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More From the Museum of Nature & Science’s Groundbreaking

Tim Rogers — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:40:17 +0000

Glenn brought us some details yesterday from the groundbreaking. Ryan Jones from our web team was there, too, and offers more reportage after the jump:

Victory? Victory!

The Perot Museum of Nature and Science broke ground on its new digs near downtown yesterday, kicking off a three-year construction phase that will culminate with a 180,000-square foot facility that State Rep. Dan Branch touted as “Jurassic Park meets Victory Park.” The ceremony was backdropped by an elaborate contraption that took inspiration from cartoonist Rube Goldberg’s overly complicated machines. When it came time to do some actual ground breaking, dirt was dumped onto a scale that set off a chain reaction with bright lights and sound effects, enthralling the crowd and horrifying at least one toddler near me.

The front end of the tent was reserved for VIP types like the Dallas City Council and a plethora of Perots in attendance, including Ross Sr. and Margot. That left the media in the back with the kiddies, who were more interested in the goody bags taped under their chairs than the clever word play of elected officials on the stage. So even though the row of tots toting sparking wheels, party blowers, and blinking LED glasses I was behind provided plenty of distractions, I still managed to pick up a few things.

* The museum isn’t completely abandoning Fair Park. The original facilities will still function in one way or another, but the good stuff will be at the new Field Street location.

* The building’s $185 million price tag is all-inclusive — the 4.7 acre lot, the Thom Mayne design, the construction, even an endowment — and though $127 million has already been raised through a number of donors (including T. Boone Pickens, who dropped $10 million on the place), there’s still the matter of the final $58 million to tend to, prompting fundraising chairman Forrest Hoglund to quip that he’d be passing around a collection plate.

* The museum’s namesake family has done its part, with the children of Margot and Ross Perot making a $50 million contribution in their parents’ honor to help build the state-of-the-art facility, though my guess is Ross Jr. didn’t object to the site in his struggling Victory Park development.

* Securing Mayne as the project’s architect keeps with the DFW tradition of museums designed by Pritzker Prize laureates. Renzo Piano conceived the nearby Nasher Sculpture Center in 2003, while Louis Kahn and Philip Johnson designed the Kimbell and Amon G. Carter museums in Fort Worth, respectively. – Ryan Jones

Perot Jr. Says New Museum Has Room to Expand

Glenn Hunter — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:42:08 +0000

Does Ross Perot Jr. know something we don’t? Speaking at today’s groundbreaking for the new Museum of Nature & Science at Dallas’ struggling Victory Park, which he helped develop, Perot said, “Mr. Mayor! Where is the mayor?!” before pointing to City Councilmember Dwaine Caraway, sitting in the audience down front. Mayor Pro Tem Caraway (pictured at far left with Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Pauline Medrano and Perot) is not quite the mayor yet, but he’ll be well-positioned if Tom Leppert ever steps down to run for the Senate. Leppert, who’s in China, nonetheless made a video appearance at today’s bash for the museum, a $185 million project that got a jump-start when Ross Jr. and his siblings donated $50 million in honor of their parents, Margot and Ross Perot Sr. The 14-story edifice on 4.7 acres can’t hurt the Victory project, which has been attempting lately to attract a better tenant/demographic mix. And, Ross Jr. said, “What people don’t understand is there’s enough room here for the museum to double in size.”

Eolas Technologies Sues North Texas Companies For Infringement

Jason Heid — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:43:24 +0000

Thanks to the Plano Star-Courier, I am now aware of last week’s news that Eolas Technologies sued a bunch of companies in federal court in Tyler for patent infringement. Among the companies being sued are Plano-based Perot Systems, Frito-Lay, and JCPenney. Texas Instruments is also among the defendants.

The suit centers on “technology that enables Web browsers to act as platforms for fully interactive embedded applications.” Looking around online for a simple explanation of what that means, I found a sketch in this article. The Star-Courier article, which is much too reliant on Eolas’ own press release, mentions that the company won a judgment of more than $500 million against Microsoft in an earlier patent case, but fails to mention that after appeals the case was settled, presumably for a smaller amount.

But there seems to be a vocal faction on the Web, among those who actually understand this technology, that claims Eolas didn’t really invent anything and is just a patent troll. I don’t know who’s right here. But I have been told that the Eastern District of Texas, which has a disconcertingly simple website itself, is the place to be for patent trolls.

