...that the video game, Pong, was invented by a guy who graduated at the bottom of his engineering class? Nolan Bushnell spent more time running the games at a local amusement park than he did on his studies at the University of Utah. His dreams of working for Disney's amusement empire were dashed when the company wouldn't hire him. Taking a boring job, Nolan daydreamed about electronic versions of popular games. He invented Pong, the first video game, and went on to found Atari Co.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8181544 | Liquid sample evaporator for vapor analysis Preparation methods for introducing liquid samples to gas analysis instruments include 1) complete evaporation of a liquid sample in a sample chamber, and 2) allowing the sample vapor in the sample chamber to equilibrate for a predetermined time. An inert carrier ga... | 05/22/2012 |
| 8180714 | Automatic generation of human models for motion capture, biomechanics and animation An automated method for the generation of (i) human models comprehensive of shape and joint centers information and/or (ii) subject specific models from multiple video streams is provided. To achieve these objectives, a kinematic model is learnt space from a trainin... | 05/15/2012 |
| 8168251 | Method for producing tapered metallic nanowire tips on atomic force microscope cantilevers A method of making nanowire probes is provided. The method includes providing a template having a nanoporous structure, providing a probe tip that is disposed on top of the template, and growing nanowires on the probe tip, where the nanowires are grown from the prob... | 05/01/2012 |
| 8166385 | Spreadsheet system and method for managing photos A spreadsheet system stores objects and formulas in the cells of the spreadsheet, along with metadata tags. Each cell may contain multiple objects (such as a group of photos). Drag-and-drop user actions automatically change tags associated with the moved objects bas... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8163338 | Precursor selection method for chemical vapor deposition techniques A method of precursor selection for thin film deposition is provided, that includes a group of precursors, using a rule-set for selecting one or more candidate precursors for thermal stability, high growth rate, and low contamination. Candidate geometries and consti... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8159938 | Broadcast-only distributed wireless network Communication in a broadcast-only distributed wireless network of nodes is provided. Each of the nodes of the network uses a repeated communication frame with an idle period and a TDMA schedule for active communication. The active TDMA schedule of at least some of t... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8156698 | Blast-resistant window screen system The present invention provides a system for window blast protection. The system includes a first material, which is either elastomeric or non-elastomeric, which is bonded to a second material, which is elastomeric when the first material is non-elastomeric, and is n... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8156064 | Observation-based user profiling and profile matching Observation-based user profiling and profile matching are provided. The network behavior of users of a computer-implemented social network are observed and used for user profiling. By observing network behavior instead of necessarily relying on user self-reported da... | 04/10/2012 |
| 8148808 | Partitioning of electronic packages Partitioning electronic sensor packages is provided. The electronic sensor package includes an electronic component, a sensor device, and electrical connections between the electronic component and the sensor device. A dam is written in the electronic sensor package... | 04/03/2012 |
| 8144829 | Cone-beam CT imaging scheme A general imaging scheme is proposed for applications of CBCT. The approach provides a superior CBCT image quality by effective scatter correction and noise reduction. Specifically, in its implementation of CBCT imaging for radiation therapy, the proposed approach a... | 03/27/2012 |
| 8142454 | Apparatus and method for magnetic alteration of anatomical features A system for auto-anastomosing a region of the body using magnetic members that may be individually delivered to different locations in the body. The magnetic members have a polar alignment that generates an attractive force to compress tissue in the region between ... | 03/27/2012 |
| 8142130 | Safety cone placing device and method Automatic placement of safety cones from a moving vehicle is provided. The preferred safety cone would have a flexible cone part. A receptacle holds a plurality of safety cones either with the flexible cone part in non-compressed position or in spring-loaded positio... | 03/27/2012 |
