Mild mannered: Welcome to Friday, intrepid innovators, and the conclusion of another summertime workweek – notably mild and, arguably, the nicest on Long Island in all of Summer 2024.
Don’t break out the pumpkin spice just yet – things should warm slightly before we reach Labor Day and the unofficial end of Summer. But the weekend ahead looks lovely, and we’re all eager to get there, so let’s rock.
Hard pressed: Say hello to my little friend.
All for naut: Today is Aug. 23 and we open with a head-scratcher – specifically, conflicting origin stories noting the birth of the World Wide Web, which was either created on Aug. 6, 1991, or April 30, 1993. Whichever version you embrace, Aug. 23 is the date we celebrate Internaut Day, saluting British scientist Tim Berners-Lee and his ambitious “hypertext project.”
(For the record, “World Wide Web” and “Internet” are not synonymous – the WWW is comprised of the pages you see online, while the ’net references the network of connected computers carrying emails and data. Now you know.)
Flat out awesome: If you know the gastronomic bliss of layering ham, roast pork, Swiss cheese and pickles, slathering on spicy mustard and flattening the thing to toasted perfection, then you know all about Cuban sandwiches – main course on National Cuban Sandwich Day, scarfed down each year on this date.
Enjoy National Buttered Corn Day on the side, and for dessert dish up National Sponge Cake Day, both thoroughly enjoyed on Aug. 23.
Bolt from the blue: The nut-and-bolt wrench was one of two wrenches patented — completely coincidentally — 132 years ago today.
Wrench set: Besides both being edible, Cuban sandwiches and sponge cakes have little in common, just like the nut-and-bolt wrench and the pipe wrench, which are both wrenches but otherwise unrelated – except that both were, coincidentally, patented on this date in 1892 (by Texas-based inventor John Hoval and Pennsylvania-based innovator William Dechant, respectively.)
Message received: They likely used wrenches in the construction of San Francisco’s original Cliff House, the receiving station notified by Lightship No. 70 on Aug. 23, 1899, that the troopship Sherman had been sighted off the California coast – the first ship-to-shore message in U.S. naval history.
Wednesday night fights: Switching over to TV signals, televised boxing matches became a thing on this date in 1933 (a Wednesday), when the BBC broadcasted a six-round exhibition between middleweights Archie Sexton and Lauri Raiteri. (For those keeping score … sorry, but there are no records of who won the bout.)
Church bulletin: Making love, not fisticuffs, is the World Council of Churches, the ecumenical interfaith Christian movement – tangentially approved by the Catholic Church, which is not an official member – established 76 years ago today.
Across the universe: And it was Aug. 23, 1974, when Beatle John Lennon – and dozens of other witnesses – reported a UFO over New York City.
According to Lennon, the saucer-shaped object – ringed by flashing lights with a solid red light on top – was hovering over a building just 100 feet away from his apartment. Published reports say the superstar even called the NYPD, which confirmed that several other eyewitnesses had reported the same thing.
Dancing ma-Gene: Kelly was almost an economist, before he answered his true calling.
Singin’ (and dancin’) in the rain: American dancer, actor, singer, director and choreographer Eugene Curran “Gene” Kelly (1912-1996) – an energetic and athletic performer who studied economics and law before becoming a song-and-dance icon – would be 112 years old today.
Also born on Aug. 23 were French naturalist Baron Georges Jean-Léopold Nicolas-Frédéric Cuvier (1769-1832), the “Founding Father of Paleontology”; British physicist William Eccles (1875-1966), a pioneer of radio communications; American actress and singer Barbara Eden (born Barbara Jean Morehead, 1931), who starred alongside Elvis Presley, Fred Astaire, Peter Lorre and other major stars, but is known best for “I Dream of Jeannie”; Puerto Rican physician Antonia Coello Novello (born 1944), the first women and the first Hispanic to serve as U.S. surgeon general; and American actor River Phoenix (1970-1993), a brilliant and deeply caring teen star tragically cut short.
Plum Islander: And take a bow, Nelson Richard DeMille! The graduate of Elmont Memorial High School (and three-year Hofstra University student) – a best-selling master of crime fiction, action/adventure and suspense novels – turns 81 today.
Give the adrenaline-pumped author your best at editor@innovateli.com, where your news tips always keep us in suspense – and not sharing your calendar events is a crime.
About our sponsor: Northwell Health is New York’s largest healthcare provider and private employer, with 21 hospitals, 900-plus outpatient facilities and more than 85,000 employees. We’re making research breakthroughs at the Feinstein Institutes and training the next generation of medical professionals at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Hofstra Northwell School of Graduate Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. Visit Northwell.edu.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Phil Andrews: Small biz fueler.
In the minority: The Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce is taking this year’s Minority Enterprise Development Week personally.
