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 September 15-21, 2014

Summary of this week:

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

Monday September 15, 2014

A look at YouTube star 18-year-old Jenn McAllister. Yes, welcome to the new world.

Android One: Google's attempt to make an OS and smartphones for the other five billion people. More on the Android One $100 smartphone.

Apple's presentation of their watch wasn't good. Apple may struggle here in that, you know, they made a computer watch. We go back to the Dick Tracy radio wrist watch. The gee wiz gadget watch is an old concept. No one was surprised by it like we were with the iPhone and the iPad. It's just another gadget watch.

Here are a few glimpses of Microsoft Windows 9.

India's mission to Mars will reach the red planet within the month. NASA? Who?

How to use Google Alerts to search for jobs.

In India, you can download YouTube videos and rewatch them.

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Tuesday September 16, 2014

People are still talking about Google's Android One launch in India.

Four million iPhone 6 units were ordered in the first 24 hours. That is a large number.

Ah, the Internet of Things: programmer shows how to hack into a WiFi printer and do just about anything.

And someone has learned how to hack your entire Amazon account through a Kindle.

Google is testing solar-powered drones to provide Internet service to remote areas.

Welcome to the FBI's  Next Generation Identification system: they have your face on file.

This video is getting a lot of play online: MIT's cheetah robot running about untethered.

The FCC has received three million comments on net neutrality. Okay, now what?

A look at some of the ghosts of the Soviet empire.

Fascinating photos of the day before buried communication cables. Cables everywhere in the sky.

Ooohs and aaahs as Leica introduces new compact digital cameras.

Roku has now sold 10million of its little video streaming gadgets in the US. That is a large number.

Qualcomm has acquired Euvision Technologies, a specialist in image recognition applications powered by artificial intelligence.

Panasonic shows the world's best camera-phone combination.

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Wednesday September 17, 2014

Boeing and SpaceX win big contracts with NASA to do something that we did 50 years ago.

Looking at the iPhone 6 in depth.

A recent study shows that 3D movies don't affect the audience any more than 2D movies. Hurray. Maybe  the most recent 3D fad will go away.

Microsoft will layoff 5,000 people this week.

And Microsoft is doing well financially. Employment? Who needs that?

Want to earn more money? Learn how to program in the Common Business Oriented Language, a.k.a., COBOL.

Even the Government Accounting Office admits that Health Care dot Gov is not secure. I am surprised that they are admitting what everyone already knows.

How to turn your iPad into virtual reality goggles. Yes, you will look uh, er, let's say "stupid."

A big security hole is found in the Android Browser.

A proposed gondola in NYC to relieve congestion. Of course they won't build it, but they should.

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Thursday September 18, 2014

Ford is bring Siri speech recognition to the car. Will it be illegal to talk to your car as it is now illegal to talk on the phone?

This 3D printer is not held in a cage that limits the size of objects printer. It roams about the room on wheels.

Amazon introduces some new tablets and Kindle readers. Here are the Kindle Readers. Here are the new Amazon tablets, small and inexpensive, as low as $99. And here is Amazon's tablet for kids that includes "if they break it, we replace it."

Tim Cook slams Google for treating its customers as products, not as customers.

Using an old DC-10 airliner to fight fires. Great video.

How the Internet is killing businesses. See, for example, that the music industry income is half of what it was in 2000.

Apple's iOS 8 is available today.

And DO NOT upgrade to iCloud Drive on iOS 8 until OS X 10.10 is out later this year.

Uber and Lyft are killing business for San Francisco taxis. I feel for the taxi drivers as they are burdened by regulations that Uber and Lyft have been able to ignore.

Larry Page wants a Google 2.0 that become a real technology company.

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Friday September 19, 2014

Scotland votes to stay in the UK. I think the world dodged a bullet here.

Some previews of Microsoft Office's coming release.

More details on this week's Microsoft layoffs: 2,100 people out this week.

Nvidia introduces two new graphics cards that are, of course, much better than their older cards.

The iPhone 6 went on sale at stores today with long lines that were predictable and predicted.

ooops the iCloud drive is available to Windows machines but not to OS X machines.

Larry Ellison steps down as CEO of Oracle.

More details on the debacle that was and still is Health Care dot Gov.

Many Silicon Valley companies use freelance, by-the-hour (non) employees. When the labor regulators catch up with them, it will be all over. Watch out Uber, Lyft, HomeJoy, etc.

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Saturday September 20, 2014

People have already disassembled the iPhone 6.

iOS 8 has scared iPhone users into thinking their photos are all gone.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is making the processor for the iPhone 6, not Samsug.

Ars Technica does a detailed review of iOS 8.

The good, time-honored form of hacking: you can run Android apps on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

The concept of "emerging adulthood" caused mostly by a horrible economy for the past presidential term.

Gingham, gingham, ginham—style, style, style.

Sexual assault in the NFL? Forget about it. Sexual assault in scientific fieldwork is rampant.

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Sunday September 21, 2014

 A documentary about iPhone 6 buyers and sellers in NYC. There is an industry in buying the iPhone and selling it immediately to someone who then ships it to China to sell again. In some circles this is illegal.

An explanation of how Apple uses its cash to manufacture things like no one else can.

A look at London's tech boom.

Go to the library instead of the coffee shop. Many successful writers wrote their works in the corners of libraries.

Burned badly in the last decade, tech companies are making it more difficult for governments to eavesdrop on citizens. The result will be more taxes and more spending by government. That is always the result when persons working for the government misbehave. An alternative is to punish instead of reward the misbehavers.

On writing a series instead of a single piece.

Good thoughts from Walt Disney.

The utility and art of free writing.

Tips for creating a writer's landing page.

Rejection may help you improve as a writer.

It is supposed to be hard.

When staring at the blank screen...a few tips.

You may not NEED a blog as a freelance writer.

Things you never say to a writer or things that really, really hurt  writer's feelings.

Something different: a prayer for freelance writers. I like it.

How one writer worked with back pain and eventually ended it. This is a common malady among writers and others who sit and sit and sit...

Writing, rejection, and that magic something that allows most of us to keep writing anyways. Maybe that magic something is simply we are too numb or too unobservant to know that no one else wants to read anything we write.

A few tips to help eliminate those unnecessary words.

A writing residency at a resort in Palm Springs. Yes, some people are actually chosen for these things. I don't think JK Rowling was ever there and she did okay.

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