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: 4-10 October, 2021
And now Facebook has a whistleblower appearing on 60 Minutes. Does anyone else see the lunacy in this?
The Chinese manipulate the price of silicon metal.
The automotive industry comes back with why they cannot use new, plentiful chips in vehicles. Their replies are true. Still, their replies are excuses. They chose the tradeoffs they chose.
Ideas on writing about immigrants and immigration.
Ideas on being a freelance editor.
Combining writing in a journal, which I recommend for everyone, and writing fiction, which I encourage for some. There are many ideas for works of fiction in your journal. Your journal is a great place to write silly stuff as an experiment.
If you are new to the practice of writing, here are some ways to move from I always wanted to I am.
Thoughts about writing about the thoughts that come to us in dreams.
Writing, time, and rhythm. We become accustomed to a certain pace and rhythm. When those things change, we have to adapt. That isn't easy for some of us. Just because someone "gives you more time" doesn't mean that you will write more.
....Facebook had a major outage yesterday. I noticed it was down during the day.
An in-depth look at Apple's newest iPhone processor, the A15.
State of the practice: what $1,200 can get us in an "entry-level" gaming laptop from Acer.
I like Seth Godin's post on the relationship of "luck" and random choices.
There are several stories online this week about big tech and Federal contracts. Microsoft et al are using subcontracts etc. to work with the US government. People are fussing about this (the link is just one). I thought with you-know-who no longer being hed of the Executive Branch of government that it would once again be okay to work with the government. Wrong again.
An idea from India: work three days a week (60%) and receive 80% pay.
.....Mark Zuckerburg loses $6Billion of wealth in a few hours. Notice how billionaires' wealth depends on stock prices. All go could to zero. This extreme wealth is all at risk and all depends on the emotions of the marketplace. Taxing this wealth would throw gyrations into the market, lower the price of stocks, and hurt millions of small stock holders. It isn't a simple thing.
A closer look at Microsoft's Surface Laptop Studio (the name is too long).
Google announces its next big smartphone event to be held 19 October.
MIT's researchers had all the information on Facebook's algorithms weeks and months ago. But put a pretty lady on camera in front of Congress and 60 Minutes, and ... well, we can see what.
Google is pushing users to multi-factor authentication. Always have your cell phone with you.
.....Here is a long piece on the good, the bad, and the ugly of Facebook. Advice: use Facebook for good. Ignore the bad. And ignore the advertisements.
Survey says...Americans like the big tech companies, but not as much as last year.
Stung by "the whistleblower," Facebook slows the release of new features.
Samsung is behind schedule in releasing its latest IC technology. They delay the 3nm tech to 2022.
AMD admits that Windows 11 won't run well on their processors. They have some fixin' to do.
.....Google adds a guitar tuner to its site.
A deeper look at Microsoft's Surface Go 3. The reviewer is disappointed with it.
Our Dept of Justice creates a National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET).
Our reaction to the virus continues to be an accelerant in many areas. Wineries in Italy are jumping to robotics with labor shortages.
IP addresses assigned to Africa are being used by others for ... well, just about everything.
Making a mouse out of a hill of ocean plastic trash --- Microsoft.
According to Microsoft, Russia is conducting most of the world's state-sponsored hacking.
.....Following the science...research shows that basic HEPA air filters remove the virus particles from the air. Perhaps we took the wrong path on all this.
It appears that many school-issued computers during the year of the virus were loaded with software to monitor kids and their families. There is a legitimate need to monitor activities on computers owned by the public. There are also legal concepts that everyone be informed of this. It seems that schools skipped over the second part.
After succeeding with soy-based hamburgers, Burger King moves to soy-based fried nuggets.
Facebook has another outage: two in one week.
.....For history buffs, today is Double Ten.
American politicians seem to have an natural desire to regulate successful American enterprise. The pre-law students were always jealous of the business and engineering students.
NASA and Boeing continue to have problems with NASA and Boeing.
Who spends money wiser? Rich folks who earned money or government who confiscates money?
McDonalds is running a program next week to give free breakfast to teachers. Good for McDonalds. This won't cost them much, but it is a nice gesture.
A story of debt. This is supposed to represent an entire generation. In some ways it may. Seems this fellow needed some economics lessons in high school. He borrowed too much money to earn degrees in fields that don't pay much money. Bad choices. Bad results. He needs a reset button, but we don't seem to have those in real life.
Angst. Tax payers. Tax avoiders. Legel. Illegal. All twisted up in proposed new laws.
According to one index: Python is now the most-used programming language.
Meanwhile in Lebanon, there is not public electricity. It all failed. Someone will attribute this to climate change. Others will simply point to incompetence and corruption.
It appears that Microsoft's Windows System for Linux is much better in Windows 11 than Windows 10.
.....