| 8139067 | Shape completion, animation and marker-less motion capture of people, animals or characters Motion capture animation, shape completion and markerless motion capture methods are provided. A pose deformation space model encoding variability in pose is learnt from a three-dimensional (3D) dataset. Body shape deformation space model encoding variability in pos... | 03/20/2012 |
| 8130964 | Systems and methods for identity-based encryption and related cryptographic techniques A method and system for encrypting a first piece of information M to be sent by a sender [100] to a receiver [110] allows both sender and receiver to compute a secret message key using identity-based information and a bilinear map. In a one embodiment,... | 03/06/2012 |
| 8129676 | Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy detection with ion separation pre-filter Detecting and identifying ions using surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and an ion separation pre-filter, such as an ion spectrometer, are provided. The combination of an ion separator as a pre-filter for SERS provides a highly sensitive detector with very l... | 03/06/2012 |
| 8125641 | Method and apparatus for phase-compensated sensitivity-enhanced spectroscopy (PCSES) A method and apparatus for convolving spectroscopic data with certain phase information for practicing phase-compensated sensitivity-enhanced spectroscopy (PCSES). PCSES uses a beam of radiation in a polarization state PSp from a source emitting at a plur... | 02/28/2012 |
| 8121368 | 3D real-time tracking of human anatomy using combined kV and MV imaging A medical imaging-based system and method uses both kV and MV images captured during a treatment period for organ motion tracking. 3D geometric locations of internal features are computationally tracked as a function of time from internal features, such as natural b... | 02/21/2012 |
| 8112768 | Real-time web applications A computer-implemented method for updating a web user interface on a client device is provided. A router back-boned to the Internet communicates with the client device web-user interface data defined in markup language to dynamically update the web-user interface on... | 02/07/2012 |
| 8101080 | Advanced biologic water treatment using algae An advanced water treatment method processes a continuous flow of water in a sequence of stages including pre-filtering to remove solids, conditioning to adjust pH, blending with a recycled dense microalgae culture, and passing the resulting mixture through an enclo... | 01/24/2012 |
| 8096477 | Semantic note taking system A semantic note taking system and method for collecting information, enriching the information, and binding the information to services is provided. User-created notes are enriched with labels, context traits, and relevant data to minimize friction in the note-takin... | 01/17/2012 |
| 8084087 | Fabrication method of size-controlled, spatially distributed nanostructures by atomic layer deposition A method of growing spatially-separated and size-controlled particles on substrate surfaces is provided. The method utilizes chemical modification of the substrate surface, an atomic layer deposition (ALD) system, providing a modified layer to the substrate surface ... | 12/27/2011 |
| 8081111 | Method and apparatus for locating the source of an unknown signal A method of locating the source of an unknown signal is provided that includes calculating a differential offset for a signal for each of a plurality of positions within a region in which the transmitter must lie, for each of a series of times m with respect to firs... | 12/20/2011 |
| 8070956 | Method of separation of polymers A method of using electrokinetics for separating particles in a buffer solution is provided, where a chromatographic column is provided having a non-uniform internal longitudinal cross-section. At least one main inlet for inputting solution and at least one main out... | 12/06/2011 |
| 8066088 | Biologically inspired climbing device A biologically inspired climbing device with toes and spines is provided. The device has toes capable of moving independently from each other. Each toe distinguishes a compliant linkage, which has non-compliant parts and compliant parts. Spines are distributed over ... | 11/29/2011 |
| 8055047 | Polyp detection using smoothed shape operators Improved surface feature recognition in CT images is provided by extracting a triangulated mesh representation of the surface of interest. Shape operators are computed at each vertex of the mesh from finite differences of vertex normals. The shape operators at each ... | 11/08/2011 |
| 8055041 | Robust motion correction for functional magnetic resonance imaging A computer-implemented method to correct motion and interpolation effects for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analysis is provided. The method estimates the motion on every voxel of the data and removes those effects to leave a residual signal that can ... | 11/08/2011 |
| 8043290 | Apparatus and methods for magnetic alteration of deformities Methods and apparatus for incrementally manipulating an internal body member of a patient are disclosed. The apparatus has a magnetic implant adapted to be received on a location of the body member, a platform external to the patient, and a magnetic member coupled t... | 10/25/2011 |
