Buzz Out Loud Podcast

A 4GB file can traverse 60 miles in 2 hours by pigeon, but that gets you only 4 percent of the file over the South African Internet. We also keep you up to date on new Android phones from Motorola as well as open-source map info from TomTom.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Motorola’s Android phone at Mobilize
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10344891-265.html?

Obligatory Apple recap
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10348169-37.html
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/in-qa-steve-jobs-snipes-at-amazon-and-praises-ice-cream/
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/09/somebody-has-to-say-it-its-time-for-itunes-lite/

With iTunes 9, Apple again disables Palm Pre sync
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/09/10/with_itunes_9_apple_again_disables_palm_pre_sync.html

Verizon makes the HTC Touch Pro2 official; September 11, $199.99
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/09/10/verizon-makes-the-htc-touch-pro2-official-september-11th-199-99/

Sprint to launch unlimited cell-to-cell calling, regardless of network
http://techvi.com/news/2009/09/sprint-to-launch-unlimited-cell-to-cell-calling-regardless-of-network/
http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/magazine/17-09/ts_burningquestion

Google to push micropayments for newspapers
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10349375-93.html
http://www.niemanlab.org/2009/09/google-developing-a-micropayment-platform-and-pitching-newspapers-open-need-not-mean-free/

…but it might want to get Google Checkout right, first
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10348805-265.html

TomTom Announces an Open Source GPS Technology
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/09/09/2216255/TomTom-Anounces-an-Open-Source-GPS-Technology

Cryptographic tools to keep you hidden on Facebook
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/09/09/1931211/Cryptographic-Tools-To-Keep-You-Hidden-On-Facebook

A few songs a day keep the doctor away
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27083_3-10348123-247.html

Pigeon beats South African DSL
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8248056.stm

BOL in 3D!
http://www.vimeo.com/3964931

VOICE MAIL
Bob from DC about new podcasts in iTunes

Josh in SLC about Utah broadband

E-MAIL
Hay Buzz Crew

In regards to the Comcast 100MBs service

In Brooklyn, NY Cablevision is offering a similar service for $79.99 a month it's called Optimum ULTRA @ 101MBs

Its sweet except for the $300 installation charge but I'll eat a onetime charge rather than a progressive $300 bill.

Thank You
Matthew C

**********

Hey Buzz crew,

As I was installing the new version of iTunes today (version 9.0), I saw something interesting. I had to accept a new EULA (which usually happens), but this time, they had a summary of the important changes over the actual legalese. This appears to be an easy way to get around the fight between a EULA that the lawyers want and one that we can understand. The only issue: you have to trust the company (in this case, Apple), that they are doing a fair job summarizing the changes.

Love the show!

Andy the biological engineering grad student from Utah

**********

hey buzzards!

you mentioned how 3D TV is being used to prevent piracy and how it
will eventually circumvented.

yes, that’s true… but it would still essentially eliminate the
distribution of cam and telesync copies of films still in theaters as
cammers wont be able to record films in this fashion. you wouldnt even
be able to film a 3D image with a 3D camera for obvious reasons
(unless it were some kind of crosseyed lens setup to somehow pinch the
alternating perspectives into a single image, a la “magic eye”
stereoscopic images. just kidding).

pirates wouldnt be able to release anything until a screener is able
to be ripped at the very least, therefore putting more reluctant
viewers into the theaters if they just cant wait for it.

just another point of view.

(obligatory) love the show!
-oakie

Ok, but just to be clear, when I say it's time for me to get a pimp, what I MEAN is that it's time to get a PMP -- a portable media player. That is, perhaps, an iPod Touch. Anyway, you'll understand. In other news, the MPAA is trying to clamp down on your analog hole and break your DVR all at the same time and Apple's Snow Leopard is having a rough landing ... apparently because of the picture on the box.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

MPAA still pushing for output control
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/09/movie-studios-again-demand-hdtv-disabling-powers-from-fcc.ars

YouTube talking to studios about streaming majors like Netflix
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10337004-93.html

Vudu coming to Mitsubishi TVs
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10335687-1.html

Toshiba grits its teeth, releases Blu-ray player
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10344487-1.html

