Buzz Out Loud Blog

Bing has taken over MSN video and it has videos from every network. Why isn't Microsoft trumpeting this? We also get really confused by Verizon's unlimited plan that has a limit of 5GB. Does it? Doesn't it? What the hell? And we debate the way Twitter retweets.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Microsoft disconnects Xbox gamers
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8354166.stm

New Microsoft Project Natal details leak, coming next year for cheap
http://dvice.com/archives/2009/11/new-microsoft-p.php

Google tests skippable ads In YouTube videos
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=117200

T-Mobile moves aggressively into HSPA and HSPA+
http://wifinetnews.com/archives/2009/11/t-mobile_moves_aggressively_into_hspa_and_hspa.html

Supremes wrestle with business method, software patents
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/11/supremes-wrestle-with-business-method-software-patents.ars

Google hopes to remake programming with Go
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-10393210-264.html

Microsoft moves MSN Video under Bing umbrella
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10394673-56.html

Twitter changes up ReTweet
http://evhead.com/2009/11/why-retweet-works-way-it-does.html

Google Latitude, now with Location History & Alerts
http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2009/11/google-latitude-now-with-location.html

Google Latitude gets snoopier: Adds location history and alerts
http://www.pcworld.com/article/181907/google_latitude_gets_snoopier_adds_location_history_and_alerts.html

VOICE MAIL
Brannon from Lake Elsinore on Gizmo

Jeremy in Virginia about the cookie law in Europe

E-MAIL
Hey Buzz Crew,

It was funny how you guys talked about hackers blacking out Brazil in previous years and just yesterday (Tuesday) we have suffered another one. A report says that it affected 18 states (4 totally, 14 partially) and also Paraguay (about 90%). The blackout is believed to have been caused by weather conditions and it has shut down 3 power transmission lines, some hydroelectric power plants and two nuclear power plants. The power was totally restored by 3:15 AM (Brazilian DST). More information can be found in the following link (in Portuguese, sorry): http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/cotidiano/ult95u650831.shtml

Please stop talking about blackouts here… It appears to have and immediate effect! LOL

Love the show!

Gus, the IT Auditor from Curitiba, Brazil.

*********

Hey buzz crew love the show! Have heard you guy mention that “unlimited
data” on wireless isn’t really unlimited. I did some checking as I am a
heavy data user and can’t find anyplace on Verizon, ATT or Sprints
website that says theres actually a 5gb limit (and yes I read as much of
the fine print as I could find). I did see that there was a 5gb limit on
there data card plans and tethering but it says that right up front. So
my question is what are you talking about? Oh and when I said I was a
heavy data user I meant that I am a truck driver who uses my Sprint data
card which I luckily got when they had the unlimited plan which I get to
keep. My average usage is… 25gb a month with an all time high of 52gb.
I also have almost no trouble getting 3G service in all the places I go.
Again Love The Show!

James

*********

Hello Buzz Crew,

Referring to yesterdays episode, you mentioned the Milestone going to
Europe and how you would want to get a phone sent to you from Europe.
Well surprise surprise, you can go on a field trip to your friendly
neighbours up north. Telus is announcing that it will have it
exclusively (unlocking anyone? ). It’s supposed to come out “early
2010″.

Here is a link to engadget:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/10/motorola-milestone-headed-to-telus-in-early-2010/

Love.The.Show

Carl from BC,Canada

A new law in Europe protects all citizens from the evils of cookies. Instead of relying on people to operate their own browsers, Europe now requires all Web sites to notify users that they will set cookies. That certainly sounds annoying. Come on over to our freedom-loving U.S. sites, y'all! We also check in on Motorola Droid sales and find out that the Milestone kicks the Droid in the butt. And Google has a holiday present for you. And it's free!

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Motorola probably sold 100,000 Droids in first days
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a4IZD2kI6dh8

Smartphones beat recession, Nokia still on top
http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2009/11/smartphones-beat-recession-nokia-still-on-top.ars

Microsoft pulls Windows 7 download tool
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10394191-56.html

Google to acquire Gizmo5, swing at Skype with VoIP-enabled Google Voice?
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/09/google-to-acquire-gizmo5-swing-at-skype-with-voip-enabled-googl/

Google to offer free Wi-fi in approximately 50 airports for holiday season only
http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/pressrel/20091110_free_airport_wifi_holiday.html

Yahoo to put Wi-Fi in Times Square
http://www.appscout.com/2009/11/yahoo_brings_free_wi-fi_to_tim.php

Intel introduces a digital book reader that reads aloud to the blind
http://venturebeat.com/2009/11/09/intel-introduces-a-digital-book-reader-for-the-blind/

Hundreds of Facebook groups hacked
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10394058-2.html

Consent will be required for cookies in Europe
http://www.out-law.com/default.aspx?page=10510

Mac OS X 10.6.2 delivers more than three dozen fixes, but crashes Atom-based Netbooks
http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=221601027

Blockbuster to rent movies on SD cards, but why?
http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/chris-dannen/techwatch/blockbuster-rent-movies-sd-cards-why

VOICE MAIL
Rafa from Brazil on blackouts in Brazil
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/11/brazil_blackout/

Thomas in Ohio about selling free software

E-MAIL
Long time first time. I started listening when Molly was out having her baby, and I haven’t missed one episode since.

