Buzz Out Loud 731: Last rites for DRM

NOTE: The audio for today's episode was lost because of a technical glitch in the studio control room. As a result, the audio for this podcast was pulled from our live-stream camera. Don't expect anything mindblowingly awesome. This episode is for the true, hardcore BOL fan. Be warned!

EPISODE 731

iPhone shortage hits NYC
http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9950713-1.html
http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/22/ iphone-line-forms-at-apples-flagship-for-absolutely-no-reason/

NASA Phoenix mission to mars: An out-of-this-world content management challenge
http://www.cio.com/article/print/365763

Delving into Google Health’s privacy concerns
http://science.slashdot.org/science/08/05/23/0520223.shtml

Microsoft embraces ‘Bring Your Own Laptop’ model
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-9950662-56.html

Linking to movies leads to $4 million in fines
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/ 20080523-linking-to-movies-leads-to-4-million-in-fines.html

OZ 3G iPhone to be fastest in the world
http://www.channelnews.com.au/Portable_Devices/ Music_Download_Sites/U2E5C8A3

GameStop to stop Zune sales
http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/newsanalysis/ hardware/10418052.html

Photos: Itty-bitty minigun still a lethal weapon
http://news.cnet.com/2300-7348_3-6233303.html

‘Tunnel’ links New York to London
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7415911.stm
http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Telectroscope_ Invention_Links_New_York_To_London_17983.html

Funeral for DRM in Cambridge, Mass., this Saturday
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/05/22/ funeral-for-drm-in-c.html

Smart and funny use of Google Adwords
http://royal.pingdom.com/?p=298

VOICE MAIL

Roy Honolulu
About GoogleSites

Mike Sonoma
The survey about $1,000 PCs.

E-MAIL

Patent terms and other minutiae

Hey guys, how are things? At work during the podcast so I can’t listen live…oh well…

Anyway, terms of various IP rights

Patents: 20 years from the date of filing (pretty much the same around the world, with some exceptions, like the Middle East where some countries use the Islamic calendar)

Trademarks: Infinitely renewable, provided you show continuous use and always enforce your rights (If you don’t you lost the trademark; think elevator).

Copyrights: Life of the author plus some ungodly number of years (I think it’s 50, it might be 75, but in reality, whenever Steamboat Willy expires, it is whatever Disney thinks is appropriate).

Trade secrets: Forever, provided you keep it secret. Think Coca Cola.

Great show, keep it up. My day is not complete unless I hear your voices. And I get a good Molly-rant at least once a week. Provided she doesn’t rant against patents, then not so much love.

Cheers,
Bob “The Patent Lawyer”

*****************

Totally unofficial Twitter contest

OK here is probably your first entry:
http://www.blurbem.com/

This is what I wrote in one night so it is still a work in progress but it has basic microblogging and RSS features. Hopefully I’ll have the search done by the BOL podcast today. Anyway it is not much to look at yet but it solves the scalability problem. How, one may ask? I used Google App Engine so it is pretty much infinitely scalable.
Unfortunately for now, since Google App Engine is in an alpha stage, my account will be limited, so that may limit the site if you guys advertise it to the world for me If that happens, then I’m sure they’d give me more CPU time if Molly had a super scalable rant.

Anyways have fun with it! And if you have any suggestions, bugs, or feature requests, be sure to log them at:
http://bugs.blurbem.com/

If people like the service, I definitely plan on making it better quick; such as making it prettier and doing stuff like SMS updates. And sorry up front for the ads, but code monkey has to make some money for bananas.

Happy blurbing!
Paul Bailey

*****************

I still love standard-def TV!

Hey Buzz crew,

I finally received my Government DTV voucher in the mail. The first thing I did was run out to Radio Shack and buy the Digital Stream Digital to Analog Converter. I got it home let it run its channel scan, then in seconds I went from two over-the-air channels to six.

What amazed me even more was that I had been used to watching the same content on my parents’ cable system. Their system yielded a somewhat over compressed, pixelated image. I thought “well I guess that’s what I have to look forward to”. I was completely wrong, everything is crystal clear. Apparently (and I should have known) that cable companies will downgrade content quality to accommodate bandwidth requirements.

