Net Work June 2021

In this month’s Net Work, the trend towards ‘hybrid working’ is explored. The Swiss-based International Workplace Group (IWG) sells workspace for businesses around the world and reckons that interest in hybrid working is soaring, and some deals signed recently with Japan’s NTT and Standard Chartered will provide workspace for nearly 400,000 staff alone. In the UK, IWG says of hybrid working that “employers expect the proportion of regular home workers to double, from 18% pre-pandemic to 37% post-pandemic”. Some legalities of WFH are also highlighted this month.

A rare 5V SmartMedia card (left): compare the cropped corner with the 3.3V type on the right.  A stick-on metal label acted as a write-protection device.

Samsung’s SD/ MicroSD adaptor clearly shows the Lock switch legends, unlike some.

An IBM MicroDrive was a miniature hard disk in Compact Flash form factor, used in early digital cameras. Compare the 340MB type with the 64GB MicroSD card below. A USB 3.0 reader is also shown.

Looking at some early digital camera technology this month, the author reminds us of the first digicam with LCD, namely the Casio QV-10, and reminisces about our first use of digital photographs back in 1997. Some of the failings of modern removable memory formats are also spelled out.

The History of the Digital Camera and Digital Imaging on the DigitalKamera Museum site at https://www.digitalkameramuseum.de/en/history

Write-speed markings of memory cards on the SD Association website at https://www.sdcard.org/developers/sd-standard-overview/speed-class/.

Samsung has laid out its own vision of 6G at https://news.samsung.com/global/samsungs-6g-white-paper-lays-out-the-companys-vision-for-the-next-generation-of-communications-technology

The re-usable SpaceX Starship heavy lifter rocket is also undergoing development: a good insight is on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKy2Z2BnyU8.

A test flight of SN10 is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLNQ6Mq5kbg.

NASA Ingenuity helicopter  https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/25796/ingenuity-begins-to-spin-its-blades/.

The Wright Flyer at the Smithsonian Institute website https://tinyurl.com/dn76snpc

The story of Northrop Grumman’s Mission Extension Vehicle: https://news.northropgrumman.com/news/features/mission-extension-vehicle-breathing-life-back-into-in-orbit-satellites