I moved back to China three months ago, and at least in Beijing, the podcast is not blocked right now. When I visited home in 2008, all cnet podcasts were blocked, but it’s no longer the case this year.

I try to get around the great firewall very sparingly, only when it’s absolutely necessary, so I know pretty well among the podcasts I subscribe to, which are blocked and which are not. As mentioned on the show, Radio Lab is blocked. So is This American Life. So is Savage Lovecast by Dan Savage. But sorry guys, BOL is not, not even after the WOW incidence.

LOVE THE SHOW

alex
(no, my name is not alex)

**********

Hey BOLers..

This is Vijay from India.. Long time BOL listener.. you guys rock..

We have been talking about Motorola DROID for long now.. but not much about its GSM/UMTS brother the MILESTONE. Now that MILESTONE has been announced in some European countries, I was waiting for it to launch in India too. I guess it will be coming soon. Initially, I was thinking that only the Radio is different from the DROID. But apparently not… Here are some of the differences

The following features are available in Milestone and not in Droid

MultiTouch in Gallery and Browser (Droid only has double tap)
Geotaging in the Gallery photos.
MotoNav (Offline turn by turn navigation maps) This does not require internet connection (say if you are in some rural areas or in San Fransisco if you are on AT&T 3G ) where as Google Navigation requires connection to internet. Google Nav is also available on the Milestone.. best of both worlds !!
Phone Portal – Very cool thing where a webserver runs on the phone !!! The phone can be accessed just like a website from any desktop browser for the gallery, bookmarks etc just like accessing any cloud service.. pretty cool
MTP Sync Media Transport Protocol sync for easy syncing of media along with meta data etc.
Mysign – Gesture based short cuts where certain functions (say calling a specific contact, or turning on wifi etc) can be made into shortcuts based on certain gestures..

I did not get a link with these differences but basically got this information from the motodev podcast.. at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/motodev/2009/11/04/Developing-Android-Applications-for-DROID-and-Mile

LOVE THE SHOW..

Vijay

**********

Hi Buzz Crew,

It’s not a given that Murdoch has to loose against Google, because it’s
not a given everybody would use Google to search for news. Imagine most of
the news coporations would opt out of Googles Index and would be searchable
on Bing, because Bing would share their revenue. People would move to Bing
- at least for search for news. Newspapers would get more revenues.
Everybody would be happy, except for Google, which would at some point be
forced to pay newspapers to add them to its index.

Otherwise, love the show!

Regards,
Matthias from Germany

**********

Tom Richmond, the star caricaturist of MAD Magazine’s new generation had a project he worked on rejected by Apple. It was an app that had caricatures of all the members of Congress with their contact information. It was rejected because in ” in Apple's reasonable judgement may be found objectionable, for example, materials that may be considered obscene, pornographic, or defamatory."
I got the information from Mark Evanier’s site http://www.newsfromme.com (http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2009_11_09.html#018025)

Here’s the direct link to the story: http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog/2009/11/09/apple-rejects-my-caricature-app/

Love the show!
PS to Molly ~ Go Cats on 11/21!

Jay Huber
Bozeman, MT

We get an email telling us our podcast RSS feed is now blocked in China after talkign abotu the dispute over World of Warcraft between two Chinese government departments. Really? THAT is what got us blocked. We also get a kick out of good old Grandpa Murdoch's latest ramblings. And happy birthday Firefox. You're vulnerable.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Murdoch: We'll probably remove our sites from Google's index
http://mumbrella.com.au/murdoch-well-probably-remove-our-sites-from-googles-index-11366

Murdoch Making News Invisible To Search Engines? Not So Fast
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-video-murdoch-making-news-invisible-to-search-engines-not-so-fast/

New Verizon ad calls iPhone ‘misfit toy’
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10393072-71.html
http://gizmodo.com/5399850/verizon-wireless-launches-three-more-anti+att-3g-network-commercials

Apple said to be working on ‘world-mode’ iPhone
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10392936-94.html

First iPhone Worm Discovered, Rickrolls Jailbroken Phones
http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/slashdot/eqWf/~3/Zk3O3lh2r0U/First-iPhone-Worm-Discovered-Rickrolls-Jailbroken-Phones
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/11/09/2737673.htm

