Buzz Out Loud Blog

Why buy the Lordship when you can just choose the title from the drop-down? Also on the show today, Black Hat 2008 shatters our faith in all that is technology (just like it does every year), and we engage in a lively discussion about the relative crappiness of the applications on the App Store, as well as the moral ramifications of Apple being able to nuke those crappy applications remotely.

EPISODE 783

Times Online: 'Fakeproof' e-passport is cloned in minutes
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4467106.ece

Black Hat: DNS flaw much worse than previously reported
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/08/dns-flaw-much-w.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10009827-83.html

Hacking electronic-toll systems
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10009353-83.html

Apple sued for turning workers into slaves
http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/07/132229

Google offers free legal music in China
http://www.techtree.com/India/News/Google_Offers_Free_Legal_Music_in_China/551-91943-643.html

Microsoft searching for Olympic medals
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10009847-56.html

A look at risk-reward: Apple may nuke applications on your iPhone remotely
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9587
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10009764-94.html

PTO rains on Dell’s ‘Cloud Computing’ trademark
http://www.internetnews.com/government/article.php/3763741/PTO+Rains+on+Dells+Cloud+Computing+Trademark.htm

Worthless, $1,000 “I Am Rich” iPhone app disappears
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/8/worthless-1000-i-am-rich-iphone-app-disappears

But someone bought it! (Thanks Max!)
http://gizmodo.com/5034122/guy-buys-999-im-rich-app-discovers-hes-just-dumb

English ‘Lord’ puts life up for sale on eBay
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26073308/

$12 MIT computer based on NES, not Apple II
http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/06/1925225

VOICE MAIL

Anonymous Wardriver
Found an interesting unencrypted Wi-Fi connection

E-MAIL

Don’t go to law school! Don’t kid about going to law school, don’t talk about going to law school, and above all, don’t actually go to law school.

There. That is my one good deed for the day, and it cost me 1/10th of an hour of billable time. Damn.

Chris the attorney in DC

So…this thing can still probably cook up some hot dogs, right?

http://dvice.com/archives/2008/08/a_gaming_pc_mad.php
excerpt:

Yes, it’s a PC modded from a grill. The PC components themselves are where the charcoal should be, with the screen stuck up under the open top and the keyboard on the tray that would normally hold a plate piled high with burgers and hot dogs.

Best,
Shalin

The TSA addressed the missing/stolen laptop issue today on their blog. Bottom line: Clear was in violation of the SFO security plan and the TSA is doing a review of the Clear systems to make sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to do. The TSA let this incident occur, but it’s not because of lax security measures (thankfully).

http://www.tsa.gov/blog/2008/08/encryption-is-issue-in-case-of-missing.html

-Brian

You can lead a cow to the dance-hall, but you can't make him two-step. Unless, that is, you've got a dollop of artificial intelligence and some wraparound earphones. In technology news of the day, universities fight back against the RIAA, a cut-and-paste application appears for iPhone (and it's really, really hard), and robots learn to move themselves.

EPISODE 782

Episode 782

11 charged in theft of 41 million card numbers
http://news.cnet.com/11-charged-in-theft-of-41-million-card-numbers/2100-7348_3-6244876.html?tag=newsLatestHeadlinesArea.0

Tufts tells judge, we can’t tie IP addresses to MAC addresses
http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/06/0224238&from=rss

University wants cease-and-desist order for MediaSentry
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080805-university-wants-cease-and-desist-order-for-mediasentry.html

MacRumors iPhone blog: Are you rich? Buy this $999.99 iPhone app
http://www.macrumors.com/iphone/2008/08/05/are-you-rich-buy-this-999-99-iphone-app/
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/8/apple-s-iphone-app-approval-mouse-falls-off-treadmill-buy-the-1000-app-that-does-nothing-aapl-

Cut-and-paste application
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10007275-2.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=Webware

How to watch the Beijing Olympics LIVE on the Web — Even if NBC doesn’t want you to
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/8/how-to-watch-the-olympics-live-on-the-web-even-if-nbc-doesn-t-want-you-to

Researcher: Encourage more, not less Internet traffic
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080806-researcher-encourage-more-not-less-internet-traffic.html

Lost SFO laptop found--where it went missing
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10008094-83.html

Robots learn to move themselves
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7544099.stm

You will never, ever game on this 40-foot rig (with 27 HD monitors ) (Thanks Peter!)
http://kotaku.com/5033602/you-will-never-ever-game-on-a-rig-this-expensive

VOICE MAIL

Jean-Guy
About the Linux call yesterday.

