Summary of this week:

Amazon teams with the USPS for Sunday delivery
Google and Apple helping with Philippine typhoon relief
Android 4.4 is out for Google tablets
Amazon moves into desktop virtualization
Google's book scanning is okay'ed in court

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

Monday November 11, 2013

Today is Armistice Day, I guess we call it Veterans Day. Note, it is not Memorial Day. We are not honoring those who died in war. Some seem to confuse these.

The iPod is 12 years old. The world changed as there was a little device that had content.

The Whill - a new wheel-chair alternative. This is what technologists should be doing.

Amazon teams with the US Postal Service for Sunday deliveries. This allows better service to Amazon's customers. The Postal Service hopes they will make money on the deal to help offset regular mail delivery.

The Smithsonian Institution is asking for volunteers to transcribe old handwritten notes, and people are volunteering.

The PC market is more profitable - at least for Lenovo.

This story is all over the Internet, so it much be important although I don't see the importance as it is another rumor about what Apple is researching for one of many possible futures. Anyways, Apple is experimenting with curved touch displays.

Increased US oil production brings Iran to the negotiating table. Funny how some things work. Funny how a stronger national economy helps in many areas. Funny how some Americans fight these things until and after they realized what good they do.

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Tuesday November 12, 2013

Google Crisis Response has launched a site about helping the Philipines after the typhoon. Good for them.

And Apple's iTunes has a place to donate to the Philippine relief effort.

Despite all the hype, the age of big data is still in its infancy, and most people are not making any money with it.

Google has designed an electronic patch that adheres to your neck and allows talking on the phone hands free. Silly? Maybe, but once again, consider people who have lost the use of their hands or arms. This is a great gadget for them.

Motorola (owned by Google) will introduce a lower-cost phone this week.

Encouraging - experimental farm in Qatar uses seawater to grow crops. It is only a small experiment, but maybe something will come of this.

Sweden has to close prisons because of lack of convicts. I think we are doing something wrong in the U.S. It is a complex situation, and I don't have the answers, but something is wrong here.

The International Space Station has a computer virus carried aboard on a USB stick by a Russian.

How to connect a keyboard to an Android tablet and do things like writing.

38 years after it started all of this, The Homebrew Computer club met again in Silicon Valley.

(really) Bad news for Obamacare - 78% of the uninsured aren't interested in buying health insurance.

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Wednesday November 13, 2013

Google's ad revenue is now bigger than every newspaper in the U.S. combined. Google's ad revenue is also now bigger than every magazine in the U.S. combined.

Android 4.4 moves to all Google tablets today.

The source code for the Apple II DOS is being released by the Computer History Museum. Perhaps, some colleges will use this as a learning tool.

Cycle Computing ran 156,314 cores on Amazon's Web Services to hit 1 petaflop. That is all amazing.

The MacRumors forum was hacked exposing 860,000 user passwords. And there are supposedly bright people who think that these health care exchange web sites are, or will be, secure. I don't understand that.

Several white hat hackers will appear before a House committee to discuss the security holes in Health Care dot Gov.

Microsoft's Surface tablet costs too much. Windows 8 tablets from other makers, however, may compete with the iPad.

Turn your old inkjet printer into a 3D electronic circuit board printer.

Is the telephone number going away into the dustbin of history?

Thoughts from Bill Gates on improving the situation of persons on the Earth. He has been searching for answers for a few years and is moving towards more practical ideas.

Hard disk drives last longer and have fewer errors than most everyone predicts. A study of 25,000 drives over four years.

Our Department of Defense owns 470,000 Blackberry phones. Now what do they do with them?

A look back at those who predicted the iPhone would be a big flop for Apple.

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Thursday November 14, 2013

A very bad score card: 27,000 people sign up for insurance on Health Care dot Gov while 4MILLION people have their insurance cancelled because the policies violate the law. Let's see, 4,000,000 to 27,000 - that is about 150 to 1. Yep, a very bad scorecard.

HP halts sales of its Chromebook because the charger over heats.

Dropbox adds features that make it easier for enterprise IT to administer the tool at work.

IARPA starts a big facial recognition development program.

Amazon steps into the desktop virtualization market. More here on the story.

How the U.S. turned the Internet into a weapon. Good intentions, bad outcome.

