Buzz Out Loud Podcast

Ok, but just to be clear, when I say it's time for me to get a pimp, what I MEAN is that it's time to get a PMP -- a portable media player. That is, perhaps, an iPod Touch. Anyway, you'll understand. In other news, the MPAA is trying to clamp down on your analog hole and break your DVR all at the same time and Apple's Snow Leopard is having a rough landing ... apparently because of the picture on the box.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

MPAA still pushing for output control
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/09/movie-studios-again-demand-hdtv-disabling-powers-from-fcc.ars

YouTube talking to studios about streaming majors like Netflix
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10337004-93.html

Vudu coming to Mitsubishi TVs
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10335687-1.html

Toshiba grits its teeth, releases Blu-ray player
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10344487-1.html

Apple ships a known vulnerable version of Flash with Snow Leopard
http://www.sophos.com/blogs/gc/g/2009/09/02/apple-ships-vulnerable-version-flash-snow-leopard/
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10344478-37.html

And reports of “spinning wheel of death” are growing
http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/mac/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=219501236&subSection=Macintosh+Platform

Amazon slams Google’s book scanning
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10335976-265.html

Walkman outselling iPod in Japan
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ansrP2IonbRA

Samsung netbook to have 11 hour battery life
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10344384-1.html

Sprint announces Android HTC Hero
http://www.cnet.com/8301-19736_1-10338820-251.html

Microsoft calling on thousands to host their own Windows 7 parties
http://www.techflash.com/seattle/2009/09/microsoft_plans_thousands_of_neighborhood_parties_for_windows_7.html

VOICEMAIL
Ben: My Palm Pre has it all

EMAIL
Hello Hot Buzz,

Maybe I’m an optimist, but the failure rate of the XBOX 360 has me hoping that the next generation XBOX console will be the most reliable console ever created. Playing it will be like eating at Jack in the Box after the E. coli outbreak.

I only hope that the ad campaign includes Bill Gates wearing a giant round mask and talking smack against the competition.

With Love,
Aaron in Vancouver/Portland

**********

Buzz crew,
I believe everything you mentioned on Wednesday’s show about what you need to make a phone into a decent in-car GPS is already available, at least for some phones. I have been using TomTom software on a Windows Mobile phone for a couple of years. It does not require live data, you can use the phone AND still navigate (with a bluetooth headset). It sounded like in your discussion you were thinking of only how the Iphone does it. Perhaps a broader look is in order. ( I sound like such a Windows Mobile fanboy, don’t I?)
Bryan
Jonesboro, Arkansas

**********

It appears that Rafe’s statement is true in general, but check out the
wording in the Vehicle Code:
http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc26708.htm

This part says “Don’t put stuff on your windshield”:

“26708. (a) (1) ( )1 A person shall not drive any motor vehicle with
any object or material placed, displayed, installed, affixed, or applied
upon the windshield or side or rear windows.”

This part says “Okay, MAYBE put it on your windshield, but only if it’s
a GPS thing and only in a certain area”:

“(12) A portable Global Positioning System (GPS), which may be mounted
in a 7-inch square in the lower corner of the windshield farthest
removed from the driver or in a 5-inch square in the lower corner of the
windshield nearest to the driver, if the system is used only for
door-to-door navigation while the motor vehicle is being operated and
outside of an airbag deployment zone.”

So yeah, you can use it on your windshield if you follow those
guidelines.

Nicole (Lee)

I don't know. It must be the low blood sugar but I called us the podcast of indeterminate lake. But we still were able to talk sensibly about the Twitter DoS targeted at one specific person. We also cheer on the FCC as they hold ISPs feet to the fire. And Adobe is the new Microsoft. We'll tell you why.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Twitter, Facebook attack targeted one user
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10305200-245.html

FCC wants real answers from ISPs on broadband investment
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/08/fcc-wants-real-answers-from-isps-on-broadband-investment.ars

Is Adobe the next (pre-2002) Microsoft?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10304455-245.html

On demand in command; 51% of young ‘Net users view TV online
http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/08/half-of-all-young-internet-users-now-watch-tv-online.ars

Crowdsourcing the semantics of numbers with True #
http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/08/using-the-web-to-embed-meaning-in-numbers.ars

Fox joins Universal’s war on Redbox DVD rental kiosks
http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/08/fox-joins-universals-war-on-redboxs-dvd-rental-kiosks.ars

CERN’s collider to get ’safe’ start in November
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-10305480-76.html

Tech gives humans animal senses
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8188070.stm

Prototype OpenOffice.org gets ribboned
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10305160-2.html

Steam car on course for record
http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/news/steam-car-on-course-for-record-27792.aspx

VOICEMAIL
Jason in Georgia on a solution for coffee shops
http://briantong.blogspot.com/2009/07/treating-customers-with-respect.html

Steven in Las Vegas with an idea for show balance

EMAIL
Why doesn’t somebody come out with an unlocked GSM compatible e-book reader? This way the device cost will be lower then a Kindle (since you’re not paying for the “whisper net” overhead and you could just pop in your SIM card (given you subscribe to a GSM cellular carrier with data coverage) and after you download your content you just pop the SIM card out and put it back into your cell phone. Or, better yet, make a bluetooth tetherable e-book reader and use your cell phone as the data connection. Unfortunately, AT&T doesn't let you tether unless you have a smartphone with a special data plan.... Bummer...

