3 technologies to be truly thankful for

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

Lab Director John Breeden II offers his list of technologies that make him happy. What's on yours?

Thanksgiving is such a wonderful and uniquely American holiday. It gives us time to give thanks for whatever it is that makes our lives complete. And although we mostly concentrate on family and friends, I’m reminded that several really cool technologies make my life a better place.

So I’d like to ask all of you to let us know what gadget, gizmo or life-saving technological Holy Grail makes you happy. Here are some of mine:

Microwave ovens.

I have nothing against the many other uses of microwaves, but my favorite has got to be when we use them for cooking. Their use as a cooking tool was discovered in 1946 when Dr. Percy Spencer of the Raytheon Corp. was experimenting with radar and magnetrons and realized that the candy bar in his pocket had melted. Realizing that cooking food across a room probably wasn’t practical (or safe), work began on creating a device that would cook food inside of an oven, hopefully where chefs were not standing at the time. Popcorn was the first food cooked on purpose inside one, which is ironic because it’s also one of the most popular foods still nuked today, though my choice has got to be microwaveable burritos, which I’m convinced is what separates us from the animals.

Scalable, fault-tolerant distributed server architecture.

That’s a mouthful, but for me it boils down to one thing – massively multiplayer online games. Yes, we could probably use this technology to determine if life on other planets exists or cure the common cold. But it’s a lot more fun to dress up in silly costumes and hang out with your friends in a medieval world, slaying dragons, orcs and the occasional goblin. Once a week I even get to play a hobbit from Tolkien lore, and I’ve climbed the ranks all the way up to a level 64 Guardian in Lord of The Rings Online. When I hit 65, I’m putting that accomplishment on my resume. If you happen to be on the Meneldor server over the holidays, say hello to Circee, and I’ll be sure to wave back, unless you’re playing an orc or a goblin, of course. Then I’ll have to kill you.

Geostationary and elliptical orbiting satellites.

I put two kinds of satellite orbiting patterns into this one because both work together to enable a technology that I’ve become addicted to of late: satellite radio. Faced with a long commute, I was highly discouraged by the idiocy of morning DJs or the endless commercials I had to sit through to hear even a single bar of a song that, more often than not, I didn’t really like. I would have paid almost anything to spice up my drive. Then I was introduced to the world of Sirius and XM radio (they are together now). Suddenly I had an entire commercial-free station devoted to the greatest musical decade ever created: the 1980s! But there are also hundreds of other channels when A Flock Of Seagulls and Duran Duran get to be a bit much. Everything from show tunes to uncensored hardcore rap is at my fingertips, and stand-up comedy for when music doesn't soothe the savage commuter. Oh yeah, there is also news and junk like that. I’ll never go back to terrestrial radio (yes I’ve also become a radio snob). Satellite radio is a technology that makes me thankful for traffic jams, or at least more tolerant of them, something that, around D.C., is quite helpful.

So there is my short list of things I’m thankful for. What's yours? Mass production of beer? Search engines that make porn easily accessible (and then browser-plug-ins to cover your tracks?) Or more mundane things like lifesaving defibrillators, flashlights and that amazing Goober Grape that somehow combines the jelly and peanut butter in the same jar?

So, my fellow technocrats, let’s show the world what we’re made of, and what we’re truly thankful for this year.







 

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.