Digital Murder
Do you remember this story from a couple of years ago? A disgruntled virtual ex-wife murdered her virtual ex-husband. Both husband and wife were characters in an interactive online game called Maple Story. The fickle virtual husband suddenly decided to divorce his lovely virtual wife without a text message, digital alimony, or an offer of virtual marriage counseling. The virtual ex-wife was left wondering what went wrong in their virtual relationship and cried many virtual tears. However, her creator wanted some good old-fashioned non-virtual revenge and erased the virtual husband.
The virtual murderer, a 43-year-old Japanese piano teacher has been arrested and maybe charged with a real life crime. No not murder, illegal access onto a computer and manipulating electronic data, if convicted, she could face a prison term of up to five years or a fine up to $5,000. The murder weapon was the login information the woman got from the 33-year-old office worker (virtual husband's creator) when their characters were still happily married. She sneaked into his Maple Story account and killed the character. The man went to the police when he discovered that his online character was dead.
According to Jason Rybka, our About guide to Video Game Cheats, Maple Story is an on-line and very unique type of game and one that will certainly require a bit research prior to really being able to grasp the full enjoyment of the title. Check out his Maple Story cheats. Photo: Morgue File
Just a Teenager
Today, on September 27, 2013, the famous search engine plus, Google turned fifteen. Yes still a teenager.
However, did you know that Google has a special philanthropic branch? Google.org is worth checking out, and could be a possible source of funding or support if you're a non-profit. Google.org has also made investments in renewable energy research and emerging technologies.
Today, besides being Google's anniversary, also marks the twenty-five billionth download on the Google Play app store.
History of the Parachute
Credit for the invention of the first practical parachute frequently goes to Sebastien Lenormand who demonstrated the parachute principle in 1783. However, parachutes had been imagined and sketched by Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) centuries earlier. Illustration: Faust Vrancic
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- History of Flight
- History of Airships and Balloons
Young Inventors Need Science and Math
With our kids heading back to school, it's time for us to take a good look at the state of the union for math and science in this country (USA). It's discouraging to admit that students in this country are lagging behind in those subjects. That's right, the math and science scores for kids in this country are sad. It has been reported that by the time our students are ready to leave high school - ready to enter higher education and the labor force - they are doing so badly with science they are significantly weaker than their peers in other countries, and that our idea of "advanced" is clearly below international standards. But our kids are no dummies, whatever the reasons are, let's all pull together and help change things.
A great primer for understanding inventing is Young Inventors - Inventing 101 written for students and geared for three different levels, with advice for teachers and parents. Invention stories, learning about the patent system, understanding what a patent search is, and more is included with this primer.
Hello, I'd like to thank Kate for letting me know about "100 Awsome Engineering Projects For Kids". As the name suggests, the website has 100 great experiments that will let kids construct, play, learn and grow, all while they study the fundamentals of engineering.
Illustration by Mary Bellis
And the Winners are: The Fridge, Pasteurized Milk, and Tin Can
The Royal Society, the UK's national academy of science, has named the fridge, pasteurized milk, and the tin can as the three most significant inventions in the history of food and drink. Twenty inventions were listed by the Royal Society as being the most significant in culinary history under the following criteria: accessibility, productivity, aesthetics, and health. The list was compiled by a group of Royal Society Fellows - including a Nobel Prize Winner. Photo Credit: LOC
The Top 20
- Pasteurisation / sterilisation
- Canning
- The oven
- Irrigation
- Threshing machine/combine harvester
- Baking
- Selective breeding / strains
- Grinding / milling
- The plough
- Fermentation
- The fishing net
- Crop rotation
- The pot
- The knife
- Eating utensils
- The cork
- The barrel
- The microwave oven
- Frying
Did You Know It Was Cheaper To File Online?
Online applications account for more than 93 percent of all applications at the USPTO, and the goal for the future is to eventually have all applications filed online. To encourage this more efficient and time-saving process, applicants receive a $400 incentive by filing electronically. Learn More
The Face of Facebook
"You Don't Get To 500 Friends Without Making A Few Enemies" was the promo for the movie, The Social Network, a dramatic film directed by David Fincher about the founding of the social networking website Facebook. It was rumored that Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg did not like the way he was portrayed in the film. However, the biography of Facebook was not that much different from that of Microsoft and Windows, and the other internet-related inventions of our times. Full of drama, jealousy, guts, and gall. Photo by Kim White/Getty Images
Back in the Day - The Death of Magnetic Tape
Today's dying media spotlight is magnetic tape. By definition magnetic tape "is a plastic ribbon coated on one side with an iron-oxide material that can be magnetized by electromagnetic pulses for storing data."
Magnetic tapes came in open reel-to-reel as well as (housed in) cartridge formats and were used for audio or video recordings, and the storage of information in early computers. Tapes are played back and recorded on decks which wind the tape past a read/write device or "head". Photo Credit: Freefotos
Why is Magnetic Tape a Dying Medium?
Finding something on magnetic tape involves moving the tape sequentially, and even with the fast forward button, tape does not provide the same random access that newer recording mediums do. Copying from one magnetic tape to another results in a loss of quality with each generation of copying.
- Examples of Magnetic Tape Media
- Early History of Magnetic Tape
- Cassette Tape
- 8 Track Tape
- Video Tape
How A Photovoltic Cell Works
The "photovoltaic effect" is the basic physical process through which a PV cell converts sunlight into electricity. Sunlight is composed of photons, or particles of solar energy. These photons contain various amounts of energy corresponding to the different wavelengths of the solar spectrum. When photons strike a PV cell, they may be reflected or absorbed, or they may pass right through. Only the absorbed photons generate electricity. Photo Credit: NASA
You might also be interested in Solar Power, Timeline of Photovoltics, Photoluminescence, How a Photovoltic Cell Works, and The History of Electric Vehicles.
Inventions are Interdependent
The first microphone was a telephone transmitter invented by Emile Berliner for Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. The invention of radio, spurred the invention of better quality broadcasting microphones.
The computer is another good example of a complex invention that required the energy of many inventors to create. In fact, the computer is actually a collection of many different inventions.
Lee Fleming and Olav Sorenson describe the process in their article The Dangers of Modularity, "Start with a simple premise: Inventions result from the combination of components (either physical things or ideas) in new and useful ways. As a gross simplification, one might think of the automobile as an amalgamation of various preexisting parts, including the steering wheel and gears of a bicycle; the wheels, axles, and general structure of a horse-drawn carriage; and the internal combustion engine. The interdependence of the components has an enormous effect on the pace and complexity of the innovation process."
Illustration Mary Bellis - Microphone used in Alexander Graham Bell's telephone.