Buzz Out Loud Podcast

We are almost done talking about the Pre and iPhone, but not quite. We do talk about the Nokia N91 and Qik streaming on all Nokia phones. Twitter may be dead or at least hibernating. Wolfram Alpha gets a little smarter, the iPhone knows if you're going to get sick, plus some E3 roundup news. Also, a new inflatable tube could send you to space and the Pleo is not extinct after all.

EPISODE 993

Nokia N97 out for $700
http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/06/09/the-nokia-n97-hits-nokia-stores-for-700-today/

Qik on all Nokia phones
http://mashable.com/2009/06/09/qik-nokia/

WSJ says Pre on Verizon in January
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/06/08/palm-pre-on-verizon-in-january/

Is Twitter dead?
http://gigaom.com/2009/06/09/twitter-is-dead/

Wolfram Alpha gets first update
http://blog.wolframalpha.com/2009/06/08/wolframalpha-update-today/

Japan to try GPS phones to prevent pandemics
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10258981-1.html

California going to online textbooks
http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/06/09/1243211/California-To-Move-To-Online-Textbooks?from=rss

Some E3 aftermath news of interest:
360 to match PS3’s 10-year life cycle, says Kim
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/360-to-match-ps3s-10-year-lifecycle-says-kim

Old is new: Nintendo released a bio sensor a decade ago
http://kotaku.com/5283866/old-is-new-nintendo-released-a-bio-sensor-a-decade-ago

Inflatable tower could climb to the edge of space
http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/06/08/1924233/-Inflatable-Tower-Could-Climb-To-the-Edge-of-Space?from=rss

Will Pleo come back from extinction?
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/06/09/028252/Pleo-Robot-Dinosaur-Back-From-Extinction?from=rss

———————–

E-mail

Hey BOL –
I haven’t heard anyone answer this one question… Will any of the features mentioned yesterday be in the Apple Touch any time soon? Normally the announcements with the iPhone and Touch go hand and hand, yesterday there was no mention of the Touch.

Love the show
Anomoly from South California

———————–

Hey Buzz Crew,

I was listening to yesterday’s episode where you discussed how overpriced the iPhone 3G S is in the US. It’s even worse in the UK. Me and a friend worked out that it would be cheaper to buy a 32 GB iPhone 3G S on pay as you go and then buy a £10 top up each month, while on top of that paying £10 a month for the final 6 months to get the unlimited internet access, than it would be to buy one on the CHEAPEST POSSIBLE CONTRACT! You guys can do the math yourselves, O2’s page is linked to below.

Someone started a petition over Twitter to try and get O2 to offer reasonable prices. I urge listeners of Buzz Out Loud to sign it and help us end this injustice! In these troubled times, Apple has again done the wrong thing with their prices!!

LTS,

DanielInHell

http://twitition.com/owzm4

http://shop.o2.co.uk/update/paymonth.html

———————–

Hey JaNatTo,

I own a printing company and about 50% of our work is books with
quantities well below 2000 and doing as few as 10 books is becoming a
regular part of our day. The technologies in the linked to machine are
readily available in the industry but I don’t believe it’s ready to be
implemented in a consumer kiosk especially at $175,000. I was in
Rochester in April demoing machines from Xerox and Kodak that cost
well over the price listed for the Black & White only versions that
run at between 120-180 impressions per minute. While the print quality
is phenomenal the binding is still fiddly. In line perfect binding
(Soft cover book binding) is still a work in progress on digital
machines.

Ray The printer
in Beautiful Lancaster Pa

———————–

Natali
Hey guys, regarding Acer and their 3D laptop. I don’t know what it will REALLY be like but here is why I would want 3D.
* More perceived space from a single screen. By angling windows toward the screen, wouldn’t it be like having a dual monitor setup? (but with much less space and resources).

* Education (not just formal). The best application of 3D I’ve ever seen was an IMAX 3D film about the Moon landing. It created an intense real view of how small things were inside and how terrifying it would have been. I think this would work well in any history or other subject to capture the attention of a student.

