Summary of this week:

• CES is rolling and so are the product announcements
• Intel and AMD show an actual joint product of CPU and GPU
• Intel announces a leap in quantum computing
• SourceForge attempts to remake itself
• Software patches for Meltdown and Spectre cause more not fewer problems
• Bezos donates $33million to immigrant scholarships
• Folks in Hawaii were given a false alarm of incoming missiles

Monday January 8, 2018

CES is now. Here we go with product announcements.

Intel and AMD officially announce their first combination of Intel CPU and AMD Radeon graphics.

Nvidia shows a new SoC (system on a chip) for automotive AI, i.e., it has the power and smarts to handle high-level self-driving vehicles. This is a lot of power in a small physical package. What wonders have we wrought?

Nvidia teams with the usual PC display builders to create monster 65" computer displays for gaming. New acronym: BFGD Big Format Gaming Display.

Details are scarce, but Samsung claims the have a modular TV technology that allows us to scale our TV up and down to the size we wish.

Nvidia, in a puzzling move, is trying to ban use of some of its GPUs in data centers. No one is sure if this is even legal.

According to one index, C comes back to be the #2 programming language in the world. And no, my phone isn't ringing with companies asking me to come program in C for them.

Vuzix, who is that, to show Amazon-Alexa-powered glasses this week.

.....

Tuesday January 9, 2018

Thoughts on Facebook, political influence, and how to fix it. Funny, don't remember in American history how Congress wanted to "fix" the newspaper giants a century ago.

How to use another person's computer for your own computing needs. Yes it is simple and yes it works.

James Damore, yes, that guy who was an engineer at Google, is suing Google for political discrimination.

Qualcomm has a new bluetooth chip that will increase battery life on headphones and other bluetooth-tethered gadgets.

Intel boasts a leap forward in quantum computing.

Sony shows their entry into the oh-my-gosh $30,000 4K projector. Gotta' have for the living room, but I'll need a bigger living room.

SanDisk wows everyone with a tiny 1TeraByte USB-C memory stick. As this post says, it's another thing that is easy to lose.

How did they sneak this one in? Intel and MobileEye have technology in 2million cars on the American road that will be making high-definition maps. Will the car owners be paid? Nope.

In the realm of well, why not? Whirlpool has 20 appliances we can control with our Apple Watch.

A Microsoft update has turned AMD-based PCs into bricks.

..... Email me at d.phillips@computer.org 

Wednesday January 10, 2018

Dell integrates our cell phones into our laptops. Finally, why haven't we been doing this for years?

Kodak, remember them, jumps into cryptocurrency with Kodakcoin, “a photocentric cryptocurrency to empower photographers and agencies to take greater control in image rights management.”

The government of Iran removes much of Internet communication from its subjects, but the subjects find ways around it with different technology.

And everyone thinks we have the right to tell Jeff Bezos to do with all his money.

SourceForge attempts to remake itself and get back into the market it once dominated and lost to Git.

Never to be bound by schedules and promises...Tesla finally starts making solar roof tiles.

Matias makes keyboards for the Macs that actually use wires so we don't have to keep changing the battery to keep the bluetooth working.

Jack in the Box CEO candidly admits that rising minimum wages will reduce jobs and bring machines that take our orders. Everyone knows this, even those who push the wage laws. Kind of makes you wonder about their agenda.

..... Email me at d.phillips@computer.org 
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Thursday January 11, 2018

Little Internet viewing today.

All the tech CEOs sign up for easier immigration. Let's not be silly here. More people means larger labor force which means lower wages.

Self-driving taxis are coming to The Villages (world's largest retirement settlement in Florida).

Portable processing power has caught up with the needs of playing video games. The result are lots of affordable laptops for gaming.

..... Email me at d.phillips@computer.org 

Friday January 12, 2018

The Meltdown Saga: someone write a novel and do a TV series. Panic over a security hole never exploited leads to software updates that cause far bigger problems.

Finally, Apple really makes a mess with its OS and creates security holes a child could exploit. And Apple broke my iMac with their updates.

Big shakeup coming at IBM with tens of thousands to lose their jobs.

Facebook takes steps to emphasize social and push back media. Let it be for friends, not those who want to "report the news."

GM promises to have self-driving cars next year that have to steering wheels or pedals. Just sit and it goes.

Shocking News (not): YouTube will actually have people watch some videos before putting them online for mass viewing. People mind you!

Circuit City may return as an online store.

More water discovered on Mars. Wake me when they are making coffee with it.

..... Email me at d.phillips@computer.org 

Saturday January 13, 2018

Our supreme court may soon make online purchases into a revenue bonanza for state and local governments. And then our governors can waste all that money.

Jeff Bezos to give $33million to a scholarship fund for immigrants. Now we have to wait to determine if these persons are criminals or innocents. In this country, judges will decide in court. And $33million used to be a huge amount of money. Times have changed with the uber rich.

The world of Jeff Bezos—world's richest person. And silly question, but what did he do during the 70-years war to defeat communism?

Speaking of the uber rich...here is Eve Jobs, just your average Stanford student who rides horses on a $15million ranch...and that does make her an average Stanford student.

..... Email me at d.phillips@computer.org 

Sunday January 14, 2018

39million of us now own smart speakers. I hope we continue to develop this technology as it will do great things for the handicapped. The rest of us? Not so much, but we are oblivious to the good we do.

The end of the "experiment" that went horribly wrong to make Facebook a source of news.

The SIGINT wars come to the world of surveillance drones. Intercept, view, jam, insert false data, and so on. Let the games begin.

See this "robot" than does the tedious task of scanning what is left on the store shelves at the end of the day. And, oh yes, it will take the jobs of the persons who used to do that.

The Fasting Mimicking Diet. Another diet that tricks the body into "thinking" that reality is not as it is.

Microsoft's concept of the "always connected PC." I, along with many others, had this idea a decade ago. Why has it taken so long?

The "Yes, and..." technique for creating ideas for writer.

Personal Organization: most writers hate to discuss it, but if you don't know where you put what you wrote...did you write it?

“You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.”

Some general tips for writers for the new year.

How to use dictation instead of typing typing typing.

100 blogs for writers to read. Read some, but really folks, write, write, write.

"Writing a book doesn’t begin with writing. It begins with thinking."

Looking ahead for writers. Several predictors are talking about video, make a video, do video on your blog. Video Video Video (repeating myself to make myself think on this)

..... Email me at d.phillips@computer.org