Tom Merritt's Blog, page 1155
January 9, 2013
Tech News Today 665: RIP 3D
Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell
T-Mobile’s plans to conquer, cheap iPhone finally coming? 3D dead in all dimensions, and more.
Hosts: Nate Lanxon
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:: 0:49:00
January 8, 2013
Tech History Today – Jan. 9
In 1901 – The first application for a patent for Meccano was submitted. Known at first as “Mechanics Made Easy,” this invention of Frank Hornby became a worldwide success and is sold in the US under the name “Erector Set”
In 1992 – Apple CEO John Sculley coined the term Personal Digital Assistants, or PDA, and indicated Apple would get into the business of making them later that year.
In 2001 – Apple introduced iTunes for the Macintosh, featuring CD ripping, digital music organizing, and Internet radio.
Like Tech History? Purchase Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.
Autopilot S2E09 – CHiPs
CHiPs is an American television drama series produced by MGM Studios (now owned by Turner Entertainment) that originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to July 17, 1983. CHiPs followed the lives of two motorcycle police officers of the California Highway Patrol. The series ran for 139 episodes over six seasons.
Unpacking…. Forever.
Yesterday was the first of my TWiT shows from LA. My studio setup isn’t done yet so I pulled some schtick and put boxes behind me to emphasize I’m in transition still. That didn’t stop people from making well-meaning suggestions about how to improve my set.
The bandwidth was plenty though, so the whole thing worked better than I expected, although the HV30 needs some camera tweaks.
Between getting things set for TNT and doing Frame Rate later in the day and then guesting on The Weird Things podcast, I didn’t get a lot done in the house. I did take a mic jog around the neighborhood with Sawyer the Dog, and learned there’s a Staples near us.
That led to a fruitless quest for a new chair. The chair I have isn’t talk enough for the new set, so I’ve been sitting on a box. It’s not very comfortable. I found a drafting chair at Staples but the only one they had in stock was broken. They said another location on Bundy Drive had three. I went there and they said they couldn’t find them. Mind you both locations had floor models. So the guy at Staples offered to order it online for me. Which saved me $30 somehow. It should arrive tomorrow.
This afternoon I had a little more time between work stuff so I took Jango the dog for a walk to Taco Bell and back. Right as we got home we witnessed a neighbor at another neighbors door shouting about a pile of dirt. Inlaid you not. From what I gathered, it had taken up a parking space and the elderly lady being yelled at had left handprints on a truck. Or something. I don’t care what the grey haired lady who can barely walk did, I don’t think it’s ok to scream at her at her front door. But to her credit she kept calm. The other lady yelled something about complaining to the neighborhood association and the senior center. So my neighborhood has an association! Good to know.
I spent a good amount of time unpacking my kitchen boxes after that. The coffee mugs are unpacked! No more paper cups. But bow my legs hurt. But my chair comes tomorrow and I think I figured out how to build my own desk. So things are looking up.
A few more minutes of rest and I think my legs will be ready to try unpacking some clothes.
Tech News Today 664: Hipster CES
Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell
Samsung’s big mystery, who’s buying tech companies, Internet of Things gets organised, and more.
Hosts: 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:: 0:47:02
January 7, 2013
Tech History Today – Jan. 8
In 1889 – Herman Hollerith received a patent for his electronic tabulating machine. His Tabulating Machine Company would go on to merge with three others and be called International Business Machines known today as IBM.
In 1973 – Less than a month after Apollo 17, the last manned Moon mission, the USSR launched space mission Luna 21 carrying lunar rover Lunakhod 2.
In 1982 – The United States vs. AT&T settlement was finalized with AT&T agreeing to divest itself of local exchanges in exchange for being allowed to start AT&T Computer Systems. Like Voltron, the behemoth would eventually reassemble.
Like Tech History? Purchase Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.
Frame Rate 107: Best Frame Rate since The Wire
Hosts: Brian Brushwood and Tom Merritt
Roku/Time Warner cable deal, Al-Jazeera acquire Current TV, Hulu CEO departure announcement, Netflix inks US Warner Bros, Sony internet TV service, and more
Download or subscribe to this show at twit.tv/fr.
We invite you to read, add to, and amend our show notes at wiki.twit.tv.
Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.
Running time:: 1:02:20
Tech News Today 663: CES in a Box
Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell
NVidia gets into hardware, Lenovo launches a new tabletop PC, Roku breaks down the cable TV wall, and more.
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:: 0:47:32
First time with my new commute
First time with my new commute
January 6, 2013
Tech History Today – Jan. 7
In 1714 – Henry Mill patented a machine for transcribing letters “one after another, as in writing”. Sadly, he died before he perfected the first typewriter.
In 1839 – Louis Daguerre made the first announcement of his photographic system at the Académie des Sciences in Paris, though details were not presented until August of that year.
In 1954 – In New York at IBM headquarters, IBM and Georgetown University showed off their joint project on machine translation. More than 60 sentences were translated from Russian to English using 8 grammar rules.
Like Tech History? Purchase Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.