I’ve considered going to Craiglist and buying someone’s outdated 46-inch SD TV to replace my 20-inch for maybe $150 then calling it a day. I’m also considering buying an outside multidirectional antenna to pull in the Central Texas and Oklahoma stations. Owning an HDTV is great, but if you can’t afford it why worry? My box allows for letter boxed 16:9 or the standard 4:3 images. This may not allow me to count Conan O’Brien’s eyebrow hair strands, but it will let me see the entire HD field. A lot of syndicated content is and probably will continue to remain in SD for quite some time. I’ve seen actual HD content. It look’s great, but I can still sleep at night not having it for now.

Love the show

-Thomas from Texas

***********************

Netflix streaming

Tom, Molly, Jason,
I’ve been listening for a few hundred episodes, but this is my first e-mail. In Episode 730 you mentioned that on a media center box the only way to view “instant” movies is in the IE browser with a keyboard and mouse. Well actually their are three Media Center plug-ins that add the capability to the “10 foot” interface. My favorite (My Netflix) uses the IE plug-in but does so in the background so there is no problem doing it with just a remote control.

Love the show.

Mike (Navy Officer in Virginia)

*********************

Tom’s a pervert

I don’t know if you planned it this way, but the title of Episode 730 forced me to sit in my car at work in the parking lot to wait to see why Tom is a pervert. Every story that came up had me listening intently for some reason for his perversion (like statements about “Oregon”). Putting it at the very end was quite a sly trick to keep your listeners focused, but passers-by probably thought it strange that I was just sitting there in my car.

Maybe you should copyright this format.

Dr. Rob

http://distractible.org.
PS: I am over 36, too. Dang, my cover is blown.

********************

What the hell?!

I got a non-tech-related “What the Hell” subject, but What the Hell, I guess having a bitchfest (b***hfest?) about ancient stuff might stir up some more viewers.

I hate oh so much that there are so many different standards for mechanical pencils. I have two of theses in my hands, and they are completely “incompatible”: different lead sizes, AND different ERASER SIZES! Now, I understand lead, it’s for the picky people who need their marks to be oh so thin or oh so thick, but ERASERS? Seriously, the erasers are different widths, so if one pencil loses its eraser, I cant just swap them. This seems like a minor problem, but it’s worth killing people over.

Thanks,

Niko

********************

Ta la

Dear Tom, Molly, and Jason

Ta la is thank you directed at a person, and la can be used instead of the word mate, we do have a lot of unique phrases that everybody else in the world simply don't get.
For Instance "laughin" and "sound" are terms for the word good or great.
Simon was on the ball then he dropped it with my name.
If I was to talk in full flow Scouse most people would get lost except my fellow Scouse Buzz Out Loudians.
Thus ends the Scouse 101 lesson.
I'm only 30 so I'm not of pervert age yet, which is nice.

Gully (Not Skully)
Liverpool
Uk

****************

Voice actors getting paid

Hey there Molly, Tom, and Jason,

As for the actor in GTA IV who did not get paid residual income, the developers, the actual programmers don’t get paid residual income either. Only the big boys at the top are the ones getting residual income. Prior to this guy getting paid, I think the developers, who are actual employees of Rockstar, should get their residuals first, as they do produce the lion’s share of the effort that goes into the game.

Love the show.
Joseph from Atlanta

*****************

Indeterminate length determined

Hello Buzzers,

As a numbers nerd, the “Indeterminate Length” of your podcast has always struck me as something that needed some determining. I analyzed episodes 523 through 722 and can happily report that your podcast is 38 ±10.6 minutes long (to ~95 percent accuracy).

I posted my work and scripts on the BOL Wiki under the Topic “Indeterminate Length Explored” if anyone wants to improve or extend my work.

Thanks, and keep up the good work!

http://buzzoutloud.wikia.com/wiki/Intederminate_Length_Explored

Brian Trapp
Pougheepsie, N.Y.