Today in Tech History – – November 1, 2018

Today in Tech History/ Writing / November 1st, 2018

1870 – The United States Weather Bureau (now known as the National Weather Service) made its first actual weather report. 24 observers sent reports by telegram to Washington DC.

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/pa/history/evolution.php

1963 – The largest radio telescope ever constructed, the Arecibo observatory opened in Arecibo Puerto Rico. It would be used for many major discoveries including the first direct imaging of an asteroid.

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/nov1/worlds-largest-radio-telescope-opens/

1968 – The MPAA and 2 other industry organizations introduced the voluntary ratings system. G meant good for all ages, M meant mature audiences, R was restricted and X… well you know what X means. It would serve as a model for future voluntary systems like that used by the video game industry.

http://books.google.com/books?id=4WHgzaihSTgC&pg=PP104&lpg=PP104&dq=november+1+1968+voluntary+ratings+system&source=bl&ots=hulqwGH9et&sig=SxD_ymp776yKEiBtTnajoeSVsqE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=bnU8VN3fH9DbsASl-IDQBw&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=november%201%201968%20voluntary%20ratings%20system&f=false

Read Tom’s science fiction and other fiction books at Merritt’s Books site.

DTNS 3401 – WhatsAds

Daily Tech News Show/ Shows / November 1st, 2018

Apple is in talks with iHeartRadio, Sonos is delaying Google Assistant support until 2019, the US slips one point down in the latest Internet Freedom ranking and Flickr is rescinding 1TB of photo storage to free users.

Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang and Justin Robert Young.

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

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

Thanks to Anthony Lemos of Ritual Misery for the expanded show notes!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, Jack_Shid, KAPT_Kipper, and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes
To read the show notes in a separate page click here!

Apple To Possibly Invest In iHeartMedia – DTH

Daily Tech News Show/ Shows / November 1st, 2018

DTH_CoverArt_1500x1500Xiaomi sends Lyft scooter cease & desist, Apple’s T2 chips add security to new MacBook Airs, Spotify needs to hire more engineers.

MP3

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

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

If you are willing to support the show or give as little as 5 cents a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the theme music.

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

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, Jack_Shid, KAPT_Kipper, and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes
To read the show notes in a separate page click here!

Today in Tech History – – October 31, 2018

Today in Tech History/ Writing / October 31st, 2018

2000 – The Soyuz TM-31 launched, carrying Expedition 1 the first resident crew to the International Space Station, including Yuri Gidzenko, Sergei Krikalev and William Shepherd. The TM-31 was used as the crew’s lifeboat while on the station.

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/spacenews/reports/issreports/2000/iss00-43.html

2000 – Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) and Napster agreed to develop a service for swapping and sharing music. The service never materialized.

http://cnnfn.cnn.com/2000/10/31/bizbuzz/napster/

2007 – Nintendo of Japan finally ended support for the repair of FamiCom game consoles, the Japanese name for NES, citing a shortage of parts. End of an 8-bit era.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/18/nintendo-of-japan-calling-it-quits-on-famicom-hardware-support/

Read Tom’s science fiction and other fiction books at Merritt’s Books site.

DTNS 3400 – Ask Notch What Your Phone Can Do for You?

Daily Tech News Show/ Shows / October 31st, 2018

We discuss the notchiness of latest generation smartphones and what’s to love and hate about the design in everyday use.

Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang and Shannon Morse.

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Using a Screen Reader? Click here

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

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Subscribe through Apple Podcasts.

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

If you are willing to support the show or give as little as 5 cents a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Become a Patron!

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

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

Thanks to Anthony Lemos of Ritual Misery for the expanded show notes!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, Jack_Shid, KAPT_Kipper, and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes
To read the show notes in a separate page click here!

It’s Spoilerin’ Time 242 – The Good Place (305), Bodyguard (101-102), Dirk Gently HDA (105)

Cordkillers/ Shows / October 31st, 2018

The Good Place goes Florida, Dirk Gently still calls us friend, and we dive into Bodyguard (we’ll finish it next week)!

00:46 – Winter Movie Draft update

07:49 – The Good Place (305) – The Ballad of Donkey Doug

13:47 – Bodyguard (101-102)

20:12 – Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (105)

Subscribe to and support Cordkillers at http://www.cordkillers.com. If we get to 1850 patrons or $1850/episode, we can begin the Spoilerin’ Project and give you show-based Spoilerin’ Time feeds. Find out more and pledge here.

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UK and Canada Jointly Summon Zuckerberg – DTH

Daily Tech News Show/ Shows / October 31st, 2018

DTH_CoverArt_1500x1500Apple pulls back WatchOS update, The UK and Canada team up to summon Facebook’s CEO, Starship robots to deliver packages in the UK.

MP3

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

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

If you are willing to support the show or give as little as 5 cents a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the theme music.

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

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, Jack_Shid, KAPT_Kipper, and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes
To read the show notes in a separate page click here!

CurrentGeek 192: The Office UK and US

Current Geek/ Shows / October 30th, 2018
Welcome to Current Geek: Autopilot Edition. A chance for us to go back and watch the pilot episode of an old classic/geeky TV show and geek out about the show! I’m Scott Johnson, he’s Tom Merritt, and this week, we’re talking about The Office, both the US and UK versions.

Today in Tech History – – October 30, 2018

Today in Tech History/ Writing / October 30th, 2018

1938 – Orson Welles pwned the US radio audience with his famous broadcast of War of the Worlds. It was correctly introduced as theater but those not paying attention were fooled into thinking the play was the real thing.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/welles-scares-nation

1987 – NEC started selling the first 16-bit home entertainment system, called the TurboGrafx-16 Entertainment SuperSystem or in Japan, the shorter catchier PC Engine. It was originally more popular in Japan than the FamiCom, which we North Americans call the NES.

http://www.giantbomb.com/turbografx-16/60-55/

2012 – Disney and George Lucas announced that Disney would acquire 100 percent of LucasFilm, including ILM, LucasArts and Skywalker Sound. The company also announced it intended to release Star Wars: Episode 7 in 2015.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2012/10/30/disney-star-wars-lucasfilm/1669739/

Read Tom’s science fiction and other fiction books at Merritt’s Books site.

DTNS 3399 – I USB-C What You Did There Apple

Daily Tech News Show/ Shows / October 30th, 2018

Apple has announced a new iPad that’s faster, lighter, and more capable than previous models. Plus they unveiled the long-awaited update to the Mac Mini and MacBook Air.

Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang and Allison Sheridan.

MP3 Download

Using a Screen Reader? Click here

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

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

Subscribe through Apple Podcasts.

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

If you are willing to support the show or give as little as 5 cents a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Become a Patron!

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

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

Thanks to Anthony Lemos of Ritual Misery for the expanded show notes!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, Jack_Shid, KAPT_Kipper, and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes
To read the show notes in a separate page click here!