Happy 5th birthday
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/09/AR2009110901228.html

Firefox Tops Vulnerability List
http://www.internetnews.com/software/article.php/3847461

Nvidia CEO says ‘no’ to Intel-compatible chip
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10393045-64.html

Nook e-Book Reader on Back-Order
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703808904574523994119321648.html

Massive Brazilian Power Outages In 2005 and 2007 Caused By Hackers
http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/slashdot/eqWf/~3/wi_T-0ljnAw/Massive-Power-Outages-In-Brazil-Caused-By-Hackers

First look: Motorola Droid, HTC Droid Eris are risky for business
http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobilize/first-look-motorola-droid-htc-droid-eris-are-risky-business-434?source=fssr

Comic Books Improve Early Childhood Literacy
http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/slashdot/eqWf/~3/N-w3O-DaOFI/Comic-Books-Improve-Early-Childhood-Literacy

VOICEMAIL

Anonymous thoughts about free speech

Terry on the bus – Teaxed twice by subsidies

EMAIL

Hey Buzz Crew,
I know from an earlier episode that many of you no longer use the
actual Google homepage, opting for search bars and other fancy means.
But, as someone who uses the homepage everyday, the things that Google
chooses to put on their home really makes an impact on me as a Google
user. Much to my surprise, this morning when I login, what do I see? A
shameless plug for the Verizon Droid phone. Now, I think this phone is
great and I would even purchase it myself if I was not broke. But, I
feel that this kind of promotional advertising on the Google homepage
crosses that line from normal to extremely sleazy. I tend to be ok with
Google and their enormous corporate clout because they typically are
innocuous in their products and launches. More like “Hey, here is a
really cool product, do what you want with it” instead of “Yo, yo, yo,
check out this sweet product that you need to have to change your
life”. But, this advert on the homepage seems more like the typical
marketing tricks by a very large company. What do you guys think?

chris
the computer science grad student

***********

So, I had been wondering why the last couple BOL’s weren’t coming down through iTunes, so I decided to check the blog and see what’s up, and I see the story about the infighting between the Chinese Ministry of Culture and the GAPP over WoW. Apparently somebody didn’t like the way you guys talked about it. I have seen other podcasts mysteriously stop downloading (happened to Radiolab after they did a piece on a Chinese zoo that does live feedings), but oddly I wouldn’t expect it to happen to Buzz, since you’ve covered China’s censorship before without getting blocked. Could just be coincidental, after all, I would really expect the Instance to get blocked because of Scott’s “Ding Pong” act, but it hasn’t.

Anyway, no reason to shut up about it, your pod is still accessible from the blog page, so China listeners aren’t totally out of luck.

Also, I posted a rough overview of WoW’s China troubles here: http://gacorley.wordpress.com/2009/11/08/chinese-government-departments-fighting-over-wow/ — doesn’t say much new, though one huge question I still have is why skeletons are such a big deal to China’s censorship regime. I was hoping someone would eventually give me a good cultural answer, but it may just be that moral authorities have strange fetishes.

GAC in China

***********

Hey buzz crew in episode 1101 you were talking about whether or not
Netscape was free or not. As someone who is greatly interested in the
browser wars past and present I feel I can settle this argument.
Netscape was free for educational and personal use and they charged for
enterprise accounts. This may have changed at the end, but the primary
way that Internet Explorer won was by making it default on windows, and
they also made a deal with Apple to make internet explorer the default
browser on Mac OS (late 9 and early X). Love the show, hopes this helps!
-SamsNotUnix

Apparently the Large Hadron Collider is doomed. It can't even survive a bread bombing by birds. The Droid arrived on the scene though, and people actually lined up. However tethering is gonna cost you on the thing. Are you still in love? And Gwen Stefani doesn't like you making her sing Honky Tonk Women.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Episode

Midnight Droid madness in Manhattan
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-10392128-266.html

Verizon Droid Tethering Will Cost You
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/181590/verizon_droid_tethering_will_cost_you.html
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/06/psa-sears-charging-50-less-for-new-droid-activations-than-veri/

Windows 7 sales exceed Vista sales by 234%, new PC sales not as strong
http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_091105a.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10391484-75.html

Confirmed: Skype Founders Settle With eBay And Others, Get 14% Stake In Skype, Not 10%
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/06/confirmed-skype-founders-settle-with-ebay-and-others-get-14-stake-in-skype-not-10/

Twitter Cleaning Up Trending Topics Spam
http://mashable.com/2009/11/05/twitter-trending-topics-spam/

No Doubt sues Activision over Band Hero [Updated]
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2009/11/no-doubt-sues-activision-over-band-hero.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-10391715-17.html

Judge Halts Online Sale of Beatles Songs
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/11/bluebeat-claims-to-own-new-copyrights-to-old-beatles-songs/
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/11/about-those-beatles-songs-its-weirder-than-you-thought.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss

Betting on a Metal-Air Battery Breakthrough
http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/23877/?a=f

LHC Shut Down Again -- By Baguette-Dropping Bird
http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/11/06/0824213/LHC-Shut-Down-Again-mdash-By-Baguette-Dropping-Bird?from=rss

Sony to bring Risk to the big screen
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/06/risk_movie/

VOICEMAIL

Brian in Virginia on the PS3 Netflix

Anonymous Tony about 3G maps

EMAIL

Hey Buzz crew,

I am sure you will have this in today’s lineup..but just in case:

Comcast’s new throttling policies.

