Buzz Out Loud Podcast

Episode 868

The mouse hits 40-year milestone
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7768481.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7761262.stm
http://news.cnet.com/2300-1041_3-6248261.html

Rumor: Apple’s iTunes going DRM-free starting Tuesday
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/12/08/rumor_apples_itunes_going_drm_free_starting_tuesday.html

(Or not, says News.com)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10118706-93.html

Voluntary campus-wide music licenses could stop the lawsuits
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081208-voluntary-campus-wide-music-licenses-could-stop-the-lawsuits.html

Google’s answer to Java, Flash, Windows: Native Client
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10118792-92.html
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08%2F12%2F09%2F1459230
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10118019-16.html

Sony to lay off 16,000
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10118970-92.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aiP0oocLk1KY

Tech Spending to Grow 1.6% in 2009
http://blogs.wsj.com/biztech/2008/12/09/tech-spending-to-grow-16-in-2009/

Free crapware removal from Support.com
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10118333-1.html

Indiana bans driver’s license smiles, for security
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08%2F12%2F09%2F1315248

MySpace ‘Connects’ with Google for MySpaceID
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10118553-2.html

HP unveils displays that yields to the touch
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10118330-1.html

Voice mail
Joe from Boston: Singing by the train

E-mail

Hey Tom Molly Jason and Guest, B from New Orleans I just wanted to
comment on the bingo like game that we are all playing ( to get
pictures of certain items in the wild). I just heard someone say, get
a picture of Steve Jobs with a g1 in his hand and natali said that
someone was gonna have to force it in his hand. This disturbed me a
bit, does the movie fight club ring a bell. This is how it all starts
first pics of kindles in the wild, then netbooks, then someone
kidnapping Steve Jobs and putting a g1 in his hand to get the picture.
This must be all apart of Molly's evil plan.?.?.? Love the show

Sent from B’s iPhone

**********

In response to your hunt for Android phones [Android chaser jingle
anyone?], engadget reported on Sunday that China has announced a new
phone running on the OS. It’s going to be called the QiGi i6. Pricing
hasn’t been announced yet but the touch screen looks every bit as
responsive as the G1. However, in these troubled economic times [drink]
they did have to cut a major part of the phone’s design out: the
keypad. As Android doesn’t natively have an onscreen keyboard this
seems like a fairly big omission because when you buy it you’ll have no
way of making any sort of text input like URLs, text messages,
phonebook entries, etc. Here’s the original article:
http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/07/video-of-chinas-android-running-qigi-i6-in-action-unearthed/

Oh, and if you haven’t already heard, Wal-Mart has officially announced
it’ll be carrying the iPhone in 8GB and 16GB but mentioned nothing of
the illusive 4GB one.
http://www.pmptoday.com/2008/12/08/official-walmart-iphone-3g-starts-at-197/

Love the show
Alex from the UK

**********

Hey for those of us in rural areas, the bingo is impossible. How
about a little cultural bias to help us with the last mile problem,
like:
guy on a tractor using a cell phone
Cows with headphones
opportunistic wifi deer
someone surfing on a 26K dial up in the wild

Love the show!

Anthony Soucek [so-check]

**********

Hey Jamoto+1,

Do you guys remember when molly was talking about netbooks with 3g
capabilities and how it would be better then the gigantic cell phone
thats trying to be a netbook? Well here you go

http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/08/contract-laden-3g-acer-aspire-one-hitting-us-at-just-99/

love the show

Brad from buffalo

Episode 867

UK ISPs switch on mass Wikipedia censorship
http://community.zdnet.co.uk/blog/0,1000000567,10009938o-2000331777b,00.htm
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10116543-93.html
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/12/07/how-the-great-firewa.html

Technology start-ups to be given £1B fund
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/07/nesta-plan-technology-startups

BlackBerry Storm firmware update
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10114383-1.html

WalMart: Wiis and iPhones
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE4B608520081207
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a4YIU21gLaSY

Google to sell truly open Android dev phone
http://hardware.slashdot.org/hardware/08/12/08/1324256.shtml

ViaSat satellite approved for broadband in 2011
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/pcworld/20081206/tc_pcworld/usbroadbandinternetsatellitescheduledforlaunchin2011

