On October 11, 1999, Nvidia released its GeForce 256, its first product that it described as a GPU.
Nvidia’s first GPU: GeForce 256
Ward Christensen, telecommunications pioneer
Telecommunications pioneer Ward Christensen was born October 23, 1945 in West Bend, Wis. He died aged 78 October 11, 2024 in Rolling Meadows, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. Christensen invented the Xmodem file transfer protocol and co-invented the bulletin board system, two innovations that greatly increased the utility of modems when used with small computers.
The Infogrames-Atari merger of 2008
On October 9, 2008, Infogrames completed its purchase of Atari Inc. The deal, which the two companies agreed to in May, led to speculation that the acquisition would be the end of Atari. Instead, it had the opposite effect, though it took a roundabout way to get there.
Commodore’s knockoff Atari joystick from 1982
When Commodore released its VIC-20 computer in 1981, it also released was a matching joystick and paddles. Cast in white plastic like the VIC-20, the Commodore VIC-1311 looked like a two-tone Atari joystick from the same time period. And the VIC-1312 paddles looked like a two-tone Atari paddle set. The resemblance was uncanny, and Atari took notice. On October 11, 1982, Atari sued.
When Apple Records sued Apple Computer
On October 9, 1991, Apple Records settled one of its many lawsuits with Apple Computer. It wasn’t the first time the two companies tangled. Nor would it be the last. Apple Records was the Beatles’ record label. Apple Computer was, of course, a maker of computers. It was the nature of one of those computers that got Apple Computer into trouble.
Max Toy, embattled Commodore president
Commodore went through a revolving door of executives after Jack Tramiel resigned due to conflicts with Irving Gould. On October 6, 1987, it was Max Toy’s turn. On that day, Commodore hired him. And for a while, it seemed like Max Toy might be the one to turn the company around. In this blog post, we’ll explore what was different, and what wasn’t so different about him.
Lotus: Second largest software publisher in the world (in 1983)
On October 6, 1983, Lotus Development held its very successful IPO worth $5.5 billion. Founded by Mitch Kapor and Jonathan Sachs in 1982, Lotus was the publisher of a spreadsheet called Lotus 1-2-3. Two months after their IPO, they were the second largest software company in the world, becoming one of the first high-flying tech stocks before cooling down later in the decade.
The IBM Thinkpad’s 1992 debut
On October 5, 1992, IBM released its first three Thinkpad models. IBM had portable computers before, starting with its luggable Portable PC from 1984 and PC Convertible from 1986. But none of them had the lasting success of the Thinkpad, which IBM designed to compete head to head with Compaq’s LTE, Apple’s Powerbook, and Toshiba’s Dynabook.
Weekend content through the end of 2026
About three and a half years ago, I had to make some changes to my format and workflow. It wasn’t the first time I’d done things like that and probably won’t be the last. And usually when I make changes, I don’t say much about it. I usually find it’s better if I don’t. But I think this time it’s worth talking about it a little.
Cull lumber at Menards
The Home Depot near me stopped doing cull lumber. I don’t know if that’s just a local thing or if the whole chain stopped doing it. That sent me looking for alternatives, and I found one at Menards. Menards does cull lumber a bit differently, but there are a couple of ways to get cheap lumber at discounted prices at Menards. Menards doesn’t call it cull lumber, they call it value lumber. And they also sell an economy grade of lumber.