Modern technology we use everyday invented by Hollywood movie-star - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Richard Crowley
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2015, 06:51:37 pm
content: I had just looked it up recently, and then last night our public TV station aired an episode of "Extraordinary Women", a documentary about famous movie-star Hedy Lamar. She and avant-garde composer George Antheil were awarded the first major patent for spread-spectrum, frequency-hopping technology, which was apparently to complex to be implemented during WW2, but later became an underlying supporting technology for modern digital communication including cell phones, Bluetooth, WiFi, etc.http://www.google.com/patents/US2292387

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2015, 06:58:15 pm
content: Look at her life's story - one fascinating lady.There are some pretty smart Hollywood types too. I think Portman went to Harvard? And one of the Harry Potter stars just graduated from Brown?What it shows is that smarts come in all shapes and forms.

author: edavid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2015, 07:39:27 pm
content: Quote from: Richard Crowley on February 02, 2015, 06:51:37 pmIt wasn't a major spread spectrum patent at all (spread spectrum has a very long history - even Tesla filed a patent), and frequency-hopping is not used by cell phones,Bluetooth, or WiFi. It's still a cool story though.

author: Rory
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2015, 07:48:00 pm
content: Look up actor Reginald Denny...

author: Dongulus
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2015, 07:48:45 pm
content: Quote from: edavid on February 02, 2015, 07:39:27 pmBluetooth is frequency hopping.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2015, 08:20:09 pm
content: And Zeppo Marx stopped being an actor,left Hollywood,......and became a successful engineer.

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2015, 09:52:24 pm
content: Here's a few that might be of interest:Madonna, IQ of 140Shakira, IQ of 140Geena Davis, IQ of 140Steve Martin, IQ of 152Sharon Stone, IQ of 158Quentin Tarantino, IQ of 160Dolph Lundgren, IQ of 160James Woods, IQ of 180Brian May, PhD in AstrophysicsMayim Bialik, PhD in NeuroscienceDanica McKellar, MathematicianArt Garfunkel, MS in MathematicsMike Judge, PhysicistDolph Lundgren, MS in Chemical EngineeringDylan Bruno, Environmental EngineerRowan Atkinson, MS EE from Queen's College, OxfordTom Scholz, MS Mechanical EngineeringRoger Corman, Industrial EngineeringHerbie Hancock, Electrical Engineering + MusicMontel Williams, General Engineering from the US Naval AcademyDonald Sutherland, Engineering + DramaLisa Kudrow, Biology

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2015, 10:09:57 pm
content: QuoteWow!Maybe Ms. Stone can shake it a little with that thunderfoot guy?

author: babysitter
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 03, 2015, 06:02:48 am
content: Really, Hedy Lamarr is impressive in that account, and I even have to confess that I have something for her looks.Nanofrogs list had some people I was aware of and some new.This reminded me of the Erdös-Bacon-Numerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erd%C5%91s%E2%80%93Bacon_numberBoth numbers, Bacon and Erdös, measure by how many persons between you are linked to the work of actor Kevin Bacon or Mathematician Paul Erdös. If you had a role in a film with (Kevin bacon OR person linked to him) AND Autored a paper with (Paul Erdös ÖR person which coauthored with him OR his coauthors OR their coauthors etc.), then you get the Bacon-Erdös number as sum of both.My boss' kids all work in science, one has a reasonably low Erdös number and the other has not found his Erdös-Number yet, but he was a extra in the Hindenburg made-for-tv movie which gave him a reasonably low Bacon number. Now they need to collaborate with each other and then with me

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 03, 2015, 12:01:36 pm
content: QuoteAnyone needing to prove how smart they are cannot be terribly smart.

author: Mechanical Menace
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 03, 2015, 12:23:45 pm
content: Quote from: edavid on February 02, 2015, 07:39:27 pmIt was definitely used in the early days of the 802.11 set of standards, it would surprise me if it's not at least still in there for backwards compatibility even if it isn't used by the newer standards.

author: edavid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 03, 2015, 04:17:03 pm
content: Quote from: Mechanical Menace on February 03, 2015, 12:23:45 pmIt was part of 802.11-1997, but I don't know if anyone used it. It is not part of WiFi, which began with 802.11b.

author: Rigby
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 03, 2015, 04:24:00 pm
content: Quote from: dannyf on February 03, 2015, 12:01:36 pmOh, this is so true.A corollary: Anyone needing to prove how confident they are cannot be terribly confident.

author: Mechanical Menace
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 03, 2015, 05:00:39 pm
content: Quote from: nanofrog on February 02, 2015, 09:52:24 pmJames Woods has an IQ 20 points higher than the tests go? Or is that a joke from him being on Family Guy or something?Quote from: edavid on February 03, 2015, 04:17:03 pmThanks for the info.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 03, 2015, 06:06:27 pm
content: IQ has a rough upper limit of 220, there are a few that have gotten that.I met a few people that are scary brilliant, but some were definitely in need of a permanent minder, just to keep them dressed and fed. They were truly scatterbrained, but give them a problem that interested them and which they thought was possibly solvable and they would give you an answer, that might take you a week or more to just start to understand. A couple had reserved rooms in a hospital ward, just to keep them somewhat close to sane when needed. No medication, just a routine for a while that did not involve thinking or interaction with other than a limited set of people. paid for by the employer, as a part of the work.

author: babysitter
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 03, 2015, 08:25:58 pm
content: Quote from: dannyf on February 03, 2015, 12:01:36 pmAnd anyone removing a important part of a message while quoting is.