It has been a big day for Apple products. The iPhone 6, 6+ and AppleWatch all popped in to existence… sort of. These products in and of themselves are little more than tech kitsch. However, they have a game changer.

ApplePay.

Apple designed ApplePay to replace credit cards. I will not need to bring cards with me for payment anymore. I do not carry cash and will not carry cards. The only thing I will need to have with me is ID. Imagine how much less I will have to carry around with me in my daily life.

With the AppleWatch I can open locked doors, like the front door of my house. I can start my car. I can unlock…

In fact, there is my kick starter idea. I will build a lock that is unlocked by the AppleWatch. It will replace combination and key locks. It will have a rotary dial (like a combination lock) connected to a generator that will provide enough power for the lock to receive and process data from the watch.

In this way someone at the gym will not have to even keep a key with them while running, playing racquetball, or swimming.

Will I pay $350 for a watch? I do not know. I do not wear one now. I can say that Apple has provided me with motivation though. No keys, no cards, and empty pockets 😉

And now I submit the top half of Printrbot simple.

This is a project that I will finish on Friday. I receive the volume upgrade then. I will be printing on a metal heated bed, using a simpler design than most 3D printers, for lower cost, and similar quality.

To make this clear I feel that the 3D printing revolution is in desperate need of a Steve Jobs. Someone to make a printer for, “the rest of us.” One that, “just works.” Until then I will enjoy figuring out everything that this little joy can do. And yes, there will be pictures.

We live in an amazing era. Technology delivers delivers information to people regardless of format or distance. This fact scares the Broadcast Television market. An entire industry is kept up at night because someone small has come to challenge them.

Computers do three jobs. One job is input and output. We have to get data into a computer, and have to have a way to get something out of the computer. The second job is processing. The data is brought in, context is applied, and the resultant information is sent somewhere. Job three is storage. Users store information for recall moments later, hours later, days later, weeks later, months later, even years later.

A computer is a system that can perform these three tasks. In electronic computers we separate these three building blocks with wires and things called buses. A bus is an orderly system of wires and hardware that allows data and information to be moved from input, to or through processing or storage, to output as needed.

When mainframes were the primary systems used, I/O (input and output) was physically separated from storage and processing. An operator would sit down in front of a terminal to supply input. That input would pass to the mainframe for processing and storage. When needed, output was provided to the terminal so the operator could interact.

Fast forward half a century and we are doing the same thing again. This article exists because an iPad provides I/O. WordPress.com processes and stores data from the iPad. WordPress.com is acting as the mainframe, and an iPad is acting as the terminal. The current term for this separation of I/O, storage, and processing is “the cloud.” The bus that is used to tie everything together is a combination of wired and wireless connections and hardware.

The term “cloud” has to do with how we break up and separate I/O, storage, and processing. Interestingly enough, the term cloud applies to another popular wireless network that separates I/O from storage and processing. The network in question is referred to as “broadcast network,” or “television broadcast network.”

When an individual sits down in front of a television, they are viewing output. The output occurs in pictures and sound. However, pictures and sound are not what was delivered to the output device. Data in the form of ones and zeroes was sent through a network to the output device. The output device processes the ones and zeroes into graphics and sound. The graphics and sound cross a bus after processing and are then presented to the individual watching television.

A broadcast system emits a carrier wave on a certain frequency. The television receiver is designed to make use of this carrier wave. The fact that you receive signal wirelessly occurs only because of how strong the signal is. Weaker signals travel similar distances by the use of a copper wire.

Television broadcasters want you to believe in magic. They pretend like the process Aereo uses is in some way taking advantage of a loophole. Aereo is accused of using an unfair tactic to skirt the law. Now for the fact of the matter. There is a portion of a paragraph above that is in bold. This portion explains how TV works. It also explains how Aereo works. The ONLY point of concern comes from the italicized portion of the same paragraph.

The entire case Television Broadcasters have brought before the Supreme Court asks one question. What is the maximum length of the bus that is allowed when moving audio and video from a processor to a display device? Television Broadcasters want to control the functionality of the technology we refer to as “the cloud.”

Television Broadcasters feel they deserve a special exception. The rest of the world and the technology in it functions using a set of rules. Broadcasters want to change the rules after 50 years to do what is in their interests. I understand that television broadcasters run a business. I understand they choose to do what is in their own best interest. What I can not understand is why they would endeavor to dupe people into believing nonsense.

Only one court has been duped in to believing nonsense. I am not surprised that it was a court in Utah.

I read an article on SLATE about “the middle class myth.”  This is supposed to be comedy/satire right?  Let me point out why I ask:

In this article our character Stanley gets a job:

So Stanley walked over to Interlake Steel, where he was immediately hired to shovel taconite into the blast furnace on the midnight shift. It was the crummiest job in the mill, mindless grunt work..