Rafa
Hey Twitter! I got a message for you.

Dragon
I know where Apple got their name from.

E-MAIL

Tom,

More ashes were lost than James Doohan. Of the other 207 people, I thought you ought to at least give Gordon Cooper equal time. As an original Project Mercury astronaut, He flew the longest spaceflight of the Mercury project, was the first American to sleep in orbit, and has been noted as the last American to fly alone in earth orbit thus far. (per Wikipedia).

Love the show. Keep ranting Molly!

Headphone cows steer the herd…

http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/cows_herded_with_headsets_10712.asp

excerpt:

Here are some choice sound bites from the lab:

The technology won’t eliminate the need for cowboys; instead, the focus is to shift their labor from physical to cognitive. Ranchers and cowhands will no longer have to spend time building and repairing fences.

uh huh…well, there goes my master plan of learning to be a “cow whisperer”…

Best,
Shalin

EPISODE 781

Episode 781

Cablevision wins DVR appeal
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10006580-93.html

Apple’s Jobs says oops on MobileMe launch
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10006873-93.html?tag=newsLatestHeadlinesArea.0
http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/08/04/steve-jobs-mobileme-not-up-to-apples-standards

Google backs ISP-guaranteed minimum data rates
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080804-google-backs-isp-guaranteed-minimum-data-rates.html

YouTube strikes online olympics deal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121785204839309715.html?mod=2_1571_topbox

Apple bails on Black Hat talk
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9111398&source=rss_topic17

FISA and border searches of laptops
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/05/0040200&from=rss

Hi-tech criminals target Twitter
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7543014.stm

Friendster gets $20 million, ex-Googler as CEO
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10006743-36.html

MIT team working on a $12 Apple (II) desktop
http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/05/1335200&from=rss

Craigslist prankster sued, argues DMCA abuse
http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/08/08/05/1351217.shtml

VOICEMAIL

Grahame NY
Follow up on gift card situation.

Shane Las Vegas
Iphone Bricking.

E-MAIL

Hello TMJ,
I heard with great delight (ep 780) that Intel will be manufacturing
discrete graphics chips.

To the mainstream world this isn’t big news, but for us Linux geeks
it’s a breakthrough.

Nvidia and ATI both refuse to open the code to their graphics drivers
(apparently there are trade secrets in the code that would give
competitive advantage). Drivers can’t legally be shipped with most
Linux distributions, and the free versions are poor. This is a big
barrier, because most people want to use graphics on their computers.

Intel has always been a favorite because they are completely open with
respect to their video chips. The chips aren’t great, but at least you
can get free drivers. Being able to get Intel video cards is a huge
win for the Linux community.

Hope this helps explain the whole situation.

LOVE THE SHOWWW!!!!!!!

Jeff Ratliff

—

Hiya Molly, Tom, and Jason,

Just to clarify, the majority of us Aussie's do get sick leave, however many companies do require a doctor's certificate in order to be able to claim a day off as sick leave instead of taking a day out of our usual annual leave (holiday leave). The company I work for requires a medical certificate for two or more consecutive days of sick leave, but not for a single day, unless that day is a Friday or a Monday, no chuckin a sickie for a long weekend.

And...Google Streetview launched here in Australia today(or at least recently, I think), and so far I have heard the following comments;
* I can't believe they drove into the driveway of my son's school and took photos. There's the gate of the school, these pictures were taken from inside the school!

* That's definitely Pat (my colleague's wife) trimming the hedge...I'd know that bum anywhere.

* I CAN SEE MY HOUSE FROM HERE.

LTS

Tony
Melbourne, Australia

EPISODE 780

FCC spanks Comcast for P2P blocking: no fine, full disclosure
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080801-fcc-spanks-comcast-for-p2p-blocking-no-fine-full-disclosure.html

Midori musings: thoughts on a “post-Windows” OS
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080804-midori-musings-thoughts-on-a-post-windows-os.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7540282.stm

Intel details future ‘Larrabee’ graphics chip
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10005391-64.html

LiMo Foundation adds new handsets, members
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10004741-1.html
http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=2739

Unreliable British tabloid claims Apple will release iPhone Nano this year
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/08/03/unreliable-british-t.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1041006/Apple-launch-iPhone-nano-time-Christmas.html?ITO=1490

The extended warranty you ought to buy
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10005159-2.html

SpaceX’s rocket destroys Scotty’s space-bound ashes in a demonstration of tremendous irony
http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/04/spacexs-rocket-destroys-scottys-space-bound-ashes-in-a-demonst/
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080803-spaceflights-not-easy-space-x-loses-scotty-and-a-rocket.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7539780.stm

VOICEMAIL

Tony
VPN won't always work getting around firewall.

