Buzz Out Loud Podcast

So the European Union and Microsoft have finally settled their differences and will begin the browser ballot with no less than 12 browsers to choose from. Is this a good thing? Also, Intel is now under the gun from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. What did it do this time? Listen to find out. And Cherrypal is selling a $99 laptop it bills as slow and sufficient. Nice.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

FTC formally charges Intel with anti-competitive behavior
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704541004574599791659334798.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/12/intel.shtm

Microsoft resolves E.U. IE case
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10416402-75.html
http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2009/12/microsoft-settles-with-eubrowser-balloting-arrives-in-march.ars
http://money.ca.msn.com/investing/news/business-news/article.aspx?cp-documentid=23035069

Steve Jobs’ dupes blogosphere with AT&T protest hoax
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/16/operation_chokehold/

AT&T: Net neutrality OK if we can cut priority access deals
http://arstechnica.com/telecom/news/2009/12/att-offers-net-neutrality-compromise.ars

New report offers grim assessment of plug-in hybrids
http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2009/12/new-report-offers-grim-assessment-of-plugin-hybrids.ars

Facebook testing tool to push updates onto Twitter
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9142324/Facebook_testing_tool_to_push_updates_onto_Twitter

McDonald’s to offer free Wi-Fi Internet access
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/184807/mcdonalds_to_offer_free_wifi_internet_access.html

Fidelity fires four employees for playing fantasy football
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/12/16/fidelity-fires-four-employees-for-playing-fantasy-football/

Cherrypal's $99 Laptop: Small! Slow! Sufficient!
http://technologizer.com/2009/12/15/cherrypals-99-laptop-small-slow-sufficient/

LED traffic lights are great — except they’ll kill you
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/12/15/national/a133205S26.DTL&tsp=1

Best of 2009 clips show
This year’s Best of 2009 episode is going to be entirely listener submitted. To be a part of this listener-created experience just clip out your favorite moments from any episode published in 2009. Export your clip as an MP3 of at least 128kbp. E-mail the clip to buzz@cnet.com. Subject: Best of 2009 – Episode ####. Deadline for submissions is Friday, Dec. 18, 2009. Please hurry! And with enough people pitching in two-to-three clips, we should end up with an awesome clips show.

VOICE MAIL
Dylan has a question about Paramount Clips

E-MAIL
Hey BuzzCrew-

So a fun story is making waves in Britain:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8415750.stm

Basically the internet masses are “Raging against the Machine” known as X-Factor and trying to get a 1992 single from Rage Agaunst the machine as #1 christmas song over the new release from the XFactor champion.

Here’s the kicker…it’s working!

Helping it, is that you can get the single for 29 pence! (~ 47¢).
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001I4NZP4?ie=UTF8&ref_=sr_1_1&qid=1260881836&sr=1-1&linkCode=shr&camp=3194&creative=21330&tag=tomdavsblo-21

There’s even a facebook group with over 800K members:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2228594104

Gotta love the ‘X’-mas spirit!

Cheers & Ho! Ho! Ho! from Oxford!
Tom Merritt the Doppelganger

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Hello Buzz Crew,

I have just listened to a recent episode in which you talked about the
proposed Internet censorship in Australia and I have to say the proposal
is far worse than what is commonly reported in the media. Wikileaks
disclosed the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s blacklist
of prohibited websites a few months ago. It turns out that the list
contains perfectly legal websites including that of a political group
http://www.somebodythinkofthechildren.com/acma-blacklist-leaked-contains-legal-websites/

Despite this controversy I am shamed to say that my Government went
ahead with it’s planned trial of Internet filtering. However after the
trial ended Stephen Conroy refused to release the official report. We
can only speculate as to why, but he did however provide information and
consultation to just one political party, The Australian Christian Lobby
which has been lobbying very hard in support of the censorship proposal.
No doubt they have allot of agendas they would like to see filled by the
new regime. As a strong supporter of free-speech I find this deeply
worrying. Once a filter is in place every morally bankrupt organization
and individual will be able to apply pressure to have anything they
personally don’t like, blocked.
http://greensmps.org.au/content/media-release/conroy-must-explain-why-christian-lobby-gets-net-filtering-trial-update-greens

Thanks & keep up the good work.
~Dan
Perth, Australia

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Jason H., Jason H., and Jason H.,

