Items I happen to view each day. Science, Technology, Management, Culture, and Writing

    This is my day book for this week. It is a log of things I see on the Internet.

This week: 7-13 May, 2018

Summary of this week:

• The iMac turns 20
• Microsoft is having a low-key event this week with many announcements
• Many advances announced by Google
• Big advances in computer conversation and computer vision
• Department of Transportation starts the US Drone program
• Facebook's stock price recovers to pre-scandal level
• Nvidia has a record-breaking financial quarter

Monday 7 May 2018

Delving into the data science that Cambridge Analytica used. Nothing new here as the basis of the machine learning was formulated decades ago.

Robocalls! They were supposed to be outlawed, but they are flourishing. Isn't this fun to be disturbed by machines talking to you about your credit card bills? (not)

More stories about Stories and how they are coming to rule the world.

Beware the email from Nigeria. After all these years, they are MORE effective than ever.

Perhaps I should learn something about Fortnite as it is now the world's biggest online game thing-a-ma-thing.

The iMac desktop computer turns 20. Nice article on the evolution of it. My latest iMac is the best of all the line.

How to dress like a $ billionaire $...buy a grey T-shirt at Sears and act like it was custom made from Italy. Perhaps one day some of these teenagers masquerading as adults will grow up.

Programmers are fighting over a Community Code of Conduct. I remember when we fought over Coding Standards. Be nice to other persons? We are debating this? What happened to us?

"This is a new law of organizations, and it's not well understood."—Seth Godin (well said, as usual)

Tuesday 8 May 2018

Microsoft is have a low-key, big event this week, so lots of announcements from them.

Microsoft commits a few million $$$ a year to help the disabled with technology. A good gesture. A small amount for Microsoft.

Microsoft partners with GitHub in the area of lifecycle management tools.

Microsoft moves further into edge computing. I'm not sure what "edge computing" is, but I guess it means they know Windows is not the future.

Microsoft adds a little machine learning to its 365 suite.

Just in time...an article about edge computing.

Microsoft shows a "meeting room of the future." The trouble with these Disney "world of tomorrow" things is they are usually all wrong or tomorrow happens next week, not ten years in the future.

Here come the "watchdogs." Groups of folks who want to fix everyone else and they are finding lots of everyone elses to chide and fix these days.

Frisco, Texas now has a self-driving, ride-hailing (we used to call these taxis) service from Drive.ai. Of course it is a limited experiment, but it is a start.

Google reorganizes its research groups under one roof: Google AI.

People (me) are paying for Amazon Prime, but not watching Prime Video. Yes, there are thousands of videos on there, but you have to "rent" the ones you want.

Wednesday 9 May 2018

Google I/O is this week, so we have a bunch of announcements from Google.

A summary of Google I/O.

Google updates its machine learning hardware with the release of Tensor Processor Unit 3.0.

Google updates its Lens reverse search product. Point your phone at something and Lens tells you what it is.

Google unveils Duplex: an advancement in natural conversation with a computer system. A shame we can't hire polite competent persons so we have to simulate them with software.

More on Duplex and what it can do for us.

Google shows Smart Compose: it attempts to complete complete sentences for us. Nice if it works. Be careful of the suggestions.

Some persons with disabilities can communicate with Morse Code. Google adds that input mode to Gboard. Thank you Google.

And Google releases Android Jetpack to make Android development easier, faster, and so on.

Google Photos will be able to colorize old black and white photos. Coming real soon now.

Google Maps takes a big step up with showing us photos of where we are going.

This is a big one: the Chrome OS will now be able to run Linux software. The Chromebook becomes a Linux portable, sort of.

After 30+ years, Microsoft's ASCII text editor will finally understand the end-of-line characters from the real computing world.

Microsoft continues to push into the Linux world by partnering with RedHat to bring new features to Azure cloud.

Slack grows to 8million daily active users.

The current administration will meet with tech executives this week to discuss AI and jobs.

Facebook has a major shuffling of who is in charge of what. Zuckerburg long ago advanced beyond his competency, so the adults are finally being let in the door.

Thursday 10 May 2018

Amazon teams with home builder Lennar to demonstrate smart home products.

The government of San Francisco is driving out jobs by regulating delivery "robots." Then again, the area is over employed to the point where no one can afford to live there.

Our Department of Transportation is running the US Drone Program that is testing use of drones for delivery and other things.

The latest release of Android is running in Volvos. This is a break from the Android Auto version.

