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retromodo
Retromodo: Did You Know Hedy Lamarr Helped Invent Frequency Hopping?
There's a longer story you can read elsewhere, but actress Hedy Lamarr invented and patented a system to help prevent torpedoes from being jammed by using frequency hopping. More » -
the internet
CompuServe Classic Finally Laid To Rest
Have you noticed anything different about your inbox this week? Where are all the weirdly threatening chain letters from family members you've never met? The hyperventilating urgent FWD: FWD: FWD: messages about Barack Obama's secret Hellenic Polytheism? Your tri-weekly update on the power of prayer, told through the perspective of your fourth cousin's cat? They are gone, is where, stemmed at the source. CompuServe Classic is dead. More » -
retromodo
The First Integrated Circuit Chip: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary
The Computer History Museum is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the integrated circuit, pictured above, with a multimedia exhibit called "The Silicon Engine" to explain why many claim the IC as one of mankind's greatest and most important inventions ever. More » -
Walkman at 30
Take the Walkman 30th Birthday Quiz
How much do you know about the most celebrated personal stereo of all time, one that is today turning the big Three Oh? A lot? OK, hell, let's see what you got: More » -
Walkman at 30
Notable and Crazy Sony Cassette Walkman Editions
Sony's cassette tape Walkman came to life in many shapes and forms through the years. Here are a few of the great, the important and sometimes plain weird Walkman models. More » -
Walkman at 30
Great Sony Walkman TV and Print Ads of the 1980s
To commemorate the Sony Walkman's 30th birthday, here are the trippy ads Sony used to promote it in the '80s. Noble monkeys, off-key kids and sweet-toothed senseis—where's that f'd up sense of humor now, Sony? More » -
retromodo
The Original Ethernet Cable and Cable Diagrams
BoingBoing Gadgets found this photo of the original original Ethernet cable at Xerox PARC, devised by Bob Metcalfe so he could rig up a local system for sharing things digitally. More » -
retromodo
Computing Classic: The Kitchen Computer
The 1969 Kitchen Computer by Honeywell was not just a fancy cutting board. It was meant to store recipes, even recommending meals from ingredients on hand. The problem is, you had to know binary to use it. More » -
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retromodo
Computing Classic: Video on How the Airforce Protected Us from Attacks in the 1960s
This video explains more about the SAGE system I wrote about last week, the huge Airforce used in the 50s to the 80s to make us feel safe from supersonic Soviet bombers. More » -
retromodo
The Secret of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" Forward Leaning Move
The late King of Pop pioneered dance moves that looked mechanical and weren't, like the moonwalk, and at least one that looked mechanical and was: The forward-leaning maneuver from his "Smooth Criminal" video. The secret is all in the shoes. More » -
retromodo
The Birthplace of Silicon Valley Is a Palo Alto Garage
This is the Palo Alto, CA garage where two young Stanford engineering grads named Bill Hewlett and David Packard started building what would one day become the world's largest PC manufacturer. In 2000, HP turned it into a museum. More » -
Computing Classic
Computing Classic: The 1954 SAGE Protected the US From Invasions That Never Came
Dag Spicer from the Computer History Museum leaned over and unscrewed a bolt. Underneath, it read, "I can't stand it". The operator's job was to look for cold war bombers that never came. I would go mad, too. Look: More » -
retromodo
Lego...Uh, Tyco Brick Phone Circa 1983
Lego may be all into consumer gadgets these days with their fancy cellphones and camcorders, but Tyco beat them to the punch in the 80's when they created this charmingly hideous landline phone. More » -
retromodo
I Bet Your Camera Can't Transform Into the Defender of the Universe
I was thinking of getting a Canon T1i, but after seeing this fully-functional, transforming Voltron SLR-wannabe 110 film camera from 1985, I will seriously have to reconsider my options. [DoobyBrain via DVice via TheDailyWhat] -
computers
25 Of The Most Influential PCs Ever Made
A visit to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA has Maximum PC feeling all nostalgic about the history of the personal computer. More » -
retromodo
Vibra-Finger: You Know, to Massage Your Gums
It vibrates to massage your gums. Sure. [Dark Roasted Blend] -
retromodo
Dear Modem from 1964, Welcome to the Internet
45 years after it was first created, Livermore Data Systems' "Model A" Acoustic Coupler Modem finally gets hooked up to the Internet, and travels to the World Wide Web at a whopping 300 baud. More » -
retromodo
What to Do with an Original 1984 Macintosh?