In episode 1126 you talked about Chrome versus Firefox. I have to stay that I would completely switch over to Chrome, it loads faster, is a smoother GUI, and loads pages faster, except that Firefox dowloads things faster. Out here we have a bandwidth shortage, and I end up surfing with Chrome and then copying the URL to Firefox to download things. It’s frustrating. If Chrome/Google get better download performance then I’ll be won over.
Nathaniel Miller on deployment in Afghanistan. Love the show.
V/R

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Hey Buzz Crew,

I don't know if any of you have been paying attention, but with all of the discussion of Verizon and AT&T's 3G coverage, it seems that T-Mobile's progress has been overlooked. T-Mobile is currently adding 3G coverage at a rate of one new city every 1.5 days, with a goal of having 3G available to two-thirds of the US population by the end of 2009. They are also deploying everywhere at 7.2 Mbps, putting them at the top in terms of 3G speed. They also plan to have broad access to HSPA+ (21 Mbps) by mid-2010.

Right now they certainly don't have the largest 3G network, but they sure are bringing their own online very quickly.

List of Cities added recently:
http://forums.t-mobile.com/t5/Coverage/3G-Launches/td-p/236602

Network Expansion Information:
http://forums.t-mobile.com/t5/Coverage/3G-Expansion-amp-HSPA/td-p/254526

-Doug the Software Developer

Among the news of new URL shorteners and Australian Internet filters comes one of the darkest moments in microblogging: Microsoft has pulled down its new Twitter-like site in China because it turns out it wasn't Twitter-like at all. It was, in fact, more like Plurk. In fact, it looked like maybe Microsoft stole Plurk's code. We also get morally outraged at good business plans. Or stupid people. Or something. Just watch. Or listen.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

URL shorteners suddenly hot commodity
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-10415148-248.html

Google, Facebook get into game, Bit.ly launches pro version
http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/12/14/facebook-testing-new-url-shortener-fb-me/
http://blog.bit.ly/post/284009728/announcing-bit-ly-pro

Steven Covey moves two key e-titles from Simon & Schuster to Amazon Kindle
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/technology/companies/15amazon.html

Australia takes concrete step toward mandatory ISP filtering
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Mandatory-ISP-filter-due-mid-2011/0,130061791,339300060,00.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8413377.stm

Chrome Mac, Linux betas push browser into No. 3 spot
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9142286/Chrome_Mac_Linux_betas_push_browser_into_No._3_spot

S.F. moves toward new cell phone labeling law
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2009/12/15/MNHJ1B49KH.DTL

Broadband stimulus unlikely to have desired effect?
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/12/broadband-stimulus-unlikely-to-have-desired-effect.ars

Twitter lets multiple users tweet to the same account
http://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-tests-letting-multiple-users-tweet-to-the-same-account-2009-12

Paramount to start online service to sell movie clips
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/business/media/15film.html

Will broadcast radio have the last laugh thanks to “tech fatigue”?
http://www.bridgeratings.com/press.12.07.09.CompMediaUse.html

Best of 2009 clips show
This year’s Best of 2009 episode is going to be entirely listener-submitted. To be a part of this listener-created experience just clip out your favorite moments from any episode published in 2009. Export your clip as an MP3 of at least 128kbp. E-mail the clip to buzz@cnet.com. Subject: Best of 2009 – Episode ####. Deadline for submissions is Friday, Dec. 18, 2009. Please hurry! And with enough people pitching in two-to-three clips, we should end up with an awesome clips show.

Listener co-host show
Want to talk with us on this year’s listener co-host show? These interviews will be recorded Monday, December 21 from 3-4 p.m. PT. E-mail buzz@cnet.com, subject “Listener Co-host”, and include your name, contact number where you can be reached for the interview (landline preferred), and we will compile the list and select four people for the show.

VOICE MAIL
Richard has more wireless communication ideas

Colin the movie director on sales figures

E-MAIL
Hi Guys,

I'd just like to chime in on the discussion that you had about Apple buying Lala late last week on buzz. I think a great model to look at where the digital locker has succeeded is with Valve's Steam and how it manages pc video games. It's such a great service I think Apple really should take a page from their book. On Steam, I can have my entire gaming collection ready to download at anytime on any number of PCs. Content there is generally cheaper than buying in the store and a large part of the revenue can go directly back to the game designer bypassing the publisher. Many small studios have made successful content just by selling and marketing on Steam.

Thanks!

