Inventions and Patents
Richard Tait, Co-Inventor of the Board Game Cranium, Dies at 58
Mr. Tait studied computer science as an undergraduate at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh before moving to the United States, where he earned a master’s degree at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business. When he finished his M.B.A., he took a job with Microsoft, in the suburbs of Seattle, just as that software maker was growing into […]
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You Can Be Both Dull and Innovative
Many of us are intrigued by wonders that scream “THE FUTURE” like flying cars. But sometimes the best inventions are more about brain power than technology magic. Let me give you a couple of examples in my quest to appreciate the ingenuity in boring things. Take apple supply chains and roof trusses. I was introduced […]
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Dave Smith, Whose Synthesizers Shaped Electronic Music, Dies at 72
Unlike a piano or organ, early synthesizers, like the Moog and ARP, could generate only one note at a time. Shaping a particular tone involved setting multiple knobs, switches or dials, and trying to reproduce that tone afterward meant writing down all the settings and hoping to get similar results the next time. The Prophet-5, […]
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Cultivating Coveted Morel Mushrooms Year-Round and Indoors
When new buds emerge on trees and the ground warms with the advent of spring, foragers fan out through woodlands, scanning the leaf litter for morel mushrooms. Arguably the most iconic of wild fungi, morels stand 3 to 6 inches tall and sport a signature cone-shaped lattice cap in shades of cream to chocolate brown. […]
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Metaverse Lessons From Hollywood
Decades ago, Steve Perlman’s technology helped kick-start an era in which figments of Hollywood imagination feel increasingly authentic. Now, Mark Zuckerberg and other technologists are dreaming of a future in which we spend more of our time in immersive digital worlds, called the “metaverse.” And Perlman has advice for metaverse creators: Focus on the face. […]
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How 5G Clashed With an Aviation Device Invented in the 1920s
Altimeters are a key part of the 787’s landing system, turning on the reverse thrusters that slow the plane once it has landed. Mr. Lemme said a Boeing patent suggested that the function was totally automated, meaning that even a pilot landing a 787 manually would not be able to reverse the plane’s thrusters if […]
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Google Infringed on Sonos Speaker Technology, Trade Court Rules
OAKLAND, Calif. — Google infringed on five audio technology patents held by the speaker manufacturer Sonos and is not allowed to import products that violate Sonos’s intellectual property into the United States, a trade court ruled on Thursday. The final ruling by the United States International Trade Commission, a quasi-judicial body that decides trade cases […]
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