Jonathan, from Cleveland, OH

**********

Hey Buzz Crew,

I just listened to episode 1035 and your discussion of how Radio Shack/”The Shack” needs to really try harder if it’s going to compete on the same level with Best Buy…

Well, it just so happens that Radio Shack tried to compete on the level of Best Buy once before and failed miserably at it.

Back in the 1990s, Radio Shack — then known as Tandy Corporation — opened up a chain of computer stores across the country known as Computer City. These were positioned as a direct competitor to the now-defunct CompUSA computer store chain, which at that time was just starting to dominate the retail computer market. During most of that decade, Tandy Corporation invested heavily in expanding this chain of stores, to the point where they were putting stores sometimes literally within arms reach of every CompUSA in the country.

Unfortunately, their rapid expansion (which resulted in the inevitable over saturation of the market), combined with poor management of the chain, eventually led Tandy Corporation into financially troubled waters, causing them to ultimately sell the entire Computer City chain to the very company they were trying to compete with.

Combine this with their badly-planned Incredible Universe chain (which could have been a legitimate competitor to Best Buy if they had actually put those stores anywhere other than in the middle of nowhere), and Tandy was forced to restructure, which eventually led them to rename the corporation as a whole — choosing the name of the chain of stores that represented their core competency: Radio Shack.

Love the show. Keep up the excellent work.

Regards,

Brian Cunningham

**********

Hey Buzz Gang,

Have a 'well actually' for you...well actually it's for fellow Saint John resident Ryan Floyd. I'd just like to reveal that Ryan is not the only listener from Saint John, NB, Canada. I also live in SJ and regularly listen to your fine show. I'm glad Ryan thought he was the only one however, as now I get to say hello and thank you guys for all the tech news/laughs that have very much become part of my routine.

I feel I should contribute something, so here is a link to a TechCrunch article on an interesting panoramic video technology:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/08/03/if-you-could-see-google-street-view-in-video-it-would-look-like-yellowbird

And the awesomely ridiculous web address:
http://www.yellowbirdsdonthavewingsbuttheyflytomakeyouexperiencea3dreality.com

When trying out the embedded video on TechCrunch, I (quietly) exclaimed something inappropriate for the workplace....

Mr. Rooney
The only listener on Germain Street, Saint John, NB, Canada.

**********

Hello Buzz Crew,

I am responsible for 7×24 support of the internet infrastructure for a very large company. Between all of the web, Java application, and EAI servers my team supports, we have numerous automatic monitors on our systems that sends text messages to our oncall phone in the event there are problems. (In the old days it was an actual pager. For the young-ens out there, that is a box that only receives text messages and you can’t speak into it).

With the talk of outlawing “texting while driving” does this mean I will have to tell my employer that by law I will have to ignore any system alerts I get during my 2 hours on the road commuting every day?

Pulling over isn’t always an option as by law you are only suppose to pull over on the highway in an “emergency”. I’m not sure the highway patrol will consider high thread utilization on a Java appserver an “emergency.”

Love the show.

Jeff – The Senior Internet Architect from Kansas City

We all get in a big arguments over whether all-in-one devices are more convenient than discrete devices. Cooley thinks discrete devices are un-American. I think the opposite. And Molly has the logical arguments for discrete devices. We also find out a judge has ruled IP addresses can only prove a computer existed and not a person. Good on ya, Judge!

EPISODE 1,015

Google names Chrome OS compatriots, Dell noticeably absent
http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/google-names-chrome-os-compatriots-dell-noticeably-absent/

OEMs mum on actual partnerships
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2349895,00.asp

Intel thinks Chrome is peachy
http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/09/intel-doesnt-view-chrome-os-as-a-threat-to-moblin-just-wants-w/
http://chrome.blogspot.com/2009/07/google-chrome-os-faq.html

Meanwhile LiveAndroid lets you try Android OS on any computer
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10282885-94.html

Judge rules IP addresses not “personally identifiable”
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/07/08/1522247/Judge-Rules-IP-Addresses-Not-Personally-Identifiable

Netflix streaming coming to Sony TVs, not yet the PS3
http://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-streaming-coming-to-sony-tvs-not-yet-the-ps3-2009-7

Kindle’s $9.99 books may shrink publishers’ profits
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aWhjmdVFcC2Q

Amazon opens AmazonWireless, for no-hassle cell phone buying
http://richdemuro.com/amazon-opens-a-real-wireless-website-no-rebat

