History in the making, one way or the other: Welcome to what promises to be a big day in the annals of American justice and politics, and a monumental day in American history.
Whatever goes down, we sincerely hope it goes down peacefully – that protestors keep it clean, and that law enforcement answers any and all violent or illegal activity with swift and appropriate measure.
You want to speak out about current events, witch hunts and rigged systems? Please do. This country was built specifically for intelligent debate.
You want to violate laws, destroy property, cause injury or otherwise make your point by threatening or committing violence?
No.
Water front: The United Nations created World Water Day to keep global water and sanitation concerns front and center.
Stardate 0322.23: Back here on the bridge of the Starship Innovation, Wednesday, March 22, 2023, is another busy hump day – not to mention World Cloud Security Day, when we raise the shields around our personal recordings and other sensitive data.
A mission to save Earth: You might not know it (even on Long Island, where clean water can be an issue), but humans face a global water and sanitation crisis – hence World Water Day, the UN’s deep annual dive into these troubled waters.
Lower decks: Not feeling it? No worries – it’s also National Goof-Off Day, when we’re encouraged to do nothing about it.
Prime directive: March 22 is the mythological birthdate of the first printed book – Johann Gutenberg’s first-edition Bible, said to have rolled off the press on March 22, 1457 (though that may be a parallel timeline).
Put it on the viewscreen: Master French innovators Auguste and Louis Lumière astounded audiences with less than one minute of moving pictures – officially, the first “movie” – on this date in 1895.
That’s WAC: The Without Altitude Control rocket, ready for takeoff.
Caught in Earth’s gravitational pull! The first American rocket to leave the atmosphere launched from New Mexico, touched the edge of space and came right back on March 22, 1946.
Fire phasers! (Actually, they came later): There wasn’t a death ray in sight when Bell Labs scientists Charles Townes and Arthur Schawlow patented the “optical maser” – now called the laser – on this date in 1960.
Next next next next next generation: And it was March 22, 1993, when Intel first shipped out its Pentium processor, marking a major personal computing evolution.
For those keeping score, “Pentium” comes from the Greek pente, meaning “five” – a reference to Intel’s fifth-generation microarchitecture.
Strange, new worlds: Iranian sultan and academician Ulūgh Beg (1394-1449) – who brought the Timurid dynasty to its cultural peak through an advanced astronomical observatory and other scientific pursuits – would be 629 years old today.
Actor, clown, soldier, spy: Marceau’s multifaceted life included the daring WWII rescue of dozens of Jewish children.
Also born on March 22 were American physicist Robert Millikan (1868-1953), a Nobel Prize winner who shined brightest on photoelectric effect; French actor and mime artist Marcel Marceau (born Marcel Mangel, 1923-2007), who aided the French Resistance against invading Nazis before mastering the art of silence; American Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim (1930-2021); American composer Angelo Badalamenti (1937-2022), who set the eerie mood on “Twin Peaks”; and English composer Andrew Lloyd Webber (born 1948), a masterful musical-theatre impresario.
Captain’s log: And take a bow, William Shatner! The Canadian actor – who’s done so much more but will be linked forever to Capt. Kirk, like some Freudian mind-meld – turns 92 today.
Beam your birthday wishes to (real-life spaceman) Shatner at editor@innovateli.com, where your news tips energize our warp core and your calendar events boldly go where you’ve never gone before (or to the Crest Hollow, probably).
About our sponsor: St. Joseph’s University has provided a diverse population of students in the New York metropolitan area with an affordable education rooted in the liberal arts tradition since 1916. Independent and coeducational, the university provides a strong academic and value-oriented education at the undergraduate and graduate levels, aiming to prepare each student for a life characterized by integrity, intellectual rigor, social responsibility, spiritual depth and service. Through its Long Island, Brooklyn and online campuses, the university offers degrees in 60 majors, special course offerings and certificates and affiliated and pre-professional programs. Learn more here.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Digital defense: Our friends over at Intelligent CloudCare – IT-focused 2021 spinoff of Hauppauge-based product-development mastermind Intelligent Product Solutions – have officially flipped the switch on CloudCare University.
First announced last year, the virtual academy formalizes organizational cyber defenses, with online courses designed to educate and empower employees at all levels with the latest knowledge on familiar and emerging cyberthreats – and the best practices to avoid them. A free course covering Cybersecurity Myths introduces the process, followed by a paid, four-part CyberSecurity 101 course with modules exploring phishing/social engineering, authentication, data handling and techniques for recognizing and reporting security incidents.
