FWIW...

A pioneer of solar cellsEdit

The invention of the transistor in 1948 must have had an effect on Leslie Hoffman. In the early 1950s, he took a major interest in solar cells, also called photovoltaic cells. When Bell Labs introduced the solar cell to the world in 1951 it was only a curiosity. It had a very poor light-to-electricity conversion efficiency of 2 percent, and was very fragile and expensive to fabricate. Several manufacturers, including Hoffman, managed to improve the efficiency to 4.5 percent by 1954, but photovoltaic cells were still impractical.

Hoffman KP706 Trans Solar Radio (1959), running on batteries or with a Hoffman solar cell array on the top.

Hoffman made great strides in making the solar cell a practical and useful source of renewable energy. From 1957 to 1960, he improved its efficiency from 4.5 to 14 percent and lowered the production cost to make it a marketable item. One of Hoffman's great achievements was the first satellite to be powered by solar cells, the Vanguard 1, launched in 1958.[8]The solar arrays or panels are Hoffman photovoltaic cells. In 1959 H. Leslie Hoffman received the David Packard Medal of Achievement for innovation.[9] In 1959 he was one of the board of directors for the Electronic Industries Association (EIA).

The success of Vanguard 1 led Hoffman to broaden the use of his solar cells into other products and applications. In 1959, the launch of the U.S. satellite Explorer 6 had solar arrays using 9,600 Hoffman solar cells. The Consumer Products Division introduced a transistor radio line that operated with solar cells or batteries. It was called the Hoffman Trans Solar Radio.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Hoffman

I was the manager of Data Processing for Hoffman Semiconductor in 1960.  In their lobby they had a window into a clean room that showed a silicone ingot being pulled from a crucible.

Employees could buy Hoffman products at a discount — I bought a solar powered radio/record player.

@sog35 you've had your say, now drop it... I won't let you hijack another thread!

maestro64 said:

Sounds like Woz sold his name to a company trying to capitalize on his name. 

Woz was not known for is program background besides the fact he wrote the IWM for the Apple II which contain machine code. He was primarily known for his talent in hardware. Would you take a software class from a Hardware guy, probably but never take a hardware class from a software guy.

Knowing Woz, I doubt he sold his name -- rather, I suspect he used his name to support a cause he felt worthy...  This appears to be somewhat similar to Woz' involvement with the Bill Graham organization:

Steve Wozniak, cofounder of Apple and creator of the Apple I and Apple II personal computers, believed that the 1970s were the "Me" generation.[1] He intended the Us Festivals, with Bill Graham's participation, to encourage the 1980s to be more community-oriented and combine technology with rock music.[2] The first was held Labor Day weekend in September 1982 and the second was Memorial Day weekend in May 1983. Wozniak paid for the bulldozing and construction[3] of a new open-air field venue as well as the construction of an enormous state-of-the-art temporary stage at Glen Helen Regional Park near Devore, San Bernardino, California.[citation needed] (This site was later to become home to Blockbuster Pavilion—now San Manuel Amphitheater—the largest amphitheatre in the United States as of 2007.)[citation needed] The festival stage has resided at Disneyland in Anaheim since 1985, and has operated under various names and functions as the Videopolis dance club, the Videopolis Theatre, and the Fantasyland Theater.[citation needed]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Festival

As to Woz' programming background -- The Apple ][ had Built-in (ROM) software programs: including an OS, trapdoor mechanism,  Integer BASIC, Assembler, Hi-Res Graphics, Lo-Res Graphics -- as well as the later IWM.

The original Apple II operating system was in ROM along with Integer BASIC. Programs were entered, then saved and loaded on cassette tape.
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_II_series

I worked for the IBM Palo Alto Support Center in 1978 when I got my Apple ][.  We supported the IBM System/360.  The Apple ][ basic hardware specs were similar.  in 1979, I brought my Apple ][ into the office for a few days to test RS-232 connectivity to a new IBM Color CRT Terminal under development.  The Apple ][ worked just fine and AIR, the Apple ][ total purchase price was approximately the same as the IBM Controller monthly rental...  Also, the Apple ][ could do things the 360 and CRT terminal terminal could 
not do.  (I left IBM in 1979 to open an Apple store).