Apple ships a known vulnerable version of Flash with Snow Leopard
http://www.sophos.com/blogs/gc/g/2009/09/02/apple-ships-vulnerable-version-flash-snow-leopard/
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10344478-37.html

And reports of “spinning wheel of death” are growing
http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/mac/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=219501236&subSection=Macintosh+Platform

Amazon slams Google’s book scanning
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10335976-265.html

Walkman outselling iPod in Japan
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ansrP2IonbRA

Samsung netbook to have 11 hour battery life
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10344384-1.html

Sprint announces Android HTC Hero
http://www.cnet.com/8301-19736_1-10338820-251.html

Microsoft calling on thousands to host their own Windows 7 parties
http://www.techflash.com/seattle/2009/09/microsoft_plans_thousands_of_neighborhood_parties_for_windows_7.html

VOICEMAIL
Ben: My Palm Pre has it all

EMAIL
Hello Hot Buzz,

Maybe I’m an optimist, but the failure rate of the XBOX 360 has me hoping that the next generation XBOX console will be the most reliable console ever created. Playing it will be like eating at Jack in the Box after the E. coli outbreak.

I only hope that the ad campaign includes Bill Gates wearing a giant round mask and talking smack against the competition.

With Love,
Aaron in Vancouver/Portland

**********

Buzz crew,
I believe everything you mentioned on Wednesday’s show about what you need to make a phone into a decent in-car GPS is already available, at least for some phones. I have been using TomTom software on a Windows Mobile phone for a couple of years. It does not require live data, you can use the phone AND still navigate (with a bluetooth headset). It sounded like in your discussion you were thinking of only how the Iphone does it. Perhaps a broader look is in order. ( I sound like such a Windows Mobile fanboy, don’t I?)
Bryan
Jonesboro, Arkansas

**********

It appears that Rafe’s statement is true in general, but check out the
wording in the Vehicle Code:
http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc26708.htm

This part says “Don’t put stuff on your windshield”:

“26708. (a) (1) ( )1 A person shall not drive any motor vehicle with
any object or material placed, displayed, installed, affixed, or applied
upon the windshield or side or rear windows.”

This part says “Okay, MAYBE put it on your windshield, but only if it’s
a GPS thing and only in a certain area”:

“(12) A portable Global Positioning System (GPS), which may be mounted
in a 7-inch square in the lower corner of the windshield farthest
removed from the driver or in a 5-inch square in the lower corner of the
windshield nearest to the driver, if the system is used only for
door-to-door navigation while the motor vehicle is being operated and
outside of an airbag deployment zone.”

So yeah, you can use it on your windshield if you follow those
guidelines.

Nicole (Lee)

China has delayed required installation of Green Dam Youth Escort, but we find out it does a better job blocking pork than porn. Whew. Protect those kids from the piggies! Also a big win for remote cable DVRs! And the Pirate Bay got sold. You can sell it?

EPISODE 1008

Swedish company to buy Pirate Bay
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10275759-83.html
http://thepiratebay.org/blog/164

China Delays Mandating Filtering Software
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124636491863372821.html

China also filters Jonny Depp, Garflield, and Paris Hilton
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE55T26Y20090630

Remote Cable DVRs are legal: Supreme Court denies appeal of Cablevision decision
http://www.betanews.com/article/Cable-DVRs-are-legal-Supreme-Court-denies-appeal-of-Cablevision-decision/1246290931
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/06/cablevision-remote-dvr-stays-legal-supremes-wont-hear-case.ars

Senators want to bar contracts to foreign companies selling IT to Iran
http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090629_3881.php

With 3.5 launch, Firefox faces new challengers
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10275396-2.html

Amazon drops Rhode Island just like they dropped North Carolina
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124630810805070105.html

Toyota thinks up mind-reading wheelchair
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10275267-1.html

New HTC Hero ROM leaked, Flash 10 already chugging along on a few lucky G1s
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/30/new-htc-hero-rom-leaked-flash-10-already-chugging-along-on-a-fe/

First manned solar plane unveiled in Switzerland
http://green.venturebeat.com/2009/06/30/first-manned-solar-plane-unveiled-in-switzerland/

