Today in Tech History – Mar. 9, 2014

Today in Tech History logoIn 1948 – The University of California at Berkeley and the Atomic Energy Commission announced the artificial production of mesons using the 184-inch cyclotron at the university’s Radiation Laboratory.

In 1961 – Sputnik 9 successfully launched, carrying a human dummy and the dog Chernushka. It completed 1 orbit and was successfully recovered upon return. Yes, the dog made it back unharmed.

In 2011 – Space Shuttle Discovery on Mission STS-133 made its final landing after 39 flights.

MP3

Like Tech History? Purchase Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.

Today in Tech History – Mar. 8, 2014

Today in Tech History logoIn 1955 – Doug Ross demonstrated the Director tape for MIT’s Whirlwind machine, the first digital computer with real-time text and graphics. The idea of the Director Tape was to allow multiple problems to be read by the computer in one session without humans having to intervene and change tapes. In other words, an operating system.

In 1978 – The first radio episode of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, was transmitted on BBC Radio 4. Some credit Adams with accidentally predicting the PDA and smartphone.

In 1979 – Philips publicly demonstrated a prototype of an optical digital audio disc at a press conference called “Philips Introduces Compact Disc.”

MP3

Like Tech History? Purchase Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.

New Sword and Laser T-Shirts!

We whipped together some new t-shirts for the Kickstarter last year, and if you weren’t able to pledge at the level you can get them now from Slashloot!

019-Sword-and-Laser-Album-Tee-2T.jpg

For the first time our album art is available as a t-shirt featuring the expertly characterized demon-hunting Veronica and spaceman Tom.

And the lovely 3 Lem Moon concept by Scott Johnson will definitely impress the cyborg-dragon lovers in your life.

Of course the original logo shirt is till available too.

Get these and many shirts related to podcasts you love at slashloot.com.

019-Three-Lem-Moon-Tee-2T.jpg

DTNS 2186 – Bridge over Troubled Trolls

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comDarren Kitchen is here for his Friday gig along with Russ Pitts. We’ll talk with Russ about how he thinks sometimes you SHOULD engage trolls. Also why the Aereo case could kill cloud storage. Plus the two main reasons for SXSWi to exist. Plus Len Peralta illustrates the show!

MP3

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guests: Darren KitchenRuss Pitts, & Len Peralta 

Headlines:

I am not Dorian Nakamoto: Yesterday was an eventful day for Dorian Nakamoto. CNET’ Eric Mack summed up the day and proposed a theory. First Dorian came out of his house yesterday afternoon, grabbed an AP reporter, saying he wanted his free lunch, and headed to the AP offices in downtown LA for an interview followed by a train of reporters. He told the AP he was misunderstood by Newsweek and as far as Bitcoin goes he told them, “I got nothing to do with it.” Later a new comment from Satoshi Nakamoto appeared on the original 2009 Bitcoin forum post, saying “I am not Dorian Nakamoto.” CNET freelancer Eric Mack’s theory? We’re all getting trolled and MAYBE Satoshi Nakamoto is Andy Kaufman.

Dev build of Mavericks gettin’ all 4k and stuff: 9to5 Mac reports Apple’s latest developer build of OS X Mavericks lets users with 4K monitors natively set them to run at a pixel-doubled “Retina” resolution. It ends up thesame as running a Retina MacBook Pro. The screen doubles the resolution in the same space so you see sharper graphics

Samsung brings the Milk: PC World reports Samsung announced a new online radio service Friday called Milk. The service is available for free. No ads. No log in. Really? really. Oh here’s the catch. It’s only in the US. AND It’s only available in the Google Play store and only works with Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones and tablets. Samsung says they are thinking of expanding to non-Samsung devices though, and they WILL expand worldwide eventually.

Pebble 2.0, now with more Android! Engadget reports Pebble 2.0 is now available for Android users, giving them access to the Pebble App Store, a new interface and a new locker for apps and notification improvements.

Privacy questions raised about Facebook & Whats App: Digital Democracy are asking the US FTC to investigate how Facebook’s proposed purchase of WhatsApp will impact the privacy of WhatsApp users, who exchange private messages via the service. The complaint alleges Facebook’s plans for WhatsApp would violate WhatsApps users understanding of their exposure to online advertising.

News From You

metalfreak submitted a ScienceMag article about a system that can turn images into sequences of sound, allowing blind people to see. The system builds on work from 1992 by Dutch engineer Peter Meijer, who created vOICe, an algorithm that converts simple grayscale images into musical soundscapes. In 2007, neuroscientist Amir Amedi and colleagues at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem began training subjects who were born blind to use vOICe. Amedi’s team recently released a successor to vOICe, called EyeMusic, as a free iPhone app. The new algorithm produces more pleasant tones and can even provide color information.

normgregory directed our attention to a Deadline article reporting that Aereo’s appeal of the injunction Utah has been denied. The 10th Cicrcuit Court of Appeals denied the request to overturn the injunction 2:1. That means Aereo will have to go dark after all in Salt Lake City and Denver, despite the fact that the company is headed to the Supreme Court April 22.

tsukiri submitted the Ars Technica story on the US Navy deploying its first directed energy weapon this summer on the USS Ponce. Oh wait did I not say laser? Because lasers. IN fact it’s called the LaWS for Laser Weapon System. The lasers can explode fuel aboard smaller targets and blind drone or missile imaging sensors. Larger targets still need missiles and guns, but the laser is cheaper to fire at a bout a buck a shot. Also, thank you to all the men and women serving on the USS Ponce.

