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: 28 February - 6 March, 2022

Summary of this week:

• Mobile World Congress is this week
• Russia still invading Ukraine
• The big tech companies are hitting the Russians harder than governments
• Apple, Google, Microsoft, Mozilla et al have created a benchmark called Interop 2022
• Back to the office trend begins with Google and Apple announcements

Monday 28 February 2022

Samsung updates its line of laptop computers. New processors as usual, but the news is much better cameras for our ZoomerTeams meetings.

Mobile World Congress is this week, so we will see many new product announcements.

Lenovo loads up its X1 Extreme ThinkPad with everything including the kitchen sink.

Lenovo also updates its IdeaPad gaming laptops.

Lenovo shoes its first laptop with a Qualcomm Snapdragon processors. Longer battery life and 5G connection.

Huawei attempts to advance e-Ink technology.

The governors of Ukraine have recruited a volunteer "IT army" to hit Russian sites and infrastructure. Ukraine has top-quality IT talent.

Ukraine's army is being supplemented by just plain folks volunteering to carry guns and improvised explosives.

I wrote a short story about this concept several years ago.

News Flash (not): electric vehicles cost more per mile than those old gasoline-powered ones. They consume more energy.

Linux will move from C89 (1989) to C11 (2011).

You are trying to earn a living writing as a freelance writer. There are others attempting the same. Now what?

I disagree with this post. I consider "preparing to write" as a part of "writing." Many disagree with me.

If you like to read quotes from famous writers, this is for you.

I never did a Master of Fine Arts program. I hear some are pretty good. It appears that many miss some of the practical aspects of the business of writing.

One writer goes back and rewrite a novel they wrote ten years ago.

Some ideas on how to start writing 15 minutes a day.

"Finding writing hard isn't a reason to stop. Writing is something the world needs and it changes lives for the better."

Here is something to use in fiction, "every time your character wants something, make it harder to get"

Tuesday 1 March 2022

The fighting continues in Ukraine. A mild surprise is that the Internet (feared to be a platform for Russian cyber assault) has become a big help to Ukraine. The big tech companies are acting like nations. In many cases, they have more power to act.

Money makes a comeback. Big tech is hiring via bigger salaries and bigger cash bonuses. Fading is the desire for stock options.

Qualcomm shows their new X70 5G modem.

I guess this is better late than never. Starlink satellite broadband terminals arrive in Ukraine.

How are companies delivering goods (satellite terminals and weapons) into Ukraine at this time? I guess the Russian front has big holes in it.

In light of all the world situation, we still have absolute nonsense. Someone at Amazon has deactivated Ukrainian sellers so they won't be penalized for late delivery.

Wednesday 2 March 2022

A company called Esperanto Technology produces a RISC-V AI processor. 1,092 cores on one chip.

The prolonged year of the virus is ending (maybe, huh?). The market for PCs remains strong. Haven't people read the memo yet?

For pro basketball fans, this essay uses actual performance data so show how badly your team drafted. It shows that every team in the NBA drafts poorly. Some (like the local Washington Wizards) do much worse than everyone else.

If I had million$ I would...those folks spend the extra time playing, not relaxing.

Passing without much notice...our President gives the State of the Union address last night.

Meta hits Russia.

Apple hits Russia.

The end of the nation state approaches daily as these are replaced by the plutocracies of the super rich.

Tim Cook write an email to all Apple employees regarding Russia and Ukraine.

That cargo ship out in the Atlantic that was on fire has sunk to the bottom. It carried 4,000 luxury cars.

Kaspersky is an internationally succesful Russian company that sells virus protection. They are trying to be neutral in all this. Not every Russian wanted to start a war.

I have read that the Russia-Ukraine battle is a "fight for democracy." Mr. Putin was elected in Russia. The Russian people are not stupid. Conditions there made Mr. Putin their best choice. This is much more than a fight for democracy. This is quite complicated.

Thursday 3 March 2022

The University of Texas gets a new super duper computer from Dell and AMD.