VOICEMAIL
Dan likes the new lineup

Bruce about CapsLock

EMAIL
Just passing along this story where they said apple’s solution to the universal charger is to include an adapter from dock conector to micro usb, so no new hardware on the horizon…

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/news.phtml/25149/next-iphone-charges-via-micro-usb.phtml

Love the show!
Javier Ardila

**********

The discussion of metric is interesting to me as we changed over here in Canada when I was in grade 4 or so. Now, what happened to those of us in this generation is that we know an odd mish mash of units. Temperatures outside, well that is in Celsius, but when I cook I use Imperial measures, including temperature. The temperature of my parents' pool, I still do that in F. Distances and speeds while driving, km and km/h are fine, distances to object, metres are great, but when I measure to say repair something in the house, I use inches. Oh and I am 6 foot 1 inch tall, and weigh about 175 lb, I have no idea what my height or weight is in metric. (I could convert of course, but I don't).

I am just confused.... My 15 year old daughter on the other hand, does everything in metric, no problem.

Dave (the psychologist)

Artists are developing robots that can consume flies and rodents. That means they'll get a taste for flesh. What could go wrong? They come for your butt, that's what. We also take NASA to task, and discuss the effect of Michael Jackson's death on the Internet and what it might mean for future emergencies. All that and some ageism.

EPISODE 1006

News sites swamped following Michael Jackson’s death
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10273325-93.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10273277-93.html

Sony encouraging nongaming apps on the PSP Go
http://kotaku.com/5302722/sony-encouraging-non+gaming-apps-on-the-pspgo

HTC: Hero UI upgrade for existing phones possible, but not on T-mobile USA versions
http://www.mobileburn.com/news.jsp?Id=7352

Google Voice invites on the way
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/google-voice-invites-on-their-way.html

Thumbing Windows 7 onto Netbooks
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10273188-56.html

Iran tries to pacify protesters with "Lord Of The Rings" marathon
http://idle.slashdot.org/story/09/06/25/1535219/Iran-Tries-to-Pacify-Protesters-With-emLord-Of-The-Ringsem-Marathon

Iran Not Blocking Online Games
http://kotaku.com/5302711/iran-not-blocking-online-games

Nielsen recommends not masking passwords
http://it.slashdot.org/story/09/06/25/1856214/Nielsen-Recommends-Not-Masking-Passwords

Buzz Aldrin’s radical plan for NASA
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/air_space/4322647.html?page=1

Gallery: Domestic robots with a taste for flesh
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17372-gallery-domestic-robots-with-a-taste-for-flesh.html

VOICEMAIL
Garrick on kids wanting stuff on demand

E-MAIL
Hi buzz crew. after watching episode 1005 i was wondering since i am looking to buy a new laptop in the summer. if i get the eligibility to get the free upgrade to windows 7, is it possible to not install the upgrade on my new laptop instead install windows 7 to my desktop which is around a year old and is running windows vista ultimate? – Jonathan

**********

Hey buzz crew, Jim Gooch, buzz town Computer Forensics guy here…
Just a quick note concerning the free windows 7 upgrade program.
I’ve put off purchasing 6 computers so that I could get the upgrade today. Much to my
dismay, I was told that I was not eligible for the upgrade program because I was Downgrading
to XP and this was a Microsoft decision. so, defeated, I purchased the computers with
Vista Business and promptly called Microsoft. I was a bit miffed that Microsoft had the
gall to use all the purchases that I have made over the two last years to pad their Vista
“Sales” numbers, then turn around and tell me I had no right to the benefits of purchasing
vista if I didn’t RUN it!?! so, once I was speaking to Microsoft I was informed that Dell was
in fact wrong and that I was entitled to the free upgrade!

Armed with the website:

https://windows7upgradeoption.com/ProgramInformation.aspx

which states:

PCs that are licensed for a Program-eligible Windows Vista edition which have been down-
graded to Windows XP are also eligible for this Program. However, a clean installation of
the upgrade media will be required unless you used recovery media to install the original
Windows Vista edition pre-installed on the PC, in which case you can directly upgrade to
Windows 7.

