Out of 26 million Texans, you may have an idea to change the world. You may have had several ideas to change the world. But only a tiny minority of you pushed through the U.S. Patent office from application to successful patent. We've seen Texans change the world many times over. Jack Kilby did it with Texas Instruments in 1958 with the integrated circuit, causing the start of the digital revolution, which, in part, is why you can read these words over your electronic device.
Over the last few years, Texas Business has brought its feature: Texas Business Patent of the Day. This list is of the ones that were either extremely clever, odd or strange. One thing becomes apparent from these patents and the patent that runs daily in Texas Business—Texans have a unique mind set.
Though the history of the Corn Dog is disputed, the State Fair of Texas claims to have introduced the Corny Dog sometime between 1938 and 1942. As a paean to that invention that now sits in the freezer section of every grocery store in the southwest, here are the fried foods the State Fair of Texas has introduced, or tried to introduce, in the last seven years.
Dead Texas musicians live on every time you hear their songs. Their songs play everywhere, so the dead Texas musicians appear to be immortal. Here's the short list.
Don't get caught up with John Wayne religion. For one thing, he's not Texan. He's in some fine movies involving Texas, most notably The Searchers, but none of his movies can make the best cut of Texas movies. Here's the short list.
Unsung Texas Business Journalists Mention that one is a reporter, and there's a spark of interest. Mention that one is a business news reporter, and watch the eyes glaze over. Except to the players, business and economic journalists are unappreciated. While many wish to become sports reporters when they grow up, most do not realize that business journalists cover the Real Game. Mention that reporter covers business, and watch the eyes glaze over. A toast to these below on the short list and the numerous unnamed ones slogging away. Full Story » TexasBusiness.com
Best Texas Mexican Food: The Short List No, we're not going to debate the difference between Tex-Mex, Mex-Tex, Mexican and Texican food. Just know these establishments are the pinnacle of Texas Mexican fare. No brag, just fact. Full Story » TexasBusiness.com
Best Texas Burgers Texas Burgers. . While a hamburger is merely sustenance and gratification for a meal, the memory a good Texas burger can give rise to Homeric odes. The short list. Full Story » TexasBusiness.com
Texas Business reports: A Texas Baptist women’s group and the Assemblies of God churches of the Unites States have contracted with a Sugar Land company to provide mass communication.
MinistryTouch Communications, a patented mass notification and information sharing technology system designed specifically for faith-based organizations, has added two of the nation’s largest religious associations to their ever-growing
“We are honored that two of the finest organizations in the religious community – the Assemblies of God and the Texas Baptist Women’s Missionary Union – have selected MinistryTouch to enhance their organization’s communication needs,” said the company’s director of communications, Glenn White, in a prepared statement. “As an organization, our focus is on helping organizations manage the explosive growth of their increasingly complex communication needs, and clients recognize that we offer them a comprehensive, sophisticated communications solution that serves both the organization side as well as the member side.”
The communication system provided by MinistryTouch, which offers the ability to reach thousands of religious organization members in minutes through multiple devices, enables churches and ministries to communicate within their organization quickly, smoothly and effortlessly.
The system provides organizations with audio and text messaging, conference-calling, multi-lingual translation, e-mail, survey features and MP3 audio media broadcasts. The company plans to add HTML rich e-mail and video message broadcasting.
The web-based system will be utilized by Assemblies of God to communicate to over 12,300 churches in the US, encompassing nearly 3 million members and adherents. On a larger scale, there are more than 63 million Assemblies of God members worldwide, making the Assemblies of God the world’s largest Pentecostal denomination.
Similarly, the Texas Baptist Women’s Missionary Union has representatives in over 5,600 churches in Texas with over 20 missionary organizations offering support to all age levels. Their selection of MinistryTouch will give these organizations the ability to provide rapid communication to members of the church, church leaders, volunteers and the community simultaneously via multiple devices, including land lines, cell phones, text and email. Additionally, MinistryTouch allows real-time text-to-speech and voice recording message creation as well as multilingual translation.
MinistryTouch is a division of TechRadium, Inc., headquartered in Sugar Land and the owner of 14 United States patents with multiple patents pending.
MinistryTouch, powered by IRIS (Immediate Response Information System), is designed specifically for ministries, churches and faith-based organizations.
The Texas News Scrawl is a handy reference to stories Texas Business recommends from other news sources. Some of the stories that Texas Business currently suggests include: The West News proves the value of a great weekly newspaper in a community torn up with grief and chaos; Chinese investors checking out Texas, Austin; Texas makes bounce house operators carry liability coverage, but not plants like West Fertilizer; bSpaceX’s Grasshopper leaping to NM spaceport;American Airlines, US Airways to name post-merger leadership within weeks; Texas power cushion seen at lowest level in a decade; Media outlets reflect Houston's diversity; and more.