Alteryx moves its data analytics services to the cloud.

If a state of war exists between two nations and cyber soldiers from one nations attack individual citizens of the other nation, is that a war crime?

News from Ukrainian tech workers who telecommute for many companies worldwide. Most have moved to different locations in Ukraine, but are now offline.

Intel, AMD, Arm, TSMC, Samsung, and others have created a new Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express (UCIe) consortium today with the goal of standardizing die-to-die interconnects.

Apple officially announces a big event for March 8th.

Perhaps I will never understand stock prices. Snowflake's revenue grew 101% last year. It grew 110% the year before, so "slowed growth" drove its stock price down.

Google tells its employees to return to the office on 4 April for at least three days a week.

This story must be important because it is all over the Internet: Amazon is closing all of its Books, 4-star, and Pop Up locations.

I haven't seen much about this yet, but I am wondering if the governors of China are noticing that folks worldwide don't like it when one army invades another place. Hint: maybe that Taiwan takeover is a bad idea for the next ten years.

Friday 4 March 2022

Microsoft hits Russia with its own sanctions.

Reddit does the same.

And so does Wikimedia.

I fear that all this justified reaction from the west aimed at Mr. Putin is proving Putin's point to the people of Russia: it is Russia versus the rest of Europe and all of North America. Time for the Russians to unite in the great fight for the motherland.

I would rather see Tim Cook, Elon Musk, et al speak with Mr. Putin instead.

Browser makers Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Mozilla et al have created a benchmark called Interop 2022 to assess how a handful of web standards get implemented by different vendors, with an eye toward ironing out differences.

Interesting parallel: in Russia, the government is prosecuting anyone issuing misinformation about Ukraine. In America, our Surgeon General wants tech companies to reveal who is issuing misinformation about COVID-19. Hmmm.

Now that Mr. Musk shipped Starlink terminals (satellite Internet access) to Ukraine, he warns folks that the Russians can locate them from their signals.

The Russian governors block BBC websites in Russia. The BBC turns on its old radio broadcasts.

Saturday 5 March 2022

Russia stops sending rocket engines to the US. Sanctions back.

SpaceX continues to show how it is done: 47 Starlink satellite launched, sixth such this year, and an nine-time rocket lands to be used again.

Samsung hits Russia with sanctions.

I wonder with the governors of China are learning anything from all these corporate sanctions against countries that invade other countries.

A look at the volunteer hackers from around the world who are involved in the Russia-Ukraine war. We aren't sure what to call these folks as they aren't paid by anyone and aren't associated with any nation.

Strong rumors that Apple is making a computer called the Mac Studio. It is little like a Mac Mini, but with their most powerful Apple Silicon.

And strong rumors that Apple will sell a Apple Studio Display with 7K resolution.

The founder of The Verge news site is moving to Google.

I love this post by Seth Godin. Don't show me a resume that says you went to someone's office building and sat in meetings to nod your head. "...show us the work you did when no one asked you to do the work. When you're on your own, what is important enough to you to ship?"

Interesting report on the use of small, inexpensive drones by Ukraine. They are working well. Undetected.

See my short story on the topic.

Apple says "back to the office" by April 11.

Sunday 6 March 2022

Speculating about back to the office, hybrid this, and hybrid that. Then there are jobs where people go to the job site. They never quit and never will. The rich stayed home and were still paid.

The governors of Washington state pass a law barring the use of non-disclosure agreements to silence illegal activities. That sounds silly. Of course you can report a crime regardless of whether you signed an NDA to keep trade secrets. NDAs are about trade secrets. What? You can't yell "fire" if the building is on fire?

Cogent Communications, an internet backbone provider, cuts off service to Russia. More private commercial sanctions.

VISA and Mastercard hit Russia with sanctions.

Finally, someone (the writer of this piece) has a grip on reality. It is the Russian economy, political uncertainty, and the brain drain in Russia.

Raspberry Pi hits its 10th anniversary.