Vote for Pedro!

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“PEDRO”
THE FIRST MACHINE THAT REALLY TALKS
Voice-Operation Demonstrator Crowns Centuries of Effort by Scientists to Duplicate Human Speech Artificially

HE HASN’T any mouth, lungs, or larynx-but he talks a blue streak. His name is Pedro the Voder, and you may see him in action at the New York and San Francisco world’s fairs. His creation from vacuum tubes and electrical circuits, by Bell Telephone Laboratories engineers, crowns centuries of effort to duplicate the human voice.

To manufacture Pedro’s conversation, his operator employs a keyboard like that of an old-fashioned parlor organ. Thirteen black and white keys, fingered one or more at a time, produce all the vowels and consonants of speech. Another key regulates the loudness of the synthetic voice, which comes from a loudspeaker. A foot pedal varies the inflection meanwhile; so that the same sentence may state a fact or ask a question.
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After years of research and development, scientists believe they have finally created a new type of street sign. Yes, it is truly a miracle of modern signage; a shining example of American know how and inventiveness.

“Yield” Sign Reduces Accidents
Warning motorists to give the right of way to cars on the intersecting road, a new “Yield” sign is already reducing accidents in Tulsa, Ok la., where it was developed. Designed for use in areas where traffic generally is not heavy enough to warrant full-stop requirements, the sign definitely places responsibility without requiring a complete stop. Motorists approaching the sign must slow down to at least 10 miles an hour and yield the right of way to any car approaching along the intersecting roadway. Any driver becoming involved in a collision at an intersection after passing a yield sign is automatically deemed to have violated the law.

The title of this article should be: “How Mr. Pavlov got his wife to buckle up: a lesson for the auto-industry.”

How I Got My Wife to Use a Seat Belt

FOR 10 years I have used safety belts in my car. But each time we went for a ride I have had to tell my wife to fasten her belt. She is a most stubborn person and uses all kinds of excuses for not doing so.

I have finally won. These drawings show how. The system tells her to put the belt on. It works like magic every time. It saves arguments. The little reminder consists of a light, the words “Safety Belt,” a buzzer, and two cunningly wired snap switches.

When my wife gets into the front seat beside me, her weight trips a normally open snap switch under the seat. Two things happen: First a doorbell buzzer begins sounding behind the dash, attracting my wife’s attention toward it. Second, in the opening where a clock usually is mounted, the words “Safety Belt” are illuminated by a lamp behind the dash.

The second snap switch, normally closed, is mounted under one strap of the belt so that it is opened by the pressure of pulling the belt across the waist. This breaks the circuit, stopping the buzzer and turning off the lamp. As long as my wife sits in the seat, she’d better have the belt on correctly or the buzzer will let her know. [Editor's note: An optional cut-out switch is shown in the drawing for those who might like one.]

Now, when we start out, she races me to fasten the belt before I can use the ignition key and turn on the circuit. Seems she doesn’t like to hear the buzz. The only way to stop the buzz is to get out of the seat or turn off the ignition— or put on the belt. If she wants to go for a ride that leaves her little choice.

— Wes Jayne, Woodhaven, N.Y.

Men & Women
Earn Cash at Home!
We paid M. M. $267 in 3 weeks for exceptional “cellar crop” patented mushrooms! Big free picture book tells if your cellar, shed, barn suitable. We buy all crops thru ten branches. Write today.
(Estab. 1908)
UNITED MUSHROOM CO.
3848 Licoln Ave., Dept 79 Chicago

Wow, I never would have thought of any of these uses! Thank you Popular Science! Fricking Geniuses.

9 Uses for Plastic Bottles

• Windshield Washer
• Quick starts in cold weather
• For dusting models (use empty bottle)
• Liquid soap dispenser
• Paint sprayer
• Oil sprayer
• Polish applicator
• Breakproof travel bottles

Glue Dispenser

The pianist above is playing a tune as it is composed by the electronic brain he gazes at wistfully. The complicated Burroughs machine can turn out 1,000 tunes an hour – all mathematically calculated to be popular. It picks off a series of coded numbers, matches them with melodic formulas, rejects sour notes.