Mike from Boulder

**********

Hey Buzz Nation! Just thought y’all may like to see Microsoft’s latest hijinks. Seems what’s good for the goose is always good for the gander. I do quantify this as I am a large open source/FOSS guy, but this just really irritates me after all the litigation and ridiculous business practices Microsoft has for pirating, they go ahead and pirate an ENTIRE online resource. Seems they pretty much stole all the code for their new Asian social networking site straight from Plurk.

Would love y’all to give some wide spread audience to this fact.

http://blog.plurk.com/2009/12/14/microsoft-rips-plurk/

Thanks!

~Chris in NC

Yahoo has a new program to spread kindness. But Cooley hates it. Why? There's no app for that. We also discover the true meaning of holiday hate when Tom and Brian fight over the rights of the customer when shopping. And we review the JooJoo and Boxee. And Natali lets on that she hates Brooklyn. At least when Brooklyn has no food.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Boxee Beta is cleaner, better, still closed
http://news.cnet.com/8301-19882_3-10410159-250.html

And Boxee Box will launch next year for $200
http://www.gearlog.com/2009/12/200_boxee_box_based_on_d-link.php

Hands on with JooJoo
http://news.cnet.com/8301-19882_3-10410960-250.html

Google introduces real-time search
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/12/google-introduces-real-time-search-google-goggles/

Google introduces Favorite Place info using QR Codes
http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/google-goggles-brings-visual-search-to-android-favorite-places/
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/explore-whole-new-way-to-window-shop.html

Google Chrome for Mac finally in beta
http://www.google.com/chrome

…and extensions arrive
https://chrome.google.com/extensions

CRIA faces $6 Billion lawsuit
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/12/07/1917245/CRIA-Faces-60-Billion-Lawsuit
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/12/artists-lawsuit-major-record-labels-are-the-real-pirates.ars

Vevo set to launch tonight
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/business/media/08vevo.html

Microsoft EnticeCube is like a Google Search of regular people
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10410340-56.html

Sony Reader store gets name change and goes to all ePub format
http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/08/sony-reader-store-goes-100-epub-on-friday/

New digital publishing venture boasts access to 144 million-plus audience; squires talks
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-new-digital-publishing-venture-boasts-access-to-144-million-plus-audien/

Yahoo’s random acts of kindness set
http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=428759

Branson unveils next step toward space flights
http://news.cnet.com/8301-19514_3-10410601-239.html

Voice mail
Thomas in Columbus why he doesn’t buy online from Best Buy

Mark from Philly online ordering frustration

E-mail
Hola Buzzito’s

In episode 1120 you guys discussed the use of a physical Amazon store as a pick up facility. I would definitely use this service as I am a college student and my textbooks are often cheaper on Amazon.com however book lists often come out too late for me to wait for shipping. The presence of a pick up facility would save me some money and I’m sure drive down the cost of books at my school’s bookstore (run by the big bad Barnes and Noble, seriously where’s my Nook).
Love the show keep up the good work
j.carter

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Best Of 2009 submissions!
This year’s Best of 2009 episode is going to be entirely listener submitted. So be a part of this listener created experience: Clip out your favorite moments from any episode published in 2009. Export your clip as an MP3 of at least 128kbp. Email the clip to buzz@cnet.com. Subject: Best of 2009 – Episode ####. Deadline for submissions is Friday, Dec. 18, 2009. Please hurry! And with enough people pitching in 2-3 clips, we should end up with an awesome clips show.

Why the long Face...book? A woman battling depression put some pictures of herself having fun privately on Facebook. Somehow the insurance company found them and cut off her benefits saying she looked happy enough and must be cured. Really? We also get further impressions on Google's Chrome OSD now that we've had more time with it, and YouTube pulls a Hulu, but not in the good way.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Try out Chrome OS for yourself
http://gdgt.com/google/chrome-os/download/
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/20/google-chrome-os-available-as-free-vmware-download/
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10401919-265.html

Other Stories

YouTube pulls a Hulu — yanking API access from Popcorn Hour, other TV-connected devices
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/20/youtube-pulls-a-hulu-yanking-api-access-from-popcorn-hour-ot/

Twitter turns on location. Not for Twitter.com just yet.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/19/twitter-location-api/
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/twitter_location_api_possible_uses.php

Sony unveils its answer to Apple’s iTunes
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/nov2009/gb20091119_588376.htm

Sony hits snag getting its own game out for PSP Go
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/11/sony-hits-snag-with-getting-its-own-game-out-for-pspgo.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss

