Today in Tech History – October 28, 2017

Today in Tech History logo1793 – 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.

http://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/todays-doc/index.html?dod-date=1028

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 men of all time. Happy birthday William Henry Gates the third. You know him as Bill.

http://www.biography.com/people/bill-gates-9307520

1998 – 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.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/10/dmca-ten-years-unintended-consequences

2014 – The W3C published its recommendation of HTML5, the final version of the standard. It included the video and canvas tags among other improvements.
http://www.w3.org/TR/html5/

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

DTNS 3147 – Round Table: Automation, Amazon, Diversity and AI Hype

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comIt’s the final Friday of the month and that means it’s time for our first Round Table edition of DTNS. We’ll talk about 4 topics, 15 minutes or so each, including Automation, Amazon’s power, gender diversity in tech and the hype and reality behind AI.

With Sarah Lane, Tom Merritt, Roger Chang, Shannon Morse and Erin Carson. Play-off music courtesy of Andrew Allen.

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 – October 27, 2017

DTH_CoverArt_1500x1500Earnings look good from Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon. Intel has fast new SSDs and Amazon wants to become a prescription drug seller.

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 27, 2017

Today in Tech History logo1904 – The first underground New York City subway line opened. The line ran from City Hall in lower Manhattan through Grand Central, Times Square and ended north in Harlem. Rides cost five cents.
http://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/The_New_York_Subway_Souvenir_(1904)
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/oct27.html

1994 – HotWired launched bringing with it the first large quantity sales of banner ads. AT&T, Zima, MCI, Volvo, Club Med and 1-800-COLLECT all plunked down for the privilege.

http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/happy-birthday-digital-advertising/139964/

2005 – The European Space Agency launched its first satellite, a micro-satellite called the SSETI Express Satellite, designed and built by European students.
http://www.esa.int/esaMI/sseti_express/index.html

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

DTNS 3146 – Earningspalooza

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comIt’s earnings-palooza! As Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Twitter and Intel release earnings at the same time, we take the opportunity to reflect on what it means that the biggest companies in tech are now among the biggest companies in the world.
With Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang, and Justin Robert Young.

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 – October 26, 2017

DTH_CoverArt_1500x1500Twitter shows user growth, ends ads from RT and Sputnik, Facebook launches desktop version of Workplace and Apple’s CarPlay arrives on a motorcycle.

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 26, 2017

Today in Tech History logo1936 – The first electric generator went into full operation at Hoover Dam, about a month after President Roosevelt had dedicated the dam and tried to encourage people to call it the Boulder Dam.

https://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/edn-moments/4399466/First-Hoover-Dam-electric-generator-goes-into-full-operation–October-26–1936

1992 – Software deployment issues in CAD, the new ambulance dispatch system in London, caused 30-45 deaths. Poor training, a memory leak and no load testing contributed to the failure.

http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/staff/a.finkelstein/las/lascase0.9.pdf

2004 – Apple debuted the iPod photo, capable of displaying digital photographs and album art on a built-in color screen.
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2004/10/26Apple-Introduces-iPod-Photo.html

2012 – Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system went on sale, with its tile-based start screen.

http://news.microsoft.com/2012/10/25/windows-8-arrives/

2016 – Microsoft announced the Surface Studio, an all-in-one desktop PC with a touchscreen that could fold down almost flat on a desk. It worked with the new Surface Dial input device and sold for $2,999.

http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/10/26/13380462/microsoft-surface-studio-pc-computer-announced-features-price-release-date

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

DTNS 3145 – Why Did the Texter Cross the Road?

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comAmazon wants you to let it’s delivery people in your house while you’re gone, Apple says it has not reduced the accuracy of FaceID, and Honolulu wants you to watch where you’re going.
With Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, and Roger Chang.

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!