Standalone GPS receivers going the way of the dodo
http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/09/07/09/1339225/Standalone-GPS-Receivers-Going-the-Way-of-the-Dodo

Hyundai hybrid launched with li-Polymer batteries
http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-GreenBusiness/idUSTRE5670CF20090708

Designers conjure up wacky ‘car of the future’
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/07/09/atnmbl/

E-MAIL
This is Chip the Mech. Engineer and on episode 1013 you were talking about Sprint offering a netbook with broadband. I am looking at getting one because not everyone can get wireless everywhere they go. I live in a small town in Virginia that has 2 maybe 3 places that offer wireless (coffee shop type places). I have it at my house but the wireless at work is locked down so not everyone can get on it. Also my family has a cabin on the Blueridge Parkway and there is cell service there, Sprint and Verizon are the only ones that can get service though (don’t even turn on your phone if it’s AT&T). No DSL offered there, only dial-up so this would be great for weekend trips to the cabin and moving about around the town I live in.

PS
I have a PRE and LOVE IT. I am listening to your podcast, texting my brother and typing this email.

Love the show, keep up the great work.

Chip

**********

Something that might help the residents of buzztown … I purchased a
kindle on tuesday and of course the price drops the next day. I
didn’t hear about the price drop until I listened to your show in the
evening – but at that point I opened my kindle, loaded it with a bunch
of stuff and started reading.

Of course after hearing about the price drop the day after my purchase
I contact Amazon about getting some kind of a price adjustment. Their
first response from the initial support person was they don’t do that
and if I want I can either return the item and repurchase it or keep
it and take a $20 gift card to make up for the $60 price difference.

I calmly explained to the support person that this was idiotic – for
me to have to do repackage it, get a refund, repurchase and reload the
new kindle – and stupid for amazon to pay for shipping it back, and
basically replace a brand new (but now used) kindle for another one -
when the end result is the same. I had to demand to speak to a
supervisor, but he relented and gave me the refund.

Normally I have found Amazon’s service to be very good – I have only
had to call a handful of times (and this is the first time I have had
to ask for a supervisor) – but you think amazon would have had a
solution for this already in place – I am sure I am not the only one
that purchased a kindle recently who is still in the return window.

Anyway – just thought that there might be people in buzztown who are
in a similar situation.

Love … The … Show

Matt Brown
Louisville, CO (hopefully soon San Francisco, CA)

**********

Dear Buzz Gang,

After the chat room today, I just COULDN’T stop myself from making a campaign ad for Molly to be President of the Internets.

Here is the download –
http://kelvington.com/MollyWoodPresident.avi

Here it is on YouTube –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD9HziisdSM

And Yes that is my voice… Love the show, I’m still working on my Buck Rogers Parody, Rafe “Rubbings” Needleman – In The 19th Century!

Take Care,
Rick Kelvington

**********

Kevin Chen made one too – http://tr.im/ruOC

**********

hi buzz generals!

for a few weeks i had my exams at the end of high school here in
switzerland. The oral exam was about a newspaper article, and guess
what… it was about something you have brought up several times in
the show: the grand dam youth protection software!
i almost didn’t have to read the article at all, i already knew
everything thank’s to you. a just talked and talked and talked… even
gave updates about the story, the teachers were very impressed. now
i’ve recieved my results: i got the highest grade possible.
i really can’t thank you enough for the great show you do, i’ve been
listening to it since a couple of years now and it has really helped
me to improve my english. when i started i often had to rewind, listen
again, but now everything goes just fine.

right now i’m on holiday in sweden, i’m on a train between Stockholm
and Göteborg, traveling at 200km/h, i’ve got free wireless internet
with 3mb/s download 1mb/s upload! nice! all that thank’s to a
combination of satellite and 3G.
another funny thing is that on the train there is a Sony Ericsson
salesman that you can borrow a phone (W995) from, for free, and it’s
packed with movies! really nice!

have a great week

Pierre from Switzerland

That and other important questions are answered in today's show, where we're joined by John C. Dvorak in dissecting the new Facebook Terms of Service, the New Zealand blackout over copyright law, and the last-minute saving of SiriusXM. Also, give your boys the violent video games. They need them.