Britain’s new Internet law — as bad as everyone’s been saying, and worse. Much, much worse.
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/11/20/britains-new-interne.html
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/19/1511255/Secret-UK-Plan-To-Appoint-Pirate-Finder-General

Law firm contemplates class action suit to recompense Xbox Live modders
http://www.itproportal.com/portal/news/article/2009/11/20/law-firm-contemplates-class-action-suit-recompense-xbox-live-modders/

Depressed woman loses benefits over Facebook photos
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2009/11/19/quebec-facebook-sick-leave-benefits.html

Kickers and Science

LHC dimensional apocalypse from midnight
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/20/lhc_feedback_roundup/

This Google’s made from 100 percent virgin pulp, not chrome
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/20/this-googles-made-from-100-virgin-pulp-not-chrome/

VOICE MAIL
Derrek points out something very important about this episode

Mike the truck driver

Shane from Coshocton. Dude! He’s from Coshocton!

E-MAIL
Hi Buzz crew, Chadd the ita in California here. Was just watching the
buzz report on my spealy and wanted to let you know that both my sibs
use their jejaws while operating their fetches. Recently, despite my
protests, I have noticed my parents responding to my text messages while
they are driving the fetch.

All of them are using Blackberries, is there something I can get them
for Christmas that will allow them to text hands free? At least that may
be a step in the right direction.

Love the buzz report

-Chadd
Rialto, California

**********

Hey Buzz Crew

I had heard about your show for a while but only started listening about 8 months ago. After listening to one episode, I decided to listen to all of them. 1,110 episodes later, I’m all caught up. In case you’re wondering, I’m not crazy, I just have a lot of free time at work. Love the show.

Jonathan
Summerville, SC

**********

PC Game moders have created their own Modern Warfare 2 Dedicated Servers.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Modern-Warfare-2-Gets-Dedicated-Servers-Workaround-127188.shtml

The problem with insulting Tweakers and Hackers is that motivates them to
‘code’ you off at the knees, like AgentGOD did.

Give them a dedicated server on the PC or Crack down on moders, watch your
sales drop and piracy rise.

I don’t own the game and don’t plan on buying it anytime soon, but as a PC
Gamer that lives on the Mod and Modding community (when not playing MMO’s)
I am getting tired of game companies buying into the console market
fallacy.

Robert Clark
Prince Albert, SK

The rumors about the Apple Tablet are getting crazy and special guest Cali Lewis nails it when she calls it a unicorn. We also get the first look at the Google OS, and nobody is very excited about Microsoft Office 2010. Except the one person who never uses it: me. And we get some of the inside scoop behind the FAA outage.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Liveblog today: Google Chrome OS press conference
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10401095-2.html

Apple Tablet that has never been more than a rumour now delayed until 2H 2010
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20091118PB201.html

Ian Paul at PC World declares Tablet dead
http://www.pcworld.com/article/182571/

ATandT loses first legal battle against Verizon ads
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-10401094-266.html
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/18/atandt-hits-back-at-verizons-map-for-that-campaign-with-an-ad/

Microsoft launches Office 2010 beta with social networking in Outlook
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10400648-56.html
http://blogs.msdn.com/outlook/
http://blog.linkedin.com/2009/11/18/linkedin-microsoft-outlook-connector

FAA Computer Glitch Causes Widespread Airline Delays
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/11/19/152243/FAA-Computer-Glitch-Causes-Widespread-Airline-Delays

Programmers Guild protests visa extension laws
http://www.infoworld.com/d/adventures-in-it/tech-workers-take-h-1b-case-supreme-court-024

California approves new standards on energy-hungry TVs
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-big-screen-tvs19-2009nov19,0,4027697.story

Next-gen Flip camcorder to boast Wi-Fi
http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/29658/cisco-prepping-wi-fi-enabled-video-camera
http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/11/18/the-next-flip-camera-will-have-wi-fi/

US government using PS3s to break encryption
http://it.slashdot.org/story/09/11/18/2149202/US-Government-Using-PS3s-To-Break-Encryption

Lab worms are stunned by phaser
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8367081.stm

VOICE MAIL
Anonymous on Film and Games

Brian on the in-dash robot

E-MAIL
Hey Buzz Crew,
Chris the former SNOWMAN HUNTER (and secret robot resister) here to say I too was creeped out by Aida, the backseat driving robot on Episode 1108. A passenger in my car that scolds and nags and guilt-trips? What a clanking piece of Hell in the car pool lane.
But then it hit me. Give it a thin British accent, paint it gold and call it C-3P0… and I’d buy one tomorrow.
Love the show… until we’re all turned into a warm slurry by the coming robot hoards.
Chris

**********

Hi Buzz Crew,

Watching episode 1109.

