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Brings me back to the days of going to dgl.microsoft.com in Internet Explorer to explore the library of Clip Art graphics online. This was during the Office XP and 2003 days. Even today, that style comes across as far more authentic than the tacky AI-generated flyers you see plastered everywhere now.

I think you may be referring to *.onmicrosoft.com (add that one to the list too...)

What UI framework did you use to build this? I love these types of interfaces in native applications.

I registered and currently manage one of these .gov domains. Registration took some time, but it was an interesting process and felt pretty cool once it was finally provisioned!

I have a vague recollection of a piece of software distributed by Bank of America in the mid-to-late 90s that featured an interface similar to Microsoft Bob. From what I remember, it was similar to Quicken. Was never able to find any information about it, and granted I was probably 5 when I found it on the family PC so the memory is a little fuzzy, but seeing these old design languages from that era of computing is always neat.

I think you're right, although I've noticed that there's a timeout where newer cars automatically turns off if the key fob doesn't come back within range after so many minutes. Probably a safety feature to avoid accidental walkaways, whereas the button required a deliberate two-step action (hold down while turning and removing the key) to activate the feature.

At first glance this reminded me of some Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor models which had similar unlabeled buttons. One would disable all exterior lights, including brake lights, for going into stealth/surveillance mode. An adjacent button was used to be able to remove the key and keep the engine running, while preventing the car from being shifted out of park until the key was inserted again. I haven't seen either feature re-introduced in the newer Explorers or Fusions though.

I'm curious as to when the attack took place, because our ADT alarm system was going haywire a couple weeks ago. Their support department said they were having communication issues to our control unit, and on our end there were random tones beeping on all of the alarm pads for about twelve hours, yet no fault/communication failure indicator. We've had the system for years and have never had any similar issues. Maybe coincidental? Although I tend take these disclosure statements with a grain of salt and assume that some detail gets quietly swept under the rug.

For the past several months I've been wanting to build something similar for a use case that I think would be suitable for such an appliance. Mind reaching out to me via the email in my profile?

I remember begging my parents to take me to a Radio Shack to get one of these when I was in second grade. The idea of being able to scan various items around the house was such a wild concept to me for some reason. Once we finally tracked one down, I scanned every book on my shelf into a trial copy of Winnebago Spectrum that I had obtained. It was the software suite that my elementary school's library ran off of, and I installed it on a Windows 2000 PC that my dad had passed down to me after upgrading the office computer. God knows how many hours I spent playing library with my younger sister and aimlessly scanning ISBNs - such simple times! Surprisingly I still have that same PS/2 CueCat in my drawer, though it hasn't been plugged in for at least fifteen years.

I know many of us in this community tend to look back at the earlier days of the internet very fondly and feel the nostalgia hit strongly, and I think it's because of the innovations (or maybe gimmicks?) like these that were novel and groundbreaking in many ways. Off the top of my head right now, I can't recall anything in recent times as quirky as the CueCat that would have evoked a similar excitement and genuine intrigue to a child today like I was fortunate to have experienced twenty years ago. But then again, I'm sure back then there weren't many seven year olds hunting down library database software and messing around with it for fun - so maybe my perspective is an outlier...

I currently carry a GETS card in my wallet, along with a second WPS-enabled iPhone. My agency instructs us to place a test call to the GETS/WPS "Familiarization Line" on a monthly basis to ensure we are able to connect successfully (and I suppose to also become comfortable with the process should we ever need to use it in a true disaster).

As the article mentions, we also have the app pushed out to all of our phones that can place outgoing calls with prioritization, but it only automatically keys in your PIN and the number you wish to reach after calling the dial access number. It's more of a convenience feature for those not wanting to manually enter the long string of digits for GETS. The app offers three modes to dial out: WPS, GETS, WPS+GETS. I always thought the WPS+GETS method seemed redundant, but I'm glad the author made the distinction on why stacking both methods makes sense.