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 April 21-27, 2014

Summary of this week:


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

Monday April 21, 2014

The history of Aereo from concept to the Supreme Court.

More information on the Aereo case and how it relates to cloud computing.

Sew a WiFi hotspot into your clothes. Why not?

The Nintendo Game Boy is 25 years old today. My sons had them. My wife once became quite attached to Tetris.

Note the declining mortality rates in America. At every age, we are far less likely to die than just 40 years ago.

Programmers notice: this video was not captured via camera but generated by a program that fits in 64KiloBytes.

The Silicon Valley pay-fixing lawsuit may be settled before the trial starts real soon now.

Another idea that should have been turned into practical reality years ago: use the household water going down the drain to generate electricity.

SpaceX makes another cargo run to the ISS.

Here we go: DaaS—Drones as a Service.

A $50 3D-printed hand works better than a $42,000 one.

Silicon Valley success in the the Ukraine.

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Tuesday April 22, 2014

There have been many Kickstarter campaigns that raise the money, but don't deliver the product. One problem is that many "inventors" underestimate the difficulty of building actual hardware.

And more on the Aereo case.

The Vatican will digitize 40million pages of archives. Wonderful. Much good can come of this.

People still program in FORTRAN. It is very efficient and simple to learn. It works.

If you do any of these things, you could be a terrorist, or at least a suspected terrorist. Yikes—and I thought using the side motel entrance next to where my car was parked was a good idea.

What skills do IT people really need?

The next Thunderbolt will hit 40GigaBitsPerSecond.

I guess we have to write this down somewhere lest we forget again: poverty is mainly rural.

The dome theatres in San Jose are coming down. I saw Blade Runner there. What a shame.

This story is all over the Internet, so it must be important. A Federal judge orders the Federal government to explain how it can legally kill Americans.

Apple has created software that prevents you from texting an iPhone while driving. This was a really simple thing, so I have to wonder why it took so long.

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Wednesday April 23, 2014

The next Google tablet will be made by HTC.

Another great Apple ad video—this one about the iPhone.

A new way to make money: fake peer-reviwed journals that you pay to publish your work.

ThinkSpace: IT education created by several UK teenagers.

Google and AT&T are pushing fiber broadband, but our government isn't. Good thing?

"Generosity makes you happy. Happy people are more likely to be successful." – Seth Godin

Nike claims that they are still making wearable fitness computers.

Televisions are now coming with computers and software in them connected to the Internet: yes, viruses soon follow.

Apple retail stores will now take your old Apple products off your hands.

Let's talk about income inequality and the outrageous amounts paid by Facebook et al in acquiring other companies.

The social problems of Google Glass. The device is a bit too obvious, and that bothers everyone else in the room.

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Thursday April 24, 2014

The NYPD asked people to Tweet photos of themselves with the NYPD. The results were less than flattering to the NYPD. The results were also predictable and predicted.

A non-profit training program in NYC trained people to write iOS apps. Let's have some caveats here. The training lasted 18 weeks. Who has 18 weeks to do nothing but attend a class? Most of the trainees were already in college. A lot of people working at "non-profits" make a lot of money while doing so. You have to spend the money you take in so you don't make any profits.

24million people have taken programming courses from CodeAcademy.

Facebook reports a great financial quarter.

Apple reports a better-than-expected financial quarter.

"The principle that all Internet content should be treated equally as it flows through cables and pipes to consumers looks all but dead." – New York Times.

Our Chairman of our FCC denies this. The FCC is merely changing their policies to meet a judge's ruling. The linked post explains how the FCC policy does indeed kill net neutrality. Our chairman is doing what political appointees usually do.

Volunteers have recovered 2,000 lunar photos from old analog tapes.

America has lost much of its skilled labor.

A third of Americans won't take a vacation this because they can't afford to do so. This speaks to lower wages and poor financial planning. The percentage of which reason is probably not know-able.

Apple has now sold 20million Apple TV units. Not bad for a hobby.

Apple bought 24 companies in the last 18 months.

According to the rumors, Apple will update its line of MacBook Air next week and MacBook Pro in the Fall.

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Friday April 25, 2014

The big tech companies settle out of court on the wage-fixing suit. The average person affected will get about $35K. The lawyer team will receive much more.

Is Microsoft likely to go to subscription pricing for Windows?

Google may deploy WiFi networks in some cities where they have Google Fiber.

Amazon's Prime Pantry: order basic grocery store items and they show up at your door.

Code.org partners with 30 school districts to bring computer science to high school.

Given the movement of people in Google, it appears that Google+ is dying.

We may be witnessing the last printed edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Facebook furthers its attempt to deliver real news.

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Saturday April 26, 2014

Taco Bell launches a new line of higher-class restaurants. I liked the old Taco Bell much better.

Using industrial waste and a giant 3D printer to build 10 homes in 24 hours.

Amazon to sell their own phone this Summer and possible change how data usage is paid.

Eleven alternatives to the iPad.

The PiPhone: a cellphone based on the Raspberry Pi. Genius.

SpaceX reaches another milestone with its booster stage "landing" vertically, albeit in the ocean.

Federal judges are refusing law enforcement requests for bulk personal data.

The people who built all that computerized hospital equipment didn't build in security.

Our FCC allows higher phone bills to pay for higher rural broadband.

Must-see photos of famous places put in context of their "natural" surroundings.

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Sunday April 27, 2014

The biggest news item of the week: a New Mexico landfill is excavated to reveal Atari games buried 30 years ago.

DarkMarket: how to run a black market on the Internet without getting caught.

The sharing economy has risen because the other economy is broken and not being fixed.

The back-end of Health Care dot Gov still doesn't work. That means that no one knows if anyone is paying their health insurance premiums.

An American judge claims jurisdiction over property held in another country. I have to wonder if the judge understands how stupid this sounds.

How to find a time for a gathering of persons using Google Calendar. It doesn't cost any money and it works.

"The most difficult work many professionals do...is getting someone else to agree with their point of view and take action."—Seth Godin

inBloom was to change education and create personalized lessons for students. Our education system killed their ambitions.

Some tips on focusing your efforts as a writer.

How to become a full-time writer: first, don't quit your day job. Let me emphasize, don't quit your day job.

The power of constraints in writing. See, e.g., Green Eggs and Ham (200million copies sold).

Tips for writing a novel and not making a big mess.

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