| 8030021 | Use of selection pressures to enable microbial biosynthesis of polyhydroxyalkanoates from anaerobic degradation products A method for inexpensive and efficient PHA biosynthesis includes operating a sequencing bioreactor in alternating phases of nutrient deprivation and carbon feedstock deprivation to select for robust PHA-producing microbes. Preferably, the bioreactor is operated in a... | 10/04/2011 |
| 8028159 | Security protocols for hybrid peer-to-peer file sharing networks In a hybrid peer-to-peer file sharing network including a receiver peer and a provider peer, the receiver sends the provider a ticket [710] obtained from a server authorizing the receiver to obtain a data object O. The receiver obtains a root value of a hash ... | 09/27/2011 |
| 8027531 | Apparatus and method for capturing a scene using staggered triggering of dense camera arrays This invention relates to an apparatus and a method for video capture of a three-dimensional region of interest in a scene using an array of video cameras. The video cameras of the array are positioned for viewing the three-dimensional region of interest in the scen... | 09/27/2011 |
| 8027301 | Cooperative OFDMA and distributed MIMO relaying over dense wireless networks A method for wireless communication combines OFDMA resource allocation and power control policies with cooperative relaying techniques. The techniques are preferably implemented in a dense wireless network of power-limited mobile devices assisted by mobile relay dev... | 09/27/2011 |
| 8026014 | Solid oxide fuel cell components tuned by atomic layer deposition A reduced cost solid oxide fuel cell having enhanced surface exchange rates and diffusivity of oxide ions is provided. The invention cell includes a first porous electrode and a second porous electrode, where the porous electrodes have a layer of electronically cond... | 09/27/2011 |
| 8014536 | Audio source separation based on flexible pre-trained probabilistic source models Improved audio source separation is provided by providing an audio dictionary for each source to be separated. Thus the invention can be regarded as providing “partially blind” source separation as opposed to the more commonly considered “blind” source separ... | 09/06/2011 |
| 7999936 | Combined transmittance and angle selective scattering measurement of fluid suspended particles for simultaneous determination of refractive index, extinction coefficient, particle size and particle density The refractive index, extinction coefficient, size and density of fluid suspended particles are simultaneously determined by combined transmittance and scattering measurements. The scattering measurements are preferably angle selective to obtain additional informati... | 08/16/2011 |
| 7998162 | System and method for embolic protection A balloon catheter system distinguishing a proximal balloon catheter system and a distal balloon catheter is provided. The proximal balloon catheter system has a first and a second catheter. These two catheters are positioned side-by-side over at least part of the l... | 08/16/2011 |
| 7994421 | Photovoltaic devices having nanoparticle dipoles for enhanced performance and methods for making same A photovoltaic device has nanoparticles sandwiched between a conductive substrate and a charge selective transport layer. Each of the nanoparticles has a ligand shell attached to the nanoparticle core. A first type of ligand is electron rich and attached to one hemi... | 08/09/2011 |
| 7993906 | Closed-loop electrical stimulation system for cell cultures The present invention provides a sensitive system for measuring the physiological response of an in-vitro cell culture to an environmental parameter. An electrical property of the cell culture is measured as a control signal, and a parameter of a stimulus is adjuste... | 08/09/2011 |
| 7993288 | Anatomical recognition and dimensional analysis of breast volume to assist breast surgery Various methods, techniques or modules are provided to allow for the automated analysis of the 3-D representation of the upper front torso (i) to recognize 3-D anatomical features, (ii) to orient the subject with reference to their anatomy or a display, (iii) to det... | 08/09/2011 |
| 7987948 | Length adjustable passenger handle assembly for elevator Disclosed herein is a distance adjustable passenger handle assembly for an elevator. The handle assembly comprises plural fixing members (120), and plural handle supports (140). Each fixing member (120) includes a horizontal wall (122) ha... | 08/02/2011 |
| 7978455 | Adaptive transient blocking unit A variable trip limit transient blocking unit (TBU) is provided. The variable trip limit transient blocking unit circuit includes a transient blocking unit and a low-pass filter, such as an RC circuit having an RC time constant. The RC circuit is disposed to approxi... | 07/12/2011 |