Prof. Boerner's Explorations

Edited by Gerald Boerner

    
Introductory Comments:

This day was distinguished by a three major events in legal history. In 1803, the United States Supreme Court, under the leadership of Chief Justice John Marshall (one of the Founding Fathers), passed down a series of decisions that helped define the boundaries between federal rights and states rights under our Constitution. Among these decisions, the case of Marbury v. Madison defined the dominance of federal rights over the states in several major areas. This day in 1841 also saw former President John Quincy Adams, the son of our second President, John Adams, defend the rebellious slaves who were being transported aboard the La Amistad before the U.S. Supreme Court. And, finally, this day in 1868 witnessed the Impeachment Trial of President Andrew Johnson before the U.S. House of Representatives for firing his Secretary of War; he would be acquitted by the U.S. Senate later.

This day also witnessed a couple of significant battles during our country’s history. In 1836, General Santa Anna lead the Mexican forces against the Texan’s using the Alamo as their fortification in San Antonio. These brave Americans were fighting to create an independent Republic in Texas. Santa Anna’s forces stormed the Alamo on March 6th, Killing most of the Alamo’s defenders, including General Travis. Also on this day in 1991, the coalition forces, under a United Nations mandate, began their ground campaign against the forces of Saddam Hussein and his Iraqi troops; the coalition forces were fighting to restore Kuwait’s independence. The well-coordinated forces of the coalition successfully routed the Iraqi troops.

On a different note, this day in 1942 found a new shortwave radio broadcast, the Voice of America, beamed into the countries of occupied Europe with news from America. These broadcasts spread the news of what was actually happening in World War II, whether good news for the Allies or bad. This service was later expanded to include the Mediterranean and North Africa theaters as well as the Pacific theater of war. These broadcasts continued during the Cold War and into the present. Broadcasts were in the language of the various cultural and national groups around the world.

We now will proceed to examine some of the events that are associated with day in history... GLB

These Introductory Comments are copyrighted:
Copyright©2012 — Gerald Boerner — All Rights Reserved

[ 1036 Words ]
    

Quotations Related to Sam Houston:

[ http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/s/sam_houston.html ]

“Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression, come from what source it may.”
— Sam Houston

“Whether his policy was right or wrong, he built up the glory of the nation.”
— Sam Houston

“A leader is someone who helps improve the lives of other people or improve the system they live under.”
— Sam Houston

“I am aware that in presenting myself as the advocate of the Indians and their rights, I shall stand very much alone.”
— Sam Houston

“I would give no thought of what the world might say of me, if I could only transmit to posterity the reputation of an honest man.”
— Sam Houston

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Edited by Gerald Boerner

    
Introductory Comments:

This day is marked by some memorable events as well as at least one infamous one. During the American Revolutionary War, Thomas Paine published his memorable work, Common Sense, in installments in a local newspaper. This work would be the rallying point of the colonists against the British forces and stir the American spirit of freedom. He would go on to publish his The Rights of Man during his time in Paris during the French Revolution. On this day the first shots of the American Civil War were fired, not against Fort Sumter, but by the “Star of the West” as it resupplied the Northern troops at that fortification. We would forge our New Nation from these two events to lead to a strong, united peoples after we had sorted out our differences.

This is also the day on which the reclusive, eccentric billionaire, Howard Hughes, denied the authenticity of an autobiography supposedly found by Clifford Irving. Hughes was a successful entrepreneur who was involved in Hollywood movie studios, a daring pilot, builder of aircraft (including the famous Spruce Goose seaplane), a company that manufactured oil drilling equipment, and a casino owner. His life was flamboyant to a fault; it’s no wonder that someone would attempt to capitalize on such a life with a fictional autobiography!

Finally, another flamboyant personality in the technology world, Steve Jobs, would introduce Apple’s iTunes music distribution system that accompanied the now-ubiquitous iPod and later by the iPhone and iPad. Steve departed our midst in 2011, but left a legacy of technological innovations that may not be matched in the near future.

What a set of events are associated with this day in history. And we have not even covered all the events associated with this day. That will have to await future years!

But let’s get on with our overview of the events of this day… GLB

These Introductory Comments are copyrighted:
Copyright©2012 — Gerald Boerner — All Rights Reserved

[ 877 Words ]
    

Quotations Related to Howard Hughes:

[ http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/h/howard_hughes.html ]

“I’m not a paranoid deranged millionaire. Goddamit, I’m a billionaire.”
— Howard Hughes

“Once you consent to some concession, you can never cancel it and put things back the way they are.”
— Howard Hughes

“Play off everyone against each other so that you have more avenues of action open to you.”
— Howard Hughes

“Wash four distinct and separate times, using lots of lather each time from individual bars of soap.”
— Howard Hughes

“Howard Hughes was this visionary who was obsessed with speed and flying like a god… I loved his idea of what filmmaking was.”
— Martin Scorsese

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Edited by Gerald Boerner

Commentary:

I remember fondly that Super Bowl Sunday many, any years ago in that land far, far away. Well, maybe all that long ago (1984) or that far away (Riverside, CA) to be specific. But the impact of that 3rd quarter TV commercial was a landmark event in advertising history. And the introduction a few days later of the Apple Macintosh Computer by the Macintosh itself was frosting on the cake! A whole new world of computing had arrived.

I must confess that I was one of those guys who went bonkers the first time that I started playing with this little Mac 128K. It was cute and responsive. I had spent the previous 20 years working on mini- and mainframe computers. I has learned their command lines. I had punched up decks of program and data cards. And I had learned programming so I could get something done. But all of that was just plain old hard work compared with this cute little Mac and its GUI interface. Valhalla had arrived!

But improvements were needed. And they slowly came — more memory, a faster, more powerful CPU, additional connections for high speed, high capacity peripherals. But troubles were also awaiting. Apple went through periods where the seemed to lose their vision. The company’s success lead to financial “amateurism” the almost scuttled it. But, like the phoenix, Apple rose again to deliver new and innovative products the redefined what a computer was.

So, let’s jump into today’s exploration to see what happened to this cute little computer introduced on this day in 1984…  GLB

These Introductory Comments are copyrighted:
Copyright©2011 — Gerald Boerner — All Rights Reserved

[ 4196 Words ]
    

Quotations Related to MACINTOSH:

“I think the Macintosh proves that everyone can have a bitmapped display.”
— Bill Joy

“My first Macintosh was a 128k machine which I upgraded to 512k the minute it became possible.”
— Buffy Sainte-Marie

“Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs founded Apple Inc, which set the computing world on its ear with the Macintosh in 1984.”
— Kevin Mitnick

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