Today in Tech History – July 16, 2017

Today in Tech History/ Writing / July 16th, 2017

Today in Tech History logo1945 – The United States detonated a plutonium-based test nuclear weapon at the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range in New Mexico. The Trinity test ushered in the atomic age.

http://www.osti.gov/manhattan-project-history/Events/1945/trinity.htm

1951 – VisiCalc creator Dan Bricklin was born in Philadelphia.

http://www.computerhistory.org/tdih/July/16/

1969 – Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins, blasted off from Cape Kennedy on Apollo 11, the first manned mission to the surface of the moon.

http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo-11/apollo-11.html

1995 – Amazon.com opened for business selling books online. Shipments were packed into boxes from a desk made out of a spare door in a two-car garage in Bellevue, Washington.

http://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2004089,00.html

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

Today in Tech History – July 15, 2017

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

Today in Tech History logo1928 – The Polish Cipher Bureau picked up enciphered radio signals from the German Reicswehr for the first time. The messages were encoded with Germany’s ENIGMA machine. Cracking the EMIGMA during World War II brought together some of the finest minds in computer science at Bletchley Park in England.

http://books.google.com/books?id=hfWTDr_bvMwC&pg=PA117&lpg=PA117&dq=july+15+1928+enigma&source=bl&ots=9M41qBR6P2&sig=uvtGXuu4q3DeZol6pbJs3rfzq28&hl=en&sa=X&ei=GYjMUYSBIOWciQKOv4GoDg&ved=0CFwQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=july%2015%201928%20enigma&f=false

1983 – Nintendo released the Family Computer or Famicom, along with Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr. and Popeye cartridges. It would later be released in the US as the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1437208/Nintendo-console

2003 – AOL Time Warner disbanded the Netscape browser development team. In conjunction, Mozilla created the Mozilla Foundation giving the project its first independent legal existence.

http://www.mozillazine.org/talkback.html?article=3434

2006 – After a few months being used internally at Odeo, the Twttr service launched for public use. They later added some vowels and spun Twitter out as its own company.

http://techcrunch.com/2006/07/15/is-twttr-interesting/

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

DTNS 3073 – The Case of Australia v. Math

Daily Tech News Show / July 14th, 2017

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comWe bust through the FUD around Australia’s proposed encryption law. Plus the demise of another dark web marketplace and why you might want to stick all your data in the cloud when you cross a border.

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Show Notes
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Daily Tech Headlines – July 14, 2017

Daily Tech News Show / July 14th, 2017

DTH_CoverArt_1500x1500Australia floats encryption law, Amazon Echo chief retires, Google Music adds discovery radio.

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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
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Today in Tech History – July 14, 2017

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

Today in Tech History logo1867 – Alfred Nobel demonstrated dynamite for the first time at Merstham Quarry, Surrey.

http://www.information-britain.co.uk/famdates.php?id=572
http://www.nobelprize.org/alfred_nobel/biographical/articles/dolan/

1918 – Computer pioneer and MIT professor Jay Forrester was born on a cattle ranch in Climax, Nebraska. With Robert Everett, Forrester led one of the most important early computer projects, the Whirlwind, and developed and founded the field of system dynamics.
http://jsterman.scripts.mit.edu/docs/Lane-2011%20Profiles%20in%20Operations%20Research.pdf

1965 – Mariner 4 flew by Mars, taking 21 full pictures, the first close-up photos of another planet returned from space.

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1964-077A

2015 – The New Horizons spacecraft made its closest approach to Pluto after traveling for nine and a half years and three billion miles. It was the last of the nine planets to be approached by a probe, though Pluto had been reclassified as a dwarf planet after New Horizons had launched.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/15/science/space/nasa-new-horizons-spacecraft-reaches-pluto.html?_r=0

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

DTNS 3072 – One more thing: Lasers

Daily Tech News Show / July 13th, 2017

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comUber backs up slowly from Russia, Oculus may go wireless, and whether Apple or something else drove luxury phone maker Vertu into bankruptcy.

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

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

Show Notes
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#299 – NK Jemisin Says FanFic Makes Good Practice

Shows/ Sword and Laser / July 13th, 2017

It’s windy but in among the breeze, N.K. Jemisin shares wisdom about writing, characters and wrapping up the Broken Earth Trilogy. Plus she accidentally brings up FanFic and talks about why, even though it can be more than practice, it’s really good for honing your writing.

Daily Tech Headlines – July 13, 2017

Daily Tech News Show / July 13th, 2017

DTH_CoverArt_1500x1500Oculus making a wireless VR headset, Uber merges Russian business with Yandex’s. Apple may put 3D lasers in iPhone.

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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
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Today in Tech History – July 13, 2017

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

Today in Tech History logo1919 – The British airship R34 finished the first airship roundtrip journey across the Atlantic from Scotland to Mineola, Long Island and back to Norfolk, England after 182 hours of flight.
http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1919/1919%20-%200948.html

1973 – Alexander Butterfield revealed the existence of the Nixon tapes to the US Senate committee investigating the Watergate break-in. Always make back-ups, unless you want to remain President.

http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/guides/findingaid/butterfieldapapers.asp

1977 – Lightning struck a Consolidated Edison substation on the Hudson River, tripping two circuit breakers and setting off a chain of events that resulted in a massive power failure. The entire city of New York was blacked out.

http://www.bronx.com/news/local/429.html

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

DTNS 3071 – The Secret History of Net Neutrality

Daily Tech News Show / July 12th, 2017

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comYes there’s a new glasses-free 3D tech and Overwatch esports league. But the star of today is net neutrality and how its current insane situation started with one little power move in 2002.

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 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!