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/11/04/2026206/Comcasts-New-Throttling-Plan-Uses-Trigger-Conditions-Not-Silent-Blocking

“Its network throttling implements a two-tier packet queueing system at the routers, driven by two trigger conditions. Comcast’s first traffic throttling trigger is tripped by using more than 70 per cent of your maximum downstream or upstream bandwidth for more than 15 minutes. Its second traffic throttling trigger is tripped when the Cable Modem Termination System you’re hooked-up to - along with up to 15,000 other Comcast subscribers - gets congested, and your traffic is somehow identified as being responsible. Tripping either of Comcast’s high bandwidth usage rate triggers results in throttling for at least 15 minutes, or until your average bandwidth utilisation rate drops below 50 per cent for 15 minutes.”

So…by analogy, will cops start giving out speeding tickets if you travel >=70% of the posted speed limit for more than 15 minutes as well?

Wasn’t there a recent story about the FTC/FCC rules about “Truth in advertising” about ISP speeds? Now Comcast pretty much says, that whatever the ADVERTISED bandwidth, you will be punished for using more than 70% of your ACTUAL bandwidth.

Lima Tango Sierra!

Bob in NJ…

**********

Hey,

First off, Love the Show

My brother just alerted me to the Darpa Network Challenge, http://networkchallenge.darpa.mil/, which is to mark the 40th anniversary of the Internet.

The goal of the Challenge is to be the first to submit the locations of 10 large red weather balloons scattered throughout the continental united states. One person can’t do it alone, so the winner will be the best one to use Social Networking to solve the challenge, and what better then getting the word out on BOL?

I’ve seen others on Facebook with the same idea, but I’m also shamelessly running a contest website at http://www.mgatelabs.com/wiki/Darpa_Network_Challenge

Thanks,
Michael Fuller
Graduate Student of Software Engineering @ Auburn University
Developer of Port Defender on the AppStore

**********

Greetings buzztown,

Tom, you were concerned about the lack of competition in the chip market.
Well actually there was more in the early days of Windows NT.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windo
NT was initially available on these platforms: Intel X86, MIPS R3000/R4000 DEC Alpha, IBM PowerPC, Itanium and AMD64.

I was in software development back then. With four Unix platforms, we had 10 platforms to develop and support. Expensive!
With the market consolidation, It is so much easier now. We support Windows X86, OS X, Solaris and HP-UX.
Any new chip maker is going to have to emulate the X86 instruction set.

AMD, in 1982 licensed the X86 architecture. That, I believe, is why they still exist today.
I can’t imagine Intel would do that again, Unless the Government ordered it.
It is nice to have a standard PC that can boot Windows, OS X and Linux as needed.

There is more competition in electrical outlets around the world.
There are 12 different connectors and about 6 different voltages.
It’s tough charging you laptop around the world.

Love the Show,

Henry C.
Livonia MI

The European Commission has decided that every citizen has a right to the Internet, but still made it fairly easy for the media industry to cut the Internet off. We also see that Intel is in hot water again. And we ask that perennial question, "Why can't I own a Canadian?" And Google answers.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Intel in threats and bribery suit
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8343179.stm

Google Dashboard lifts curtain on stored privacy data
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10390941-265.html
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/transparency-choice-and-control-now.html

EU Breaks deadlock in debate over right to Internet access
http://www.pcworld.com/article/181472/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8344174.stm

Tell the FCC to say no to Hollywood’s insane “Selectable Output Control” kill-switch
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/11/04/tell-the-fcc-to-say.html

Congress may require ISPs to block certain fraud sites
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10390779-38.html

Verizon offers prepaid, no-contract 3G data bundled with a USB airstick
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10391153-94.html

Man-In-the-Middle Vulnerability For SSL and TLS
http://it.slashdot.org/story/09/11/05/144252/Man-In-the-Middle-Vulnerability-For-SSL-and-TLS

eBay launches online fashion magazine
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/ebay-comes-out-of-the-attic-and-starts-a-fashion-magazine/

WoW may be banned in China
http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSTRE5A32GE20091104

What does Google Suggest suggest about the state of humanity?
http://crave.cnet.co.uk/software/0,39029471,49304156,00.htm

VOICE MAIL
Brent from Lake Elsinore on Paypal

E-MAIL
Hello Buzztronauts

The NASA Space Elevator 2010 competition is currently ongoing at
Edwards airforce base in California. There are now only 3 teams
competing and well my university is one of those teams. There’s some
really cool tech involved with records being broken for the most power
wirelessly beamed over a distance and also just some really cool stuff
to see a robot climb 1 km vertically while being powered by a giant
laser.