Tom the circle on you iPhone next to the bars as far as im aware means you have cell data.
the bars are the signal strength from the mast. the circle is cell data, and E is Edge, 3G is 3G.

Over here in the UK on O2 we have pretty good 3G coverage and every time iv used my iPhone
to load a page – it loads, what ever i’m on (cell,edge,3g), yes on cell it takes a bit longer – but it loads,
sounds like AT&T should give up and go do something else

Love the show guys.

Thanks
Carl

England, UK

**********

Hey Buzz Crew,

Xerox has setup http://www.letssaythanks.com/Home1280.html to have people sign up to send free printed postcards to troops overseas. You select one of the designs, add a message, your name and hometown and they send it for free to a random troop.

I thought this was a neat idea from Xerox and I’m hoping that you’ll put the link in your shownotes.

Thanks and “Love the show.”
Hutch from Grand Rapids

IBM is working on an artificial brain they think they'll have done by 2019. And we figure once that happens, the robots will rise and we will become your pets. And like cats we'll think that we're in charge. In other news, Modern Warfare 2 beats Harry Potter to a pulp, and Verizon and AT&T are a'courting! Actually they're in court. Being sued.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Modern Warfare 2 tops entertainment industry, not just games
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-10400394-235.html

Google-branded phone coming early next year?
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/18/google-branded-phone-coming-early-next-year/

Chrome OS demo event tomorrow
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10400012-265.html

Azure goes live in January, paying customers in February.
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/11/microsoft-azure-to-go-live-january-for-pay-february.ars

“Map for That” campaign goes to court today
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/wireless/2009-11-18-att18_ST_N.htm

Did feds uncover most successful Web scam ever?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10399880-93.html

T-Mobile says workers sold customer data
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10400213-245.html

Microsoft: mobile apps aren’t important
http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/11/17/ms.ozzie.claims.mobile.apps.secondary/

Ordnance Survey maps to go online
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8366190.stm

No More Yahoo Go for TV
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/18/yahoo_go_gone/

Computing rivaling human brain may be ready by 2019
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10400362-52.html

VOICE MAIL
Tone on MW2

Ben the Canadian gets pushy

E-MAIL
Hey Buzz crew..
Your discussion of social viewing on NBC.com’s Communicator, had me yelling at my Zune HD, yes it looked wierd. Anyway, I was yelling because I do this on CBS.com now. CBS.com has watch and chat rooms on the site, in flash! I have some old college roommates and we are all NCIS, so when NCIS is showing in one of the rooms we make a point to head in to it, and chat about it. We like it!

Last thing, about Rupert and paying for news, does he intend on putting his Cable news sites behind a pay wall? If not then this plan of his won’t effect me since I get most of my news from the website of his cable channels..Although i do pay for the Wall Steet Journal online since it's cheaper than the Kindle edition of it.
Love the Show,
Stephen
Charlotte, Nc

PS
Love my Sprint 4G!

**********

Hey Buzz crew,

Haven’t listened to Ep. 1108 yet, so you may have reported on this already, but the town of Coshocton, Ohio has their Wifi back:

http://consumerist.com/5407138/free-muni-wifi-back-after-mpaa-shut-it-down-for-1-download

Consumerist links to this story:

http://www.coshoctontribune.com/article/20091117/NEWS01/911170301/1002/Downtown-Wi-Fi-connection-back-on

FYI: the town name is pronounced Cah – shock – ton.

Keep on keepin’ on.

Tim
Dublin, OH.

**********

Hi all in Buzzington,
Several days ago you reported on that 60 minutes story about hackers taking down the Brazilian power grid. This report was later proven to be false. Well, maybe they were just telling the truth ahead of time. According to Slashdot, a group of hackers were inspired by the 60minute story and actually did hack into the Brazilian power operator using an SQL injection.

It’s times like these when I wonder if the world wouldn’t be a better place if we all just kept our mouths shut.

Love the show,
JoshuaCaleb

P.S. Don’t know if caught my mention of it in the chat room yesterday Tom, but I finally got Digital City to introduce themselves….halfway through the show.