EPISODE 912

Day one of U.S. TV transition only 114 more to go
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

Facebook’s new terms of service: “we can do anything we want with your content. Forever.”
http://consumerist.com/5150175/facebooks-new-terms-of-service-we-can-do-anything-we-want-with-your-content-forever

Facebook terms of service compared
http://amandafrench.net/2009/02/16/facebook-terms-of-service-compared/

Facebook: Relax, we won’t sell your photos
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10165190-36.html

New Zealand blackout over copyright law
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/02/16/new-zealand-netizens.html

Swedish prosecutors drop some charges in The Pirate Bay trial
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10165604-38.html
http://torrentfreak.com/50-of-charges-against-pirate-bay-dropped-090217/
http://www.pcworld.com/article/159638/

SiriusXM takes investment from Liberty, not EchoStar
http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-karmazin-gets-sirius-deal-done-with-liberty-not-ergen/

Flash 10 coming to most smartphones in 2010
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13970_7-10164745-78.html

Second ‘Google phone’ is unveiled
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7894516.stm

Microsoft, Nokia offer app stores
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7892863.stm

Windows Mobile 6.5...CRIPES! Are you kidding me?
http://www.dvorak.org/blog/2009/02/16/windows-mobile-65-cripes-are-you-kidding-me/

EU commissioner calls for unified mobile-power-adapter standard
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2009/02/eu-commissioner-calls-for-unified-mobile-cable-standard.ars

Keeping violent media away from boys could be a bad idea
http://arstechnica.com/features/2009/02/keeping-violent-media-away-from-kids-could-be-a-bad-idea.ars

VOICEMAIL
Anonymous (Tony)
Pirate 3D movies

E-MAIL
The CRTC (our equivalent of your FCC) wants to put a levy on ISPs to pay for Canadian content production on the web. My take, umm, ok I produce like 6 podcasts, I want a truckload of money.... More seriously though, umm, CRTC, step away from my frakking internet.

http://business.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090217.wcrtcliveblog0217/BNStory/Business/home

Dave (the psychologist)

**********

I was sitting in a waiting room recently and was bored, so I decided to pick up a magazine that was laying around. That is when it hit me that in 5 to 10 years from now there might not be any magazines/newspapers in waiting rooms anymore. If everything goes online what will we do to pass the time in a waiting room? I guess we will either need to remeber our Kindle or maybe waiting rooms in the future will have Kindles just laying around tethered to a desk that people can read while waiting.

P.S. On another note, I read my first version of PC Magazine online since they stopped producing paper copies and it just was not the same. My 1 year old kept wanting to touch the keyboard. It was so much easier with a paper copy that I could carry around and the kindle is to expensive for just one magazine.

Jeff

**********

All -

I’ve stridently resisted Twitter, but in ep 911 you discussed how disaster news might hit Twitter before professional news networks can release it. My mom was in that recent ice-storm mess in KY and for 5 days I didn’t know where she was or if she was alive. No land lines, no cell reception, no power, no email at home or work, regional/national news too vague. Through Twitter I might have been able to track down news about her neighborhood, or even someone who knew her and could check on her for me. I’m sold. Thanks.

Karen Roth
Scottsdale, AZ

**********

Hey Jaytona,

I don’t think you guys have mentioned this service yet, but just in case… Have you heard of Jinni, http://www.jinni.com? Lifehacker described it as Pandora for movies. Type what you’re in the mood to see and it gives you a whole host of results based on your initial preferences. Last night, my husband and I wanted to watch something with love, friendship and sci-fi (hey it was Valentine’s Day). It came up with Sliders, Wall-E, Starship Troopers, and Highlander to name a few. If you want to watch a movie, it links you to Amazon, Netflix, Blockbuster and other services. Now if only Audible would come up with a similar recommendation engine.

And uh, Sliders was surprisingly good.

<3 the show,

Cat

**********

Hey Buzz,
I’ve been catching up on BOL after living in a technological black hole for three weeks for a class for work. And when I say black hole, I’m not kidding. This was an Air Force class and we didn’t even have Internet access. I heard you talking about the Airborne Laser program on 29 Jan and thought I would throw in an interesting tidbit. One of my buddies who was in the class with me works on the ABL and told me that it should more appropriately be Airborne Lasers. The system sends out a laser microburst for range and then fires the actual laser using the atmosphere as a lens to more accurately focus the offensive laser. The first burst, calculations, and physical lens calibration all happens within 1/10,000th of a second. The program is still in a prototype phase, but this year they are supposed to deliver a working capability. This would mark a huge advancement as the military will be able to use this technology to make all over-the-air data transmissions more efficient by continuously recalculating the focal strength needed to make up for the losses from a changing atmosphere.
Love the show!
Noah, USAF

EPISODE 832

IMDB turns 18
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10067397-52.html

Android Market has a killswitch, but Google will refund your money if they use it
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/10/16/android-market-has-a.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10067543-16.html

HTC Dream T-Mobile G1 (black)
http://reviews.cnet.com/htc-dream-t-mobile-g1/

FCC looks set to back “white spaces” as Chairman signs on
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081015-fcc-looks-set-to-back-white-spaces-as-chairman-signs-on.html

Details released on the Radiohead experiment results: A tremendous success
http://techdirt.com/articles/20081015/1640202552.shtml
http://musically.com/blog/2008/10/15/exclusive-warner-chappell-reveals-radioheads-in-rainbows-pot-of-gold/

iTunes sells 200 million TV shows, adds new HD TV lineup
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/10/16/itunes_sells_200_million_tv_shows_adds_new_hd_tv_lineup.html

Only 4.13 percent of the Web is standards-compliant
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/16/1325215

Hawaii's move to digital bumped up to January 15
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20081015/BUSINESS/810150351/1071

Adobe addresses Flash Player ‘clickjacking’ flaw
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10067544-83.html

First official photos from new Star Trek movie
http://entertainment.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/16/1210210

Queen has fit of Google giggles
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7672149.stm

No financial chaos in virtual world of Second Life
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iXK9hDkozMzCd61pKw4Z38IvHBPA

Voice mail
Mike from Tacoma: cell phones on a passenger?

