At the time I left 3 years ago, IBM was basically telling their employees "Whatever you think up, if you think it's patentable, submit it." I heard a horror story of someone on the team in charge of the program, where she came up with an idea on the spot during a webinar she was running on it, and submitted it to the program on the spot, as a demo.

One of my 2 IBM patents was a valid (if software) patent for something innovative I came up with and that ended up in a product. One was something I came up with in an hour, wrote up, and eventually got accepted by the USPTO. I had left by then, so I didn't get my $1,200 for it.

I was lucky (?) enough to spend a fair amount of time working with Chaosnet, That Which Came Before/Around The Same Time. It used 1/2" CATV cables and required you do make a vampire tap using specialized tools in specific locations on the cable if you wanted to add a port. Get the depth of the coring operation on the side of the cable wrong, and you just screwed up an entire cable run, which would need to be replaced. Ethernet cabling with RF connectors was SO much nicer to deal with!

This is a tremendous opportunity for some other country to enable lazy WoW players to trade cash for levels.

When Starliner started missing their dates and NASA realized they'd have to move up the Crew-2 dates to keep coverage, it required a contract change. SpaceX came back and said "we'll move up the dates, but in return we'll get to reuse hardware from now on." NASA agreed.

They are in fairly low orbits so there's more protecting them than stuff up at geostationary. The biggest problem would probably be that a big storm expands the height of the atmosphere temporarily, and can mess with orbits or make satellites use more stationkeeping fuel. I suspect that anything big enough to cause major problems for Starlink would also cause major problems on the ground (like knocking out major power grids), so we'd have bigger problems to worry about...

Our cat, Esmerelda, figured out that by hanging on the thumb latch of our bedroom door and flailing her body, she could open it when we were sleeping. This isn't a one-time thing, she does it so regularly that we had to put and hook and eye latch on the inside of the door to keep her out while we sleep.

Way before

I once had the privilege of interviewing the build team for an article I was writing for the Christian Science Monitor on reality TV. I was obviously more than a bit star struck, but managed to do my job. The high point of the interview for me is when I refered to Grant as the Chief Science Officer for the team, and he giggled uncontrollably.

It was always a sweet memory for me, but now it will be tinged bittersweet. I've gotten used to my idols that are older than me dying, but one who's 10 years younger just seems wrong...

Actually, chemical disinfection of the masks with steriwipes or bleach has been shown to disinfect them well enough for reuse. Check out the reports on the makethemasks.com website where they cultured a mask before and after cleaning after a day of use.

Well, given that I'm the National Coordinator and talk to the creators and their team on a regular basis, I think I know sometime about the subject. The masks have in fact been tested, you can see the results on the makethemasks.com website. One of the regional coordinators in bringing in certified KN95 filters in quantity and many of the coordinators have been buying from him at cost to distribute with the masks. The reality is that the masks WERE tested for CO2 exchange and seal quality, and when fitted properly with NPDM weatherstripping as a seal, met N95 standards. We don't claim they are to be used in place of an N95 because the FDA has not approved the design for that use yet and we're operating under the current "use what you can get your hands on" guidance. The disclaimer is there because none of us want to be sued. The one we give out with the masks is even more verbose. We *should* be covered under good samaritan laws, but it never hurts to CYA when medical things are involved.

The masks have also been evaluated independently by a number of hospitals' infection control departments and they are still asking for them. I'm currently providing them two 2 hospitals and 3 county nursing homes in NH. Skepticism is a good thing, but sometimes all the bases really have been covered.

An N-95 surgical mask wastes a lot of filter material on the sides of your face, which don't contribute to your breathing quality. This lets you take that otherwise useless material and make it go farther. And as to the disclaimer, you've evidently never had an encounter with the American legal system...

First off, they are intended for healthcare professionals, not people infected with Covid-19. Secondly, the folks in Montana actually did extensive testing for CO2 clearance and mask fit, and it works as well as a commercial N95 respirator when correctly fitted. Test results are available on the web site. I have to say, I wear mine whenever I go out, and have no difficulty breathing.

I'll always remember him as the guy who took a chance on hiring a 20 year old non-MIT student to work at the AI lab for six months on Richard Greenblatt's recomendation solely. That shot in the dark launched my career in AI, LISP, and 40 years later still going strong (now at IBM of all places). He was a consumate researcher but also a great administrator and teacher, and we could use more like him.