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: December 23-29, 2013
Summary of this week:
- Apple to have a bigger iPad and iPhone in 2014(?)
-
Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of the AK-47, dies at 94
- Apple can't meet the demand for the new Mac Pro
- Chromebooks has 20% of the commerical PC market
- iOS users out shop Android users 5 to 1
Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
Monday December 23, 2013
Here is a government prediction that will probably come true: don't expect to see many electric cars any time soon.
The common complaints against the more popular tablets as of December 2013.
The Obama administrators are trying to prevent a California Federal court from ruling on NSA work.
Let's see, I seem to recall something in civics class about the
separation of powers and how one of the primary functions of the
Judicial branch is to protect the minority from the majority.
A look at Google Ventures: the venture capital arm of Google.
Google continues their attempts at having search results point to authoritative sources.
Coming in 2014 (maybe), a bigger iPad and a bigger iPhone.
Coming real soon now, PCs that run Android apps under Windows 8.1. Microsoft should take note: the PC makers are not happy with the direction that Microsoft pushed them.
This
is bad for America: people have to use their smartphone to video record
every encounter with American citizens who are law enforcement officers.
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Tuesday December 24, 2013
Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of the AK-47, dies at 94.
A couple of stories from the Washington Post this morning (who'd have thunk it?):
Robots are replacing human jobs.
The economy has yet to find jobs for these displaced workers, and with
the current policies from Washington, those people will be out of work
for a decade.
It seems that the Maryland health care site is performing just as badly as the federal Health Care dot Gov.
One of the fundamentals of advertising: to sell stuff to guys, convince them the stuff will get girls.
Who would buy a $3000+ desktop computer? Lots of people. Apple can't meet the demand for the new Mac Pro.
Engadget provides some performance benchmarks on the new Apple Mac Pro.
As of today, there isn't much software that will use the Mac Pro's hardware. So write your own.
The TSA is still with us: they confiscate a photographer's dust blower.
The UK pardons Alan Turing.
Great photographs from 2013.
The government has saved us (yet again): deal reached on energy use in TV set top boxes. Have they nothing better to do?
Coming, maybe, attached a LIDAR sensor to your smartphone.
Sales of 3D printers are likely to grow 10x in the next four years.
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Wednesday December 25, 2013
Merry Christmas
A look back at past Apple Christmas commercials.
Ed Snowden makes the news at Christmas. He delivers a message to the UK on television. He declares that "he already one." I believe that to be true.
Some guys at Stanford prove the NSA wrong about connecting people with metadata. Simple exercise really, but I am glad to see someone do it.
Mobile Internet traffic doubled in 2013. Did anyone predict that 12 months ago?
Chromebooks are invading the commercial PC market. Windows sales are flat and Macs are declining.
Say goodbye to Edison's light bulb on January 1st, 2014.
Must see computer case.
The programming language Ruby may be dead.
In my experience, all such claims of dead programming languages tend to
be false. Take LISP as an example. People still use it. Same with
Fortran.
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Thursday December 26, 2013
It is the day after Christmas, and there is little on the Internet today.
Apple is fined a few hundred thousand dollars in Taiwan for alleged price fixing.
Google joins a long historical list of organizations wanting to build a smart personal software assistant.
Teens in the UK have dropped Facebook and adopted Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and WhatsApp.
Almost a third items purchased online are returned.
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Friday December 27, 2013
Excellent tips here on how to be happier. The basic idea is to spend less time with things and more time with happy people.
Driverless cars will be more efficient and save the environment or they make driving so convenient that people drive more.
Former Google interns talk. Google really is a nice place to be.
The big news the day after Christmas was about all the packages that were not deliverd on time. Amazon is offering $20 credit if your package didn't arrive.
Amazon is doing well with the Amazon Prime service - 20 million members now.
iOS users out shop Android users 5 to 1.
During Christmas shopping, Amazon sold 426 items per second. And that government health care site? Are you kidding?
And here is what Amazon sold: Chromebooks are the big surprise to me.
Thoughts on designing information displays or dashboards.
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at
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Saturday December 28, 2013
You may be able to swap CPUs on the new Mac Pro as they used simple sockets.
The beat rolls on at Stanford as Google gives their football program and cheerleaders Glass units. Unbounded privilege has its privileges.
A Federal Judge rules that the NSA programs are legal.
TechCrunch reviews the new Mac Pro. This is a computer for making films. It is also a computer for running high-end complex signal processing. You have to write your own code for the latter.
The rumored large-screen iPad is rumored to be for education only.
Not enough toys for Christmas? Play old console games in a browswer thanks to the Internet Archive.
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Sunday December 29, 2013
GNU Octave (Matlab equivalent) gets a GUI.
A couple of stories on the rise of the Chromebook which now outsells Apple MacBooks. Here is one. Here is another.
Write one word after another.
Use objects to help you write - similar to the clothing post linked below.
We are what we do. If we write, we are writers.
What you wear while writing may influence what and how you write. I've never considered this aspect of the writing environment, but it makes sense.
Excellent post about some considerations of co-authoring a book. Take a partner with care.
A few more tips on planning your writing future.
One writer's normal day of writing. Find what works for you, use it, discard the rest.
"Meanwhile, back at the ranch..." and other transitions in fiction writing.
Top blogs that writers read.
Thoughts on game-ification and writing and reinforcement techniques and tricking yourself into writing.
If you have to explain what a "freelancer" is, this post may be helpful.
One writer's method of capturing ideas and writing a little about each new idea while it is fresh.
A list of grants (not loans) for writers.
Writing doesn't have to be painful hard work - it can be fun.
The value of setting over arching goals as a writer.
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