14 November 25

Today, Peter Norton is 82 years old! Norton was famous in the 1980s-2000s for producing great software like Norton Utilities and Norton AntiVirus. I remember using Norton Utilities frequently to repair floppy disks and hard drives; if your disk crashed, it was often possible to recover at least parts of your files. Norton AntiVirus was one of the earliest products to detect and remove viruses (etc.) from personal computers, and it is still available today. My tie shows one of the NORTON corporate logos.

18 September 23

My tie's design crisscrosses the name "Norton,” and it’s a logo from the (old) Norton computer software company. They sold antivirus and disk repair software. But the main reason I’m wearing it today (with a tie clip bearing an imperial crown) is for yesterday's anniversary of the self-declaration of Emperor Norton I of the United States, who was born in England in 1818 or 1819. On 17 September 1859, Joshua Abraham Norton, of San Francisco, declared himself Emperor. As related by Wikipedia, "Although he had no political power, and his influence extended only so far as he was humored by those around him, [Norton] was treated deferentially in San Francisco, and currency issued in his name was honored in the establishments he frequented. Though some considered him insane or eccentric, citizens of San Francisco celebrated his regal presence and his proclamations, such as his order that the United States Congress be dissolved by force and his numerous decrees calling for a bridge crossing and a tunnel to be built under San Francisco Bay." "Norton's orders were ignored by the Army, and Congress likewise continued without any formal acknowledgement of the decree." Joshua Norton died in 1880 and his grave bears the inscription "Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico."

14 November 22

In the era of floppy disks and low capacity hard drives (1980s-2000), the software called Norton Utilities helped resurrect many millions of crashed and deleted files. In the 1990s and into the twenty-first century, Norton AntiVirus was the premier software to detect and eliminate computer viruses and Trojan horses. The originator of these programs, Peter Norton, was born on this date in 1943. His company, Peter Norton Computing, was acquired in 1990 by Symantec, which still sells a version of Norton Utilities. My tie's design is based on a corporate logo for Peter Norton Computing.

17 September 21

My tie's pattern focuses on the name "Norton,” and it’s a logo from the (old) Norton computer software company. They sold antivirus and disk repair software. But the main reason I’m wearing it today (with a tie clip bearing an imperial crown) is for today's anniversary of the self-declaration of Emperor Norton I of the United States, who was born in England in 1818 or 1819. On 17 September 1859, Joshua Abraham Norton, of San Francisco, declared himself Emperor. As related by Wikipedia, "Although he had no political power, and his influence extended only so far as he was humored by those around him, [Norton] was treated deferentially in San Francisco, and currency issued in his name was honored in the establishments he frequented. Though some considered him insane or eccentric, citizens of San Francisco celebrated his regal presence and his proclamations, such as his order that the United States Congress be dissolved by force and his numerous decrees calling for a bridge crossing and a tunnel to be built under San Francisco Bay." "Norton's orders were ignored by the Army, and Congress likewise continued without any formal acknowledgement of the decree." Joshua Norton died in 1880 and his grave bears the inscription "Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico."

4 February 21

My tie's pattern focuses on the name "Norton,” and it’s a logo from the (old) Norton computer software company. They sold antivirus and disk repair software. But the main reason I’m wearing it today (with a tie clip bearing an imperial crown) is for today's birthday of Emperor Norton I of the United States, who was born in England in 1819. In September 1859, Joshua Abraham Norton, of San Francisco, declared himself Emperor. As related by Wikipedia, "Although he had no political power, and his influence extended only so far as he was humored by those around him, [Norton] was treated deferentially in San Francisco, and currency issued in his name was honored in the establishments he frequented. Though some considered him insane or eccentric, citizens of San Francisco celebrated his regal presence and his proclamations, such as his order that the United States Congress be dissolved by force and his numerous decrees calling for a bridge crossing and a tunnel to be built under San Francisco Bay." Joshua Norton died in 1880 and his grave bears the inscription "Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico."

