Today in Tech History – December 15, 2017

Today in Tech History/ Writing / December 15th, 2017

Today in Tech History logo1953 – Dudley Buck entered the idea for the Cryotron into his MIT notebook. The cryotron is a four-terminal superconductive computer component.

http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Cryotron

1965 – Gemini 6A, crewed by Wally Schirra and Thomas Stafford launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida. Four orbits later, it achieved the first space rendezvous, with Gemini 7.

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1965-104A

1994 – Netscape shipped version 1.0 of the Netscape Navigator Web browser.

http://books.google.com/books?id=_mrTMHwTrGwC&pg=PA169&lpg=PA169&dq=december+15+1994+netscape&source=bl&ots=Sy7G8GTqVz&sig=euKOXIILquJ_UwbRLFax5m6O9_I&hl=en&sa=X&ei=meCkUqz2E9DaoASE1YG4AQ&ved=0CGgQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=december%2015%201994%20netscape&f=false

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

DTNS 3179 – Net Neutrality: What now?

Daily Tech News Show / December 14th, 2017

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comWe talk about what will happen next after the FCC vote to reclassify Internet and what you can do about it. Plus, Disney is buying most of Fox.
With Sarah Lane, Tom Merritt, 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 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!

 

Daily Tech Headlines – December 14, 2017

Daily Tech News Show / December 14th, 2017

DTH_CoverArt_1500x1500Disney buys Fox, Bing gets some AI smarts and Microsoft adds native OpenSSH.

MP3

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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 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 – December 14, 2017

Today in Tech History/ Writing / December 14th, 2017

Today in Tech History logo1900 – German physicist Max Planck published his theory that radiant energy is made up of particle-like components, known as “quantum.” And quantum physics was born.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-birth-of-quantum-theory

1972 – Eugene Cernan ended a 7 hour and 15 minute EVA, climbed back aboard the Apollo 17 Lunar Module and became the last person to walk on the moon.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/14/newsid_4104000/4104387.stm

1996 – John Tu and David Sun, the founders of Kingston Technology took $100 million from the sale of their privately held enterprise and gave it to employees, a spontaneous gesture to those who had helped make the memory-module company a market leader.

http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2009/12/1214kingston-technology-christmas-bonus/

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

Briefly What I thought of Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Writing / December 14th, 2017

This will not have spoilers. However it will tell you what I feel about the movie. You have been cautioned.

The Last Jedi is a fun movie. It has epic moments.

It also has some weird things. But overall the weird is outweighed by the awesome.

It is well-paced. There is a lot more that is new than there was in Force Awakens and yet it has well-executed nods to the previous story.

Is it the best Star Wars yet? Arguably not. Depending on who you are you can make solid arguments that Empire or Even Force Awakens are better for various reasons. But this is a solid entry in the top 3 if not at the top of all the Star Wars movies made to date.

I had a great time. My expectations were often subverted. Characters were put in impossible situations and yet prevailed (very much like A New Hope in that way). And in the end I felt bonded more to the characters old and new.

If there is a criticism it might be too light-hearted at times. I’m also critical of the answers to some big questions we did and did not get. But that’s for a spoilery conversation.

Overall I enjoyed it thoroughly and felt it was: Amazing.

DTNS 3178 – Broadstrand Inter-wet

Daily Tech News Show / December 13th, 2017

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comPatreon reverses course on fee changes, Eagles are losing their drops as drone catchers, and 3.5 Mbps internet over wet string is now possible.
With Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang, and Scott Johnson.

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 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!

Daily Tech Headlines – December 13, 2017

Daily Tech News Show / December 13th, 2017

DTH_CoverArt_1500x1500T-Mobile plans new TV service, Google announces AI center in China, Dutch eagle drone project is abandoned.

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 – December 13, 2017

Today in Tech History/ Writing / December 13th, 2017

Today in Tech History logo1962 – NASA “Relay 1” launched, the first active repeater communications satellite in orbit.

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1962-068A

1977 – Young Bill Gates was arrested for a traffic violation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, leading to one of the most famous mugshots ever.

http://archive.boston.com/business/technology/gallery/MicrosoftTheEndofTheBillGatesEra?pg=3

1977 – Robert Metcalfe et. al were awarded a patent for “Multipoint data communication system with collision detection” also known as ethernet.

http://www.google.com/patents?id=Szg6AAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4#v=onepage&q&f=false

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

DTNS 3177 – 1800s TweetStorm

Daily Tech News Show / December 12th, 2017

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comOfficial tweetstorms, following hashtags on Instagram and why Patrick thinks there may be an anti-bubble that’s ruining your day.
With Tom Merritt, 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 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!