25 April 23

On 25 April 1961, Robert Noyce received the patent for the first integrated circuit, also known as a microchip. "Noyce holds 16 patents and went on to found Intel, the company that invented the microprocessor. Due to the success of his companies and inventions, he was nicknamed 'the Mayor of Silicon Valley.'" My tie shows a colorized view of a computer motherboard, holding hundreds/thousands of microchips -- and my tie clip is made from part of a real motherboard!

25 April 22

Celebrating microchips today, on the anniversary of their patenting in 1961. (That's 14 years after the discovery of the transistor.) My tie's design is based on a computer motherboard, which contains hundreds of microchips. Our pets have microchip implants that can help reconnect them with us if they get lost. Beth has earrings made from microchips!

25 April 21

 Today is the 60th anniversary of the patenting of the microchip, the integrated circuit that does basically everything inside our computers and refrigerators and smoke detectors and InstantPots and hearing aids and whatever else "electronic" that you'd like to name. My tie is based on an image of a computer motherboard, incorporating scores/hundreds of microchips.

24 April 20

Today's tie celebrates tomorrow's anniversary of the patenting of the microchip, in 1961. The multiple electronic components of our personal computers (each containing many microchips) were originally connected through slots in a "backplane," but around 1980 those parts were combined into a single panel called a "motherboard," which is the basis for the design on my tie. A quick search today located a collection of poems about motherboards.


 
A computer motherboard, By JulianVilla26 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=84225711

25 April 19

The integrated circuit, also known as a "microchip," was patented 58 years ago today (1961). I have some in my ears, on my credit cards, on my keychain, in my clocks and cell phone, all over my office, car and house. In my Beginning Philosophy class tomorrow the topic is "the Internet of Things," where we will explore everything from refrigerators and Roombas to contact lenses, brain implants and fingernail polish. Microchips make it possible to get all of those things connected to networks! My tie shows the basic design of a computer motherboard, full of integrated circuits.

24 April 18

Today's computer motherboard tie honors U. S. Patent #2,981,877, awarded on 25 April 1961 to Robert Noyce, for a silicon-based integrated circuit. Electronic "chips" eventually became the essential components for all computers. Noyce founded Intel Corporation in 1968.

8 January 18

With no special occasion for today, I'm wearing this great "motherboard" tie, a Christmas gift from our neighbor Cristy Fallis and her family. I will note the birthdays today of Elvis Presley (1935-1977) and Stephen Hawking (1942). (I suppose I could wear a blue velvet tie next year . . . )