Tag Archives: computing

keylogger hoax

Posted on by October 1, 2012
Reply

Tricksterish hoaxing definitely is an integral part of online-culture. At c0x2.de an unidentified individual posing as an electrical engineer and US-citizen ↑reports that he found a keylogging-device similar to the ↑KeyGhost brand inside his Dell-laptop—inserted right between keyboard and ethernet board. The individual wants to have contacted the police, which in turn forwarded him/her to the Department of Homeland Security. He/she wrote to the latter and got the reply: “We have reviewed your Freedom of Information Act request, and have found that the requested records are exempt from being disclosed under FOIA. […]“ Meanwhile I am socialized enough in here … Continue reading →

Share

ölrechner

Posted on by October 1, 2012
Reply

 Word has it that Salvador Dalí (1904-1989) once coined the phrase ‘liquid television’. MTV grabbed the vocable and named a TV-show broadcasting animated cartoons likewise. The show even was to be seen in India via StarTV, and featured goodies like ‘Æon Flux’ (The latter becoming a feature-movie starring Charlize Theron *sigh* soon—via ↑gamersgame). But the fact remains that to date nobody knows what Dalí meant by ‘liquid television’. But I now know what could be meant by ‘liquid computer’. The casemodder-scene’s original innovation, the liquid-cooled computer, already is history. Now them g33kz pushed it quite a bit farther: A computer … Continue reading →

Share

dark side of casemodding

Posted on by October 1, 2012
Reply

By squishing a ↑computer into a vintage-model of Han Solo’s Millenium Falcon casemodder ↑Russ Caslis made the Star-Wars-nerd’s heart jump high and right out of the galaxy. ↑Alienware just seems to have achieved the opposite, ↑according to boingboing: “Alienware has licensed the right to create an official Star Wars PC from Lucas, and then squandered the opportunity by shipping a pair of stock PCs distinguished only by cheesy van-art airbrush murals on their sides.” A perfect example of casemodding becoming “‘ethnokitsch,’ commercially designed and profitably mass produced.” (↵Mitchell 1992: 174) Kitty, one of Michael Kitchenman’s informants has voiced that, too. … Continue reading →

Share

notebook’s roots

Posted on by October 1, 2012
Reply

↑Mobile Magazine has a nice article on ↑The Birth of the Notebook by Christopher Null. The article starts with Alan Kay’s 1968 idea ‘Dynabook’, which saw the light of day only as a mockup made of cardboard (picture from ↵Lees 1980:5), as the necessary technology to make it a real thing just was not yet in existance. The Dynabook was thought for kids [play!] and the field of learning and education—the software was thought to grow with the children. The contents of Alan Kays’s original draft notes at Xerox Parc, which are dated August 1972, are remarkable: “The size should … Continue reading →

Share

unix history

Posted on by March 6, 2011
Reply

Not only gamer- or modding-communities are very conscious of the history of technology, but it seems to me that ‘online culture’ in general is—Éric Lévénez maintains a ↑Unix History website, featuring “a simplified diagram of unix history. There are numerous derivative systems not listed in this chart, maybe 10 times more! In the recent past, many electronic companies had their own unix releases. This diagram is only the tip of an iceberg, with a penguin on it ;-).” For your convenience he stores several printable formats of his unix family tree for download … in case you still are searching … Continue reading →

Share