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.

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

This week: November December 3-9, 2012

Summary of this week:


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

Monday December 3, 2012

A new term for me: go-bag. Is this like George Carlin's old comedy routine about a place for your stuff?

Text messages (SMS) are 20 years old today.

Copyrights and the silliness that abounds in Washington regarding them. Perhaps, just perhaps, we will see reform in the next few years.

Intel is always trying to put more power efficiency in their processors. Now they are trying to do that with the processors that are already in mobile platforms.

Some of the new iMacs are assembled in the USA. I'll have to check the fine print on mine when it arrives. And what precisely, legally does it mean to be assembled in the USA?

The APA is dropping Asperger's Syndrome as an official whatever it is they officially all these things. Now introverted engineers and scientists will fall in with the Austism Spectrum Disorder.

Photographs of NYC taken from the rear wheel of a bicycle.

A closer look at Acer's $199 Chromebook.

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

Tuesday December 4, 2012

Apple has $121Billion in cash. What are they doing holding on to all that cash?

The CEO of that Nest Internet thermostat says the "Internet of things" is a decade away. I hope someone remembers the security part.

A new HP printer also servers as a WiFi hotspot.

Engadget takes a closer look at the new iMacs from Apple.

I put those two links next to one another as I just received my new iMac, and guess what? My HP all-in-one prints fine but it won't scan with OS X 10.8. I am hoping that HP develops new drivers for the two year old printer.

Volvo is working towards a fleet of self-driving cars by 2020. They anticipate limited capability in 2014.

Businesses can get Microsoft Office 2013 right now.

Amazing video of a tornado in Italy.

I've seen this recently, but not mentioned it until now. Jeff Bezos has a two-pizza rule for teams: if the team cannot be fed with just two pizzas, the team is too large. I like it.

Thoughts on education: Instead of MOOC, consider do-it-yourself and peer-to-peer exchange.

Some things just don't work in the marketplace: The Daily - that iPad-only newspaper - closes.

Researchers at Wake Forest have created a new type of light based on polymer electroluminescent (FIPEL) technology. It could provide better light than anything we have now - white light, not the color we have now.

A look inside the factory that builds the Raspberry Pi.

A look at the G-Technology G-Drive Mobile. I have owned G-Technology drives for about six years. They work well. It is a bit unfortunate that they use the name g-drive as Google sort of uses that same name.

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

Wednesday December 5, 2012


The European Union doesn't just fine American companies. The EU fines Panasonic, Samsung, LG and others for TV price fixing.

oooops, Boeing has problems with the 787, and the FAA is investigating.

Coming in the Spring from HP - the EliteBook Revolve Windows 8 tablet laptop gizmo.

Zite version 2 appears for the iPad. I like this application - a news aggregator.

This is different: unemployment in rural areas is now lower than in the cities.

Half the money from iOS apps goes to 25 developers most of whom are companies.

Wow! This researcher has built a machine that cracks 14-character passwords in six minutes. Is everyone ready for national electronic health records?

And once again we show that the real threat to computer security is the person who works in the computer center. An employee at the Swiss spy agency walked out with terabytes of "secret" data. Of course this would never happen with your electronic health records as everyone working in IT in America is 110% happy with their job and their boss.

If you are travelling to China, be wary of taking your laptop with you.

A big endorsement for the little iPad mini.

Qualcomm is building new quad-core processors for smartphones.

Despite low unemployment in IT, wages are flat.

Google enhances its local web search for the iPad.

A self-powered, self-guided "robot" just completed a one-year, 9,000-mile journey from the U.S. to Australia collecting data along the way.

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

Thursday December 6, 2012

A story about con artists who call you and tell you they are going to fix your Windows computer for you. They were caught. I have received half a dozen of these calls in the last couple of years. I'm just too much of a grouch at home to talk on the phone with people who I don't know.

It is unfortunate, but law enforcement agencies, i.e., the government, can obtain most of your digital information without a warrant.

oooops, a botnet has stolen about $50Million from Europeans. Is everyone ready for national electronic health records?

The iPad mini must be a big success because it still takes a week for your order to ship.

Here is a gift idea: The entire Beatles catalog on a USB stick.

Qualcomm has a new, lower-power Near Field Communications chip for next year's smartphones.

Google brings indoor maps to Germany.

A look at the ASUS Zenbook Prime - this is a traditional Ultrabook running Windows 8. $2,000, 15" screen.

It seems that Wikipedia is more difficult to read than the Encyclopedia Britannica.

The ten words most often read from the dictionary for 2012.

Starbucks plans to open 1,500 more locations in the next five years. That is more than one per weekday. Business must be good.

More on the life of Dave Brubek who died yesterday at 91. Take Five.

A Dutch company is planning a one-way trip to Mars in 2023. They already have over 1,000 volunteers. You will go to Mars and die.

The last couple of days have been bad for Apple on the stock market. I think much of this selling is to take profits while the tax rates are lower - they will go up in 2013.

Michael Arrington on what could have been Web 2.0 but degenerated with corporate boards that killed sharing.

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

Friday December 7, 2012

No Internet viewing this morning as I had breakfast with some fine gentlemen.

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

Saturday December 8, 2012

A closer look at the Logitech Security Camera system - now working with OS X and iOS.

It seems that Apple will spend $100 million to build a factory in the U.S. There are only about 200 jobs here.

Apple is using a lot of fuel cells at its North Carolina data center.

Apple and Google are teaming to try to buy patents from Kodak for $500 Million.

Mike Judge is making a TV series about Silicon Valley.

"Simple, clear purpose and principles give rise to complex and intelligent behaviour. Complex rules and regulations give rise to simple and stupid behaviour." - Dee Hock.

A study on how corruption - political contributions - causes copyrights to be extended and reduces innovation.

Thoughts on bring-your-own-device to work in mature and new markets. Russians practice this far more than Americans.

The Federal Communications Commission is recommending that the Federal Aviation Administration allow people to use electronic devices on airplanes. This could be interesting. Then again, it might just be another great big example of your tax dollars at waste.

And speaking of a waste of tax payers' money - the National Highway Safety Administration wants black box recorders in all vehicles in 2014. Data security? Are you kidding?

Barnes and Noble is dropping the nook price just in time for you know what.

A case for buying an HP Windows 8 machine instead of a MacBook Air. 4G built in is a good reason. That should be standard equipment on all portable computers.

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

Sunday December 9, 2012

Now that I have an OS x 10.8 computer, I'll have to try a little dictation as part of writing.

Some thoughts on writing smart and using a system that works for you.

What happens after the first draft of a book? Lots of work spread out over lots of time.

How one writer stopped looking for jobs on Craigslist and moved on to better things.

What a freelancer can do in case of a big emergency (hurricane).

There is some promise with the use of "brain pacemakers" for treating Alzheimer's.

A look inside Moleskine notebooks from some famous artists.

How one writer uses Notability on an iPad to scribble comments on PDFs of papers. Cool.

Thoughts on outlining a novel before writing. Outlines may not suit you. I do think that making notes of where you start and end for a novel are worthwhile.

How one blogger makes $4,000 a month working half a day every day. I too am skeptical.

One writer tells lessons learned from writing a novel.

Tips on making an “info graphic.”

Starting as a freelance writer and reaching out so people can find you.

51 ways to improve your writing. Good advice in this list.

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