History
How the “Mother of All Demos” Changed our Lives
I recently learned about a computer demonstration dubbed “The Mother of All Demos” given 40 years ago by Douglas Engelbart at the Fall Joint Computer Conference in San Francisco. Douglas showed off the NLS computer to a crowd of 1000 computer pros. The demo of this system given on December 9, 1968 is now considered one of the most important in modern computing history.
“The Histomap: 4000 Years of World History” is the Story of Civilization
Rand McNally, best known for their maps, atlases and globes, published “The Histomap: Four Thousand Years of World History” in 1931. It was created by John B. Sparks, and it originally sold for $1. The map measured 5’2″ tall. It was intended to “[dramatize] the great adventure of mankind.” It is the story of civilization. The colored regions represented the various empires throughout the last 4000 years.
10th Annual Gettysburg Remembrance Illumination
Some friends of ours went to Gettysburg last weekend for some much needed quality time, relaxation and checking out the sites. We live a short (1.5-2 hour) drive from Gettysburg, and decided a visit sounded apropos, given the November 19 anniversary of the Gettysburg Address and the release of “Lincoln” in theaters across of the nation. After a short dive into the Series of Tubes, we learned we could easily fill our Saturday afternoon and evening without too much expense beyond gas so on we went…