Today in Tech History – Jan. 20, 2014

Today in Tech History logoIn 1929 -The movie “In Old Arizona” was released. It was the first full-length talking motion picture in the U.S. to be filmed outdoors.

In 1934 – Fuji Photo Film Co. Ltd., the photographic and electronics company known today as Fujifilm, was founded in Tokyo, Japan.

In 1981 – The inauguration of US President Ronald Reagan is the world’s first broadcast to feature live teletext subtitles for the hearing impaired.

In 2009 – The inauguration of US President Barack Obama became the most widely-streamed Presidential inauguration to that time. According to Akamai’s Net Usage Index, web traffic peaked at 5.4 million requests per minute — and two terabits per second.

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Today in Tech History – Jan. 19, 2014

Today in Tech History logoIn 1883 -The first electric lighting system using overhead wires went into service in Roselle, New Jersey.

In 1983 – Apple released the Lisa, the second commercial computer with a graphical user interface (after the Xerox Star). It only cost $9,995 too!

In 1986 – Brain became the first computer virus released into the wild. It was a boot sector virus transmitted by floppy disks. The Farooq Alvi Brothers of Lahore, Pakistan created the virus.

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

Today in Tech History – Jan. 18, 2014

Today in Tech History logoIn 1902 – Nikola Tesla filed a patent application for wireless energy transmission. The patent was granted 12 years later. We’re still waiting for the kinks to get worked out.

In 1903 – The first two-way transatlantic communication, and first wireless telegram was sent between North America and Europe. US President Teddy Roosevelt and King Edward VII. They wrote to each other how awesome the wireless telegraph was.

In 2012 – Many websites, led by Reddit, Wikipedia and others, conducted an Internet “blackout” to protest the US SOPA/PIPA bills.

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

DTNS 2151 – News from You 2

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.com
Tom’s still on assignment for Sword & Laser, but his listeners fill in for him again with the “News From You.” Also, Darren Kitchen  of Hak5 reports from SchmooCon 2014.

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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

And special thanks to Katie Best and Jennie Josephson for putting these episodes together.

Show Notes

News From You:

Greg Skinner (TVsEgon) kicks of the show by sharing some thoughts on Cisco’s Internet of Things  predictions.

Another listener asks a simple question about the Internet of Things: Why?

Chimaera on the BBC’s report that China wants to clone all the things…starting with pigs.

Adam Paulauski has some questions about net neutrality.

EternalSword reports on the recent League of Legends and f.gwenifill DoS attacks.

Veronica Belmont reports in on a cool new rock found on Mars.  Veronica, Mars.

Steve Wooding on router vulnerabilities. Also, the port scanner.

Scott from Columbus has some thoughts on 3-D printing.

Steve for Steve’s Tech News on Windows 9

Carl from New York on the logistical issues of switching from AT&T to T-Mobile.

Benjamin J on Symantec  filing a patent for protecting BitTorrent users.

Stephenater on the cloud security concerns for (non-NSA) federal workers.

An electronic voice (!) on the NSA hacking non-internet connected computers.

Nathan Lock is back with his roundup of tech news in the UK including more Smart TV advances and how technology is helping to find the happiest place in the U.K.  Hint: It’s a pub.

Chase Nunes on the new Xbox One “Titanfall” Wireless Controller

Josh Page reports on the the miiPC at CES.

Rob Reed shares a Fortune article about how Uber and other companies are changing life for the cab drivers, not just the passengers.

Patrick Beja from France has some Tech Thoughts on the effects of app-centric computing.

And finally,  Russ Pitts  on Take This,  an organization that provides empathy, education and support about mental health and wellness.

Today in Tech History – Jan. 17, 2014

Today in Tech History logoIn 1871 – Andrew S. Hallidie received a patent for an “endless wire rope way” which he would put into practice as the cable car system in San Francisco, California.

In 1882 – Thomas Edison received a patent for adding a carbon microphone to the telephone. The patent described finely divided conducting material, like carbon, between metal cups mounted on arms that attached to the mouthpiece diaphragm.

In 1928 – Anatol M. Josepho received a the first U.S. patent for a fully automatic photographic film developing machine. The Photomaton better known as a PhotoBooth in the US still survives as an app and in dark corners of subway stations.

In 1949 – The first synchrotron installed at the Radiation Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, reached its design energy of 300 MeV.

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

DTNS 2150 – News From You

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.com
Tom’s on assignment for Sword & Laser, but he’s got a great fill-in host…you!  Also: Darren Kitchen of Hak5  files a report en route to ShmooCon 2014.

 

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Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

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

And a special thanks to Katie Editor for editing today’s show!

Show Notes:

Spotify drops free web listening time limit:  http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/15/spotify-limits/ 

Facebook adds trending topics:  http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2014-01-16/facebook-adds-trending-topics-to-site

Starbucks storing mobile passwords in clear text:  http://www.wtop.com/628/3543679/Starbucks-storing-mobile-passwords-in-clear-text

News From You:

Rich From Cleveland kicks off News From You with thoughts  on the 4k TV’s coming out of CES.

Dominique Corriveaux’s  has some ideas about on 4k TV prices.

Stephenater on wearable tech and whether it will translate beyond the ‘tech-o chamber’.

Anthony From Long Island on issues with the Fitbit Force.

Paul Kitchen on future IPv6 concerns.

