News fatigue, TV news, Kryptonians are an interesting species, why we read the comics we do, How Arthur was the first superhero, the genre cycles on TV, the return of SciFi, Roger has a book idea.
PIDASW Ep. 03 – Revenge of the Sith
In this third episode, Yoda does stuff with hairy tarzan creatures, and Anakin makes an abrupt decision. PLUS there’s a killer TWIST that makes episode 2 make a bit more sense.It’s Tom Merritt’s attempt to forget everything he knows about the Star Wars universe and embrace the story in episodic order.
Big thanks to Ryan for the graphic.
Get the music! Live from the Cantina at more from andrewallentrio.com.
DTNS 2628 – Pirate Taxi
It’s Fanmail Thursday! Tom Merritt and Justin Young discuss your thoughts on Black Friday, movies on planes, the Feynman lectures on LOTS of stuff about the cars of the future and ride sharing. It’s like our own little LA auto show except Justin’s in Oakland.
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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, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit
Show Notes
To read the show notes in a separate page click here!
Today in Tech History – November 19, 2015
In 1872 – E.D. Barbour of Boston, Mass. received the first US patent for an adding machine capable of printing totals and subtotals. The so-called “calculating machine,” proved impractical.
In 1967 – Hong Kong TV, the first free over the air commercial television station in Hong Kong was established. Today it is known as TVB.
In 1981 – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos banned video games, citing such insidious examples as Space Invaders and Asteroids as a “destructive social enemy, the electrical bandit.”
2006 – The Nintendo Wii launched in North America.
Like Tech History? Get the illustrated Year in Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.
#235 – The Practical Effects Of Mallory O’Meara
We interview Mallory O’Meara, producer and screenwriter for Dark Dunes Productions, about Yamasong: March of the Hallows, a movie about an automated girl and tortoise warrior, with puppets, Nathon Fillion’s voice and more. We also discuss her love of horror fiction, and how weird it is that her grandparents have a torture shack in the woods!
http://swordandlaser.com/home/2015/11/16/sl-podcast-235-how-to-become-a-turtle-puppet-horror-master
DTNS 2627 – Are We Share Yet?
A report says by 2050 car ownership will fall but hours driven will rise. Scott Johnson and Tom Merritt talk about whether the young and old will give up owning automobiles.
Using a Screen Reader? Click here
Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.
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 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, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit
Show Notes
To read the show notes in a separate page click here!
It’s Spoilerin’ Time 96
Winter Movie Draft, Triage, Fargo (204), W/ Bob and David (Season 1), Star Wars Rebels (Season 1)
01:32 – Winter Movie Draft
02:56 – Triage (Winter Movie Draft)
04:02 – Triage (Fargo)
07:20 – Fargo (204)
12:39 – W/ Bob and David (Season 1)
24:45 – Star Wars Rebels (Season 1)
Today in Tech History – November 18, 2015
In 1883 – US and Canadian railways adopted five standardized time zones to replace the multitude of local times scattered across North America. It was called “The Day of Two Noons” as each railroad station clock was reset as standard-time noon was reached within each time zone.
In 1928 – Steamboat Willie premiered at Universal’s Colony Theater in New York City. It was the first fully synchronized sound cartoon, directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. It was also the first official appearance of Mickey Mouse. Happy birthday Mickey, now give us back a reasonable public domain date.
In 1977 – A startup called Microsoft, fresh off developing its own version of FORTRAN, won the right in arbitration to license its version of BASIC, previously licensed exclusively through MITS, makers of the Altair.
In 2012 – The Nintendo Wii U launched in North America. The console did not yet feature it TVii service but did require a 5GB download which took over an hour to update the console’s software.
Like Tech History? Get the illustrated Year in Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.
DTNS 2626 – I Have No Words for Oxford
On the bright side Oxford chose an emoji as word of the year. However, after the events in Beirut and Paris last week, governments are once again calling for back door access to encryption. Patrick Beja and Tom Merritt discuss.
Using a Screen Reader? Click here
Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.
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 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, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit
Show Notes
To read the show notes in a separate page click here!
Today in Tech History – November 17, 2015
In 1790 – August Ferdinand Mobius was born in Schulpforta, Saxony. The mathematician, astronomer and physicist is most well remembered for the discovery of the Mobius strip, a 2-dimensional object with only one side when embedded in 3D space. Poor Johann Benedict Listing also discovered it at the same time but Listing strip just doesn’t have the same ring.
In 1947 – Walter Brattain dumped a semiconductor experiment into a thermos of water and unexpectedly saw a large amplification of electricity. Working with John Bardeen they developed it into a new amplifier that would eventually be called the transistor.
In 1970 – The Soviet Union landed Lunokhod 1 on Mare Imbrium on the Moon. It was the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another world.
In 1971 – The Kenbak-1 desktop computer was advertised for sale in ComputerWorld for $750 It had first been advertised in Scientific American in September. The 8-bit computer had 256 bytes of memory and was dubbed the world’s first commercially available computer by a panel of experts involving Steve Wozniak.
Like Tech History? Get the illustrated Year in Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.