Norman
Little headset tip.

E-MAIL

Hi Buzz Crew,

Just an FYI:

“Bottom line: iPhone tethering uses more power than charging circuitry
can provide! ”

http://sleepers.net/news/2008/07/31/3g-tethering-iphone-power-woes/

Love the show.
Jim the geek

**********

Check out this awesome how-to on how to eliminate the GSM cell phone buzzing that goes through speakers by taking the clunky ends off some USB cords and putting them near your speakers.

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/08/killing_that_gsm_buzz.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890
Regards,
Jack Hanington

**********

Hey Buzz Crew,

In response to your discussion about USB vs. Firewire, I couldn’t help thinking that there was a point for Firewire that you missed out.

While USB is in theory faster than Firewire, the actual results show the opposite. This is because Firewire doesn’t use the computer’s CPU but instead it’s own independent chipset; USB relies on the computer’s processor. This is great for slower computers but also for those running applications like Final Cut Pro, which are traditionally heavy on the processor.

Love the show!

Steve
Bristol, UK

**********

Dear Molly, Tom, and Jason,

Listening to this piece, I was wondering if this feat could be pulled off on “SKYPE” and if so, could we pull off a Mozilla moment? Wouldn’t that then give them something to scream about and truly then will the HILLS be ALIVE with the SOUND of...? Now, from the fjords, can you hear this--“LOVE THE FREAKING SHOW”--loud enough?!

**********

Hey Buzz Out Loud…

After all was said and done on show #778, you played some Swiss dude cappin’ on poor Rafe about Velcro. It was not invented in the 1940’s by some mad, Swiss scientist. I’m sure Tom will back me on this; it was given to us by the Vulcan’s in the year 1957 by T’Pol’s Grandmother. Next thing you know, the Swiss will want to take credit for the greatest utility invention ever… noooo, not that red knife thingy, I’m referring to The Titanium SPORK!!

Dennis O.
Powell, Ohio

EPISODE 779

Judge rules Sprint’s early-termination fees illegal
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10004049-94.html

Travelers’ laptops may be detained at border
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/content/article/2008/08/01/laptops.html

In-flight cell ban advances in congress
http://mobile.slashdot.org/mobile/08/08/01/0124258.shtml
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10004170-1.html

Apple quickly kills popular iPhone-‘tethering’ app
http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/007376.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13515_3-10004278-26.html
http://www.macrumors.com/2008/07/31/nullriver-introduces-3g-edge-tethering-app-for-iphone/

College funding bill passed with anti-P2P provisions intact
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080801-college-funding-bill-passed-with-anti-p2p-provisions-intact.html

Hands on: Delicious 2 cleans up social bookmarking
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080801-hands-on-delicious-2-cleans-up-social-bookmarking.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10003874-2.html

China eases Internet restrictions for journalists
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/02/sports/olympics/02beijing.html

Online fantasy game's absurd cancellation policy leads to new law
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/7/final-fantasy-online-s-arcane-cancellation-policy-baffles-lawmakers-leads-to-new-law

iPhone + Twitter + sedatives = not a great idea, really
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/7/iphone-twitter-sedatives-not-a-great-idea-really

NASA: “We have water” on Mars
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/07/31/nasa-we-have-water-o.html

VOICEMAIL

Grahame, New York
Gift card horror story.

BlackBerry Guy
A little hands-free headset stuff.

E-MAIL

Hey Buzz crew!

A word in defense of providing lunch for employees. I recently joined a start-up here in Boston which does this. We just reviewed the policy and concluded that it’s a great investment. My personal top three arguments in favor:

1. Builds camaraderie and fosters healthy mixing of individuals from different departments.

2. Keeps an otherwise, uh… “distractible” team in the office, rather than wandering around Chinatown looking for Boston’s best dumplings. More importantly, it keeps lunch hour contained within a fixed window of time--1:00 p.m. is actually a usable meeting time in our company.

3. In a competitive recruiting market, free lunch is an attractive perk. We get far more bang from our lunch dollars than if we allocated them toward standard comp.