And on the other side of the drone aisle, or weapons emplacement, KAPT_Kipper pointed us to the Ars Technica tale of Judge Patrick Geraghty dismissing a $10,000 fine against Raphael Pirker, who used a camera drone to film on the University of Virginia campus for commercial purposes. The judge said the FAA rules were not enforceable against model aircraft whether commercial or not.

Discussion Section Links: Don’t Feed The Trolls,  But Don’t Let Them Feed on You.

http://www.falsegravity.com/?p=603

http://www.takethis.org/

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140306/00350726450/aereo-case-isnt-about-aereo-about-future-cloud-computing-innovation.shtml

http://www.project-disco.org/intellectual-property/030414-why-aereo-matters-to-the-cloud-a-primer/

http://www.takethis.org/

SXSW Pick of the Day:  Austin BCycle.  Bike share, duh! If you’re at SXSW you can ride one of these cheerful red bikes to and from all the various events– believe you me, the walk from the Convention Center to the Paramount Theater is no joke. So don’t walk! Take a bike.  Also thanks to Kristin Nelson for taking the time to talk with us about SXSW.  🙂

Austin Pick of the Day: Barbecue! I’m going to to the Salt Lick, like, NOW. (jj)

What an online troll looks like in real life:  http://lenperaltastore.com/products/dont-engage-the-troll

What was that weird thing at the end of the show?  Matt talks tech in which Producer Jennie interviews her husband Matt about technology. Matt knows a lot about comedy, screenwriting, and 80′s sitcoms, but technology? Not so much.

Monday’s Guest: Molly Wood of the New York Freakin’ Times! 

Today in Tech History – Mar. 7, 2014

Today in Tech History logoIn 1876 – Alexander Graham Bell received a US patent for an “Improvement in Telegraphy” (No.174,465) which established the principle of bidirectional signals that made the telephone possible.

In 1926 – The first successful Transatlantic telephone call was placed between New York City and London. Transatlantic service began the following year at $75 a minute.

In 1994 – The Supreme Court found that 2 Live Crew’s parody of Roy Orbison’s “Oh Pretty Woman” was fair use, and not a violation of copyright, thus ensuring the future of The Onion.

MP3

Like Tech History? Purchase Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.

DTNS 2185 – What’s up with the Doxxing?

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comPaul Spain joins from New Zealand and we’ll discuss the topic of Newsweek doxxing Satoshi Nakamoto.

MP3

Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guest:  Paul Spain, host of NZ Tech Podcast, NZ Business Podcast

Headlines

Bitcoin founder revealed: Newsweek reporter Leah McGrath Goodman published the results of her investigation into the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the founder of Bitcoin. After finding a Satoshi Nakamoto in public records on naturalized citizens, Goodman tracked a model train enthusiast to Southern California. When she showed up at his house, he called the Sheriff’s department. After they arrived, he told her “I am no longer involved in that and I cannot discuss it.” The Internet has largely reacted with rage, accusing McGrath of Doxxing Nakamoto.

The more things change … Engadget reports Facebook has redesigned its news feed to be a bit like the mobile version of the social network and bit like the older version of the feed. Typeface changes to Helvetica for Macs and Arial for PCs, shared stories will no longer indent when a friend leaves a comment, the left-hand column is simplified and photos will be full-width and multiple photos shared in a collage. The design is much simpler than the one showed off last March, which ReCode reports is the result of poor reactions in testing.

Apple vs. Samsung, Part XXIIVIIIIXXXXIIX: CNET reports Judge Lucy Koh gave the latest round of the long-running Apple-Samsung patent fight to Samsung. Apple had requested a ban on 23 Samsung devices found to have infringed on its patents. Early Thursday, Judge Koh denied Apple’s request. Judge Koh did uphold the $290 million in additional damages awarded to Apple by a jury last November. Both sides can appeal both rulings.

Oceans of money: TechCrunch reports cloud hosting company DigitalOcean raised a Series A round of $37.2 million. The company is aimed to compete with Amazon EC2, Rackspace and the like. DigitalOcean provides scalable virtual private servers for $5 a month to start.

How do you feel? How about now? GigaOm reports on an iPhone accessory called Wello. It looks like a typical iPhone case, but the small chip embedded in it along with two sensors, keep track of vitals like blood-oxygen level, blood pressure, ECG, heart rate, temp and more. You just hold your fingers over the sensors to begin tracking. Wello works by Bluetooth and is available for pre-order now in a number of countries. It is expected to retail for $199 in the U.S. and will ship in the fall, pending FDA approval.

