Hidden Heroes
Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Episodes
S01E10: Dream Machine: How Alan Kay envisioned the future of modern laptops, tablet computers, and e-books
13 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Alan Kay is one of the most widely lauded of the early digital pioneers and the inventor of Dynabook, the direct predecessor of modern laptops, tablet...
S01E09: How Grace Hopper made computers more human
19 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Grace Hopper programmed one of the very first computers ever made and helped design one of the first programming languages. But more than anything els...
S01E08: The multitouch: How a mix of new ideas shaped the way we communicate with computers
23 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When Apple unveiled the multitouch Interface with the iPhone launch in 2007, it seemed as though computing had been reinvented overnight. But in reali...
S01E07: The image society: How Nasir Ahmed shaped image-based life
23 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Fifty years ago, the computer scientist Nasir Ahmed came up with a brilliant idea for compressing data, laying the groundwork for Zoom, YouTube, Insta...
S01E06: The Pathfinder: How Gladys West shaped the Earth for modern GPS
20 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As a young African American girl living on a farm during the Great Depression, Gladys West discovered she had a gift for math. Forty years later, she ...
S01E05: The Crypto Wars: How Philip Zimmermann fought for our right to privacy
15 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Three decades ago, Phil Zimmermann almost went to jail so that you could send an email without worrying that your personal data would be stolen. Read ...
S01E04: A Machine for Thinking: How Douglas Engelbart predicted the future of computing
26 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
More than 50 years ago, Douglas Engelbart gave the “mother of all demos” that transformed software forever. The computer world has been catching u...
S01E03: The Magic Cookie: How Lou Montulli Cured the Web’s Amnesia
21 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
More than two decades ago, Web pioneer Lou Montulli invented browser software cookies with the goal of preserving user privacy online. But then things...
S01E02: The Magic Box and the Spanning Tree: How Radia Perlman made the Internet work
13 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We take it for granted that decentralized networks like the Internet “just work.” But decades ago, pioneering computer scientist Radia Perlman sol...
S01E01: Intelligent Agent. How Pattie Maes Almost Invented Social Media
06 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Belgian-born computer scientist Pattie Maes was inventing the core principles behind the social media age when Mark Zuckerberg was still in kindergart...
S01E00: Intro Episode - Paying the Tribute to People Who Built Tech
03 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Hidden Heroes publishing is the initiative by Netguru that aims to pay tribute to people who built foundations of modern technology. Together with Ste...