Buzz Out Loud Podcast

A new service uses the power of 400 virtualized computers in the cloud to test the security of your WPA WiFi password. They only charge $34. But Donald is afraid of how this penetration testing might show up on his credit card bill. But forget WiFi. WiGig is coming promising 7Gbps transfer speeds. Take that Ethernet cable!

Listen now: Download today's podcast

WiGig alliance creates next-generation wireless networking standard
http://venturebeat.com/2009/12/10/wigig-alliance-creates-next-generation-wireless-networking-standard/
http://gigaom.com/2009/12/10/coming-soon-to-your-hd-home-theater-7gbps/

Microsoft finally open sources Windows 7 tool
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/12/microsoft-finally-open-sources-windows-7-tool.ars

Buy a DVD on Amazon; Start Watching the Movie in Minutes
http://newteevee.com/2009/12/09/buy-a-dvd-on-amazon-start-watching-the-movie-in-minutes/

Nokia to close some of its most visible stores
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091210-705904.html

Amazon says no plans to open brick and mortar stores
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/amazon/6750973/Amazon-denies-high-street-rumours.html

Hitwise: Google Near 72% Of All US Searches
http://searchengineland.com/hitwise-google-near-72-of-all-us-searches-31530

Bing ads over 75% more likely to be clicked than Google ads
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/12/bing-ads-over-75-more-likely-to-be-clicked-than-google-ads.ars

Court indicates ripping CDs to MP3 may be fair use
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/12/09/1835205/Court-Says-Fair-Use-May-Hold-In-Some-RIAA-Cases

Biometric Face Recognition At Your Local Mall
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/12/10/0224204/Biometric-Face-Recognition-At-Your-Local-Mall

Harnessing the Cloud for Hacking
http://www.technologyreview.com/web/24127/?a=f

Wireless Brain-to-Computer Connection Synthesizes Speech
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/12/wireless-brain/

Failure of Russia’s latest nuclear missile prompts UFO frenzy
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6951635.ece

Best of 2009 clips show
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.

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 3-4pm PT. Email 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.

VOICEMAIL
Matt on trying to buy ebooks

Derrick from Chicago knows someone who worked at the theater that threw the girl in jail.

Tim on Facebook privacy

EMAIL
BOL crew,

Just thought I’d let you know that Barnes & Noble is actually shipping
the Nooks. I pre-ordered mine in the first couple of days they
started taking orders, and mine arrived yesterday. In the finest
tradition of “pictures or it didn’t happen” here are some pictures:

I like it over all. The reviews saying it’s a little sluggish are
pretty accurate when it comes to doing lots of navigation, but once
you settle in to reading, I find the experience very similar to the
Sony PRS-505 I had. One disappointment is that even with the wireless
connections, the Nook won’t sync your place in a book between devices.
I had started reading George R.R. Martin’s “A Game of Thrones” on my
iPhone. Having read the book for Sword and Laser, I’m sure Tom will
realize what a challenge it was to find the right chapter (Arya, Bran,
Tyrion, Jon, Daenerys, Eddard, etc.) by hand. I’m hoping that Amazon
didn’t get a patent for something as obvious as syncing locations
between reading devices and that this will get fixed in a Nook update
later.

Love the show.

Kyle Johnson
Durham, NC

**********

Hey guys, just wanted to add a comment about your discussion of EAs DLC in episode 1122. One problem with their DLC, at least in Dragon Age, is that once you use the DLC in-game and then save the game you will have to be connected to the internet for verification EACH time you want to play the game. Fine for people with always-on internet but not so great for those of us without or when you loose internet access and want to play. Love the show!
Glenn from NH

**********

In regards to the news of brazil being the world champion in spam I
would like to point a few things:
1- we are one of the largest online populations of the world

2- the vast majority of those computers are running a pirated version
of windows xp or 98, pirated office and programs for pirating music,
(there’s no iTunes or Amazon music store) and very few run antivirus.

3-the most popular way to access the Internet is not to own a
computer, but to access public terminals in LAN houses or government
sponsored Internet centers. All “favelas” have one.

