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Tech News Today 587: Assume Everyone is a Shill

Tom — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 23:11:02 +0000

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

Hot new cameras from Photokina, Samsung leaks new phone release, Yahoo snubs RIM, and more.

Guests: Raj Deut

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

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

Check out the full show notes for today’s episode.

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Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time: 52:41

Tech History Today – Sep. 17

Tom — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 07:39:31 +0000

In 1822 – Jean-François Champollion, permanent secretary of the French Académie des Inscriptions, presented his Lettre a M. Dacier, describing his solution to the mystery of the Hieroglyphic inscriptions on the Rosetta Stone. A nifty bit of decryption.

In 1991 – The first version of the Linux kernel (0.01) was posted to a Finnish FTP server in Helsinki. Originator Linus Torvalds wanted to call the OS FreaX, but the FTP admin didn’t like the name and renamed it Linux.

In 2007 – AOL announced plans to refocus the company on advertising relocate its corporate headquarters from Dulles, Virginia to New York City

Tech History Today – Sep. 16

Tom — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 07:12:19 +0000

In 1959 – The first successful photocopier, the Xerox 914, was introduced at the Sherry-Netherland hotel in New York City. ONe caught fire. The demo that was carried live on television did not catch fire.

In 1985 – Steve Jobs spent his last day as an employee of Apple after submitting his resignation to the board.

In 1997 – After purchasing NeXT the previous December, bringing Steve Jobs back to the company, the Apple Board named Jobs as interim CEO, replacing Gil Amelio.

Origins of the Sport

Tom — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 10:35:13 +0000

Sports all of many kinds has existed across timelines and realities in many forms from the simple to the unfathomably complex.

The Portllflliaxx of the Transitive Continua play an extremely complicated sport, roughly described as a combination of the board game Go, Cricket, Team Handball and Synchronised Aerial Acrobatics. Its combination of automatic scoring and adjudicated results make it difficult for outsiders to understand. A typical test match can last several lifetimes and cross multiple realities and universes.

On the other end of the scale is the game of Po, played by the residents of the one-dimensional Pointillist Plane. The first player to place a slice of one-dimensional space in front of itself wins. While multiple players can compete, the most popular version among pointillions is the solitaire version.

However in an attempt to create a unified sport, the Ecumenical Sporting Council was created to reconcile all variants of sport into one unified set of rules. The rules were set by the council and approved by the founders at a trans-dimensional polygon the cut through most universes at a more or less convenient angle. Because we know where the rules were set it is, unfortunately, impossible to know when.

However these rules are followed by all organizations governed by the FSL.

Tech History Today – Sep. 15

Tom — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 07:47:51 +0000

In 1947 – The Association for Computing Machinery was founded as the Eastern Association for Computing Machinery at a meeting at Columbia University in New York. It developed into the world’s largest organization of computer professionals.

In 1947 – RCA released the 12AX7 vacuum tube for public sale. The miniature dual triode vacuum tube with high voltage gain became popular with tube amplifier enthusiasts and has been in continuous production since.

In 2008 – Electronics retailer Best Buy acquired the Napster music service for $121 million, preventing the once dominating music-sharing service from going out of business.

Tech News Today 586: You’re All Pretty

Tom — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 07:09:59 +0000

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell

iPhones 5 and simultaneous data and calls, how to make a phone, Intel blows your mind, and more.

Guests: Andy Ihnatko and Brian Cooley

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

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

Check out the full show notes for today’s episode.

We invite you to read, add to, and amend the wiki entry for this episode at wiki.twit.tv.

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time: 53:07

S&L Video – #12 – Interview with LeVar Burton!

Tom — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 00:48:51 +0000

Take a look, he’s not in a book, he’s on Sword & Laser! LeVar Burton joins us to discuss his favorite novels, the future of Reading Rainbow, and what one line he’d strike from our memory of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

More about our guest, LeVar Burton!

Webpage: http://levarburton.com/
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/levarburton
Reading Rainbow App: http://www.rrkidz.com/

Show Notes:

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/09/03/the-hugo-winners-2012/
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/09/patrick-rothfuss-will-write-more-fantasy-aft…
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/third-hobbit-film-sets-release-367258
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-3126_7-57507546/amazons-new-kindles-everything-y…
http://scifisongs.blogspot.com/2012/08/new-album-due-september-18th.html

“Kitty Norville” Whiteboard Review by Aaron: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjk9ecE5sv0

Tech History Today – Sep. 14

Tom — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 07:32:41 +0000

In 1959 – After 33.5 hours of flight, Luna 2 became the first human-made object to strike the moon.

In 2000 – Microsoft released Windows ME. The ME stood for MIllenium Edition but deserving or not, would eventually become code for a bad or unnecessary OS update.

In 2001 – The Nintendo GameCube went on sale in Japan. It was the first Nintendo game console that did not use cartridges.

Tech News Today 585: Holy Cow, Revolution

Tom — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 23:09:57 +0000

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

Nintendo gets real about the Wii U, HTTPS has a crack in mobile security, streaming music kills the Earth, and more.

Guests: Randall Bennett

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

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

Check out the full show notes for today’s episode.

We invite you to read, add to, and amend the wiki entry for this episode at wiki.twit.tv.

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time: 58:09

Tech News Today 584: Thunderbolt and Lightning

Tom — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 23:09:55 +0000

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

Is Apple’s latest worth the hype? What Zuck really said about HTML5, Intel’s latest pitch to revive the PC, and more.

Guests: Kevin Purdy and Leo Laporte

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

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

Check out the full show notes for today’s episode.

We invite you to read, add to, and amend the wiki entry for this episode at wiki.twit.tv.

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time: 48:16