A Significant Day for the Computer Age, Indeed

Sit back in your computer chair for a moment, ignoring the squeaky sounds, and cogitate on the following importance of this date.

141 years ago today, a man named Christopher Latham Sholes was granted a patent by the U.S. government for inventing a thing he called a "Type-Writer." Others had attempted this, but he put everything together and got it right. He went on a few years later to invent the QWERTY keyboard you are probably using right now.

97 years ago today, a man named Alan Turing was born. He is nowadays regarded by many as the father of computer science. Time magazine said of him in 1999: "The fact remains that everyone who taps at a keyboard, opening a spreadsheet or a word-processing program, is working on an incarnation of a Turing machine."

66 years ago today, a man was born named Vint Cerf. He is presented regarded by many as the father of the (capital I) Internet. He was involved in the creation of ARPANet, the Internet's predecessor, and now works for Google.

Finally, 45 years ago, Joss Whedon was born, who later went on to create Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which in time became one of the favorite, if not THE the favorite, TV show of Quinn Morgendorffer, per the episode "Speedtrapped." He also gave us the fandom term "Jossed," which has no relevance to Daria fandom now that the show is over.

What does this mean? It means.... um, wait, I went too far. Skip the part about Joss Whedon. Strike it out.

What it means is that today is VERY IMPORTANT in the history of the very item you are staring at right now. I mean the whole computer, not just the monitor. VERY IMPORTANT. Don't forget that.

Today is also the 83rd anniversary of the very first SAT test as we know it, which gave us the P-STAT that caused some distress among the Fashion Club in Is It Fall Yet? Is that cool or what?

That's all I had. Enjoy.

Happy Birthday to Your Keyboard!

You typed on a keyboard to access this website. The keyboard is, of course, derived from the one on a typewriter, which was patented 140 years ago today. Your input device is almost a century and a half old! Technology really speeds along, doesn't it? Thank you, Christopher L. Sholes, for all things QWERTY.

Remember Quinn & co. taking their "P-STATs" for college, in Is It Fall Yet? The actual SAT (on which the PSAT was based) was first administered 82 years ago.

The latest alt.lawndale.creators interview is with CINCGREEN and Ruthless Bunny, and they have a lot to say about their involvement with Daria fandom (and about the fandom itself). See the full-length interview on PPMB or SFMB. The next artist interview will be with Kemical Reaxion; the next author interview with MMan. Send in your questions today!

Portland Dariacon Deux was held recently, attended by cynigal and NomadX. Once again, yes, two Daria fans who meet for any reason whatsoever are considered to form a Dariacon. We don't have the membership numbers to be picky about it. See here for all the PDD news.

Densely written commentary is being posted about the latest Legion of Lawndale Heroes chapter (LLH 13.1: "Where Do We Go From Here?"), by Brother Grimace. Go thou, read, and post some more.

Derek has issued an Iron Chef on PPMB: "Write a scene where a character utters the line, 'Release the supersonic murderous psychic android squirrels that can smell fear!'" Do it to it.

PPMB

• Avenging, by Lorenzo Sauchelli (Part 12): "Yes, I am Leonardo Hamato," said the humanoid turtle. "I am here to be your sensei for the next two years."
• But What About the Baby (Sitter)?! by Kristen Bealer (Part 3): I think I'm actually getting dumber every minute I spend around Trent, Daria thought. The Crush Lives!
  
• The Cynic and The Defender, by Doggieboy (Part 4): "One time I tried to do a straight portal from Fostoria to Mammoth Caves in Kentucky. I ended up in a women’s locker room at Baylor University.”
• Stage Fright, by NightGoblyn (Part 1): A new story on the Evil Jane thread, with the welcome promise of much evil wicked badness in middle school.
  

A last historical note, which Jodie Landon would tell you about if no one else did: The first black American to be nominated for the presidency of the United States of America was . . . Frederick Douglass, who gained the nomination 120 years ago today. Party on.