Summary of this week:

Apple's WWDC big event is this week
iOS6 announced, updates to the portable computers, and the under-the-desk computer
Supply of FY-2013 H-1B visas almost depleted
Bad times at Nokia - 10,000 layoffs
Samsung ships 43 million phones in first quarter of 2012

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

Monday June 11, 2012

It seems that people over 65 are "tech savy-er" than what people think. I am not sure what people think, but people over 65 don't seem to be brain dead to me.

Intel's Next Unit of Computing (NUC) priced at $400. I had hoped less, but you are buying a real computer meant to be used in commerce, not a student project kit.

Twitter showed a television commercial. Why?

In India, people are taking to the streets to protest Internet controls.

It appears that the U.S. government is not the only one that does stupid things. Rovio (Angry Birds) is considering moving from Finnland to Ireland because of much lower corporate tax rates. They are not money-grubbing-tax-evaders - they are business people. Businesses try to make money so that they can employ people who can then support their families. I guess I am stupid to believe such things.

There are 900,000 Android activations a day. Success redefined.

Email me at d.phillips@computer.org
Go to Day Book Home and pointer to previous weeks
Go to Dwayne's Home Page

Tuesday June 12, 2012

I missed the WWDC announcements yesterday as I was travelling back to the U.S. This link provides a good summary: iOS6 coming, next rev of OS X coming, big updates to the portable computers, and an update to the under-the-desk supercomputer Mac Pro.

The new OS X will finally have voice dictation! Let us see the details to understand if everything you say goes to the Apple cloud for analysis.

The 17" screen portable computer from Apple is gone. You'll have to look on eBay and other sources for one.

Sometimes the police catch the crooks. They have a Dutch man whom they alledge stole information on 44,000 credit cards. Well, that is one. Is everyone ready for national electronic health records?

Real soon now, all those new Internet suffixes will go on sale. A few people are going to made a lot of money.

Seagate replaces the GoFlex lineup of drives with Backup Plus. More, faster, and less expensive.

Kodak will sell its digital imaging patents.

Via Technologies will sell its little computer circuit board for $49 in July. All these little computer boards will make their way into systems that companies will make for their customers. This is a much better return on investment than making your own special-purpose computer to embed in a system.

The harm of closed-source software - a long essay.

For the IT services providers - if you move your company's stuff to the cloud, it is now your fault if the cloud has a problem. Do you want that?

emacs 24.1 has been released.

Google's first Android tablet will be here at the end of the month.

Email me at d.phillips@computer.org
Go to Day Book Home and pointer to previous weeks
Go to Dwayne's Home Page

Wednesday June 13, 2012

This whole story is nuts, so it must be true. A college professor has received a patent on a technique that forces college students to buy textbooks. Since the patent office is a group of government employees and the college professor is also a government employee, well, what would you expect?

Yet another case of someone being arrested for recording public officials on the public payroll doing public duties in public places.

And some public employees are being smart enough to record their duties on video and post their side of the story. Good for them.

Mark Gurman is an 18-year-old high school student and he had more scoops on this week's WWDC than anyone.

Microsoft is still able to attract bright summer interns.

PeerJ is trying to reduce the cost of peer-reviewed scientific publishing. I hope they succeed.

The FY-2013 supply of H-1B visas is almost depleted.

The Europeans have approved a project to build the world's largest telescope. And I thought they were going bankrupt bailing out one another.

Fibre to the premisses (FTTP) isn't working in America.

Email me at d.phillips@computer.org
Go to Day Book Home and pointer to previous weeks
Go to Dwayne's Home Page

Thursday June 14, 2012

Running Windows 7 and then Windows 8 on the new MacBook Pro (with "retina" display).

And someone has disassembled one of these new MacBook Pros.

Bad times at Nokia. And they are laying off 10,000 people.

And not so good times at Dell.

This is good - a blood test lab on a chip. Blood test results in minutes instead of days.

Yet another really small and inexpensive single-board computer - the Rascal Micro at about $150.

Here is a lesson in problem solving. Why design a smart flying robot that avoids everything. It is much easier to design a flying robot that that can crash many times and not be destroyed.

The white plastic portable computer from Apple is gone. That was a great school computer, but now schools are buying iPads.

The future has arrived: now we can buy things through our TV - not our computer, our TV.

A look at the Computer Science degree. Purdue, an engineering school, was the first university in America to offer one in 1962.

The Chinese keep pinging on U.S. defense contractors and universities.

Email me at d.phillips@computer.org
Go to Day Book Home and pointer to previous weeks
Go to Dwayne's Home Page

Friday June 15, 2012

A lot of people think that Microsoft is manufacturing its own tablet computer. This could be good news for consumers.

The new Apple portable computers have the "retina" display only in 15" models, but the 13" model is to come in October. For me, the expense of the new monitor is not worth it.

A look at the new portable computers and all-in-one desktop computers from Vizio. This company has been in America's living rooms for a few years. They know a few things about fashion and fitting in.

Carat: a mobile app that tells you how much power your apps are using. I like the idea.

In financial trading, a few milliseconds can make millions of dollars. Hence, an Australian company is laying new fibre optic links in Sydney Harbor.

Just because teenagers like high tech doesn't mean they want to work in IT all their lives (or any small part of their lives).

Email me at d.phillips@computer.org
Go to Day Book Home and pointer to previous weeks
Go to Dwayne's Home Page

Saturday June 16, 2012

Samsung shipped 43 million smartphones in the first quarter of the year. I wonder how many good old dumb home phones that Bell built.

Great slow-motion video of a disk drive in action (and being destroyed by water).

Five "secrets" of the "talent war" winners. This all has something to do with recruiting employees.

3M is working on super-efficient reflectors that can light a large area with a single LED bulb.

A security flaw is found in Intel 64-bit chips.

Ah, the market economy. People are lured into being researching graduate students (at low pay). They grad researchers advance the state of the art. When they graduate, however, there are no real jobs out there.

"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete." R. Buckminster Fuller.

The new MacBook Pro is not made for the owner to modify. That is surprising to some people.

Making an iMac into a display for a ChromeBook.

Email me a t d.phillips@computer.org
Go to Day Book Home and pointer to previous weeks
Go to Dwayne's Home Page

Sunday June 17, 2012

It seems a surprise to some, but defense contractors are actively recruiting hackers to write malware. Of course they are. Why wouldn't they be?

"I begin my novels knowing what happens. I write endings first."

"Ideas are everywhere. Capture them."

Some items on health for the freelancer - and health is the single most important asset you have. The right foods help combat stress. How to work with a portable computer all day without killing yourself.

And tips on falling asleep faster. Cooler rooms help - 65 degrees F.

Ten steps to becoming a better writer. Hint: each step includes the verb "write."

Thoughts on creating a writer’s retreat.

It is good to be versatile as a freelancer.

A good collection of offices of freelancers.

Some of the benefits of travel for the freelancer. Common mistakes of us highly productive types.

Signs that you are in a low state of mind, i.e., you shouldn't be making big decisions or operating heavy equipment.

Some thoughts on distraction and focus.

In a related manner, Thoughts on managing “busy-ness” with an egg timer.

It seems that no one agrees on what coworking is.

hmmm, the 13 business bloggers that all freelance writers should read.

On creating and stealing. My favorite is that when you steal from one person it is plagiarism, but when you steal from many people it is research. I do lots of research.

Email me a t d.phillips@computer.org
Go to Day Book Home and pointer to previous weeks
Go to Dwayne's Home Page