Waldron, in Boston

**********

Drunk Dialers in Norway get heard through fjords!…fjords..fjords…fjords…

http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/public_megaphone_for_drunk_dialers_in_norway_10660.asp

http://www.unsworn.org/telemegaphone/

excerpt:

By dialing the Telemegaphone’s phone number, your voice will ring out across the fjord, the valley, and the village of Dale. A bright light at the top of the pole will be lit as your call goes through, projecting your voice across the valley.

Wanna try? On Aug 2, go here for the phone number. (This’ll work day & night until September 6, 2008).

Best,
Shalin

**********

Tom, to help you out on the iPhone end, go into settings. Under Safari
there’s an option to switch the search from Google to Yahoo.

Steve from Buffalo, New York

**********

Hey BoL,

The caller in episode 778 who clarified some info on China’s Great
Firewall is right - VPNs are one path around China’s Net censors. A
friend of mine attended the Beijing University of Post &
Telecommunications, where she was taught how to use VPNs and other
proxy server techniques to evade the Great Firewall entirely. I
visited her dorm room when she was still in grad school there, and all
of her roommates (computer science students) were browsing and
downloading content quite freely. Apparently, they’re still huge fans
of ‘Friends.’

The real impact of the Great Firewall is psychological --China’s
government knows they can’t block everything, but if they make certain
information inconvenient enough to access for most of the population,
almost all users just get frustrated and give up. I’m constantly
surprised by how disinterested and oblivious my friend is about world
events, although I can’t speak for the other 1.32 billion. She’s
coming to the States for the second time in August and I’ll be very
curious to see how she reacts to western media’s perceptions of the
Olympics coverage.

<< “L O V E T H E S H O W”;

-Andrew
Portland, Oregan

**********

Dear Tom, Molly, and Jason, While the new FireWire standard may be
faster then the current USB standard, the soon-to-be-released USB 3.0
spec has a max throughput of about 4.8 Gbit/s.

According to Google, there's no such thing as complete privacy. And while we tend to agree, we don't necessarily think that should mean Google can drive up into the driveway, take pictures of the inside of our houses, and put them on the Internet. Maybe we're just not all on the same page. Also, new Mac notebooks and iPods are likely coming soon, along with, but not related to, a new Internet.

EPISODE 778

Apple Warns of iPod, Mac drought
http://www.techtree.com/India/News/Apple_Warns_of_iPod_Mac_Drought/551-91696-615.html

GENI To Replace Internet, Gets $12M Funding
http://tech.slashdot.org/tech/08/07/31/1316257.shtml
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080730/ap_on_hi_te/tec_techbit_rebuilding_the_internet

Yahoo offers up coupons and refunds to DRM server-shutdown victims
http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/31/yahoo-offers-up-coupons-and-refunds-to-drm-server-shutdown-vict/

AT&T could cut off P2P users
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/07/31/131257

Google: No such thing as complete privacy
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10003036-93.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7534755.stm

LG Blu-ray box to stream video from Netflix
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10003525-1.html

Scrabulous returns with new name, new look
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10003366-36.html

Can’t get out of bed? Log on and buy a sick note
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25943423/

Life at Cuil: Strawberries, muffins, and porn
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2008/07/31/life-at-cuil-strawberries-muffins-and-porn/

‘Fat Princess’ game stirs up heavy debate
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25939266/

VOICE MAIL

Rick
More on Chinese Internet control.

Eric
Unique copyright issue.

E-MAIL

In episode 777, Molly stated that Silverlight only works with Vista. In fact versions (http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight/resources/install.aspx?v=2.0#sysreq) are available for Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and even the Mac, so unless you happen to be working somewhere that's still using NT4 it's simply a question of whether you can install it.

There is also a compatible plug-in available from the Mono Project called Moonlight (http://www.mono-project.com/Moonlight) for Linux, though you currently need to build from source for media playback support and 2.0 support is only at the prealpha stage.

Love the show

James Hudson

Hey guys,

In episode 776, there was a voice mail about driving slower to save gas. There are a couple of points I would like to make. First, yes it does save gas. I don’t think there is any debate about that, but to have fun I created a special calculator. If you drive slower, you save gas but it also takes longer to get to work. Time that you could have spent working. So, you can’t drive 35 mph and get the best fuel efficiency. My calculator - http://www.dotphys.net/page1/page10/efficiency/calculator.html determines the optimal speed that would cost the least amount of money in gas and time lost at work. All the details of the calculation can be found somewhere on that page also. If you are driving a prius and you make $1,000 an hour, it might give you an optimal speed of 90 mph--DON’T really go that fast, it’s illegal.

