| Friday, December 19, 2008 |
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| The Altair 8800 |
SpotlightThe computer age reached a milestone when the Altair 8800 — a precursor to the PC — became available on this date in 1974, allowing anyone to build a computer at home. The microcomputer kit was originally intended to be sold to hobbyists, but it was an instant hit, and in 1990 the computer went on display at the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of History and Technology in Washington, DC. The microcomputer was designed by Ed Roberts, who had been producing calculator kits for hobbyists. Altair BASIC, the interpreter for the programming language that ran the 8800 was the brainchild and first product of Bill Gates' and Paul Allen's new company, Micro-Soft.
Quote"Buying the right computer and getting it to work properly is no more complicated than building a nuclear reactor from wristwatch parts in a darkened room using only your teeth."
Question of the DayCan someone access my personal files or see me chatting from another computer if they use our internet access--My computer says a wireless computer is trying to access the internet through my hookup?
If someone has access to the data stream from your computer to any servers you connect to, then yes (in the example of wireless connections). Although it's unlikely they can control your computer, it can see what information you are sending or receiving...
Word of the daythundersnow
Thundersnow, also known as a winter thunderstorm or a thunder snowstorm, is a rare thunderstorm with snow falling as the primary precipitation instead of rain. It commonly falls in regions of strong upward motion within the cold sector of extratropical cyclones between autumn and spring when surface temperatures are most likely to be near or below freezing. Variations exist, such as thundersleet, where the precipitation consists of sleet rather than snow....
Schoolkids are commonly taught that the Eskimos of Alaska have dozens of words for snow. As it turns out, English has plenty, too.
Today's History
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| A Film Scrooge |
- Benjamin Franklin: prolific inventor/author/statesman began publishing his Poor Richard's almanac (1732)
- A Christmas Carol: Charles Dickens published his classic morality tale of the miser Ebenezer Scrooge (1843)
- Bill Clinton: was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice (1998)
Today's Birthdays
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| Richard Leakey |
- Leonid Brezhnev (1906-1982): Soviet leader
- Edith Piaf (1915-1963): cabaret singer called "the little sparrow"; other musicians born on this date include Robert Sherman (83), Maurice White (67), John McEuen (63) and Lady Sovereign (23)
- Cicely Tyson (75): stage and screen actor; also, actors Ralph Richardson (1902-1983), Tim Reid (64), Jennifer Beals (45), Scott Cohen (44), Rosa Blasi and Alyssa Milano (both 36) and Jake Gyllenhaal and Marla Sokoloff (both 28)
- Richard Leakey (64): anthropologist and paleontologist
- Criss Angel (41): magician, illusionist