**********

Hey Buzz Crew,

I’m writing regarding episode 1107 where Molly said she would be willing to pay for a great newspaper aggregatation service. I remember hearing about such a thing a couple of months ago at a site called pressdisplay.com . They have newspapers from all over the world including (for Tom) the International Herald Tribune, The Washington Post and hundreds of others. Also, they have different subscription plans ranging from a pay as you read option to a monthly unlimited option. Just wanted to shed some light on this service for those who want to read the newspaper online. Love, the, show!

Miguel in San Francisco.

PS:They have a mobile site to access your subscriptions on your smartphone.

Turns out when we blew up the moon a few weeks ago, we found water! Yay! The bottled water companies are presumably planning their trips now. THIS is how we motivate us to get back to the moon! We also hear more from old man Murdoch on blocking Google from indexing his newspapers, and Dell launches a smartphone. Does anybody want it?

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Rupert Murdoch to remove News Corp’s content from Google ‘in months’
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/digital-media/6559694/Rupert-Murdoch-to-remove-News-Corps-content-from-Google-in-months.html

Google Chrome OS to launch within a week
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/13/google-chrome-os-to-launch-within-a-week/

Google confirms purchase of VOIP provider Gizmo5
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-google-confirms-purchase-of-gizmo5/

Dell smartphone to debut in China, Brazil
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/us_tec_dell_smart_phone
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10397177-94.html

Cheap to good home: Used 360, pirated games, slightly banned
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/11/cheap-to-good-home-used-360-pirated-games-slightly-banned.ars

Modders release update to free the 1 million Xboxes banned by Microsoft
http://www.dailytech.com/Fix+for+1+Million+Banned+Xbox+360s+is+Incoming/article16823.htm

YouTube to get high-def 1080p player
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10396826-2.html?

SPDY: Google wants to speed up the Web by ditching HTTP
http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/11/spdy-google-wants-to-speed-up-the-web-by-ditching-http.ars
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10396574-265.html

Comcast TV Everywhere launch details: December, free for existing subs, really goes anywhere
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/12/comcast-tv-everywhere-launch-details-december-free-for-existin/

Synthetic Stone DVD claimed to last 1,000 years
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/11/13/019202/Synthetic-Stone-DVD-Claimed-To-Last-1000-Years

Using photosynthesis to power hydrogen production
http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2009/11/photosynthesis-proves-to-be-a-powerful-source-for-hydrogen.ars

Water. On the moon.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/main/prelim_water_results.html

VOICE MAIL
Ken in DC has a solution for the town in Ohio that lost it’s WiFi

Richard in Santa Monica has a theory

Anonymous Verizon user’s question about cancellation.

E-MAIL
Hey guys,

I’m sobered up now, and the bet about Project Natal is most definitely
on. Um… the thing is, I only intended to make a bet against any
buzz host, not every host. It’s possible that I wasn’t exactly clear
about that (I can’t imagine why) but I’m not sure I can justify
shelling out for 3 or 4 of them, and if I win, then the hassle of ebay
or craigslisting the extras ones doesn’t exactly smell of victory.

So since Natali was the first one to accept, then this is my digital
handshake. If Project Natal is available at retail on or before
November 30th, 2010, I will buy one for her. If it’s not, then she
will have to buy one for me. I only ask that you all autograph the
box for me (I promise not to sell it!). If Natali decides to back
out, then the offer is still on the table for anyone else.

/casey

**********

Hi Buzz crew, Matt from MN.
So whats the difference between what the MPAA is doing to a town and what Microsoft is doing to XBox Live users. There was no judicial oversight in either case.
Does this mean that Apple could claim an user violated the EULA on a jailbroken iPhone and then take away their right to use Apple's OS on their phone?

Love the show!

**********

Hey buzz crew

Just a thought.. If you can use facebook status updates to get yourself out of jail, maybe the next thing will be using your google latitude history to show you weren’t at the scene of a crime.

Just sayin..

Love the show
-beth

**********

Hey Buzz Crew -
I am an Apple stock holder (albeit a fairly small investor - but an investor nonetheless) and I am starting to give a second thought to the whole Psystar lawsuit with Apple. Since they are going about legally purchasing licenses and using them to install on other machines, does Apple really have a case against them or not? I'm concerned that if Apple does not win this suit, this will open the floodgates HUGE to making all types of Hackintosh-style computers, thus taking a potentially huge portion of the market away from them and would begin the decline of Apple stock. I know that Apple is more than just an operating system but still…Thoughts? Should I be afraid that Apple might not be able to defend against this?

