March 5, 2016 at 16:59Hedi Lamarr. And to star in a movie naked, and to shoot a torpedo at an enemy
Hedy Lamarr ( Hedy Lamarr ) - popular in the 1930s and 1940s, the Austrian, and then the American film actress, as well as the inventor.
At 16, she left home. I entered the theater school, began acting in films.
At 23 years old, after four years of unsuccessful marriage, sprinkling sleeping pills maid, escapes. On the ship "Normandy" she leaves from London to New York.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation awarded the Lamarr Award in 1997 (for inventing almost 60 years ago), and 49% of the rights to a patent were bought by WiLan , and in 2014 it was included in the Inventors Hall of Fame.
November 9, the birthday of Hedy Lamarr, is celebrated as the Day of the Inventor in German-speaking countries.
And here is a story from life. State exam at the military department of the Far Eastern Federal University, 2005.
Captain of the first rank:
- Private MagisterLudi , last question for you. Answer, you have passed the exam, but note that this topic is not in your curriculum. How to ensure communication between the ship and the base, so that the enemy could not drown out the frequency at which you transmit the message?
- Pseudo-random frequency tuning.
- I handed it over.
The captain of the third rank silently made a facepalm in the corner of the audience, because for the last six months he had forced me and three other guys to comb the Internet on the topic of his PhD candidate. The chairman of the commission, captain of the first rank, of course, did not know this.
"If you use your imagination, you can look at any actress and see her nude. I hope to make you use your imagination. ”
Patent for “Secret Communication System”
Hedi Lamarr in 1942, under his real name Kiesler, along with a friend, avant-garde composer George Anteyle , receive a patent for the Secret Communication System, which included the transmission of false channels at different frequencies.
Secret communication system US 2292387 A
www.google.com/patents/US2292387
If you tell the coordinates of a target to a controlled torpedo remotely on only one control frequency, then you will be burnt and the enemy will easily intercept the signal, moreover, it can drown it or redirect the torpedo.
Lamar proposed synchronously in accordance with a certain algorithm to change the carrier frequency of the rocket transmitter and receiver. So the enemy will not be able to "wedge" into such a communication channel. Lamar proposed the creation of guided torpedoes.
During a game with Anteyle in four hands on the piano, Lamarr remembered how, in conversations with her ex-husband, the Germans complained that they were unable to direct torpedoes to the target through the radio signal, as the enemy ships jammed the signals at the same frequency. Hedy suggested that you could send part of the signal at one frequency, and then switch to another to transmit the next part of the signal. When matching the transmitter and the receiver with respect to the frequency hopping, it would be something like a four-handed game, and the signal could become resistant to jamming interference. Lamarr also suggested that mechanical matching of the transmitter with the receiver could occur through a part similar to a mechanical piano roll. The roller with pins and a chronometer drive looked compact enough to fit in the hull of a marine torpedo.
Together with Antail, they developed the following algorithm: it is necessary to use a random code on the transmitter, it will change the transmission channel, then it will be possible to synchronize such frequency transitions on the receiver.
Change of communication channels is a guarantee of the safe transfer of information. To ensure synchronization of frequency changes, Lamar and Anteyl used tapes with holes - such as paper tape in a mechanical piano.
At that time, pseudo-random codes were used to encrypt information that was transmitted through permanent (non-changing) open communication channels. Hedi Lamar and George Anteyl took a step forward: they began to use a secret key to quickly change the channels of information transfer.
Testing for 12 mechanical pianos participating in the production of George Anteyle's Mechanical Ballet confirmed the system’s performance. In 1940, the idea was presented to the National Council of Inventors of America. Its chairman, Charles Kettering, who led the research department at General Motors, advised the authors to apply for the invention.
Lamar and Anteyl already in August 1942 received a patent number 2292387 "Secret Communication System" (Secret communication system). The patent includes a description of secret communication systems, including the transmission of false channels at various frequencies. This development became the basis of Spread Spectrum- Due to the extended spectrum, today it is used everywhere: in mobile phones, GPS and WiFi. United States Navstar Global Positioning System (GPS, American system of global positioning) - in the world it is the largest system that continuously transmits signals with a wide range. Thus, the development of Khedi Lamar is one of the most significant technical works of the 20th century, moreover, the basis of the modern military power of the United States. All the advanced technology present owes to Hedi Lamar.
Crowdfunding
The US Navy leadership was skeptical about the patent. In 1942 the invention was never realized due to the unreliability of mechanical components. The idea was kept secret and for many years was put under the cloth. In addition, non-specialist officials, reading a patent, exclaimed: “Do you want to put a piano into a torpedo?” The inventors did not receive money for the implementation of the project, but Hedi Lamar did not give up: she received money for the allies in a different way: she gave a kiss to any man who spends $ 25,000 on military bonds. As a result, she raised $ 17 million .
In 1950, fame, beauty, and a technical mindset helped Hedi Lamar get an offer to star in an Emerson commercial (TVs and radios). The advertisement was more than successful. So the invention was remembered only in the late 50's, when they switched to electronic components.
Already in 1960 there was a term Spread Spectrum ( spread spectrum ), who developed the idea of Lamar and Antheil. The US military has developed and successfully implemented a secret communications system (with an extended spectrum base), which was used even in 1962 during the Caribbean crisis.
Corel
In 1998 the symbol of Corel Draw (vector graphics program) was the portrait of Hedy Lamarr. The drawing of her portrait won the competition for the best graphic work hosted by Corel Corporation. The portrait of Hedi, the work on which lasted about six months, consisted of more than 5,000 graphic objects. Hedy Lamarr sues Corel.
Corel's lawyers argued that the actress’s image was a “digital likeness”, not a photograph. As a result, the parties came to an agreement under which Corel received a five-year license to use the appearance of the actress on boxes with her product, and Lamarr herself received a “tidy” amount. [ proof ]
In the computer game Half-Life 2, Professor Isaac Kleiner has a handy headcrab Heady Lamar, the name of the character was given in honor of Hedi Lamar.
Google 101st Anniversary Greetings
Together with Edison, we continue the spring publication marathon.
I will try to get to the bottom of the source of IT-technologies, to figure out how they thought and what concepts were in the minds of the pioneers, what they dreamed about, how they saw the world of the future. Why did they think about “computer”, “network”, “hypertext”, “intelligence amplifiers”, “collective problem solving system”, what meaning they put into these concepts, what tools they wanted to achieve the result.
I hope that these materials will serve as inspiration for those who are wondering how to go “from Scratch to Unit” (to create something that was not even mentioned before). I want IT and "programming" to cease to be just "coding for the bucket", and recall that they were conceived as a lever to change
March 0 Seymour Peypert
March 1. Xerox Alto
March 2 "Call Jake." History of NIC and RFC
March 3 Grace “Granny COBOL” Hopper
March 4 Margaret Hamilton: “Guys, I'll send you to the moon”
March 5 Hedi Lamarr. And to shoot a movie in a naked movie and to shoot a torpedo at an enemy
on March 7 The magnificent six: girls who counted a thermonuclear explosion
on March 8 "Video games, I am your father!"