The USST (University of Saskatchewan Space design Team) will get their
first run tomorrow morning at 7 AM and the competition can be viewed
at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/space-elevator

News of today’s happenings can be found here. http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/11/04/2117873.aspx

Love the Show

Scott “The Agricultural and Bioresource Engineering Student” Theede

**********

Hi Buzz Crew,

Listening to the commentary on episode 1099 about the ACTA treaty and the possible resulting three-strikes law, it occurred to me that perhaps what we need is a co-ordinated campaign against the lawmakers. In each country where these laws are enacted, people could make claims of copyright infringement against the legislators at both home and work. After receiving three such complaints the ISPs would have no choice but to cut off their internet connections. It would be interesting to see how quickly the laws would be repealed when those that made them became personally affected by the severe defects and opportunity for abuse in the legislation.

Love the show,
Doug

**********

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/11/04/latest_snow_leopard_build_resurrects_atom_compatibility.html

You guys had a pretty good go at Apple on Monday for getting rid of
Atom compatibility. Was that really warranted given that it was a
private beta release given to select developers? Anyway, now they’ve
put it back in.

I’m about 99% sure they put it back because they heard Molly’s rant.

Love the show,
scottjackson

**********

Hey Buzz Crew,

After watching the podcast last night I went to Google Maps and looked
up this mythic town of Argleton. I was poking around the area and
noticed something else. Just to the south of the supposed site of
Argleton is a train station. The name of this train station is the
Maghull Rail Station. It made me laugh because it reminded me of what
Natalie said about not being able to see it because we are “Muggles”.
I got a kick out of it anyway.

LOVE LOVE LOVE the show,

Aaron (Graphic artist from Garland, TX)

Leaks from the secret negotiations of the ACTA treaty allege that ISPs worldwide would be required to lose safe-harbor protections, implement three-strike antipiracy policies, and worse. We think this is outrageous. AT&T thinks Verizon is outrageous because of its commercials and so is taking Verizon to court. Also, EMI finally got around to suing BlueBeat.com for selling Beatles tracks online. But you can buy a Beatles USB stick for $280. So, you've got that going for you.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

AT&T vs. Verizon: There’s a lawyer for that
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-10389960-266.html

AT&T sues Verizon over ‘there’s a map for that’ ads
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/atandt-sues-verizon-over-theres-a-map-for-that-ads/

T-Mobile USA says it has fixed voice, data outages
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091104-710151.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10390097-56.html

Leaked ACTA Internet provisions: Three strikes and a global DMCA
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/11/leaked-acta-internet-provisions-three-strikes-and-
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/11/03/secret-copyright-tre.html

EMI sues Beatles-download Web site
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8342277.stm

The Beatles catalog being released on limited-edition USB stick
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/the-beatles-catalog-being-released-on-limited-edition-usb-stick/

Nvidia confirms Intel chipsets won’t support USB 3.0 until 2011
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/04/nvidia-confirms-intel-chipsets-wont-support-usb-3-0-until-2011/

…So, will Nvidia go rogue with its own x86 chipset?
http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2009/11/nvidia-x86-cpu-rumors-resurfaceis-it-a-plausible-scenario.ars

UPDATE: Personal Droid data will cost $30
http://www.gearlog.com/2009/11/personal_droid_data_will_cost.php

Verizon looking to bump early termination fee to $350 on ‘advanced’ devices
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/04/verizon-looking-to-bump-early-termination-fee-to-350-on-advanc/

Another Verizon Droid commercial, Stealth, and it's awesome
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/11/03/another-verizon-droid-commercial-stealth-and-its-awesome/

PayPal unveils plans to open payment service
http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=221600183

In test, Windows 7 vulnerable to 8 out of 10 viruses
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/11/03/2123258/In-Test-Windows-7-Vulnerable-To-8-Out-of-10-Viruses

E-MAIL
Hi BOL crew!
I love the show but it can be hard to sit and listen to somebody for 5 minutes going on about a software licensing system that should be put into place, when it’s been around for 15 years or so.
It’s called Microsoft Open Licensing with Software Assurance. http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/software-assurance/default.aspx
Small and large corporations can purchase from this programme to license their applications and OS from Microsoft. They can opt in for Software Assurance which means they get any and all paid upgrades at no extra charge during the license period (Usually 3 years)
They also get support and other benefits. Media is sent out when required.
Some versions of the MS OLP allow companies to pay annually over the 3 years rather than up front if that helps their books. It does give you predictable IT expenditures.