Later, Woz created the CL9 CORE Universal Programmable Remote Control for Audio/Video...  The CORE was essentially an Apple IIe in a hand-held format -- and even had an attachable RS-232 Interface.



http://www.ktronicslc.com/core.html

Paraphrasing Yogi Berra:  Nobody buys iPhones anymore -- they're too popular!

dewme said:

I'm a bit disappointed that they would design a building that doesn't accommodate and coexist in its environment in a more natural and passive way. An active roof warming system in a cold and snowy climate must be quite expensive to power and could potentially fail during a prolonged power outage, like an outage caused by excessive snowfall. I hope they at least use waste heat or an environmentally friendly energy source to power the roof heaters. It's not as bad as building an igloo store in the Arizona desert, but they could have been much more environmentally considerate like they've been with their spaceship campus. 

It need not be expensive or inefficient:

WELCOME TO HEATED ROOF SYSTEMS

RADIANT ROOF MELTING SYSTEM

HEATED ROOF SYSTEMS offers you our exclusive patented technology that provides  a concealed snow melt mat, placed under roofing material to eliminate Ice Dams. These "Roof Rescue Mats", can be placed under asphalt shingles, synthetic slate and shake, and both standing seam and pro-panel roofing, giving you the continuous look to the roof edge. Shown to the left is our 10" heater being applied on the edge of the roof. Our heaters have a 3M self adhesive backing, and in this picture, the installer is using a heat gun on a cold day to help adhere the heater.

Our competition still offers the same repetitive version of a single strand or two of heat tape under a horizontal metal band. Most extreme Ice Dam problems require a wider band of heat. We offer a 14" heat band with a single row. More importantly, "metal shrouded heat tape" is a poor choice for valley applications. Again, a single strand or two of heat tape placed under a narrow metal band, on the outside of a valley has marginal results at best.

We offer the ONLY solution for Flat Roofs. By placing our heaters in an X fashion around the roof drains, under the rubber membrane. Or to prevent snow and ice buildup, by placing our heaters around roof top equipment.

Our " Roof Rescue Mats" are very efficient, by being connected to a timer or moisture sensor, they are only on for a few hours a day. I'm confident you will find our roof ice melt system to meet your needs the best .  [email protected] (President)

https://heatedroofsystems.com/

volcan said:

nht said:

You use a 5K iMac and a Mac Pro to do software development?  LOL.  Okay.

Thats too much for your average developer for anything but bragging rights and too little for anyone actually needing heavy metal.

My work covers a few different disciplines so I have my reasons for using those larger desktop machines. I guess I'm just spoiled now. I find working on a small laptop screen very tedious, especially when I have to remotely log in to the office private network while on the road. Plus when on the road the laptop ergonomics are usually awful which makes the experience even worse.

You might consider a 12" iPad Pro with KB Case -- less expensive, longer battery, denser display, lighter weight...

Here's an example remoting to an iMac 5K using the Screens App -- it shows both client and server running locally on the iMac:

• Top Left - Xcode Kitura Web Server running locally -- with access to remote IBM Bluemix services in the Cloud, e.g. Couch DB, etc.
• Top Right - Xcode iOS Client running locally in Simulator -- connecting to local Kitura Web Server
• Top Center - The iOS Client running locally in the Simulator
• Bottom left - a Safari Window accessing the Kitura Web Server running locally
• Bottom Right - a Finder Window showing the Client and Server components that are running locally in Xcode

Now if we could only do this Standalone on the iPad, too -- well maybe next year...

I don't think these tariffs are really about solar cells or washing machines...

Rather, they are a statement that the US will not accept unfair trade policies.

http://www.imore.com/comic-great-desktops-our-roadmap

ericthehalfbee said:

dick applebaum said:

ericthehalfbee said:

So looking forward to an iPad Pro with an A12X.

Yeah, and  a kb with trackpad for precision display of a cursor on the screen.

NYC/Brooklyn Academy of Music == Business meets Creativity == Office & Photoshop

Full Office in the iPad would be something. Then I wouldn’t have to listen to the fake Excel power users saying they can’t do pivot tables on the iPad making it useless. 

Have a look at this... The article discusses Numbers on the Mac, but it seems to be implemented on iOS too:



https://macmost.com/using-smart-categories-pivot-tables-in-mac-numbers.html

cleger said:

And yet.. still no Multi-User. Like do they even listen to what the customer wants???  I have never been so unimpressed with an Apple keynote as I am right now. Literally NOTHING impressive has come for iOS today. We've got a whole year to wait to hope for more. 

I hate the apple music redesign last year and was praying it would get a MUCH NEEDED refresh, but instead they brought it to the App Store. 

Smh!

 Like the iPhone, the iPad is meant to be a personal device.

The iOS 11 enhancements, especially for the iPad, are game changers.