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: 1-7 July, 2019

Summary of this week:

• The Sony Walkman, and portable stereo music, turns 40
• Deepfakes are illegal in Virginia
• Microsoft swings to Linux in Azure
• Federal Judge: Amazon is liable for the products it sells
• Electronics companies are pulling production from China
• Happy Birthday America, where we are full citizens, not subjects
• Earthquake in California

Monday 1 July 2019

Life after staff work at the White House: become rich and famous.

Remote sensing and how archeology has changed completely. Technology to see what you cannot touch.

How elected politicians use technology to ensure they remain in office and challengers lose every time. The concept isn't new as it is as old as time. What is new is how computing and algorithms make it easy and inexpensive.

Our Army is testing pocket-size drones in combat. If it were your child dodging bullets, you'd be all in favor of it, too.

We always wanted to make cars quieter, now we want to make them noisier.

The birth of the takeout only restaurants. Wait, we've had these for decades, right? UberEats et al change the marketplace.

Is it fake news, disinformation, or just a joke? Well America, can we tell the difference, i.e., are we adults here?

Tuesday 2 July 2019

The Commonwealth of Virginia makes deepfakes etc. a small crime.

Tim Cook retorts that squables at Apple and Jony Ive's departure are just guys trying to sell newspapers with flashy headlines.

Loon—those balloons that will deliver broadband service—are just about ready to work in Kenya.

The Sony Walkman turns 40. I had one of the first (still in the closet somewhere). They changed everything. Your iPhonic-Androidal music comes from the Walkman's great grandchild.

Sarin—very deadly stuff—was found in the Facebook mail room.

Trouble on the border...we—we are all in this—have done something terribly wrong with how we hire, train, and retain law enforcement persons in this country. Everyone has a supervisor. Where are they? Why aren't they supervising?

Most of Microsoft's Azure cloudy computers run Linux. Microsoft has come full circle, and it is working.

Wednesday 3 July 2019

Thursday 4 July 2019

If you have enough money...you can convert a class VW van electric van. Then the real expenses start.

The conservatives strike back at west coast social media companies...coming next week at the White House. We vote with our dollars and we vote with our votes and sometimes the two don't quite agree.

A coalition of older retails is ganging up against Amazon and Google.

Juxtapose this letter from Congress with the preamble to the Declaration of Independence (see earlier post). Either the gene pool is hopelessly diluted or we need more persons who know how things work in Congress or something.

Major electronics and consumer companies are moving production out of China. How will the Chinese people react to the Chinese government?

So far at least, Walmart is losing lots of money in e-commerce.

One of our Federal judges rules that Amazon can be held liable for products it sells, even though it doesn't make them or have anything to do with them.

Friday 5 July 2019

One of the lesser admirable 4th of July traditions is starting fires with illegal fireworks in California.

The facial recognition software used by the UK's Metropolitan Police is wrong 81% of the time. But it's version 1.0. pour in more money, and it will improve, and we aren't sure that is what we want.

Strong rumors that Apple will completely replace the technology used in the keyboards on its portable computers real soon now.

Microsoft updates the look of its Outlook web application. Why is everyone excited about "dark mode?" The ability to change colors has always been there.

Real news that isn't news: European governments hunt for ways to exact taxes from successful American companies.

A strong earthquake hit California, but not a major population area.

Saturday 6 July 2019

Sunday 7 July 2019

"I don't buy Amazon, I buy somewhere else." Are we sure? Here is a list of several dozen apparel companies that are actually Amazon.

Storing data on molecules. No, this isn't "The Outer Limits," it is reality.

This is worth reviewing: Google search tips. There are many more useful things available.

Facebook creates an international oversight board for censorship decisions. We have reached the age of the plutocratic rule of the planet. The nation state has lost its edge.

An in-depth review of Nvidia's newest, mid-range graphics products.

I guess folks need jobs, but why are they spending my tax money on such silly projects as this one. "Scientists," and I have to use the term loosely for such folly, are trying to measure the carbon emitted when permafrost melts, which means it isn't permanently frozen. So, we combine folly with illiteracy.

Some thoughts on what it means to have your writing on the shelves of the public library.

Where do you write best? Learn that for yourself and about yourself, and then do it.

One successful writer's ideas for writing faster.

This good, practical tips for writing faster. Buy a better keyboard. Practice typing so you can type faster. Physically warm up your hands. Good stuff.

Procrastinate or write?