Dwayne Phillips ' Day Book

Items I happen to view each day. Science, Techonology, Management, Culture, and of course Writing

This is my day book for this week. I have modeled this after science fiction and computer writer Jerry Pournelle's view, or as he calls it, his Day Book. I encourage you to see Jerry Pournelle's site and subscribe to his services.

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This week: February May 28-June 3, 2012

Summary of this week:


Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday - Thursday - Friday - Saturday - Sunday


Monday May 22, 2012

Today is Memorial Day in the United States.

A German company working with Microsoft and the Kinect has turned plain old walls into touch screens.

Stan Lee is in his 80s. He continues to work and create new projects.

A robotic hand that was 3D printed.

A look at a Swiss, solar-powered airplane. Yes, it is a stunt, but it is pushing the technical envelope.

The future of mobile lies in the developing world. That is where most of the people are, and those people haven't bought their phone yet.

Tips of photographing the night sky.

Here we have it, scientific proof that everyone lies. I'm glad (not) that we settled that one. Now I can sleep at night.

eReading trends.

Personal information of 120,000 Federal employees was hacked. ooops. Is everyone ready for national electronic health records?

All these gadgets from 20 years ago are now in my (three-year-old) iPhone.

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Tuesday May 29, 2012

In Spain, three autonomous cars followed a person-driven car for 125 miles. I've heard this called road trains, but this post doesn't use that name.

Astronauts on the ISS describe the SpaceX vehicle as "modern." I guess most of us would not describe the inside of the ISS using that word.

Something is wrong with Twitter this morning.

How Boeing subcontracts the interior design of its airliners.

Google Apps for Business is ISO 27001 certified (security). Now that they are wearing this badge, let's see how long it it before the badge becomes a target and hackers see it as a challenge to break.

Australians mining companies are using UAVs to look at their remote sites. One note - they are not using U.S.-built UAVs as the State Department has put export restrictions on them. Here we go again, our government ensuring the loss of American jobs.

Facebook has hired half a dozen engineers from Apple to help build its mobile phone.

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Wednesday May 30, 2012

Tim Cook claims that he wants Apple to be manufacturing its products in America one day. We shall see. For now at least, the processors are made in Texas and the glass is made in Kentucky.

President Obama is collecting more money but from fewer people in Silicon Valley this electrion cycle.

I like this one, Logitech has a new Bluetooth keyboard for Apple OS X and iOS that is solar powered.

Facebook will triple the size of its headquarters in Menlo Park. They will also triple their workforce from 2,200 to 6,600.

Here is an open-source little submersible vehicle that will sell later this year for $750. I've always wondered what was in the water in that pond near my house. Maybe...

This may come to something one day - a telepresence robot you wear on your shoulder. I could see autistic adults wearing these. That would give them a constant companion to reassure them and help them navigate unknown places. Of course, the Google Glasses could become this sort of thing as well.

A look at Samsung's latest Chromebook.

It seems that women are more dependent on social media than men.

Some notes on enterprise collaboration tools.

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Thursday May 31, 2012

WiFi in the London Underground is now operational.

A smartphone with Intel parts from a company called Orange. They call the model San Diego. I am confused by the name, but that is just me.

A Soviet moon probe found water there in 1976. Everyone ignored the results as propoganda. Let me know when people are making coffee from moon water.

Ah, governments have such good intentions, sometimes. In North Carolina, you have to have a license to advise people on diet. Well, the results with bloggers and commenters and such are predictable. So we have a law suit claiming the state is taking away a person's first amendment rights - you know, that Constitution thing again. Sigh.

LinkedIn is succeeding in the stock market while Facebook, and a few others, aren't. The reason: LinkedIn focuses on the long term.

Intel releases its newest ultra low voltage processors and talks about a lot of new Ultrabooks.

Cloud computing is more effiencent. Therefore, there will be fewer jobs.

The Google Glasses may be on the market next year.

Poor people eat more junk food (known that one for years). Now we know that poor people indulge in digital entertainment more.

Will be have an email-free world? What about all those government regulations requiring companies to save their email? Your tax dollars at waste.
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Gigabyte releases the world's lightest 11" screen portable computer.

This story is all over the Internet today - silly as it is. The White House has announced a program to educate people about botnets and other malware. Your tax dollars at waste.

Here is another little underwater vehicle to let you see what is at the bottom of your pond. This one, however, costs $4,000.

Microsoft announces Office 365 for Government. This is an attempt to compete with Google's offerings of Apps for government agencies. These special services comply with a number of government standards.

A look back at Apple's HyperCard. I experimented with hyper links back in the late 1980s - long before http was popular.

