Black History Month–Day 17

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In honor of Black History Month, here are few profiles of contributors to history of African descent:

Granville T. Woods

Granville T. Woods was such a prolific inventor, he is often called the black Thomas Edison. Woods holds more than 50 patents for such inventions as the egg incubator and a steam boiler furnace. But his most significant invention, the synchronous multiplex railway telegraph (patented in 1887), allowed railway stations to communicate with moving trains. Because dispatchers were better able to locate trains, rail accidents were significantly reduced.

Dr. James E. West

Electret Microphone Inventor

Dr. James E. WestNinety percent of microphones used today are based on the ingenuity of James Edward West, an African-American inventor born in 1931 in Prince Edwards County, VA. If you’ve ever talked on the telephone, you’ve probably used his invention.
Dr. James E. West and a colleague, Gerhard Sessler, developed the mic (officially known as the Electroacoustic Transducer Electret Microphone) while with Bell Laboratories, and they received a patent for it in 1962. The acoustical technologies employed became widely used for many reasons including high performance, acoustical accuracy and reliability. It is also small, lightweight and cost effective. Continue reading →

NECN/Concordia candidate forums for mayor, city council – Feb 28th & March 22nd.

Aside

Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods and Concordia University Co-Host Two Mayoral and City Council Candidates Forums

 

 

The first event will focus on community livability issues such as jobs, transportation, safety and other necessities for thriving, healthy communities for all. The second will focus on a range of education issues, from Pre-K through to Higher Education.

What are the issues that matter to you? At the forums, community members will be invited to share their own questions and concerns.  Questions that are not addressed on the spot will be compiled and given to the candidates with a request to provide written responses. All responses will be shared with the public. Please join us to share what matters to you and to show that North/Northeast Portland Votes!

When: Tuesday, February 28th 7pm to 9pm: Community Livability Focus

Thursday, March 22nd, 7pm to 9pm:  Education Focus

The doors open at 6:30pm for both events

 

Who: Mayoral Candidates:   Eileen Brady, Jefferson Smith, Charlie Hales

Council Candidates:    Amanda Fritz, Mary Nolan, Steve Novick, Teressa Raiford, Mark White, Jeri Williams

Moderator:                 Mr. Carl Talton

 

Where: February 28th:  2nd floor of the Hagen Campus Center, Concordia University, 2811 NE Holman, Portland, OR

March 22nd: Lobby of the George R. White Library & Learning  Center, Concordia University

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Note: The King NA formally requested that NECN invite all candidates to participate in its forums; NECN declined to do so. King NA then requested informally that NECN invite all candidates to at least attend the forums, so that residents in our neighborhoods could meet them.

 

Black History Month–Day 16

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In honor of Black History Month, here are few profiles of contributors to history of African descent:

Elijah McCoy

(1843-1929)- invented a device that lubricated train machinery automatically while it was still in operation.  Before his invention all trains had to be stopped from time to time so they could be oiled by hand.  His invention was used around the world and resulted in the train industry saving millions of dollars.  Others tried to copy his invention, but many people did not except them and created a phrase that is used in the American language today.  They said they wanted “The Real McCoy.”

Silicon Valley Engineering Council

Roy L. Clay

Clay helped launch Hewlett-Packard’s computer division in the late 1960s and is known to some as the godfather of black Silicon Valley for helping break down barriers for African Americans in technology. His recruitment and development of talent has helped usher in the next generation of black technology innovators.

John Henry Thompson

Computer Programming and Software Inventions

John Henry ThompsonEven in high school, John Henry Thompson was interested in computer programming languages. He taught himself several programming languages such as FORTRAN, PLI, COBOL and JCL while working in a New York research facility. Thompson’s goal was to absorb as much knowledge as possible so he could invent his own computer language.
After graduating from High School, he attended MIT where he obtained a degree in Computer Science and a minor in Visual Arts. By combining these two seemingly disparate disciplines, Thompson wanted to bridge the gap between art and technology. Four years later as a chief scientist at Macromedia™, he was able to make progress towards this goal. He developed a number of products, many of them based on his most famous invention, Lingo programming: a scripting language that helps render visuals in computer programs. Thompson used Lingo in one of his better-known computer inventions, Macromedia™ Director. Macromedia™ Director is able to incorporate different graphic formats (such as BMP, AVI, JPEG, QuickTime, PNG, RealVideo and vector graphics) to create multi-media content and applications, thus combining computer programming language with visual art.
Lingo is now used with many programs that have interactive simulations with graphics, animation, sound, and video. Along with Macromedia™ Director, Thompson has helped develop MediaMaker, Actions, VideoWorks Accelerator, and Video Works II. Lingo has also been used to create flash and shockwave programs that now are prevalent in video games, web design, animation, and graphics.

Thanks to Tanisha and Bryan Jones and their daughter Sinai for compiling these profiles from the following sources:

1) The Encyclopedia of African-American Heritage, by Susan Altman
2) The Roots website, theroots.com
3) Famous Black Inventors website, black-inventor.com

Black History Month–Day 15

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In honor of Black History Month, here are few profiles of contributors to history of African descent:

Percy L. Julian

One of the most important scientists of the 20th century, Julian was one of the first to harness the power of plants using the process of synthesis. Synthesis was critical to the medical industry because it allowed scientists to create chemicals that were rare in nature. The chemist’s work led to the birth control pill and improvements in the production of cortisone. In 2007 PBS’s NOVA made a documentary on his life called Forgotten Genius

Valerie Thomas

Inventor of the Illusion Transmitter

Valerie ThomasDid you ever think of what it might be like if your television could project the on-screen image directly into your living room as a 3-Dimensional image? Maybe not, but if it happens, you’ll have African-American inventor Valerie Thomas to thank for it.
From 1964 to 1995, Thomas worked in a variety of capacities for NASA where she developed real-time computer data systems, conducted large-scale experiments and managed various operations, projects and facilities. While managing a project for NASA’s image processing systems, Thomas’ team spearheaded the development of “Landsat,” the first satellite to send images from space.

Continue reading →

Linux Workshop to Free You from Microsoft

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FREE Workshop: Rebuild Your Computer or Laptop
Tuesday, February 21 from 7-9 pm
Got a slow or infected laptop or desktop computer? Save your money and the earth by buying less. Bring in a laptop or desktop computer that you want to rebuild. We will install a fresh clean desktop and windows alternative operating system called Unbutu. It’s very secure, nearly virus proof, and used all over the world. Be-prepared to wipe windows and all data. Saving your documents and photos may be possible but takes a long time. Please RSVP as the class is small to Joe Rowe, ojoe22 (at) gmail.com or (503) 282-769x where x=3

Joe has worked with computers and other cool, geeky things for a long, long time. He’s also a teacher. And, for the topper, he has volunteered at Free Geek. Questions? Feel free to shoot him an e-mail.

At Redeemer Lutheran Church
5431 NE 20th Ave at Killingsworth
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Class will be held in our “sun room;” doors are right off of Killingsworth St., next to the Redeemer Lutheran Church sign.