When it comes to home users, most IT experts will agree that it’s usually best to use the OS that came with your computer and ignore major OS updates. Wait until you buy a new computer that comes with the new OS. Small updates like Snow Leopard on new computers like my March 2009 iMac make sense, especially at $30!
However, I like Tom, do not want to pay monthly or annually for my software. If it was an option it might be ok, but not the only one I hope.

I repeat, LTS!
Cheers,

Jay Rymal
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

**********

Re: Nook v. Alex. I am not sure what trade secrets were taken from
Spring Design. Judging from the documents filed, Spring Design didn’t
even have a working prototype in the Feb 09 meeting, so the only thing
they exchanged were probably concepts. If B&N did not have a dual
screen e-book reader in the final development phase already, i.e., they
came up with it only after seeing the drawings in Feb 2009, B&N must
have one crack hardware engineering team (or ODM)/Android programmers to
get to a final product in 9 months.

Also, what’s the big deal about dual screens–Nintendo DS (hence the
name) has been around for a long time with split screen functionality.
Expanding it to a tablet size seems like an obvious expansion. Nintendo
lawyers: start your engines.

Dickson

**********

Hey Buzz crew! Bryan the Insurance IT guy here in Springfield, Missouri. I've been listening to the show for several years without writing or calling in, but I was listening to the Verizon/Exchange discussion in episode 1098 on the way to work this morning and thought I'd finally chime in with a couple of tidbits!

First, I administer Exchange and mobile devices for my office, and I can tell you there's no simple way for Verizon or any other carrier to detect and block Exchange ActiveSync traffic. ActiveSync encapsulates all device-server communications in HTTPS packets for security, so the only port that needs to be allowed for ActiveSync to work is port 443 - and you can bet all hell would break loose if any carrier tried to block port 443, as that's the port used for ALL SECURE WEBSITES! One thing they might try is to profile traffic patterns for ActiveSync and block based on that, but I'm guessing that's harder than it sounds and would get very messy, very quickly. Good luck to any carrier trying to pull THAT one off.

Second, I've now been involved in setting up half a dozen users with iPhones in my office, some on personal plans, and some on our recently-established corporate account. NONE OF US is paying the 45 bucks for "Enterprise" data service on the iPhone. For the users who set it up on their personal accounts, that didn't surprise me. I DID expect to get some pushback on the iPhone data plans for the corporate accounts, but in every case, we looked the AT&T rep in the eye and said, "Yes, it's a corporate account, but I'm only going to check personal email", and in every case, they didn't even blink. Maybe this attitude varies by region, but here in Southwest Missouri, at least, I've never heard of a case of AT&T forcing the $15 premium on iPhone users, even on business accounts. Incidentally, there's only one time we've been required to pony up the $45 for the enterprise data plan - AND IT WAS TO SUPPORT OUR LONE BLACKBERRY USER.

Maybe next time I'll call in, but I like to take serious relationships slowly. For now I'm still listening to other shows, but BOL holds a special place in my heart, and maybe one day I'll be able to commit.

The mystical city of Argleton in the U.K. appears on Google Maps but presents a face of green empty fields to people in person. What is it hiding? Druids? Wizards? Copyright protection? We also discuss the hot new XPERIA X 10 and the less hot Droid Exchange data plan. Also we can tell you when to watch Cougar Town on Hulu. We never stop our attempts to serve your every need.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Microsoft chops price of its hosted software
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10388764-56.html

Want a Droid for work e-mail? It’ll cost you extra
http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobilize/want-droid-work-e-mail-itll-cost-you-extra-575

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 announced
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/02/sony-ericsson-xperia-x10-announced-we-go-hands-on/
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2355137,00.asp
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10389463-94.html

Dutch hacker holds jailbroken iPhones “hostage” for ?5
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/11/dutch-hacker-holds-jailbroken-iphones-hostage-for-5.ars

Best Buy prepares for the post-DVD era
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-prepares-for-the-post-dvd-era/
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/best-buy-partnering-with-cinemanow-to-stream-first-run-dvds-to-a/
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-10389016-260.html

Spring Design files lawsuit against Barnes & Noble: Nook violates Alex intellectual property
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20091102006674&newsLang=en
http://www.tgdaily.com/consumer-electronics-features/44517-start-up-sues-over-nook

Hulu launches Coming Soon, their own TV Guide, sort of
http://blog.hulu.com/2009/11/02/coming-soon-your-resource-for-good-things-to-come/

