Buzz Out Loud Podcast

Brian Cooley goes all Noel Coward on me when we ask if he wants to share viewing over the Xbox 360. We also talk about the Project Natal coolness and lost of other E3 stuff. And of course robots still plan to kill usall. The latest developments involve them building themselves.

EPISODE 987

Xbox Live gets 1080p Zune video store, Netflix browsing, Twitter and Facebook integration
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/01/xbox-live-gets-live-tv-streaming-netflix-browsing/

Microsoft announces “Project Natal” motion controller for Xbox 360!
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/01/microsoft-announces-motion-controller-for-xbox-360/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8077369.stm

Beatles come together for launch
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8078280.stm

Complete E3 coverage
http://reviews.cnet.com/e3/

Toshiba introduced facial rec for cars
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/06/facial-recognition/

NVIDIA unveils 12 Tegra devices
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/02/nvidia-unveils-12-tegra-powered-devices-claims-the-mobile-comp/

Intel launches new CPU’s for thin, low cost laptops.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10254094-64.html

Motorola wants to be the wireless in everything CE
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10254063-94.html

Acer to sell Android netbook PCs in Q3
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSTP18980620090602
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10254258-1.html

Android goes Canadian: Rogers launches HTC Magic and Dream http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/02/android-goes-canadian-rogers-launches-htc-magic-and-dream/

Nokia N97 hitting 75 countries in June
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/02/nokia-n97-hitting-75-countries-in-june/

DARPA killer AI robots to ‘participate in own construction’ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/02/darpa_self_industry_day/

=====
VOICEMAIL

Kevin in Alabama about HD radio tagging on the Zune

Carl the Help Desk Czar has an idea for accelerometers

=====
EMAIL
Hey Buzz Crew,

I came across this article while doing some research at my job on social networking and Web 2.0 (Yes I’m getting paid for it!!). It is about the process of using the missed call log of cell phones to convey messages in a cheaper form then making calls or text messaging. Its a great summary of BOL goodness in preparation for the 1000th Episode, cheeting the phone company, full of acronyms to keep the squares confused, lack of voice mail in India, and some great retro HTML Coding. Hope you like it, see you in the live show today, @z1g1

raw URL http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/donner.html
–
Thank You,
Zack

=====
Palm Pre working with iTunes. Palm is promoting this precarious pairing, but perhaps people purchasing the Pre should prepare to be pissed-off presently; the iPod program probably won’t permit the provided product to perform properly post-patch, as previously pondered on the podcast: http://daringfireball.net/2009/06/webos_itunes_integration

-Andres

=====
Hey guy,

You knew I would write in on this one….

Indeed xbxo live achievements were developed by a psychologist (among
others). John Hopson, a Duke PhD in animal cognition (obviously a wise
young man) helped come up with achievements. We met at FuturePlay 2007
where he was giving a keynote, and I was speaking, blogging and podcasting.
We got to talking, and I mentioned how achievements were clearly “…simply
a Variable Interval…” and he interrupted me and said “reinforcement
schedule”. To learn more about reinforcement schedules just pick up a copy
of “Schedules of Reinforcement” by Ferrster and Skinner (1957). It is even
better than reading Conditioned Reflexes (Pavlov, 1927) for putting one to
sleep…

Oddly enough, we talked some more, and had I taken the job at Duke I was
offered in 1998 I would have been John’s PhD supervisor.

Dave (the Psychologist)

=====
1000th episode coming Thursday June 18th. Want to be on the episode? Post a video of yourself. MUST be less than 30 seconds long. And send a link. No attachments. Could be well-wishing, could be memories, epithets we don’t care. We’ll choose from all the messages we get and play a selection on the 1000th episode as well as post them in the Wiki.

Want to get involved in the production of the show? Find your favorite BOL moment, clip it out of the MP3, or video, and send us the moment. For video, please upload to a video hosting service and send us a link. Email either to buzz@cnet.com

On today's show, Molly, Rafe, and Brian Cooley take over for Tom, Natali, and sanity. Between ISP censorship in Minnesota, Faceook phishing attacks, and search on Twitter, it doesn't sound rant-tastic but it really, really is. Enjoy.