* Math and chemistry. I have a slight learning disability and it has taken me many years to get through college. I think such technology would be a leap forward for helping to learn Organic Chemistry especially Enantiomers (mirror image molecules) and Vectors and multivariable calculus. While there are 3d modeling applications on a 2d screen, it seems like it would be so much better to have a perceived 3d image.

I’d love to hear what you think about how likely these ideas are and whether it would be as good as I’ve imagined.

As for my new Palm Pre, “Never love anything that can’t love you back”. It’s cool, but I kind of expected the entire desktop experience shrunk down to a small device. (its not)

Thanks .

Brent

———————–

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. Got them from Dwight and Mandeep. 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

Send us buzz at buzz@cnet.com or call us at 1-800-616-CNET (2638)

We recap all the announcements from Apple's WWDC keynote, especially ruminating on what the tethering app will cost for AT&T customers. We also rant a bit about the new prices for current iPhone conferences. And don't forget Snow Leopard people. That looks like a good upgrade for a very affordable price.

EPISODE 992

WWDC coverage
http://news.cnet.com/2702-1041_3-116.html

New 15-inch MacBook Pro Non-replaceable battery. No Express Card slot (SD card instead) Up to 3.06 GHZ processor up to 8GB RAM up to 500 GB. $300 price cut. $1699, $1999 and $2299 options 2.53, 2.66 2.8 GHz, and 250 320 and 500 Hard Drive. Includes FireWire port.
13-inch becomes MacBook Pro cheaper at $1199
MacBook AIR also with a price cut.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10259307-1.html

OS X Snow Leopard
Exchange support in Mail, Calendar and Contacts
Crash Resistance. A bad plug-in won’t crash whole browser.
$29 Upgrade.
$49 Family pack.
$10 ‘handling fee’ if you buy a new Mac between now and the September release.
$169 non-upgrade price but includes iLife
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10259248-56.html

Safari 4

New QuickTime 10
HTTP Streaming, editing video within player.
Get 5GB back after upgrade from Leopard.
http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-10259637-12.html

iPhone OS 3.0 Copy paste, tethering (but not for AT&T users), multimedia messaging (later this summer from AT&T) purchase videos and audiobooks from phone. Supports HTTP streaming.
Find My iPhone. Encryption.
In-app purchases NOT available in free apps.
Push notifications

Tom Tom turn by turn navigation
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10259662-1.html
Available June 17
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-12519_7-10259579-49.html

iPhone 3GS Faster processor. Ready for faster HSPA network.
Autofocus
Video recording/editing
Voice control
Compass
Better Battery life, tethering
$199 16Gb, $299 32 Gb and now a $99 iPhone 3G. For new customers only! Loyal iPhone upgarders will pay $18 PLUS $200 extra for the hardware.
Available June 19
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10259830-37.html

*****
EMAIL

Hey Buzz Crew

Apple selling the OS X upgrade at $29.00 is obviously a stab at Microsoft. According to Paul Thurotte on Windows weekly, Microsoft planned on selling the Windows 7 upgrade between $79, for the basic edition, to over $200, for the ultimate edition. Now Microsoft has 2 choices.

Choice 1: Sell Windows 7 at a similarly low price. This means that Microsoft would have to sell many more copies than they originally planned in order to get a good return on their investment.

Choice 2: Sell Windows 7 at their original target price. As soon as they would announce these prices, Apple would put new commercials of PC vs MAC where they would compare their prices and show that Windows is more expensive than Mac. This would be a stab directly at Microsoft’s current “I’m a PC” ads showing that Macs are too expensive.

Either way, Apple has put Microsoft in a position that they did not want to be in. After the Vista PR nightmare, the upgrade to Windows 7 is the most anticipated Windows upgrade since going from 3.1 to 95. Apple had to try to take that away from Microsoft.

Love the Show.

