Buzz Out Loud Podcast

CES has officially begun and we discuss a slew of offerings from the show floor, as well as the Steve Ballmer keynote. Also, Tom is offered the chance to record his voice for TomTom GPS devices. That's a lot of Tom!

EPISODE 887

Ballmer Keynote
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-19167_1-10131585-100.html
http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/ces2009-microsoft-keynote.ars

Windows 7 goes Beta this Friday
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10135791-56.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10136418-75.html

Windows 7 might not come in '09
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10135943-56.html

CES Press conference roundup:
Samsung: super thin OLED
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-19167_1-10135532-100.html

Vizio takes the cover off Connected HDTV: Netflix, Blockbuster, Amazon, Yahoo! and more
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/07/vizio-takes-the-cover-off-connected-hdtv-netflix-blockbuster/

Yahoo! recaps a day of setting the Internet-on-TV movement on fire with Widgets
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/08/yahoo-recaps-a-day-of-setting-the-internet-on-tv-movement-on-fi/

Wall-mountable Blu-Ray player
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-19167_1-10134004-100.html

Audiovox, PlayStation 2 roll out
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-19167_1-10135464-100.html

Acoustic Research Harmony killers
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-19167_1-10133953-100.html

LG’s 240Hz LCDs flash backlights really fast
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-19167_1-10135326-100.html
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-19167_1-10135175-100.html

LG to implement noise-canceling in many of its phones
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-19167_1-10134765-100.html

The Sony P-series Lifestyle PC: Just don’t call it a Netbook
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-19167_1-10131906-100.html

OQO launches world’s smallest Vista PC with OLED screen
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20090107-oqo-launches-worlds-smallest-vista-pc-with-oled-screen-see-notes.html

Pols hit panic button as DTV coupon program goes broke
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20090107-pols-hit-panic-button-as-dtv-coupon-program-goes-broke.html

New energy efficiency rules for TVs sold in California
http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09%2F01%2F07%2F1946223

E-MAIL
Hey Tom, Molly, and Justin,

I was listening to show 886, and something caught my attention when
Natali was talking about the Giffen good. She said that when demand
increases, price increases when talking about high-priced technology
products. What she was actually referring to is called a Veblen good;
a Giffen good is when the price of an inferior good, a good that low-
income people generally prefer (ramen, bread, etc), rises and those
low-income people end up buying more of that good. A Veblen good is
like a Giffen good, but Veblen goods are generally luxury goods, such
as that new 17-inch MacBook Pro or a Lamborghini, etc. People buy
these Veblen goods at higher prices because it is considered to be a
mark of your financial status.

Sorry for such a long email, feel free to truncate it however you
wish, just wanted to clear that up.

Love the show, keep it up!
Daniel Byon

***********

Hey jamoto,

In Replyness to Daniels Email from Wednesday, I am also a UK listener and would like to say that the BBC does indeed broadcast their tv shows live on the internet. To clarify, the BBC iplayer is where viewers can watch shows from up to 7 days in the past and they also have a bbc watch live service which at this very moment I am watching live tv on the internet and on my terrestrial tv. This was also in place last year so Tom, you do get another correct prediction from 2008.

Chris Hisgrove

***********

Hi Buzz crew,

Tom, did I heard correctly in episode 884 that you'd love to get your voice on a TomTom? That's great news!
An even better news is that you don't even have to license your voice to us. You just have to record a few voice commands, convert them in a TomTom format and publish yourself on our TomTom HOME platform where Buzz-fans from all over the world can download it for free and put it on their TomTom. I'd sure be one of them!

It's a rather easy process for geeks like us and I'd be very happy to assist.

All the best,
Jeff from TomTom and long time listener

PS: Love the show

***********

Hey Buzz Crew,

Hope your enjoying CES. I’m stuck in snow snow and more snow…

I was listening to yesterday’s show (1/7) where you talked about a 10
meg max download over 3G for iTunes on the iPhone. While this is
true, I just go to your www and download the mp3. This works fine, so
I’m not sure why AT&T doesn’t block this then?!?

- Bob, the Nuclear Engineer

We try to get all sentimental about the demise of the Mars Phoenix lander, but Brian Cooley ruins it with his outlandish assertions about the uselessness of space. Plus, he loses his mind about the crappiness of the BlackBerry Curve. In sum, a good time is had by all.