E-mail

As always, when people start talking about the consoles they usually start and end by comparing HD space.

Before my stance is undermined let me state some things. I do not own a PS3. I do own a Xbox 360 and a Wii.

The PS3 has 2.5 features over the Xbox 360.

The first being this magical thing called wireless networking. Now that I think about it the Xbox 360 is the ONLY platform that does not have wireless.

PSP? check
DS? yup
Wii? Indeed
iPhone? OMG yes
Zune? Seriously Microsoft….

And due to microsoft wanting to rake you over the coals, the wireless adapter costs $100

The second thing they are missing is something that THEY ALREADY MAKE! A browser. I will not run down the same list again, but you get the idea.

And the .5 is hdmi. only one of the models of Xbox 360 has the beloved hdmi port.

And do not get me started about the messed up proprietary HDs and…*sigh*

I am sure this rant is late but I had only 1 BoL on my ipod Shuffle during a 2 hour road trip so I heard you talk about over and over.

-Paul in Irving

PS the PS3 also cures cancer :p (FaH ftw)

PPS I know the fragmentation is horrible, but it is late. I apologize in advance if I offended Molly’s Grammar Sense. (Hmm super power?)

**********

Just to let you guys know that the first netbook (Asus Eee PC 700) was
released a year ago today. It’s amazing how far they’ve come.

Love the show,
Kyle from Ohio

**********

Saw a 40 to 50 years old lady, enjoying dinner at Ruby Tuesday alone with her Sony Ebook..

Luv de show

Pranav

**********

http://blog.wellsfargo.com/StagecoachIsland/

I haven’t checked this out yet, but I can’t believe it exists. Nevermind who I work for at the moment, this is hilarious.

-Philip

Tom couldn't decide whether to go with the "marginalized whackjob" wall paint, or just get a marginalized whackjob fringe. Vote? In other news of the day, the McCain campaign discovers that the DMCA can be ANNOYING! Maybe they'll do something about it once they're back in politics-land! Also, EA says no one cares about DRM except an organized online cabal. We know how well that attitude worked out for the music industry.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

EPISODE 831

McCain campaign complains about takedown notice procedure
http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/1795
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081014-mccainpalin-campaign-angry-over-bogus-dmca-takedowns.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10066510-38.html

YouTube says: no special treatment
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10066738-38.html

99.8% of gamers don’t care about DRM, says EA
http://games.slashdot.org/games/08/10/15/1525259.shtml

Worldwide PC market grew 15 percent in third quarter of 2008
http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=777613

YouTube passes yahoo as #2 search engine
http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/14/1645227

First look: Firefox 3.1 beta 1 officially released
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081014-first-look-firefox-3-1-beta-1-officially-released.html

Software blocks car phone users
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7669533.stm

SanDisk releases $20 slotMusic Player, dozens of SD card albums
http://gizmodo.com/5063564/sandisk-releases-20-slotmusic-player-dozens-of-sd-card-albums

Amazon, EA, Microsoft, others win ‘Popular Mechanics’ Breakthrough Awards
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10066453-52.html

Banjo used in rain surgery
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/14/1945249

VOICEMAIL
Anonymous: Why with the MacBook Pro!? Why!?

E-MAIL

I’m still a day behind, so I just finished episode 830. Molly, you keep griping about this flash bug; I used to get it too, but no more. The solution is simple: Flashblock (http://flashblock.mozdev.org/). Flash items are not loaded, and are replaced with a little play button, allowing you to load selectively, so you never have enough flash things open to cause them all to break. It also ends up speeding up page load time, and you never have to see that annoying dancing person on the “mortgage rates” ad ever again.

Love the show!

-Anthony
Dallas, TX

**********

Totally disagree w/ your assessment. We have one Blu-ray player and several DVD players. Providing a DVD copy for the minivan, either of the kids’ rooms, and any of our computers is brilliant. I don’t want the kids handling the BD Disk b/c I’ve seen what they do to the DVD’s. Also, it allows my sister-in-law to borrow a movie, which she can’t whenever we only have it in Blu-ray.

Joe in WI

**********

Hi all of you,

I was checking out the new MacBook Pro on the American page of Apple
to see the specs and everything. http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/specs.html
Then I went the the Swiss page to check the price and… boom 30 minutes of
the battery life of the Mac Book vanished, only 4.5 hours. Then I went
back to the American site: 5 hours.
All the other specs are the same and everything except for the battery
life… strange

Pierre from Switzerland (Yes, I live nearby the CERN.)

