May 19, 2008 11:12 AM PDT

Buzz Out Loud 727: Microsoft to Yahoo: Let's take it slow

Posted by Molly Wood

Actual tech news today! For example, Microsoft is re-wooing Yahoo, Nintendo is stomping through the console market like Godzilla in Mario's Kart, the first public Firefox 3 candidate is now available, and Apple is trying to win direct downloads for the new iPhone. Oh, and if our caller from UPS is to be believed, those iPhones might be starting to arrive in stores right now! (Dear CBS: Send pie!)
Listen now:

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EPISODE 727

Microsoft, Yahoo forced into each others’ arms
http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9947185-56.html
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Microsoft-Yahoo.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7407585.stm

Silicon Valley Rumor: Microsoft to buy Yahoo Search and then Facebook
http://furrier.org/2008/05/19/ silicon-valley-rumor-microsoft-to-buy-yahoo-search-and-then-facebook/

One-fifth of Americans have never used e-mail
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9946706-7.html

Nintendo Wii outsells 360, PS3, PS2, PSP combined in April
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080516-npd.html

Best Buy: FCC has no power to fine us over analog TVs
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/ 20080519-best-buy-fcc-has-no-power-to-fine-us-over-analog-tvs.html

Shops track customers via mobile phone
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/ article3945496.ece

Microsoft confirms Windows adheres to broadcast flag
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9946780-7.html

Ars Technica acquired by Conde Nast: The lowdown
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/ 20080519-ars-technica-acquired-by-conde-nast-the-low-down.html

First public Firefox 3 candidate shoots out the door
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/05/19/ firefox_3_candidate_release/

Apple wants more mobile music from labels
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/19/ apple-wants-more-mobile-music-from-labels/?hp

Zoho Writer search bug exposes private docs
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9947158-7.html

Using magnets to turn off the brain’s speech center
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/18/1253258

Voice mail

Ben Washington
Special delivery.

Anonymous Turk
We got some Powerset search results.

Dan Ohio
More NBC vengeance?

E-mail

BSG and Hulu

Starting with Friday’s episode, new Battlestar Galactica will not appear on hulu.com until over a week after their cable premier. It was particularly nice that they only told us this late Saturday Afternoon, after people had been waiting all day refreshing hulu to see it.

This has caused many people to write into hulu’s forums with pretty angry reactions. Here is mine:

“This seems like a crack dealer approach to dealing with your customers.
Give them a great service for 8 episodes to get them hooked… and then remove it in an attempt to get them to pay a higher cost for your cable channel.

If people do actually watch it on the cable channel, then they probably don’t need come here; so what exactly is the new point of hulu?
Apparently it has none. I thought it was supposed to be an ad supported alternative to watching shows on your tv. Apparently, though, it is just meant to draw new viewers into watching the shows by ordinary means, by trickery. This will of course not work, as most people will probably just get the show by means that are not in SciFi/hulu’s control, and other people, like myself, will just wait the extra week for it to come on hulu but will have a much lower opinion of the service and the SciFi channel.

I will personally wait the extra week and watch the show here; but, as Colbert would say, consider yourself “On Notice” hulu.”

-Jack (Berkeley)

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Violent videogames

Hey guys,

Great podcast! I am actually the guy who is working with Dave (doing the trash talking) on that video game study. Thanks for the shout out. I am thinking that people who are more aggressive just normally play more violent games.

Just a thought, maybe you can set the botnet against those Texas crazy ants…. what’s that ants? The botnet said your queen is very fat?

Thanks,

Rob

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XP SP3 endless reboot on my Dell

Hey guys,

I know I’m a bit behind on the podcasts, but i was listening to episode 723 when you guys were talking about the hp computers being a problem. Well just for the record, i have a dell, and it has an Intel processor in it. So why did i get thrown into this endless reboot cycle? The world my never know.

Love the show,
Nick the high school student

P.S. To get rid of this problem, I had to do a system restore.

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Early DTV adaptation

I was listening to Talk of the Nation earlier and I heard that in Willmington, VA they are gonna switch over to full DTV and shut their analog towers off on September 8th of this year! I guess that’ll be the true test to see if its gonna freak out the masses or pass like a calm fart in the back of the class room. Again, love the podcast

sincerely
evandr from peoria, il