The training courses bolster companies against “common cybersecurity threats, from phishing attacks to ransomware attacks,” according to Intelligent CloudCare Managing Director Danny Aponte, the head of CloudCare University. “The weakest link in cybersecurity is often an unsuspecting employee who clicks on a link in a phishing email,” Aponte noted. “We want to help make organizations more aware and secure.”
Threat detector: Nitrogen pollution seriously compromises local ecosystems, according to Long Island Regional Planning Council Chairman John Cameron.
Nitrogen negation: Native-plant gardens and other sustainable solutions to nitrogen pollution helped students at four innovative Long Island schools win an important STEM challenge.
Plainedge Middle School, Syosset’s South Woods Middle School, Rockville Centre’s South Side High School and Sayville High School each earned a $2,500 grant through the Long Island Regional Planning Council’s Water Quality Challenge, aimed at reducing stormwater runoff and nitrogen pollution on school grounds. West Sayville installed a woodchip biochar filter to reduce runoff; South Side installed rain gardens; Plainedge and South Woods middle schools both planted native-plant gardens, while Plainedge installed nitrogen-tracking lysimeters and South Woods formed a Gardening Club.
The annual competition is part of the Long Island Nitrogen Action Plan, a comprehensive effort to limit the nitrogen entering regional ground and surface waters – “one of the most serious threats to the natural environment of Long Island,” according to LIRPC Chairman John Cameron. “[The Challenge] seeks not only to educate our students about nitrogen pollution but empower them to … reduce the reliance on fertilizers and pesticides,” Cameron added.
POD PEOPLE
Episode 16: Brian Fried, inventive path.
Season 4 of Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast is on the horizon … bask in the glow of Seasons 1-3, featuring engaging one-on-one conversations with three-dozen 21st Century innovators in the vanguard of the regional innovation economy. Front row seats available.
TOP OF THE SITE
For Ron: Innovate Long Island historian Tom Mariner eulogizes gone-too-soon Ron Loveland, who devoted his life to family, success and Long Island manufacturing.
Digital do-over: Northwell is looking to streamline care – and improve patient outcomes – be upgrading its massive electronic health record system.
Subscriber content: You keep reading these educational and entertaining newsletters, we’ll keep cranking them out (and if you’d tell a friend about the always easy, always free subscriptions, that would be awesome).
VOICES
With governments stalled, nationwide healthcare executives have taken the lead on preventing gun violence – the leading cause of death for U.S. children and the target of a powerful coalition of healthcare leaders, according to appreciative Voices healthcare anchor and former Northwell Health Senior Vice President Terry Lynam.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Water world: Floating solar panels could power cities and save water, too. The Verge foreshadows “floatovoltaics.”
The hell you say: Doom-mongers have got it all wrong, and they always have. Vox prognosticates progress.
Farm-to-infrastructure: Future Mars homes may be constructed from potatoes, salt and Martian dirt. Popular Science spotlights spuds.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Momofuku Goods, a New York City-based manufacturer of restaurant-grade pantry essentials, raised $17.5 million in growth funding led by Siddhi Capital.
+ Allermi, a California-based direct-to-consumer telehealth provider, raised $3.5 million in seed funding led by Nelstone Ventures and FourSight Capital Partners.
+ Fenix24, a Tennessee-based cyber-disaster recovery platform, raised $5 million in funding led by Eos Venture Partners.
+ Trala, an Illinois-based virtual music school, raised $8 million in Series A funding led by Seven Seven Six, Lachy Groom Fund, Altman Capital, Next Play Ventures and Concrete Rose Ventures.
+ Nanite, a Massachusetts-based biotech focused on non-viral gene-delivery, received $2 million in funding led by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
+ LandTrust, a Montana-based land-sharing virtual marketplace, raised $6 million in Series A funding led by Wilks Brothers and the Wonder Fund ND.
Like this newsletter? Innovate Long Island newsletter, website and podcast sponsorships are a prime opportunity to reach the inventors, investors, entrepreneurs and executives you need to know (just ask St. Joe’s). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (These Are The Voyages Edition)
Universal translator: What the #%@$ did he say?
Vulcan destroyed … again?!? Long-range scans no longer detect pretend/real/pretend Planet Vulcan.
Final frontier: An aging Shatner covers a little philosophical ground – death, life, things of that nature.
Potty-mouths in spaaaaace: Suddenly, everyone in Starfleet curses – and fans are pissed.
Ongoing mission: Please continue supporting the amazing institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including St. Joseph’s University, which seeks out new life skills and better civilizations, and speeds its students toward exciting futures. Check them out.