P.S. could you send me a MacBook Pro from the USA with the 5 hours battery
life?

**********

Hola Buzz Brigade,

You guys have probably read that Sony has pushed out it’s latest firmware for the PS3. Some of the features include additional support for trophies and the ability to set a sleeper shutdown for the controllers (which is so freakin’ BOSS!). But the other “coolerer” feature that they didn’t mention during their original announcement is that Flash 9 was also included. Which mean now I can watch Hulu directly from the PS3 browser without having to use a third party app to stream it to my PS3 via XNLA. This is a great bonus.

Amazon on Demand doesn’t appear to work but I’ll take one win where I can. Besides, the PSN video store is pretty freakin’ huge and keeps growing by hundreds of titles each week.

Just thought I’d let you know.

Love the show (except when Molly rants on the PS3–such a lame 360 fanboi )

Tim

**********

Hey guys,
Just a “well actually.” The DisplayPort is actually a new industry standard. It’s not created by Apple. Dell started using it before Apple did, in fact. It’s supposed to be better in performance than DVI, not to mention plug in better than DVI ports.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Displayport

OK, fine, so maybe the “Mini DisplayPort” is a proprietary version of the normal DisplayPort.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini_DisplayPort

They like to “improve” existing technology.

Oh, and you’ll probably know this by now, but the 9400M and the 9600M are not options. They’re BOTH found in the MacBook Pro. You get to switch between them to decide between battery life and performance.

Daniel from Singapore.

**********

FROM THE FORUMS — TOLLIE:
Here’s what I was hoping you’d amend/correct from your reporting yesterday: DisplayPort--not proprietary, VESA standard, will be Apple-wide, also backed by Dell, HP, Intel, et al… and Aluminum MacBooks have no firewire--Apple is bumping Firewire off the consumer line… Trackpad takes away a button, but you can now define TWO button regions (i.e. a right-click area). Hopefully not as dumb as the Mighty Mouse.

**********

Hey BOL crew, you said you wanted to try talking to the robots pretending to be humans online. Well actually, you can. http://elbot.com (press the red button)

I’m not sure if it’s exactly the same Elbot as in the test, because this has been on the Internet for quite a while.

Thanks for the great podcast ,
Keelin

EPISODE 821

Pandora, Webcasting see victory in Senate
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10055055-93.html

Studios Sue to Bar a DVD Copying Program
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/technology/01film.html

Would Apple really shutter iTunes? Unlikely
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10055021-93.html

Microsoft still paying people to search
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10053855-75.html

New Wii due by 2011
http://www.whattheyplay.com/blog/2008/09/30/new-wii-due-by-2011/

P2P growth slowing as infringement goes deeper undercover
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080930-p2p-growth-slowing-as-infringement-goes-deeper-undercover.html

Scientists develop incredible thinking cap
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10055309-71.html

Adobe exec confirms Flash for iPhone, says Apple will decide when
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10054749-1.html

New denial-of-service attack is a killer
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/01/0127245

Dell preloading Iron Man, world asks “Why?”
http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/30/dell-pre-loading-iron-man-world-asks-why/

Starz gives Netflix fans a reason to stream
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/starz-gives-netflix-fans-a-reason-to-stream/

VOICEMAIL

Adam from Maple Valley
Some open source cloud examples

Joe from Westside
On the other side.

E-MAIL
Hi guys,

I’m catching up on last week’s episodes, and have been thinking about
this first sale doctrine mentioned re: Spore last week. Just to be
clear, I think the Spore DRM is lame… but in this day of digital
media, isn’t first sale outdated?

You can sell a CD you buy at the record store, but can't you sell music
bought online? Do you think someone would buy am unDRMed MP3 from the
Amazon store from you? In fact, are you even allowed to resell unDRMed
MP3 files?

How about iTunes purchased content--for example, movies or TV show
seasons? These actually are valuable.

– Nilay

**********

This topic may have been shared already, and it may not really be like Google’s carrier-less concept, but here in Southeast Asia, especially here in mobile savvy Philippines, a lot of local hackers offer dual-sim capabilities. In the days of Nokia 3310 (remember Space Impact or Picture Editor?!), buyers can opt for a modified back-plate cover that encases two sim slots that connect to the main sim slot, so your phone uses two carriers. Switching between carriers is seamless, but I’m not sure the extent of it’s capability, as I have not tried it.

We also have this phone called My Phone (check it at http://www.myphone.com.ph) that houses built in dual-sim slots and has advanced smartphone features to boot (albeit no Space Impact OR Picture Editor). Well, that’s it, what do you think?

Long time listener, great show!
Chris

**********

Hey Jamoto!

