Buzz Out Loud Podcast

Episode 817

Judge declares mistrial in RIAA-Jammie Thomas trial
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/09/not-for-publica.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10050757-38.html

DoJ agrees: IP enforcement bill is a bad idea
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/09/doj-agrees-ip-enforcement-bill-bad-idea

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080924-doj-to-senate-dont-make-us-be-big-contents-copyright-cops.html

T-Mobile lifts 1GB cap from new Android phone
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/TMobile-Lifts-1GB-Cap-From-New-Android-Phone-97982

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/t-mobile-lifts-bandwidth-cap-for-google-phone/

Move over, Netflix — Roku to open the box
http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/09/roku-box-will-b.html

Google founder lobbies FCC to free spectrum
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/09/googles-larry-p.html

MySpace launches interactive music service with labels, Amazon
http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/09/myspace-launche.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7635416.stm

Asus adds 3.75G to latest Eee PC; What the hell is “3.75G”?
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/09/25/asus-adds-375g-to-la.html

Netbooks win top-selling spots on Amazon
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/09/netbooks-win-to.html

Chinese say they’re building ‘impossible’ space drive
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/09/chinese-buildin.html

Russian town puts giant smiley on Google Maps
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/24/1646205&from=rss

Voice Mail
Anonymous Viagra

E-mail

Sorry, I have to be a whinger and disagree with your conversation from BOL 815. I think e-mail would be perfect, and in the end should replace MMS. If the e-mail client on phones became more streamlined, then it would be difficult to see the difference, and you would have a far wider range of options for sending and receiving (on your phone, computer or other e-mail-enabled device). Call me stoopid, I just don’t get MMS. It seems redundant.

Patrick Hanlan

**********

Hey, Buzz Crew,

In response to the story on episode 816 about using your phone to unlock/start your car: what took so long?! I have been waiting for this for years, not only because it means I might no longer have to carry around keys and a phone, but also because I think the security of this device could be much better than a normal set of keys. You seemed worried about someone getting your phone and then being able to find and steal your car. But what if your phone had a built in fingerprint reader or some other method of authentication (even if it’s just a simple 4-digit PIN as you mentioned), and required you to authenticate yourself before it would unlock your car? Also, many phones already have remote data wipe, so if you lose your phone you can just wipe it and your personal data and your car are safe. Furthermore, if the phone is required to start the engine and keep it running, and if your phone has a GPS device built in, a thief is forced to carry around a real-time tracking device if they want to take your car.

I don’t even know how tightly integrated the phone and key portions of the system can be, and I know there are issues such as the phone’s battery dying, but I think that eventually this technology could be both cool and very secure.

Love the show,

James from Texas/South Korea

**********

Hey JaMoTo (or… whoever happens to be filling in today)

In case you haven’t heard, Nullriver has posted a notice saying that Apple is going to now disallow any tethering apps.
WHAT!? Molly, help me rage a little bit here.
Tethering is officially supported in MANY countries (including up here in Canada!) by the telcos. WHY can Apple not just find out which countries it is allowed in and selectively allow it in those App stores? Ridiculous!
To make matters WORSE--I managed to buy the app while it was still available for $9.99. However, this means Nullriver can’t do any updates for it. What if 2.2 firmware breaks Netshare? Can I get my $10 back?

A big WTF, Apple. You are really starting to make me angry.

Kevin

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1721598&tstart=0
http://www.nullriver.com/

EPISODE 714

AT&T to sell iPhone at a discount?
http://techland.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/04/29/ att-to-cut-the-price-of-apples-new-iphone/
http://www.news.com/8301-13579_3-9931806-37.html
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/ the-199-iphone-somethings-missing-from-the-picture/
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/04/30/att_iphone_axe/

New Microsoft law enforcement tool bypasses PC security
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/ 20080429-new-microsoft-law-enforcement-tool-bypasses-pc-security.html

Court rejects RIAA’s ‘making available’ piracy argument
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9932004-7.html

PlayStation 3 version only: Resolution, online issues hamper GTA IV experience
http://www.gamepro.com/news.cfm?article_id=181308

Wikipedia overrules DOJ
http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/08/04/30/1348203.shtml

MySpace user ad targeting will be optional
http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/04/29/ myspace-user-ad-targeting-will-be-optional

Whitehouse e-mails were lost due to 'upgrade'
http://news.slashdot.org/news/08/04/30/1359209.shtml

The penultimate DVR zapper: Movies
http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/publish/ Cable_20/The_penultimate_DVR_zapper_Movies.asp

Reiser FS: The open-source file system fallout
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=8647

Google diving into 3D mapping of oceans
http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9931412-2.html

VOICE MAIL

Chris Palo Alto
This caller thinks Microsoft could take a page from Apple’s playbook.

