Do you know where the phonograph was invented?  How about the moving picture? How about the practical light bulb?  That’s right it was in… Northern New Jersey! Actually, West Orange, NJ.  Seriously.

This series of posts reflects my inner geek.  It chronicles a number of information technology (IT) related “tourist attractions” that I would love to visit before I die.  Some of them are simply far away locations that I dream of making it to and others will be locations that I would need some assistance obtaining access to.  Please feel free to add your own via the comments block below.

Today’s destination is the home and personal laboratory of Thomas Edison.  The greatest inventor in modern American history and certainly a worthy idol for technology lovers.

Wikipedia does great justice to this topic. 

The web home of this location is the National Park Service.  It reports that:

“Imagine your day ending at sunset. Life without music, motion pictures, radio. Life without light itself. Our modern lives began at the turn of the century in West Orange, New Jersey. The Laboratory and home of Thomas Edison, stopped in time, continue to teach a new generation.”

Believe it or not, you can get to this National Park in only 30 minutes from New York City.  It is inexpensive to visit and has guided tours!  While visiting this location, you can see:

• A collection of his inventions
• His final home
• His personal effects
• The first movie house
• The phonograph
• The first recording studio
• and more!

This is how the park self-describes itself:

The original music recording studio, Thomas Edison’s private laboratory, and photography studio are open to the public for the first time in the history of the park. The original furnishings have been moved back into many rooms and the vast and unique museum collections are available for all to see, hear, and experience. Installation of a new elevator and stair tower adjacent to the main laboratory building allows new public access to the upper floors of the laboratory that now feature new exhibits.

I recommend that you and your family go.  It is fun for kids of all ages and can motivate children to dream of huge technology contributions.  Highly recommended.

Go to the official National Parks Service website and check it out!

So where do you want to visit that is related to your interest in The Information Age and Information Technology?  Do you want to see where people worked, like this article, or where objects are?  Together we could make a terrific list.  Please add below.

That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for April 1, 2010 by Scott Coughlin.

Image Credit: Inventor’s Digest

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You can also follow it on Twitter at @ignitebaltimore. 

This is a great opportunity for artistic and technical people in the local DC/Baltimore Metro area to interact in person and I always enjoy meeting everyone.  The fourth event was even better than before and I expect that tonight will continue the improving trend.  The new venue is better, the food was great last time, the drink is always fine, and the speakers look encouraging. 

If you are here because of Ignite Baltimore, I sincerely thank you for taking the time and investing your attention in my content.  If you leave me a comment with your link or send me an email using my contact form, I would be honored to return your favor.  I welcome your feedback on my blog.  Please seek me out on twitter @Scott_Coughlin or @ITThought so we can meet at the event, too.

Ignite is a tough event to describe so I will direct you to the global Ignite site instead.  This how they describe it there:

What Is Ignite?

If you had five minutes on stage what would you say? What if you only got 20 slides and they rotated automatically after 15 seconds? Around the world geeks have been putting together Ignite nights to show their answers.

 

Ignite was started in Seattle in 2006 by Brady Forrest and Bre Pettis. Since then 100s of 5 minute talks have been given across the world. There are thriving Ignite communities in Seattle, Portland, Paris, and NYC.

Ignite is exciting because it attracts a very diverse audience of artists, technorati, and thinkers to see presentations and engage in cerebral discussions led by other local artists, technorati, and thinkers.  Plus it features local foods, deserts, and drinks.  Great time for all.

My IT thought for the day is "what is it about now that there seems to be a growing number of convergence events happening just like this?”  I believe, though I cannot find the words to explain it, that art and science and technology are coming together in many places because of our Information Age and it all has something very profound to say about the maturity of its glue – Information Technology.

What do you think?  Have you ever been to an Ignite event near you? Please share your thoughts.

That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for March 4, 2010 by Scott Coughlin.

Image Credit: Ignite Baltimore

Today’s post is licensed under the creative commons license.  All are free to share and use so long as credit is given for original or derivative works.

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This series of posts reflects my inner geek.  It chronicles a number of information technology (IT) related “tourist attractions” that I would love to visit before I die.  Some of them are simply far away locations that I dream of making it to and others will be locations that I would need some assistance obtaining access to.  Please feel free to add your own via the comments block below.

Today’s destination is the most visited paid attraction in London! It is the London Eye, also known as the Millennium Wheel.  This was the largest Ferris Wheel on the planet for the Millennial Celebration and a technology wonder!

