TechnologyIQ

Technology isn't just computers, networks and phones. Technology has always been part of the human experience. All of our ancestors have looked for ways to help them survive and do less work for more gain.  Archive.org has a host of old technology books (from mid-19th to mid-20th Century) available in many formats and on a host of topics. Many of the technologies discussed within these books are being put to use again these days in the back to the land" and homesteading movements. You might even find something that could address one of your own garden or farm issues but has been lost to time and history. Enjoy! --Douglas Historical Technology Books - 33 in a series - Programming the 6502 by Rodnay Zaks Available in PDF, Text, JPG formats, and more PREFACE This book has been designed as a complete self-contained text to learn programming, using the 6502. It can be used by a person who has never programmed before, and should also be of value to anyone using the 65...

The flexibility of Minecraft is one reason it is so useful in educational situations. You can use it as is, or build your own worlds, games, or lessons with this. Truly an amazing product. — Douglas There’s a reason the New York Times calls them “The Minecraft Generation.” Today’s kids and teens have been raised on the game, cutting their teeth on survival mode and moving on to creating complex, multiplayer worlds within Minecraft. But Minecraft’s vast community (112 million people log on per month!) are doing more than playing a game. They are occupied in a deeply engaging educational experience that encourages problem solving, creativity, planning and execution—and can even teach older kids coding and electrical engineering. Read Use Minecraft to Teach Your Kids Pretty Much Anything via Lifehacker * A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs ** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out! An interesting link found amo...

Adding a camera to your Raspberry Pi is simple and can turn the board into a great surveillance camera or a personal computer used for video chatting. Luckily, it's also a pretty inexpensive endeavor, like with most Raspberry Pi accessories. Here are our top picks if you want to add an eye to your Pi. Read Best Raspberry Pi Camera in 2019 via Android Central * A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs ** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out! An interesting link found among my daily reading

An important resource as we work through this difficult fire season. — Douglas   The ALERTWildfire system uses live cameras to detect, locate and confirm wildfires. The system can also be used to monitor fire behavior and help firefighters tackle fires on the ground. The ALERTWildfire system is being developed by a consortium of the University of Nevada, the University of California and the University of Oregon. The system is currently operational in a number of locations in California, Idaho, Nevada and Oregon. Read The Live Wildfire Camera Network via Google Maps Mania * A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs ** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out! An interesting link found among my daily reading

Technology isn't just computers, networks and phones. Technology has always been part of the human experience. All of our ancestors have looked for ways to help them survive and do less work for more gain.  Archive.org has a host of old technology books (from mid-19th to mid-20th Century) available in many formats and on a host of topics. Many of the technologies discussed within these books are being put to use again these days in the back to the land" and homesteading movements. You might even find something that could address one of your own garden or farm issues but has been lost to time and history. Enjoy! --Douglas Historical Technology Books - 32 in a series - The circle of the mechanical arts : containing practical treatises on the various manual arts, trades, and manufactures (1813) by Thomas Martin Available in PDF, Text, JPG formats, and more * A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our ...

Microsoft has launched a new 44-part series called Python for Beginners on YouTube, consisting of three- to four-minute lessons from two self-described geeks at Microsoft who love programming and teaching. The course isn't quite for total beginners as it assumes people have done a little programming in JavaScript or played around with the MIT-developed Scratch visual programming language aimed at kids.  But it could help beginners kick-start ambitions to build machine-learning apps, web applications, or automate processes on a desktop.  Read Microsoft: We want you to learn Python programming language for free | ZDNet via | ZDNet * A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs ** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out! An interesting link found among my daily reading

Read Get An Echo Dot For $9, Plus a Month of Music Streaming. via Kotaku An interesting link found among my daily reading

The Italian boardmakers announced today a new family of affordable, low-power “Nano” sized microcontroller boards based on powerful Arm Cortex processors that may give you pause before buying another Chinese knockoff — you get Arduino quality starting at $9.90 for the Nano Every, an upgrade of the classic Arduino Nano that works in breadboard or SMT settings. If you want more than everyday functionality, there’s the Nano 33 IoT with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 6-axis IMU, and a built-in crypto chip for security keys ($18); the Nano 33 BLE with Bluetooth and a 9-axis IMU ($19); and the Nano 33 BLE Sense loaded with sensors: barometer, humidity, temperature, light, sound (microphone) and proximity/gesture sensor ($29.50). Pre-order now, boards available beginning mid-June. Read Arduino Unveils New Nano Family of Boards via MAKE: Blog * A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs ** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out! An inter...

