IoT Corner

On the heels of Google’s announcement earlier in 2022 to shut down its IoT Core service, IBM is following suit.

The IBM Watson IoT Platform on IBM Cloud will close at the end of 2023, the company announced in November. This gives users about a year to migrate their products and services to a more evergreen platform.

The service was launched about a decade ago but never widely adapted; big data players AWS and Microsoft Azure have led the market. The service will officially shutter on Dec. 1, 2023.—Jeremy Losaw

What IS That?

This vintage ad, sent by California Invention Center Executive Director Larry Udell, is a hot one indeed. After all, who doesn’t want a childish tailpipe attachment for racecar wannabes? And it’s a great way to meet many of your curious local police officers.

Wunderkinds

Om Guin, a seventh-grader at Fulton Science Academy Private School in Alpharetta, Georgia, won the Lemelson Early Inventor Award for the second straight year for inventing devices that detect indoor air quality. His newest, Lungsaver, is a system that measures indoor and outdoor air quality and alerts users if it is inadequate. Several of his family members have asthma.

2070

The projected year that gender parity will be reached in terms of global patent applications, according to a study by the UK’s Intellectual Property Office.

What Do You Know?

1 True or false: Ironically, one of the songs that become part of the public domain in 2023 is “The Best Things in Life Are Free.”

2 Which innovation quote was not said by Elon Musk?

  1. A) “Don’t be afraid of new arenas.”
    B) “Just because you build it doesn’t mean they will come.”
    C) “Great companies are built on great products.”
    D) “Any product that needs a manual to work is broken.”

3 Which was invented first—the electric hedge trimmer, or the electric toothbrush?

4 True or false: Not only was George Harrison sued for copyright infringement for his song “My Sweet Lord,” Paul McCartney faced a similar suit in the early 1970s.

5 Which quote was not said by Hedy Lamarr, co-inventor of the frequency-hopping technology behind WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS?

  1. A) “All creative people want to do the unexpected.”
  2. B) “Analysis gave me great freedom of emotions and fantastic confidence. I felt I had served my time as a puppet.”
  3. C) “Because you don’t live near a bakery doesn’t mean you have to go without cheesecake.”
  4. D) “Boring people seem to have no stress. This fascinates me.”

ANSWERS

  1. True. 2. B. 3. The hedge trimmer, 1940; the toothbrush, 1954. 4. False. It was John Lennon who was sued in 1973 by Morris Levy, owner of the copyright to Chuck Berry’s song “You Can’t Catch Me.” Levy argued that the Beatles’ 1969 hit, “Come Together,” had Berry’s “Here come ol’ flattop” line and was a slowed-down version of Berry’s song. The out-of-court settlement required Lennon to record three songs owned by Levy. 5.D.