I was able to reorder the machines with XP and got the free windows 7 upgrade.
props go to “Paul” at Microsoft Pre-Sales support for his help in this.
I thought your listeners might benefit from my plight.

**********

Hey Buzz Crew,

In episode 1004 you reported how NASA will not convert to metric units because of “the cost”. I actually worked on the Constellation program for a few months shortly after graduating college. Almost immediately, I was horrified at what I saw from within NASA’s walls. Logisitically, engineers at NASA and most of their contractors live in the 50’s. There *are* computers present, but they’re in terrible shape and locked down to a point of being almost unusable. To install Linux on a project box I had to wait 3 months for approval from Washington (I worked at the cape), and I quit before I heard anything. In order to pull up engineering specs, you can’t simply view them as a PDF from a database. You need to look up the part number, which is truncated because the system was built the year I was born (literally), make a PHONE CALL down to the document center, put in an order for a printout, and a couple hours later pick up your printout or request them to physically scan it and then send you a PDF. Not only that, but there are major buildings in horrific disrepair, such as the Vehicle Assembly Building.

Sorry for this depressing e-mail, but people need to know about the state of what was once our nation’s crown jewel. NASA needs a major reset. It has a culture that oppressively resists change and technological investment at every opportunity to a point where I believe it actually costs them more money and potentially more lives. If Obama shut NASA’s doors (I hear Brian Cooley cheering) in favor of privatized space flight, such as Space-X, I wouldn’t be surprised nor disappointed.

Love the show!

Mike the surfing chip designer in FL.

Dr. Kiki from This Week in Science joins us to talk tech and science, and we realize that we will all soon wear solar-powered Gundam suits and travel the Earth. That is until they become self-aware and eject us and kill us all. We also take NASA to task and tell you when to get a new Windows PC.

EPISODE 1004

HTC Hero running Android and Sense UI
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/24/htc-hero-details-begin-leaking-from-htcs-own-website/

China not backing off despite filter code post on Wikileaks
http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/06/china-not-backing-off-despite-filter-code-post-on-wikileaks.ars

Comcast, Time Warner team up to control TV on the Internet
http://gigaom.com/2009/06/23/comcast-time-warner-team-up-to-control-internet-video/
http://newteevee.com/2009/06/23/what-you-need-to-know-about-tv-everywhere/

Dutch gov. wants to tax online media to fund print
http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/06/23/1925228/Dutch-Gov-Wants-To-Tax-Online-Media-To-Fund-Print

NIH funding level correlates with lower U.S. mortality rates
http://arstechnica.com/science/2009/06/nih-funding-level-correlates-with-lower-us-mortality-rates.ars

Free Windows 7 won’t last forever
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10271092-56.html

Windows 7 upgrade program nears launch
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10271742-56.html

OLPC Fork Sugar on a Stick goes 1.0
http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/06/24/1243255/OLPC-Fork-Sugar-On-a-Stick-Goes-10

Switching to solar power, one year later
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/06/23/191230/Switching-To-Solar-Power-One-Year-Later

Deep in bedrock, clean energy and quake fears
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/business/energy-environment/24geotherm.html?_r=1&ref=science

NASA sticking to Imperial units for shuttle replacement
http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/06/24/1430236/NASA-Sticking-To-Imperial-Units-For-Shuttle-Replacement?from=rss

Jury reports that Steon’s Orbo does not produce free energy
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/06/23/jury-reports-that-st.html

VOICE MAIL
Alex from Europe about the Mercedes E class

Erin from Punxsatawnee on Verizon customers
http://reviews.cnet.com/best-verizon-wireless-phones/?tag=rb_content;contentNav

E-MAIL

Dear Buzz Crew:
I'm OK guys, and today angry, no not they way you might think, I'm angry on the company I love the most and I have spent thousand of dollars buying their products, and loving them, yes, I'm talking to you Nokia.
As you can see on the article below Nokia has sold a monitoring application to Iran's Telecom, for monitoring calls, sms, mms, and internet usage.

http://www.mobile-review.com/fullnews/main/index_eng.shtml#24832

I have read in some other articles that Nokia has said we sold that application on late 2008 and the agreement says it can be used for limited number of users, mostly for security reasons like tracking and finding spy or anything like that, but the Iranian government is using it to monitor everyone's phone, and this is against Nokia's agreement and term of use and Nokia is going to sue Iran's government.
But who knows?
Have a great day

Best Regards

Siavash

Without Rafe and Brian Cooley on the show, we felt it was safe to have French tech podcaster Patrick Beja on the show to talk tech. Don't worry, he speaks in English for this show. We talk about the iPhone phenomena, the poor penetration of broadband in the US, and how HD-DVD is still beating Blu-ray.

