Category Archives: Tech News

Happy 2014 Silicon Valley!

Happy 2014 Silicon Valley and the Bay Area! No Scarlet Plague has stricken the Bay Area in 2013 and no dot com crash has hit as of yet. But some of the signs of a bubbly dot com bubble are appearing. From a frothy, unsustainable real estate market that has pushed rent costs higher and higher, to increased traffic of Tesla Model S 4 door sedans piloted by GoogleGlassHole drivers running up and down the 101. It’s here. The Tech Bubble. When will it pop? No one knows. Yet. Though some of the high flyers of the Tech World in this bubble are different from the Pets.com era of the past. Some of these booming tech companies in SiliconCali are actually profitable and are minting money as I type.

Fedora 20 beta release

Fedora 20 “Heisenbug” Linux beta release is now available. After 10 years of innovating for the Linux operating system, the Fedora Project is still going strong.

With the final release of Fedora 20 set for December 10, 2013, beta testers are actively hammering away at the Fedora 20 beta release and submitting any bugs to bugzilla. No word on if anyone is working on a “Heisenbug” compensator as an upgrade to the original Heisenberg compensator.

Fedora 20 beta release is available for download here.

Santa Clara Comcast Outage

And again Comcast high speed internet service and cable is out in parts of Santa Clara. How are we supposed to know when the zombie apocalypse starts with no connectivity?

Update: As of 0100 December 20, 2012, Comcast internet and TV is still out in Silicon Valley. Hard to believe that the home of tech has such bad internet service but it does.

Verizon 4G seems to be still working.
Anyone still keep DSL as a backup internet connection?

Update: San Jose and Santa Clara Comcast networks are out of service as of 0230 December 20, 2012.

Usually an internet network outage isn’t too much of a problem, but I just happened to be in the middle of signing important documents through the Authentisign.com service when the plug was pulled on the interwebs. But as with many things in the tech world, there are many different ways to keep things running. In this case the Android smart phone comes to the rescue again.

Apple releases iPhone 5. Is it worth it?

Apple released it’s much anticipated iPhone 5 today. Will it be worth the cash?
We’ll soon see. Long lines have already formed outside f Apple stores in anticipation of the iPhone 5. Good luck findng your way home if you use the new iPhone 5 map feature.

NASA’s Space Shuttle Endeavour set to fly over Silicon Valley and the Bay Area September 21st

Don’t miss your last chance to see a NASA Spaceshuttle flyover! On Friday morning, September 21st, the modified 747 carrying the Space Shuttle Endeavour will make several low altitude passes over the Bay Area and Silicon Valley before heading south to LA.

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NASA’s Spaace Shuttle Endeavour lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida
(image credit: NASA)

The shuttle, a veteran of 25 missions to space, will be flown on top of the custom Boeing 747 aircraft to its final location at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, California.

NASA-Space-Shuttle-Endeavour-mounted-on-747-jet-Shuttle-Carrier-Aircraft-SCA
Space Shuttle Endeavour mounted on the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) A modified Boeing 747 jet.
(image credit: NASA)

NASA hopes people share their sightings with the  hashtags #spottheshuttle and #OV105 on social media sites.

From NASA’s press release:

“On the morning of Sept. 20 21, the SCA and Endeavour will take off from Dryden and perform a low-level flyover of northern California, passing near NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., and various landmarks in multiple cities, including San Francisco and Sacramento. The aircraft also will conduct a flyover of many Los Angeles sites before landing about 11 a.m. PDT at LAX. ”

The Space Shuttle Endeavour Boeing 747 combo is planned to fly over Moffett Field at only 1,500 altitude so ear plugs are recommended.

NASA media advisory on the Shuttle Ferry Flight here.

Link to the event at EventbriteShuttle Flyover NASA Ames Research Center

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And here she is!

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Shuttle-Endeavour-on-747-over-Moffett-Field-020120921

And Hangar One before and after photos:

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Hangar One when it opened in 1933 (image credit: Wikipedia)
Hangar-One-Frame-Moffett-Field-020120921-SiliconCali.com
Hangar One on Moffett Field California completely stripped of its skin on September 21, 2012 (image credit: SiliconCali.com)

 

 

Star Trek’s 46th Anniversary Celebrated by Google Doodle

Google is celebrating the 46th Anniversary of the Star Trek series with an animated Trek themed doodle on their homepage.

Star-Trek-Google-doodle-46th-anniversary.png

The Star Trek Sci-Fi TV series and subsequent films helped to inspire much of the tech that we see in the world today.

“Star Trek: The Original Series” as the pioneering series is now known continues to inspire young and old by showing what is possible.

Google keeps an archive of their doodles and the animated Star Trek Google Doodle can be found here.

