Posts Tagged ‘Edison’
All call…
From All Staff, All Day— a Tumblr devoted to “genuine emails that people feel the need to send to all staff at my company.”
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As we carefully avoid hitting “reply all,” we might send electrifying birthday greetings to Serbian-American electrical engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla; he was born on this date in 1856. (Tesla’s birth certificate says “June 28″ in the Orthodox system– most scholars convert this to July 9; some, to July 10.) Tesla is probably best remembered for his rivalry with Thomas Edison: Tesla invented and patented the first AC motor and generator (c.f.: Niagara Falls); Edison promoted DC power… and went to great lengths to discredit Tesla and his approach. In the end, of course, Tesla was right.
Tesla patented over 300 inventions worldwide, though he kept many of his creations out of the patent system to protect their confidentiality. His work ranged widely, from technology critical to the development of radio to the first remote control. At the turn of the century, Tesla designed and began planning a “worldwide wireless communications system” that was backed by J.P. Morgan… until Morgan lost confidence and pulled out. “Cyberspace,” as described by the likes of William Gibson and Neal Stephenson, is largely prefigured in Tesla’s plan. On Tesla’s 75th birthday in 1931, Time put him on its cover, captioned “All the world’s his power house.” He received congratulatory letters from Albert Einstein and more than 70 other pioneers in science and engineering. But Tesla’s talent ran far, far ahead of his luck. He died penniless in 1943.
Float like a butterfly, sting like a king…
There’s a boxing ring planted in the middle of a London nightclub.
So far, nothing too out of the ordinary. But there’s also a folding table in the center of the ring, and on it, a chessboard. And rather than gloving up to start sparring, the two boxers, hands wrapped, sit down to square off over the board. Because this isn’t regular boxing—it’s chessboxing.
Chessboxing is a hybrid sport that is exactly what it sounds like: Chess plus boxing, or, more specifically, a round of chess followed by a round of boxing, repeated until someone comes out the victor. As Tim Woolgar, founder of London Chessboxing, says, “If you know how to play chess and you know how to box, you know how to chessbox”…
Get the dope at “TKO By Checkmate: Inside the World of Chessboxing.”
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As we roll on the ropes, we might recall that it was on this date in 1926 that Thomas Alva Edison opined that “Americans prefer silent movies over talkies.”
Cultural diplomacy…
From Abstruse Goose, a reminder that we are what we watch…
As we reach for our remotes, we might spare a thought for a master of the electromagnetic spectrum: this is the birth date (1856) of Serbian-American electrical engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla.(Tesla’s birth certificate says “June 28” in the Orthodox system– most scholars convert this to July 9; some, to July 10.) In his extraordinary career, Tesla patented over 110 innovations, ranging from the first AC motor and generator (c,f,: Niagara Falls; in the long run, Tesla was right; Edison– proponent of DC, and vicious opponent of Tesla– wrong) to the first wireless remote control. Tesla designed and began planning a “worldwide wireless communications system” that was backed by JP Morgan… until Morgan lost confidence and pulled out. “Cyberspace,” as described by the likes of Bill Gibson and Neal Stephenson, is largely prefigured in Tesla’s plan. Often mis-remembered (as a fringe figure, almost a looney), if at all, Tesla was a remarkable genius, whose talent ran far, far ahead of his luck. He died penniless in 1943.
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