Geff,
Geek at Large
Port-au-Prince, Haiti

*****
Guys,

I am sold on the 3GS. The feature set is a rock solid upgrade and kills
almost all the reasons a Palm Pre would be in the running. Still, the
weak link is AT & T, which I hate. But, I hate all carriers, so it is a
wash. Some of the limitations that ATT will put on the phone’s
usability, like tethering, will be negated by the jailbreaking
community, who will enable it. I doubt we will see a Pre jailbreaking
community. So, I still say that the only answer for Sprint (not Palm,
because they will be spreading the device over other carriers) is to
become the value brand. Offer better data packages and cheaper plans.
Otherwise, they are toast when the Pre hits Verizon.

Respectfully,

Clayton
Bloomington, IL

We wrap up coverage of the Palm Pre but are too early for the WWDC. Don't worry. We'll cover those announcements in a separate episode of Buzz Out Loud later in your feed. we also disrespect the Bing and congratulate the Pirate Party on their win.

EPISODE 991

EPISODE 991

Palm Pre’s big day
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10258825-94.html

After dismantling, Palm Pre is estimated to cost $170
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10258774-1.html

Palm sells 50,000 Pres
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=19374

WWDC 2009 live blog
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10257637-37.html

Apple prepares to reset the bar in the mobile app market
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10258103-37.html

Twitter to roll out ‘Verified Accounts’ this summer
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10258816-93.html
http://blog.twitter.com/2009/06/not-playing-ball.html

Bing off to solid start, but not that good
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10258576-2.html

Swedish Pirate Party headed to European Parliament
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/06/swedish-pirate-party-headed-to-european-parliament.ars

China to preload PCs with filtering software
http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2009/06/08/2907487-china-requires-pcs-to-come-with-anti-porn-software

Acer 3D laptop
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/08/acer-launching-3d-laptop-in-october-nerd-specs-required/

New Zealand gets first dibs on Windows 7
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10258946-75.html

Hacker named to Homeland Security Advisory Council
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10258634-83.html

PSP Go lacks mini USB, compatibility with existing accessories, common sense
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/08/psp-go-lacks-mini-usb-compatbility-with-existing-accessories-c/

Sony considering UMD game trade-in program for PSP Go digital versions
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/05/sony-considering-umd-game-trade-in-program-for-psp-go-digital-ve/

*****
VOICEMAIL

Brandon in Philly calling from his Palm Pre

Richard in LA about Bing and the Microsoft logo

Firechief Kevin on how Emergency Services work

*****
EMAIL
Hey Buzz Crew,

I’m a relatively new listener, so I apologize if you’ve already covered this. I’ve recently learned of a machine called the EBM or “Espresso Machine” (http://www.ondemandbooks.com/hardware.htm). It’s a “book ATM” that is about the size of an office copy machine and can print and bind books to order. Their site claims that this machine will print a 300-page book in less than four minutes at a production cost of a penny per page. An NPR story reports that the machines retail cost about $175,000. (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104644575).

I was wondering about the crew’s opinion on this as it relates to the kindle. This seemingly cheap and more environmentally friendly way to produce books would be enough to convince me to try this contraption. Do you think this technology could catch on? If so, how do you think it would affect the publishing industry and reading community?

Keep up the good work!

Christine, the music teacher

*****
Hi guys,

I wanted to put my two cents in about the omelette in plastic. This
form of cooking if called sous-vide, under vacuum in french
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sous_vide).

Basically, you put whatever you want to eat in a vacuum sealed bag and
then cook it in hot water for some period of time. This is a very
popular way of cooking meat because you can cook the meat at 140
degrees Fahrenheit and you get the meat rare from edge to edge, it
might not look very good, pink throughout, but you could grill it for
a few seconds to get a charred exterior. The omelette in the zip lock
bag is pretty much the exact same thing just instead of meat you put
eggs and veggies and bacon. Sous-vide is a great way to make pulled
pork because by definition you cannot overheat the meat and thus you
can leave the meat in there for hours and even days.

