Inaugural Tech Day Camp!
October 22, 2011 The Toolbox’ first Tech Day Camp, held at Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, was a smashing success! In the halls we heard: “This is fabulous!” “Thank you so much for today!” “The first session I attended alone was worth the price of admission.” Stay tuned for more quotes and testimonials. . .
United States vs. Microsoft
October 20, 1997 US accuses Microsoft of violating pact forcing IE browser on computers. US vs Microsoft was a set of civil actions filed against Microsoft Corporation pursuant to the Sherman Act 1890 Section 1 and 2. The plaintiffs alleged that Microsoft abused monopoly power on Intel-based personal computers in its handling of operating system..
Patent for First Movie a Hit
October 17, 1888 Thomas Edison files a patent for the Optical Phonograph, the first movie, with images only 1/32 inches wide. Edison’s claim is that it will ‘do for the eye what the phonograph does for the ear.’ We should all go out this evening for dinner and a movie to commemorate!
Roll Film Brings Photography to Mainstream
Technology that Shapes Our Lives October 14, 1884 George Eastman receives a patent for the first roll film, helping to bring photography to the mainstream and was the basis for the invention of motion picture film in 1888. Roll film is spool-wound photographic film protected from white light exposure by a paper backing, as opposed..
Meridian Crisis Resolved with Greenwich
Technology that Shapes Our Lives October 13, 1884 Geographers and astronomers adopt Greenwich as the Prime Meridian, the international standard for zero degrees longitude. Prior to the adoption of a standard Prime Meridian, navigation at sea — and the charting of stars in the heavens — often remained a matter of local, national or even..
Artificial Respiration Becomes Reality and a Life Saver
Technology that Shapes Our Lives October 12, 1928 The iron lung artificial respirator is successfully used on a young polio sufferer at Children’s Hospital, Boston. The iron lung, originally invented by Philip Drinker, an industrial hygienist, encases a person’s entire body, except for the head, and uses regulated air pressure to help a patient breathe..
The First ‘Killer App’ for PCs Is Released
Technology that Shapes Our Lives October 11, 1979 Visicalc is released by Dan Bricklin. The spreadsheet application is called the first killer app for personal computers because it turned the PC from a hobby into a business tool. Conceived by Dan Bricklin, refined by Bob Frankston, developed by their company Software Arts, and distributed by..
Pac-Man Munches Its Way Into Tech History
Technology that Shapes Our Lives October 10, 1979 Pac-Man makes its debut in Japan. Pac-Man wasn’t the first videogame – arcade games, including video versions, had existed for years – but it is considered one of the classics and an icon of 1980s popular culture. Upon its release, Pac-Man and eventually its spin-offs, became a..
The Story Behind CC and BCC
Technology that Shapes Our Lives October 7, 1806 English inventor, Ralph Wedgewood, received a patent for the Stylographic Writer, a tool to help the blind write without using ink. An ink-soaked piece of paper was placed between two blank sheets, and a frame of horizontal wires acted as a guide for the blind writer’s stylus…
RIP, Technology Genius Steve Jobs
Technology that Shapes Our Lives October 6, 2011 Outpourings of public grief and appreciation swept the globe today following the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Jobs, who touched the daily lives of countless millions of people through the Macintosh computer, iPod, iPhone and iPad, died on Wednesday at age 56 after a long battle..
Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam. . .Lovely Spam!
Technology that Shapes Our Lives October 5, 1969 Monty Python’s Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show, first aired on the BBC. Forty-five episodes were made over four series. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and impact, spawning touring stage shows, films, numerous albums, several books and a..
World’s Oldest High Altitude Settlement Discovered – 49,000 Years Young
Technology that Shapes Our Lives October 2010 Scientists have unearthed remains of the world’s oldest known high-altitude human settlements, dating back up to 49,000 years, in volcanic ash in Papua New Guinea mountains. The remains included about six camps, including fragments of stone tools and food, in an area near the town of Kokoda. “What..
Ether as Anesthesia: Thank You, William Morton
Technology that Shapes Our Lives September 30, 1846 Dentist, William Morton, was the first to publicly use ether to anesthetize a patient in Boston. His bold step eventually lead to the widespread use of ether for surgical anesthesia. Morton’s first successful public demonstration of ether as an inhalation anesthetic was such an historic and widely..
