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 June 2-8, 2014
Summary of this week:
- Samsung releases its first Tizen-based smartphone
- Apple's big event is about OS X and iOS
- No iWatch, no new computers from Apple (yet)
- MS Office coming to Android before Windows 8
- Tiananmen Square 25th anniversary and censorship
Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
Monday June 2, 2014
HP announces a 14" touchscreen laptop that will run Android—not Windows. And HP revises their 11" Chromebook calling it the Chromebook PC.
Google will spend $1billion on satellites to bring Internet to unserved areas. I hope some of this will help rural Americans.
Apple's WWDC, this week, is about developers and goes back to 1986.
Interesting debate on the increased safety from bicycle helmets. Why don't pedestrians wear helmets as they are involved in more accidents?
The Samsung Galaxy W: a smartphone with a 7" display. Why not? I still don't understand why laptops don't come with a cell phone built in.
Samsung releases its first Tizen-based smartphone.
The ASUS ZenBook: a very MacBook Pro-like machine.
People are applying video image stabilization techniques to reverse engineer TV and movies. The results are funny. The results also show how much imagination directors and actors need to make these action-packed shows.
An amazing story of how some people made contact with a dormant NASA space probe. It is also an amazing story of how pathetic America's space program has become.
This is odd, but I guess it shows how some organizations lose their way: Pizza Hut is now focusing on taste in its food.
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Tuesday June 3, 2014
Apple held a big event yesterday. It was about improvements in software in OS X and iOS. Some nice additions.
This post summarizes all the announcements.
but More people are talking about what Apple didn't introduce.
While Samsung is on its second-generation watch, Apple still doesn't have one.
But Apple seems to understand that it is in a battle with Google in the mobile phone space: iOS vs Android.
Tim Cook couldn't resist, so he made fun of Microsoft.
And he made fun of Android.
Apple introduced a new programming language: Swift. A more apt description is a new programming environment for iOS.
A closer look at Swift.
Seattle passes a $15/hour minimum wage. Let's see if the jobs flee the city.
A list of jobs you can do from home, if you are fortunate enough to find someone to pay you to do them.
We'll have to wait to next year for Microsoft to bring back an old feature we liked—the Start menu.
Several big social networks encourage people to prottect themselves from the NSA.
The FCC wants comments on net neutrality, but its web server cannot handle the load. Your tax dollars at waste.
Intel shows a laptop computer with a new Broadwell processor that is thinner than the iPad Air.
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Wednesday June 4, 2014
Google increases the amount of content available to Chromecast.
Android will have Microsoft Office before Windows 8. Microsoft is catching on as the new money is in mobile.
Google makes it easier to encrypt your emails.
Intel shows a super-thin tablet that uses its newest processors.
A look at Intel's "Core M" processors that make this possible.
The smartphones have killed the mobile game device.
It has been all over the Internet that the NSA is collecting millions of face photos. Now the NSA director tells us that the NSA lawyers have stated that the program is all legal and such.
ooops, one of Google's Internet broadcasting balloons has hit a powerline in Washington.
ASUS shows a 14" touchscreen monitor that runs on USB.
Samsung shows a television that runs on Tizen.
HP has made what appears to be a clone of the Surface Pro 3. I hope they have better success selling these than Microsoft.
If you want a job this year, know something, or a lot of somethings, about cloud computing.
Instagram is improving its easy-to-use filters and may soon entice real photographers.
The government of Turkey has turned benevolent and turned YouTube back on.
A simple hack provides a way to disable any Google Glass in the room.
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Thursday June 5, 2014
Apple's new programming language, Swift, has been in work for four years.
Coca-Cola helps to build a drink cooler that works with any electricity. This is significant not for soft drinks but for storing medicines and other life-preserving items.
Since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, Apple has had 57 men and 1 women on stage at WWDC.
Amazon will introduce their smartphone on June 18. It is supposed to have multiple cameras tracking your face so they can alter the display to give it a more 3D look.
Ah,
pushing back the frontiers of ignorance in America's schools: 24 middle
school students suspended for comments on school dress code. Some said things like, "I'm in." oooh, aaaah, snotty kids (not).
Many US cities have fiber optic lines in place for broadband, but politics has kept the fibers dark.
China
is blocking all mention of Tiananmen sqaure online. I am saddened that
American companies are participating in the censorship.
Intel is showing prototypes of no power chords in all devices. I hope that all this wireless power supplying is safe for people.
The pocket television is here, except we call it a smartphone.
One of those artificial sweeteners kills fruit flies—Truvia.
Video streaming service revenue will be greater than the box office by 2017. But what about the popcorn and the guy in front of you who talks all the time?
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Friday June 6, 2014
Today is a busy day filled with time spent with fine people. So, a little less Internet viewing this morning.
Netflix has been telling its customers that video problems are due to Verizon, and Verizon wants that to stop.
A tweak to iOS Safari will eliminate typing your credit card information.
Chromebook users can now watch movies offline.
Google's Chrome is now the most-used browser, beating Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
McDonald's opens an office in San Francisco hoping to attract tech talent.
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at
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Saturday June 7, 2014
Out of town for the weekend with no Internet access.
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Sunday June 8, 2014
Vary the length of sentences when writing. It helps prevent the story from being one thing after another.
A few literary terms. There are times when it helps to have a word for what you are doing.
How a writer can earn a little money with social media services.
A look at Inkshares: sort of a mix of crowdfunding and self publishing and all that.
Need a new story idea? Take a classic and rewrite it. The Bible is full of wonderful stories.
Overcoming too little time and energy, too much fear, and no process for writing.
A look at the four pillars of a novel.
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