3 February 20

My tie's pattern focuses on the name "Norton,” and it’s a logo from the Norton computer software company. They sold antivirus and disk repair software. But the main reason I’m wearing it today is for tomorrow's birthday of Emperor Norton I of the United States, born in England in 1819. In September 1859, Joshua Abraham Norton, of San Francisco, declared himself Emperor. As related by Wikipedia, "Although he had no political power, and his influence extended only so far as he was humored by those around him, [Norton] was treated deferentially in San Francisco, and currency issued in his name was honored in the establishments he frequented. Though some considered him insane or eccentric, citizens of San Francisco celebrated his regal presence and his proclamations, such as his order that the United States Congress be dissolved by force and his numerous decrees calling for a bridge crossing and a tunnel to be built under San Francisco Bay." Joshua Norton died in 1880 and his grave bears the inscription "Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico."

17 September 18

Celebrating the 159th anniversary of the declaration of Norton I as Emperor of the United States. On 17 September 1859, Joshua Abraham Norton, of San Francisco, declared himself Emperor. As related by Wikipedia, "Although he had no political power, and his influence extended only so far as he was humored by those around him, [Norton] was treated deferentially in San Francisco, and currency issued in his name was honored in the establishments he frequented. Though some considered him insane or eccentric, citizens of San Francisco celebrated his regal presence and his proclamations, such as his order that the United States Congress be dissolved by force and his numerous decrees calling for a bridge crossing and a tunnel to be built under San Francisco Bay." Joshua Norton died in 1880 and his grave bears the inscription "Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico." My tie featuring the NORTON name is entirely appropriate for this occasion.

17-18 September 17

Celebrating the 158th anniversary of the declaration of Norton I as Emperor of the United States. On 17 September 1859, Joshua Abraham Norton, of San Francisco, declared himself Emperor. As related by Wikipedia, "Although he had no political power, and his influence extended only so far as he was humored by those around him, [Norton] was treated deferentially in San Francisco, and currency issued in his name was honored in the establishments he frequented. Though some considered him insane or eccentric, citizens of San Francisco celebrated his regal presence and his proclamations, such as his order that the United States Congress be dissolved by force and his numerous decrees calling for a bridge crossing and a tunnel to be built under San Francisco Bay." Joshua Norton died in 1880 and his grave bears the inscription "Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico." My tie featuring the NORTON name is entirely appropriate for this occasion.

14 November 16

In the era of floppy disks and low capacity hard drives (1980s-2000), the software called Norton Utilities helped resurrect many millions of crashed and deleted files. In the 1990s and into the twenty-first century, Norton AntiVirus was the premier software to detect and eliminate computer viruses and Trojan horses. The originator of these programs, Peter Norton, was born on this date in 1943. His company, Peter Norton Computing, was acquired in 1990 by Symantec, which still sells a version of Norton Utilities. My tie's design is based on a corporate logo for Peter Norton Computing.

17 September 15

On this date in 1859, Joshua Abraham Norton declared himself Emperor of the United States. As related by Wikipedia, "Although he had no political power, and his influence extended only so far as he was humored by those around him, [Norton] was treated deferentially in San Francisco, and currency issued in his name was honored in the establishments he frequented. Though some considered him insane or eccentric, citizens of San Francisco celebrated his regal presence and his proclamations, such as his order that the United States Congress be dissolved by force and his numerous decrees calling for a bridge crossing and a tunnel to be built under San Francisco Bay." Joshua Norton died in 1880 and his grave bears the inscription "Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico." My tie celebrating the NORTON name is entirely appropriate for this occasion.

1 July 14

I'm wearing my NORTON tie to honor the 16th anniversary of the final product release from Peter Norton Computing. Peter Norton became famous for technical tools and computer navigation software in the 1990s, for IBM-DOS, early Windows and early Macintosh systems. If you remember floppy disks, you probably ran into Norton Utilities sometime. For more details about this anniversary, see last year's entry.