As for the plastic, most zip lock bags do have on the manufacturer’s
site or the box it came in a max temp for the bag to be used under so
you do not want to over heat it. When heating up plastic, though, only
some kinds, the plastic releases a form of estrogen that can affect
mammary glands and in general is not good for you
(http://www.bio-medicine.org/biology-news/Compounds-in-plastic-packaging-act-as-environmental-estrogens-altering-breast-genes-585-1/).
However, there are special food grade plastics that do not have the
same compounds and withstand heat to a better degree and these food
grade plastics are the ones that should be used for the sous-vide,
though, one of those extra-tough zip lock bags used in water under the
max temp should be ok for making the omelettes.

————————
Gary Katsevman
Computer Science Undergraduate
Northeastern University

*****
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. Got them from Dwight and Mandeep. 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

Brian Cooley gets mad at the Swiss and the Dutch in this episode and takes up the defense of Microsoft. We also decide to pitch IBM against Wolfram Alpha in a battle royale.

Episode 962

Apple readying 'media pad' and 'iPhone lite' for launch soon?
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/04/apple-readying-media-pad-and-iphone-lite-for-launch-soon.ars

Mozilla releases Firefox 3.5 beta
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10228665-2.html

Microsoft debuts Vine in Seattle: Twitter+Facebook on steroids
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/technologybrierdudleysblog/2009134578_microsoft_debuts_vine_in_seatt.html

Don’t get confused: Facebook’s open-stream approach isn’t like Twitter’s
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/04/facebook-bets-on-open-approach-launches-stream-api.html

Woman loses job for being on Facebook on sick day
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10228434-93.html

Amazon acquires Stanza, an e-Book application for the iPhone
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/amazon-acquires-stanza-an-e-book-application-for-the-iphone/

QuickTime to receive YouTube support
http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-10228221-12.html

Europe funds secure operating system research
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/27/2324216&from=rss

A Look At the Wolfram Alpha “Search Engine”
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/27/006231&from=rss

Salma Hayek hacked
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2345973,00.asp?kc=PCRSS03069TX1K0001121

Webbys voting closes on Thursday! HELP US WIN!! CNET TV - under Online Film & Video: Technology - http://pv.webbyawards.com

VOICEMAIL

Kevin Android needs branding

EMAIL Natali
Team Buzz -

I imagine you will discuss Microsoft’s new Vine application today. It find it an interesting concept in that it attempts to add structure to things we do already: Twitter and the emergency broadcast system for instance. Will their idea of creating a new infrastructure to “mashup” our current communication practices work? If I am going to text someone that I made it home safe, why would I want to go through Microsoft when I can directly communicate with the recipient? Are they trying to monopolize common sense? I guess buy-in by users will guide the success of the project. I am a little negative on this though. Also, when I watched the demo videos I was someone befuddled as I do not automatically equate an “emergency” with having someone walk my dog and hoping someone else is going to make me a pie? What’s with that?

Finally, I don’t like the name. Personally, when I think vine I think of hard to kill-never-stops-growing-snuffs-out-other-living-things-in-my-backyard-plant. Oh, now I know why they used it.

Mike in Dayton
Natali
Please do not use my name.

You discussed in EP 961 that AT&T service in NY and SF was terrible.
Just wanted to pass along that AT&T is currently overlaying 850 MHz
spectrum in ATL, NY, and SF. This is high-quality spectrum that can
penetrate impedences, even provide signals in Subways.

I believe the current spectrum used in those areas is 1950 MHz.
Tom
Hey Buzzies,

I was going to go download Opera just now from Opera.com, hoping it will launch faster then FireFox when I have Lineage 2 running (I use Chrome but L2’s anti-cheat system, GameGuard, prevents it from working). Anyways, I was greeted with a VERY retro web splash page, celebrating Opera’s 15th anniversary. You should check it out it’s pretty funny, it’s got the random ugly gif animations, even some flames at the bottom. Hmm.. Reminds me of some Geocities pages I’ve seen….

http://www.opera.com/

Anyways Love the show

-Kassandra

EPISODE 794

Orange Poland shops allegedly creating fake iPhone 3G queues
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/08/21/orange_poland_shops_allege
dly_creating_fake_iphone_3g_queues.html

Verizon, Google kiss and make up for search deal, but where’s Android?
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/8/verizon-google-kiss-and-make-up-for-s
earch-deal-but-where-s-android-