National Hurricane Center has Star Trek fun with Tropical Storm Kirk

Tropical Storm Kirk is just way too easy for the weather geeks at the National Hurricane Center to throw in some Star Trek references in their advisories.

From  TROPICAL STORM KIRK DISCUSSION NUMBER 20 released at 1100 AM Sunday September 2nd:

KIRK IS NOT EXPECTED TO LIVE LONG AND PROSPER

And these two Star Trek related lines written into TROPICAL STORM KIRK DISCUSSION NUMBER 19

KIRK HAS BEEN ACCELERATING OVER THE PAST SEVERAL HOURS AS IT
CONTINUES ITS TREK ACROSS THE FAR NORTH ATLANTIC.
...WHICH HAS HELPED KIRK TO CLING ON TO
TROPICAL CYCLONE STATUS.

The fun with Kirk couldn’t last of course. As predicted Tropical Storm Kirk did not live long and prosper. In fact he fell down a broken pedestrian walkway while playing with his Google Nexus 7 tablet. 😉

DEEP CONVECTION ASSOCIATED WITH KIRK HAS BECOME DISPLACED ABOUT 100
N MI TO THE NORTH-NORTHEAST OF THE ESTIMATED CENTER DUE TO OVER 30
KT OF SOUTH-SOUTHWESTERLY SHEAR. THE GLOBAL AND REGIONAL MODELS
INDICATE THAT THIS SYSTEM HAS BECOME COLD CORE...OR NO LONGER
TROPICAL IN NATURE...ACCORDING TO THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
CYCLONE PHASE ANALYSIS. THEREFORE...KIRK IS NOW CONSIDERED A POST-
TROPICAL CYCLONE...AND THIS IS THE LAST ADVISORY ISSUED ON THIS
SYSTEM BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER.

Can we expect more Star Trek related weather write-ups from Forecaster Cangialosi and the National Hurricane Center in Miami? I don’t see a “Tropical Storm Spock” or “Hurricane Picard” in the near future, but we are sure they will boldly drop Star Trek references where no one has gone before.

Kirk-is-not-expected-to-live-long-and-prosper
Tropical Storm Kirk didn’t have a chance to seek out new houses and flatten them.

Neil Armstrong: A Lunar Pioneer

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The moon hangs above us. Nightly taunting us with it’s silvery glow, seemingly close enough to touch. Yet it is a very dangerous, complicated and gruelling journey to get there. And to return alive. Many men answered this country’s call to go to the moon. A very select few had the right stuff to be chosen for the task. A much smaller group would actually set foot on the surface of the moon. Neil Armstrong was the first of these brave Americans. Venturing into the unknown for the thrill of exploration and the national pride of accomplishing a daunting technological feat that many believed was impossible. It was an amazing act that brought the entire country together and showed the world the power of American “can do anything you set your mind to” ingenuity.

Though for many Americans today, this story is ancient history. Nearly a legend that some soft minded people even believe was faked by Hollywood. The next time you look up at the night sky and see the glow of the moon taunting our once proud country, ask yourself, sadly: Why has no one been to the moon in my lifetime?

Has exploration and pushing the boundaries of our known capabilities become passe as style and comfort become our top priorities? Many years from now will our country be remembered more for the entertainment it produced or the grit and guts it once had to accomplish the impossible?

The biological life of Neil Armstrong has passed. Yet his footprints and their impact on the human legacy remain. Will the same be said of any of us when we’re gone?

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Neil Armstrong prepares to set foot on the surface of the Moon. July 20, 1969

“Don’t tell me the sky’s the limit when I know there are footprints on the moon.” Paul Brandt

SiliconCali.com

Bloomberg West Celebrates One Year of Covering the Business of Tech

Bloomberg Television’s Bloomberg West turns one this week. In that one year span of time there has been a lot of breaking tech news of which the effects were felt around the world.

The one hour show is mainly about innovation and it’s relation to the tech industry. The VC deals and new technologies that fuel the innovation that Silicon Valley is known for are part of Bloomberg West’s important coverage for those that follow tech. You’ll routinely see some of the top names in tech being interviewed on Bloomberg West.

A few of these titans of tech include:

Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen
eBay CEO John Donahoe
LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner

The Bloomberg West Team is:

Emily Chang
Cory Johnson
Jon Erlichman

Look for them to cover news on the iPad 3, Facebook’s IPO, The iPhone 5 and Google’s unannounced possible Android Tablet in the coming year.

If you’re not watching Bloomberg West, you’re missing the best hour of tech business coverage.

Below is their “A Year in Tech in 90 Seconds” clip showcasing the biggest stories of Bloomberg West’s first year on the air. (Yes this video is actually longer than 90 seconds, but includes the 90 second clip)