Verizon is offering, to a limited few, FIOS speeds of 300MegaBitsPerSecond.

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Friday June 1, 2012

I like the AnandTech blog, but I cannot fathom how you show a lot of photos of a "small" case without putting something next to the case to give viewers a sense of scale.

A closer look at Intel's ultra low voltage version of its Ivy Bridge processors.

Of course, these processors are just right for the next update of the Apple MacBook Air.

Apple's sales of desktop computers in Asia rose 40% over the last year. That is a big jump. What happened?

Stronger rumors - Microsoft Office for iPad coming 10 November.

Engadget looks at new laptop computers for the summer - thin is in - that is a terrible thing to write.

Some of these new ultra fast broadband services bring ugly service boxes on the street corner, and some people don't want those ugly things.

Offline Google Drive is coming in five weeks.

Another browser tracker has proclaimed that Chrome passes Firefox in use. I remember when Firefox first came on the scene. It was great - still is.

Yet another group has developed technology that turns any surface into a touchscreen.

The iPod was a huge success, but nothing compared to the iPhone which was nothing compared to the iPad. And of course, the iPod was a Newton handheld computer with real content.

The SpaceX Dragon returns safely to earth.

More press about how the FBI sends someone undercover, the undercover agent creates a terrorist plot, and then the FBI arrests people who join the phoney terrorist plot and then claims success in stopping a phoney terrorist plot that it created. Sigh. I don't like this; I don't like this at all.

Doc Watson died this week at 89. He was a blind guitar player that changed how people played guitar.

Asus, Acer, and Toshiba are to show Windows 8 tablets next week.

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Saturday June 2, 2012

Why aren't more people telecommuting? One reason is that it puts you on the slower career track.

A look inside the Samsung Galaxy S III. Nice parts.

According the press reports (unreliable if history is a teacher), the Obama administration didn't understand computer viruses when it launced STUXNET at the Iranians. No doubt the President was advised by people who believed in their own brilliance and wanted to get promoted fast. I met many such people in government.

There must be something to age and wisdom as people over 55 use passwords that are twice as strong as people under 25.

The worst two things about Google: (1) Google+ (2) Google+.

Clean up and boost the office productivity. Several of the tips are about simple things like chalk boards and white boards and Post-Its.

Tips for virtual meetings.

Running a voice-controlled robotic arm from a Raspberry Pi.

Some impressions of the Raspberry Pi.

Plastic camshell packaging must be the worst design ever. Who did it?

American boys are failing at just about everything.

This could become something - a system that dynamically controls the noise in restaurants.

Vizio - that maker of home theatres and such - will launch its first line of PCs this month.

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Sunday June 3, 2012

Someone is putting license-plate-reading cameras on telephone poles in New York state. Utility crews remove them, give them to the police, and the police "return them to their owners" without ever saying who those owners are. Well?

The major state universities will now try to have people graduate in four years. That seems to be a matter of personal choice, but that's just my idea. One reason for pushing people out of university is that states use taxpayers' money to fund the students. Texas, for example, is paying $7,500 of a student's cost. Why is that? Why is the state paying all that money for someone to major in philosophy or english or art history. How many jobs do those professions create (jobs then send money back to the state in the way of taxes)? How did the states fall into the business of paying people to go to college willy nilly?

The Apple Newton is 20 years old this week. I contend that the iPod was a second generation of the Newton. The iPod, however, came with "content," something that would hold your attention. The iPod's content was music generated by thousands of people.

LG shows a new portable computer. The features are amazing. No price given here.

The writer's knowledge base - a search engine customized for writers. Neat.

How does a freelancer continue her education?

You are a freelancer, you know what freelancers need for a temporary workspace, so should you build a co-working business to support freelancers?

Ten five-minute writing prompts.

The location independent professional is re-evaluating.

When the writer reaches the point when they are sick of themselves.

It seems that new college graduates are not jumping at the chance to work for start ups.Security does have its adherents.

This is a pretty good tip. You are going to put a photo of yourself somewhere (on your blog or elsewhere)so hire a photograph for an hour and do a good job of it.

Routines, like just about everything else, can either save or ruin your writing or do both.

Writing a book is not as hard as most people tell me. Here are some tips to show you how to start.

I’ve seen several posts this week about standing desks. Here is Hemingway’s standing desk.Pretty simple, but it is effective.

Freelancing, if done properly, brings lots of freedom.What is doing it properly? Slash your living expenses. Don’t go into debt. Save at least half of what you earn.

An in-depth discussion of how writers can use Facebook.

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