Tech News Today 619: Delay It Until It’s Awesome

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell

Disney and Lucas ruin the Internet, Cue up the Apple worries, EFF calls out Ubuntu, and more.

Guests: Steve Kovach

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Submit and vote on story coverage at technewstoday.reddit.com.

Check out the full show notes for today’s episode.

We invite you to read, add to, and amend the wiki entry for this episode at wiki.twit.tv.

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time: 50:35

Tech News Today 618: Can Do Da

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell

Do we need big device announcements? Apple fires a couple people, hurricane hits the Internet, and more.

Guests: Rafe Needleman

Download or subscribe to this show at twit.tv/tnt.

Submit and vote on story coverage at technewstoday.reddit.com.

Check out the full show notes for today’s episode.

We invite you to read, add to, and amend the wiki entry for this episode at wiki.twit.tv.

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time: 53:52

Tech History Today – Oct. 31

In 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.

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

In 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.

Like Tech History? Purchase Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.

Tech News Today 617: Windows Phone Gr8?

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell

Windows Phone 8 gets real, hurricane unites the Internet, Google unveils more Nexus hardware, and more.

Guests: Nate Lanxon and Alex Gumpel

Download or subscribe to this show at twit.tv/tnt.

Submit and vote on story coverage at technewstoday.reddit.com.

Check out the full show notes for today’s episode.

We invite you to read, add to, and amend the wiki entry for this episode at wiki.twit.tv.

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time: 55:17

Tech History Today – Oct. 30

In 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.

In 1945 – The first conference on Digital Computer Technique was held at MIT. The National Research Council, Subcommittee Z on Calculating Machines and Computation sponsored the conference.

In 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.

Like Tech History? Purchase Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.

S&L Video – #14B – Cloud Atlas Wrap-Up & Your Feedback!

Before you head to the theatres to see the film adaptation of Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas, join us in the space pub as we wrap-up our October pick and check in with everyone on GoodReads! 

More about our October pick, Cloud Atlas:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49628.Cloud_Atlas

More on the Cloud Atlas film adaptation: 
http://www.cloudatlasmovie.com
http://www.facebook.com/cloudatlas
Trailer: http://youtu.be/ByehYal_cCs

Discussion Threads: 
http://www.goodreads.com/group/bookshelf/4170-the-sword-and-laser
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1036631-neurotagging
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/983371-ai-taking-over-the-world

Orbital Resonance review by Aaron: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Rl3-u4VXSo

S&L Podcast – #113 – Almost amazing

This week we get a review of the Cloud Atlas movie, a sneak peek at the Dirty Streets of Heaven and a debate about Denny’s.

 
WHAT WE’RE DRINKING
Tom: 2010 Peachy Canyon Zinfandel Incredible Red 
Veronica: Unicorn tears
 
QUICK BURNS
JRR Tolkien letter reveals poor sales of The Hobbit
 
The Hobbit’s Second Breakfast being served at Denny’s is something that is happening
 
Neal Stephenson talks REAMDE with lawyers, security experts
 
CALENDAR
 
BARE YOUR SWORD
Cloud Atlas movie
 
BOOK CHECK-IN
Tom also finishing Isles of the Forsaken by Carolyn Ives Gilman 
Veronica finished Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera, Book 1) by Jim Butcher.
 
EMAIL

Hey guys,
I love your show.  Can’t wait for the Robin Hobb interview.  Will that be on the youtube webcast and the audio podcast?  I read Liveship, Tawny Man, Farseer, and the new Rain Wilds series.  I had to Lem the Soldier Son….it was way too slow and a little boring….I didn’t like the protagonist at all.  

Anyway, I am really writing today about the email below.  You guys are going to be in the money for all of the books you have bought from Amazon.  I have had a Kindle for around 3 years and I am always disappointed about the pricing.  The electronic version of a book should ALWAYS be less then the hardback/paperback but that is not always so.  

It looks like some publishers are finally trying to put an end of the extreme pricing.
What do you think?

Is the Youtube podcast ever going to go to Itunes as a videocast?  I am not always in front of my computer / smart TV so it would be great if my IPod could play the video cast.  You guys look great on a 55″” HD TV by the way.

My author interview wishlist:  Scott Lynch, Gentlemen Bastards…Brent Weeks, Lightbringer…..Peter V. Brett, Demon War….
Thanks,
Craig from PA

Dear Kindle Customer,
We have good news. You are entitled to a credit for some of your past e-book purchases as a result of legal settlements between several major e-book publishers and the Attorneys General of most U.S. states and territories, including yours. You do not need to do anything to receive this credit. We will contact you when the credit is applied to your Amazon.com account if the Court approves the settlements in February 2013.
Hachette, Harper Collins, and Simon & Schuster have settled an antitrust lawsuit about e-book prices. Under the proposed settlements, the publishers will provide funds for a credit that will be applied directly to your Amazon.com account. If the Court approves the settlements, the account credit will appear automatically and can be used to purchase Kindle books or print books. While we will not know the amount of your credit until the Court approves the settlements, the Attorneys General estimate that it will range from $0.30 to $1.32 for every eligible Kindle book that you purchased between April 2010 and May 2012. Alternatively, you may request a check in the amount of your credit by following the instructions included in the formal notice of the settlements, set forth below. You can learn more about the settlements here:
www.amazon.com/help/agencyebooksettlements
In addition to the account credit, the settlements impose limitations on the publishers’ ability to set e-book prices. We think these settlements are a big win for customers and look forward to lowering prices on more Kindle books in the future.
Thank you for being a Kindle customer.
The Amazon Kindle Team
 
ADDENDUMS
 
This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com the internet’s leading provider of audiobooks with more than 100,000 downloadable titles across all types of literature and featuring audio versions of many New York Times Best Sellers. For listeners of this podcast, Audible is offering a free audiobook, to give you a chance to try out their service. For a free audiobook of your choice go to audiblepodcast.com/sword.

 

Tech History Today – Oct. 29

In 1675 – Gottfreid Leibniz wrote the integral sign in an unpublished manuscript, a sign that would later haunt the nightmares of students and be widely misapplied on blackboards in movies. So happy Integral Day!

In 1969 – The first ever computer to computer link was established on the ARPANET. UCLA student Charley Kline sent the characters l and o to Stanford the connection crashed before he could finish sending ‘login’ The Internet has been crashy right from the start.

In 1998 – The Space Shuttle Discovery blasted off on STS-95 with 77-year old John Glenn on board, making him the oldest person to go into space.

Like Tech History? Purchase Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.

Tech History Today – Oct. 28

In 1793 – Eli Whitney applied to patent his improved cotton gin, capable of cleaning 50 pounds of lint per day, and powering patent metaphors and arguments for centuries to come.

In 1955 – A pair of proud Seattle parents welcomed their new son into the world, having no idea he would become one of the most loved and hated man of all time. Happy birthday William Henry Gates the third. You know him as Bill.

In 1998 – A different Bill, President Bill Clinton signed into law the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, making it illegal for you to use computers the way they were designed to be used, if big companies didn’t want you to.

Like Tech History? Purchase Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.