Then we compare Stanley’s job:

Stanley’s job was more difficult, more dangerous and more unpleasant than working the fryer at KFC

I wonder if the author has ever had oil from a fryer splashed on them?  How is a burn from a furnace worse than a burn from a fryer?  How is shoveling coal more difficult than having to know the settings for a fryer, and haul hot fried food in and out of a fryer.  You shovel in to a furnace, you’re not pulling stuff out of it once its heated.  The author identified that shoveling coal is, “mindless grunt work..”  If you are mindless while working with a fryer, you will pay for it.  The author switches opinions again later in the article:

And anyone with two arms could shovel taconite. It required even less skill than preparing dozens of finger lickin’ good menu items, or keeping straight the orders of 10 customers waiting at the counter.

Maybe we could just ask Stanley what he thought of his work:

“You’d just sort of go on automatic pilot, shoveling ore balls all night,” is how Stanley remembers the work.

So shoveling coal both is and is not better/worse than working at KFC.  Right, I am following you.

Then our author decides to become an economist with this nugget:

According to the laws of the free market, though, none of that is supposed to matter. All that is supposed to matter is how many people are capable of doing your job.

Actually, that is one consideration. Another is what pay people will accept for doing the job. This is a critical component to consider.  If only two people will do the job, and one will do it for less pay than the other (all other things being equal), which do you hire?

It’s time to ask the question that is the point of the article:

So why did Rob Stanley, an unskilled high school graduate, live so much better than someone with similar qualifications could even dream of today?

So far the author contradicts themselves and has no idea how basic economics works.  What wonderful leap in logic can we use to address this?

The argument given against paying a living wage…

This myth, AGAIN?  Living wage?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-petro/the-living-wage-fallacy_b_360534.html

As money does not come from no where, all you do is raise the cost to hire, which drives up the cost of services and products, which drives up the “living wage” so that people can afford the higher prices, which drives up the cost of services and products…

This article can not go anywhere from here.

I turn 40 this year.  So I thought I would ruminate (just learned that word need to get a few miles out of it) on things I have experienced changing.

I remember having a record player when I was 4.  I sat and listened to children’s books on records.  I remember my dad owning a truck that had an eight track tape player in it.  I remember my mother getting a cassette recorder for Christmas (this all happened before I was ten).  After I was ten I saw CD’s, DAT’s, MD’s, audio DVD’s, MP3’s….  The rate of change for audio formats has been incredible.  Now we do not even bother with the physical media format.

I remember reference to Dick Tracy watches (I never saw an actual Dick Tracy comic).  Apple is expected to release a watch this year.  I find it in the realm of possibility that it could send and receive audio and video.  Think about that for a minute.  Dick Tracy was popular from 1931 to 1977.  It took until 2014 for the Dick Tracy watch to arrive on the scene.

A common mantra is “where is my flying car?”  Here.  Now shut up about it already.

Some things we have cured in my lifetime:

1. Invasive H. Flu

2. Chicken Pox
I wonder if curing Chicken Pox was a good thing now that we are seeing teenagers with Shingles.

Economics in the U.S. brings us this startling truth:

