Pollution-Eating Concrete Invention.

An article on an interesting invention was published today at CNNTech, found here.  The article discusses the use of titanium oxide coatings on concrete to remove nitrogen oxides from the environment.  Also, the article briefly highlights the “race” to explore new technologies for mitigating pollution.  

We recommend the article as a quick and interesting read, if you have a few minutes to spare.

Google Pac-Man Game.

Many of our readers had undoubtably  noticed that the Google “doodle” this past week was a playable Pac-Man game.  The purpose of the doodle was to honor the Pac-Man arcade game’s 30th anniversary.

Although the doodle was temporarily unavailable today (apparently due to the anniversary being over), it can now be found and played at www.google.com/pacman. Enjoy!

The Office Copier Turns 50.

 

An interesting article over at CNN today, describing the long road from concept to prototype to commercialization in the development of the common office copier. 

According to the article, one of the original inventors was Chester Carlson, a young New York City patent attorney, who came up with an idea during the Great Depression while looking for a solution to his writer’s cramp.  After many years of development and marketing, and considerable personal hardship, Carlson was finally able to convince one company, widely known today as Xerox, to run with his concept and develop the first prototypes.  The rest, as they say, is history.  

A very good read.  We recommend checking it out, if you have a few minutes to spare!

Integrating LinkedIn With Outlook Email.

 

Per this story earlier in the week at the San Francisco Chronicle, Microsoft Outlook users now have the option of integrating their LinkedIn accounts with their Outlook email via a “Outlook Social Connector” now available from Microsoft.  

Upon downloading and installing the Outlook Social Connector,  Outlook will aggregate contact information from both the user’s LinkedIn and Outlook accounts. Additionally, a summary of the contact’s most recent LinkedIn activity, status updates, accepted connections and e-mails is provided in a new window pane under an e-mail to the contact.  If the contact with which the user is corresponding is not yet connected by LinkedIn, the user can simply select and request to add them to the user’s LinkedIn network through the Outlook interface.

For those interested in trying the out the new Outlook Social Connector, click here to download the latest version from Microsoft.

JW Note:  It remains to be seen whether this will help push LinkedIn toward use as an effective business tool, or if it will just result in another way of wasting time by social networking.  So far, our initial trial with the Outlook Social Connector has been promising.  If you want to link in with me, feel free to visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/jakeward and request to add me to your network!

Time’s 50 Best Inventions of 2009.

Annually, TIME picks the best new gadgets and breakthrough ideas of the year.  This year’s list was recently published here.  According to TIME, the top 5 inventions in 2009  include: 1) The NASA’s Ares Rockets; 2)  The Tank-Bred Tuna; 3) The $10 Million Lightbulb; 4) The Smart Thermostat; and 5) Controller-Free Gaming.

The full top-50 list, plus the 5 worst inventions of 2009, may be viewed here.

Edge of Discovery.

CNN operates an interesting website titled “Edge of Discovery“.  The website has the following tagline:

Around the globe — and throughout the universe — innovations are not only creating breakthroughs in technology but changing the way we live our daily lives. Discoveries are expanding how we explore science, technology, medicine and space.

The website has a number of interesting articles, including video articles,  about inventions and other innovations.  Check it out!

Futurist and Author Arthur C. Clarke Dead at 90.

Arthur C. Clarke, celebrated science fiction writer with more than 100 books on space, science and the future, died this past week at the age of 90. Clarke had been a spot-on visionary on a number of technologies, including the principles of satellite communication with satellites in geostationary orbits and the development of a “global library” (sound familiar, anyone?). On the entertainment front, Clarke is probably best known for writing the short story later developed into the Stanley Kubrick-directed 2001: A Space Odyssey.

On a personal note, I hold a special place for Arthur C. Clarke as one of the sci-fi authors instrumental in seeding my interest in science and technology . . . arguably leading directly to my present career as a patent attorney. I know a number of scientists and engineers who were similarly drawn to the sciences at an early age by reading works of science fiction by acclaimed authors Clarke, Asimov, Heinlein, and the like. 

If you are interested in any of Clarke’s fictional works, the following are highly recommended:

• 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
• Rendezvous with Rama (1972)
• The Fountains of Paradise (1979)
• 2010: Odyssey Two (1982)
• 2061: Odyssey Three (1988)
• Rama II (1989) (with Gentry Lee)
• Beyond the Fall of Night (1990) (with Gregory Benford)
• The Garden of Rama (1991) (with Gentry Lee)
• Rama Revealed (1993) (with Gentry Lee)
• The Hammer of God (1993)
• 3001: The Final Odyssey (1997)

The Invention of the Peacemaker.

  

On this day in history in 1836, the American inventor and industrialist Samuel Colt received a patent for a “revolving gun”, of which a popular later version was nicknamed the “Peacemaker.” 

Mr. Colt had exhibited an early aptitude for mechanical innovation, and first applied for a patent on his revolver at the age of 18.  He obtained his first patent in England, and his first U.S. patent issued in 1836 as patent number 6909 (later renumbered as X9430; one of the so-called X-patents).  The X9430 patent and U.S. Pat. No. 1304 protected the basic principles of Colt’s revolving-breech loading, folding trigger firearm design.

Interestingly, Colt had once sought private legislative relief in requesting an extension on his patent because he had not profited sufficiently during the period provided by the original patent.  Colt successfully obtained a seven-year “extension” on his 1836 patent by receiving a reissue in 1848, but was unsuccessful in his legislative attempt in 1854 to further extend the life of the reissue.  Colt successfully enforced his patents in litigation, notably causing certain competitors to discontinue production. 

His revolving-breech pistol at one time became so popular that the word “Colt” was sometimes used as a generic term for the revolver.   When Samuel Colt died in 1862, his estate was estimated to be valued at around $15,000,000.