David L. Farquhar

Digital Research’s 1991 merger with Novell

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 11:00:14 +0000

On July 17, 1991, Novell bought Digital Research for $80 million, a merger of a pioneer in desktop computer networking with a pioneer in desktop computer operating systems. Novell saw Microsoft coming after its business on multiple fronts, and saw

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Intel founded July 18, 1968

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 11:00:06 +0000

Intel was founded July 18, 1968, by semiconductor pioneers Gordon Moore (of Moore’s law fame) and Robert Noyce and investor Arthur Rock. Intel’s employee #3 was Andrew Grove. Moore, Noyce, and Grove had all worked together at Fairchild Semiconductor in

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Reasons for Escom’s bankruptcy

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

On July 15, 1996, German PC manufacturer Escom declared bankruptcy. But Escom wasn’t necessarily just an ordinary PC manufacturer. Escom went bankrupt less than 2 years after acquiring the Commodore and Amiga brand names and starting to use their technology.

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Nintendo Famicom and the secret of Nintendo’s success

Dave Farquhar — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 11:00:58 +0000

On July 15, 1983, the Famicom, or Family Computer, launched in Japan. Despite the name, the Family Computer was a game console, and it went on to shatter the Atari 2600’s record for the most sales worldwide by a game

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Code Red worm, July 13, 2001

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 11:00:49 +0000

Code Red was a computer worm that exploited one of the earliest notorious Microsoft vulnerabilities, a buffer overflow in Microsoft IIS. It is credited as the first large scale mixed threat attack against enterprise networks. Code Red was released July

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Gary Kildall’s death investigation

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 11:00:48 +0000

Gary Kildall’s death investigation, or the seeming lack thereof, has taken on mythical proportions. Gary Kildall’s story seems to have that effect on people. Just like the story of Kildall allegedly going flying instead of meeting with IBM in August

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Monorail: Pioneering $999 PCs from 1996

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 11:00:50 +0000

Monorail was a short-lived PC vendor from the late 1990s and early 2000s. Founded November 2, 1995, they were the first company to sell a Pentium-class PC including a display for under $1,000. And Monorail PCs were the first desktop

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How Donkey Kong toppled Atari

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 11:00:46 +0000

In July 1981, at the height of Pac-Man fever, Nintendo released its third stand up arcade game. This game, Donkey Kong, took over as the most popular arcade game in the world, but it had a lasting repercussions. It irreversibly

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Ray Kassar, former Atari CEO

Dave Farquhar — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 11:00:45 +0000

Raymond Edward Kassar was born January 2, 1928 and died December 10, 2017, aged 89, in Vero Beach, Florida. Ray Kassar was president, and later CEO, of Atari Inc. from 1978 to 1983. Atari’s parent company, Warner Bros, hired him

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Why IBM bought Lotus

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 11:00:52 +0000

On July 6, 1995, IBM bought Lotus Development for $3.5 billion. Lotus had once been the second largest software publisher in the world and was worth $5.5 billion at its IPO. Its flagship product, the spreadsheet Lotus 1-2-3, had been

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