If that doens’t ring a bell, let me put in another way: did you know
brazil is the only country to have an official, nationwide, public
holiday on November 20 called Zombie day (dia do zumbi). True, check
wikipedia.

Alexandre V

Turns out Dell says it never deleted complaints from its forums about throttled processors, and it is working hard to fix the issues with updated BIOS. Donald suggests that the folks who claimed they were deleted by Dell probably lost a lot of street cred. We also speculate on the meaning of the Comcast acquisition of NBC Universal. Will "Heroes" become more Comcastic?

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Comcast gets NBC from G.E. in deal that reshapes TV
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/business/media/04nbc.html
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/12/how-the-fcc-might-stop-the-comcastnbc-merger.ars

Google and Twitter hook up on nine million sites
http://mashable.com/2009/12/02/google-friend-connect-twitter/

Microsoft launches Streetside Maps on Bing
http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/microsoft_news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=222000449

Intel shows off 48-core chip
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8392392.stm
http://news.cnet.com/2300-1001_3-10001951.html
http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/02/intel-crams-48-cores-onto-stamp-sized-processor-wants-to-do-wha/

Intel sees rush to Netbook app store
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10407840-64.html

FCC preparing transition to VoIP telephone network
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/12/03/1318218/FCC-Preparing-Transition-To-VoIP-Telephone-Network
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/12/fcc-plans-for-death-of-circuit-switched-phone-networks.ars

Texting and Twitter make kids BETTER writers, not worse
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8392653.stm

Dell on laptops and throttling
http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/direct2dell/archive/2009/12/02/dell-on-laptops-and-throttling.aspx

FCC approves radar that sees through walls
http://www.commlawblog.com/2009/12/articles/unlicensed-operations-and-emer/fcc-lets-radar-company-see-through-walls/index.html
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/12/03/0247228/FCC-Lets-Radar-Company-See-Through-Walls

Man controls cybernetic hand with thoughts
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10408139-1.html

VOICE MAIL
Shalin on journalism

iYaz on Psystar

E-MAIL
According to this article , Verizon’s map of AT&T coverage is not actually correct; The real map is -smaller-! Seems verizon’s actually showing a bigger map than AT&T actually cover because it included their 3rd party towers, that AT&T don’t own, just pay to use as and when they need it.

So what, you might well ask; phone still works there – funny, but not that big a deal.

Well it appears (See same article) AT&T may decide to cut off your service if you use too much data in those areas, as these third party towers cost them more. So the map of coverage is realy a map of ‘mostly coverage, unless you’re in specific, unmentioned areas where the coverage is limited.

Makes me feel happy to be in the UK where the iPhone is available via O2, Orange and soon (6 months I think) Vodafone will also offer it.

Who hot elves? (it’s an anagram )

- Hennell

**********

Hey Buzz crew –
I was reading about Talkback – the open source text-to-speech screen reader designed for the droid. As I’m sure you’re aware the iPhone 3G S has voiceover capabilities hence making it mostly accessible to visually impaired/blind users but I can’t find a damn thing on Talkback! With all the talk of Droid becoming a stronghold (?) in the smart phone market and Jason’s undying love of his own bot I wondered if anyone had gotten better news than this link on its accessibility features.
Also as a side note I had to respond to the Kindle talk recently regarding it taking over the world and being accessible by design. Note that even though it may provide some text-to-speech capabilities most books (and publishers) have disabled this feature out of fear of audiobooks loosing sales *and* the menus and toolbars do not have speech output making them inaccessible to navigate for those with print/visual disabilities.
Love you though, love the show!
JB

**********

Hey Buzz crew, I was listening to episode #1117 and your discussion
about non-standard printer drivers and I think the reason why they are
universally terrible is that HP, Canon etc. want to be able to sell
you more ink cartridges. Normally when the proprietary software says
the ink has run out, there is still actually plenty of ink left. They
just want to be able to continue to sell as many ink cartridges as
possible. I think this is why Microsoft never was able to get them to
adopt a universal standard and Google is going to have a very
difficult time trying to do the same.