Wildfires are becoming larger and more frequent than ever, and can have lingering effects on the air quality. Breezometer, a free app that offers real-time air quality data, announced that it will be offering fire alerts to help users determine if they're in harm's way. The fire alerts are based on information from NASA and local sources and -- combined with the app's own algorithms -- can determine which direction the smoke is traveling and its impact on air quality. Read Air pollution app now doubles as a wildfire warning system via Engadget An interesting link found among my daily reading

Cool retro revival using a Raspberry Pi. — Douglas   Watch the video   By refitting a vintage Roland DG DXY-990 pen plotter using Raspberry Pi, the members of Liege Hackerspace in Belgium have produced a rather nifty build that writes out every tweet mentioning a specific hashtag. Read Control a vintage Roland pen plotter with Raspberry Pi - Raspberry Pi via Raspberry Pi * A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs ** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out! An interesting link found among my daily reading

Technology isn't just computers, networks and phones. Technology has always been part of the human experience. All of our ancestors have looked for ways to help them survive and do less work for more gain.  Archive.org has a host of old technology books (from mid-19th to mid-20th Century) available in many formats and on a host of topics. Many of the technologies discussed within these books are being put to use again these days in the back to the land" and homesteading movements. You might even find something that could address one of your own garden or farm issues but has been lost to time and history. Enjoy! --Douglas Historical Technology Books - 31 in a series - Your Computer (1982-05) Available in PDF, Text, JPG formats, and more EDITORIAL NEXT MONTH, with ZX-81 software on flexidisc offered free with every issue, Your Computer is presenting a new idea in program storage to the micro market — an idea which could have a dramatic effect on the currently expensive...

What does it mean when your browser says “https://“ and why it’s important to your online privacy and safety — all told in a fun, illustrated and understandable way. — Douglas     Read How HTTPS works via - How HTTPS works * A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs ** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out! An interesting link found among my daily reading

Live music gigs are always a very special thing, but to produce it, you need humans, and humans are not always available. I occasionally play gigs equipped by my guitar and my voice, but music generally features many others instruments, like percussion, and these instruments tend to only sound when played by humans. This problem could be solved by just using a recording and playing over it, but that would somehow feel against the idea of the “live” concept. So, I decided to get rid of the human element entirely, and build a robot drummer... The idea would be to make something portable, which could move and play sounds in different rhythms with no use of samples/recordings, that could be played or stopped at will, and that its sound could be amplified in a gig/band situation. Read DrumCube, an Arduino Robot Drummer via Instructables * A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs ** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it ou...

Technology isn't just computers, networks and phones. Technology has always been part of the human experience. All of our ancestors have looked for ways to help them survive and do less work for more gain.  Archive.org has a host of old technology books (from mid-19th to mid-20th Century) available in many formats and on a host of topics. Many of the technologies discussed within these books are being put to use again these days in the back to the land" and homesteading movements. You might even find something that could address one of your own garden or farm issues but has been lost to time and history. Enjoy! --Douglas Historical Technology Books - 30 in a series - The Phonogram, Vol. 1:2 by Virginia H. McRae (1891) Available in PDF, Text, JPG formats, and more Vol. 1, no. 2 of 'The Phonogram' magazine, published Feb. 1891. The Real Mission of the Phonograph The King of Phonographs A Practical Test - W.R. Stevenson Drilling by the Phonograph The Phonogr...

An excellent documentary on the first computer worm and the beginnings of the Internet. — Douglas <span id="mce_marker" data-mce-type="bookmark" data-mce-fragment="1">​</span> Our connected world comes with countless risks. Viruses, worms, spyware, ransomware, backdoors, Trojans: The language of cybersecurity is relatively new, but we have quickly become fluent. The misuse of technology has become the darkest danger of the digital age. Bad actors, emboldened by our inability to properly secure crucial systems and networks, are launching increasingly sophisticated attacks. No system is safe. But in the beginning — the very, very beginning — computers inspired utopian visions of a better future, a world in which we were all digitally connected to one another and living in harmony. Then came the Morris Worm.  At Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center, programmers were developing high-speed networks and the means b...