August 24, 2011

Good morning! It's The Nerd's Almanac for Wednesday, August 24, 2011.

Today is the anniversary of one of the world's great operating systems. On this date in 1995, Microsoft released Windows 95. At the time, Linux was still in its infancy. Mac users were still on System 7. Looking back, Windows 95 seems a bit primitive, but it was such an enormous improvement over Windows 3.1, I consider it a huge success!

This date in 1998 marks the first human RFID implantation in the UK. This is from today's page in Wikipedia, otherwise unconfirmed. And assuming it's true, I don't know what has become of the implant recipient. But somebody knows. Oh yes, somebody surely does know.

And today is also a sad anniversary. It was on this date in 2006 that the International Astronomical Union redefined the word "planet". They tried to tell the rest of the world that Pluto was no longer a "planet" but would instead be considered a "dwarf planet". This is nonsense, of course. Pluto has been and always will be a planet.

It's Stephen Fry's birthday today! I've always thought Stephen to be one of the world's greatest nerds, what with all the tweeting and blogging and overall general cleverness. And wasn't he the second person in the UK to buy a Macintosh? Yes, Wikipedia confirms that, for whatever it might be worth, right? Anyway, be sure to tweet your best wishes to @stephenfry!

Here is a quote for today...
"You are who you are when nobody's watching."
-- Stephen Fry

And that's the almanac for today. Nerds of the world -- especially you, Stephen!! -- we salute you!

Sources:
Wikipedia: August 24
Wikipedia: Windows 95
Wikipedia: 2006 definition of planet
Wikipedia: Pluto
Wikipedia: Stephen Fry
Good Reads: Stephen Fry