EPISODE 850

Mars Phoenix Lander completes its mission
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10092897-52.html
http://www.urbanhonking.com/universe/2008/11/interview_marsphoenix.html
http://gizmodo.com/5082385/this-is-my-farewell-transmission-from-mars

Flat-panel TV shipments begin their decline
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10093153-1.html

FCC OKs digital workaround for DTV signal range problems
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081111-fcc-oks-digital-workaround-for-dtv-signal-range-problems.html

AVG virus scanner removes critical Windows file
http://securityandthe.net/2008/11/10/avg-virus-scanner-removes-critical-windows-file/

Cooley Rant: How did RIM fool so many for so long with BlackBerry? It’s CRAP. Gimme’ that GD iPhone!!!
http://www.pcworld.com/article/153666/apples_iphone_so_far_the_best_phone_ever.html

Mininuclear plant is safe, affordable, and purifies water (but doesn’t turn lead into gold)
http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/11/mini-nuclear-plant-is-safe-affordable-and-purifies-water-but-d/

Best Buy’s holiday gift cards now double as speakers, still a lazy present
http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/11/best-buys-holiday-gift-cards-now-double-as-speakers-still-a-la/

Largest Aussie ISP agrees to “ridiculous” Net-filter trial
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/11/1329222

Windows 7 benchmarks show little improvement on Vista
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/11/0110251

Texting bug hits the Google phone
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7722367.stm

VOICEMAIL
John the Bomb Builder: cheap Blu-Ray!

Anonymous Ad-hater

E-MAIL

Hey Buzz crew-

Did you know most states have a public utility service commission? A
friend of mine was told by Bellsouth that it was too expensive to fix
the phone lines to her house and she could live with bad service or
find someone else to help. She called the Georgia Public Service
Commission and filed a complaint. The GPSC called Bellsouth and said
you fix it or you get fined. So they fixed it within two weeks.
Buzz Brigade you are having problems with your utilities Google public
service commission in your state and get some help sticking up for
yourself. And yes there is one in Oregon, so yesterday’s DSL caller
should look into it!

Sheala, GA

Ps- if I pay $3400 for a graphics card, it better be showing me the
future or something!

**********

From the Consumerist.

http://consumerist.com/5082090/timeline-how-circuit-city-came-undone

According to the chart it all starts in 2007 when they fired all employee’s that knew anything so that they could replace them with a team of monkey’s at a lower cost.

In the comments it is traced further back to 2003 when they converted all commissioned sales persons to hourly to lower costs (and pay) and the “good” people left. Of and they fired 4100 people at that time.
http://www.allbusiness.com/company-activities-management/sales-selling/6363203-1.html

The best comment is “Maybe Circuit City should fire all of their executives and hire lower-paid replacements.”

LTS

Brent

**********

The average life cycle of a game console, not including the ones that were colossal failures (I’m looking at you N-Gage), is five to six years. It is way too early for any of the big three to be releasing a new console. Updated versions of the current machines not included (Wii-HD anyone?).

Love the show,

Jonah Gregory
(Certainly not e-mailing from work)

Hey, here's a thought: a free, open-source video codec that could be universally portable and playable. I'd vote for that, wouldn't you? In other news of the day, Dash stops making hardware to focus on software, Apple brings in an IBM guy to run the iPod division (other than Steve Jobs), and BlackBerry sneaks the Bold into stores today. Yeah, today. There's got to be something wrong with that thing.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

EPISODE 845

Apple’s iPod chief to step down
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10082065-37.html

Dash Navigation pulls the plug on hardware. Whoops.
http://venturebeat.com/2008/11/03/dash-navigation-layoffs-innovation-loses-commodity-gps-wins/

AT&T will gamble with monthly bandwidth caps in Nevada
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081103-att-will-gamble-with-monthly-bandwidth-caps-in-nevada.html

Comcastic P4P trial shows 80 percent speed boost for P2P downloads
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081103-comcastic-p4p-trial-shows-80-speed-boost-for-p2p-downloads.html

Could Theora solve the video codec confusion?
http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/04/136220

This holiday season good time to cut a deal on an HDTV?
http://www.displaysearch.com/cps/rde/xchg/displaysearch/hs.xsl/Sneak_Preview_of_Holiday_Shopping_Season_200810.asp

How to watch Election Day live online
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/11/how-to-watch-election-day-live-online
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10081981-38.html
http://www.mahalo.com/Election_Exit_Polls_2008

Update: E-voting problems reported early in battleground states
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9118983

FCC Election Day vote could revolutionize wireless
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10081864-94.html

BlackBerry Bold on sale in U.S. today
http://www.betanews.com/article/BlackBerry_Bold_on_sale_in_US_today/1225810411

VOICE MAIL
Jason in Cincinnati: the joke’s on you (?)