Thanks guys!
Rob

Twitter trades hype for a huge cash infusion, Windows 7 attempts to create hype with a spectacularly awfsome video, and we cover all the hype falling out of the Demo conference. Speaking of falling, Honda's new Segway-style unicycle looks amazingly easy to fall off of.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Report: No Palm Pre for Verizon Wireless
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-10361144-266.html

Twitter Appears Set to Raise $100 Million, Valuing It at $1 Billion
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/25/technology/internet/25twitter.html
http://blog.twitter.com/2009/09/new-twitter-funding.html

Microsoft plays the security card in response to Google’s Chrome Frame
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=4063
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/09/microsoft-google-chrome-frame-makes-ie-less-secure.ars

Windows 7 PCs to go on sale early
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/09/windows-7-pcs-to-go-on-sale-early.ars

New Phoenix BIOS Starts Windows 7 Boot In 1 Second
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/09/25/0247220/New-Phoenix-BIOS-Starts-Windows-7-Boot-In-1-Second

Intel’s Moblin 2.1 to compete with Windows
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10361563-1.html

Google Ordered To Shut Down Gmail Account Of User Who Received Unsolicited Banking Info
http://techdirt.com/articles/20090924/1705386309.shtml

Demo’s best launches (compare to TechCrunch?)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-19882_3-10361288-250.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10361284-2.html

Experiences with Fitbit?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10037258-2.html

Robot fish swims by doing the wave
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10360819-1.html

Honda’s one-wheel Segway
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1215741/Honda-unveils-Segway-style-unicycle-travels-direction-want.html#ixzz0S2lY0hSd

E-MAIL
They have a video now, thought you would want to see how bad it is.

http://gizmodo.com/5366105/this-incredible-windows-7-launch-party-video-is-either-the-best-or-worst-microsoft-ad-this-year
Jeff Price

**********

Hi Buzz Crew,

I have a small annoyance about Amazon.com to share with you and your listeners. I went to Amazon.com today in an attempt to purchase High on Arrival, the memoir by Mackenzie Phillips. I was going to order the Kindle version, but I discovered that the Kindle version was the exact same price as the hardcover, $14.29.

When I saw that the price was the same, I was extremely annoyed. “Low Book Prices” is listed as a selling point on the Kindle home page, and yet, here is an example where it makes absolutely no sense to buy the e-book. Why would I buy the e-book for the exact same cost as the hardcover? I might as well just buy the hardcover and have the ability to loan it out or sell it later.

I guess the publishers still don’t get it.

Joe AKA dOgBOi

**********

I read over the article in your show notes, and that article (and each article I’ve read in addition) has said:

3,012 Netflix DVDs, worth about $36,471

http://www.switched.com/2009/09/23/former-postal-worker-admits-stealing-over-3-000-netflix-dvds/

No idea where the 30k number came from, and how it has endured, but might be worth a mention. So what’s that, 10 DVDs a day? Much more reasonable than 100 per day.

Ted the Engineer

**********

Dear Buzzards,

In episode 1069 you were talking about Picasa’s new facial recognition feature. After installing and scanning for 24 hours, it had gone through processing my photos for faces. How good is it? Pretty dang good.

My wife is an identical twin (yes, I can tell them apart). They have a lot of pictures of eachother. I tagged a couple of each of their faces, and it was 99% accurate for twin-recognition out of a about 200 photos (even when they have the same style glasses).

Insert obligatory “love the show”,

Josh
Des Moines, Iowa

We're not real sure about the iRex reader, Microsoft's Courier is a lot of smoke, Palm gets told to sit down and be quiet about iTunes syncing, and a PlayStation 2 for you car. And finally, Brian imparts a valuable life lesson for everyone listening.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

New iRex reader
http://www.gearlog.com/2009/09/new_ebook_reader_getting_push.php

Verizon and Best Buy both make moves into e-readers
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/technology/internet/23ebooks.html

Microsoft Courier “booklet” computer still just a concept, in spite of “event” in NYC
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10359367-56.html
http://gizmodo.com/5365299/courier-first-details-of-microsofts-secret-tablet

USB gods tell Palm it has little claim to sync with iTunes
http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20090922/usb-if-slaps-palm/

