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Digital camera inventor Steve Sasson collects honorary PhD, Economist award
If there's one thing we know about geeks, it's that they hate having nothing to do. Bill Gates has filled his spare time collecting knighthoods and Harvard degrees, and Steve Sasson -- inventor of the first, and assuredly biggest, digital camera -- is now following in his distinguished footsteps. Sasson perfected a microwave oven-sized 0.01 megapixel prototype while working for Kodak way back in 1975, and has now been awarded an honorary PhD for his troubles from the University of Rochester. The man, the geek, and the legend (all the same person) will be in London later today receiving further recognition, in the form of The Economist's Innovation Award, which commends the "seismic disruption" his invention caused in the field of consumer photography. Funny, nobody gives us any awards for being disruptive. Read - University of Rochester honorary doctorate Read - The Economist Innovation Award
Vint Cerf enjoys WoW with his son
Esquire has an interview up with Vint Cerf, "father of the Internet," about the things he likes: The Swiss Family Robinson, Shakespeare, and yes, World of Warcraft. Cerf is apparently a player of the game, along with his son. He does say that "it may seem like a waste of time" to play WoW, but he praises the game for presenting a simple and solvable set of problems and an online framework around which to solve them together. Cerf, as you may imagine, is a casual, though -- while he says it probably does take a lot of playtime to do well at WoW, he'd rather play at his own rate (so he'd enjoy our WoW, Casually column, seems like).Elsewhere in the conversation, Cerf actually vindicates Al Gore for his famous "I invented the Internet" comment. So chalk another one up to Mr. Gore -- without him, there'd be no Internet, and without the Internet, there'd be no WoW. And what else would we and Vint Cerf be doing on a Sunday evening?
Australian develops diminutive wind turbine for household energy
Generally speaking, wind turbines have been reserved for more macro-scale operations, but a West Australian inventor "believes he has developed a way to generate electricity for homes using wind power." This residential approach utilizes a modular turbine that is minuscule enough to perch atop nearly any roof without causing too much unsightliness, and can create power for the house to consume as the wind pushes its blades. Additionally, Graeme Attey suggests that solar panels could be used in conjunction with his creation, giving you double the renewable energy opportunities (at least during the day). Currently, Mr. Attey's device is being partially funded by the West Australian government, and homeowners who toss one up on their crib could receive a rebate if in fact this is ready for commercialization next year.[Thanks, Strayan]
Inventor takes aim at velcro with his "Slidingly Engaging Fastener"
While it may not be as quick to roll off your tongue, 66-year old inventor Leonard Duffy thinks that his "Slidingly Engaging Fastener" has what it takes to replace the tried and true velcro for most binding needs, and he's now taken home a Popular Science invention award for it. According to PopSci, the mouthful of an invention uses a series of interlocking grids consisting of tiny hexagonal or triangular "islands," which apparently form an uncommonly strong bond when they're joined together (able to support eight times the weight of velcro). The invention also bests velcro in one other key area: it's completely silent. While it doesn't look like it'll be commercially available anytime soon, the invention has apparently drawn the interest of some 150 product designers, as well as a company interested in using it to attach artificial limbs. And while others would likely suggest otherwise, Duffy doesn't seem willing to budge on the name, insisting that "it's slidingly engaging... it's the slidingly engaging fastener."[Via Gadget Lab]
Automatic waffle maker simplifies breakfast
With all the flowers starting to bloom and bunny rabbits (stuffed or otherwise) beginning to emerge, we're sure it won't be long before you're busting out the Wham-o Peeps maker, but if you've been pondering a way to make those hearty breakfasts pop out a tad quicker, we've got just the thing. Apparently, a group of waffle-lovin' kiddos have concocted an automated machine that not only opens and closes on queue, cooks and unloads the finished waffle onto your plate, and closes back for easy cleanup, it even boasts a tiltable pail filled with waffle mix and a funnel so that filling the hot iron is no longer your (messy) responsibility. The project was crafted at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and looks to be constructed primarily of wood, strings, and pulleys, and while we certainly wouldn't recommend that novice DIYers try this unaided, be sure and hit the read link for a look at waffles made easy.
Remote Wrangler straps remotes, gizmos to your noggin
Let's face it, not everyone can afford to go out and blow hundreds of dollars on a swank universal touchscreen remote or home automation system in order to simplify their life, and for those who are forced to juggle the half-dozen or so remotes required to bring their AV system to life, this here invention is for you. The clever, albeit ungainly Remote Wrangler is a unique (and admittedly unsightly) piece of headgear that turns your average couch potato into a professional wrestler wannabe, and also creates a remote control magnet all around one's face. By utilizing the oh-so-versatile Velcro, this device enables remotes, iPods, junk food, Wiimotes, caffeine pills, and an essentially limitless amount of other objects to flank your dome, theoretically saving you hours on end hunting under murky couch cushions for long lost controllers. As if this weren't enough to warrant an immediate purchase, it also doubles as a battery-powered temporal massager, and while we can't confirm, it looks to come in several editions including one with a built-in afro for the disco set. So if you're single (or would like to be), have no friends whatsoever, and don't even mind personal humiliation, keep an eye out for the Remote Wrangler to hit electronics prank departments sometime in the distant future.
