Today in Tech History – October 18, 2017

Today in Tech History logo1922 – Six telecom companies joined to found the British Broadcasting Company in order to provide radio broadcasts in Britain. The private company was later replaced by the non-commercial British Broadcasting Corporation in 1927.

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc/1920s.pdf

1954 – Texas Instruments announced the Regency TR-1, the first transistor radio, produced jointly with the Regency Division of Industrial Development Engineering Associates in Indianapolis. TI executive Vice President Pat Haggerty hoped the product would show what transistors could do and spur demand.

http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/company/history/timeline/semicon/1950/docs/54regency.htm

1985 – Nintendo introduced the Nintendo Entertainment System aka the NES at FAO Schwarz in New York. A little game called Super Mario Brothers was introduced on the same day. The NES was the North American version of the Famicom sold in Japan. It was test-marketed in New York and eventually conquered the continent, becoming an 8-bit classic.
http://news.cnet.com/Nintendos-NES-game-console-turns-20/2100-1043_3-5900089.html

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

DTNS 3139 – From Internet, With Love

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comWindows 10 is out and Microsoft has new gear, plus – do we need a separate Internet for being nice to each other?
With Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Roger Chang and Patrick Beja.

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Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.

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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!

 

Daily Tech Headlines – October 17, 2017

DTH_CoverArt_1500x1500Google reveals secret image chip in Pixel phones, Microsoft launches Windows 10 update and new Surface Book and mouse, Garmin teams up with Alexa.

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 17, 2017

Today in Tech History logo1888 – Thomas Edison filed a patent for something called an optical phonograph. Despite the conflicting name, it was a film camera with images 1/32nd of an inch wide. He said it would “do for the eye what the phonograph does for the ear.”
http://www.technicacommunications.com/dailytechnica-edison-film-kinetoscope/

1907 – Guglielmo Marconi’s company began the first wireless commercial radio service, and Canada got some tech first. Glace Bay, Nova Scotia was able to transmit to Clifden, Ireland. The service was used for trans-atlantic telegraph service.
http://cbwireless.ednet.ns.ca/cbwirelessp3.html

1990 – Col Needham posted a software package to rec.arts.movies which he called at the time “rec.arts.movies movie database.” It made the lists of movies on the newsgroup searchable. It would move to the web in 1992 and became known as IMDB, the Internet Movie Database.

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/19/business/la-fi-himi-needham-20130120

2013 – Microsoft released Windows 8.1, a free update to the Windows 8 operating system, that among other improvements, brought back the much beloved ‘Start’ button.

http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2013/10/17/can-now-download-release-version-windows-8-1-stores-tomorrow/

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

Cordkillers 191 – Netflix Original Spaghetti (w/ Sarah Lane)

Movies Anywhere makes movies easier, Netflix beats expectations, and Sarah Lane needs movie recommendations. With special guest Sarah Lane.

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CordKillers: Ep. 191 – Netflix Original Spaghetti
Recorded: October 16 2017
Guest: Sarah Lane

Intro Video

Primary Target

  • Movies Anywhere: Watch all your Amazon, Google, and iTunes titles in one place
    – Disney has launched an expanded version of its Disney Movies Anywhere service called Movies Anywhere. The service allows users to access movies purchased from Amazon, Google, Apple or Vudu all in one place. Movies Anywhere uses the Keychest technology implemented by Disney Movies Anywhere. Studios involved included Disney, Sony, 20th Century Fox, Universal and Warner Brothers. Discussions are ongoing with Paramount and Lionsgate but movies from those studios will not be available at launch. Movies Anywhere is available on Android, Android TV, Amazon Fire, iOS, Apple TV, Roku, and Chromecast.

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Dispatches from the Front
Hi Tom and Brian,

Long time listener and fan. The past two years I have been using cable for just local channels and Playstation Vue. I am about to close on my first house so because of the impending move I started to re evaluate how I cord cut.

First off I looked my antenna options because of the surrounding mountains. As of right now basic cable will be used but in a few weeks I will mount a large antenna off of the chimney of the house, hopefully it will work and I can cut basic out of my plan including a high $12 per month DTA cost.
Next I am looking to beef up my plex account, maybe to a lifetime plex pass. The service has been growing a lot in the last year and I have been impressed with the new additions. For services I am trying YouTube TV for CW live content. I am not sure if I will keep it due to the lack of DIY and HGTV and I do not want both YouTube TV and PS Vue.