Verizon zapped: Must inspect every N.Y. FiOS installation for unsafe
Wiring
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/8/verizon-zapped-must-inspect-every-n-y
-fios-installation-for-unsafe-wiring

AT&T ConnecTech: we can out-geek-squad the Geek Squad
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080821-att-to-dispatch-its-own-sq
uad-of-geeks-through-connectech.html

ESPN-MLBAM: Skipper: ‘just needed a new deal’, Bowman: Local Live
steaming ‘when time Is Right’
http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-espn-mlbam-skipper-just-needed-a-ne
w-deal-bowman-local-live-steaming-wh/

Baseball’s Web CEO: Sorry fans, no local streaming
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/8/baseball-s-web-ceo-sorry-fans-no-loca
l-streaming

Xbox and Rock the Vote partner to get gamers to the polls
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10021981-52.html

Diebold admits Ohio machines may lose votes
http://news.slashdot.org/news/08/08/22/136215.shtml

DVD will fail? Sounds a lot like Blu-ray
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10013891-1.html

Voice mail

Kevin
iPhone and e-wallet

Anonymous
Seinfeld is a traitor!

E-mail

How the MPAA ruined jury duty for me
Hey buzz crew -

This week I have the “honor” of serving my fellow citizens as supreme
judge and executioner of their fate.

In the past, while waiting to send someone to spend the rest of their
life in the loving hands of their cell mate Duke, we got to watch a DVD
brought in by one of our faithful civic employees.

This year apparently , the MPAA, required that they cease and desist
this practise. Can you believe that!!

So now instead of killing time watching “Muppets take Manhatten” I have
to sit idly, occaisionally reminding sir sits too close what personal
space means… Ugh

Love the show.
Stephen (Darthweef in the chat)

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

Hey Buzz Crew,
In episode 793 you discussed Facebook’s new advertising system
and made a joke about how it doesn’t refer to wedding bells style
engagement. I must say, that joke hit almost uncomfortably close to
home. Many times, my amazing girlfriend of a year and a half has
received targeted Facbook ads for diamond rings, and she has mentioned
them to me upon occasion. While I’m not opposed to engagement, it’s not
in my immediate plans. I am starting to fear Facebook’s continued and
more specific targeting.

Erik, the former MBA student who needs a job (anybody have one for me?)

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

Chris
Hey Buzz Crew,

I’m excited to have my first well actually. I know its Harry Potter
related and not really technologically based, but Molly is right. I
have a relative who has worked on all the previous Harry Potter films
and is in production on the newest movie. They had an emergency meeting
recently to discuss moving the next Harry Potter movie back to Summer
‘09. The reasoning is that because of the writer’s strike they had a
huge gap in content next summer, which will be filled by Harry Potter
(insert Equis jokes here).

Love the show!

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

Hey Tom Molly Jason and maybe Albert or who evers there

On Episode 792 you guys talked about Muxtape being shutdown by the RIAA
because they didn’t pay royalty fees to allow users to upload music and
stream it to friends .So does this mean that the RIAA can also shutdown
Pownce because Pownce allows user to upload files like mp3’s; and in a
way stream them to friends. i don’t think Kevin Rose pays royalty
fees. I hope they don’t shutdown Pownce. Whats our take.

Example of Pownce mp3 upload

http://pownce.com/kevin/notes/3195440/

Love the Show

Leo S.

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

Dear Tom ‘n Jolly (and Albert?),

Please import Wil Harris and make him a permanent part of the show.

Greatly appreciated,

Randy

In today's episode, we learn that Facebook's targeted ad system was apparently devised sometime in 16th century London. Also, a new PS3 bundle brings the pain (with voucher), Apple gets sued over its lousy 3G reception, and the FCC is still all over Comcast, and Comcast responds by announcing its plans to throttle (huh?). Also, we school some doctor on the deal with oxytocin. Boom.