Good Vibrations shoes pack built-in rumble feature
Now that you're packing a cellphone with a vibrating touchscreen, have glasses that rattle your brain if you try to get a bit of shut-eye, and nod your head to the beat of your rumbling headphones, why not put a little shake in your shoes, too? The cleverly named Good Vibrations might sport a website that was probably built in Marky Mark's heyday, but the kicks it sells claim to be therapeutic in nature. The thick-soled shoes feature a non-stick grip, on / off switch, and a rechargeable battery that reportedly provides around five hours of feet shakin' therapy. Designed to massage away the aches and pains throughout the day rather than after the damage is done, these unisex slip-ons are constructed with Spandex, lined with suede, and just might cause fits of laughter if you're the ticklish type. The Good Vibrations shoes are strangely available in just four sizes, leaving most of you with a bit too much (or too little) room inside, but for just about 60 bucks, the fun factor here is probably enough to put aside the fact that they aren't likely to fit.[Via AmericanInventorSpot]
Inventor patents automatic, no-look cooking
In a patent filing that appears to belong to Philips, an inventor is attempting to lock down the secret to no-look cooking, giving hope to clueless culinarians everywhere. The patent focuses on a method for determining the very moment during the cooking process in which the food "has reached a ready state," and seeks to use precise scales in an oven to determine exactly how much water has left the foodstuff and converted into steam in order to determine just how dry, crisp, and / or ready to devour it is. Of course, this fellow isn't the first bloke to iron out the details of automatic cooking, and interestingly enough, it seems this idea itself may have already been in the works, so we'd highly recommend consulting the folks behind Daewoo's autonomous microwave (and the subsequent technology) before boasting too proudly.[Via NewScientistTech]
Project Grizzly inventor crafts real-world Halo suit for military use
While it's not likely that you'll encounter the Arbiter on any given day, the slightly off-kilter Project Grizzly inventor has gone out of his way (and possibly his mind) to create what resembles a real-life Halo suit, sporting protection from gunfire and ensuring you an award at Covenant gatherings. Troy Hurtubise created the suit, dubbed Trojan, in hopes of protecting Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan and US soldiers in Iraq, and considering that it has withstood knives, bullets, light explosives, clubs, and even a round from an elephant gun, it sounds like quite the winner. Proclaimed to be the "first ballistic, full exoskeleton body suit of armor," Trojan is crafted from high-impact plastic lined with ceramic bullet protection over ballistic foam, and features nearly endless compartments, morphine / salt containers, knife and gun holsters, emergency lights, a built-in recording device, pepper spray, ingestible transponder for those "last resort" scenarios, and there's even a fresh air system powered by solar panels within the helmet. Mr. Hurtubise claims the 18 kilograms (40 pounds) suit is comfortable enough to make road trips in (yes, he tried it), and if any major military would take him up on it, they could reportedly be produced for "around $2,000 apiece." Now that's a bargain, folks.[Thanks, Alec]
Broadcast radio crosses the century mark
We'll admit, there's not a whole of gizmos invented 100 years ago that we still rely on (and bicker about) on a near-daily basis, but broadcast radio has managed to stay in our homes, cars, hearts, and complaint letters for a full century. Exactly one hundred years ago today, Reginald Fessenden fired up his transmitting station at Brant Rock, Massachusetts in order to broadcast a "brief speech," followed by an Edison phonograph recording of Handel's Largo." He also sent out a few other holiday jams and well-wishes to those spending Christmas "onboard US Navy and United Fruit Company ships equipped with Fessenden's wireless receivers." Fessenden earned more than 500 patents in his lifetime, including credit for the "radio telephone, a sonic depth finder, and submarine signaling devices." So while the FCC tries to regulate it, and we prefer the cleaner, less ad-filled satellite rendition of radio, we're still raising our glasses to a technology that's changed technology over the past hundred years, and here's to a hundred more.[Via Slashdot]
James "father of the LCD" Fergason gets $500K award, defends patent-holders
You may not know who James Fergason is, but chances are you're reading these words on a screen that he helped to create. In the 1960s, while working at Westinghouse, Fergason developed many of the core technologies used in the production of LCD displays. In honor of his pioneering work, Fergason was just awarded the $500,000 MIT-Lemelson prize, an annual award for inventors. Fergason plans on donating the prize money to independent inventors, who he believes get the short end of the stick when dealing with large corporations. "I think that what they want to do is get something for nothing," he said." After working at Westinghouse, Fergason started his own business to commercialize LCD technologies, and helped create the first LCD watches, and today -- not surprisingly -- manages a company that licenses his patents to manufacturers.
Kane Kramer: "world's biggest failure" for losing DAP patents
We thought the matter had been resolved earlier today when our President credited the government with developing the technology that led to the iPod-filled world we live in today, but now another claimant has come forward in an attempt to recoup his "rightful share" of a billion dollar DAP market he may have helped create. British inventor and furniture shop manager Kane Kramer is currently consulting lawyers to see what, if any, recourse he has to enforce patents he filed in 1981 for an iPod-like device but which he subsequently lost control of due to reported boardroom coup. The patents, which describe a three-and-a-half-minute-capacity digital audio player with a screen and central navigation controls, eventually became part of the public domain after Kramer's company dissolved and he was unable to raise the money required for renewing them across 120 countries. Kramer, who is most definitely aware of the riches he lost out on, says that the runaway success of iPods specifically and DAPs in general surely makes him "the world's biggest failure."