This is the earliest reference I’ve seen to a CCD in a consumer product.

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Amazing New Picturephone
A step closer to in-person

By W. Stevenson Bacon

There’s a brand-new Picturephone in the works that will one day give you instant total communication with anyone you call. What makes it fascinating is the amazing versatility of the delicately engineered unit that holds both picture and camera tubes.

Unlike the old Picturephone, this one gives you a choice of wide-angle picture, long-range shot, or electronic close-up. Pull a lens out and aim it downward, and you can send pictures, drawings, or printed documents. If you wish, you can push a button to see what you’re sending. And if a call catches you in the shower you can simply switch over to three-bar test pattern.

Bell Telephone Laboratories packed all this into an 8-by-11-by-14-inch box by using tiny integrated circuits that incorporate hundreds of transistors and other components on small chips of silicon. In fact, the only vacuum tubes used are the picture and camera tubes. And even the camera tube makes use of semiconductors.

The camera tube is a revolutionary new type that uses a target (the part of the tube that converts incoming light to electrical charges) made of silicon and containing 300,000 light-sensitive diodes formed on it by integrated circuit techniques. It’s the first time that semiconductors and vacuum tubes have been combined to make one device.
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Wanted: 500,000 Men to Feed Computers

You don’t have to be a college man to get a good job in computer programming – today even high-school grads are stepping into excellent jobs with big futures

By Stanley L. Englebardt

IF YOU know how to “talk to computers,” chances are you’ve got it made. If you don’t, you may be missing out on a great job opportunity.

People who talk to computers are called programmers. They instruct data-processing machines on how to perform specific jobs. Today there are about 40,000 of these specialists at work. In six years, experts say, 500,000 more will be needed. Many will require a bachelor’s, master’s, or even doctor’s degree. But close to 50 percent will move into this new profession with only high-school diplomas.

Here’s why there’s such a tremendous demand for programmers.
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I guess this was an alternative to barcodes, though it doesn’t seem too practical. I’d think that the labels would get lost, and would be easy to spoof. Plus you only get to scan it once.

“Wand” speeds checkout.
To move supermarket lines faster, this recent IBM patent would use a flexible tube and a vacuum pump to suck up magnetically printed stickers and feed them to a register. The register would read the magnetic code and total the purchases quickly. The tabs would also serve for the store’s stock and inventory control.

Interesting note “This display, flashing a brilliant ruby-red, is the first use of solid-state, light-emitting diodes in a consumer product. ”

Look, Little Old Swiss Watchmaker – No Hands!

Breakthrough. It’s a much-abused word-a pity at a time like this. Because here is a genuine, 24-karat breakthrough in timekeeping.

The name of same is Pulsar, a solid-state computer device that has a single fixed program to flash the time on demand. Sound formidable? It all nests neatly in the wristwatch you see here. Incredibly, not only does Pulsar have no hands, it has no moving parts whatsoever, unless you count the oscillations of its quartz crystal. Here’s how it works:
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Yes, built natures way, out of um… tree bark and coyote dung, just like our sutures.

Incidentally they are referring to a hernia. You can actually still buy trusses and amazingly it seems that the Web Truss Co. is still in business in Hagerstown, MD.

RUPTURE
RELIEF…OR YOUR MONEY BACK
A simple … sturdy truss support built nature’s way by old surgical appliance manufacturer. You risk nothing … relief or your money back. Send now for free booklet.

WEB TRUSS CO. Dept. S-9 Hagerstown, MD

Phantom Guides Elevator Riders

A LOUDSPEAKER in a Westinghouse self-service elevator reminds passengers to release doors, press floor buttons and step to the rear. A magnetic tape does the job, even calling off merchandise on each floor in department stores. Phantom voice is an attempt to humanize automatic elevators.