Tom Merritt's Blog, page 1209

Tech History Today – Feb. 26

In 1896 – Hoping to test the suns ability to create X-rays. Henri Becquerel placed a wrapped photographic plate in a closed desk drawer, with a phosphorescent uranium rocks laid on top. He left it in the drawer for several days until the sun came out. To his surprise images of the rocks appeared without the sun.

In 1909 – The first successful color motion picture process, Kinemacolor, was shown to the general public at the Palace Theatre in London.

In 1935 – Scottish physicist Robert Watson-Watt demonstrated Radio Detection And Ranging to Air Ministry officials at Daventry, England. This RADAR proved quite helpful a few years later when war broke out.

Tech History Today – Feb. 25

In 1837 – The U.S. Patent Office approved Thomas Davenport's application for a patent on an "Improvement in Propelling Machinery by Magnetism and Electro-Magnetism." We'd call it an electric motor.

In 1928 – Charles Jenkins Laboratories of Washington, D.C. became the first holder of a television license from the Federal Radio Commission.

In 1930 – A US patent for a photographing apparatus was issued to George Lewis McCarthy, who called it a Checkograph. It was the first bank check photographing device.

Tech News Today 444: Goatees Are Not Metro

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell

Google rumours, how to successfully sue AT&T, Motorola stops email, and more.

Guest: Darren Kitchen

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Submit and vote on story coverage at technewstoday.reddit.com.

We invite you to read, add to, and amend our show notes at wiki.twit.tv.

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time: 42:23

Tech News Today 443: Ride My Champagne Buffalo

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell

How the President plans to protect privacy, Sanjay Jha out at Motorola? How to get Windows 7 with MS Office for cheap, and more.

Guest: Brian Brushwood

Download or subscribe to this show at twit.tv/tnt.

Submit and vote on story coverage at technewstoday.reddit.com.

We invite you to read, add to, and amend our show notes at wiki.twit.tv.

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time: 45:08

Tech History Today – Feb. 24

In 1949 – A modified German V-2 ballistic missile launched from White Sands Missile Range in new Mexico, reaches an altitude of 244 miles, putting it well above the Kármán line. It is the first U.S. rocket to reach "outer space."

In 1955 – A young boy is born to University of Wisconsin graduate students Joanne Simpson and Abdulfattah Jandali. He is given up for adoption and taken in by a machinist and his wife in Mountain View, California. They named him Steve Jobs.

In 2011 – The Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off from cape Canveral on its final mission.

Current Geek Episode 193: Really geeky print

Current Geek Episode 193: Really geeky print

Tech News Today 442: Tilt Head To Click

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell

Spectrum wars have begun, Microsoft attacks Google in Europe, Nokia to announce new Symbian phones, and more.

Guest: Paul Spain

Download or subscribe to this show at twit.tv/tnt.

Submit and vote on story coverage at technewstoday.reddit.com.

We invite you to read, add to, and amend our show notes at wiki.twit.tv.

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time: 44:53

Triangulation 41: Steve Martin

Hosts: Leo Laporte and Tom Merritt

The famous Steve Martin joins us to talk about, Habits of Very Organized People, twitters influence, an artists viewpoint of piracy, comedy, bluegrass music, and more.

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Running time: 54:21

Frame Rate 64: Listen For The Gunplay

Hosts: Brian Brushwood and Tom Merritt

Comcast launches a Netflix competitor, "up front" online ad sales, interview with the creator of Walking Dead, and more.

Guest: "Robert Kirkman"

Download or subscribe to this show at twit.tv/fr.

We invite you to read, add to, and amend our show notes at wiki.twit.tv.

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time: 1:15:23

Tech History Today – Feb. 23

In 1893 – Germany's Imperial Patent Office granted Rudolph Diesel Patent No. 67207 for "a new efficient thermal engine". We just call it, the Diesel engine.

In 1927 – President Calvin Coolidge signed Public Law no. 632 establishing the Federal Radio Commission which was later replaced by the Federal Communications Commission.

In 1927 – German physicist Werner Heisenberg wrote a letter to Wolfgang Pauli, describing the uncertainty principle for the first time. He submitted a paper on the principle for publication the following March.