10 YEARS AGO — 2002 Check forgers take note: Photo ID software is on your case — True ID photo-identification software from Identico Systems LLC, Nashua, N.H., may help catch scofflaws trying to pass fraudulent checks. The software will work with the ICE 7000CE Web-enabled card payment terminal from Hypercom Corp., Phoenix.
A driver’s license or other valid photo-ID card is first scanned, encrypted, and stored on the True ID device, along with payment information. When the customer next pays with a check or credit card, the device instantly displays their photo on the terminal for verification.
The ICE 7000CE has a 6-in., 256-color ¼-VGA touch graphics and pen-input screen. It uses a 32-bit CPU running at 128 MHz.
30 YEARS AGO — 1982 Screen eliminates CRT keyboard: An unusual touch-sensitive CRT screen from Detector Electronics, Minneapolis, supplements — and can supplant — a conventional keyboard. Called TouchMagic, the transparent control screen is said to be a simple and straightforward method of interfacing between people and computer memory. No special training or keyboard expertise is needed. The screen, which fits over conventional CRT screens, has 16 horizontal electrical paths on a convex glass panel positioned opposite 16 vertical paths on a plastic sheet. Each position where the 32 paths cross is a switch position.
50 YEARS AGO — 1962: Manned moon landing from an orbiting spacecraft is foreseen by two Lockheed Missile & Space Co. engineers. A space vehicle carrying three or four men would be launched from the Earth and enter moon’s orbit at an altitude of 100 miles. A two-man vehicle would detach from the craft, descend to the moon for a week’s stay, the return to the orbiting vehicle for the trip back to Earth. This plan is similar to one for Project Apollo, which was recently approved by NASA.