Tech History Today – Jan. 3

Today in Tech History / January 3rd, 2013

In 1957 – Hamilton Electric held a press conference to announce the World’s First Electronic Watch, the Hamilton Electric 500, a watch that never needed winding. Just batteries.

In 1977 – Apple Computer Co. was incorporated by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Ron Wayne famously backed out selling his shares back for $800. Ouch.

In 1999 – The U.S. Mars Polar Lander was launched. It would spend most of the year wending its way towards Mars before it lost communication with Earth in December, presumably after crashing.

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Tech News Today 660: Sitting in the Tweet Seats

Shows/ Tech News Today / January 2nd, 2013

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

Intel wants to win at TV, Avis tries harder to buy Zipcar, circumvent Apple DRM without a jailbreak, and more.

Guest: David Spark

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Running time:: 0:44:02

Tech History Today – Jan. 2

Today in Tech History / January 2nd, 2013

In 1959 – Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the Moon, was launched by the U.S.S.R.

In 1979 – Software Arts was incorporated by founders Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston for the purpose of developing VisiCalc, the world’s first spreadsheet program.

In 2004 – NASA’s Stardust spacecraft successfully flew past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples it brought back to Earth 2 years later.

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

Tech News Today 659: Predictions for 2013

Shows/ Tech News Today / January 2nd, 2013

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

We gaze into our crystal ball to see how the world of technology will fare in 2013.

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 the wiki entry for this episode at wiki.twit.tv.

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time:: 0:29:45

Autopilot S2E08 – The Newsroom

AutoPilot/ Shows / January 1st, 2013

The Newsroom is an American drama television series created and principally written by Aaron Sorkin that premiered on HBO on June 24, 2012. The series chronicles the behind-the-scenes events at the fictional Atlantis Cable News (ACN) channel. It features an ensemble cast including Jeff Daniels as anchor Will McAvoy, who, together with his staff set out to put on a news show “in the face of corporate and commercial obstacles and their own personal entanglements.”

First day of 2013, three days left in the Bay Area

Writing / January 1st, 2013

Today I’ve spent most of the morning annoying my wife in here dogs being a busybody about the move. I’ve packed up all the electronics in their original boxes.

This is an exercise in puzzle-solving better than any iOS app ever. It has given me a great appreciation for the art of simple packing. Some electronics have minimal and obvious packing pieces that fit logically to protect the device and leave easily accessibly room for cables and accessories.

Others deserve some kind of bonus achievement for figuring out how they could possibly fit.

The worst of them all was the WiiU. Way to many pieces of packaging. Rock Band 2 was also an almost impossible piece. You have to unscrew the guitar to get it to separate into pieces. You should get an achievement unlocked in the game if you successfully fit the pieces back in the box. Sad to say I got everything safely in but I was still left with two extra bits I ended up throwing away.

Tomorrow:
Packers come and pack things, I do Tech News Today in the morning and come back home after dropping some stuff off at Goodwill, Eileen flies back to LA.