This is the Curta calculator, said to be the best mechanical calculator and widely used in the 1970’s until the electronic calculator became popular. From Wikipedia: The Curta was conceived by Curt Herzstark (1902–1988) in the 1930s in Vienna, Austria. By 1938, he had filed a key patent, covering his complemented stepped drum, Deutsches Reichspatent […]
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Check for Plagiarism with Search Engines
Dear reader Plagiarism is a problem for content providers. Sometimes companies or publications pay for independent writers to provide write-ups for their website, only to find that the articles provided to them are lifted from other sources. This would not be so bad if the articles were paraphrased or summarized, but in some cases the […]
Fairouz – Disputes Over Song Royalties
Dear Reader, On 31st July 2010 the Dubai-based Gulf News reported that famous Lebanese singer, Fairouz, was embroiled in a dispute over song royalties. The iconic singer, who sang songs of justice, freedom and love, has given hope to many Lebanese during their 15 year civil war.(Ref: Gulf News, 31st July 2010. Fight over royalties […]
First Synthetic Organism Created
Dear Reader, Meet Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn1.0. Also known as “Synthia”. In May 2010, Wall Street Journal reported that scientists at the J Craig Venter Institute had created the first synthetic organism. (Ref: WSJ, 21st May 2010. Scientists Create Synthetic Organism.) Here is an excerpt. Heralding a potential new era in biology, scientists for the first […]
Telephone inventor, Meucci, recognised after death
Dear Reader, Who hasn’t heard of Alexander Graham Bell? He is widely credited as the inventor of the telephone. However, if that is what you know, then you don’t know enough about the telephone. In June 2002, The Guardian reported that the US Congress had recognised that a poor immigrant from Florentine, Italy, was the […]