I bought myself an original Macintosh—the one from 1984—this weekend. I saw it on the streets of Williamsburg for $35, almost completely new, and I couldn't resist. Now I want to do something with it. More » -
space
First TV Image of Mars Ever Was Made With Crayons
What you are looking at here is the very first image ever taken of the surface of Mars. It was acquired by NASA's Mariner 4 using a television camera, and rendered using crayons. Look closer: More » -
man vs machine
The Death Row Inmate Who Turned His Toilet Into an Electric Chair
Michael Anderson Godwin was a murderer. He was awaiting South Carolina's electric chair in 1989 when he decided to fix his TV set while sitting on his cell's metal toilet. You can probably see where this is going. More » -
man vs machine
The Pitching Machine With a Taste For Blood
11-year-old Mitchell Anderson had just finished practicing in the batting cage and was gathering balls in his helmet. Unfortunately for him, there was one ball left still rattling around in the machine. More » -
man vs machine
A Concert With Death As the Encore
On May 3, 1972, Les Harvey took the stage at Swansea Top Rank with his blues band Stone the Crows. It was raining, and he was soaking wet. More » -
man vs machine
The Coffee Machine That Dispensed Hot Death
Last month, Yogesh Singh was getting coffee from a machine in a stall while taking a break from helping his father run a tent shop. He was tired and needed a pick-me-up. More » -
man vs machine
The Parachute That Killed Its Inventor
On February 4th 1912 Franz Reichelt attempted to test his latest invention — a parachute jacket — at the Eiffel Tower. He donned his apparatus and tentatively stepped to the edge of the viewing deck. More » -
retromodo
Olde Timey Notificator Machine Twitters Like It's 1935
Featured in a 1935 issue of awesome futurist-comic-book-slash-science-mag Modern Mechanix, the Notificator is almost certainly the world's first Twitter client. More » -
retromodo
Any Excuse Is Good to Post the ZX Spectrum
It wasn't popular in the US, but in Europe it was huge during the 80s. Black, sleek, slippery when wet, rainbowy. I loved its rubber keyboard. Just like the new Boing Boing Gadgets' redesign. [BBG] -
retromodo
Vincent Price Promises 3D Pictures That Are 'Three Times as Thrilling'
Is there anything better than watching Vincent Price try to sell an insanely complicated 3D camera as simple? No, no there isn't. More » -
retromodo
Awesome 1980s Computer Pop-Up Book: A Floppy What Now?
Now this is one amazing Goodwill find: A vintage pop-up book designed to teach burgeoning nerds about the wonders of the modern computer. Floppy disks, ASCII, and the dot-matrix printer. Oh my. More » -
retromodo
Transparent Mac SE/20 vs iMac Graphite
This is what may have happened if Jonathan Ive from Summer 2001—who designed the iMac graphite on the right—had a time machine to travel back and design the Mac SE/20 in 1987. More » -
space
How Not To Launch a Rocket: The Nedelin Disaster
History's worst rocket tragedy actually occurred on the ground, in 1960, when the Soviets were experimenting with a dangerous new fuel. Piers Bizony chronicles it in his upcoming book, How To Build Your Own Spaceship:
More » -
retromodo
The Orion Project: A Hotel-Sized Nuclear Spaceship
Here's a classic TED talk by George Dyson, where he shares his father Freeman's notes on reclassified Project Orion: A Cold War spaceship as large as a Marriott hotel powered by 20 kiloton nukes. More » -
retromodo
Vintage 2-XL Robot Uses 8-Track Tapes, Not as Scary as Teddy Ruxpin
Released in 1978, the 2-XL educational robot was before my time, but it wouldn't have haunted my nightmares like Teddy Ruxpin did. At least this robot had the decency to look like a damn robot. More » -
retromodo
When Good Enough Becomes Lousy
The antithesis of the good enough mantra can be seen with this, a Hoover washing machine from 1948. More » -
film
I Wish Digital Cameras Still Had Bellows
Like this new medium-format Bessa III from Voigtlander—one thing film will always have over digital. More » -
retromodo
Antique Speaker Horn Adds Old-Timey Class to iPhone
I would've held this Magnavox speaker to my ear and pretended to be deaf, saying clever things like "What's up, sonny?" Matt Richmond combined it with some scraps of walnut to create an iPod dock. More » -
retromodo
This May Be the World's First Electric Car
If these newly discovered photos are confirmed, what you are seeing here is the first ever electric car, built in 1884 by British inventor Thomas Parker. 1884, people. More » -
retromodo
Holy Crap, Email Was Scary in the 1970s!
In case you weren't aware, email humbly began as some sort of paranormal force whose sole objective was to materialize out of thin air and terrify middle-aged businessmen. More » -
Gadget Gods
Bill Gates' First Product Demo Was Full of Fail and Cries for Mommy
Wired's Epicenter proves Bill Gates hasn't always pooped out money-making tech his entire life—their latest post documents his failed traffic metering device, which helped automate the process of counting cars on the road. More » -
listening test
How We Listen: A Timeline of Audio Formats
Humans have been writing music for at least as long as we've been recording history. It was storing it that took a little more time. Here are all the ways we've done it to date: More »







































