Why listen to talking heads babble about bombing Iran when you can bomb it yourself? Or at least you can by playing a board game, as I did when I playedPersian Incursion, in which you play out a hypothetical Israeli air offensive to destroy Iran’s nuclear weapons program. With the International Atomic Energy Agency claiming that Iran has continued its atomic weapons research, and Israel practically putting up billboards that say “we’re gonna bomb them before they bomb us,” this game may become reality.

For a description of how Persian Incursion works, see my piece at ForeignPolicy.com. And let...

1983: Microsoft chief Bill Gates unveils the Windows operating system for PCs. Don’t hold your breath waiting until you can buy a copy … unless you can hold your breath for two years.

Gates, Microsoft’s president and board chairman, held an elaborate event at New York City’s posh Helmsley Palace Hotel. The debutante at this ball was an operating system with a graphical user interface.

See Also:

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A History of Microsoft Windows

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BSOD Through the Ages

If you were struggling with the arcane and unfriendly MS-DOS, you were ready to get something that was easier to drive....