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.

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This week: December March 17-23, 2014

Summary of this week:


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

Monday March 17, 2014

The history of the world rewinds 100 years as Russia annexes Crimea. Here is one news source. It seems that the news outlets are all missing the historical significance of this event. The world simply stopped do this type of thing a few years ago, right?

The EU has nothing to say about Russian invasions, but does have time to create a mobile charger standard.

Google changes their search engine results display. I suppose this is easier on the eyes or something.

Yahoo has been trying in vain to create a new look for Flickr.

Science is making a historic shift from public worth to the whims of a few plutocrats.

College may still be worthwhile for the average person. The rich and the poor have other, better options.

Bill Gates thinks automation will cause unemployment to jump up.

Alan Greenspan advises more H-1B visas to lower the top earners and reduce the income gap.

At least Github is investigating jerks at work. Perhaps other tech companies will do the same.

Thoughts on anonymity on the Internet. There are tools now and more coming. Is it worth it?

This guy makes videos of himself playing video games. He has 25million YouTube subscribers and 3.8BILLION views. Is there something wrong with the world or with me?

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Tuesday March 18, 2014

Microsoft Office for the iPad is coming March 27th.

Apple shuffles its iPad lineup dropping the 2 and bringing back the 4. I have lost track of what is what.

Apple continues to excel in the education market with high sales of Mac computers and iPads: $1billion in sales in one quarter alone last year.

The cable TV industry continues to lose subscribers.

Pro basketball players wearing Google Glass provides a new view of a person's life.

iRobot has new, better telepresence machines, but the price renders them impractical.

Microsoft's OneNote finally comes to OS X—at no charge.

Techniques for working through ADHD without prescription drugs.

Predictions of great economics from driverless cars. We shall see if indeed these machines offset the unemployment.

Apple tries to move into the health and fitness market. One of the challenges all these tech wizzes will face is the amount of government regulation.

The DNI has a Tumblr site.

Amazon's TV streaming system will come in April and resemble Google's Chromecast.

Yes, many of our government's computers still run Windows XP and they are prone to be hacked.

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Wednesday March 19, 2014

A look at the competitors to and imitators of Google Chromecast.

Google announces Android Wear: a version of Android aimed at wearable computers like watches.

Motorola previews the Moto 360 smartwatch. It actually looks like a handsome watch.

Photo previews of some Google concept watches. I like.

Java 8 has been released. 

Python 3.4 has been released.

Things to do before breakfast. Don't forget to wake up before breakfast.

Google Voice is on the way out.

Firefox 28 is released.

10,000 Linux servers hit by hackers, but Health Care dot Gov is secure (not).

Sony shows its coming virtual reality headset for PlayStation 4.

And now we have a smartphone with a 50MegaPixel camera.

And we have some teasers about the coming Star Wars movie. Hope.

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Thursday March 20, 2014

"Disproving" the 10,000 hours of practice concept with a few exceptions: a fault proof.

Google Search on Android allows voice command of your camera.

EA Games is hacked, but Health Care dot Gov is secure (not).

More details and analysis of Google Android Wear.

Burger King expands its iOS app service. We are near the day of ordering and paying from our smartphones. Why has it taken so long?

America's official response to the Russian annexation of Crimea sounds like it was reported in The Onion, not in the real news.

Those non-disclosure agreements are serious: ex-Microsoft employee arrested.

Is gluten really bad for us?

Tech companies want more immigrants allowed. They claim that jobs are lost daily by not allowing foreign tech workers into the U.S.

Some benefits of keeping a journal. I recommend this practice to everyone.

The world is safe: Flappy Bird will return to the Apple app store.

The mobile ad market continues to explode.

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Friday March 21, 2014

Facebook releases Hack: a programming language they created to reduce programmer errors. The search for the Holy Grail of programming continues. Perhaps something will be learned from this language that we haven't learned from the hundreds of other ones. Here is the languages website.

How Lego studied kids and reversed the decline of their company. Key finding: "These and other findings led the researchers to identify the key patterns: children play to get oxygen, to understand hierarchy, to achieve mastery at a skill, and to socialize. The patterns were simplified into four categories: under the radar, hierarchy, mastery, and social play."

Healthy employees are more productive. Hence, companies have an interest in the health and fitness of their employees. This interest, however, can quickly turn into an unhealthy surveillance of and presecription for lifestyles.

Facebook has much-improved facial recognition software. I can attest to that as Facebook recognized the faces of people in photos I posted yesterday.

The government of Turkey is banning Twitter, and everyone else in the Twitter world is screaming at them.

Intel announces more evolutions in processors including 8-core processors for everyone.

We probably don't have a shortage in the science and engineering workforce. I know lots of unemployed engineers. As usual, we have a shortage of people who won't do highly skilled work for lowly skilled wages.

And just to show so, Sprint closes 55 stores and lays off 330 technicians. You see, just hire those laid off engineers at 10% less than what Sprint paid them.

Comparing a Chromebook with a low-cost Windows laptop.

Google is now encrypting our email between servers so that you know who can't read them.

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Saturday March 22, 2014

A story on the old Linux servers still running on the Internet and their security holes.

On learning, technology, change, and new generations of people.

Guess what? Characterizing an entire generation as liberal or conservative is incorrect.

Now you can pay at Wendy's with your smartphone.

Our President meets with unimpressed tech executives about surveillance of citizens.

Microsoft offers $100 if you leave Windows XP and buy a new Windows 8.1 computer.

Google's Go programming lanuage is gaining followers in cloud development.

THE skills to have on your resume in 2014.

An immigration lobbyist states it plainly: it doesn't make sense to retrain workers—hire immigrants on H-1B visas.

This little drone hovers overhead and steals all the information from your smartphone. No, it is not a billion dollar NSA device. It is simple and inexpensive.

Of course the Snowden revelations are costing U.S. companies billion$.

All the big email providers are reading your email.

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Sunday March 23, 2014

More on Facebook's programming language Hack. This seems to be a lot of hype about taking a weakly typed language and adding some types.

An effort to update the vim editor to neovim.

The California DMV was hacked, and citizens' credit card numbers were stolen. Of course (not) Health Care dot Gov is secure.

The Apple and Google wage-fixing scandal involved many more companies and up to a million employees. So maybe Steve Jobs wasn't all Mr. Wonderful.

Weasel words—those unnecessary words that we tend to use when trying make something longer. I think it is a slam against the noble weasel. The weasel didn't do anything to deserve a bad name.

As a writer, travel as much as you can. And travel slowly.

Ten ideas for freelance writing work.

Tips on writing when you don't feel like writing.

As a writer, try to understand what you want to do and where you want to go. There are many paths to your destination, and there are many paths that are more fun than others.

Seasonal variations in writing.

Tell your story. Don't wait for someone to give you permission. If you want permission, write me and I will give you permission.

When, or if, should you give up on a writing project. The best advice I have ever heard: put away the work for now instead of throw away the work. With computers and disk storage and all that technology, this is easier than ever before.

The affect of the much lower prices for Google Drive storage. If you photograph, video, or record music, this is a big deal.

The expenses for a freelance writer add quickly. Track and manage them.

Ideas for blogging for business.

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