Feds charge cable modem modder with 'aiding computer intrusion'
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/11/derengel/
http://www.pcworld.com/article/181267/alleged_cable_modem_hacker_indicted_in_us.html

Space hotel on track for 2012 – requires 8 weeks of training
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091102/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_space_hotel;_ylt=AppcrpbEAKVXEHRSsMudbLx0fNdF

Mystery of Argleton, the ‘Google’ town that only exists online
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/6474746/Mystery-of-Argleton-the-Google-town-that-only-exists-online.html

VOICE MAIL
Jerry from the fed thinks e-mail and letters are the same

Anonymous G-Man disagrees

E-MAIL
Hey Buzz Crew,

On Monday’s show, you guys took issue with Apple’s argument regarding Psystar’s unauthorized “copying” of OS X when the machines boot and make copies in the system’s RAM.

Although I’m not a lawyer, I am currently a law school student, and I can tell you that the idea that copying into RAM constitutes making a “copy” in the way Apple claims is well established law. See MAI Systems Corp. v. Peak Computer, Inc., 991 F.2d 511 (9th Cir. 1993).

As consumers, we’re given an exception for making RAM copies because we own authorized copies (or licenses) of our software. Apple’s argument (and it’s probably a valid one) is that Psystar is making unauthorized copies, and is thus not allowed to claim the same safe-harbour that allows regular consumers to make RAM copies.

As someone who hopes to build a hackintosh myself one day, I’m not particularly happy to say it, but it seems relatively clear that Apple has got established legal precedent on its side here. Love the show.

Nathan

***********

Someone must have commented that the “Nook” seems to come from Dr Seuss… In “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue fish” There is a part about “I took a look, I saw a Nook, and on his head there was a hook, and on his hook there was a book, and on the book was how to cook…” So when I heard the name Nook as a book reader, it just seemed too obvious. Of course the nook couldn’t read so the nook couldn’t cook so what good to a nook is a hook cook book?

Maybe I missed this discussion?

Love the show

Irie

***********

I have an alternative to the Twitter Peak. I had a “smart” pager back in 1998 and it had a full qwerty keyboard and could send/receive email or send text pages to other smart pagers.

I did a quick net search and these are still available, only now they support two way SMS as well for about $20/month and 2000+ texts/pages/emails. Pagers run $50-150. Who knew.

Probably better for a kid than a medium that by default broadcasts to the whole world. Plus no camera, unlike most cellphones, so no tween-sexting issues.

Love the show.

James

Over at BlueBeat.com, the best MP3-selling Website you've never heard of, has got it all for your listening pleasure, the entire Beatles catalog in MP3 form for just 25 cents each! Get them while you can (which won't be long). In other news, file sharers might buy more music, Bittorrent might save the Internet, and Apple could save the networks (but kill cable).

Listen now: Download today's podcast

BlueBeat first with legal Beatles downloads — or at least a hell of a lot of cheek.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/AheadoftheCurve/beatles-finally-sale-online-bluebeat/story?id=8960464

Study: File sharers spend more money on music
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10387976-71.html

uTorrent 2.0 To Elimininate The Need For ISP Throttling
http://torrentfreak.com/utorrent-2-0-to-elimininate-the-need-for-isp-throttling-091031/

DVR, Once TV's Mortal Foe, Helps Ratings
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/02/business/media/02ratings.html

Apple pitching iTunes subscription TV model for $30 a month
http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20091102/apples-itunes-pitch-tv-for-30-a-month/

Snow Leopard Update Blocks Intel Atom, Kills Hackintoshes
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/11/snow-leopard-update-blocks-intel-atom-kills-hackintoshes/

Apple Says Booting OS X Makes an Unauthorized Copy
http://apple.slashdot.org/story/09/11/01/195232/Apple-Says-Booting-OS-X-Makes-an-Unauthorized-Copy

Unconfirmed reports say Droid may also be headed to T-Mobile
http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=15838

Nintendo chief: the Wii has stalled
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-10387926-235.html

Free 3G Wireless For Nintendo’s Next Handheld?
http://games.slashdot.org/story/09/11/02/1530221/Free-3G-Wireless-For-Nintendos-Next-Handheld

An entire baby Wiimote peripheral
http://www.slipperybrick.com/2009/11/an-entire-baby-wiimote-peripheral/

VOICE MAIL
Matt from Orlando: Pagers FTW!

E-MAIL

No, I'm not a lawyer but given that Joe Wilson is my congressman (oh, the pride I feel), maybe I'm a bit more entitled to blurt things out...

I found this text for the beginning of the 4th amendment..
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated,..."

So what I'm thinking is this: couldn't we define email as an extension of your "papers" I'm not sure what they meant by "effects Perhaps some other member of this BOL community can weigh in.

