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Topics /
History & Retro Computing
The most popular blog posts about history & retro computing on Hacker News. 422 posts.
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The curious death of Oppenheimer’s mistress (2015)
Who killed J. Robert Oppenheimer's Communist lover?
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The Viterbi Algorithm at 50 (2017)
In a noisy world, it allows you to be heard.
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Enigma Crypto Transmission from KPH at 426 KHz and Shortwave
DA was a part of our KPH project from the beginning. She learned her trade at US Coast Guard master station NMC, adjacent to KPH. At NMC she earned the coveted gold lightning bolt radnoman’s insignia (there was no such thing as a radiowoman in the Coast Guard). She also acquired the salty vocabulary she needed to hold…
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The Rise of Steel – Part I
One of the defining characteristics of the modern world is the ubiquity of steel.
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2023 Nobel Prize in economics awarded to Claudia Goldin
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2023 was awarded to Claudia Goldin "for having advanced our understanding of women’s labour market outcomes"
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The last day of Constantinople
Discover how the fall of Constantinople in 1453 ended the Byzantine Empire and transformed the great city into Ottoman Istanbul.
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Age of Invention: How the Dutch Did It Better
You’re reading Age of Invention, my newsletter on the causes of the British Industrial Revolution and the history of innovation.
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Nobel Prize Chemistry 2023
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023 was awarded to Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus and Aleksey Yekimov "for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots"
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The First App Store
Editor’s Note: This article ends on a cliffhanger. The next part goes out in a week. I will start with an honest admission. I didn’t set out to write about the world’s first app store. I set out to write about Brother printers. But doing my research,
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Microsoft forced people to install their browser (2010)
It was a happy time for PC users. Microsoft had just delivered Windows 95, an incredibly vast improvement over windows 3.1 and DOS.
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Steve Jobs and the actually usable computer (2011)
At a sad time at which the world has just lost Steve Jobs, it is well to reflect on some of the things which he, his passion, and his creations have given us, as now the technical community should take...
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How to Roman Republic 101, Part IIIa: Starting Down the Path of Honors
This is the third of our planned five part series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc, IV, V, A1, A2) on the structure of the Roman Republic during the third and second centuries. Last time we discussed Rome&…
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Dick Smith’s Wizzard-ry 8 (Bit)
Homemade clone of the Dick Smith Wizzard/VTech CreatiVision game console.
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Windows 3.x VDDVGA
While working on my Windows 3.x display driver , I ran into a vexing problem. In Windows 3.1 running in Enhanced 386 mode, I could start a DOS session and switch it to a window. But an attempt to set a mode in the DOS window (e.g. MODE CO80 ) would destroy the Windows desktop, preventing further drawing from happening…
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UCLA floor tiles decoded, pay homage to first internet message (2013)
A hidden message left by a UCLA architect in 2011 was recently uncovered in Boelter Hall, where sharp-eyed passersby can spot a coded note in the pattern of floor tiles.
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RIP WC
So farewell then, Havant station’s 1930s railway toilets. It is doubtful whether many passengers will mourn their loss, but they are another piece of railway heritage that has slipped beyond …
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Programming culture in the late aughts (2022)
How it felt to be computing in the late aughts vs. now.
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The Remarkable Ivan Sutherland
CHM releases to the public for the first time a full oral history with Ivan Sutherland, pioneer of computer graphics, virtual reality, asynchronous systems, and more.
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Here be four bits of dragons: the Mattel D&D Computer Game and the TMS1100
When my parents sold the house and moved to the great white north, they dropped off a few boxes of my stuff that was still in the garage. ...
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The King doesn't own all the swans in Britain
So who does?
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One Year into the War in Ukraine
Today marks the end of the first year of Putin’s War in Ukraine. I will not call it an anniversary, because I don’t think anyone is celebrating. Nevertheless I think this makes a useful…
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Google's 25th Birthday
For Google’s 25th birthday, we’re celebrating alongside our users with a special Doodle and some surprises in Search.
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USB-C done cheap: when 2 ports become 1 (2020)
How PC hardware is implementing USB-C in a way that may or may not violate standards.
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Reverse-engineering an airspeed/Mach indicator from 1977
How does a vintage airspeed indicator work? CuriousMarc picked one up for a project, but it didn't have any documentation, so I reverse-en...
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Curl 25 Years Online Celebration
curl turns 25 years old and what better way to celebrate this than to join fellow curl friends, developers and fans online on the exact birthday? At 17:00 UTC March 20, 2023. We run an Online birthday party open for everyone to join. Consider muting yourself when you join, but feel encouraged to leave the … Continue…