laptop

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Ryan Shrout and Chad Johnson

Sony and Nintendo pitch for their survival, Computex’s day of the ultrabooks, and the Napster folks revive Chatroulette

Guest: Ryan Shrout

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Running time: 51:41

Tech History Today – June 7

In 1954 – Computer science hero Alan Turing killed himself by eating an apple containing cyanide. Turing formulated the famous Turing test and broke code at Bletchley park during World War II.

In 1975 – Sony introduced the Betamax video recorder for sale.

In 1980 – The first U.S. solar power plant was dedicated at the Natural Bridge National Monument, Utah.

Triangulation 56: Andrew Keen

Andrew Keen, author and entrepreneur, talks to us about the negative impact today’s online revolution has on us.

Hosts: Leo Laporte and Tom Merritt

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Running time: 1:09:39

Tech History Today – June 6

In 1933 – The world’s first drive-in movie theater opened in Camden, New Jersey. Richard Hollingshead Jr. had developed the system by using a 1928 Kodak projector mounted on the hood of his car and aimed at a screen pinned to some trees.

1984 – Tetris, one of the best-selling video games of all-time, is released. It was invented by a Soviet programmer, Alexei Pazhitnov and popularized by Hank Rogers who bought the rights and distributed it.

In 1995 – The Los Angeles Times reported that Father Leonard Boyle was working to put the Vatican’s library on the World Wide Web through a site funded by IBM.

FourCast 121: Jam the reptile terrorists

Hosts: Tom Merritt and Scott Johnson

When we all have wearable computing we’ll need to jam it and stop the parallel universes from invading us. But at least we have easy access to Point Break

Guests: Dave Nelson and Glenn Rubenstein

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Running time: 47:28

Frame Rate 79: Old man game pad

Hosts: Brian Brushwood and Tom Merritt

Microsoft doubling down on video and music for Xbox, Wii U at E3, Smart Glass, Simple.TV kickstarter, and more

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Running time: 1:12:51

Tech News Today 491: The Future Has Four Legs

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane and Iyaz Akhtar

Can gestures and Cascades save RIM? Donate your organs on Facebook, Twitter uses your friends to stay relevant, and more.

Guest: Kevin Purdy

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Running time: 46:37

Tech News Today 490: Facing The Existential Threat

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Chad Johnson

Microsoft buys some Barnes and Noble love, UK blocks Pirate Bay, can Skype spy on you, and more.

Guest: Russ Pitts

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Running time: 52:31

Tech History Today – May 2

In 1887 65-year-old Rev. Hannibal Goodwin takes his nitrocellulose flexible film out of his attic laboratory and into the patent rolls. He beat the Eastman Kodak company by two years, but his vaguely-worded patent led to a 27-year legal battle.

In 1983 – Microsoft Corp. announced the two-button Microsoft Mouse built for IBM computers and meant to be used with the new Microsoft Word processor. Only 5,000 sold of the 10,000 made.

In 2000 – The United States government shut off Selective Access of the GPS system. That meant accurate positioning was no longer restricted to the US military. Positioning accuracy on the first day without Selective Access went from a 45-meter radius to a 6-meter radius.