In response to episode 820, I think people should create their own clouds, everyone having their own miniserver. Companies could make money by releasing software to run your cloud. And then you’d only have to upgrade the hardware of the server, not your little eee PC accessing the server.

Robert the Soviet

If a robot has a firm handshake, does that mean its creator is a stand-up guy, or just that he programmed his robot to have a firm handshake? That and other serious technology topics are examined today, and we also give our official Buzz Out Loud reviews of the new Microsoft commercial with Jerry Seinfeld. Brian Cooley joins us for Friday goodness.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

EPISODE 803

LHC will not destroy the universe in 5 days
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/09/04/lhc-will-not-destroy.html

Microsoft begins big ad push
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10033375-56.html
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/9/seinfeld-s-first-microsoft-commercial-awkward-not-funny

Comcast appeals FCC traffic-blocking ruling
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10033376-38.html
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080904-martin-responds-to-comcast-lawsuit-we-still-want-answers.html

Blu-ray gone in five years, Samsung claims
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/04/1656212

Redesigned, bulkier Honda Insight to challenge Prius
http://tech.slashdot.org/tech/08/09/05/0141244.shtml

Michael Moore plans Net-only film premiere
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10033561-93.html

Album leak welcomed by Metallica (Thanks Bernardo!)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7598617.stm

Robots Are Net’s future, says Vint Cerf
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/04/1751209

Adobe and NBC to provide live streaming of NFL games
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Stewart/?p=924

Columbia set to resurrect Ghostbusters
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/05/ghostbusters_3/

VOICE MAIL

Anonymous
Cybercommand update.

Dave
My friend's bad bandwidth.

FORUMS

Comcast bandwidth meter
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6035_102-0.html?forumID=97&threadID=307301

Preview of Seth McFarlane’s Google ad cartoons
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6035_102-0.html?forumID=97&threadID=307304

E-MAIL

Hey Crew! Long time listener, first time e-mailer!

I was bugged by the whole Comcast putting a cap on my end of the tube. I would consider myself a moderate bandwidth user, and was curious as to how much I actually use. So I called Comcast on Saturday, got to the person I who would answer my question, and the lady said she’d have no problem telling me how much. After a minute or two, she said she’d have to talk to her manager who knew exatcally where to look, was gone for a few minutes, came back, typed a bunch, left again, came back, thanked me for being patient, kept looking…. She asked me why i was inquiring about how much I use, and I explained to her that I had no idea where I was compared with the 1%… she told me that it was only 1 percent who would get cut off, and I explained to her again that I didn’t know where I was to know how close I come to the 250GB, to which she said ‘well, you get 350GB not 250GB. I told her what the news said, and she said it was wrong. I was going to ask her for name and her extension for future reference, but my store got busy, so I had to go. It took about 20 minutes for her to find the bandwidth I used in the last 30 days, which was about 75GB.

I would think that the average customer would ask “where do I stand compared with the cap?”… The only answer I was getting was “well, only 1 percent will hit the cap”, which isn’t an answer. The average customer is not going to have any point of reference to gauge how much they use.

Thanks keep up the good work!

Todd,

Lynden, Wash.

Hay buzz crew,

Just writing in to say "Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!" Thanks to BOL my wife is now interested in tech stuff and I have a new outlet for my tech talk.

It all started as I slipped a copy of Buzz out loud on to her iPod and renamed it NY Times. Idea stolen from Microsoft Mohave Experiment.

Can you give her a shout out!

Now I only have to get her to play COD 4 & Gears of War Don't know how I am going to do that but wish me luck!

Thank You

Matthew

Hey Jamoto, Tobias from Sweden again.
As I hope you remember, I e-mailed you yesterday about SPORE DRM-
license-server-thing that refuses to work. I’ve been trying for three days now, still no luck!

Sad to say I’m not the only one, just check out this thread (one of many):

http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/spore-technical-support/334745-mac-users-cannot-connect-license-server.html

So you remember us Mac-users can’t get into the game. Well worse, PC-users that bought Galactic Edition can’t seem to log in either, because for them, the game says that their serial code is invalid.
I’ve paid almost 90 bucks for the game, is it to much too ask for it only to work?

Worse yet, EA Support doesn’t know what to do. One I talk to didn’t even understand that I was on the Mac (he was trying to get me to run the EAReg.exe or whatever it is called on the PC). Another guy told me to register online. And everyone else told me to wait. Nothing helps!

I never actually cared about the whole DRM debate, but now I’m so pissed about it because it only hurts the honest average customer who just wants to play his or hers friggin’ game!

I appreciate you mentioned my e-mail on episode 802, and with this e-mail I’m hoping that you will take this further and discuss it. Maybe we can get a Molly rant on DRM?

Love the show, and have a great weekend

Tobias

Hello Buzz Crew,

Netbooks and laptops are already bundled by carriers outside U.S.

In Romania you can get when you subscribe to the mobile Internet services cheaper laptops and Netbooks.