EPISODE 1,002

T-Mobile announces second Google phone
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10269459-94.html

Google to cut China porn results
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8112971.stm

Steve Jobs had liver transplant
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10269685-37.html

Apple’s Biggest iPhone launch ever: More than 1 million sold
http://www.businessinsider.com/apples-biggest-iphone-launch-ever-more-than-1-million-sold-2009-6
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10269991-37.html

Apple’s $30 apology for iPhone activation delays?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10269855-37.html

Pwnage Tool for iPhone OS 3.0 now live, ultrasn0w still on standby
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/20/pwnage-tool-for-iphone-os-3-0-now-live-ultrasn0w-still-on-stand/

US 20th in broadband penetration, trails S. Korea, Estonia
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/06/us-20th-in-broadband-penetration-trails-s-korea-estonia.ars

LG Electronics adopts ARM processors in TVs--to help with Web 2.0 features
http://digital.venturebeat.com/2009/06/22/lg-electronics-adopts-arm-processors-as-digital-tvs-move-toward-web-20-features/

Blu-ray Adoption Soft, More Still Own HD DVD
http://slashdot.org/story/09/06/22/1339213/Blu-ray-Adoption-Soft-More-Still-Own-HD-DVD

Report: FTC to go after blogger freebies
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10269962-38.html

Patrick Beja’s projects
http://frenchspin.com/en/

VOICEMAIL
Randy in Hawaii about Sprint

EMAIL
Heya BuzzCrew- (I have to go back to this default since I no longer know which day folks are on…)

So just reading thru twitter and found a very interesting blog post:

http://is.gd/18Y3w

The first post seemed a VERY bad thing, major unknown DRM on the Kindle. “Luckily” there is a 2nd post--that seems to try and clear up the original DRM problem, but has found that Amazon is just as confused and may not be ready for the forthcoming storm of download problems…

Cheers from Oxford (where we still aren’t allowed to buy even the first Kindle yet)!
Tom Merritt the Doppelganger

**********

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8109267.stm

This is a very interesting news story about the British top 40
singles, which has for many years only been based on record sales but
now they're thinking about including last.fm streams in their stats.
This is very good as it all those sites are really popular here.

What is more interesting is the stats halfway through the story about
single sales, that have gone up in the UK from 30 million in 2003 to
over 115 million in 2008. That is a fivefold increase. How dare the music
labels say they are losing money when this is the case. If anything
it shows that people are more interested than ever in music.

Well done on 1,000 shows.
Love the show

Jon the computer network manangement and design student from Portsmouth

**********

Hey Buzz Crew,

I was driving around town today, doing errands and listening to Buzz Out Loud. When I heard about Bozeman job services requesting applicants to provide username and passwords for social networking sites, I was totally in denial. Molly, Tom and Jason talking about Bozeman, MT? How could this be? Afterall, Bozeman is no Silicon Valley.

As a current resident of Bozeman, I am glad to hear about my town on BOL, but the story does not put Bozeman in the best possible light. Good thing that they rescinded this policy. Please make sure the Buzz town is aware of this and this can somehow clear Bozeman’s name a bit. Bozeman is a great little town (hmm, the smallest city I’ve ever lived in, but the fifth largest city in MT) with great nature resources all around it and hope you all have a chance to come and visit this area. It is beautiful out here!

Any other BOL listeners in Bozeman?

Sandra

**********

When is episode 2000? Approximately Thursday, June 13th, 2013. [It's the second Thursday of June - gonna have to bump it back a bit]

So how’d I get that? First, I wrote a little script that would go through the months and count the number of weekdays for me. This gave me a nice estimate of how many BOLs there’d be. But it didn’t take into consideration the holidays. So I Googled a holiday list and came up with http://www.opm.gov/Operating_Status_Schedules/fedhol/2009.asp and added those to the spreadsheet, too. I had the spreadsheet do the math for me to remove them and then run a count for me.

