Tech Tales

Internet Explorer slowly gained market share throughout 1995 and 1996, with the release of two major updates and a slew of corporate partnerships. Behind closed doors, Microsoft fought against PC makers that wanted to support IE's main competitor, Netscape Navigator.

Hosted by Corbin Davenport, guest starring Cody Toombs.

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Videos:

• https://youtu.be/pUprvSUMXYE

Sources:

• https://www.betaarchive.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=29919

• https://www.webdesignmuseum.org/old-software/web-browsers

• https://winworldpc.com/product/internet-explorer

• https://news.microsoft.com/1996/05/29/microsoft-internet-explorer-3-0-beta-now-available/

• https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107368886/microsoft-wins-the-latest-bout-with/

• https://books.google.com/books?id=zDsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA90#v=onepage&q&f=false

• https://www.wired.com/1996/11/will-activex-threaten-national-security/

The World Wide Web as we know it today began to take shape in the early 1990s, fueled by the popularity of the Mosaic web browser. Microsoft licensed Mosaic's code to create Internet Explorer, which would go on to change the entire computer industry.

Hosted by Corbin Davenport, guest starring Cody Toombs.

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TechTalesShow

Follow on Mastodon/Fediverse: https://mas.to/@techtales

Support the Show: https://techtalesshow.com/support

Video:

• https://youtu.be/_JzfROUDsK0

Sources:

• https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/01/business/business-technology-netscape-knows-fame-and-aspires-to-fortune.html

• https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/worldnet-now-bundled-with-windows-95/

• https://ericsink.com/Browser_Wars.html

• https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107525776/new-tools-offer-help-in-navigating/

• https://www.betaarchive.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=29919

• https://www.webdesignmuseum.org/old-software/web-browsers

Microsoft created an online chatbot called 'Tay' in March 2016, intended to test the limits of artificial intelligence and machine learning on social media platforms. Less than 24 hours later, Tay went off the rails.

Hosted by Corbin Davenport, guest starring Joe Fedewa.

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TechTalesShow

Follow on Mastodon/Fediverse: https://mas.to/@techtales

Support the Show: https://techtalesshow.com/support

Sources:

• https://web.archive.org/web/20160323194709/https://tay.ai/

https://arxiv.org/abs/1812.08989

• https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/04/science/for-sympathetic-ear-more-chinese-turn-to-smartphone-program.html

• https://www.theverge.com/2016/3/23/11290200/tay-ai-chatbot-released-microsoft

• https://www.theverge.com/2016/3/24/11297050/tay-microsoft-chatbot-racist

• https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-deletes-racist-genocidal-tweets-from-ai-chatbot-tay-2016-3

• https://web.archive.org/web/20170210055324/http://fusion.net/story/284617/8chan-microsoft-chatbot-tay-racist/

• https://fortune.com/2016/03/30/microsofts-tay-return/

• https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/microsoft-zo-chatbot-ai-artificial-intelligence/

• https://qz.com/1340990/microsofts-politically-correct-chat-bot-is-even-worse-than-its-racist-one/

This special episode is a compilation of outtakes from recording the first 30 episodes of Tech Tales. Enjoy!

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Faced with growing competition from Microsoft Windows, Apple and Novell teamed up in 1992 to port the Mac operating system to PCs. The project, named 'Star Trek,' had the potential to change the landscape of the computer industry... but it didn't quite work out.

Hosted by Corbin Davenport, guest starring Cody Toombs.

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TechTalesShow

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Support the Show: https://techtalesshow.com/support

Sources:

• https://lowendmac.com/2014/star-trek-apples-first-mac-os-on-intel-project/

• https://www.theregister.com/1999/11/05/how_ms_played_the_incompatibility/

• https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1992-12-09-1992344024-story.html

• https://tedium.co/2021/03/24/novell-apple-macos-history/

• https://www.sattlers.org/mickey/tech/hardware/apple/macintosh/misc/project-star-trek.html

• http://millsoft.ca/billm/Newsletters/PC_Week_1993-05-03.txt

NASA's Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes continued their trip through the solar system throughout the 1980s and 1990s. While Voyager 2 captured the first images of Uranus and Neptune, scientist Carl Sagan pushed for NASA to power up Voyager 1's cameras for one last time.

Hosted by Corbin Davenport, guest starring Cody Toombs. Check out Cody on Twitter (@Cody_Toombs) and Mastodon (@[email protected]).

