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 January 6-12, 2014

Summary of this week:


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

Monday January 6, 2013

CES is this week, so expect many new devices.

HP follows Acer with its own 21" Android all-in-one tablet slate thing.

And Lenovo announces their own 20" Android all-in-one.

Confirmed, Toshiba has its own Chromebook.

Nvidia evolves their system on a chip line with the Tegra K1 with 192 CUDA cores.

The Open Auto Alliance: Google, GM, Audi, Honda, Hyundai, and Nvidia is bringing Android to cars.

Hoping we see more things like this: Cobra has a palm-sized power pack that can recharge your phone or jumpstart your car.

D-Link has a new little router that turns Internet into WiFi for $100.

Five programming languages to learn if you don't program.

Coca-Cola has 16 million unique network IDs and uses them to network its Freestyle drink dispensers.

A new technology uses lasers to produce much smaller and more efficient headlights.

These numbers are bad for America. While deaths of polices officers has dropped (good news), deaths caused by police officers has not (very bad news).

Why cancer will probably never be "cured."

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Tuesday January 7, 2013

Mozilla's Firefox OS will run Panasonmic's smart TVs.

I like this note on things to do early in the morning to improve your day.

The Mayor of San Francisco plans to charge tech companies for using public transportation stops for their shuttle buses. Tech companies will soon announce that they will stop using those places and just stop on the corner down the street.

More bad news for America: the FBI shifts its mission from law enforcement to national security. Bad news on many levels.

Brand name change: McAfee becomes Intel Security.

This is disappointing, but not surprising: the Internet of things is not secure.

The Intel Edison: a complete Linux-powered computer with WiFi and Bluetooth built in the size of an SD card. Intel wants developers to use it to build wearable computers.

Polaroid is back, or at least someone using that name and logo, with new cameras.

The city of Boston moves to all Google for everything.

In-store computing is here with iBeacon and location specific coupons and all that. The computer follows you around the store and hits you with stuff depending on where you are standing.

The coffee-table tablet, Samsung has a 12" tablet here now ahead of Apple.

There will be a billion Android devices shipped in 2014. The definition of success has changed.

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Wednesday January 8, 2014

50 years ago today, President Lyndon Johnson declared the War on Poverty.

People are starting to put useful devices into smartphone cases. Mophie has an iPhone case with extra memory and battery for the phone.

This case has a thermal imager in it. Yes, people will tout that they can see through clothing with it.

A little, wearable camera from Ambarella.

Sales from the Apple app store: $10billion in 2013 with $1billion in December alone. The definition of success has changed.

Red Hat and CentOS team to produce Voltron - a free Linux distribution.

3D printers are a big deal at CES. This one is $500. This one is $5,000 but it promises pro performance for the home.

This may seem silly at first, but is wonderful for parents of infants who are ill: it is a wearable health monitor for babies.

We are finally getting somewhere with home security monitors. This one uses facial recognition and sends you a text message telling you who is at your house.

A look at Microsoft Office 365 and Google Docs (apps).

A new abbreviation thing: TL;DR = Too Long; Didn't Read.

Something for the home: huge, curved screen televisions. At tens of thousands of dollars, you might as well buy two or three and enjoy the volume discount.

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Thursday January 9, 2014

Narrative: a clip-on camera that takes two photos per minute and connects to the iPhone. Something like this is not as intrusive as the Google Glass. People may not hide from you if you clip one on.

Hackers break into LinkedIn. Of course Health Care dot Gov is perfectly secure.

The rise to dominance of Android.

Here are the most demanded developer skills for 2013. Java is number one. Not listed is someone on the project who can act like an adult and keep everything on track.

Confide: like Snapchat, where things disappear quickly, for corporations.

The New York Times has a complete digital redesign. See it here.

I love things like this: a desk that flips into a bed. Forward to the past.

The Macintosh will be 30 years old on January 25th.

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Friday January 10, 2014

The crucial problem of the Internet of things: all this smart hardware is no secure.

Apple surprises everyone with a 28% surge in computer sales in the last quarter.

The sales of personal computers dropped 10% in 2013.

The iPhone is 7 years old today.

Are we giving up the control of our computer? Yes, and I hate it.

San Franciso and New York City have become playgrounds for the rich only. Everyone else is gone.

And the rich must have these giant, bendable televisions from Samsung.

And the rich are in Congress: most Congressmen are millionaires.

Air pollution in China is so bad that hotel guests are issued masks.

Microsoft was notably absent from CES this year.

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Saturday January 11, 2014

Here comes more unemployment: the concept for a 3D printer that builds a house in a day.

How not to try to lure a Google programmer to join you instead. Hint: offer more than money. I wonder if these guys understand how far out of reality they live. Do they know they are plutocrats?

Maybe this is a breakthrough in energy storage research. It uses organic materials to build better batteries. Maybe something will come of this one day.

Our Attorney General is once again being asked for an explanation about the prosecution of Aaron Swartz. Expect little in response.

The rumors are that our Federal government will not renew the Health Care dot Gov contract with CGI. When in doubt, blame the contractor (that you chose).

If Target wasn't bad enough, hackers have broken into Neiman Marcus and stolen customer accounts. I am glad that this won't happen to Health Care dot Gov (not).

A story about peasants as they exist in America today. This is not San Francisco or New York or Google or any Silicon Valley startups.

This could be something: Romo - a little robot that helps you learning programming and other things.

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Sunday January 12, 2014

An apartment in Paris was discovered 70 years after the owner fled the Nazi approach.

Looking ahead to Windows 9.

CES brought us a lot of health products, but really they are products for those who exercise all the time. What we need is technology that monitors the health of the average person who doesn't exercise all the time - the elderly, the infirmed, the child. The devices need to tell us when we should send our data to a doctor.

EXCELLENT post on editing.

More thoughts on the benefits of a personal journal.

One editor's writing frame or structure.

Jerry Seinfeld on writer's block: a phony, made up, BS excuse for not doing your work.

Detroit tries to lure in writers with free houses. Beware the weather and crime in Detroit.

Avoiding "very" by using stronger verbs: 45 examples.

Some of us write fiction as a way out of reality. The stories end the way we want.

Ten web sites that list jobs for writers.

If you only make one revision, improve your verbs.

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