Looking so long at these pictures of you: Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports Getty Images has begun a program where bloggers can get an approved embed code of Getty Images and use them for free on blogs and social media pages, as long as the use is not commercial. The embed code sends information about Web traffic back to Getty.

X marks your spot: Reuters reports Flickr co-founder Katerina Fake’s Findery site has launched its mobile app. Findery lets users mark important places on a map and include descriptions, pictures, videos and other information. Fake says Findery is meant to provide more meaningful info. The app is available in the iOS app store.

Doing the CEO shuffle: ReCode reports Sony has announced that Jack Tretton, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America (fine purveyors of PlayStations) will step down at the end of the month. Sony Network Entertainment International COO Shawn Layden will take Tretton’s place on April 1. Tretton has led the division since 2006 and worked on the team that launched the first PlayStation in 1995. In less disruptive, yet fun Sony news, Deadline Hollywood reports Sony Pictures’ Screen Gems production company has decided to develop a “live-action adaptation” of The Last of US.

News From You

KAPT_Kipper submitted the Next Web article about Firefox investigating why Dell UK is charging £16.25 to install Firefox on its machines. Mozilla, makers of Firefox, say they have no deal with Dell for such a questionably useful service, and it is a violation of the Mozilla terms of service. Dell told TNW it is charging for the service of installation, not the software itself.

TVSEgon sent us the sad AP story of the discovery of virtual currency exchange First Meta CEO Autumn Radke found dead near her apartment tower in Singapore. Singapore’s police say they do not suspect foul play, but did classify it as “unnatural,” which can mean accident or suicide.

And Draconos pointed us to the CNET story that hot on the heels of Dish’s deal with Disney, DirectTV told Reuters IT is in talks for a similar deal to be allowed to include Disney TV content in some future Internet-only video service.

Discussion Section Links: Finding the founder of Bitcoin/CEO of Bitcoin exchange found dead

http://mag.newsweek.com/2014/03/14/bitcoin-satoshi-nakamoto.html

http://www.businessinsider.com/leah-mcgrath-goodman-responds-2014-3

http://gigaom.com/2014/03/06/of-bitcoin-and-doxxing-is-revealing-sakamotos-identity-okay-because-it-was-newsweek-and-not-reddit/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/ceo-of-bitcoin-exchange-found-dead-in-singapore/2014/03/06/7649bc60-a4f3-11e3-b865-38b254d92063_story.html

http://stream.wsj.com/story/markets/SS-2-5/SS-2-474236/

Pick of the Day: Producer Jennie recommends Intelligentsia coffee. Yeah, so the name’s a little much, and it ain’t cheap, but the fresh-roasted coffee is just that good. Intelligentsia has coffee bars in three cities: Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. If you live elsewhere, they have a great online shop for both coffee and tools of the trade and a tremendous app that helps you make a perfect cup of coffee–whichever method you prefer. (They sell some pretty delicious tea, too.)

Friday’s Guest: Darren Kitchen & Russ Pitts

S&L Video: Author Spotlight – Anne Leonard

Anne Leonard’s first book JUST came out. Congrats Anne! Moth and Spark is about a Prince who has been chosen to free dragons from bondage to the Empire, but nobody’s exactly sure how he should do it, not even their riders. He meets a doctor’s daughter who discovers she’s a seer. She’s also a commoner, so he really shouldn’t fall for her How do you shine a spotlight on such a young career? It’s all in the backstory! Just watch.

Download direct link here!

Download the video here. 

TenState: Issues 6-10 coming!

Cover of TenStateLast year Len Peralta and I put out five issues of a comic called TenState. It was about what happened when ten reality show contestants, from different political and religious backgrounds, were shut inside a biodome for the finals of their show and suddenly, disaster strikes. The stakes of learning to cooperate went from making good TV to survival.

We used Kickstarter to fund those first issues and now they’re available in print and as digital editions from Comixology. Since then, we’ve all come to know Patreon as a way to fund creative endeavors. Patreon is perfect for something like episodic comics. You can pledge per issue and you’ll get the issue. Simple. We don’t put out an issue, it doesn’t cost you money.

I cannot wait to tell more of this story. We’ve lined out four “seasons” of content and the layers will just keep peeling away.

But we need enough people to pledge per issue in order to get started. So if you’re interested in seeing new issues of TenState, head over to patreon.com/lenperalta.

Today in Tech History – Mar. 6, 2014

Today in Tech History logoIn 1937 – Valentina Tereshkova was born in the Yaroslavl region of Russia. She would grow up to become the first woman in space and only woman ever to fly solo in space.

In 1992 – The first media-hyped computer virus reached fever pitch as the Michelangelo boot sector virus began to affect computers. Worldwide catastrophe did not follow.

In 2009 – NASA launched the Kepler space observatory, with a mission to discover Earth-like planets orbiting other stars.

In 2012 – Google consolidated its various online stores, Android Market, Google Books, Google Music, and Google video, into one store called Google Play.

MP3

Like Tech History? Purchase Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.