Wikipedia does great justice to this topic.  It reports that:

“The Merlin Entertainments London Eye (known more simply as The London Eye, and also known as the Millennium Wheel), at a height of 135 metres (443 ft), is the largest Ferris wheel in Europe, and has become the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over three million people in one year. At the time it was erected, in 1999, it was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world, until it was surpassed by the Star of Nanchang (160 m) in May 2006, and then the Singapore Flyer (165 m) on 11 February 2008. However, it is still described by its operators as "the world’s tallest cantilevered observation wheel" (as the entire structure is supported by an A-frame on one side only).”

Besides always wanting to go to London myself, this attraction is a certified technology and information systems human wonder.  Please give the the Wikipedia site a read.   It really does describe this attraction very well, especially its glass engineering and fly-by-wire control systems.  Considered by many to be an architectural as well as Engineering marvel.  It is beautiful, tech heavy, and really high – everything that a true information professional, or geek, would love.

From the official London Eye Website:

“At 135m, The Merlin Entertainments London Eye is the world’s largest cantilevered observation wheel. It was conceived and designed by Marks Barfield Architects and was launched in 2000. It has already won over 75 awards for national and international tourism, outstanding architectural quality and engineering achievement and has now welcomed over 36 million visitors.”

The official site also has a cool learning section with neat facts like:

“The London Eye can carry 800 passengers per revolution – equivalent to 11 London red double-decker buses.”

If you want to see even more pictures, be sure to check out About.com’s London Eye Photo Gallery!

So where do you want to visit that is related to your interest in The Information Age and Information Technology?  Do you want to see where people worked, like this article, or where objects are?  Together we could make a terrific list.  Please add below.

That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for February 10, 2010 by Scott Coughlin.

Image Credit: to55er’s Blog

Special Thanks to Dan Sung’s Blog entry, Six excellent ideas for a geek bank holiday weekend, regarding tourist sites in England, that gave me the idea for this article.

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Today’s destination is the mother ship for all PC-Heads: The Microsoft Company Headquarters! It is in Redmond, Washington!  It is a sprawling campus that is also one of the top employers in the SEATAC Area (For Seattle – Tacoma). It is accessed by landing at the SEATAC Airport and driving over the SEATAC bridge.

Wikipedia does great justice to this topic.  It reports that:

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKEX: 4338) is a multinational computer technology corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices.^[8] Headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA, its most profitable products are the Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite of productivity software.

Obviously, Microsoft is the 50 Trillion Pound Gorilla of the modern software business.  Their Windows Operating System and Office Suite are synonymous with Enterprise Business.  You could not escape their products if you tried as an Information Technology Professional.  I am sure that, no matter what niche of the IT business you work in, you have a secret desire to run wild over the Microsoft campus, peer into their inner workings, and talk to their top people!

Please give the the Wikipedia site a read.   It really does describe Microsoft very well.

So where do you want to visit that is related to your interest in The Information Age and Information Technology?  Do you want to see where people worked, like this article, or where objects are?  Together we could make a terrific list.  Please add below.

That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for November 19, 2009 ©Scott Coughlin

Photo credit: www.pcpro.co.uk and Wikipedia

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Today, I feature The Marconi Radio Station at Marconi Beach in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, named after Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of the Radio. It is part of the Cape Cod National Seashore and is located on the site of his first transatlantic wireless signal from the U.S to England.  How cool is that?

From Wikipedia:

"Marchese Guglielmo Marconi 25 April 1874 – 20 July 1937 was an Italian inventor, best known for his development of a radiotelegraph system, which served as the foundation for the establishment of numerous affiliated companies worldwide. He shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics with Karl Ferdinand Braun, "in recognition of their contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy".

I think that the work that Marconi did for the Information Age is often under appreciated.  The digital data modes that were later invented for radio transmission by various militaries became the foundation for our modern computer networking formats, paradigms, and packet ideas.  Often overlooked is that today’s computer wireless networking dominance is all built on top of our understanding of radio waves and the direct descendent of the work that Marconi did all the way back in 1906!  All good Information Technology Professionals should bone up on his contributions.

For further study and travel ideas, here are some top notch links for Marconi fans:

• Wikipedia – Marconi
• Nobel Prize Foundation – Marconi
• About.com – The Invention of Radio
• U.S. Marconi Museum
• The online catalogue of the Marconi Collection at the Museum of History of Science, Oxford.
• The American Radio Relay League (ARRL)

So where do you want to visit that is related to your interest in The Information Age and Information Technology?  Do you want to see where people worked, like this article, or where objects are?  Together we could make a terrific list.  Please add below.

That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for November 12, 2009 ©Scott Coughlin

Photo credit:  Wikipedia

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