80% of the smartphones in the world run Android. Several years ago, my bosses screamed about learning everything there was to know about Microsoft's smartphone operating system. The thought (if you want to be generous and call it a thought) was, "Microsoft rules the world. If they are in phones, we have to know all about it." This was in 2007 - long after Microsoft had faded. No one could convince the chiefs that the Microsoft phone operating system was nothing. Sigh.

For the next few months, Intel will have pop-up stores open around the country. They won't sell anything, they will give away stuff, and will be a place for consumers to see products that have Intel products inside them. It could be fun.

Forgotten - the trapped generation born between 1913 and 1927. They faced real challenges.

The Europeans can now use thier gadgets during takeoff and landing, too.

News about Google's balloons in its project Loon. They are more durable than most, but not so durable that they will use outdated technology.

Tips on writing a good sentence. The sentence is underrated. I don't know how many senior managers I have met over the years who could not write a sentence.

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Friday November 15, 2013

A major story that is receiving very little coverage - Google scanning books is ruled okay in court.

The TSA's $1billion SPOT program is only slightly better than grabbing people at random. Your tax dollars at waste.

The Apple stores are having problems with their point of sale systems. They were the envy of everyone else.

Apple and Samsung make all the profits in the smartphone industry. Everyone else is losing money.

DISA decided that the DoD needed cloud computing. They changed their mind due to lack of interest. The ignorant leading the ignorant.

Gasp, Health Care dot Gov has been attacked 12 times. I am surprised by the small number.

There have ten phoney health care web sites in California alone. Why do people try to cheat health care dollars? Because that is where the money is.

Acer cuts the price of its Chromebook back to $200.

Remember the basic portable computer (laptop)? Dell updates a couple of theirs and keeps the price under $1,000.

Sears to convert some old auto centers into data centers. Smart move.

The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite? Are you kidding? 30% of Americans read the news on Facebook.

Producers - writers, programmers, et al. - will keep the PC alive.

Some agencies of our government are tracking what books citizens buy. This is horrible news for our nation.

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Saturday November 16, 2013

Interview questions that Twitter asks applicants. They aren't bad. I've heard much worse, e.g., I was once asked (1) can you type? (2) how many words a minute?

Some success at herding cows with robots.

Anonymous has been hacking into U.S. government computers in the last year. Of course, they won't ever touch Health Care dot Gov (NOT). That site is secure and untouchable (NOT).

The Chinese Communist Party wants more restrictions on their Internet. No surprise here.

If there are more H-1B visas, there will be fewer jobs for US college graduates.

Google continues to spend money building solar power plants.

A look at Intel's 240GigaByte solid state disk.

A heads-up display in a motorcycle helmet. Excellent. Let' shave more applications of this type.

London has its own top-level domain name - dot london.

This story is all over the Internet, so it must be important. Some companies predict that robots on the battlefield will outnumber human soldiers 10-to-1 in 10 years. Of course it is silly, and these "robots" are really big, strong remote-controlled cars. But it makes for a good headline for some people.

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Sunday November 17, 2013

Posture, self-control, and writing. They all go together. Many people who attempt to write do not pay enough attention to their back. Unless you can find a great stand-up writing situation, you can hurt your back writing if you don't pay attention. My latest trick, er, technique is to set a 25-minute timer while writing. Hence, I spend five minutes of every half hour walking and stretching and such.

Sony sells a million PlayStation 4 units in 24 hours.

Google, not to be outdone by Intel, is also opening pop-up shops for the holiday season.

Indications that you won't be a freelance writer.

Increase writing productivity by hiring a person to sit next to you and remind you to write. Of course your writing in come has to be high enough to be able to hire someone.

Being thankful for writing.

Very few writers make a living writing. Here are some tips. Nothing new here, but you have to plug away at it.

Tips on writing a good sentence. The sentence is underrated. I don't know how many senior managers I have met over the years who could not write a sentence.

Brevity and clarity often go together. That is my way of saying, "Remove needless words." This blog post lists several standard techniques for removing words.

It seems that the world has changed and writing for nothing or low, low pay is what you should do for a (long) while.

Putting ideas into the reader's head via the short, short story concept.

Procrastination and choosing for writers.

Thoughts on Flannery O'Connor's prayer journal 1956-1946 which is now published.

Some people cannot seem to accomplish anything working from home. Here are some ideas to help you work.

Do people hate what you write? At least they notice what you write and that you are writing.

More of "what I wish I knew when I started writing."

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