Love the show,
Pete in San Jose

Rafe wonders what could possibly go wrong with Comcast monitoring its users to protect them from malware. In the process, Rafe makes a few comments that have us wondering whether he'll return home to any Internet service at all. Barnes and Noble is rumored to be rolling out an Android e-book reader, while Steve Ballmer claims that the PC is the best e-book reader.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

B&N e-book reader reportedly in the works
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10371468-93.html

PCs are best for e-reading, Microsoft’s Ballmer says
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousivMolt/idUSTRE5974OZ20091008

Snow Leopard bug threatens user data, according to reports
http://www.9to5mac.com/snow_leopards_eat_users
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10356505-263.html

Report: AT&T waits 17 months to break even with iPhones
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10371785-37.html

DRAM study turns assumptions about errors upside down
http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2009/10/dram-study-turns-assumptions-about-errors-upside-down.ars
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-10370026-264.html

New ways to try and buy Microsoft Office 2010
http://blogs.technet.com/office2010/archive/2009/10/07/new-ways-to-try-and-buy-microsoft-office-2010.aspx
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10371817-56.html

Comcast’s war on infected PCs (or all customers)
http://it.slashdot.org/story/09/10/08/2022211/Comcasts-War-On-Infected-PCs-Or-All-Customers
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10370996-245.html

Comcast set to launch ‘HomePoint’
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Comcast-Set-To-Launch-HomePoint-104907

Pressure-sensitive keyboard? Let the fun begin
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10371215-1.html
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/10/08/2152239/Contest-Winners-Show-Potential-For-Pressure-Sensitive-Keyboard

Penny-size nuclear batteries developed
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/10/09/1243245/Penny-Sized-Nuclear-Batteries-Developed

VOICE MAIL
Tommy in Kingston: The password book

E-MAIL
Moon 1, NASA 0:
So, I get up at O-Dark-Hundred to watch the greatest space collision since Shoemaker-Levy 9.

5-4-3-2-1 Impact! … Impact?

Watching the stunned NASA commentators, one of whom says “I Don’t know what we just saw.”…

PRICELESS!

Rob from Sedona

**********

Hi Buzzfolk,

I beg to differ with the slow Windows 7 boot times story you reported on in Episode 1080. I have run a script (on the RTM 32-bit version) that measures the time, from shutdown to usable desktop, multiple times and consistently get a time of 54 seconds, which does jive with the times your lab got in their testing, but not what Lolo Technologies achieved in theirs.

I think the bigger story here is why is Lolo getting slower times?

I’m not saying it’s because they sell PC tune-up software and may have a conflict of interest, I’m just sayin`…..

Thanks! Love the show.
Satchmo
Seriously, I love you. <3

A listener reports that NFL.com subjected him to a 75-second pre-roll ad. Not funny, NFL. In the news today, the FCC proposes codifying Net neutrality rules, and much as we'd love to leave it to the market and the telcos, well, we just don't trust the telcos. Rules, FTW! Unless it's rules on selling energy-hog TVs. Those aren't cool.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

FCC chief proposes new Net Neutrality rules
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-10357411-266.html
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/172316/fcc_net_neutrality_rules_are_a_win_consumers.html
http://www.glgroup.com/News/Net-Neutrality-And-The-Tragedy-Of-The-Commons-43453.html

Facebook Beacon has poked its last
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10357107-36.html

Apple digging into iPhone 3GS battery issues, users say
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10357371-37.html

Sony Ericsson motion-controlled headset probably not “changing music forever”
http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/21/sony-ericssons-motion-activated-mh907-headset-could-change-thin/

Zune HD sales seemingly high
http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/09/19/zune.hd.sales.very.high/

Amazon Starts Own Brand Sales With AmazonBasics Name
http://www.pcworld.com/article/172297/amazon_starts_own_brand_sales_with_amazonbasics_name.html

California to set TV energy efficiency standards
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10357390-54.html

Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60: AT&T Price Confirmed
http://www.i4u.com/article27053.html

Study: Microbloggers are really boring (well, the Jaiku ones, anyway)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10357359-2.html

Computers are killing cursive writing: do we care?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090919/ap_on_re_us/us_cursive_angst

E-MAIL
Hey Buzz Crew!

