Items I happen to view each day. Science, Technology, Management, Culture, and Writing

    This is my day book for this week. It is a log of things I see on the Internet.

This week: 16-22 April, 2018

Summary of this week:

• Linux kernel 4.17 is released
• Google releases to new AIY tech kits for speech and vision
• Microsoft sort has its own Linux release
• IRS computers crash on tax day...ooops, sorry
• Qualcomm cuts tech jobs; Home Depot hires software engineers
• Palantir and monitoring employees

Monday 16 April 2018

The question in tech: if a product is really good, do we let it dominate the market? Case in point, Google's Chrome is better than Firefox, but do we let Google dominate our lives on the Internet?

An in-depth look at using an external GPU with a Mac and the latest macOS update.

The Communist Party of China—oh yes, let us not forget that those guys run the county—is inserting commissars into its tech company successes. Got to keep the subject in line.

Facebook spent about $10Million on Zuckerburg's Im-not-running-for-president 2017 Presidential campaign tour.

Google, the UK courts, the right to be forgotten, and lets-just-rewrite-history whenever we feel like it.

Apple employees sign non Disclosure agreements; those are legal documents.

Maybe researchers have isolated a gene that brings dementia. Maybe they can create a drug. Maybe.

Are we watching the death of the scientific paper? If yes, the paper was killed by slopping production of papers.

Linux Kernel 4.17 is released. Better power savings.

Tuesday 17 April 2018

Facebook tells how Facebook collects data.

Google and CyArk partner to laser scan historic sites and create VR replicas as a preservation.

Intel and Microsoft are working on technology to scan memory for malware.

Google releases two new technology kits for schools and home; one each for voice and vision.

The Russian government bans Telegram.

Working conditions at Amazon warehouses. Bad, really bad, and very bad. Sacrifices for the world's richest man.

This history of the failed One Laptop Per Child program. Good intentions, but those aren't enough.

Azure Sphere: a Microsoft project combining new, small processors with a Microsoft distribution of a Linux core.

Be careful how you put an Internet of Things device in your home or business. They are open to hacking and are often used to enter more valuable things.

Facebook and their meme problem; never underestimate what some people believe to be F U N.

A near miss asteroid whizzes past us, and it was undetected by anyone anywhere until the last minute.

Wednesday 18 April 2018

Hence, our IRS extends the tax deadline this year because, "the computer is down."

Forget what Facebook collects; there are companies that do real intelligence work on the Web, e.g., Terrogence.

IBM has a better-than-expected financial quarter, but less-than-expected year, so their stock price fell.

Google releases a tool kit to help build chat bots: Dialogflow.

Google releases Chrome version 66.

Facebook reveals new privacy policies and options.

Despite all the noise and broohaha...Apple still dominates the sale and profit of smartphones.

The concept of paying $9.95 a month for Facebook.

The skateboard with electric motor continues to evolve. At $749, however, still not practical.

There are still millions in America with no broadband and no Internet access.

Thursday 19 April 2018

Facebook appears to be hiring hardware design engineers to build its own computers.

Best Buy will start selling a line of Amazon televisions running the Fire software.

Marissa Mayer is still here and talks about life at Google and Yahoo and the future.

Amazon now has 100Million Prime members.

Grasshopper from Google's Area 120: learn to write software (well, sort of) on your smartphone.

Qualcomm is cutting 1,500 jobs in California. Woes and angst.

Volkswagon teams with Walmart to build a network of electric-car charging stations across the US.

Home Depot announces a plan to hire 1,000 software engineers this year. They are dominant in brick-and-mortar stores and want to keep it that way and fend off online giant Amazon.

America's top colleges commit to maybe letting in a few of the non-elites one day. Hollow promises.

Facebook admits to massive security problems with its "Login with Facebook" service.

Friday 20 April 2018

A look at Palantir and how companies employ them to watch their employees.

How the big US tech companies are hiring more and more cheap foreign labor via H-1B visas.

Survey says: Americans want freedom to push stuff to the Internet and don't want government regulations on such. If it is fake news, no one will pay much attention to it. Let's give readers and voters a little credit once in a while.

Google releases Chat in an effort to improve the messaging experience on Android phones.

Iceland is experience a tech boom due to its low-cost power and cooling. Does Iceland want a tech boom?

How to clean your computer keyboard and...well, this is supposed to do something good for you.

Finland tried a Universal Basic Income experiment. They basically stopped the experiment without  much explanation. We seem to know the results.

The richer get richer. The more your income, the more your perks.

Strong rumors that Apple will release a much-less-expensive iPhone this fall.

Saturday 21 April 2018

The concept of paying for services. Somehow the Internet is supposed to be exempt from that concept. How did we arrive at that conclusion?

Intel closed its devices group. They have stopped, for now, experimenting with wearable computers.

The Democratic Party is suing everyone because everyone else was elected in 2016. I guess there is some, but not much, merit in all this. Funny thing about elections—people show up and vote.

It is Saturday, so let's look at the Alienware Hotel Suite for gaming. There are less-constructive things a person can do.

The government of Canada seems to understand how to craft immigration policy to attract those who are attractive. I wish our government could do the same.

The programming languages most popular with programmers. What surprises me is that many of those listed aren't programming languages and the programmers don't seem to realize that.

Jeff Bezos storming in a meeting to illustrate the failure of what some of us used to call "customer service." My home telephone has been out for three days due to a sloppy installation by a phone company subcontractor. I can't seem to convince anyone that there is a fundamental problem in (1) the installation and (2) customer service. I guess I need to improve my convincing skills.

Sunday 22 April 2018

For what it is worth, today is Earth Day. I've noticed a big push this year.

Toshiba introduces two new lines of 10TeraByte spinning magnetic disk drives for streaming video. I find it heartwarming to see what some deem to be dead technology still flourishing.

Acer updates its Chromebox line, but the prices are too high. They have forgotten what this is all about.

I love this thoughtful essay on artificial intelligence, where we really are, and how we are—often foolishly—plunging into systems with insufficient thought. In short, the marketers are deciding, and they rarely think fully.

More on how Mr. Bezos has become the richest person on earth at the expense of warehouse workers. These are the 21st century sweat shops of yore. And more about Amazon employees eating on Food Stamps.

"The volunteering part is easy. Making promises is a fun way to get someone's attention. Keeping those promises is often unsung, but that's how you build something."—Seth Godin

Amazon meetings. Understand a topic. Write a six-page paper on it. Everyone reads the paper in the meeting. Now the discussion and decision. Write. Read. Think. Amazon has lots of problems. This isn't one of them.

It appears that some persons have difficulty writing while traveling. Others of us (ME) can't stop writing when traveling as there is so much new to experience and record.

Make a video or ten to promote your writing. Marketing 101.

Writing productively. Concentrate on writing well. Concentrate on writing writing writing. The rest will probably take care of itself.

Mentioning the sense in writing. Her skin reminded him of touching a rose petal when he was in kindergarten.

Emotions and writing about emotions so the reader feels and remembers something.