Brrrrr: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, as we battle our way through this late fall, rather wintry workweek. Stay warm, stay awesome.
Let them eat cake: National Pastry Day is a judgment-free zone.
Light touch: It’s Dec. 9 out there, and let us be among the first to wish you a Hanukkah Sameach!
The Festival of Lights officially begins at sundown tomorrow, and while it’s a relatively minor affair among Jewish holy days, the eight-day observance – commemorating the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem around 165 B.C., during the Maccabean Revolt – banks some serious holiday-season cred.
Armed and very, very dangerous: Before the festival begins, Dec. 9 brings us Army Day in Peru, Navy Day in Sri Lanka and, here in the States, National Pastry Day. For Pete’s sake, celebrate responsibly.
Speaking of celebrations, please help Innovate LI end the year in style by giving us a vote (or three) in Bethpage Federal Credit Union’s 2021 Best of Long Island contest. We’re up for Best Long Island Blog (in the Arts & Entertainment categories) and daily voting ends in six short days – vote now and vote often, please and thank you!
On top of the News, ahead of the Times: The Minerva, leaning left from the start.
All the news that fit: New York City’s first daily newspaper, The American Minerva, debuted 227 years ago today.
In ‘Charge’: Commemorating a bloody battle in Crimea fought just six weeks earlier, Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade” was published on this date in 1854 in London. (More epic poetry below.)
Finding his bearings: Illinois inventor and industrialist Levant Richardson, who later founded the Richardson Ball Bearing and Skate Co., earned the first U.S. roller-skates patent on Dec. 9, 1884.
En español: The Second Spanish Republic became a thing on this date in 1931, with the adoption of a new Spanish Constitution.
Motherload: And the fabled “Mother of All Demos” took place 52 years ago today, when American engineer and Internet pioneer Douglas Engelbart dazzled at the American Federation of Information Processing Societies’ 1968 Fall Joint Conference.
Among other things, Engelbart introduced the concepts of teleconferencing, multiple windows and real-time text editing, and gave the first-ever computer mouse demonstration.
Bard-a-like: English poet and historian John Milton (1608-1674) – who constructed the epic poem “Paradise Lost” and is, arguably, second in English literary significance behind William Shakespeare – would be 412 years old today.
I am Spartacus: Actually, he’s Kirk Douglas, born 104 years ago today.
Also born on Dec. 9 were German art historian Johann Winckelmann (1717-1768), a crusading archeologist who stoked new interest in old stuff; American frozen-foods forefather Clarence Birdseye (1886-1956), also a coyote-killing taxidermist; U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Grace Hopper (1906-1992), a gifted mathematician and computer-science pioneer who helped design the first commercial digital computer; Silver Screen legend Kirk Douglas (1916-2020); and Oscar-, Golden Globe-, Tony-, Screen Actors Guild Award- and BAFTA Award-winner Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 1934).
Qapla’! And take a bow, Michael Dorn – the American actor known best as Klingon warrior Worf of “Star Trek” fame turns 68 today. (Yes, that was Klingon … look it up.)
Wish the imposing alien, James Bond’s ex-boss and all the other Dec. 9 innovators well at editor@innovateli.com, where story tips and calendar events are always paradise found.
About our sponsor: Nixon Peabody is an international law firm with an office in Jericho that works with clients who are building the technologies and industries of the future. We have the experience necessary to drive your business forward and help you negotiate risks and opportunities related to all areas of business and the law, including startup work, private placements, venture capital and private equity, IP and licensing, labor and immigration and mergers and acquisitions.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Traumatic: Adelphi University faculty members with long experience in crisis zones have created a new certificate program designed to help mental health professionals treat traumatized individuals and communities.
The Garden City university’s Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology will offer the Advanced Certificate in Trauma Treatment to licensed and certified mental-health professionals, imparting knowledge and skills specific to traumatic conditions. The coursework addresses both individual and collective trauma with “intensive theoretical and clinical psychotherapy training,” according to Adelphi, with a focus on reflective thinking among students.
