retro-futures
The 60-Year Rise of IBM's Immortal Mainframe
The very term "mainframe computers" brings to mind data scientists in lab coats shuffling punch cards and smoking cigarettes, but don't let that get to you. Despite decades of technology evangelists calling for the death of the ancient mainframe...
Well, That Norwegian Time Capsule Reveal Was Awkward
The whole thing was carried out with extreme care, though.
Watch This Century-Old Norwegian Time Capsule Reveal Right Now
It was given to the administration of Sel, Norway, in 1912, on one condition: "Can be opened in 2012."
Tesla Will Get His Own Museum Because the Internet Says So
There are a lot of people out there that really like Nikola Tesla. And what's not to like? The handsome mustachioed scientist invented the modern alternating current system that powers our offices and homes, poured the foundation for wireless...
Here's the Prototype of a $9 Fully Ridable Cardboard Bike
So it turns out that building a fully ridable bicycle out of cardboard costs about 9 bucks. Israeli designer Giora Kariv should know, since he's just put the finishing touches on a prototype of what is probably the world's first bike to be made out of...
This Is What's in DIY Games: A Teaser
I don't play games. Never have, really. During a blip of my youth you could've found me posted up in my parent's basement, getting down on brick-era Game Boy and SNES classics. True. But for me, as with too many other kids my age itching to kick off...
No One Remembers Who Invented the Telephone
Alexander Graham Bell, the so-called father of the telephone, may have been the first to patent it. But true credit goes to an impoverished Italian immigrant from Staten Island who couldn't speak English.
The Meter Dash: How to Hack Parking
Parking is a real drag. Everything about it sucks, especially in the city. If you're not willing to shell out a bunch of hard cash to some sketchball lot attendant, you're forced to waste precious time idling around, waiting for a street spot to free...
Hollywood Demonstrates Why 80 Percent of Lightning Strike Victims Are Male
If you play baseball with The Almighty, you should probably be aware of one niggling little ground rule up front: it's not three strikes and you're out. It's _one_ strike. And that's because the strikes are lightning. Cue "a recent tweet from the...
The Well, One of the Earliest Social Networks, Is Facing Destruction
Decades before Facebook, before MySpace and before Friendster, a small group of hippies in San Francisco banned together and created one of the earliest social network: The Well. Today, nearly three decades after its founding The Well's online...
Queen Victoria is the Internet's Latest and Greatest Oversharer
A month ago, at the push of a button and as a diamond jubilee gift to the world, Queen Elizabeth II put her great-great-grandmother’s complete journals online. Like WikiLeak’s Cablegate page, Queen Victoria’s Journals combines Web 1.0 aesthetics with a...
The Other Hot Dog King of New York: A Chat With Ed Beller, Inventor of Stainless-Steel Pushcarts
Ah, the sweet, sweet smell of hot dogs steaming from a bright, shiny curbside cart. What’s more New York than that? Not much. And seeing as nobody running around this city has time to sit down for a long, wholesome lunch break anymore, today's ever...