E-MAIL

Hey Buzz crew:

http://news.opensuse.org/2008/11/03/development-release-opensuse-111-beta-4-now-available/

We’ve just released openSUSE 11.1 Beta 4, the newest prerelease version of what will become openSUSE 11.1 on it’s planned public release date of December 18, 2008.

Most of the things in this beta are simply bug fixes from the past beta. For more information on the release of openSUSE 11.1, keep in touch with that openSUSE News Web site above.

BTW, on the screenshots, the desktop wallpaper on the right is the actual wallpaper, the other wallpaper is an old testing wallpaper ;-).

Thanks and I love the show and hope to hear more desktop Linux coverage on BOL.

Kevin “Yeaux” Dupuy - openSUSE Member

Hey, Jimoto,
I have Verizon DSL at my home in Baltimore, and pay $44 month for there service. I just received an email (see below) informing me that I “will soon begin seeing advertisements in your Verizon Yahoo! Mail service. Advertising allows us to deliver new and innovative services and helps us keep prices competitive.” To make things clear, Verizon web mail interface is provided by yahoo.

I went to my (non-Verizon) yahoo account, and I do not pay for had no such message. So now I get to pay $44 for DSL and ads in my e-mail. Thankfully I use gmail as my main account, and my Verizon as my spam dump.

Love the show

Aaron R.
Baltimore, MD

I went to vote this morning and was shocked by how long the line was.
As I was walking to the back of the line I was saying hello to the
people I knew but was shocked and impressed that one of my fellow
voters was passing the time with a Kindle. It was smaller than I was
expecting. Of course with the big O’s endorcement of the Kindle I’m
tempted to get one for my wife for Christmas.

Love the Show.

Tim (from Detroit)

hello and happy voting day tmj + 1:

Responding to Tom’s skepticism about yesterday’s email. China doesn’t
purge everything that is banned. A censor’s zeal are on a par with
level of the threat. China won’t actively seek out torrents of New
York Times or The Daily Show. But they will religiously kill anything
about the Tibetan riot.

So Yes, packets are easy to kill. But the Internet and the billion
dollar piracy industry did alter the government’s attitude. As long
as people leave the communist party alone(and stay in power) they will
let you do almost anything.

love the show
J.Chen, the immigrant

Ok, guys. I have to call you to task on this one. Your reporting of the decision yesterday was patently (pun intended) erroneous. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) DID NOT get rid of patent protection for software, nor did it get rid of patent protection for business methods. Quoting, “:We further reject calls for categorical exclusions… We rejected those exclusions in State Street.” They reaffirmed their conclusion in State Street, the decision that emphatically said that business methods could be protected by a patent. What happened in Bilski, though nuanced legally, is basically the CAFC going back to an earlier standard for determining if you have patentable subject matter. The Court did not rule on whether Bilski was obvious (it is, in my opinion), they just ruled whether Bilski should pass the first test, is it patentable subject matter. The new tests are really a restatement of old tests from the Supreme Court, set down in the BFD triumvirate (yes, patent lawyers have a sense of humor).

In my personal professional opinion, this was a horrible decision and mucks about where Congress never intended the Courts to muck about. What the PTO should be doing is determining whether something is new and non-obvious, not trying to decipher whether Congress intended it to be patentable subject matter. we already have good exclusions regarding natural laws, algorithms per se and mental steps. What this decision just did was cost corporate America huge amounts of money to scramble to incorporate the language the CAFC said we should have. My personal prediction is that this will probably only knock out a small percentage of the patent portfolios. Computer software companies should be pretty ok. Business method companies are in a little more trouble, but not fatally so.

The decision was handed down on Thursday of last week, and I have yet to see a mainstream news site get it right. Perhaps because the decision is so nuanced when you really read it. Perhaps it is also because this will not be the final chapter. I believe that the Supreme Court should pick this up and again slap down the CAFC for writing bad law. Unfortunately, when the Supremes do that, they typically write equally bad law in its place.

Bob, “The Patent Lawyer”

P.S. Weather here is beautiful. Love my iPhone. Love the show. Miss Molly.

Hey buzz Crew -

I was just listening to episode 844 and heard your comment about 256 cores and laughing about a supercomputer, but the truth of it is, if Windows 7 does include GPU acceleration (http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/27/windows-7-to-feature-gpu-acceleration-just-like-os-x-snow-leopar/) then its very plausible that 256 cores may not even be enough. Think about nVidia’s GTX 280 that has 240 processing cores and ATI’s 4870X2 that has 1600 processing cores.

Just saying, if Windows 7 could use graphics card processing for everyday tasks, it could be a leap that would make Nehalem/Core i7 look like a joke.

