Monday, November 15, 2010

Hedy.


This is coolbert:

Here with some interesting info regarding the actress Hedy Lamarr.

One of the most, perhaps the most glamorous actresses of the period World War Two [WW2] and for a decade or so thereafter.

A refugee from Austria - - AND THE CO-INVENTOR OF WHAT WE NOW CALL FREQUENCY HOPPING TECHNOLOGY, ALSO CALLED SPREAD SPECTRUM!

Originally designed with the military in mind, as a "secret communications" system, impervious to intercept, jamming, counter-measures as understood at the time [1940's]!

"Not only a talented and glamorous star - she was also an inventor. She co patented a missile defense frequency hopping technology during 1941 that was so far ahead of its time that it wasn't implemented until the 1960's. It forms the basis of WiFi technology as we know it now"

"Together, Antheil and Lamarr submitted the idea of a secret communication system in June 1941 . . . This early version of frequency hopping used a piano roll to change between 88 frequencies and was intended to make radio-guided torpedoes harder for enemies to detect or jam."

["secret" in the sense of being difficult to intercept!!]

"the patent was little-known until 1997, when the Electronic Frontier Foundation gave Lamarr an award for this contribution"

What exact role Hedy actually played in the development of frequency-hopping technology is not clear. She had some sort of technical education or was just an inspired inventor, working in collaboration with another inspired inventor? What ever the case, SHE DOES hold the distinction as co-inventor, without a doubt!

Hedy too, a refugee from the Nazi regime, her first husband in Austria being a confidant of Hitler! Irony in life is a constant, for even a glamorous actress!

coolbert.

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