Course participants, in fact, will be encouraged to undergo personal psychotherapy for the program’s duration. “Traumatic experiences and individuals’ relations to them are complex, cumulative, chronic and multilayered,” noted Amira Simha-Alpern, the Derner School’s director of postgraduate programs and a board-certified psychoanalyst. “This program helps clinicians develop a deep understanding of trauma and its devastating impacts, and enhances their competencies in helping survivors heal, develop resilience and even grow.”
Nomadic: Just 18 months after debuting a new talk-show set as part of an ambitious video-production collaboration with Edgewood-based Lorraine Gregory Communications, Donna Drake is on the move again – this time, into her own full-service production studio.
The host of The Donna Drake Show – a syndicated 30-minute talk show with celebrity guests and inspirational messages – has begun work on Drake Media Studios, a full-service production studio on South Service Road in Melville. Formerly the home of WLNY News, the 3,000-square-foot-plus space is being renovated with “hard scenery,” green screens and updated guest accommodations, along with other technologies and resources required by film, television, radio and podcast productions.
Of course, Drake Media Studios will also become the home of The Donna Drake Show. Now in its 12th season, the show airs weekly on ViacomCBS’s WLNY-TV and has built an international audience through streaming and online platforms. “I am a proud supporter of Long Island and our regional entertainment industry,” said Drake, who began her New York media career in the WLNY Promotions Department back in 1987. “I never imagined I would come full circle and physically return to the site that started my television career.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Winter soldier: Albany’s Winter COVID Plan has been endorsed by “America’s Doctor,” infectious diseases expert and native New Yorker Anthony Fauci.
The gift of innovation: This season, give your team direct access to the secrets of socioeconomic success – Innovate LI newsletter subscriptions are always easy, always free.
Innovation in the Age of Coronavirus: Surges, flexes, emergency triage ops and more – the second wave swells in Long Island’s one-and-only pandemic primer.
VOICES
Despite some stinging epitaphs, the national poll is alive and well and still a critical tool for communications professionals. Media master David Chauvin surveys the field.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Exploration explanation: Exploring the tricky innovation process has never been more difficult, or more important. Above the Law navigates.
Innovation imperative: These 21 sustainability innovations might just save the world. Interesting Engineering examines.
Clean slate: After chaotic 2020, your home office – especially your inbox – needs a refresher. Fast Company cleans up nice.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Beyond Identity, New York City-based creator of a password-less identity platform, raised $75 million in a Series B funding round. Investors included New Enterprise Associates, Jim Clark and Koch Disruptive Technologies.
+ Mekonos, a California-based biotech launching a molecular delivery system-on-a-chip for gene editing and synthetic biology, completed a $4.6 million financing round led by Novartis AG, with participation from Hike Ventures, CRCM Ventures, Good AI Capital and Elementum Ventures.
+ Joon Care, a Washington State-based teletherapy platform for teens and young adults, raised $3.5 million in funding led by Route 66 Ventures, with participation from PSL Ventures, Vulcan Capital and strategic angels.
+ Nuburu, a Colorado-based, high-power blue-laser tech company, raised $20 million in Series B funding co-led by Anzu Partners and Allstate Corp. Chairman, President and CEO Thomas Wilson.
+ Virta Health, a California-based med-tech dedicated to reversing type-2 diabetes without medication or surgery, raised $65 million in Series D funding led by Sequoia Capital Global Equities, with participation from Caffeinated Capital.
+ Chainalysis, a NYC-based blockchain analysis company providing data, software and expertise to government agencies and other institutions, secured $100 million in Series C financing led by Addition, Accel, Benchmark and Ribbit.
BELOW THE FOLD (Bring Your Appetite Edition)
Fruity as a nutcake: Playing way past this.
Beyond fruitcake: The relentless nibblers at Zippia rank each state’s favorite Christmas treat.
A latke to be grateful for: Ten essential dishes for your Hanukkah table.
Moveable feasts: How food manufacturers are innovating for the unorthodox holiday season.
Full plate: Please continue supporting the amazing firms that support Innovate LI, including international ace Nixon Peabody, where a full menu of specialized practice groups helps Long Island businesses digest a smorgasbord of critical corporate statutes. Check them out.