EPISODE 793

Episode 793

Judge: Copyright owners must consider ‘fair use’
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10021999-93.html?tag=nefd.lede
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/08/judge-copyright.html

FCC order scolds Comcast for changing story on P2P blocking
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080820-fcc-order-scolds-comcast-for-changing-story-on-p2p-blocking.html

Comcast to throttle some customers’ Web speeds
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10021654-93.html?tag=nefd.top
http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-comcast-to-delay-speeds-for-heaviest-users-during-peak-time/

Apple sued over iPhone 3G reception issues
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10021885-37.html?tag=nefd.top

Seinfeld to host the Microsoft Makeover (Thanks royterp!)
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9760&tag=nl.e019
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10021915-75.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Facebook’s ‘engagement ads’ tests the waters
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10022000-36.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0

Coming this fall: The 160GB PS3
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10021363-1.html?tag=bubbl_2

42% of Web users sneak onto other online accounts
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/20/2233221&from=rss

Voice mail

Dr. Rob
On oxytocin.

Ben UPS Driver
Why FCC is going to where they're going.

E-mail

Hi Molly, Tom & Crew...

I work at a Naval Engineering & Research Station. For various security reasons, no one here is allowed to have ad or personal cell phone with a camera.

So, as you can imagine, it's not easy finding a camera without this feature.

BTW…thanks for mentioning the Blackberry 8820 (GPS, sans camera)

Your Government is listening....and is a fan! J

Love the show,
Al

—

Hi Buzz folks,

Just in regards to Odin in 792 and his Vista AV problem, I have one comment: AAAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Don’t you remember the fuss that Mcaffee and the other AV providers kicked up when Vista was released? They moaned and groaned, and sued their way around the kernel and memory protections that MS had originally installed, so being pretty court shy these days, Microsoft had to gimp some of the basic system protection features just to appease them. Now it turns out the AV makers have gone and screwed the pooch over this, and all I hear is “oooh, Vista is soooo crap” and the like. I can’t believe that I’m defending Microsoft these days, but I am getting so tired of the uninformed MS bashing that goes on all the time. There are plenty of good reasons to have a go at the boys from Redmond, but this is not one of them.

*Sigh*

Keep up the good work,

Jeff from London

—

Hey Tom, Molly and Super-Intern-Dude

1. Chinese Thing
I’m Pro-China so I’m going to say that the documents uncovered (the list, listing* names, sexes and dates of birth) includes a typo and the Chinese passport is the real deal. In other news, Governments are constantly issuing ‘fake’ passports. How do you think the CIA gets documents and Visa Credit Cards for agents traveling under alias?

2. Targeting Advertising
Sorry, Facebook have put me right off the idea. All I get on facebook are ads titled ‘19 and STILL single?’. Not only are they insulting and make me feel like crap - Facebook seems to let advertisers access whatever data the like - Facebook know my year of birth but it is not listed on my profile pages - yet advertisers have access to it. I’m unhappy. Way to go Facebook!

*A list has to list things, so really, stating the obvious is redundant. My bad!

Very truly yours,

r-c-brown

—

Firstly, you may have mentioned it before, but a great source for music lovers who hate the RIAA is http://www.RIAAradar.com. Like a new artist but don’t want any of your money going to the RIAA troglodytes? First check this website to see if the artist is affiliated with these thugs. If they aren’t, buy the music; if they are, contact the artist and tell them you won’t ever buy any of their music as they have allied themselves with an organization who treats every music listener as a criminal and potential extortion target.

Lastly, perhaps an effective campaign would be for everyone to email the RIAA, just to verify if we all still have the right to listen to our own legally purchased music - on a daily basis. Ask their permission; every… damn… day.

Love the Show,

Tim in Kansas

—

Hello Buzz Crew,

So I follow your advice and typed my name on cuil.com the answer is a bunch of CNET, Twitter and other geeks links (never my poor iRodrigo.com blog) always followed by Veronica’s picture.

Just wanted to say that:

1. I’m not a girl.
2. I’m not Veronica.
3. Dresses like that makes me look fat.

Rodrigo Hashimoto, from Toronto

—-
Dear T, M, and J.