I was very interested in your discussion about libraries on Friday’s podcast. As a current library employee and student of Library Science, I feel that public libraries need to change their image in order to remain open or get increased funding. There are some great examples of this around the world such as in Singapore wherein the entire physical library structure and image were given a completely modern overhaul. They have gone from a simple book repository to a learning center in order to attract more patronage. Similarly in Fresno County, California the public library has merged with the public schools in order to pool resources and coordinate learning initiatives. Mind you I could talk about this topic forever, but I thought it important to share these examples with you!

Sincerely,

Don, Maryland

**********

Hey Buzz Crew,

If you thought the pre-roll ads on the new Zune apps are bad, you should check out NFL.com. I went to watch some video highlights and was greeted with a 75 second, yes 7-5, pre-roll ad. I’m not sure if you will be able to duplicate it, but here’s the link.

Love the show.

-Will Pridemore

**********

Hey Buzz Crew,

I just listened to episode 1066 and heard Natali mention a new internet addiction rehab. facility in the northwest. Being the addict that I am, I had to instantly do a search and find out more about this. I found their website (www.netaddictionrecovery.com) and was shocked!

First of all, if you can afford it, it looks like a beautiful little vacation spot, but I have one big concern. Does it strike you as odd that they have, on their front page, links to their own social network and links so that you can follow them on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube? Oh, and don’t forget to check out their blog and leave a comment! Sounds a lot like kicking your drug habit with the help of your dealer.

Love the show!

Addicted to the cure,
Richard in ID

Black Hat this week means lots of security vulnerabilities in the news, including the fact that Secure Sockets Layer is now just Sockets Layer thanks to an exploit discovered by Kaminsky and friends. We also decide that you can't fix stupid. Too bad. I wish we could.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

EPISODE 1030

Apple at CES 2010 says WSJ – Engadget says otherwise.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10299417-37.html
http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/30/wsj-apple-going-to-ces-2010-reality-nope/

Apple says jailbreaking is a national security issue
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10298646-1.html

Details on presidential motorcades, safe house for First Family, leak via P2P
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9136053/Details_on_presidential_motorcades_safe_house_for_First_Family_leak_via_P2P

Researchers exploit flaws in SSL, domain authentication system
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10299459-245.html

Intel motherboards suffer Bios flaws
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39698949,00.htm

Re-engineering GPS for navigation on phones
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10298696-94.html

Windows Mobile becomes Windows Phone
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1495570/windows-mobile-windows-phone

Nissan introduces new smart in-car nav system
http://social.telematicsupdate.com/content/nissans-new-nav-system-focuses-safer-greener-driving

EMI selling CDs to megachains only from now on
http://slashdot.org/story/09/07/30/0117222/EMI-Only-Selling-CDs-To-Mega-Chains-From-Now-On

Teflon Don reveals that he is well, entirely coated in Teflon. But we still don't know if the iPhone 3GS is. So if you know, tell us. We also discuss how Twitter could improve its home page and why the AP just doesn't get it.

Episode 1026

Palm Pre WebOS 1.1.0 available, fixes iTunes sync

Microsoft's code contribution due to GPL violation

Twitter to revamp home page for the masses

AP cracks down on unpaid use of articles on Web

ISP cuts off suspected pirates without warning

Bezos apologizes for Kindle 1984 redaction

LongBox aims to be iTunes for comic books

Microsoft changes "Laptop Hunters" ad after Apple complains

Wireless power system shown off

$2 million NASA power beaming challenge heating up

Cambrionix 49-port USB hub for professional nerds (thanks virgilio corrado)

Zappos has been acquired by Amazon, meaning Amazon will have even more shoes to sell, but also a new corporate culture to integrate with. Windows 7 gets released to manufacturing, meaning it's on its way to you. And Microsoft and UBIsoft are getting into the movie business. Is that a good thing?