A Red Balloon Over the Nasher

Tim Rogers — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:02:03 +0000

In the current episode of the “print product,” there appear two stories about an experiment we ran to determine whether the forthcoming Museum Tower might possibly interfere with the Nasher Sculpture Center’s wonderful installation Tending, (Blue). You can read Willard Spiegelman’s sober, insightful account of our caper here. Me, I just write jokes. Anyway, I’d forgotten till now that I’d taken this picture. In the final scene of my story, when the DSO’s PR director, Stacie Adams, catches me standing in their backyard, here’s what I was doing:

Ross Perot Jr. on the Dell-Perot Systems Deal

Glenn Hunter — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:36:18 +0000

In an interview tonight with KRLD’s David Johnson, Perot Systems chairman Ross Perot Jr. calls today’s announced merger of Perot Systems and Dell Inc. an “historic marriage” between two Texas business titans–his father Ross Sr. and Michael Dell.

Fred Baron Is Still Part of the John Edwards Story

Tim Rogers — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:19:40 +0000

An alert FBvian points us to a New York Times story that ran over the weekend about John Edwards and his love child. In it, Fred Baron’s role in the attempted cover-up becomes a little more clear. As in, apparently at one point, Edwards asked Baron if he knew a doctor who would falsify a DNA report. Before his death, Baron had said that he’d provided assistance to Edwards’ lover without Edwards’ knowledge. A federal grand jury is still investigating whether campaign laws were violated in an attempt to conceal the whole sordid business.

JCPenney Most Innovative Company in North Texas

Jason Heid — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:25:03 +0000

JCPenney apparently has the most innovative business technology in North Texas, as it’s the highest ranking local company on this year’s Information Week 500. The Plano-based retailer finishes No. 6 and was the category winner for Supply Chain and industry winner for Retail at the star-studded awards gala last night:

JCPenney`s Door to Floor technology was cited by InformationWeek as one of the
“20 Great Ideas.” The technology enables store management to know what
merchandise will be delivered up to 48 hours in advance, allowing for optimal
planning and preparation for getting merchandise off the truck and onto the
sales floor.

That’s some outstanding work to ensure that your mom can get you dressed in style.

Wick Debates an Engineer on Think

Tim Rogers — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:15:07 +0000

I haven’t yet had time to watch all of Wick’s appearance on Think, whereon he debates Geoffrey C. Orsak, dean of SMU’s Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering about whether engineers are evil or good (slight overstatement). So let’s open the comments for those who are inclined to watch the video and tell us what we ought to think of it. (See what I did there?)

Why Did EPA Allow Speed Limit Increase?

Wick Allison — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:44:44 +0000

A FrontBurnervian raised the question to me about the Tollway going to 70 mph, and, frankly, I had forgotten that in 2000 the EPA had forced the NTTA to lower the speed limit by 5 miles to 60 mph. As best as I can tell from this report, the guys on the Tollway Authority seemed to have worked really hard to find other ways to meet emissions requirements, and the new electronic technology with the tollway entrances helped. (Reading the report, however, reminded me of the almost inhuman patience required to work with or for the government in any of its forms.)

Morning News Launches IPhone App, Ctd.

Wick Allison — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:23:34 +0000

A. H. Belo-involved people are having a lot of fun with this one:

Go to search for Dallas Morning News (either on your iphone or in iTunes) and look for their app.

Oops. Not there. What does come up is “Dallas Football Live” and two sites called “Dallas Local News,” followed by five generic sites. The News is available on “Dallas Local News” and so is D Magazine — without our permission (hello, lawyers). So then I searched under Dallas, and “Dallas News” came up sixth. So to find the Morning News I need to search under Dallas News. Another one:

If you go search for Austin American Statesman, you’ll get the Statesman’s app, which is produced by… the Statesman. The WSJ is by Dow Jones and Co., the NYT is by NYT Co., etc.

When you find Dallas, it’s by Imaginuity New Media. Click through and you see your news app is coming from the folks who brought you “Rocky Artue” which is a game that follows Rocky as he learns that, “the U.S. government had abducted his father and hidden him away in the bottom of a mine to keep him from sharing too much knowledge about the Roswell crash and his work.” Which, of course, is what we’d all expect from Texas’ Leading Newspaper.