Self-Service Gas Stations: Soon a Thing of the Past?
Technology that Shapes Our Lives September 27, 1977 In a new study on US gas station trends, more and more stations have self-service pumps. Many believe that the new self service gas stations will never replace the traditional, full-service station. The report showed that since the gas crisis in 1973-1974, gone are the days when..
Inhabitants Enter Biosphere 2
Technology that Shapes Our Lives September 26. 1991 A group of scientists, four men and four women, began a two-year stay inside “Biosphere 2”, a sealed structure in Oracle, AZ. Biosphere 2 is a 3.14-acre structure originally built to be an artificial, materially-closed ecological system in Oracle, Arizona by Space Biosphere Ventures, a joint venture..
Top 5 Reasons for Attending Tech Day Camp 2011
Tech Day Camp’s Top 5: There are 101+ phenomenal reasons to attend Tech Day Camp 2011. Here are 5 of our favorites: 1. You are tired of asking your kids to show you how your technology works 2. Social Media: basics, advanced and everything in between. 3. To Save Daddy! 4. To Feel Confident with Your Technology! 5. To meet and..
Birth of a Whole New – and High Level – Language
Technology that Shapes Our Lives September 20, 1954 The first FORTRAN program is run at IBM. Fortran is a general-purpose, procedural, imperative programming language that is especially suited to numeric computation and scientific computing. Originally developed by IBM for scientific and engineering applications, Fortran came to dominate this area of programming early on, and has..
Jobs Back on the Job!
Technology that Shapes Our Lives September 16. 1997 Co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, returns as CEO. In the late 1970s, Jobs, with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Mike Markkula, and others, designed, developed, and marketed one of the first commercially successful lines of personal computers, the Apple II series. In the early 1980s, Jobs was among..
QWERTY Is Born
Technology that Shapes Our Lives September 12, 1874 The first practical typewriter was sold to customers. A typewriter, by definition, is a small machine, either electric or manual, with type keys that produced characters one at a time on a piece of paper inserted around a roller. Typewriters have been largely replaced by personal computers..
Billion Dollar Deal Made Between AOL, CompuServe and WorldCom
Technology that Shapes Our Lives September 8, 1997 America Online acquired CompuServe, the oldest U.S. on-line computer service. CompuServe was the first major commercial online service in the United States. It dominated the field during the 1980s and remained a major player through the mid-1990s, when it was sidelined by the rise of services such..
First Baby Placed in Incubator
Technology that Shapes Our Lives September 7, 1888 Edith Eleanor McLean, weighing 2 pounds, 7 ounces, was the first baby to be placed in an incubator – at State Emigrant Hospital on Ward’s Island, New York. Originally called a “hatching cradle,” the device was 3-ft square, 4-ft high. It was designed to increase the survival..
First Circumnavigation of the Globe
Technology that Shapes Our Lives September 6, 1522 One of Ferdinand Magellan’s five ships–the Vittoria–arrives at SanlÚcar de Barrameda in Spain, thus completing the first circumnavigation of the world. The Vittoria was commanded by Basque navigator Juan SebastiÁn de Elcano, who took charge of the vessel after the murder of Magellan in the Philippines in..
Cash Available 24/7
Technology that Shapes Our Lives September 2, 1969 America’s first automatic teller machine (ATM) makes its public debut, dispensing cash to customers at Chemical Bank in Rockville Center, New York – just six weeks after landing men on the moon. ATMs went on to revolutionize the banking industry, eliminating the need to visit a bank..
57 Million Spam E-mails In One Day
Technology that Shapes Our Lives August 22, 2007 The Storm botnet sends out a record 57 million e-mails in one day. The Storm botnet, or Storm worm botnet, is a remotely controlled network of “zombie” computers (or ‘botnet’) that has been linked by the Storm Worm, a Trojan horse spread through e-mail spam. The Storm..
Hewlett Packard: From Backyard Shed to Silicone Valley
Technology that Shapes Our Lives August 18, 1947 Hewlett-Packard incorporates; 8 years after its founding. Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard met as engineering students at Stanford in the early ’30s and cemented their lifelong friendship during a post-graduation camping trip. Packard went off to take a job with General Electric, while Hewlett went on to postgraduate..
Tech Day Camp
South Shore Sat - Nov 16thNorwell, MA
Organizational Partners
