Archive for April, 2012

In 1884 – The New York Times reported that “sending mails by electricity” was to be investigated by the Post Office Committee of the U.S. House, by providing for contracts with an existing telegraph company. It could lead to 10 cent telegrams!

In 1970 – The Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization entered into force.

In 1986 – Design flaws made worse by human error during a safety test, led to the worst nuclear disaster yet, and a partial meltdown at the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant.

I had fun guest-appearing (word?) with Scott Johnson on on the Comedy4cast!

While trying to convince guest star Tom Merritt (“FourCast!”, “AutoPilot!”) to get on board with a project, Clinton hears some shocking news. Scott Johnson (“The Morning Stream”, FrogPants Studios) and Paul Barrie (“A Window to the Magic”, “WTTM24″) also guest star.

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Yesterday, io9 published an excerpt of Mira Grant’s Blackout, the final book in her Newsflesh trilogy. Today, an intrepid Newsie hacked into the CDC computer system and liberated another file. For this one, though, you’ll have to do a little digging…

Below is a puzzle whose answer reveals one of the five codes you’ll need to access the second, top-secret document.

Rumor has it that you should be hanging around these other blogs to gather the other four:

Rose-Owls and Pumpkin Girls (The Journal of Seanan McGuire)

The Mary Sue

SF Signal

Fantasy Café

Once you’ve gathered all five codes, you can access the encrypted document at the Orbit Books site. WARNING: Massive spoilers for Feed and Deadline ahead!

Blackout will be available May 22nd.

Let us know where you would hole up during a zombie apocalypse in the comments below, and you will be entered to win the Newsflesh triology (Feed, Deadline, Blackout)! Open to participants in the US, Canada, and the UK. Winner will be randomly selected on May 2nd!

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell

Google Drive is real, so is Google selling phones again, so is Asteroid mining, and more.

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Submit and vote on story coverage at technewstoday.reddit.com.

We invite you to read, add to, and amend our show notes at wiki.twit.tv.

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time: 55:23

In 1944 – Lt. Carter Harman of the 1st Air Commando Group rescued four men from the jungle in Burma Flying a Sikorsky YR-4 helicopter. It was the first combat rescue by helicopters in the U.S. Army Air Forces.

In 1953 – Watson and Crick’s presented their findings on the double helical structure of DNA in the publication Nature. They noted that the structure “suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material.” 50 Years later the Human Genome Project had concluded sequencing the genome and published a follow-on in Nature on their vision for genetic research.

In 1961 – Robert Noyce received the US patent for the silicon-based integrated circuit. He went on to found the Intel Corporation with Gordon E. Moore in 1968. Noyce fought a long patent rights battle with Jack Kilby who invented a germanium based integrated circuit.

Hosts: Tom Merritt and Scott Johnson

Cinemas will show TV shows, movies come straight to your TV, plus other shocking developments.

Guests: Peter Wells and Terry Michael

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Got a prediction of your own? Guest you’d like to see? Question for the show? Email us at [email protected].

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time: 45:27

Autopilot 05 – Mission Impossible

Mission: Impossible is a U.S television series that was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicles the missions of a team of secret government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force (IMF). In the first season, the team is led by Dan Briggs, played by Steven Hill; Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, takes charge for the remaining seasons. A hallmark of the series shows Briggs or Phelps receiving his instructions on a recording that then self-destructs, followed by the theme music composed by Lalo Schifrin.

Hosts: Brian Brushwood and Tom Merritt

NimbleTV, Hollywood is doomed? Original content on the web heats up, and more.

Download or subscribe to this show at twit.tv/fr.

We invite you to read, add to, and amend our show notes at wiki.twit.tv.

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time: 1:04:45

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell

Intel Ivy Bridge gets real, Microsoft arms Facebook for the patent wars, Cable TV comes to the Internet, and more.

Guests: Dana Wollman and Loyd Case

Download or subscribe to this show at twit.tv/tnt.

Submit and vote on story coverage at technewstoday.reddit.com.

We invite you to read, add to, and amend our show notes at wiki.twit.tv.

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time: 55:23

In 1970 – The Chang Zheng-1 rocket launched the first Chinese satellite, the Dong Fang Hong-1.

In 1981 – Apple introduced the portable Apple IIc. The machine came with 128 kilobytes of RAM and a 5 1/4 inch floppy disk drive.

In 1990 – The Space Shuttle Discovery launched with the Hubble Space Telescope on board. The following day, Hubble was released into space.