EPISODE 965

Minnesota orders ISPs to blacklist gambling sites
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10231683-38.html

Facebook hit by phishing attacks for a second day
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10230980-83.html

Manipulating the Palm Pre supply is just wrong
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-10230970-17.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a7H6bfrDqVPE&refer=us

Ashok Kumar rains all over Palm’s parade, says Pre will be DOA
http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20090430/analyst-the-pre-is-doa/

Twitter on-page search goes live
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10231505-2.html

60% of corporations still use IE 6
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10231713-2.html

Acer’s loose lips: Win 7 release October 23?
http://www.trustedreviews.com/software/news/2009/05/01/Acer-Spills-Windows-7-Release-Date/p1

Rumor: Sony to unveil new motion-sensing controller at E3
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/05/01/rumor-sony-to-unveil-new-motion-sensing-controller-at-e3/

Apple to introduce more affordable Macs, sources say
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/04/30/apple_to_introduce_more_affordable_macs_sources_say.html

LHC gets magnet repair
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-10231747-76.html

VOICEMAIL
JC Penney calling

E-MAIL
Dear Buzz Crew,

Just wanted to let you know about yet another “Comcastic” thing that has happened in the world of TV and internet. Earlier this week my parents were confused when they could only get channels 2-29 on the 3 non-cable box connected TV’s in their house. When my father called the cable company, they told him that he needed to connect digital converters to his TV’s in order to get back all of the channels. No, not the one for the over-the-air digital conversion, a special Comcast branded box that costs $2.99 per month to rent. For now, they are not charging for the first 2 or 3 boxes, but who is to say that this policy won’t change in the future? When I spoke to the retention department about this, they told me that the reason for the change was to make room for more bandwidth for internet and TV and that notices were sent out to customers informing them of the change. My problem is that this notice (which my parents probably tossed thinking it was about the over air conversion) comes pretty convenienetly close to the more well known digital conversion thus confusing me and especially my parents. I also couldn’t find anything about the changes on their website, comcast.com. In fact, all I could find was information about how current customers don’t have to do a thing:
http://www.comcast.com/dtv/default.html?INTCMP=ILCCOMCOMAL20644&fss=digital%20transition

Just thought you should know.

Love the show,

~Adam - the motion capture actor

**********

Hi,

In episode 964 of Buzz Out Loud you weren’t able to come up with any ideas why someone would want to have something launched automatically when a thumb drive is inserted into a computer running Windows 7. Well, I’m clearly a minority, but as a visually impaired person I sometimes use screen reading software on other computers than my own, e.g. in a public library or at a friend’s house. Then it’s very convenient to just pop in a USB thumb drive and have the screen reader launch and start talking within seconds without me having to do anything. If autorun was disabled, I’d probably have to go to the Start menu, Run, guess the drive letter of the USB drive and enter the path to the executable. Thought I’d just let you know… I guess a confirmation would be OK though, i.e. a message like “Would you like to let this application X run?”. Then I could just blindly (no pun intended) press Y a couple of seconds after the USB drive has been inserted.

Regards,
/David R., Sweden

**********

BOL Crew,

First time email, long time listener, but i am a little disappointed about the constant at&t bashing the past few episodes. I am an owner of an iphone and live in Florida and have never had any call drops or other network issues anywhere any of the southeast states i have traveled constantly to, the network is actually pretty good here. On the contrary to what you guys have seen in California and New York, the Verizon network here sucks. My personal opinion, If you all have problems with your phones, then complain, do something about it. All cell phone carriers do in fact listen to coverage problems and have teams dedicated to looking at these types of issues. I had a sprint phone a couple of years ago and i began to report a dead zone near my phone on the sprint website, and guess what they did? They fixed it. I think it is wrong to say that the carrier sucks if you are just basing it on a couple of markets, when the whole network has over 73 million customers nationwide. Just like they may have coverage issues in some areas, the other cell phone carriers (sprint,verizon, and tmobile) have the same issues in other markets……

And a small clarification, prior to the merger of Cingular Wireless & At&t Wireless, Tmobile, Cingular and At&t all had a network joint venture in the California and New York/New Jersey Markets called GSM facilities, which allowed each carrier to share network coverage in these areas.

I think a fair and balanced discussion of the level of service from the top 3 carriers is needed.