EPISODE 1025

Windows 7 Has Been Released to Manufacturing http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/07/22/windows-7-has-been-released-to-manufacturing.aspx

Fiber to the home deployments will grow 30% CAGR to 130M installed by 2013 http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/fiber-to-the-home-deployments-to-grow-more,902195.shtml

Open Source gets it's own lobbying organization http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/07/new-advocacy-group-pushes-oss-for-the-usa.ars

ATandT activates 2.4 million iPhones; Second quarter tops estimates http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=21579

Microsoft and Ubisoft get into the film business http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-videogames23-2009jul23,0,5232624.story

Instant search comes to Splashtop http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10293479-1.html

Major League Baseball Beans Jon Stewart, and Obama's Pitch Vanishes http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20090722/major-league-baseball-beans-jon-stewart-and-obamas-pitch-vanishes/

Artificial brain '10 years away' http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8164060.stm

Camaro Transformers Edition http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090722/CARNEWS/907229993

... Read more

We're very happy to welcome you to our 1,024th episode, which as we know means we will no longer to count the shows in binary on two hands. But that's OK. We will still be doing shows. Because we have more hands. And our 11 finger listeners can still count on two hands. We also have a date for Windows 7. He's nice. They'll like him.

EPISODE 1024

When will you get Windows 7 RTM?

Microsoft confirms Family Pack for Windows 7

iPhone, Mac sales continue to propel Apple forward

Apple can't seriously be "very happy" with ATandT relationship

ATandT to Power Upcoming PlasticLogic E-Reader

Google Wave public beta rolling out in September

"Vanish" makes sensitive data self-destruct

Artists find backers as labels wane

Disney to offer films on microSD cards, consumers to pass on by

Synaptics' ClearPad 3000 touch screen does 10-finger capacitive multitouch, other forms of dark magicks

Robo-Ethicists Want to Revamp Asimov's 3 Laws

Sam Raimi to direct Warcraft: The Movie

On today's Buzz Out Loud, Natali and Molly form a new Amazonian society in advance of the development of artificial sperm. But in much more important news, Google is finally building the thin-client, Netbook-friendly operating system that Molly predicted back in 2005. And poor Yahoo is stuck in 2005: it just announced Search Pad. Aw. Poor Yahoo.

EPISODE 1014

Introducing the Google Chrome OS
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/introducing-google-chrome-os.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10281744-2.html

Which Molly predicted in 2005!
http://www.cnet.com/4520-6033_1-5759958-1.html

Yahoo Search Pad
http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=394383

Michael Jackson memorial pushes Internet traffic to its limits
http://gigaom.com/2009/07/07/michael-jacksons-memorial-online-traffic-pushes-internets-limits/
http://mashable.com/2009/07/07/cnn-live-stream-michael-jackson/
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-jackson-memorial-stats-roughly-6000-facebook-status-updates-per-minute-/

Federal sites hacked
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/07/AR2009070703250.html
http://government.zdnet.com/?p=5093

RIAA/music streaming sites agreement
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/08/technology/internet/08radio.html
http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/07/08/1339224/Pandora-Stabilizes-No-Longer-Completely-Free

LG Chocolate Phone: what is this aspect ratio??
http://gizmodo.com/5309204/new-lg-chocolates-secret-feature-is-an-800x345-resolution-219-cinema-widescreen-display

West Virginia sues Comcast over cable box tying
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/reviews/2009/07/west-virginia-sues-comcast-over-cable-box-tying.ars

Gaze-tracking software protects computer privacy
http://it.slashdot.org/story/09/07/07/1946217/Gaze-Tracking-Software-Protects-Computer-Privacy

British scientists can make sperm
http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/08/3007405-british-scientists-claim-to-create-human-sperm

VOICE MAIL
President of the Internet

Dwight on Gmail

E-MAIL
Team Buzz

During your discussion of Google Chrome OS today, I am curious as to what impact, if any, GCOS might also have on older PCs. Since GCOS is already targeted at low-powered Netbooks, it stands to reason GCOS might also breathe some extra life into that 5-year-old laptop you were thinking of ditching. By moving a lot of the processing power from your lap to the cloud, could an unintended consequence be a reprieve on hardware's life cycle? Certainly Google wouldn't complain.

Mike in Dayton

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

Hello Buzz crew!
We are one month away from the coolest day/time, according to my friend, Saud:

On August 7, 2009
At 12hr 34 minutes and 56 seconds on the 7th of August this year, the time and date will be
12:34:56 07/08/09

Khaled from Saudi Arabia.

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

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