You may be interested in talking about this:
http://www.nypl.org/press/releases/?article_id=108

Apologies if this is old news to you.

Best,
ThriftyTechie

—

We tried to give NBC the benefit of the doubt when it comes to Olympic streaming, but then we tried it. And it's ridiculous. Also, we wonder if the iPhone makes you fat, even as it fattens Steve Jobs' wallet. We also discuss the technicalities of invisibility cloaks, and opt-out of Obama's aggressively hip Internet outreach campaign.

EPISODE 785

Defcon ends with researchers muzzled, viruses written
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10013156-83.html

Judge orders halt to Defcon speech on subway card hacking
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10012612-83.html

Apple hits 3 million iPhone’s sold in its debut month
http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/08/technology/iphone-3m.fortune/

iPhone software sales take off: Apple’s jobs
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121842341491928977.html

Beijing Olympic 2008 opening ceremony giant firework footprints ‘faked’
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/2534499/Beijing-Olympic-2008-opening-ceremony-giant-firework-footprints-faked.html

NBCU-Olympics: Cablevision subs, those who don't pay to watch TV shut out of live streaming
http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-nbcu-olympics-cablevision-subs-those-who-dont-pay-to-watch-tv-shut-out-/

NBC’s Olympic ratings get a Web-based boost
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121841383938428459.html

The Olympics watch: Not that much
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9627

Metamaterials hold promise for invisibility cloaks
http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/peripherals/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210001982
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7553061.stm

Psst! Barack Obama will text you his veep details
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10013126-36.html
http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/firsttoknow

VOICE MAIL

Mark from Florida
Question about the durka durka noise.

Jason Marietta
Cell phone coincidence?

E-MAIL

Hi Buzz Crew,

This is about the comments on Blu-ray in episode 784. While there definitely is a noticeable difference, I agree the picture quality of Blu-ray is not the quantum leap that DVD was over VHS. What everyone seems to be missing is the fact that the audio quality is that quantum leap.

The difference between Dolby Digital 5.1 & Dolby True HD or DTS HD Master audio is amazing but it’s rarely talked about even by the studios. The new lossless audio just blows away the old lossy compressed formats & you don’t need a high end system to hear the difference.

The problem is there are probably fewer people with AV receivers with HDMI inputs (which are required to get the new lossless audio) than there are people with a HDTV & people are only able to listen to the lossy formats over the TosLink (fiber optic) connections because they don’t have the bandwidth to carry the new formats.

Personally I haven’t bought a DVD since November of 2006, I have over 120 Blu-ray Discs & won’t buy anymore DVD’s.

Currently, I’m just buying new releases at full price, I replace my favorite DVD’s when they are on sale but yes, the prices on the movies are too high still!

For me the combination of Blu-Ray + HDTV + HDMI 1.3 receiver = an amazing home theater experience!

[robot voice] Love The Show[/robot voice]
Dave, the firefighter in Oklahoma

Dear Buzz Crew

Look what the quick thinking Irish decided to do with cellphones on planes. - http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0807/1218047756406.html

Love the show

From Kieran in Ireland

I was wondering if you’ve seen the Calvin and Jobs comic strips from Mad magazine’s Jacob Lambert and Gary Hallgreen. It’s pretty amusing! They’ve replaced the Hobbes stuffed tiger character with a Steve Jobs doll. You should see it. I posted it in my blog (http://theuntechieblog.wordpress.com) but found it on Gizmodo.

The art isn’t as close to the Bill Watterson work as I had hoped, but still I’m sure your listeners would find it amusing as well.

http://gizmodo.com/5033627/calvin-and-jobs-kick-steves-nuts

Untechie
aka greyweed from the Philippines

I just wanted to let you guys know that I have finished version 1 of a native podcast client for the iPhone and iPod Touch and you should be seeing it in the App Store in the next few weeks. You can check out details and a video at http://tinyurl.com/podcaster. Thanks for a great podcast. Wanting to listen to BOL prompted me to create this application.

