Tom Merritt's Blog, page 1188

Tech News Today 569: The Last Word in Passwords

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

Passwords have never been weaker, Google on the ropes in iOS, next trip to Mars, and more.

Guest: Dan Goodin

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

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

We invite you to check out the full show notes for today’s episode here.

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time: 52:21

Tech History Today – Aug. 22

In 1932 – The BBC began public television broadcasts.

In 1955 – The first computer user group, SHARE was founded by users of IBM’s Model 704 computer. The first meeting was held in the basement conference room of the RAND Corporation.

In 2007 – The Storm botnet sent out a record 57 million virus-infected emails.It failed to take down the Internet.

Tech History Today – Aug. 21

In 1888 – William Seward Burroughs received four patents, including one for a ‘Calculating Machine’. It would lead to the creation of the Burroughs Adding Machine Company.

In 1973 – Sergey Brin was born in Moscow. His family emigrated to the US in 1979. He would grow up to co-develop a search engine with Larry Page and co-found Google.

In 1993 – NASA lost contact with the Mars Observer three days before it was supposed to enter orbit. As it began to pressurize fuel tanks, the spacecraft’s transmitters went silent and it was never heard from again.

S&L Podcast – #108 – Ye olde dragon phylogeny

We have essential info for Wheel of Time fans, dragon fans, and we debate the best SciFi weapons. Also, Veronica claims to be able to hear Tom’s face. 

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Boont Amber Ale 
Veronica: Carolans Irish Liqueur 

QUICK BURNS
Forbes reveals list of 2011′s top-earning authors
Adam Whitehead gets back to his summary of the Wheel of Time series
The evolutionary history of dragons, illustrated by a scientist
All 29 editions of  Year’s Best Science Fiction anthologies coming as e-books
Great writing advice from this year’s Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy writing workshop
Digital Book World aims for a more accurate ebook bestseller list

CALENDAR

BARE YOUR SWORD
Coolest Sci-Fi Weapons 
We’re Number 2! 

TV, MOVIES AND VIDEO GAMES
Ciarán Hinds is Mance Rayder in GAME OF THRONES 

BOOK CHECK-IN
A Question About Shrewd’s command -spoilers!
Ending Questions (Very Spoilery) 
What else are we reading? 

VOICEMAIL

We’re going to DragonCon!
Sword and Laser Podcast – LIVE
We’ll do a live version of our audio podcast with a special guest author and take your questions. So get to reading!
Time: Sat 02:30 pm Location: Crystal Ballroom – Hilton (Length: 1 Hour)
Parsec Awards
The Parsec Awards are the yearly awards for speculative fiction podcasts. I’ll be presenting, and Veronica Belmont will be hosting!
Time: Sun 04:30 pm Location: International North Room – Hyatt

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. 

Frame Rate 90: Last dance for Hulu?

Hosts: Brian Brushwood and Tom Merritt

IAWTV awards, Hulu’s CEO giving up, Olympics on YouTube, DOJ FCC clears Verizon’s spectrum buyout, Apple wooing cable operators, and more.

Guest: Amber J Lawson, Chairman of the IAWTV

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: 1:13:40

Tech News Today 568: I Like My Newspaper

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

Changes for Hulu, OnLive replaced by OnLive, excited about Synaptics, and more.

Guest: Fr. Robert Ballacer, SJ

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

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

We invite you to check out the full show notes for today’s episode here.

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time: 50:53

Tech History Today – Aug. 20

In 1920 – The first commercial radio station, 8MK, began operating in Michigan. Now, WWJ, it is owned by CBS.

In 1930 – W2XCR began broadcasting at 2.1-2.2 mHz from Jersey City, New Jersey, with the first demonstration of telecasts meant for the home. A half-hour program, hosted by the cartoonist Harry Hirschfeld, was viewed on screens placed in a store in the Hotel Ansonia, the Hearst building, and a home at 98 Riverside Drive.

In 1970 – John Carmack was born in Shawnee Mission, Kansas. He would grow up to co-found id software and bring the world Doom, Wolfenstein and Quake.

S&L Video – #10 – Interview with Adam Christopher

We talk with ‘Empire State’ author Adam Christopher about his upcoming book ‘Seven Wonders,’ alternate New Yorks, and what kind of superhero he’d like to be. 

Learn more about our guest!
Adam Christopher: http://www.adamchristopher.co.uk/
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/ghostfinder
On Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/adamchristopher

Show Notes: 
http://www.gfmfilms.co.uk/films/pre-production/neuromancer/
http://savethescifi.com/
http://storybundle.com/
http://www.galacticfootballleague.com
http://www.theawl.com/2012/08/a-timeline-of-future-events

‘Damiano’ Whiteboard Review by Aaron: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smc8PBVDkfY

Tech History Today – Aug. 19

In 1839 – At a crowded meeting of the Paris Academy of Sciences, Louis Daguerre demonstrated the process of making photos called daguerreotypes.

In 1906 – Philo Farnsworth was born on INdian Creek in Beaver County, Utah. He would grow up to inspire the beloved professor character on Futurama. He also gets credit for Inventing the first completely electronic television.

In 1934 – Gordon Bell was born in Kirksville, Missouri. He would grow up to help build PDP computers and oversee the development of DEC’s VAX series.

Tech History Today – Aug. 18

In 1937 – The first Frequency Modulation or FM radio permit was granted to W1XOJ, in Paxton, Massacusetts. It went on the air with scheduled programs in May 1939 and operated with the highest output power (50 kilowatts) granted previous to World War II.

In 1947 – Eight years after William Hewlett and David Packard founded it, Hewlett-Packard was officially incorporated.

In 2005 – The largest and most widespread power outage in history happened on the Indonesian island of Java, affecting almost 100 million people.