Author Archive

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.

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.

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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Running time: 42:23

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

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Running time: 45:08

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

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

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Running time: 44:53

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

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”

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Running time: 1:15:23

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.