Love the Show

David

**********

Thank you, thank you, thank you Brian Cooley! I have heard for SO LONG about how Vista sucks the big one (hope that’s still censor-safe), but nobody ever seems to have any REAL reasons why. OK, it gets attacked by malcontents, but, as they are malcontents, they’re likeliest to go after a target which has more malicious tools known and available to attack it, which is basically what Brian said. Again in keeping with Mr. Cooley, I have several machines running MS products (2 w/ Vista & 1 w/ XP), they are networked and communicate just fine with each other. I only seem to need to reboot when an update tells me to. Of course they’re not perfect, but is OSX or Linux? Also, what is this love affair with the OS? Shouldn’t it be like a referee in football or basketball? You should not notice them unless there is an infraction! Really, I’m no shill for MS, but I just don’t understand all the bashing they take.

Love the show,
George Armstrong
Signal Mountain, TN

On today's show, it appears that the person who caused Apple's stock to drop like a stone on reports of a Steve Jobs heart attack was just "doing it for the lulz." So, he didn't even short-sell the stock? Wow. Stupid trolls. Also, Oprah declares the Amazon Kindle her most favoritest gadget of all time. Wow. Kindle for President?

EPISODE 838

Report: Teen planted fake story about Steve Jobs
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10074401-37.html

Will the Kindle Get an Oprah Bump?
http://www.nytimes.com/external/gigaom/2008/10/24/24gigaom-will-the-kindle-get-an-oprah-bump-26376.html

Gmail adds emoticons, canned responses & updates mobile client
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10074527-2.html

BlackBerry Bold set for election day launch (thanks C McLeod!)
http://keith.jaseblog.com/BlogPostComments.asp?ditsop=1309

Dell PCs get preloaded with DRM-free UMG music
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10074001-1.html

Sprint releases availability dates for HTC Touch Pro
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10074602-1.html

BMW seeking partners for open-source car-software platform
http://www.motorauthority.com/bmw-seeking-partners-for-open-source-car-software-platform.html

ESA confirms new E3 dates, growth
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10072879-52.html

Cablevision’s high-tech way to avoid disgruntled pottymouths
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/10/cablevision-s-high-tech-way-to-ignore-disgruntled-customers-cvc-

Wikipedia DVD released on BitTorrent (Thanks, Nate!)
http://torrentfreak.com/wikipedia-dvd-released-on-bittorrent-081024/

Woman in jail over virtual murder (Thanks, Chase!)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7688091.stm

Oregon Trail Facebook app to be replaced with dating service
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10074004-2.html

VOICEMAIL
Tom in England: currency gloating

E-MAIL
Hey Buzz Crew,
I often hear you (especially Tom and Molly) discussing, as a group, households that have a second TV that is antenna-only. I’ve always wondered, but never bothered to ask--why? No, not why wouldn’t they subscribe to cable--I didn’t for the first 22 years of my life--but why, if you subscribe to cable, would you hook it up to one TV and not the other? I mean seriously, who doesn’t know how to use a splitter in 2008? I’m somewhat confused by the idea of a “back-room” TV in the first place, but if you have one, why not just use a splitter and run cable to both? I have a 13-inch TV purchased in 1992 in my bedroom, and without cable hooked up to it, the picture is completely unclear and not worth watching. I guess that’s my version of a “back-room” TV, but with cable I can clearly pick up about 90 percent of the cable channels to which I subscribe. Realizing that perhaps some people are afraid to deal with wires, I should note that my cable provider, which is absolutely awful, was willing to perform this service for me if I did not know how to do it myself! Therefore, I am confused. Why have cable on one TV and not on the other? Do any of you actually do this, or are you just assuming that people do this? Please let me know. Great show. Thanks.
-Mark

**********

Hey buzz brigade,

It's Scott, a listener from way back in the 790s. Just thought I would let you know about an experience I had today with Wal-Mart and the copyright laws we all know and love so very much.

I bought Rock Band 2 for the Playstation 3 from Wal-Mart on Tuesday. I then saw it for a lower price online, so, being the cheapskate I am, I ordered it online then tried to return the copy I got at Wal-Mart. I proceeded to find, when I went to return it, that because of “Federal Copyright law” they could not allow me to return it and get my money back. I could, however, exchange it for another copy or so that’s what the lady in “Customer Service” said. So, I just took the game back home with me and I’m thinking of an Ebay auction or stopping by Ebgames to see if I can get anything for it. I know Molly will say “Just cancel the online order!” Well, it's already shipped and unless I want to pay 15 percent restocking fee and return shipping cost I end up with two copies.