Discuss this episode on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/TechTalesPodcast

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TechTalesShow

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Photos:

• https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/galleries/images-voyager-took/uranus/

• https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/galleries/images-voyager-took/neptune/

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Family_portrait_(Voyager_1).png

Sources:

• https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4219/Chapter11.html

• https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/timeline

• https://www.npr.org/2010/02/12/123614938/an-alien-view-of-earth

• https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/interstellar-mission

• https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1977-084A

• https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/news/voyager-mission-anniversary-computers-command-data-attitude-control/

• https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/03/magazine/the-loyal-engineers-steering-nasas-voyager-probes-across-the-universe.html

• https://descanso.jpl.nasa.gov/DPSummary/Descanso4--Voyager_ed.pdf

The Grand Theft Auto series was already pushing the limits of adult content in video games by the early 2000's, but developer Rockstar wanted to go even further for the next entry. Grand Theft Auto San Andreas was eventually released in 2004 without the planned explicit content, but when modders unlocked the scenes that Rockstar decided to hide at the last minute, all hell broke loose.

Hosted by Corbin Davenport, guest starring Zachary Wander. Outro is the Grand Theft Auto San Andreas theme.

Discuss this episode on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/TechTalesPodcast

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TechTalesShow

Follow on Mastodon/Fediverse: https://mas.to/@techtales

Support the Show: https://techtalesshow.com/support

Videos:

• https://youtu.be/yOzcbtsw_pQ

• https://youtu.be/EBeoWBXmgw8?t=145

Sources:

• https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-11-30-who-spilled-hot-coffee

• https://money.cnn.com/2004/10/25/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/index.htm

• https://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2005/jul/18/gtacreatorsch

• https://web.archive.org/web/20090103090032/http://www.clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=240603&&

• https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2005/07/senator-clinton-burned-hot-coffee-proposes-grand-theft-free-speech

• https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/gta-trilogy-chaos-continues-as-hot-coffee-sex-files-reportedly-uncovered/

• https://web.archive.org/web/20050811012025/http://nomorehotcoffee.com/

• https://www.cnet.com/news/nasa-holoported-a-doctor-onto-the-international-space-station/

• https://web.archive.org/web/20051003230253/http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/09/23/news_6134252.html

The Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 space probes finally launched in late 1977, following around a decade of development and planning. Both probes captured incredible photos of Jupiter and Venus, and collected valuable scientific data, though the journey wasn't without challenges.

Hosted by Corbin Davenport, guest starring Cody Toombs.

Discuss this episode on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/TechTalesPodcast

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TechTalesShow

Follow on Mastodon/Fediverse: https://mas.to/@techtales

Support the Show: https://techtalesshow.com/support

Photos:

• https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/voyager-1-takes-the-first-image-of-the-earth-moon-system-in-a-single-frame

• https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/galleries/images-voyager-took/jupiter/

• https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/galleries/images-voyager-took/saturn/

Videos:

• https://youtu.be/ZQIxyqt0fV4

Sources:

• https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4219/Chapter11.html

• https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/timeline

• https://www.npr.org/2010/02/12/123614938/an-alien-view-of-earth

• https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/interstellar-mission

• https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1977-084A

• https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/news/voyager-mission-anniversary-computers-command-data-attitude-control/

• https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/03/magazine/the-loyal-engineers-steering-nasas-voyager-probes-across-the-universe.html

• https://descanso.jpl.nasa.gov/DPSummary/Descanso4--Voyager_ed.pdf

While the Space Race in the 1960s drew to a close, NASA began planning a 'Grand Tour' of the outer Solar System using a series of space probes. By 1977, Voyager 1 and 2 were ready to launch.

Hosted by Corbin Davenport, guest starring Cody Toombs.

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TechTalesShow

Follow on Mastodon/Fediverse: https://mas.to/@techtales

Support the Show: https://techtalesshow.com/support

Videos:

• https://youtu.be/tkxP-9BEc8E?t=542

Images:

• https://imgur.com/Rd4tOWz

Sources:

• https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4219/Chapter11.html

• https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/timeline

• https://www.npr.org/2010/02/12/123614938/an-alien-view-of-earth

• https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/interstellar-mission

• https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1977-084A

• https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/news/voyager-mission-anniversary-computers-command-data-attitude-control/

• https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/03/magazine/the-loyal-engineers-steering-nasas-voyager-probes-across-the-universe.html

• https://descanso.jpl.nasa.gov/DPSummary/Descanso4--Voyager_ed.pdf

In this special April Fools' Day episode of Tech Tales, GLaDOS from Aperture Science joins the show to discuss the very real and totally-not-from-a-video-game Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device.

Hosted by Corbin Davenport, guest starring GLaDOS from 15.ai. Ending song is "Robots FTW" by Jonathan Coulton from the Portal 2 soundtrack.

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TechTalesShow

Follow on Mastodon/Fediverse: https://mas.to/@techtales

Support the Show: https://techtalesshow.com/support

Videos:

• https://youtu.be/wX9Sc88qreg

Sources:

• https://combineoverwiki.net/wiki/Aperture_Science

• https://combineoverwiki.net/wiki/Aperture_Science_Handheld_Portal_Device