Second point. I started driving slower than the speed limit, and I really like it. I never feel like I am competing with traffic and I never have to pass anyone. Rarely do I have someone zoom up behind me. Maybe this is completely different in LA (not Louisiana, which is where I am).

The show is great.

Rhett

JaMoTo,

My 4GB (yeah, I know - SUCKER!) iPhone just filled up its entire memory--which, apparently, causes problems such as when people call me the damn thing doesn’t ring anymore.

So, I decided that I would go ahead and upgrade to the 3G phone. I went to the Apple Web site and used their nifty “find a store” utility. Turns out that there isn’t an Apple Web store real close to me--but there is an AT&T store within a couple of miles.

So I called them (the local store--during operating hours) to see if they actually have the new iPhone in stock. The automated operator gave me three options--none of which really matched “Do you have the new iPhone in stock?”--so I tried them all.

EVERY single one of them told me to hang up and call a different number! I mean, seriously, really? Really? You’re AT&FreakingT! You can’t manage your network to the point where I could press 1 or maybe 3 or, better yet, 8 (but, clearly you don’t want to give me 8 options--slackers!) to talk to someone in the GD store that could answer my fairly simple question?

So now I am trying to decide if I should remove my "Dr. Horrible" videos so that my phone will actually ring--not cool.

Still anonymous,
Snit

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/38630/135/
It’ll be a while until FireWire dies, from 400MB now 800MB and 3.2GB is coming soon.

FireWire is a superior technology to USB but it’s only disadvantage is the price.

Best regards
Khaled

BOLers,

Checking my isp’s speed this morning (14.1Mbps down! 1.2Mbps up, Cox) and came across this: http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Verizon-Wouldnt-Let-Doctor-Use-His-Real-Name-96592

Poor dude…

Love the show,
rt, San Diego, Calif.

Hey Tom Molly Jason,

I just wanted to stick up for my industry a bit and give a friendly “well actually”. In episode 773 or 774 (can’t quite remember) Molly mentioned California’s “Bluetooth headset law.” While I’m not a complainer/nitpicker by nature I felt I had to write in to clarify. The fact is that California has a hands-free law, not a Bluetooth headset law. While the difference may seem trivial, I work for a company that lives on, and is helping to define this distinction. Many people perceive Bluetooth headsets to be the only option for talking hands-free. However, the fact is that there are many options which are easier to use, more comfortable, and by-far more stylish than an uncomfortable little thing clamped onto your ear. Installed Bluetooth car kits and portable Bluetooth speakerphones are just two of the several options for people who want a premium option to Bluetooth headsets. Without asking for free-advertising by saying my company’s name, I would appreciate it if you could mention this difference. It is difficult enough for companies like mine to combat the perception that “Bluetooth means headset” and in the interest of marketplace competition please just realize that laws like California’s do not leave consumers with a single option.

Thanks and love the show.
~Chad from Michigan

P.S. *personal interest only* If you are interested in a review of one of my company’s products check out this CNET Review: http://reviews.cnet.com/car-audio/parrot-3200-ls-color/4505-3425_7-32138918.html

On today's show, we discover that it's hard to stand out in an orgy, only about a quarter of things Molly says are words, and EA poops all over you. That's just the kind of show we have when Rafe Needleman fills in for Tom.

EPISODE 777/b>

Happy birthday, NASA!
http://science.slashdot.org/science/08/07/29/2120225.shtml

EA: Hack took Facebook Scrabble down
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10002363-36.html

Garmin delays Nuvifone
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121742654018296961.html

Dell tests player to renew iPod battle
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121738346889295815.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10002382-1.html

DNS hacker victim of his own creation
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/07/30/1242229
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/073008-dns-attack-writer-a-victim.html

‘Pentagon hacker’ loses extradition appeal
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/07/30/uk.hacker.ap/index.html
http://www.crn.com/security/209900321

IOC admits Internet censorship deal with China
http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/08/07/30/1551211.shtml
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10002097-93.html

Apple says MobileMe is fixed! Seriously! Go try it!
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2326792,00.asp

Amazon unveils online payment service
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10002259-93.html

Face swapper software protects privacy
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/07/29/face-swapper-softwar.html

VOICE MAIL:
Anon:
Cops on cell phones!

