Posted 10/03/08 at 10:21:42 AM by Paul Lilly

Don't own a DeLorean? Not to worry because you can still go back in time. Google turns a decade old this year, and to celebrate its 10th birthday, Google has brought back its oldest available search index.

"We had so much fun searching that we wanted to put this old index online for everyone to play with," blogs Shrin Oskoi, Product Manager. "We thought it'd be even cooler if we could actually see the full versions of the old web pages, so we worked with the Internet Archive to link to their cache of these pages from 2001."

Did you know that InfoGear put out an iPhone long before Apple turned the cellular landscape topsy turvy? And we bet you had no idea Michael Phelps invented a technique that allows imaging of biological processes in the organ systems of living individuals. Of course, that's Michael Phelps the accomplished scientist, not the record breaking Olympic swimmer.

Find anything interesting? Hit the jump and let us know.

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Software, Google, birthday, time travel

Posted 08/18/08 at 01:26:55 PM by Paul Lilly

What does Debian, one of the most popular and stable Linux operating systems, and myself have in common? We both celebrated a birthday on August 16th! But unlike myself, Debian has proved its maturity at 'only' age 15 and probably doesn't find fart jokes funny anymore. Debian's also been highly influential, as many of the popular GNU/Linux distributions you've read about or played with - including Ubuntu and Knoppix - are based on Debian..

To trace Debian's roots, you'd have to go back to 1993 when Ian Murdock, who is now VP of developer and and community marketing at Sun, first announced the OS. But why call it Debian? Because of a girl, of course! Ian combined the name of his then girlfriend (and now wife), Debora, with his own (Deb+Ian), the union of which gave birth to Debian.

Fun Facts

• All versions of Debian are named after characters from the film Toy Story
• There are always four versions 
• Least stable version of Debian is named after Sid, the emotionally unstable neighbor kid in Toy Story who enjoyed destroying toys

Here's wishing another 15 years!

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Software, linux, open-source, birthday, debian

Posted 06/20/08 at 07:08:59 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Although trustworthy subscription figures are still awaited, Second Life undoubtedly is the most populated virtual world. It was launched five years ago on June 23, 2003. Second Life’s developers have planned a fest to mark its 5th anniversary. The celebrations will be confined to the Second Life world only.

The extended birthday bash is scheduled to last for two weeks from June 23rd to July 7. Obviously, there will be self-laudatory speeches from the Linden Labs top brass detailing exactly how Second Life has changed the world. Anyways, the fest is being plugged as a cultural event.

Second Life’s developers are trying to churn out a clean event with a PG rating and have expressly proscribed mature content in any of the exhibits.

Image Credit: McNutt 

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second life, virtual world, 5th anniversary, birthday, celebrations, fest, linden labs