LTS

(love the show)

Brad Edwards
Columbia, South Carolina

**********

Hey Buzz Crew,

You’ve been getting me excited about the Nook, with its ability to loan a book out to a friend for up to two weeks. But I just heard that not only won’t you have this option for all publishers (which you may have mentioned), but even when a publisher supports it, you can only loan a book ONCE. So if I loan you a book and you’re too busy to even start it, I can’t loan it to you again, and nobody else can benefit from me loaning it out either. Thanks for wasting my ability to loan out that book!

Sources:
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60148&highlight=nook+lending
http://webfloss.com/nook-just-turned-down-suckish-road/

Dan Vanderboom
Milwaukee, WI

**********

So three guesses where I went today. I’ll give you a hint it rhymes with the Ficrosoft Smore. Yes, the wait is over and I’m happy to announce (although a I’m tiny bit bitter) that the Microsoft Store is in fact a success. First of all the place is HUGE and loaded with all
the best Microsoft using hardware (and no doubt the most expensive).
In the store there are plenty of Zunes and sleek laptops, but the things that seemed to really seemed to put the asses in the seats were the gigantic touched screened computers, Xbox 360 games as well as some surface like gaming tables. Now this store does look a lot like an Apple store and it would have been nice to see some originality but all in all I have to say that Microsoft did this right. Although I have yet to have seen the new Apple store that is under construction as of now. All I know it that It has swallowed the store next to it and is now twice as big as before. So needless to say I’m freaking out over what’s behind that big black box inclosing it and so are the people judging by how many of them were trying to sneak peaks through the crack in between the doors Apple better come back with something FREAKING AWESOME to top this new store.

- Aaron in OC

Turns out those terahertz scanners in the airports are mostly safe, but they do a little unzipping of your DNA. Derek says it's nothing to worry about; you won't grow a third arm in the airport--even if it would be handy for carrying baggage. We also find out e-mail isn't private. Did we need the courts to tell us that? And Facebook gets $711 million it will never see.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Federal judge says e-mail not protected by Fourth Amendment
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/10/29/2257209/Federal-Judge-Says-E-mail-Not-Protected-By-4th-Amendment
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/10/29/on-gmail-and-the-constitution/

Facebook awarded $711 million in spam lawsuit
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10387021-93.html

Internet regulator Icann approves Web addresses in multiple languages
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/oct/30/icann-approves-idn-web-addresses-language
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10387139-93.html

Epix launches premium movie channel for TV and the Web
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/epixhd_premium_movie_channel_for_the_tv_and_internet_invites.php
http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/10/studios-launch-epix-high-def-on-demand-movies-site-and-we-have-invites.ars

Google Wave to be opened for federation today! Yes, for you to host.
http://thenextweb.com/appetite/2009/10/30/breaking-google-wave-opened-federation-today-host/

Software that fixes itself
http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/23821/

Microsoft’s Mission Viejo store opens
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/microsoft-store-viejo-2628335-mission-first

Let’s kill the OS upgrade disc
http://news.cnet.com/8301-19882_3-10386856-250.html

How terahertz waves tear apart DNA
http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/10/30/1216230/How-Terahertz-Waves-Tear-Apart-DNA

ReoCities: Because GeoCities is gone, but not forgotten
http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/29/reocities-because-geocities-is-gone-but-not-forgotten/

VOICE MAIL
Jason in Marietta calls out a bridge comment

Tony on Net Neutrality

Joe with a way to get around Amazon’s scheme

E-MAIL
Hey crue’de’buzz, I think SoCal or Stanford has an open source 3D printer that only costs around 2K. Aside from the fact that you can swap out the printing medium with cake icing, the coolest part is their goal of making the entire printer printable. If one of the parts is about to break, print a new one! If you’re annoyed with all your friends boggarting your printer, print them one. I think they have about 30% of the parts printable already, and they’re currently trying to replace the few metal parts with printable plastic. Now all we have to do is eagerly await the monopolization of the “periodic feed.”
John Smolik
Austin, Tx.

**********

Hey BOL crew,

Just responding to the email in episode 1095 about using the twitter
peek to stay in contact with your kids.
While I love the idea of a device with “lifetime” service and no
contracts, I’m not a fan of single purpose devices.
However, I can see where this person is coming from as my son is at
the age where a simple text device would be handy and I hardly ever
use the phone myself when I can avoid it, so why bother with another
cellular plan?

So I did a little looking around and found a company called Qwert (qwertcorp.com
) that sells very inexpensive text only plans, no contract, and does
not require you to buy a device, they mail you a sim card!

Considering my (jailbroken) Gen 1 iPhone is getting on in years and I
have been contemplating an upgrade for a while, I decided to pass it
on to my son with service from Qwert.
It works great and he sure appreciates the “extra” features of playing
music and games.

James in Milwaukee