Now for a small rant. I can see this law affecting returns on PC games, but consoles? I mean, come on! Sure, you could rip a PC game with ease or at least install it, find a no CD crack. But a console?! Especially the PS3! I mean, there is no way I’m spending 300-plus dollars for a Blu-Ray drive, and even then there is no way (that I know of) for running it the copy or even an ISO off the hard drive!! GAH!! OK, that should be enough

Love the show. Keep it up.

By the way, Rock Band 2 is awesome.

Nothing found in the wild……….yet!

**********

Hey Sports Fans!
I don’t really like sports...but that is beyond the point!
I just watched a “sneak peak” of the entire first episode of season 3 of 30 Rock!
It doesn’t air on TV until the 30th. Does this happen often!?
Love you guys
Elam

**********

Hey Buzz Town,

I saw a story on news.com that was interesting to me. Mozilla has a new browser, called Minefield, which is really fast. It is not a final release product, but it is still pretty and seems to work well. Most of the add-ons that I have installed work well, but I have run into a few bugs. Still it is well worth the speed.

The Mozilla page is here: http://www.mozilla.org/projects/minefield

The news.com article http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10073252-16.html

Love the show,
Brad in Ohio

--Molly

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Episode 769

NPD: Nintendo Wii the top-selling, current-gen console http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080718-npd-nintendo-wii-the-top-selling-current-gen-console.html

AT&T mistakenly announces free Wi-Fi for iPhone users...again http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-9994170-94.html?tag=newsLatestHeadlinesArea.0

Fighting For Its Life, Yahoo Uses Its Homepage To Battle Carl Icahn http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/18/fighting-for-its-life-yahoo-uses-its-homepage-to-battle-carl-icahn/

EU confirms additional antitrust charges against Intel http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-9993451-92.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

The Mobile Web: Its Not Just for Smartphones http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/17/the-mobile-web-its-not-just-for-smartphones/index.html?ref=technology

New worm transcodes MP3s to try to infect PCs http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/07/18/New_worm_transcodes_MP3s_to_try_to_infect_PCs_1.html

GPS Tracking Device Beats Radar Gun in Court http://tech.slashdot.org/tech/08/07/18/0318228.shtml

Strongest Material Ever Tested (Thanks Matt!) http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/21098/?a=f

Major EU P2P research project hopes to kill traditional TV http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080718-major-eu-p2p-research-project-hopes-to-kill-traditional-tv.html

Report: 81.5 percent of all e-mails sent in June were spam http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080717-report-81-5-percent-of-all-e-mails-sent-in-june-were-spam.html

New way to get kernel pushes attention (Thanks Matt!) http://lwn.net/Articles/290498/

VOICEMAIL

AJ Alameda Thought on why Halo got ignored.

Eric Ontario Watch Hulu in Canada.

EMAIL

Hey guys, just wanted to let you know that the message length for text messaging was not arbitrarily set by wireless carriers.

SMS is transmitted in the Mobile Application Part (MAP) of the SS7 signaling protocol which has a maximum length of 140 octets which equates to 160 7-bit characters. Initially developed by BELLCORE (AT&T Labs) to handle inter-switch call setup in wireline networks in the 70's, the SS7 protocol is now the foundation for almost all wireless services: SMS messaging, Mobility Management & Roaming, and Over-The-Air-Activation (OTA), voice communication, etc...

Jeffrey

Hey guys, Just so you know, on AT&T, IM is charged exactly the same as text messaging. It costs $0.20 per IM sent and received. This also means that with an unlimited data plan, IM is not covered and you still have to pay per message. This is total crap! Especially because unlimited text costs $20/month. Love the show! --Max from Portland

P.S. By the way, here's the page where I found that out: http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/messaging-internet/messaging/faq.jsp?locale=en_US#costs-im

Buzz Crew,

I've been a PocketPC^? user for some time, and currently have an ATT 8525 running Windows Mobile 6. I wouldn't call myself a fanboy, but I really like WM. There are tons of apps available for it, including today plugins, etc that can alter the interface to be more icon-based. I have a bluetooth GPS reciever and have software for turn-by-turn routing. I'm not a fan of the "stock" contacts app, but have found an alternative that works great. Compared to the locked down Iphone and other current alternatives for smartphones, WM phones seem to be much more customizable to my needs.. I'm just curious as to why you dislike it so much. I would certainly not call it "unusable". "Love the show."

