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: 6-12 March, 2017

Summary of this week:

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

Monday March 6, 2017

Microsoft discusses its coming Game Mode for Windows 10.

Our world—welcome to it. Big news: Facebook is testing a thumbs-down button. Really?

Our Government Motors has sold its European division. Our tax dollars at waste.

We live in the age of over-reaction. Now liberals are buying guns and building fallout shelters.

There is some resurgence in paid subscriptions for news. The reason is people hate ads on the browser.

Hollywood and entertainment: the rich are getting really rich, while everyone else starves.

The Litebook: at $250 Linux laptop. Sounds great to me. Here is their website.

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Tuesday March 7, 2017

Facebook Live: a tale of locking workers in the building and other silly stuff.

The ups and down of stock prices. Snap's price is now below its IPO opening.

Google Translate expands to Russian, Hindi and Vietnamese.

The "wow" factor returns to the desktop computer in the form of the all-in-one.

The Nintendo Switch is breaking sales records in America. These things were outdated, right?

One person's search for a job teaches much about the mess that companies have trying to hire persons.

Peer pressure is pushing programmers to leave Uber.

Amazon Web Services buys media design experts Thinkbox Software.

IBM partners with Salesforce to combine their AI expertise.

When government organizations collide, the public loses. UC Berkely and the US Department of Justice bungle this one.

They look like rubbermaid tubs with wheels, but they are the first delivery robots.

Wind power catches up with hydroelectric power. That isn't difficult given hydro power has been regulated out of business.

The silly hyperbole that has become artificial intelligence. This phase will pass as others have.

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Wednesday March 8, 2017

Facebook has its struggles in the UK with "sexualized" content.

Wikileaks, Vault 7, the CIA, hacking and all. This is the big news of the day. No comment from me.

Kaggle hosts data science and machine learning competitions. Google just bought it. Silly names, big money.

I disagree, the iPhone is a luxury and health care is  more important. Buy the phone after you take care of your health.

Harvard shows that they sell degrees, too. They give Zuckerburg an honorary degree.

Tinder Select: only for the attractive and famous and rich and so on.

Evan Spiegel should be in there. He just got a $800million bonus from Snap.

China's ZTE pleads guilty and pays $1.2billion fine to the US government. Do I get a tax rebate?

GoPro's financial troubles hit a new low. A great shame for a company with a great product.

HP Enterprise buys Nimble Storage for $1billion.

Firefox version 52 is released.

Dell continues to package high-end laptop hardware with Linux installed.

Hughes network systems now offers actual broadband speeds on Internet satellite.

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Thursday March 9, 2017

Facebook refreshes all its servers and publishes the details on the Open Computer Project.

Microsoft announces it will use ARM server processors in its Azure cloud data centers.

Facebook 360: all around images and videos and all that for "virtual reality" on Facebook. This isn't virtual reality, but hey, the marketing folks like the sound of it.

Google releases a Video Intelligence API that recognizes objects in videos and searches for them.

"The alternative is an organization based on inquiry. Do what's right and ask useful questions."—Seth Godin

Uber pledges to stop avoiding law enforcement as it has done since its inception.

Android is about to become the #1 OS in the world and #1 path to the Internet. Google cashes in.

A firm grasp on the obvious from the CIA leaks this week: the Internet is full of shoddy products.

Another view of the same story: our government knows that products have holes in them. Should our government tell the manufacturers?

The Gang of Five and the health of the tech industry. Microsoft Apple Google Facebook Amazon

Teslas powers the island of Kauai with solar farms and batteries. Aha! There are circumstances where this works. And there are circumstances where it doesn't.

Time Warner launches a streaming service of classic cartoons.

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Friday March 10, 2017

Facebook releases Messenger Day. I don't know what this is supposed to do that you can't already do a dozen different ways on Facebook and a dozen other social network sites. Sometimes I wonder what these guys are doing with all the money they have.

Google, to keep up with Apple, gains approval to build its own unique massive headquarters. We shall see if these building projects spell the end of these companies.

Google continues to update Drive with enhancements aimed at businesses.

Got $5,999? You can get the Google JamBoard and have cool meetings.

Ars Technica takes a closer look at Nvidia's latest GPU board for a PC.

Amazon may step into music festival and provide free services to improve the experience.

Don't try this at home. You can't, because your home isn't a thousand feet high.

ooops, researchers find a hole in a WiFi camera made in China and branded by lots of companies. 200,000 products at risk.

Guess what? If you learn and practice proven memory techniques, your memory will improve.

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Saturday March 11, 2017

Go out in space, be close to things, who knows how they really appear. These are actual photos, drawings.

Another horrible incident. What has happened to how we train law enforcement officers in this country?

Detailed view of AMD's new processors for servers.

Pardon the language in this, but it is an informed post on the silliness of current password rules.

What are fast radio bursts? Do they power alien spaceships and other things?

Google creates an always free tier in its Cloud Compute services.

Google has a big chance to gain on Amazon and Microsoft in cloud services: its engineers work more closely with your engineers.

Survey says: Americans don't want to share the road with self-driving cars.

Just to show how little we know about man-made objects on our planet let alone our natural planet, we just found a huge statue a famous Egyptian ruler.

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Sunday March 12, 2017

I love this XKCD comic about how we have planted listening devices in our homes.

The collaboration between Google and Levi's will bring us a smart denim jacket this spring.

People who are open, empathetic, optimistic, flexible, generous, warm, connected, creative and interesting seem to have a much easier time. They're more able to accomplish their goals, influence others and most of all, hang out with the people they'd like to be with.The best part is that this is a skill, something we can work on if we care enough.—Seth Godin

One writer's great experience at a writing retreat. If you can afford it, go to one. Learn how to retreat at home without spending much money.

Helping writers MAKE the time to write in a busy life.

Some tips on writing memoir.

Be patient as a writer. You may become famous a generation after your death.

Fascinating post about how one writer did earn plenty enough to pay income tax.

Tax deductions for freelance writers. Tip: most freelance writers don't earn enough money to pay income tax.

I like this: be ornery and keep writing.

Clarity in writing and communication. Good ideas here.

How one writer changed her habits with the help of an acountable partner.

As a writer, your energy drops. Why? Maybe it is what you eat or when you sleep. Maybe it isn't creative inspiration or something more esoteric.

Great piece: you don't have to finish every piece you start. You don't have to throw them away, either. You can put them away, for now.

Writing fiction can create worlds for the writer. No one else can do this for themselves.

Success in writing? If you are writing, you are successfully doing many things that few people can do and actually do.

Writing can become a responsibility. With ability comes responsibility? Some think so.

Writing can change the world. Let's not be too ambitious. A little at a time will suffice.

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