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: 14-20 February, 2022

Summary of this week:

• The Los Angeles Rams win the Super Bowl
• Microsoft announces return to the office on 28 February
• Meta Facebook has new slogans, values, names, etc.
• And we are still waiting for Russia to invade Ukraine

Monday 14 February 2022

This is Valentine's Day.

The Los Angeles Rams win the Super Bowl. This is the first NFL championship for a team playing in Los Angeles.

IBM and age discrimination. Someone actually said "dinobabies." It happens all the time.

Everyone is certain Russia will invade Ukraine. Perhaps this is another instance of "everyone" being wrong.

I love this story of a couple of young men who use natural gas pockets in Texas to power cryptocurrency mining instead of just burning it or flaring.

Microsoft is working with the North Carolina Dept. of Public Instruction to teach computer science via Minecraft.

One writer's experience with writing everyday 30 days in a row.

Another writer tries to find a way to write consistently.

Reasons (good ones) for writing about what you don't know. This applies to many aspects of being a freelance worker. Take jobs for which you are not qualified and you will soon be qualified for them. Grow. Try. Keep going.

Writers please note, no one is going to market your book (despite their promises). Some tips on marketing.

Some ideas on writing a synopsis of a completed novel.

I strongly suggest this, "Writing about a subject that scares you."

Tuesday 15 February 2022

Sometimes publicity is a bad thing and so is success. GiveSendGo is a fundraising sight that gained fame with the truckers in Canada. It was quickly hacked.

Microsoft announces "everybody back to the office" on 28 February.

A look at HP's Spectre x360 16. It is a laptop with a 16" screen that doubles as a tablet...well, sort of.

How do you make a big VR headset smaller? Pull out the 5G receiver and hang it around your neck. It works, but will it sell?

Russia is pulling some troops away from Ukraine. This was predicted by thinkers. It is a surprise to the news media.

Who would have predicted that the big political issue in America would be wearing a surgical mask outside a hospital surgery room? How silly is all this?

Scientists "prove" that our western drought is the worst in 1,200 years. (1) How did they "prove" that? (2) It also shows that such droughts have occurred many times before and naturally occurred.

The residents of New York are now building their first offshore wind farm. Let the games begin.

Wednesday 16 February 2022

The Facebook News Feed is now just the Feed. I never understand the old name, and the new name makes less sense.

Google announces big updates to Docs with AI-generated document summaries.

Meta creates new corporate slogans and values and such.

The worldwide pandemic brought worldwide pandemic prosperity to the semiconductor industry.

Go to White Castle and see the future where a machine cooks the burgers and the few employees simply keep the machine full of ingredients.

I can't wait (not). A Baby Shark movie is on the way.

Change the recipe and the cake will taste differently. Of course the New York Times has changed Wordle.

Google announces Chrome OS Flex that will run on "old" PCs and Macs.

Russia ends its military exercises in Crimea and sends its troops home.

Where the money goes: 74% of ransomware payments go to hackers in Russia.

Thursday 17 February 2022

Pandemic prosperity continues to roll on for Nvidia.

I thought Windows 11 was still new. Here comes a new update with big changes.

Fake cheating sites for online tests. I don't think much of adults who trick teenagers into doing something wrong and then punishing them.

A look at basic equipment to help someone start in podcasting.

Epic Games now has 500million accounts. That is greater than the population of the US. The definition of success has changed.

The era of BitCoin may be already over. New and better crypto currencies are on the way.

Tips on bringing some Android software to Windows 11.

Google has a new font that once again makes reading easier on the eyes.

It appears that journalists worldwide have been using a transcription services that operates via the cloud instead of on a local machine. Of course this has been hacked and all sorts of "private" interviews exposed. Silly journalists.

In America, we finally have approval to use adaptive beam headlights. In use in Europe and Canada for years, these shine light on dark areas without blinding oncoming drivers.

Friday 18 February 2022

We approach another rollover problem as Firefox and Chrome browsers near version 100.

Our Dept of Justice has created the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET). Grow government one step at a time.

Intel updates the release dates on its new Arc GPUs. Real soon now. Real soon now.

Google commits $100million to a training program nationwide for lower-income persons.

Strong rumors that our President is about to order an already over-burdened bureaucracy to study cryptocurrencies and a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

This is a bad story. Terrible. "More than 350 people have a discontinued retinal implant in their eyeballs." Company gone. No maintenance. No nothing. Terrible.

America now exports more oil than it imports. This means we are independent, and world political swings don't affect us. Right?

Excess deaths in America. The numbers are all suspect. Garbage in, garbage out. Same old story.

An obvious solution. Put a lid on irrigation canals to save water via reduced evaporation. Make that lid out of solar panels to generate power. And why hasn't this already happened?

Saturday 19 February 2022

Someone makes a little rifle called a JR-15. It is a .22 "plinker" with extravagant safety mechanics meant to teach firearm safety. Somehow this is Satan in a machine.

We move forward to our past as we have a machine that makes pizzas without human hands. We have done this before.

News Flash (not): If you pay higher wages and treat folks nice, they will keep working with you.

File this one under "it's about time" as the FBI finally warns folks not to scan QR Codes unless they really trust the source. These things can take you to sites run by ne'er-do-wells who steal your socks.

The prolonged year of the virus collides with economics and politicians trying to be re-elected. "Go back to the office and spend money at lunch!"

"Dithering" An apt description of America's governors with regards to 5G technologies.

You know those better dot com commercials where people need to seek real and better help? Well, half of Better's employees will need that help as they face unemployment.

Sunday 20 February 2022

We have a vision of floating charging stations in offshore wind farms. Charge up those electric powered ships crossing the Atlantic. Now we just have to learn how to have floating windmills that can survive in open seas.

We wonder what our President is doing as for weeks now he has been telling us that the Russians are invading at any moment.

Facebook, social media, COVID, and the usually polite Canadians collide with old media hungry for viewers and sales.

Epic Games reverses a major trend and is hiring part-time contract persons as full-time employees.

This is an excellent essay on how Apple can dominate economically. Steve Jobs? Who was he? Tim Cook is the best CEO in world history (according to profits).

A new chip factory coming to India as everyone moves away from China.

If we are not careful, working from have may devolve into a check-the-box exercise. Who wants that?

Microsoft's .NET is now 20 years old.