Spore most pirated game of 2008
http://www.gamepolitics.com/2008/12/06/spore-tops-list-2008039s-most-pirated-pc-games

EMI joins Tap Tap Revenge
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2336325,00.asp?kc=PCRSS03069TX1K0001121

Computer scientists find audio CAPTCHAs easy to crack
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081208-computer-scientists-find-audio-captchas-easy-to-crack.html

TiVo launches Netflix streaming for its Series3 DVRs
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10114609-1.html

Voice mail

Anon from NH - Facebook and eyeballs

Lee in Boston - Podcast guilt

E-mail

Tom, Molly, Jason and whatever other wayward employee you happen to snag
out of the office today,

I guess you have dramatically underestimated your audience with respect
to the difficulty level in the bingo card. Perhaps you should look at a
task you might have previously considered impossible. I think you
should require a picture of Steve Jobs in the wild using a Gphone.
Just a thought.

Love the show,
Vic the Texas Rancher Pilot

**********

Hi Guys,

This is Chris the Frapper Map guy.

Is it just me of you've missed to talk about the opening of Amazon MP3 Store in the UK ?
If I missed it please let me know which episode so I can go back and re-listen. If not, please do mention on your next talk, it's quite important for us here to know this. It's even got cheaper price compare to iTunes !
Here is my blog post talking about it : http://www.toogeektobetrue.com/2008/12/04/amazon-mp3-store-uk-launches-with-songs-cheaper-than-itunes-take-that-apple/

Cheers ! Love the Show !
Chris Prakoso

**********

I figured by Monday you'll be talking about the Consumer survey that claims that Google uses 21 times more bandwidth then it pays for, and I wanted to chime in.

First of all, the numbers are right. The costs are drastically different between what I pay and what Google pays for bandwidth, but Its comparing apples to oranges, consumers to business... of course the numbers are going to be dramatically different.

The company doesn't even get "Costco level" economics. You buy a jar of peanut butter at the grocery store you pay one price, but if you buy a two gallon jar at Costco, you get a much better cost per weight and comparatively Google buys jars as big as your house.

Their conclusion shows just how little this company understands their own numbers. Using the peanut butter example, they look at Google's massive jar and then their own and are shocked by the fact Google's rates are a lot better then theirs. Rather then put their blame on the ISP's for their apparent shafting, they point the finger at Google cause they buy in bulk and say they're not paying their fair share.

The fact is everyone is paying their fair share, its just that anyone who wants Google's rates will have to pay mortgage on their peanut jar. Ok... so the analogy is getting a little wonky here, but you get the point.

These 'facts' are being used in a net neutrality argument regarding infrastructure costs... but the problem is what it always has been... ISP's are bottle necked at the 'last mile' and Google's express lane to the still free flowing internet backbone has absolutely no effect on the problem the ISP's got themselves into by overselling and saturating their connections at the local level and now want someone else to foot the bill.

Ben @ Nova Scotia

**********

Hello Tom, Molly, Jason, & other,
This is Jerry, the US Navy Seabee serving in Italy. Please inform
CMDR Mark that if e-mailing him the show doesn't work out, I would be
willing to burn him a CD each week of that week's shows and mail it to
him. If he is being deployed to Europe or the Middle East I could
mail it for free and it should get to him fairly quickly. Just give
him my email allias, and we will give it a try.

As a "Dirt Sailor," I would be more than happy to help a shipmate
out. I know this method doesn't sound like the best but when I was
deployed to Iraq my wife would shoot video of her and our baby boy
each month and mail a DVD to me. The significance of those DVDs &
what the did to keep me going can not be overstated. Perhaps Buzz Out
Loud will not hold such a high significance for CMDR Mark but it would
be one more thing to look forward to and help to time fly by.