I did the last bit by hand, knowing that the last episode of May 2013 would be #1991, I counted into 2000 by hand.

A few other notable or neat episode numbers:
1194 – Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 – BOL’s 10th Anniversary.
1234 – Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
1250 – Thursday, June 17th, 2010 [A third Thursday!]
1337 – Thursday, October 21st, 2010 [A third Thursday!]
1500 – Thursday, June 16th, ts on 1[A third Thursday!]
1750 – Thursday, June 14th, 2012 [A second Thursday - booo]

All of these dates are obviously approximate – Days off for things like CES travel and such aren’t included, nor are double-episode days.

You can see the spreadsheet at http://bit.ly/bol2000math.

Love the show, and ‘grats on 1k!

Tommy in Kingston

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

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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!

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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

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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

EPISODE 832

IMDB turns 18
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10067397-52.html

Android Market has a killswitch, but Google will refund your money if they use it
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/10/16/android-market-has-a.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10067543-16.html

HTC Dream T-Mobile G1 (black)
http://reviews.cnet.com/htc-dream-t-mobile-g1/

FCC looks set to back “white spaces” as Chairman signs on
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081015-fcc-looks-set-to-back-white-spaces-as-chairman-signs-on.html

Details released on the Radiohead experiment results: A tremendous success
http://techdirt.com/articles/20081015/1640202552.shtml
http://musically.com/blog/2008/10/15/exclusive-warner-chappell-reveals-radioheads-in-rainbows-pot-of-gold/

iTunes sells 200 million TV shows, adds new HD TV lineup
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/10/16/itunes_sells_200_million_tv_shows_adds_new_hd_tv_lineup.html

Only 4.13 percent of the Web is standards-compliant
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/16/1325215

Hawaii's move to digital bumped up to January 15
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20081015/BUSINESS/810150351/1071

Adobe addresses Flash Player ‘clickjacking’ flaw
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10067544-83.html

First official photos from new Star Trek movie
http://entertainment.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/16/1210210

Queen has fit of Google giggles
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7672149.stm

No financial chaos in virtual world of Second Life
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iXK9hDkozMzCd61pKw4Z38IvHBPA

Voice mail
Mike from Tacoma: cell phones on a passenger?

E-mail

As always, when people start talking about the consoles they usually start and end by comparing HD space.

Before my stance is undermined let me state some things. I do not own a PS3. I do own a Xbox 360 and a Wii.

The PS3 has 2.5 features over the Xbox 360.

The first being this magical thing called wireless networking. Now that I think about it the Xbox 360 is the ONLY platform that does not have wireless.

PSP? check
DS? yup
Wii? Indeed
iPhone? OMG yes
Zune? Seriously Microsoft….

And due to microsoft wanting to rake you over the coals, the wireless adapter costs $100

The second thing they are missing is something that THEY ALREADY MAKE! A browser. I will not run down the same list again, but you get the idea.

And the .5 is hdmi. only one of the models of Xbox 360 has the beloved hdmi port.

And do not get me started about the messed up proprietary HDs and…*sigh*

I am sure this rant is late but I had only 1 BoL on my ipod Shuffle during a 2 hour road trip so I heard you talk about over and over.

-Paul in Irving

PS the PS3 also cures cancer :p (FaH ftw)

PPS I know the fragmentation is horrible, but it is late. I apologize in advance if I offended Molly’s Grammar Sense. (Hmm super power?)

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Just to let you guys know that the first netbook (Asus Eee PC 700) was
released a year ago today. It’s amazing how far they’ve come.

Love the show,
Kyle from Ohio

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Saw a 40 to 50 years old lady, enjoying dinner at Ruby Tuesday alone with her Sony Ebook..

Luv de show

Pranav

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http://blog.wellsfargo.com/StagecoachIsland/

I haven’t checked this out yet, but I can’t believe it exists. Nevermind who I work for at the moment, this is hilarious.

-Philip

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

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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

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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/