Dwayne
Phillips' Day Book
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.
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Email me at d.phillips@computer.org
This week: 11-17 June,
2018
Summary of this week:
- Microsoft is pushing hard into the video game business
- The new net neutrality is upon us
- Seattle repeals its month-old job tax
- Microsoft gives Office a new easier-to-use look
- Microsoft building system to replace cashiers
- Apple closes a security hole used by law enforcement
Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday
- Thursday - Friday - Saturday
- Sunday
Monday 11 June 2018
In
Newark, New Jersey the city puts all its police webcams on the Internet
so all the citizenry can watch and call in with, "Hey, I just saw..." If
you see something, say something. And the ne'er-do-wells can see
what they can do without notice.
Microsoft
has purchased a handful of small video game makers to quickly boost its
ability to create new games.
Microsoft
wants to build some sort of universal game streaming service that we can
all use to play games on any device.
Elon
Must promises a new software download real soon now that will
significantly boost the Tesla self-driving mode.
No
surprise here: people frequently kick and mistreat the delivery robots
that scoot up and down the sidewalks. People love to kick machines and
punch walls and throw golf clubs and turn over tables and (gosh how long
can the list be?)...
Everybody
wants to jump into the electric scooter renting business. Why?
I
love Godin's short essay on leadership and the lack thereof at most car
dealerships.
The
Windows Red Team. IBM used to have such a team that struck fear into the
hearts of its programmers. Done well, this sort of thing improves the
quality of products and boosts the confidence of persons.
....
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me at d.phillips@computer.org
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Tuesday 12 June 2018
The
current administration's version of net neutrality is upon us replacing
the previous administration's version of net neutrality. Both versions
have their flaws.
A
researcher at Duke invented a super-duper camera. Then he moved to China
and sold it to the government their so they could watch their subjects
more closely.
Facebook
Sonar: an internally developed and used debugging and development tool
has now been released by Facebook to everyone as open-source software.
How
organizers in Brazil have used WhatsApp to empower previously
disorganized groups of persons in labor and political movements.
Uber Lite: an app
for less-powerful smartphones in countries with less bandwidth.
Citi
Bank may replace 10,000 people in the next five years with "robots."
Mostly this is software that will do what people do now.
An
in-depth look at HP's latest attempt to put everything into a portable
computer.
Time
marches on: Microsoft does it latest announcement of what products it
will stop supporting when. On the list are several products I still (am
forced to) use everyday at work.
History
rolls on: next year on this planet, people will spend more time online
than watching what we used to call "television."
Amazon
destroys returned products. What happened to re-use and re-cycle?
And
now we have Electronic Storage Detection (ESD) Dogs. Yes, some dogs can
smell electronic components.
We
can now read Facebook's answers to Congress...all those, "I'll get back
to you on that," things. Boring, poorly written, headache prone,
excellent government-intended documents.
.....
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me at d.phillips@computer.org
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Wednesday 13 June 2018
Seeing
through walls. Of course it isn't artificial intelligence; it is pattern
recognition techniques applied to weak signals, and it seems to work.
Headline
says it all: It’s 2018 and USB Type-C is still a mess.
Google
moves its better technology for language translation to the offline
platform.
A
Federal judge approves the AT&T-Time Warner deal. No trust problems.
Seattle's
government has a brief moment of sanity and rescinds last month's tax on
jobs. The jealous are still jealous and angry.
Google
improves its college-search capability.
Intel
confirms that it will have its own line of graphics processing units in
a year or two. No comment if these will be graphics for games or
graphics architecture for use in parallel programming in the cloud.
Reddit
creates its own video file format to woo advertisers.
Elon
Musk "promises" to lay off 9% of Tesla's workforce.
....
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me at d.phillips@computer.org
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Thursday 14 June 2018
A
must read: Jerry Weinberg on why living past 65 is such a good thing.
Apple
closed a security hole that law enforcement persons were using to hack
into captured iPhones.
Amazon
goes to "robots," a.k.a., software to eliminate humans who negotiated
product buys. Jobs? Who needs a job?
Microsoft
updates the look of MS Office and promises all of us that it will be
easier to use. This version will be in my home today...and at my office
sometime during the next decade.
Google
opens an AI research center in Ghana, west Africa.
More
government folly in the EU concerning the Internet. They are likely to
pass a regulation requiring websites to filter all content for
copyright. One—technically impossible. Two—just a bad idea.
The
government of China looks to automobiles for yet another way to watch
its subjects.
Microsoft,
among others, is working on systems that will eliminate cashiers and
other retail store employees. Jobs? Who needs a job?
Here
we go...portable computers with 128GigaBytes of RAM and 6TeraBytes of
disk storage.
Fake
noise to make electric cars sound like real cars. What have we done?
The
City of Chicago permits Elon Musk to build a rapid transit tunnel
between O'Hare and downtown.
Young
people are moving from one Facebook app to another for their news. The
control still resides with Zuckerburg.
The
standing desk is now declared to be for everyone at Apple. Sitting is
the new cancer. Let's see how long this lasts.
....
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me at d.phillips@computer.org
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Friday 15 June 2018
The
5G standard for cellular telephone is now complete. The actual systems
will be here real soon now.
Unsupervised
learning triumphs over the Rubik cube.
Google
releases its diversity numbers, which no one is supposed to collect or
uh er to collect or something. They aren't making any "progress."
News
about the intricate and uh er twisted relationship between Facebook and
researchers.
Amazon
is now shipping its DeepLens camera system aimed at developers of vision
applications.
While
investigating Hillary Clinton for using a personal email server for
official Dept of State business, James Comey used a personal gmail
account for office FBI business. You can't make up this stuff.
Apple
releases new Mac computer ads, but no updates to its aging line of Mac
computers.
The
University of Chicago has dropped all requirements for standardized
tests for applicants. The circle is complete. Standardized tests have
become a bonus for rich people and stopped being a measure of merit.
Facebook
is building a data center in Huntsville, Alabama.
....
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me at d.phillips@computer.org
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Saturday 16 June 2018
Theranos
revolutionized blood testing and was about to do the same for all
medical...well, uh, not exactly. Indictments this week for basic theft.
Jaguar
sets a nautical speed record with an all-electric boat.
The
Onion versus Facebook. Who knows who will win, but it will probably be
humorous.
In
the early 20th century, we were becoming smarter. Now we are going the
other way. Note, as a perfect example, this article where they misuse
"dumb."
....
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me at d.phillips@computer.org
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Sunday 17 June 2018
Watch
a Tesla scoot through a Boring Company tunnel. The innovation depends on
almost-no-emission electric transport to reduce the size and ventilation
requirements of the tunnels.
Facebook
and Google are leaning on Wikipedia for real news. Wikipedia wants a
little cash to help the cause. They deserve it.
Facebook
researchers have a technique for putting open eyes on a photo with
closed eyes. Clever.
Hacking
the word "hack." Some folks have a lot of time on their hands.
Another
perspective on writing and writers: we are always practicing—even when
we are paid.
Finding someone
to discuss your writing and their writing regularly. A friend who holds
you accountable is a good thing.
Advice
from Stephen King and a little more. Basic stuff. Consistent and
persistent.
Everyone
starts somewhere. Most of us make plenty of mistakes starting. Learn.
Unlock
new ways to write and writer better. Learn—that's all there is to it.
Learn and keep learning.
There
are pieces of software out there that will allow a writer to have more
time to write and less time to do everything else.
More
on the business of being a writer for your primary income.
....
Email
me at d.phillips@computer.org
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previous weeks
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