The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation is a non-partisan think tank that works to formulate and promote policies to advance technological innovation. President Robert Atkinson recently spoke to a group of industrial component manufacturers at the Annual Conference of the National Fluid Power Association about the economics of innovation.

Atkinson spent a good deal of time talking about the so-called Great Recession, the worst recession this country has seen since…

Fascinating story developing about a sexist obituary that the New York Times wrote about a female rocket scientist. They started off with this:

Yvonne Brill, a Pioneering Rocket Scientist, Dies at 88

By DOUGLAS MARTIN

Published: March 30, 2013

She made a mean beef stroganoff, followed her husband from…

Until recently, I was happy with my car. In fact, I’d say that my current vehicle, a 2005 Nissan Murano, is maybe the car I’ve been most pleased with over the years.

So, what happened? A couple months ago, my left side speakers began to go on and off intermittently—so I assumed it was probably a loose wire and not an individual speaker issue. I had the vehicle in to the dealership for another issue, and I asked them to look at it.

After pulling the stereo, the service fellow…

It’s fascinating to see old cell phones in movies from the 80s and 90s. I’m amazed not just at the obnoxious sizes of the devices, but also at the lack of elegance in the designs. That’s not to berate the designers who crafted the phones, but it shows how much the art of design has come to the forefront in engineering today. Steve Jobs famously employed design to move technology forward. With his passing, many of us are asking, “Who is going to lead that charge now?”

Certainly the…