Keep up the great work,
Jerry

EPISODE 717

MicroHoo is dead, long live MicroHoo
http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9935100-56.html
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9935250-7.html
http://kara.allthingsd.com/20080505/ yahoo-execs-reaction-i-need-some-prozac/
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9935751-7.html

Grand Theft Auto IV simplifies game purchasing
http://www.reuters.com/article/industryNews/ idUSN0430077120080505

Apple losing money in new movie deal
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9934405-7.html

Cuba lifts ban on home computers (yes, they had that)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7381646.stm

Spam reaches 30 year anniversary
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7380788.stm

Xobni revamps in-box: Adds social networking twist to Outlook
http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/006890.html

Google Audio CAPTCHA defeated
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/02/1426253

RIP E3
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6190307.html

Wii and Wii Fit to be featured at select Westin hotels
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=15903

Are you calling yo’ momma fat?
http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9934623-1.html

VOICE MAIL

Desmond in Ga.
The memristor infinite loop?

E-MAIL

Windows feedback panel/Vista Ultimate

Dear Your Highnesses,

Concerning the Windows Feedback panel program and Windows Vista Ultimate, I wish everyone who is a Vista hater would just take a chill pill. I was beta tester for Vista and will be using my free copy of Vista Ultimate to build a HTPC for my children. Yes even children are cable of using and understanding Vista. Vista is a wonderful Operating system, PERIOD!!!!

--Mark Brewer
Dayton, Ore.
Down the road from the Spruce Goose

P.S.

I'm loving my 20 inch iMac that I got 3 days ago, Leopard rocks my world!!!!!!

P.P.S.: Must remember to take my medication.

Hard Drive Crusher comment

‘ello JaMoTo,

Actually, there are several better (and much cheaper) ways to destroy a hard disk:

1.) Get a gun. A large gun. Shoot the hard drive.
2.) Pour gasoline on the hard drive. Light the hard drive on fire.*
3.) Electric drill. 'Nuff said.
4.) Sledgehammer + muscle = DESTRUCTION

* Well, actually, with the price of gas, it might be cheaper to buy the $11,000 disk crusher.

Love the show, --Fletcher from Minnesota.

“I Voted” in the Buzztown elections

So I’ve been trying to get myself excited by the prospects of the upcoming mayoral election. Truth-be-told I think I prefer the current, social collective groove we have going on now but when the times change we must either adapt or die. So how to get fired up? Well we need a reward! One of my favorite parts of election day is the bestowing of the “I VOTED” sticker so I took the liberty of designing what I hope will become the official Buzztown “I VOTED” sticker.

I know you don’t like to accept attachments via e-mail, so I poked around the wiki to see if I could post it there but I guess I’m a bit dense and didn’t see a way to do it. The sticker is attached but I’d be happy to post it somewhere if you’d rather. In addition to the jpg file of the individual sticker, I’ve attached a template suitable for printing on Avery brand Round Inkjet Labels, model 8293.

http://www.uploadimage.org/images/yqxmuf5chiqpue5bqtve.jpg

Keep up the good work y’all

--Jason Tollefson
Production Planner
Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Indiana Jones and the Tickets to the Baseball Game

Your Royal Monarchs,

This strikes me as the kind of story you would possibly, maybe talk about if it was a slow day on Monday. In any event, it’s interesting and has to do with the new Indy movie. They’ve got this weird little ad on the schedules for May showing a picture of Indiana Jones on May 22. Here is the link to the Mets page:

http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/schedule/index.jsp?c_id=nym

Now originally, I was looking at the (go) Nationals(!) schedule, and they have the same pic-but no game being played. The Mets do. I figure that’s gotta stink, to be forced into advertising for something that is happening the same time as they game you are trying to sell.

Also, as of the writing of this email, you can’t click on Indy or anything-and it doesn’t say that it’s for the Indiana Jones movie-so you’d have to know that what was going on. Also, you’d have to go hunt down tickets on your own. Kind of a weird ad, I think, and a bit atypical for Net advertising which is why I thought, even if it isn’t Buzzworthy, it’d be interesting to pass along.

That and the New Indiana Jones movie is going to be awesome!…right?

