Summary of this week:

The FCC reconsiders net neutrality
Office for iPad has 27million downloads in 46 days
Google Drive available for purchase again
Autodesk to market its own 3D printer
Apple and Google drop patent suits

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

Monday May 12, 2014

A simulation doesn’t have to be “real” to be successful as an experiential learning tool. What has to be real are the feelings it stimulates in the participants, for feelings are what drive learning. Indeed, too much realism can be harmful to the goal of learning. If the simulation is too close to the participants’ real situation, they be unable to be objective about what they did and what resulted from what they did. — Gerald M. Weinberg

The value of just showing up.

Under pressure from everyone in the world who seems to have a brain, our FCC chairman may change his mind on net neutrality.

And everyone who has ever taken a photograph is screaming at our USPTO for granting Amazon a patent on the use of lights.

LG shows three tablets of different size.

The finance collapse of 2008 has led to higher computer science enrollments in colleges.

The terrible financial state of the US Post Office.

Coming next week, an Intel-powered Microsoft Surface tablet. Perhaps if they keep trying, they will hit on something that people will buy.

How one writer uses Karma to access the Internet. Odd map of coverage in that York, PA is covered but New Orleans, LA is not. Why?

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Tuesday May 13, 2014

Interesting visual link dictionary: visuwords.

This story must be important because it has been all over the web the past couple of days: Google may be redesigning the appearance of gmail.

Steganography in tweets (hidden messages).

Lectures and active learning methods: lectures work with the right topic and lecturer.

Comparing 1999 and today in the tech world.

Atherton, California 94027 where the median price of a house is $4.5million.

One of the four plaintiffs in the Silicon Valley salary fixing scandal is rejecting the settlement.

Remember when Mark Zuckerburg gave $100million to Newark schools? The disappointing result was predictable and predicted.

Office for iPad: 27million downloads in 46 days.

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Wednesday May 14, 2014

Google Glass is again available for purchase—still at a price of $1500.

Coming real soon now in iOS 8: splite screen with two apps running at once.

It has only taken 20 years, but the Joint Tactical Radio System is about to go to the field. Your tax dollars at waste. This is the epitome of a failed government program that no one would kill.

The US manned spaced program depends on Russia. Economic sanctions? How about space program sanctions?

George R.R. Martin writes Game of Thrones on a DOS machine with Wordstar 4.0. I still have a CP/M machine that runs Wordstar (Kaypro). That machine has an excellent keyboard and display.

I don't know if there is basis for a lawsuit victory, but companies are more interested in hiring younger (less expensive) employees.

SanDisk ships self-encrypting solid state disc drives.

The Associated Press now wants articles at 500 words or less.

Sheryl Sandberg pledges to give away half her money. I wish she does this wisely.

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Thursday May 15, 2014

O'Reilly starts a new column on Artificial Intelligence.

Twitter will help fund a computer learning center for the poor in San Francisco. I trust they will first teach people how to read.

As a percentage, we have no more computer science students than we did in 1981.

More predictions that the $20 smartphone is coming later this year.

If you have 20-year-old CDs, they may not play.

Ah, hypocrisy in the major liberal media: the New York Times fires its exec editor after she learns that she was paid less than her male predecessor.

The world is safe: Flappy Bird returns to the app store.

But then again, today is the day that the FCC destroys net neutrality.

Taking a ride in a Google-driven car.

Autodesk announces its own 3D printer.

oooops, a security hole in an Australian government website reveals the private information of millions. Of course our own Health Care dot Gov is secure. This will never happen here (not).

There may be a breakthrough in batteries made of cotton.

This hoverbike actually works (for an hour). Coming soon as a rental to amusement parks and such.

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Friday May 16, 2014

SATA is out; PCIe is in.

Our FCC approves Internet fast lanes. This is a great example of the horrible state of our government.

A scientific look at Godzilla. I'm going to the movie today and plan to have a lot of fun.

How the Electronic Frontier Foundation rates companies at protecting user data.

Actual tests, no my-aunt-Sally arguments, shows that 99% of us don't need the gluten-free craze.

Gmail has most of your email even if you don't use Gmail.

OS X 10.9.3 is here.

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Saturday May 17, 2014

Apple and Google drop all patent lawsuits and agree to work for patent reform. Maybe they can convince the USPTO to not grant a patent for the use of lights in photograhphy.

Is this what the iPad Pro looks like?

A look at indoor farming. It has better lighting and uses much less water.

Good tips on getting things done #GTD.

Aging often brings families, and families require time. It is no wonder that older programmers stop learning new languages—they don't have the time.

Long live the world wide web.

Airbnb is expanding to more experiences. And the lawsuits against these sharing services will expand as well.

Cable TV prices have jumped far higher than inflation.

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Sunday May 18, 2014

Very cool—the Stork Stand turns a chair into a standing desk for you laptop computer, but at $200?

The acqui-hire may be coming to an end—killed by greed.

Perhaps regular folks won't want to have a self-driving car.

Once again, everything we thought we knew about fill-in-the-blank was wrong. New bones revamp everything we knew about dinosaurs. Funny how this seems to occur time and time again, and not just about dinosaurs.

"That's just politicians talking."—Richard Saul Wurman on the President's plans for data.gov.

One young woman's path into engineering. Good for her.

The lessons one group learned when working with Kickstarter.

Intel's efforts to be the processor in all those tablets.

How they made that Bentley commercial with "only" an iPhone and iPad.

Some tricks and techniques to help you start writing when you can't start writing.

The writer's need to form a cartel.

A good case is made for writing about questions that you cannot answer.

A good case is made for writing about what you don't know. If spurs research and learning.

I no longer have this concern, but writing with kids in the house is difficult and requires good judgement.

If earning money is your goal with writing, track these two items: (1) money earned this week and (2) amount worked this week.

Notes from Vincent van Gogh on doing the work.

If you can't write, here are five ways you can write.

Have fun, get ideas.

Every now and then I find one of these "replace this with that" posters for writers. Simple and excellent.

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