Bryan Design Engineer Arkansas

Episode 766

E3 coverage
http://news.cnet.com/crave/?keyword=%22e3+2008%22

Microsoft confirms Xbox 360 price cut
http://www.twice.com/article/CA6578748.html?desc=topstory

Netflix goes streaming - read Stephen's e-mail
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2008/07/15/netflix-builds-its-field-of-dreams.aspx
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-9990585-2.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=Webware

Viacom decides it doesn’t need YouTube histories
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2325641,00.asp
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-9985394-93.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7506948.stm

P2P not hurting DVD, Blu-ray sales as revenues up from 2007
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080714-p2p-not-hurting-dvd-blu-ray-sales-as-revenues-up-from-2007.html

EA Scrabble on Facebook launches
http://news.awn.com/index.php?ltype=cat&category1=Internet%20and%20Interactive&newsitem_no=23967

Apple sues Psystar, maker of clones
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-9991572-56.html?tag=nefd.lede

Estimating the time-to-own of an unpatched Windows PC
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/07/15/0123245&from=rss
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/15/unpatched_pc_survival_drops/

Palm Treo 800w (Sprint) Smartphone reviews
http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/palm-treo-800w-sprint/4505-6452_7-33142476.html

App developers grow impatient with lack of Android updates
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080714-app-developers-grow-impatient-with-lack-of-android-updates.html
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/14/android_developer_unrest/

Judge doesn’t give Tiffany a trademark silver spoon in eBay flap
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/07/judge-doesnt-gi.html

S.F. officials locked out of computer network
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/14/BAOS11P1M5.DTL

Fonolo lets you skip phone menu purgatory
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-9990929-2.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=Webware

VOICEMAIL

Julie
Apple troubles and Apple love.

E-mail

Hey, Buzz Crew,

I have a feeling the E3 announcement about Netflix being available on the Xbox 360 will be on your agenda for Tuesday. I just wanted to put in my two cents early. When I first read about that announcement along with the announcement that Final Fantasy XIII was coming to the 360, I pretty much decided I’d buy a 360. I had originally been considering the PS3 for the Blu-ray, and because the 40GB model wasn’t too far out of my price range. Then, I read about Netflix and Final Fantasy, and realized that I don’t have an HDTV anyway, so I might as well go for the 360. Oh, I had also been mulling over buying the Roku box, and figured I wouldn’t have to now.

Then I read the whole story. The Netflix service would only be available to Gold subscribers, which is a $50 annual fee? No thanks. I’ll just buy the Roku box, which doesn’t require any additional fees on top of the cost of the box. Nice going Microsoft, you just put me back in line to buy a PS3, since your killer app (for me, anyway) isn’t so killer afterall.

Stephen

—

Hello, Buzzcrew!

Thought you’d be interested to know that the CBS affiliate in town, WGFL, is making the switch to digital THIS FRIDAY! During most commercial breaks in the 6-9pm time slot (during Jeopardy and Rays games) they have been running ads stating that they have been granted permission by the FCC to switch early. They also give out phone numbers and URL for more information. Some messages even say they are having public meetings where community members can ask questions and get more info on obtaining boxes. Also, during many shows, they have a scrolling message across the bottom repeating the same information. I feel the station has done a thorough job of informing the public about the switch. Seems like we’ll be (partly) taking the digital plunge before Wilmington. I’ll report back any incidences of mass hysteria, riots, emotional fits, looting, etc.

Love the show.

Justin
Gainesville, FL
http://www.getjustin.com

P.S. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WGFL
—
I have no doubt that you guys will be well aware of Joss Whedon's latest project, Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, and how it has gone live today... what you may not know though, is that to view it free, you have to be in the US, because it uses Hulu, which of course doesn't work anywhere else but in the US! If I want to get it, I have to pay to get it from iTunes, despite the fact that according to all the press releases prior, you only had to pay after a certain time...

Another case of bad decision making and a US-centric approach to the Internet that is going to backfire one day...

Cheers,
Joshua S. Hill

—

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