Mike from Georgia Tech, member of Buzz Mafia

That's the dog-sized Bluetooth headset you can buy to go with today's real news item, the new BlackBerry Storm: announced but not released. Until it comes out, though, it's basking in the warm glow of the "meeting and maybe exceeding expectations" judgments coming from the media. In sum, it sounds cool. And Google decides it's high time they made some money on that whole YouTube thing.

EPISODE 826

BlackBerry Storm 9500 hands-on
http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/08/blackberry-storm-9500-hands-on/
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10059498-1.html

YouTube adds affiliate links to its videos; Amazon and iTunes downloads
http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-youtube-adds-affiliate-links-to-its-videos-amazon-and-itunes-downloads/
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2332080,00.asp

Google launches AdSense for games
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10060732-52.html

CEA: Economy down, TV sales up
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10060659-1.html

Yahoo-AOL: An integration nightmare on deck
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=10347

Data mining doesn’t work
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10059987-38.html

Dutch to MBTA: Sorry CharlieCard. Your crypto is crap-o
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081008-charlie-and-the-broken-rfid-mass-transit-authentication-system.html

Mobile tracking reveals spending
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7651304.stm

Steve Jobs patents “The Dock”
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/1224224

DMCA exemption time
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/07/2114243

VOICE MAIL
Keith: Ninja Air

E-MAIL

Tom broke my spirit
I was listening to episode 825 driving into work at IBM’s advanced semiconductor design and manufacturing facility in East Fishkill, N.Y., [http://www-03.ibm.com/technology/] and reflecting on the cool stuff we’ve been working on in the last year or two. The PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii chips, High K metal gate [http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/04/15/2027239], airgap [http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199203911], high end chips for IBM servers, etc.

Then at 1:30 into the episode I hear Tom tell me that Intel is the only chip design/manufacturer of note left now that AMD is out of the fab business. Ouch!

Brian the sad engi-nerd, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

Thin-film solar cells + Origami = compact energy solution?

I’ve been hearing/reading more about thin-film solar cells and I think it’s great stuff--check out a couple articles:
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/10/thin-film-solar.html
http://www.nytimes.com/external/gigaom/2008/10/07/07gigaom-konarka-turns-on-1gw-thin-film-solar-printing-pre-11260.html

But then, I thought about this really interesting video about using origami for engineering/packaging efforts:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/robert_lang_folds_way_new_origami.html

So…put them together and you’ve probably got a way to have a back packable solar cell that might cover a 10 person tent! Or a sail, umbrella, etc.

—–
Other misc questions I have on solar energy:
My big question about solar is the amount of energy used to create the cells, materials needed (and their cost to obtain), and how long these solar cells will last. Can solar cells be reused/recycled? Can they be biodegradable? Is Solar thermal (think Sterling engine) the better way to harness the solar energy? What about UV light energy--any way to convert that?
—–

thoughts?

Best,
Shalin

JaMoTo,

For the sake of some privacy, please don’t use my name or e-mail address…just call me a “Comm-dude at Air Force Space Command.”

Want some cool news about Cyber…see 2/3 way down in msg below. While the AF is not standing up a separate Major Command, we are standing up an organization known as a Numbered Air Force for Cyber — wooohooo.

AF leaders met last week (for CORONA) and decided to establish a Numbered Air Force for cyber operations within Air Force Space Command and discussed how the Air Force will continue to develop capabilities in this new domain and train personnel to execute this new mission. This will be 24th AF.

“The conduct of cyber operations is a complex issue, as DoD and other interagency partners have substantial equity in the cyber arena,” said Mr. Donley. “We will continue to do our part to increase Air Force cyber capabilities and institutionalize our cyber mission.”

Locations for the new nuclear command and cyber NAF were not addressed and require further deliberation.

Other key AF issues discussed include an update on the status of joint basing initiatives, the development of a common Logistics Standardization Evaluation Program, and review of the concept of integrating the networks used to repair the Air Force’s weapon systems.

AFSPC Communications and Information

Howdy Y'all,

Just while you're all bust ranting about how great it is that all products going forward will need to have removable batteries, (while is great I know) but what about things like Bluetooth headsets, those disposable electric toothbrushes (http://www.oralb.com/us/products/manual/pulsar/)

I know this might seems like silliness, but I'm still holding out for the Bluetooth earbuds aren't the same size as a small dog.