Dating back to 1983, national MED Week aims to educate Americans about minority-owned businesses and encourage consumers to engage them. In 2021, LIAACC President Phil Andrews partnered with 100 Black Men of Eastern New York to found MED Week in New York, looking to help regional minority-owned businesses expand their networks and increase their revenues, and to “fuel the growth of small business in New York State well into the future.”
This year’s national MED Week is scheduled for Oct. 20-26, but MED Week in New York – which will include a special Founder’s Day event honoring LIAACC Founding Chairman John Scott – is set to begin Oct. 9 with an evening expo at the Town of Hempstead’s Nathan L.H. Bennett Pavilion. “MED Week … gives minority-owned firms access to information and resources to grow their businesses domestically and internationally through networking events, workshops and forums,” noted LIAACC Vice President Rose Ward, owner of Uniondale-based NFocus Management Group. “[It] allows everyone to come together and share those resources.”
Bay watch: Water quality is steadily improving off Nassau County’s South Shore.
That’s the happy word from the Long Island Regional Planning Council, the Town of Hempstead and the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University, which hosted a joint Aug. 15 press event highlighting comprehensive action plans designed to reduce pollutant levels in the Western Bays region – including nitrogen, the leading cause of ecosystem-threatening water-quality deterioration in Long Island’s estuaries.
The latest findings of the Hempstead Bay Water Quality Monitoring Project – revived in 2019 by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation – applaud new Biological Nutrient Removal systems and effluence redirection through the ongoing Bay Park Conveyance Project. But excess nitrogen in coastal waterways “remains one of the most significant threats to our quality of life here on Long Island,” according to LIRPC Chairman John Cameron. “It is encouraging to see that the many programs and infrastructure improvements … are starting to make a positive difference,” Cameron added. “The Western Bays help fuel our region’s recreation and tourism economies and the return on the investment made in improving water quality will ensure these important industries are thriving.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Nomination celebration: Marketing and PR cornerstone Lorraine Gregory Communications is trumpeting a prestigious New York Emmy Award nomination – and 50,000 children’s lives saved.
Monday morning quarterback: Our online Newsletter Archive is brimming with entertaining wit and critical intelligence from our Wednesday and Friday editions – but only subscribers get to see our equally informative Monday Calendar Newsletters. Don’t miss a thing.
ICYMI
Long Island schools are reopening soon – and threats against all the personal and professional data zipping through school computers have never been greater, according to IntelligentCloudCare IT Manager Karim Farid, who urges regional districts to smarten up on cybersecurity.
BEST OF THE WEST (AND SOMETIMES NORTH/SOUTH)
Innovate LI’s inbox overrunneth with inspirational innovations from all North American corners. This week’s brightest out-of-towners:
From California: Emeryville-based crop king Sound Agriculture boosts growing season with synthetic fertilizer incentives, beneficial fungi and other soil-enhancing solutions.
From North Carolina: Rutherfordton-based pious programmer HolyReads introduces innovative library app featuring high-quality faith-based literature.
From Ohio: Cleveland-based inspirational innovator Release Greatness inspires childhood confidence and creativity with cuddly Greatness Bear.
ON THE MOVE
Marie Donnelly
+ Marie Donnelly has been hired as assistant superintendent for business and operations in the North Merrick School District. She was assistant superintendent for finance and personnel for the Hewlett-Woodmere School District.
+ John Sohngen has been promoted to director of environmental quality for the Suffolk County Department of Health Services in Great River. He previously served as deputy director and principal public health engineer.
+ John Ferraro has been promoted to partner at Melville-based EisnerAmper. He was a senior tax manager.
+ Brad Carlson has been named vice president of technology and business development at Hauppauge-based Intelligent Product Solutions. He was vice president of research and development in the Neuromodulation Division at global medical device maker LivaNova.
+ Olushola Ibiyemi has been hired as a senior environmental health and safety specialist at the Suffolk County Water Authority in Oakdale. He previously served as an HSE officer at Veolia Water Technology in Qatar.
+ Ken Zegel has been promoted to chief public engineer in the Division of Environmental Quality at the Suffolk County Department of Health Services in Great River. He previously served as director for the Office of Ecology.
+ Alison Bernicker has joined Ronkonkoma-based Campolo, Middleton & McCormick as a marketing coordinator. She was a senior digital editor for Melville-based Newsday Media Group.
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 Northwell Health). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Artificial Intelligence [Or Lack Thereof] Edition)
Swift justice: Will she sue over fake Trump endorsement? Only Taylor knows.
Innovation disruption: Why Silicon Valley hates a California lawmaker’s AI-Safety Bill.
I knew you were trouble: AI-created celebrity endorsements could generate lawsuits.
Cloud nine: Why people are falling in love with their chatbots.
Natural smarts: Please continue supporting the amazing institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including Northwell Health, where the latest and greatest technologies are in play – but mean nothing without old-fashioned human ingenuity. Check them out.