Fiscal Year	Federal Spending			Federal Debt			Gross Domestic Product			Inflation Adjustor[55]
	Billions[56]	Adjusted[57]	Increase	Billions[58]	Adjusted[59]	Percentage Increase	Billions[60]	Adjusted[61]	Increase
1977	$409	$1,040		$705	$1,795		$1,974	$5,019		0.39
1978	$459	$1,093	5.1%	$776	$1,850	3.1%	$2,217	$5,285	5.3%	0.42
1979	$504	$1,107	1.3%	$829	$1,821	−1.5%	$2,501	$5,494	4.0%	0.46
1980	$591	$1,175	6.1%	$909	$1,808	−0.8%	$2,727	$5,422	−1.3%	0.50
1981	$678	$1,219	3.8%	$994	$1,787	−1.1%	$3,055	$5,492	1.3%	0.56
1982	$746	$1,252	2.6%	$1,137	$1,908	6.8%	$3,228	$5,417	−1.4%	0.60
1983	$808	$1,294	3.4%	$1,371	$2,195	15.0%	$3,441	$5,510	1.7%	0.62
1984	$852	$1,300	0.4%	$1,564	$2,386	8.7%	$3,840	$5,858	6.3%	0.66
1985	$946	$1,396	7.4%	$1,817	$2,680	12.3%	$4,142	$6,108	4.3%	0.68
1986	$990	$1,426	2.1%	$2,120	$3,052	13.9%	$4,412	$6,352	4.0%	0.69
1987	$1,004	$1,406	−1.4%	$2,345	$3,283	7.6%	$4,647	$6,506	2.4%	0.71
1988	$1,065	$1,447	2.9%	$2,601	$3,534	7.7%	$5,009	$6,806	4.6%	0.74
1989	$1,144	$1,499	3.6%	$2,867	$3,757	6.3%	$5,401	$7,077	4.0%	0.76
1990	$1,253	$1,590	6.1%	$3,206	$4,067	8.3%	$5,735	$7,277	2.8%	0.79
1991	$1,324	$1,610	1.3%	$3,598	$4,374	7.5%	$5,935	$7,215	−0.8%	0.82
1992	$1,382	$1,624	0.9%	$4,001	$4,703	7.5%	$6,240	$7,334	1.7%	0.85
1993	$1,410	$1,615	−0.5%	$4,351	$4,987	6.0%	$6,576	$7,536	2.8%	0.87
1994	$1,462	$1,642	1.7%	$4,643	$5,216	4.6%	$6,961	$7,820	3.8%	0.89
1995	$1,516	$1,662	1.2%	$4,920	$5,395	3.4%	$7,326	$8,033	2.7%	0.91
1996	$1,561	$1,673	0.7%	$5,181	$5,554	3.0%	$7,694	$8,248	2.7%	0.93
1997	$1,601	$1,684	0.7%	$5,369	$5,647	1.7%	$8,182	$8,606	4.3%	0.95
1998	$1,653	$1,721	2.2%	$5,478	$5,704	1.0%	$8,628	$8,985	4.4%	0.96
1999	$1,702	$1,746	1.5%	$5,605	$5,750	0.8%	$9,125	$9,361	4.2%	0.97
2000	$1,789	$1,789	2.5%	$5,628	$5,628	−2.1%	$9,710	$9,710	3.7%	1.00
2001	$1,863	$1,821	1.8%	$5,769	$5,638	0.2%	$10,058	$9,829	1.2%	1.02
2002	$2,011	$1,929	6.0%	$6,198	$5,945	5.5%	$10,377	$9,954	1.3%	1.04
2003	$2,160	$2,018	4.6%	$6,760	$6,316	6.2%	$10,809	$10,099	1.4%	1.07
2004	$2,293	$2,082	3.2%	$7,354	$6,677	5.7%	$11,500	$10,441	3.4%	1.10
2005	$2,472	$2,165	4.0%	$7,905	$6,923	3.7%	$12,238	$10,717	2.6%	1.14
2006	$2,655	$2,249	3.9%	$8,451	$7,158	3.4%	$13,016	$11,024	2.9%	1.18
2007	$2,730	$2,263	0.6%	$8,951	$7,419	3.6%	$13,668	$11,329	2.8%	1.21
2008	$2,931	$2,366	4.6%	$9,654	$7,793	5.0%	$14,312	$11,553	0%	1.24
2009*	$3,107	$2,452	3.6%	$10,413	$8,218	5.5%	$14,097	$11,529	2.6%	1.27
2010*	$3,091	$2,392	−2.4%	$11,875	$9,247	12.5%	$14,508	$11,297	−2.0%	1.29

By the time Obama leaves office this country will spend 102% of its GDP.  How long is that going to be sustainable?  By the way, the chart above is a copy from wikipedia.

That brings me to my next point.  In school I was taught to search card catalogs for books in the library.  I remember the birth of:

1. BBS’s
2. Apple
3. AOL
4. CompuServe
5. Prodigy
6. Gopher/WAIS
7. HTML
8. Mozilla
9. Netscape
10. Internet Explorer
11. DSL
12. Yahoo
13. Google
14. Amazon
15. Ebay
16. Blogging
17. YouTube
18. Wikipedia
19. MySpace
20. FaceBook
21. Twitter

This is just off the top of my head.  I remember doing research when you had to have physical contact with media.  When was the last time you went to a library?

I remember watching the first space shuttle launch.  I saw the last one too.  I have seen the rise of the privatization of space travel.

I remember when travel had an almost enjoyable elegance to it.  It was fun to ride in an airplane headed somewhere.  Now it is the one form of travel people try to find a way to avoid using.  Customer service is nonexistent, the TSA is unnecessarily invasive and unsuccessful at its job, and value is ridiculous (what you pay v.s. what you get).  Due to our instant satisfaction training we do not move to other forms of transportation like trains.

In the past ten years we have handed over record number of freedoms for the sake of… fear.  When I was 11 years old I watched a movie called Night Crossing.  An opening scene took place in East Germany.  A family is at a public park having a party.  The police show up looking for a specific individual, knowing that person was at the party.  My mother asked me, “how do you think the police knew exactly where that person was?”  I had not considered it.  The family had to register what they were doing with the government.  That was thirty years ago.  With recent revelations from the Snowden incident it appears our government does not require us to register with them.  They just track us through our electronic devices.

So it has been an interesting forty years on this planet.  I look with apprehension to the future to see what the next forty brings.