E-MAIL:

Dear Buzzcrew,

Don’t you hate it when people make inaccurate statements like Sen.Stevens calling the Internet a series of tubes or like when you demonstrate you entire lack of political knowledge when you say he is the head of the Commerce Committee which he in point of fact hasn’t been since January 2007.

But then why let the truth stand in the way of a good story,

Thomas

Dear Buzz Crew

You mentioned on episode 776 the “Mojave experiment”, where Windows Vista was disguised as “Mojave” to make people see past the prejudice that vista faces, and how that doing this led to hugely increased customer satisfaction and popularity. This begs the question, why bother with the “Hey Look, Vista’s all right when it’s not called Vista” marketing campaign, and just not call it Vista. Just make up a cause for a new OS, and then release “Mojave”. Problem solved, and Mojave starts working for Microsoft and Vista is relegated to the nether land of Microsoft Bob and the infuriating paper clip.

Just a thought, keep up the great show

Techpriest

Hey guys,

I can’t believe you didn’t think of this but:

Search engines “help” you find something--a synonym for help is “aid”

Cuil-Aid!!!!

You’ll tell your friends to get some Cuil-Aid, and then have to explain that you don’t want them to grab a sugary drink, but that you want them to look something up.

Keep up the most excellent work!

Respectfully,

Chad

Dear Tom, Molly and Jason,

In your discussion of the new Cuil search engine there was one point you missed, namely its privacy policy. To quote from the site: “…our privacy policy is very simple: when you search with Cuil, we do not collect any personally identifiable information, period.”

As privacy is an increasingly important issue to web users, I’d suggest that this will be highly attractive to many people, especially given the concerns in this area that surround the current search imperator Google. Could Cuil’s privacy pledge be the wedge that prises apart Google’s search monopoly and frees us from the Black Iron Prison of cybersurveillance?

Your show is the tops for tech, and always entertaining. Keep up the consistently engaging (OK, I’ll say it, GOOD) work.

Best regards,

Andrew

Hello buzz crew,

I think the Olympics won’t be a problem for the IT department, because all the competitions will be at night in the U.S. So pretty much nobody will be working by that hour. If everyone gets to see the Olympics it would still be a problem, but for the HR department. People are supposed to sleep at night!

Here in Brazil, back in 2006 during the world cup, what i thought would be a joke worked pretty well: our major TV broadcaster streamed live all the world cup games in the Internet, and pretty much every place where I know there were computers, there were people watching that. There were no network problems because it was so popular, that usually people left one computer per room dedicated for streaming that video in full screen, which looked like as there was an actual television there. It was a total success in every office.

And guys, who are you fooling? People watch YouTube the whole day, and there has never been a problem before

Alexandre

Episode 776

Yahoo says DRM issue overblown by media, but will offer refunds
http://www.betanews.com/article/Yahoo_says_DRM_issue_overblown_by_media_but_will_offer_refunds/1217287551

Microsoft goes live with Mojave videos
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10001331-56.html
http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/29/mojave-experiment-goes-live-doesnt-fail-to-annoy/

Dell hints it’s working on smartphone
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10000833-1.html

T. Boone Pickens dumps Yahoo stake
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10001380-93.html

‘Scrabulous’ disappears from Facebook
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10001319-36.html
Dave from Dallas has started a scrabble boycott group. You can find it by searching for “Scrabble Boycott” in the groups application.

When the ‘wisdom of crowds’ turns on itself: IMDB edition
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10000650-2.html

Why the Olympics Scare Tech Pros
http://blogs.wsj.com/biztech/2008/07/28/why-the-olympics-scare-tech-pros/

‘New car smell’ becoming less toxic, report says
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10001060-54.html

Voice Mail

John Southern Illinois
About that Internet in space effort.

Mike Sherman Oaks
Trying out driving 65.

Jason Marietta
Thoughts on the Cuil name.

E-mail

Hey, guys!

So perhaps Steve & Co. (otherwise known as Apple, Inc.) didn’t learn their lesson the first time around. You guys remember the whole pushed-Safari debacle, right? Well, as it turns out, Apple has now pushed a MobileMe preference pane onto unsuspecting Windows users via iTunes 7.7!

Wait, what?? That’s right, they did it again! Those people just… ugh. Here’s the link to the Ars story:
http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/07/18/apple.puts.mobileme.on.win/

J-2

**********

Hey, Tom, Molly, and Jason

I found who the old lady is. A simple Google Image Search for Molly Wood and getting to page 7, I find her. Her name is Molly Wood. Below you’ll find more info. For Tom I found the pic's origin; Cuil got that picture from Google--click on the link. BTW here's the guys e-mail [REDACTED] he works for a car company. All this from a Google search. Amazing. I tried cuiling Jason but Cuil was down when I wrote this e-mail--darn. Love the show.

