Technology

A boilerplate CST-100 Starliner is lifted skyward by a balloon for a drop test of the Starliner's parachute system. Photo credit: Boeing

Vernuccio’s View: U.S. Manned Space Program Returns

The American space program is moving into high gear. An uncrewed Starliner, designated CST-100, built by Boeing as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, is over 16 feet tall. It is scheduled to be launched, unmanned, from Florida’s Kennedy Center […]

by · December 14, 2019 · Technology, Vernuccio's View
Vintage NCR cash register (Instagram)

Profile America: Ka-ching! The Cash Register Is Patented

Monday, November 4. The slang exclamation “ka-ching!” owes its birth to a development on this date140 years ago. That’s when James Ritty, a saloon keeper in Dayton, Ohio, patented the cash register he developed with his mechanic brother John. The […]

World's First Cellphone Call - April 3 1973 by Martin Cooper. (YouTube)

Profile America: Birth of Cell Phones

Sunday, October 13. With the national median age being 38.2 years, only about half of the country’s population experienced life in what might strike young people as a bleak, dark and difficult age. Practically unimaginable today, there was a time […]

by · October 13, 2019 · History, Profile America, Technology
Profile America: Chipping In

Profile America: Chipping In

Thursday, September 12th. One of the great technical leaps in progress towards our digital age occurred on this date 61 years ago. It was in September 1958 that Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments demonstrated his invention of a miniaturized electronic […]

by · September 12, 2019 · Census, History, Profile America, Technology
The first transcontinental phone call occurred on January 25, 1915.

Profile America: First Transcontinental Phone Call

Friday, January 25th. On this date in 1915, east and west were linked by voice in the first transcontinental phone call. This event was a conference call involving Alexander Graham Bell in New York, his assistant Thomas Watson in San […]

George F. Green, inventor of the dental drill. William J. Hammer Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

Profile America: Electric Dental Drill Patented

Thursday, January 24th. An invention that’s helped millions, but which no one really likes was patented this week in 1875—the electric dental drill. Those who dread the device should consider the primitive state of dental technology before George Green of […]

by · January 24, 2019 · History, Profile America, Technology
Profile America: Telephone Service

Profile America: Telephone Service

Tuesday, January 1st. The nation’s telephone service options began expanding this month in 1982, when AT&T bowed to a Justice Department mandate to give up its local Bell System companies. The breakup became effective on this date 35 years ago, […]

A mid-twentieth century rotary-dial telephone

Profile America: Direct Dial

Thursday, November 29th. A key part of daily telecommunications is 67 years old this month, as direct-dial telephone area codes for transcontinental calling were introduced in 1951. The mayor of Englewood, New Jersey, made the first official call, picking up […]

by · November 29, 2018 · Profile America, Technology
Happy Birthday Dear Internet

Happy Birthday Dear Internet

Tuesday, October 30th. A technological breakthrough that has led to remarkable changes in American and global society occurred 49 years ago today … or yesterday, depending on your point of reference. While Americans in the Eastern and Central time zones […]

Are local NYC high school girls the new Bill Gates?

Are local NYC high school girls the new Bill Gates?

Two local high school students didn’t spend her summer at the beach – instead, they learned the ins-and-outs of computer science during a seven-week program held at MetLife’s headquarters in New York. Shannon Russell and Samira Chowdhury from Bronx, NY, […]

Credit: YouTube

Vernuccio’s View: Google, China, and Censorship

It’s odd that you don’t see much anger expressed online about how social media giants have helped dictatorships.  Is that because those comments have been intentionally censored? An Intercept article by Ryan Gallagher recently reported that “Google is planning to launch a censored […]

Profile America: Online Shopping – It’s Amazon.com Prime Day

Profile America: Online Shopping – It’s Amazon.com Prime Day

Monday, July 16th. On this date in 1995, a small start-up company launched its business of selling books online out of a two-car garage in Bellevue, Washington. The first item purchased was a book titled “Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: […]

by · July 16, 2018 · Business, News, Technology
The first public pay telephone was set up in just two years after Alexander Graham Bell invented the phone. The first coin-operated pay phone was installed ..

Profile America: First Phone Booth

America’s first public phone booth was installed this month in 1880 in New Haven, Connecticut, just four years after the telephone was invented. These first public telephones were supervised by attendants, while those operated by coins came along nine years […]

by · June 29, 2018 · History, News, Technology
The first public pay telephone was set up in just two years after Alexander Graham Bell invented the phone. The first coin-operated pay phone was installed ..

Profile America: First Phone Booth

Friday, June 22nd. America’s first public phone booth was installed this month in 1880 in New Haven, Connecticut, just four years after the telephone was invented. These first public telephones were supervised by attendants, while those operated by coins came […]

by · June 22, 2018 · History, News, Technology
OPINION: Let Tesla Grow in New York

OPINION: Let Tesla Grow in New York

By George Castro I was born in Washington Heights and went to Bronx Community College to study automotive technology and engineering. I now live with my 6 Year old son and family in the Kingsbridge Heights area of the Bronx. […]

by · June 17, 2018 · News, Op Ed, Opinion, Technology