Technology_Internet
Latest Stories
6_252014_ring-um8201.jpg
In this image taken from video made available on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un delivers an annual New Year's Day message in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/KRT via AP Video) ** FILE **
russell brand.jpg
Liberal comedian and actor Russell Brand tore into Fox News in a video published Tuesday, accusing the network of being a "fanatical terrorist propagandist organization" that is "more dangerous than ISIS." (Russell Brand/YouTube)
cell.jpg
In a May 6, 2014 photo, Sgt. Andres Wells of the Kalamazoo Deptartment of Public Safety, who successfully used text messaging to negotiate with a suicidal robbery suspect during a 2011 standoff, looks at his phone. With 6 billion text messages exchanged daily in the United States, texting is becoming a more frequent part of police crisis negotiations. (AP Photo/Mark Bugnaski) (AP Photo/Mark Bugnaski)
NASCAR Sonoma Auto Ra_Lanc.jpg
Carl Edwards competes during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race on Sunday, June 22, 2014, in Sonoma, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
Smoke_Detector
18. SMOKE DETECTOR In the late 1930s, Swiss physicist Walter Jaeger tried to invent a sensor for poison gas. He expected that gas entering the sensor would bind to ionized air molecules and thereby alter an electric current in a circuit in the instrument. His device failed: small concentrations of gas had no effect on the sensor's conductivity. Frustrated, Jaeger lit a cigarette and was soon surprised to notice that a meter on the instrument had registered a drop in current. Smoke particles from his cigarette had apparently done what poison gas could not. Jaeger's experiment was one of the advances that paved the way for the modern smoke detector. The first truly affordable home smoke detector was invented by Duane D. Pearsall and Stanley Bennett Peterson in 1965, featuring an individual battery powered unit that could be easily installed and replaced.[6] These first units, dubbed "SmokeGuard 700," were made from strong fire resistant steel and shaped much like bee hives. The idea for mass production came from Peterson, working at Pearsall’s company, Statitrol Corporation, in Lakewood, Colorado in 1975.
remote_control
12. REMOTE CONTROL The first remote intended to control a television was developed by Zenith Radio Corporation in 1950. The remote, called "Lazy Bones", was connected to the television by a wire. A wireless remote control, the "Flashmatic", was developed in 1955 by Eugene Polley. It worked by shining a beam of light onto a photoelectric cell, but the cell did not distinguish between light from the remote and light from other sources. The Flashmatic also had to be pointed very precisely at the receiver in order to work. In 1956, Robert Adler developed "Zenith Space Command", a wireless remote.[8] It was mechanical and used ultrasound to change the channel and volume. When the user pushed a button on the remote control, it clicked and struck a bar, hence the term "clicker". Each bar emitted a different frequency and circuits in the television detected this sound. The invention of the transistor made possible cheaper electronic remotes that contained a piezoelectric crystal that was fed by an oscillating electric current at a frequency near or above the upper threshold of human hearing, though still audible to dogs. The receiver contained a microphone attached to a circuit that was tuned to the same frequency. Some problems with this method were that the receiver could be triggered accidentally by naturally occurring noises, and some people could hear the piercing ultrasonic signals. The impetus for a more complex type of television remote control came in 1973, with the development of the Ceefax teletext service by the BBC. Most commercial remote controls at that time had a limited number of functions, sometimes as few as three: next channel, previous channel, and volume/off. This type of control did not meet the needs of teletext sets, where pages were identified with three-digit numbers. A remote control to select teletext pages would need buttons for each numeral from zero to nine, as well as other control functions, such as switching from text to picture, and the
Plastic-_and_Nylonzipper
15. ZIPPER In 1851 Elias Howe received a patent for an "Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure". He did not try to seriously market it, missing recognition he might otherwise have received. Howe's device was more like an elaborate draw-string than a true slide fastener. Forty-two years later, Whitcomb Judson, who invented a pneumatic street railway, marketed a "Clasp Locker". The device served as a (more complicated) hook-and-eye shoe fastener. With the support of businessman Colonel Lewis Walker, Judson launched the Universal Fastener Company to manufacture the new device. The clasp locker had its public debut at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and met with little commercial success.[6] Judson is sometimes given credit as the inventor of the zipper, but he never made a practical device.
DryCellBattery
11. DRY CELL BATTERY It was developed in 1887 by Yai SakizÅ of Japan and patented in 1892. A dry cell uses a paste electrolyte, with only enough moisture to allow current to flow. Unlike a wet cell, a dry cell can operate in any orientation without spilling, as it contains no free liquid, making it suitable for portable equipment. By comparison, the first wet cells were typically fragile glass containers with lead rods hanging from the open top and needed careful handling to avoid spillage.
Digital_Camera
7. DIGITAL CAMERA Steven Sasson as an engineer at Eastman Kodak invented and built the first electronic camera using a charge-coupled device image sensor in 1975. Earlier ones used a camera tube; later ones digitized the signal. Early uses were mainly military and scientific; followed by medical and news applications. In the mid to late 1990s digital cameras became common among consumers. By the mid-2000s digital cameras had largely replaced film cameras, and higher-end cell phones had an integrated digital camera. By the beginning of the 2010s smartphones had an integrated digital camera.