–
--Frank J. M. Lattuca, Esq.
Buzztown Mayor, ‘08

Dirty dirty keyboards

Dear Tom, Molly, and Jason,

In reference to podcast 716 last Friday, you referred to the U.K. study about the filthiness of our keyboards. As a microbiologist, I agree that chucks of lunch and dust bunnies aren’t probably doing anything for the cleanliness of your keyboard and may attract bacteria, but most of the harmful bacteria are coming from….gasp….us touching the keyboards with our filthy fingers. Most often, bacteria get on our digits by picking of our nose, sneezing on our hands, and the dreaded fecal-oral transmission, aka not washing our hands after using the facilities. Bacteria are on and in almost every nook and cranny of our bodies, so it comes down to quality, not quantity of what the bacteria that is on that keyboard. I am always appalled by those local tv news studies that say there is bacteria on our toilet seats, cell phones, keyboards, etc. No crap (excuse my pun). The little guys are everywhere. My recommendation: keep your fingering out of your nose, use a Kleenex when you sneeze, wash your hands after using the restroom, and don’t let anyone use your keyboard that you refer to as “Dirty Larry,” the guy around the office who you never see wash his hands when he is in the can.

Sincerely,

--Andy the Microbiologist

EPISODE 709

Live Mesh: The version you can understand
http://mashable.com/2008/04/23/live-mesh-simplified/
http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9925747-2.html
http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9926229-56.html

Defunct MSN Music to stop songs from moving to new PCs
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9926476-7.html

Laptop searches at the border: No reason? No problem
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/ 20080423-laptop-searches-at-the-border-no-reason-no-problem.html

Apple disses Intel’s Atom, buys PowerPC designer P.A. Semi
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/ 20080423-apple-disses-intels-atom-buys-powerpc-designer-pa-semi.html
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/04/23/ apple-buys-pasemi-tech-ebiz-cz_eb_0422apple.html
http://www.news.com/8301-13579_3-9926461-37.html

eBay sues Craigslist ad Web site
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7362221.stm
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9926539-7.html

Twitter Japan launches, with ads
http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9926331-2.html

Sony to buy Gracenote
http://news.slashdot.org/news/08/04/23/1155259.shtml

Next-generation CAPTCHA exploits the semantic gap
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/04/23/0044223

Top Gun 2008: Biggest RC airplane competition in the world starts tomorrow
http://gizmodo.com/382748/ top-gun-2008-biggest-rc-airplane-competition-in-the-world-starts-tomorrow

VOICE MAIL

Shif Connecticut
Parallel for cell phones on planes

BUZZ TOWN CENTER
http://buzztowncenter.org/

E-MAIL

You hurt my feelings

Hey BOL dudes,

You hurt my feelings when you called me a smack talker while I was listening to your podcast over a 100MB fiber connection, so I have decided to send you proof that your American DSL is really really slow. Go to http://www.dslreports.com/archive?c=us and look at the fastest connections as stated by DSL reports, and then look at the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_Broadband_Network and prepare to be AMAZED (I meant, jealous) by our whopper of an internet connection speed.

--Michael from Hong Kong

Meat from the test tube

Hell-o JoToMo,

How’s is it go-ing? Writing in response to EP708 (which btw is “tob” in leet speek. So if BOL=708=TOB… BOL=TOB

at any rate…

Your story about using stem cells reminded me of this story from CBS that I found on Digg in March.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/22/sunday/ main3960219.shtml

http://thisiswhereipostthings.blogspot.com/2008/03/ medicines-cutting-edge-re-growing.html

To sum up the article they take a powder made from pigs bladder and sprinkle it on a severed limb and it grows back… they interview a man who grew back a finger including bone, skin, muscle (meat), and the nail!

I don’t wanna geek out but when this stuff hits the market I hope they call it Bacta.

Thanks for buzzing my ears 5 days a week, looking forward to your live show in Monterey.

--Jason in Monterey

PlayStation Home

Hi BUZZ crew,

In episode 708 you talked about Home for the PS3 being delayed and Molly said she couldn’t really figure out what it is used for. Well I’m in the closed beta and it is more than Mii’s on parade!

Yea there is a bunch of Second Life stuff, you can customize your avatar, it’s clothes, your apartment, and so on but for me the big draw is going to be private games.
You will be able to invite people to join you in a private game session and to be able to have several people join me for some Gran Turismo 5 Prologue so we won’t have to deal with all the kids driving the wrong way on the racetrack is a great feature.

There is more things it can be used for I’m sure but the private game rooms is a biggie for me.

Later,
--Dave in Broken Arrow, Okla.