Nathan Lock with updates from the UK tech scene on changes to Humax for Freesat, and the death of O2′s Wallet.

TJoe reports on Android on Atom.

Randall Bennett from Vidpresso on apps vs desktop platforms.

Toby Pinder on quantum bitcoin mining.

Google’s acquisition of Nest is still on your collective mind:

DJ has long-term concerns about Google’s track record of shutting down ‘unused’ services.

A listener from Edmonton has thoughts about Nest and Google’s customer service track records.

Nicole Lee of Engadget sends her take on the Google/Nest pairing.

In fact, Google in general is occupying your collective thoughts: 

Richardya on Google’s methods of acquiring new users.

Scott Johnson of FrogPants Studios and Current Geek  has some predictions on Google’s future.

Adam Christianson from the Maccast has some final thoughts on Google, including that that one we’re all thinking…you know, the one it might be time to worry about?

Molly Wood has a special message for Tom.

And finally, Patrick Beja checks in from France with a tech thought worth pondering about hackers.

 

 

 

 

Today in Tech History – Jan. 16, 2014

Today in Tech History logoIn 1969 – The Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 spacecraft successfully docked in orbit. Yevgeny Khrunov moved from Soyuz-5 to Soyuz-4 and Alexei Yeliseyev went from 4 to 5, marking the first time spacefarers went up in one craft and returned to Earth in another.

In 1986 – The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) met for the first time in San Diego to supervise the design and deployment of Internet protocol.

In 2007 – Blizzard released the first expansion to it’s wildly successful World of Warcraft game. The Burning Crusade raised the level cap and allowed players flying mounts, at least when they were in Outland.

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

DTNS 2149 – Encrypt all the things

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comScott Johnson and Darren Kitchen join me to chat about the latest NSA revealtions, the ultra-secure new Blackphone, and whether encryption and security have gone mainstream.

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

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

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

Apple refunds $32.5 million as part of FTC settlement: The BBC reports  Apple will refund US$32.5 million as part of a settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission. The settlement is in response to complaints about in-app purchases made by children without parental consent. Apple has also agreed to change billing procedures to insure customers give comest before they are charged. That change will be in place by March 31st. An internal email from CEO Tim Cook obtained by 9to5 Mac claims the settlement terms were things Apple would have done anyway.

The Blackphone: Ars Technica reports Phil Zimmermann, the creator of PGP email encryption, along with other folks from the SilentCircle encryption company have teamed up with the Geeksphone folks to create a new mobile phone called the Blackphone that will feature a suite of privacy and security tools. Its PrivatOS will feature secure phone calling, tecting, video chat, file sharing, browsing, and a built-in VPN. The Blackphone will be unlocked and work on GSM carriers. Blackphone will be available for pre-order beginning February 24, 2014, at Mobile World Congress.

NYT: NSA has implanted software in 100k computers worldwide: The New York Times reports the NSA has implanted software in nearly 100,000 computers around the world, some of which aren’t connected to the Internet. How? The agency secretly inserts circuit boards sometimes by USB which transmit covert radio signals to a base station that is up to 8 miles away. The cards can be inserted by spies, manufacturers, or sometimes an unwitting user. Targets of the project include the Chinese Army, Mexican drug cartels and Mexican police, EU trade institutions and various friendly governments. The information comes from documents leaked by Edward Snowden.

News From You:

Facebook to launch Flipboard-like reader?  tm204’s subreddit submission seems to have garnered some interest from you. He posted a ReCode story about Facebook possibly launching a Flipboard-like news reader this month. According to Recode’s Mike Isaac, the product would be known as “Paper” and be a mobile-focused news reading app or possibly Web app. The product supposedly comes out of the team behind the Facebook News Feed and is an attempt to make Facebook into your morning news-reading experience much like the good old newspaper used to be.

Human travel to Mars affordable by the 2030s?  stephanater’s submission got some votes from y’all too. Mashable reports sending humans to Mars by the 2030s could be affordable. Relatively speaking. A workshop of 60 folks from government, academic, and other organizations found that a NASA-led mission could work within the agency’s budget if it was restored to pre-sequestration levels. NASA would also have to continue to develop the Space Launch System heavy lifting rocket and the Orion space capsule.

The News From You segment reflects YOUR votes so get in the subreddit and vote at dailytechnewsshow.reddit.com

More links from the show: 

EU wants more concessions from Google related to anti-competition charges:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/15/us-eu-google-idUSBREA0E0PF20140115

Hewelett-Packard is getting back into the smartphone market, sort of:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2088241/hp-launches-voiceenabled-tablets-in-india.html

New versions of Google’s Chrome browser for iOS and Android include  optional setting to reduce browser data usage by up to 50 percent:

http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/15/5311892/chrome-reduced-data-usage-google-translate-app-shortcuts

Today in Tech History – Jan. 15, 2014

Today in Tech History logoIn 1759 – The British Museum, in Bloomsbury, London, the world’s oldest public national museum, opened to the public. Entry was free and given to ‘all studious and curious Persons’.

In 2001 – Wikipedia, the free Wiki content encyclopedia, went online as a feeder project for Nupedia, an expert-written online encyclopedia.

In 2005 – Thanks to a solar flare, ESA’s SMART-1 lunar orbiter discovered calcium, aluminium, silicon and iron – in Mare Crisium on the moon.

In 2013 – Facebook announced its ‘Graph Search’ improvements to internal search and recommendations.

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