Shit Wes' Dad Says

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Mark, Wes, and Wes's dad at the Hotel Mac in Pt. Richmond, CA.

Sites of Interest:

• Bully Sticks are NOT tendons or processed meat strips, no!  Bully Sticks are 100% ____ _______.
  
  
• History of the PC bus standards: ISA, Micro Channel, PCI.
  
  
• New eBook reader from Barnes and Noble, the Nook.  Mark thought this was the vaporware Plastic Logic reader that we talked about on a previous show because the announcements for that one months ago said it would be for B&N. It turns out the Plastic Logic Que announcements were true, but their reader will be a competitor to the Nook that will also be displayed in B&N stores and also use their eBook library.
  
  
• Mark's speculations were wrong, Sir Alan Michael Sugar did not invent sugar or the Sugar OS on OLPC devices.  But he did have a part in computer history.
  
  
• Will Linux take over from Windows on the desktop?  Probably not, but it is used a lot on server machines, along with FreeBSD, another open-source OS based on UNIX.
  
  
• How Algol and PL/I relate to other computer languages.
  
  
• Mark's memory was totally wrong about the Apricot computer; it had nothing to do with the Apple II and was more of a PC clone, but not quite.
  
  
• Very funny: Conan O'Brien interviews the REAL Intel employee rock star who co-invented the USB bus, not the fake actor in the TV commercials.
  
  
• Google drops Tele Atlas as their provider of U.S. maps, now creating their own maps with the help of crowdsourcing.
  
  
• Google Maps asks the public to help design models of the buildings around them.
  
  
• Details of the Google Book Search Settlement.
  
  
• Wes' dad used to wear a Timex Datalink watch that loaded data from a PC by watching a sequence of rapidly flashing bars on a CRT monitor or a flashing LED.  He now wears the later USB version of such a watch.
  
  
• WikiReader, the complete Wikipedia in a handheld device.
  
  
• AT&T officer kind of admits US iPhone exclusivity may end.
  
  
• The ARCHOS 5 internet tablet is unusual because it's not a cellphone, yet uses the Android OS.  Here is a video demonstration of the device.
  
  
• Warning, you'd better buy an iPhone because BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Android, and WebOS phones cannot run essential applications like these: Virtual Kelli, Cry Translator, Hoax Factory, Prankster Kit, Chicken Kazoo, Sexy GrandMa, and Sexy GrandPa.
  
  
• Mark thinks this would make a great iPhone app: http://hotchicksplungingtheirtoilets.com.
  
  
• Justin Halpern is 29, lives at home with his mom and awsome 73-year-old dad, writes down the shit his dad says, and tweets the best ones every day on twitter account @shitmydadsays.  (You don't need to be a twitter user; just click on that link to see his tweets.)  Here is an interview with Justin.

Wes' iPhone Applications of the week:

• Net Scan - Scans the WiFi network your iPhone is connected to, discovers Mac and PC hosts along with any other (even hidden) network servers and devices, shows related network information and services they run.
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• Tweetie 2 - Wes' favorite iPhone app for reading and sending tweets.
  
  

Mark's iPhone Applications of the week:

• iNet - Same idea as Net Scan mentioned above.
  
  
• Best Camera - App for taking and editing photos.  The name comes from the author's book The Best Camera is the One With You; i.e. your cellphone.