1 July 13

Fifteen years ago today, Peter Norton Computing released their final software product for DOS computers, "Norton Commander 5.51." My tie features the NORTON company logo. In the mid-1990s, IBM and Microsoft were producing both DOS and Windows operating systems, and Apple was moving from System 6 to higher versions. Everybody was storing files on so-called "floppy disks." The geniuses at Peter Norton Computing gave us wonderful programs to help keep all of these different systems running smoothly. Here is a description of what we thought was a GREAT computer product at that time: "Norton Commander is considered easy to use based on its constant view of two file manipulation objects at once. After starting the program the user sees two panels with file lists. Each panel can be easily configured to show information about the other panel, a directory tree, or a number of other options. At the bottom of the screen, Norton Commander displays a list of commands that are extended on demand by the CTRL and ALT keys. Thus, without heavy use of the mouse (although mouse functionality was integrated around version 3.0), the user is able to perform many file manipulation actions quickly and efficiently. Additionally, it also includes a built-in text file viewer (invoked with F3 key) and text file editor (invoked with F4 key)."

14 November 12

Born on this day in 1943: Peter Norton, the genius behind Norton Computing (which is now known as Symantec). In the 1990s their software helped us recover umpteen files on floppy disks and hard drives, and they were also at the forefront of antivirus protection. My tie's design is based on one of their corporate logos.

18 September 12

LONG LIVE EMPEROR NORTON! In 1859, on September 17, Joshua Abraham Norton proclaimed himself Emperor of the United States, taking the titles "Imperial Majesty Emperor Norton I" and "Protector of Mexico." Wikipedia reports that "although he had no political power, and his influence extended only so far as he was humored by those around him, he was treated deferentially in San Francisco, and currency issued in his name was honored in the establishments he frequented." His eccentric behavior made him a great local celebrity, and he famously "decreed" the creation of a bridge between Oakland and San Francisco (which later became the Bay Bridge).

14 November 11

Peter Norton, born this day in 1943, founded the Norton Computing company and produced excellent software for computer technical support, including "Norton Utilities." Those programs helped recover many files on floppy disks and edit the boot sectors of hard drives. Later came "Norton Anti-Virus," which is now known as Symantec®. My tie features the corporate logo from the original company.

18 August 11

Happy Birthday, Edward Norton! My NORTON tie (sporting the logo of the Peter Norton Computing Company) celebrates the 1969 birth of the actor, screenwriter and producer Edward Harrison Norton. I know him best from his role as Steve Frazelli, a crook noted for having "no imagination," in the 2003 movie The Italian Job. He has also had major roles in Primal Fear, Fight Club and The Illusionist.

14 November 10

Peter Norton, software guru behind Norton AntiVirus and Norton Utilities, was born on this date in 1943. I have no Norton heritage but I will wear this tie on any appropriate Norton day!

01 July 10

When I began working in "Academic Computing" (now Information Technology) at Eastern Kentucky University, in 1996, most of the PCs were running DOS 5 or DOS 6, with a few on Windows 3 and Windows 95. I learned quickly that programs from the Peter Norton Computing company were extremely helpful in dealing with DOS issues. Norton Computing (which is now known as Symantec) released the final version of "Norton Commander" on July 1, 1998. This was an organizational tool to manage all the programs and files on your computer through text menus, a bit like the current "Start" menu for Windows Vista and Windows 7. The program is long gone but it's still worth recalling the Days of DOS with my "Norton" tie!

11 November 09

As exactly one year ago, I am using November 11 to celebrate the Nov. 14 birthday of Peter Norton, original developer of the Norton Utilities programs for computer disk recovery. And again as last year I am wearing a "Water Furnace" company shirt, given to me by Courtney Tennill.

02 July 09

As in 2008, my tie today celebrates the adoption of the resolution for American independence. The historical reference is here.










Yesterday was a "Norton" anniversary, the day in 1998 when Norton Utilities released the final version of Norton Commander, a DOS program to manage all the applications on your system from a text menu. So I wore my "Norton" tie.