I have been happy for the most part with PS Vue, but it has been several months since Sony and Viacom had their dispute. When I signed up I had all those channels and I felt like I was getting an amazing deal, now I feel like its an okay deal. I would pay another $5 with PS Vue if they added CW live, brought back Viacom channels, and added the History channel.
For the most part I have been very happy with my cord cutting experience.

Keep Up the Good Work

Scott

 

 

 

Hey Tom & Brian!
As you know, Hulu recently dropped their price for new subscribers to only $5.99 per month for the first year. I had just signed up for Hulu about a few weeks ago to binge watch the Handmaid’s Tale, so I was pretty bummed to see them lower the price after I joined.

I decided to contact Hulu and see if I could get the new pricing even though I am now a current Hulu subscriber. I was pleased to find out that they would give me the lower rate, no questions asked!! This might not work for everyone, but you might want to pass this along to other Cordkillers as a new version of Brian’s Chicken challenge.

Love the show!
Josh

 

 

 

Howdy,

We’ve been internet only with phone (pacemaker monitoring & 911 health reasons) on TWC’s fastest speed since Cordkillers premiered, and have been eagerly awaiting G-Fiber’s arrival. Every truck sighting elicits excitement. Our home is 12 miles from town center nestled in a valley, which, though within city limits, would necessitate an expensive roof-mounted antenna to get broadcast TV.

Since we have been streaming (Google WiFi mesh) using Chromecasts and Rokus all this time, a speed quadrupling at two-thirds or less the cost is eagerly anticipated. If G-Fiber is not offering phone services [?] there are other ISP services we can use.

Cheers, as Always!

Stephen

Links

2017 Winter Movie Draft
patreon.com/cordkillers

DTNS 3138 – Just Say No to KRACK

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comWhat you need to know about the KRACK WiFi vulnerability plus the RSA key debacle and progress on a virtual pancreas.
With Tom Merritt, Roger Chang, Veronica Belmont and Patrick Norton

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 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 16, 2017

DTH_CoverArt_1500x1500Serious WiFi vulnerability, New Huawei phones, IBM blockchain for banks.

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 16, 2017

Today in Tech History logo1843 – Sir William Rowan Hamilton finally hit on the idea of Quaternions, and needing a bit more space than his hand to jot it down, he carved it into the stone of Brougham Bridge in Dublin. Why do you care about quaternions? Because calculations involving three-dimensional rotations are essential for 3D computer graphics and computer vision. Video games people.

http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Hamilton.html

1923 – Distributor M. J. Winkler, contracted to distribute the “Alice Comedies” marking the founding of the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio which eventually changed its name to the Walt Disney Company, at Roy’s suggestion. So don’t expect anything after this date to ever go out of copyright.

http://d23.disney.go.com/archives/a-history-of-the-walt-disney-company/

1959 – Control Data Corp. released its model 1604 computer, the first from William Norris’s group that left Sperry Rand Corp.

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

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

Today in Tech History – October 15, 2017

Today in Tech History logo1878 – The Edison Electric Light Company began operation. They would go on to become more general. As in making up a significant part of General Electric.

http://books.google.com/books?id=w0o5Ld53wAEC&pg=PT130&lpg=PT130&dq=Edison+Electric+Light+Company+october+15+1878&source=bl&ots=s8fwfna3c3&sig=8HzXtv0nHRnYOKS6kAmAE-ieNaM&hl=en#v=onepage&q=Edison%20Electric%20Light%20Company%20october%2015%201878&f=false

1956 – Fortran, the first modern computer language was shared with the public for the first time. The IBM Mathematical Formula Translating System made John Backus a legend, kicked off modern programming, and is still developed by the Fortran Standards Technical Committee.

http://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/GFortranStandards

2003 – China launched the Shenzhou 5, its first manned space mission, becoming the third country in the world to have independent human spaceflight capability. Yang Liwei piloted the capsule showing the flags of the People’s Republic of China and the United Nations.

http://spaceflightnow.com/shenzhou/031015launch.html

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