Dave The Software Developer
Ireland
Sean

EPISODE 750

One ton ‘Baby’ marks its birth
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7465115.stm

What's behind the stupid face spam scourge?
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/whats-behind-the-stupid-face-spam-scourge/index.html

Electronic transaction reporting slipped into Senate Bill
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/20/1234214

New eBay strategy angers small sellers
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/19/BU9K11C0KS.DTL

AP says Drudge Retort excerpt 'matter' closed; no official policy announced
http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-ap-says-drudge-retort-excerpt-matter-closed-no-official-policy-announce/

One in three IT staff snoops on colleagues
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25263009/

Study: Social networks may subvert ‘digital divide’
http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9973558-2.html

Holograms on handsets by 2010
http://news.cnet.com/2100-1041-6242143.html

Free EA software release spawns ‘Sporn’
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25272162/

White patches on Mars are ice
http://news.cnet.com/White-patches-found-in-Mars-trench-are-ice%2C-scientists-say/2100-11397_3-6242126.html

HD for children!
http://www.nontoxicreviews.com/wordpress/?p=114

VOICE MAIL

Anonymous Statistician
I don't believe Netflix somewhat.

--Christiane
Can't Microsoft easily break Firefox record.

Remy
I have a suggestion for the Firefox coverage.

E-MAIL

Hey JaMoTo

found these photos. thought they were funny:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/damianspain/sets/72157605643949010/

dunno why a cop stopped the Google street map car, though.

Love the show.

Buzz Out Loud Crew,
This is in regards to episode 749 about Netflix pulling there profile support. Not just family’s us this feature. My wife I an have three queues set up one for TV show one for Anime shows, and one for Movie. We allocate different amounts of dvds to each queue (6 total across all queues). This allows us to always get a good mixture of dvd types regardless of availability and order of dvd on the queues. With Netflixs pulling this feature organizing and creating a good mixture of dvd will become increasingly hard and more difficult for me. I also think there reason for changing this is weak and not offering an alternative seem like a slap in the face to user like me.

Love the show keep up the good work

--Alan Game Developer from Austin TX

I was watching CNN this morning, and they reported that ABC News just settled with their employees after receiving complaints that the constant use of crackberries outside work should qualify as overtime...so, maybe Natalie *should* start texting from her work phone, and that Polish bus driver would be a millionaire! LOL, obviously, the assumption is that the "crack-tivity" (ha!) is work-related, but I think that it does bring up a valid point...

Do you guys work outside of work? 'Cuz I know I do all the time, and I never get paid for it, lol. It's *assumed* as part of the job as far as I'm concerned. I'm not 100 percent sure how much work these ABC News folks were actually doing after 5 o'clock, but as a nonbusiness professional, it seems a little "waa-waa" to me.

(after an exhaustive search, I couldn't find the original CNN story, and I am sad to paste the following link (guh!): http://www.nypost.com/seven/06172008/news/regionalnews/abc_news_berrys_hatchet_with_staff_115903.htm )

Love,
Dr. Karl

Hey Buzz Crew,

The fact that Firefox doesn’t auto update 2.x to 3.0 is rather standard for all software, paid or not. That is, I think if Firefox or any other software automatically performed a major upgrade we would all be complaining about that, especially if it broke plug-ins.

Another Firefox specific reason is for web developers they would probably keep a copy of Firefox 2.x for testing and it would be terribly annoying if every time it started it prompted to upgrade to 3.0.

Keep up the great work,
--Jason

If AT&T does in fact require the business data plan for Exchange users, this is simply a ploy to get more money out of their customers, and does not reflect higher costs to the carrier in any way:

1) ActiveSync connections to Exchange are simply HTTPS connections to a Web server, on port 443 like any other Web server using SSL. Nothing special has to be done by the data carrier (ISP). If they claim otherwise they are just lying.

2) Because the connections are encrypted with SSL, the ISP shouldn't even be aware that a connection is to an Exchange server unless they specifically go sniffing around to see what is running on the computer being connected to. For AT&T to require that a user switch to a business data plan because they are using Exchange means they have been snooping around to see what is being hosted on the Exchange server (which would not even be on their network), specifically looking for an opportunity to bump customers to a higher rate plan.

3) The 'push' feature of Exchange is done by leaving the HTTPS connection open (though no data is transferred unless e-mail is being actively synchronized) and sending the email over that connection whenever it arrives (or changes) at the Exchange server. This method results in LESS data transfer than a PULL-ONLY type of connection like POP3 or IMAP which has to continually check for new or updated email. It is ludicrous to imply that ActiveSync connections use more data transfer than PULL email systems, because it just isn't true.

The fact is that T-Mobile is allowing Exchange ActiveSync e-mail synchronization to take place on their $5/mo data plan (I and many people I know are doing this now). For AT&T to suggest that they have to charge more for Exchange is just downright deceptive.

--DJ