#308 – A Decade of Us

That’s right, Sword and Laser has been picking and reading books for 10 years and we’re not even close to stopping. This week we discuss why you don’t need to travel to London to read Theodora Goss but it doesn’t hurt. And why we’re extra excited for Andy Weir’s Artemis.

DTNS 3136 – You’re Wrong -ong -ong -ong

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comHuge open source AI collab between Amazon and Microsoft, Disney wins a digital movie war you didn’t know was being fought, and whether social media is threatening democracy.
With Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang and Justin Robert Young.

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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 headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

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!

 

What Happened to the DTNS Video podcast?

The DTNS video feed is not actually run by us, it’s been maintained by a volunteer fan Shawn Wei for it’s entire life which has been most fo the time since we launched in 2014. In all that time Shawn has done an amazing job keeping the feed up and running.

Tuesday we noticed that the feed was not updating and I mentioned it to Shawn on Twitter who promised to look into it. I followed up with him in an email yesterday. Shawn has a day job that was keeping him from getting right on it but he said it was an error in the script that creates the feed and he would get it fixed.

Our apologies for those of you who rely on this feed for the video version of the podcast. I’ve contacted Shawn again this morning and raised the idea of transferring the feed over to us so we can help fix things like this.

Shawn has been amazing and it’s to his credit that most of you haven’t even noticed this was a fan-run feed for so many years.

Apologies again for the disruption.

Tom

Daily Tech Headlines – October 12, 2017

DTH_CoverArt_1500x1500Oculus headsets go wireless, Google disables a Home button and Facebook to release details on Russian ads.

MP3

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

Follow us on Soundcloud.

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 12, 2017

Today in Tech History logo1979 – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was first published unleashing in book form, the world of Vogon Poetry, essential towel behaviour, and the BabelFish.

http://www.information-britain.co.uk/famdates.php?id=1237

2001 – An era ended as the Polaroid Corporation filed for federal bankruptcy protection, killed off by 1-hour developing and the rise of digital cameras. Bank One bought most of the company and re-launched a company under the same name.

http://money.cnn.com/2001/10/12/companies/polaroid/

2003 – Adam Curry posted an AppleScript called RSS2iPod that took MP3s downloaded by RSS to a folder and automatically transferred them to a connected iPod. Christopher Lydon’s Radio UserLand was used as the example.

http://radio-weblogs.com/0001014/2003/10/12.html#a4604

2005 – After previously assuring us nobody wanted to watch videos on an iPod, Steve Jobs reversed course and Apple started making videos available on iTunes. ABC/Disney was the only TV network available at the time but you could get episodes of Lost and Desperate Housewives the day after they aired.
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2005/10/12Apple-Announces-iTunes-6-With-2-000-Music-Videos-Pixar-Short-Films-Hit-TV-Shows.html

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

DTNS 3135 – My New Life As A Cyborg

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comAmazon’s new waterproof Kindle, Oculus’s new VR headset and why your unsent text message could be your will.
With Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang and Raj Deut.

MP3

Using a Screen Reader? Click here

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

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

Follow us on Soundcloud.

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 headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

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!

Daily Tech Headlines – October 11, 2017

DTH_CoverArt_1500x1500Amazon wants more teen purchases, DoJ wants more encryption access, Google buys 60db.

MP3

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

Follow us on Soundcloud.

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 11, 2017

Today in Tech History logo1950 – CBS’s mechanical color system was the first to be licensed for broadcast by the FCC. Color TV would not become widespread until the late 1960s.
http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/adaccess/timeline/1946-1950/

1957 – The Jodrell Bank observatory, with the world’s largest radio telescope, designed by Sir Bernard Lovell, began operation. It’s first job was to track the just-launched Sputnik satellite.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/the_queens_diamond_jubilee/9307367/Queens-Diamond-Jubilee-60-crowning-glories.html

1958 – NASA launched the lunar probe Pioneer 1 the first of the Pioneer program. It didn’t get very far, falling back to Earth and burning up in the atmosphere.

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2372.html

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

DTNS 3134 – Skype’s The Limit For Cortana

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.com If NFC payments technologies like Apple Pay, Google Pay and others are the future why is it taking so long to gain acceptance? And will the be Post Office be the first civilian government agency to employee autonomous vehicles?

Featuring Sarah Lane, Roger Chang and Patrick Beja
MP3

Using a Screen Reader? Click here

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

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

Follow us on Soundcloud.

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 headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

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!