P.S. I mentioned the links in the chat room but was ignored

Leo S.

Link to Tom’s mystery man
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ocwelchsavannah.com/images/staff/TomMerritt.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.ocwelchsavannah.com/ourstaff.shtml&h=113&w=150&sz=4&hl=en&start=74&sig2=Bnrt_pe3W_QlKm-l-Psi7Q&um=1&tbnid=mQGy19jW4l0QXM:&tbnh=72&tbnw=96&ei=GhOOSOWxG5euoQSWsKDIDg&prev=/images%3Fq%3DTom%2BMerritt%26start%3D72%26ndsp%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN

Link to article (Molly)
http://washburnlaw.edu/news/2005/

Link to image (Molly)
http://washburnlaw.edu/news/2005/2005-03flss-wood.jpg

EPISODE 775

‘Hijacked’ SF passwords made public (Thanks Russ960!)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10000342-83.html

Hammer drops at last: FCC opposes Comcast P2P throttling
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080725-hammer-drops-at-last-fcc-opposes-comcast-p2p-throttling.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121720316961088595.html

Webware : Cool Web apps for everyone - CNET
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10000379-2.html

AT&T threatens WiMax joint venture
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10000105-94.html

MPAA planning site to offer legit movie links
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080727-mpaa-planning-site-to-offer-legit-movie-links.html

Jobs entrusts a New York Times columnist with the truth about his health, even before he tells Apple shareholders
http://venturebeat.com/2008/07/28/jobs-entrusts-nyt-columnist-with-truth-about-his-health-before-apple-shareholders/
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/26/business/26nocera.html

FCC approves Sirius-XM satellite radio merger
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10000241-94.html

VOICE MAIL

Anonymous
RIAA's nefarious plan.

Stewart
Why iPhone dock has changed.

E-MAIL
Hey Molly,

With your dislike of the iPhone’s missing features, and being a previous Treo user. What cell phone are you using? Just curious.

Dave
Rochester, N.Y.

I had my first run-in with the law regarding the hands free law that went into effect in California on July 1. I was driving in the afternoon last Thursday to pick up my wife from work. I had both my cell phone and Bluetooth headset. I was about 2 miles from my destination when I decided to call my wife to tell her that I was getting close. I brought my right hand to my ear to initiate the call through my Bluetooth headset when I changed my mind, figuring that 2 miles is a little too far to call her and that 1.5 miles would be better. The moment that I put my hand down from my ear, a police officer pulled me over. Evidently, the shear act of placing your hand to your ear is enough evidence to pull you over for possibly breaking the hands-free law.

Thanks for the great podcast!

Alfred

I’m sorry Buzz Crew, although I appreciate the podcast for it’s entertainment and it’s source of tech news, you guys completely botched this story.

Well actually,

What you guys forgot to mention was that he was making claims without reliable evidence, which means anything he says should be completely ignored, regardless of how many initials are in his name. Notice how he says that there is a risk, but all the evidence is conveniently unpublished (aka nonexistant). This guy is an alarmist quack.

If there is evidence that cell phones cause cancer, someone would be winning a Nobel Prize, because microwaves are non-ionizing and can’t break tissue according to our excellent understanding of electromagnetic radiation.

Considering that we talking about 2 watts or less (almost always less) of microwave radiation, there would have to be a library of bullproof, peer-reviewed, controlled studies before this idea is anywhere near scientific legitimacy.

Tony

You’ve talked now a few times about Terry Childs, the network tech who kept the admin passwords to himself and allegidly “boobytraped” his network so that it would fail during a planned power outage. With Cisco network gear, you can have different configs in “running” mode and in “start-up” mode. Running mode is what the router is currently using, while start-up mode is what the router will load and run after a reboot. Even with UPS backups, we all know power fails unexpectedly. Choosing to have configurations in running mode while not in start-up mode on purpose is only for nefarious intent.

Then, to add a dollop of creepy to this guy’s story, here’s a clip from Info Week : “Childs’ troubles with the technology department started to snowball June 20 when he followed and took photographs of the agency’s new head of security after she began an audit of who had password access to the system, authorities said.” (http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/vulnerabilities/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=209600496)

By any standard, this guy should not be considered a “good” sysadmin.