Orange has Eee PC 901, Macbook Air, and other Dell and Asus bundle offers.

Allex from Romania

Dear Buzz Out Loud,

You can put an OEM copy of Windows on any machine you want. The catch is, once it is on one, that is the only computer you can put it on. Some places also require you to also buy some sort of hardware in order to buy an OEM copy. This doesn’t usually mean a complete system, unless you’re buying from places like HP or Dell; often you can buy one component such as RAM. It can be something else you might need (DVD-ROM, hard drive, etc.), but RAM is usually a good way to go seems how you’ll probably need more anyways. OEM software is always a good way to go if you’re building your own machine and want to keep costs down.

Brian, Ill.

EPISODE 798

IE 8 beta gives other browsers a run for their money
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10027345-83.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7585741.stm

State cannot force removal of SSNs from privacy advocate’s site
http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/08/08/28/1536249.shtml

Music labels rethink iTunes, again; same old gripe of album vs singles
http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-music-labels-rethink-itunes-again-same-old-gripe-of-album-vs-singles/

“Galactica” proves the ratings system is dead
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26396271/

Veoh defeats copyright infringement lawsuit
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10027926-93.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121989796262379185.html
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/8/a-victory-for-video-sites-court-grants-veoh-its-dmca-defense-in-copyright-case

YouTube finally figures out how to make money: Big ads on its home page
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/8/youtube-finally-figures-out-how-to-make-money-big-ads-on-its-homepage

Report: AT&T source explains exact technical details of iPhone 3G problems - Thanks Jay!
http://www.dailytech.com/Report+ATT+Source+Explains+Exact+Technical+Details+of+iPhone+3G+Probems/article12797.htm

Why can’t they fix the Flash/Firefox bug?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10027752-2.html

Aaron Sorkin creates Facebook page, writing Facebook movie
http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2008/08/confirmed_aaron_sorkin_creates.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7585632.stm

Hackers prepare supermarket sweep
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7584258.stm

Man’s ‘pants’ password is changed
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/shropshire/7585098.stm

Voice mail

Josh in Denver
Hydrogen-powered cars.

Anonymous Analyst
Made a site.

E-mail

Hey BOL Crew,
I think that Psystar’s counter-suit against Apple, saying that they
violated anti-trust laws, is completely bogus. It’s as if someone were
to sue Dasani saying that they are violating anti-trust laws by
packaging water in the specific Dasani bottle. Now, if the consumer
wants to put the water from the Dasani bottle into their own - they
can. Just like the OSx86 project. Now, if you were to sell Dasani
water in your own bottle, it’s obvious that you are ripping of Dasani.
It’s the same situation with Apple v Psystar. If Psystar wins, it’s
like allowing the common people to make Apple’s company decisions.

-John

**********

Hey Guys,

On 797, you briefly mentioned the use of the letter “Y” and how it
began with Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

I’m a little confused… Are you saying that shows didn’t commonly
exist prior to Buffy with “Y”s at the end, or that “Buffy” was
originally “Buff The Vampire Slayer,” but they added the “Y” to give
it the secret Whedon sauce of success?

It sounded like there was a reasoning behind the “Y” but you didn’t
really explain. Please do.

Tim
St. Louis, Mo.

P.S. Was Molly originally “Moll” before the “Y” craze?

**********

Hey hey TMJ,

I’m fully not expecting this to be on the podcast tomorrow, but wanted to share my fangirl love for you guys. At 3 different points in podcast 797 I was talking back to you guys while driving home from work!

1. Hey Tom, #800 won’t be on Monday, but on Tuesday, unless you guys are podcasting on Labor Day
2. Hey Molly, answering the phone in Japanese isn’t “konichiwa” (although that is technically “hello”), but “moshi moshi”. As a japanophile, I thought you’d know that one!
3. Hey Jason, when you asked “are you ready for some soft rock!” I was waiting for Johnathan Coulton’s “Soft Rocked by Me” from his Thing a Week collection: http://www.jonathancoulton.com/2006/06/02/thing-a-week-35-soft-rocked-by-me/

PS Jason, how’s your DirecTV?

Love you guys!
Amy in the East Bay

**********

Hey Buzz Crew,
I was just listening to episode #797 , and the near Molly rant about
Apple pulling apps form the App Store made me fire up the old
Powerbook, put the baby in the swing and give you my two cents. The
way I see it is that Apple built the sandbox, ordered the sand, and
even made sure the dumb truck did not wreck their yard. Now all they
are trying to do is get the cat poop out the it. I guess what I’m
trying to say is that I dont see any difference between Apple pulling
apps, for what ever reason, even for no reason at all. And those signs
you see that every mom and pop restaurant that state ” We reserve the
right refuse service to anyone”. Is Apple being a tool do doing this,
yes? But its still their sandbox.

Love the show,
Never seen a kindle in the wild,

Mark-o from Portland