Tech News Today 760: Google Thinking Different

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

Guess who’s having the best post-PC era ever? Mailbox invades iPad, Xbox will take over your house, and more.

Guest: Rich DeMuro

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Running time:: 0:47:01

The next thing

Person wonderingHey all, Tom and Molly here.

We LOVED doing this first run of It’s A Thing episodes! We’ve been spending the time since our last recording wondering what we should do for the next run. I mean literally nothing else. Just sitting. Looking out the window. Wondering.

We wondered things like: Should we Kickstarter a season? Should we sell ads? Should Tom take
to the casting couches of LA and find a sugar momma to fund us like a patron of the baroque period arts scene?

And finally the answer came to us. NO. We should do none of those things!

But this is not a breakup letter. We decided that we’re just going to keep doing the show because we enjoy it, and it gives us a way to virtually hang out a little more often. And that’s it.

Turns out not everything has to turn a big profit (or any profit, really), and every way we thought of to make money just sounded like a hassle. We’re busy people! So to keep this fun, and easy to listen to (i.e. no commercials) we’re just going to keep doing it as is.

If you feel like you want to kick us a few bucks, we added one of those PayPal donation things. Molly could use it to help fund her new mic — maybe you’ve noticed. But don’t feel obligated. We’ll be having fun either way.

We are going to do this in seasons though. So give us a few weeks before we come back from ‘hiatus’ with all new eps. And all new
things! And keep following us on Twitter for SECRET REVELATIONS! Or at least occasional snarky posts.

We love you all!

Molly and Tom

Tech History Today – May 24, 2013

In 1844 – Samuel Morse sent the message “What hath God wroughtfrom the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the United States Capitol to the Mount Clair train depot in Baltimore, Maryland. It was the first public demonstration of the telegraph.

In 1935 – General Electric Co. sold the first spectrophotometer. It could detect two million different shades of color and make a permanent record chart of the results.

In 1961 – Wes Clark began working on the Laboratory Instrument Computer (LINC), at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory. It was one of the earliest examples of a user-friendly machine that you could communicate with while it operated. It’s credited with setting the standard for personal computer design.

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

Tech History Today – May 23, 2013

In 1825, William Sturgeon exhibited the electromagnet in a practical form for the first time. The exhibition accompanied the reading of a paper, recorded in the Transactions of the Society of Arts for 1825 (Vol xliii, p.38).

In 1908 – John Bardeen was born. He grew up to win the Nobel Prize twice, once for inventing the transistor, and once for figuring out superconductivity.

In 1995 – Sun Microsystems Inc. announced the programming language Java and the accompanying Web browser HotJava at the SunWorld ’95 convention.

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

Tech News Today 759: Animated GIF Forever

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

IS the XBox One another Google TV? HTC falling apart in public, the right pronunciation of GIF, and more.

Guest: Julio Ojeda-Zapata

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Running time:: 0:48:07

Tech History Today – May 22, 2013

In 1973 – Bob Metcalfe of the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center wrote a memo on an IBM selectric typewriter, outlining how to connect personal computers to a shared printer. Metcalfe says “If Ethernet was invented in any one memo, by any one person, or on any one day, this was it.”

In 1980 – Namco released an arcade game called Puck-Man. When it was released in the US in October the name was altered to Pac-Man.

In 1990 – Microsoft released Windows 3.0. It featured big improvements in interface and multitasking. It’s Control Panel feature caught the eye of Apple which sued, and lost.

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

S&L Podcast – #129 – Interview with Kim Stanley Robinson

He’s a nice guy, seriously. Photo by joelmeadows1

Veronica and Goodreads moderator Josh Lawrence headed to the Nebula Awards to chat with some great authors. We’ll be posting these interviews in our off weeks from the regular episodes. This week it’s the legendary (and Nebula award-winning) Kim Stanley Robinson. His latest book 2312 won the Nebula award for Novel.  Enjoy!

Direct download link!

Tech News Today 758: Durango Unchained

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

Microsoft announces the new Xbox, Apple faces the Tax man, Yahoo’s attempt to revive Flickr, and more.

Guests: Kevin Purdy and Brian Brushwood

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Running time:: 0:56:17

Tech History Today – May 21, 2013

In 1937 – North Pole-1 became the first scientific research station to operate on the drift ice of the Arctic Ocean. The Soviet Union established it about 20 km from the North Pole. It operated for 9 months, and travelled 2,850 kilometres.

In 1952 – IBM announced the Model 701, the first computer designed for scientific calculation. The 701 used electrostatic storage tube memory and kept information on magnetic tape. It sold much better than expected with 19 governments and large companies snapping them up.

In 2010 – The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), launched a solar-sail spacecraft IKAROS aboard an H-IIA rocket. The vessel would test out the performance of solar sails, and make a Venus flyby later in the year.

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