Signed,
Michael the Intel Project Manager

I'm a physicist who has worked in two different labs specializing in low temperature solid-state physics research. In both cases we had a piece of equipment that could reach 1.9K with ease, and you can have one too! It's available from Quantum Design, a company in San Diego, starting at a little less than $100,000. You'll probably have to spend a bit more to get the necessary options added on, but I wouldn't expect it to cost more than about $150,000. In fact, in the first lab I worked in, we were able to reach 0.35K using one of their add-ons. Anyway, I thought that Buzz Town might be interested in purchasing one...for what reason I'm not sure. You can find out more at http://www.qdusa.com/products/ppms.html

Enjoy!
Nathan
Murfreesboro, Tenn. (near Nashville)

EPISODE 774

Escaped ’spam king’ allegedly kills self, family
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-9999451-83.html

Cancer doc urges cell phone precaution
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9999188-1.html

Reports: AOL cuts XDrive, Pictures, some blogs
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-9999471-93.html

Report: MySpace could work with Amazon on music service
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-9999472-93.html

IPhone 2.1 Update to Bring Turn-by-Turn GPS?
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/07/iphone-21-updat.html

EFF: Yahoo Music should compensate customers
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-9999244-93.html

The Death of Nearly All Software Patents?
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/07/24/1458215

Hasbro Finally Sues Makers Of Scrabulous; Invokes DMCA To Get It Removed
http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-hasbro-finally-sues-makers-of-scrabulous-invokes-dmca-to-get-it-removed/

Users can automatically encrypt Gmail traffic
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-9999473-93.html

Internet Firm Says It Targeted Ads To Customers’ Web-Surfing Habits
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/24/AR2008072403603.html

Vint Cerf Preps Interplanetary Internet Protocol
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/07/24/1728214

VOICEMAIL

Steve Tampa
What about the accessories.

EMAIL

Sorry to burst your bubble Tomolly, but Richard Vobes has been doing daily podcasts from his beach hut in Worthing UK since January 2005 and is currently up to show 1009 as of July 25th.

I don’t know if Vobes is THE MOST prolific, but the bar is substantially higher to pass than Curry’s measly 777.

Your long term fan (Since 2005),

Scotto

**********

http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/columns/story/1152083.html

Finally! For once, the internet is being considered a utility. Wilson,
North Carolina did what the telecoms wouldn’t and installed fiber
optic all of the city. However, by opening that network up to
different carriers and being a carrier themselves, they have solved
several problems that plague the telecommunications industry. I hope
other cities and towns (and possibly telecoms) will see what Wilson
has done and follow their example. I salute Wilson for finding a
better, cheaper, and faster way to connect its citizens to the Internet.

Si
Durham, NC

**********

Hey Buzz Crew,
In episode 722, in responce to the whole “3D Standard” and 3D movies at home, Molly (almost rant-ally) says “What will it take to make the 3D glasses go away?”. Well, guess what, the technology already exists. I was in Seattle at the Boeing Visitors Center about to get a tour of the biggest building in the world by volume, and in the lower level of the building they have displays and exhibits to look at current and future technology. There was an exhibit from engine manufacturer Pratt and Whitney talking about their engine for the new 787 Dreamliner. Around the exhibit were 3 plasma TV’s with the imagies POPPING out at me with no glasses involved. You could walk to the right and left and see around the image… it was amazing!!! I had never seen anything like it, without glasses of course I went home and looked it up based on the information I could get off the plasma TV’s and it seems to be Phillips WOWvx 3D Technology.
http://www.presentationtek.com/2007/11/11/philips-wowvx-3d-display-technology/
Anyway, lets bring these into the homes, no glasses necessary!!!
Love the show,
Jordan from Cincinnati

**********

Hey buzz crew, jamoto (did i spell that right?) here’s some story for you.
http://equiliberate.org/?q=node/3

I’m a windows, mac and linux user, flexible to which any OS i use and i bought a laptop a couple of months ago and if i only had read the license terms of windows vista, i could have got my $699 Dell Inspiron laptop to be $499 if i got that refund. I didn’t even used the original windows vista in there. Oh well, but still happy because Mac OS X runs smoothly in this machine, made it to dual boot with Windows XP for the sake that my clients use it so i have to (work thing). If only Apple legalizes or distribute their OS on pc’s, businesses would embrace it in no time. Definitely. (hmm.. What would PC guy say about this… i wonder… =p)

ciao!
Polo