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: January 19-25, 2015

Summary of this week:

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

Monday January 19, 2015

oooops, NASA is not so sure that 2014 was the hottest year ever after all.

Today is a holiday, formerlly Lee-Jackson-King Day in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Self-driving cars are no longer "ten years away." The number is now probably five.

American immigration policies are driving the talented and educated to Canada. I guess I'm stupid and don't understand the complexities of the situation. How about this thought: welcome the talented and educated to your country–the end.

This video shows how drones with cameras will drastically change news reporting. Also note that with drones being inexpensive, the (slightly above) average person can capture such video and post it anywhere anytime in the world.

A look into the philosophy of Uber: reduce personal wealth, reduce standards of living. Destroy the auto industry.

Seth Godin advocates a type of customer service that wins customers, but sadly we may never see.

Running Linux on Apple Mac hardware. It has always worked well.

It seems that 1% of the world will own 51% of the world in 2016. There are precedents for this. What happened before will happen again.

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Tuesday January 20, 2015

A twist on co-working and vacations and digital nomads. Sounds like fun. This is not a new idea: go away somewhere where no one will be bothering you. Instead of resting, you work all the time. Do this in a nice location (equator in the winter, pole in the summer).

Soon in Chrome OS: move data from external disks to Google's drive in the cloud.

Amazon will be producing movies for showing in actual movie theaters.

The history and future of the wristwatch on the eve of the Apple watch.

A Mexican village builds its own cell phone system.

The government of China hacks into the accounts of Microsoft Outlook used by its subjects.

Uber claims revenue in San Francisco that is triple all local taxi companies combined.

Tim Ferriss writes about his use of a journal. I recommend the practie of writing in a journal to everyone.

Moog is bringing back some of its very large synthesizers from the 1970s.

Here are 2014's most-used passwords.

YouTube will have its own Super Bowl halftime show. Good for them. More entertainment outlets should do this so we don't have to watch the silliness that has become halftime.

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Wednesday January 21, 2015

This story is all over the Internet, so it must be important. Google invests $1billion in SpaceX.

Here we go: fly around the world in a solar-powered airplane in five months. This is a good demonstration, but that is all. Perhaps something good and lasting and practical will come of it.

Will the Internet of Things ruin our lives?

The Technology Imperative: you must buy X because it is new. We don't have to follow the imperative.

Betty White did not die, but Facebook carried the news. Facebook now claims that it will stop phoney news stories.

Netflix has a good financial quarter.

IBM's financial quarter wasn't great, but profitable.

The Librem: a laptop made using only open-source software.

And now we have a PC housed in a mouse. I like the idea.

A new study shows ... students who take notes by hand learn more than those who type in class.

NBC will show this year's Super Bowl live and free on the Internet.

Boston Dynamics' biped, walking robot now carries its own power source.

Microsoft buys Equivio—a text analytics company.

HP shows new tablets including a giant 12" model. More on the 12" model here.

Khan Academy makes all its videos available to the iPad.

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Thursday January 22, 2015

Microsoft reveals more about what is coming with Windows 10.

Microsoft shows Spartan, its new browser that replace Internet Explorer.

Microsoft shows the Surface Hub—a wall mounted, all-in-one PC. The post says its has an 84" screen, but the photos show something much small than than, more in the range of 50".

Windows 7 and 8 users will be able to upgrade to Win 10 F R E E.

A look at Microsoft's HoloLens.

It seems that Disney has broken away from George Lucas' storyline in the next Star Wars movies.

Failure rates of hard disk drives reflect badly on Seagate—much better for HGST and Western Digital.

Has Apple become the predictable, boring company now?

The illegal drug industry is now using drones to carry drugs across the US-Mexican border.

Google is trying to move into the cell phone carrier business. The key to understanding Google is that it wants more people to go to the Internet. They believe they can show the world how to better run the cell phone business. What others learn from the Google experiment will make it easier for people to go to the Internet from the cell phones.

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Friday January 23, 2015

Microsoft is working on a winter scarf that will heat and vibrate on smartphone command. Sounds silly, but it it a wearable computer designed to make you feel better rather than measure your heart rate. This is an excellent idea for the elderly.

It must be food to be Apple's retail chief: annual salary is $73million.

The King of Saudi Arabia has died at 91. World oil prices jump in anticipation of instability.

Dish Network was found guilty of violating the Do No Call law 57million times.  And all America can discuss are under-inflated footballs.

Auto makers are faking the sound of the engines in their higher priced cars.

Uber drivers earn more per hour than taxi drivers, but drive far fewer hours. It is a ride-sharing service, not a full-time job!

More and more people are using in-flight WiFi. Hence, it is now slower and more expensive. That is the marketplace doing what the marketplace does.

Non-native language tweets are now being translated by Bing on Twitter.

The Gates Foundation annual letter is out. They look to the smartphone to transform the world. They don't seem to understand the difference between citizens and subjects. Citizens live in places where the government does not infringe on rights given by the Creator. Subjects live in places where the government decides what they can and cannot do. There is no such thing as "global citizens."

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Saturday January 24, 2015

I agree with Eric Schmidt in that the Internet will disappear just as the Interstate Highway System for national defense disappeared. Its just there, and no on will mention it.

Microsoft shows Office 2016.

There is a Windows 10 download ready for those in the Windows Insider program.

Google Fiber's next spot will be North Carolina. How about Reston, Virginia?

The problem of Facebook at work and Facebook for work.

NVIDIA introduces a lower-cost, but still high-performance video card.

Leatherman shows a watch band that is a collection of tools. Great stuff.

SkyMall—that catalog you read on airplanes—is going into bankruptcy.

Google reveals security problems in OS X before Apple is ready to fix them.

It seems that Health Care dot Gov was passing personal information to advertisers. But they told us that none of this would happen?

Amazon runs a special Prime membership of only $72 instead of $99.

NASA—cannot put a person in space—is testing a drone for scouting Mars. Your tax dollars at waste.

Obama wants to talk climate change; India wants to talk H-1B visas. I guess the realists meet the dreamer.

Seth Godin on if you are creating a culture that rewards tantrums or thought.

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Sunday January 25, 2015

A look at the best laptop computers you can buy. Stop and look. These are impressive and show how far the industry has moved.

NASA's Opportunity rover has been inching along on Mars for 11 years.

Our FCC wants to change the definition of "broadband" so that providers will have to up their speeds. Sounds nice for the consumers until we see higher bills. More speed means more expense for the providers, and the providers will pass along the cost.

This is an excellent post on doing the work of a writer, a.k.a., sit in chair, hands on keyboard. And throw in a lot of reading and rejections as well.

A list of good writing blogs.

How story writers can write for businesses and decent pay.

Thoughts in favor of outlining your novel before writing.

The art of writing around the distractions of life.

What noise do you prefer while writing?

A few companies that hire writers to work from home.

Here is one of those "ten steps" to improve posts. This one is pretty good. The advice is basic, but that is what we have to do: do the basics over and over everyday.

How one freelance writer outsources daily chores so she can devote more time to her business. This is a simple calculation: can you make more than $12 in 90 minutes? If "yes," pay someone to do your grocery shopping.

Elements of good short stories.

Providing feedback to writers with candor.

Excellent advice on brevity.

If you have little to do on this holiday (MLK), look up these 100 websites for writers.

Now and then, stop writing and go for a long walk to strengthen your body.

Some ideas about sanity and using the Internet instead of the other way around.

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