In prep for MMS on the iPhone, AT&T has turned off ALL texted picture service.
http://www.macrumors.com/iphone/2009/09/22/atandt-deactivating-view-my-message-service-for-iphone-users-ahead-of-mms-launch/

New Picasa 3.5 has facial recognition
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-10358662-248.html

Google plug-in turns IE into Chrome
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/22/google-turns-internet-explorer-into-chrome-yes-seriously/

Google SideWiki
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10359112-265.html
http://www.buzzmachine.com/2009/09/23/google-sidewiki-danger/

PS2 for the car offered by Audiovox
http://telematicsnews.info/2009/09/22/audiovox-launches-rse-system-with-playstation2/

A few DEMO faves:
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/gelato_the_friendfeed_of_dating.php
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/micello_google_maps_for_the_indoors.php

Ray Kurzweil says immortality is just 20 years away
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6217676/Immortality-only-20-years-away-says-scientist.html

VOICE MAIL
Shaun from Boulder: AT&T’s 3G extender vs 4G rollout

E-MAIL
Hi guys,

Did I miss something? Or did Google just roll out push e-mail on the iPhone?
http://www.google.com/mobile/products/sync.html#p=apple
I’ve had push google calendar and contacts on my iPhone for some time, but have been wistfully waiting for my gmail to catch up.
Sure enough if you go into settings –> Mail –> Google contacts & calendar, there’s a slider there that enables… Mail!
I deleted my gmail iMap account on the iPhone, and now I have push e-mail…
Awesome! Instantaeous gmail on my iPhone – my life is complete(how sad)! I assume that it now looks like a full blown exchange server to the iPhone.
(One issue I see now is that the spinning beachball thingy (next to the WiFi symbol) is constantly spinning – not sure how my battery will fair)

Love the show, etc.

Alan

**********

Every story I’ve read says he stole the 30,000 dvds in a year.. Jan 2007-Feb 2008.

Doing the math…

Speculating the postal worker stole exactly 30,000 dvds and worked 13 months… which would be about 56 weeks… he would have stolen about 535 dvds per week. If he worked 5 days a week that is 107 dvds per day. That is a little more than 13 dvds per hour. (8 hour shift) If he worked 6 days a week, that would be 89 dvds per day with about 13 dvds per hour (6 2/3 hr shift).

Now if the postal worker actually stole the 30,000 dvds in 2 years, which would be about 25 months, which would be roughly 108 weeks, he would have had about 25 months to pull off his heist. He would have stolen about 277 dvds per week. If he worked 5 days a week, that would be 55 dvds per day. That would then be about 7 dvds per hour. If he worked 6 days a week, that would be 46 dvds per day with about 7 dvds per hour (40 hour work week considered).

Netflix shipped approxmiately 638,400,000 dvds in the 13 months.

ccarline

**********

Massive shake-up to net tax in UK

I actually defended this proposition to begin with (and I think even on BOL last time), but now it's closer to reality, and my over-taxed face feels slapped, pointed and laughed at. It's not good news for anyone in the UK, except for the people who can't afford computers, who can now be sold super-fast Internet.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/sep/23/broadband-tax-election

(he later emailed) Although this 'broadband tax' would bring broadband to poorer areas, the real goal is to offer 90% of the UK population broadband speeds of at least 2Mbps - that includes the poorer areas, but as well as the rural areas currently restricted to expensive satellite Internet packages which are priced out of their reach. To do this government plans to tax every single household which has a phone line.

Nate Lanxon (CNET UK)

**********

Hey Folks,
Thought you might be interested to know that a mobile phone running a GPS app is now considered illegal in my home state of Victoria in Australia. So it seems that the government is either in bed with GPS manufacturers or they consider this as bad a texting while driving. Stand alone devices in cars which are only your GPS unit with no mobile phone attached are still fine. Whats next? Our mobile phones have to be left at home because we cannot have them in the car at all??? I believe this will also apply to the Tom Tom app even when it is in the cradle when they release it would still be illegal.

http://www.smartcompany.com.au/media/20090922-navigation-apps-made-illegal-in-victoria.html

Im a guy, I don’t ask for directions I use my GPS so I can avoid those arguments and get where im going quickly(sometimes too quickly), now it seems they want my girlfriend and I to argue all the time. Thanks government!

Thanks Ladies and Gents

Kelly (Im a dude, just thought I would point that out again as with a name like Kelly I have a phobia of being referred to as a woman, although I guess I can thank my parents for that one.