Crypto mining has slowed a bit. Hence, demand has dropped to supply in the market for Nvidia GPU cards and prices have returned to almost normal.

Google changes the look of Google Drive to match the new look of Gmail.

Biggest story of the day (for me): the reel-to-reel tape recorder for music is starting a comeback. Very small market and very high prices (minimum $11,000).

System76 takes a big step up with its latest Linux laptop that is thinner and more powerful and actually better than a MacBook Pro.

HP releases a powerful portable computer running on an AMD processor.

Need a server for serious deep learning? GIGABYTE has a new 4U, rack-mounted model with two GPUs and more cores than you can count (not really, but you get the idea).

Friday 11 May 2018

Why is it that what we teach is ten years behind what people want to learn?

Nvidia has a record-setting financial quarter. All those games and crypto miners and cloud computers and...

Congress releases Russian ads. Someone took money to put these online. Much silliness and such.

Boston Dynamics shows a four-legged robot walking around an office. It is still awfully loud and doesn't do anything of use.

Strong rumors that Google will release a smart watch this year.

Citing local delays of three years, Apple cancels a $1Billion data center in Ireland. I find it fascinating how people chase money away from their communities.

Carnegie Mellon announces an undergraduate degree in Artificial Intelligence. Many of us have waited 30+ years for this. I trust they will actually teach more than supervised learning and the latest other fads.

Amazon is pushing its Alexa into health care. There are many things it can do for the elderly and others.

Facebook's stock price has completely recovered the losses from the Cambridge Analytica flap. Yes, much ado about nothing.

The Chinese are becoming accustomed to a degree of affluence and no longer want to work 9AM to 9 PM six days a week.

Saturday 12 May 2018

This is pretty good, with some caution as with most things. A framework for how a programmer changes and "grows" during a "career." Again, use cautiously, but something to consider.

Some actual data from an actual study of working from home versus commuting to the office. A conclusion is to have persons work from home about half the time. Good information in a well-done piece.

SpaceX will probably launch more rockets this year than any nation on earth. The non-national corporation is here to rule the next world.

Changes to your desk or cubicle that can improve work. Do you want to be more productive? Be more productive. Sounds simple, but that eludes most persons.

We have stopped naming our babies Alexa. Thank Amazon. Way to go (not). No one named their baby Siri, so we didn't lose anything there.

A bricklaying robot. This is impressive, that is, as long as you are not a bricklayer who likes your job.

This story is all over the Internet, so it must be important: Next year, we will be able to buy one of Boston Dynamics' (incredibly expensive) robot dogs.

Cruise round the world in 245 days at about $400 a day per person. Far too expensive. They should have this for $100 a day per person.

Sunday 13 May 2018

The tale of Microsoft and Skype and grumpy users who cherish their memories.

In Afghanistan, teaching women to program gives them a life. Long overdue. Where were the feminists all these years?

OPT—Optional Practical Training for STEM students—a way that tech companies can run around H-1B visa limits, increase their labor pool, and keep wages down.

The cost of living in the bay area is prohibitive. Hence, companies are looking to other places. It is unfortunate that they are looking to other already over-crowded cities and repeating their prior mistakes.

Paper or Plastic or reusable Cotton bags? The total cost of ownership to the planet is not simple. The answers are not what we want to read.

How Apple has let the MacMini fall behind Intel's NUC. I have an NUC. It has fundamental problems, but it works as a Windows 10 machine for the grandkids when they visit.

If your goal from writing is to make money, read this post. It discusses making money, and that includes a lot of things that are not writing.

"One of the reasons I left the corporate world was to change my life in a physical way, to be more healthy, hoping to add years onto my lifespan by removing bad stress and living a life I really wanted." And then once a book was written, you learned that you had to work harder, less healthy, and more stressful. We have to be honest with what we want to do, why we want to do it, and how we can move to that place.

Random thoughts about artists and writers and such. Just do it. If the goal is to just do it, you succeed.

Do it again. We will probably do it better the second time.

It is actually easier to earn money writing in an economic downturn. People desire to be entertained.

Not perfect. Accept it. Move on.

Which details to you write and which do you not? It isn't easy.

Angst, anxiety...all those an- words and writing.

Trying to find a place that will pay us well for writing.

Write anytime you can. Don't fall from the habit.

The question of reading while writing is a good one. Does what you read influence—too much—your writing?

Positive thinking, growth mindset, and writing. This can all be quite discouraging. Those who "succeed" in whatever form that may be, want to keep trying.