Dr. Matt
This caller’s positive experience with Vista

Dr. M for Mayor
MWAHAHAHAHAHA

E-MAIL

Buzz Town parliament

Hey Buzz Crew

I am writing in to let you know that have started this article in the BOL Wiki: http://buzzoutloud.wikia.com/wiki/Buzz_Town_Parliament. It is a list of the candidates and who everyone else who is each party.

Love the podcast

Jacob the student from Australia

Just so everyone knows

BOL Nation,

I’m a long time listener and am pretty sure that I am an integral part of the show (even though I have never gotten around to e-mailing, leaving a voice mail, or traveling across the country to score a beer soaked CNET sticker).

I want to make it clear that If drafted, I will not run; if nominated, I will not accept; if elected, I will not serve...as Buzztown mayor. I am too busy trying to figure out how to perfect the pen flip to be bothered with such trifles.

Preserving my internet anonymity,
Snit

P.S. Molly, you are like the sister I never had

FedEx tracking

BOL,
A relative of mine, who happens to be in law enforcement, told me a story once about using FedEx for smuggling. It seems to fit well with your conversation about getting twitter messages about the progress of your shipments in episode 711.

He told me that smugglers (aka drug dealers) will drop off a package at a FedEx office at a particular time every day for several days. Then on the FedEx Web site they watch the progress of each package and get an idea of when a package hits certain points (i.e. Bogota to Miami, Miami to Memphis, Memphis to Detroit, out for delivery) in the delivery chain. Then they send the contraband from the office at the appointed time. If they see a variation in the delivery times the recipient at the other end knows not to accept delivery. A variation means the package was stopped and time was taken to get a warrant to open it or for the recipient's arrest. It usually takes a day to get a warrant.

So thanks to twitter, we have been able to improve the supply chain automation process for all forms of sales and distribution.

See ya,
Mark from Virginia

Airline Mesh Network

Dear Buzzards,
I was in the cockpit over the eastern U.S. the other day and decided to take out my laptop and look up some technical data on the 737 I was flying. At the unnamed American Airline I fly for we have recently begun carrying our manuals in digital format. When I booted up I noticed that wireless networks were available. This is quite common and is usually someone’s laptop in the cabin. Just out of curiosity, however, I opened up the Wi-Fi window and saw that the signal was from an aircraft with Wi-Fi service that was flying just above and ahead of us. I knew it was from that airplane because the signal identified itself as being from a particular U.S. airline, (which will also remain unnamed), that has Wi-Fi service and we heard their call sign on our frequency. That got me thinking about the proposed balloon network you talked about a while back and I was wondering if you couldn’t come up with an airline mesh network. Our airline alone has more than 2,500 flights a day and the sky is always packed with airliners. Have you ever had to sit in the air an extra hour in a holding pattern because there were too many airplanes in a given block of airspace ahead of you? ATC is always having to speed up, slow down and vector traffic to maintain legal separation. If all those airliners were equipped to create a mesh network you could easily defer the cost of the equipment as well as compensate the airlines for the service. It might even help keep travel costs down. Maybe it’s silly but it seems as valid an idea as balloons

Keep up the good work,
Vic the Texas Pilot Rancher

Happy Vista SP1 user

Hey BOL’ers,
Count me as part of (what I believe to be) the silent majority of content Vista users. It just works. Always. Never had a problem with it.
Just yesterday I noticed the SP1 upgrade as an optional update to my Vista PC. I went through the upgrade and had no issues. Today I’m using it--you guessed it--without any issues.

While there may be a few vocal Vista haters, I’m sure there are plenty more of us shiny, happy Vista people roaming the streets using the latest Microsoft OS--wait for it--with no (or few) issues.

Love the show!

Patrick Schommer
Sun Prairie, Wis.