Alex S.
New Jersey

You can lead a cow to the dance-hall, but you can't make him two-step. Unless, that is, you've got a dollop of artificial intelligence and some wraparound earphones. In technology news of the day, universities fight back against the RIAA, a cut-and-paste application appears for iPhone (and it's really, really hard), and robots learn to move themselves.

EPISODE 782

Episode 782

11 charged in theft of 41 million card numbers
http://news.cnet.com/11-charged-in-theft-of-41-million-card-numbers/2100-7348_3-6244876.html?tag=newsLatestHeadlinesArea.0

Tufts tells judge, we can’t tie IP addresses to MAC addresses
http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/06/0224238&from=rss

University wants cease-and-desist order for MediaSentry
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080805-university-wants-cease-and-desist-order-for-mediasentry.html

MacRumors iPhone blog: Are you rich? Buy this $999.99 iPhone app
http://www.macrumors.com/iphone/2008/08/05/are-you-rich-buy-this-999-99-iphone-app/
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/8/apple-s-iphone-app-approval-mouse-falls-off-treadmill-buy-the-1000-app-that-does-nothing-aapl-

Cut-and-paste application
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10007275-2.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=Webware

How to watch the Beijing Olympics LIVE on the Web — Even if NBC doesn’t want you to
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/8/how-to-watch-the-olympics-live-on-the-web-even-if-nbc-doesn-t-want-you-to

Researcher: Encourage more, not less Internet traffic
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080806-researcher-encourage-more-not-less-internet-traffic.html

Lost SFO laptop found--where it went missing
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10008094-83.html

Robots learn to move themselves
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7544099.stm

You will never, ever game on this 40-foot rig (with 27 HD monitors ) (Thanks Peter!)
http://kotaku.com/5033602/you-will-never-ever-game-on-a-rig-this-expensive

VOICE MAIL

Jean-Guy
About the Linux call yesterday.

Rafa
Hey Twitter! I got a message for you.

Dragon
I know where Apple got their name from.

E-MAIL

Tom,

More ashes were lost than James Doohan. Of the other 207 people, I thought you ought to at least give Gordon Cooper equal time. As an original Project Mercury astronaut, He flew the longest spaceflight of the Mercury project, was the first American to sleep in orbit, and has been noted as the last American to fly alone in earth orbit thus far. (per Wikipedia).

Love the show. Keep ranting Molly!

Headphone cows steer the herd…

http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/cows_herded_with_headsets_10712.asp

excerpt:

Here are some choice sound bites from the lab:

The technology won’t eliminate the need for cowboys; instead, the focus is to shift their labor from physical to cognitive. Ranchers and cowhands will no longer have to spend time building and repairing fences.

uh huh…well, there goes my master plan of learning to be a “cow whisperer”…

Best,
Shalin

EPISODE 770

Podcast 770

In settlement, Icahn to join Yahoo board
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-9995440-92.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Amazon.com’s S3 experiences hours-long outage
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-9995301-93.html?tag=nefd.top
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-9995301-93.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
http://www.centernetworks.com/amazon-s3-down-july-2008

Hacker team releases iPhone 2.0 jailbreak
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9995290-1.html?tag=nefd.top

Uber-hacker Kevin Mitnick signs tell-all book deal
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/7/uber-hacker-kevin-mitnick-signs-tell-all-book-deal-

The inside story on the San Francisco network hijacking
http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/07/18/2349242&from=rss

Ubisoft DRM snafu reminds us what’s wrong with PC gaming
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080720-ubisoft-drm-snafu-reminds-us-whats-wrong-with-pc-gaming.html

NBC figures out the Web: It’s a TV training ground
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/7/nbc-figures-out-the-web-it-s-a-tv-training-ground
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/21/arts/television/21fallon.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

Mom continues to chase Prince over ‘fair use’
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-9994345-93.html
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080721-universal-fair-use-is-still-infringing.html

One of the coolest places in the universe
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/07/20/2241236&from=rss

Buzz Watch
http://theblogof.rosscbrown.co.uk/2008/07/buzzwatch-july-18th/#more-131

VOICEMAIL

Anonymous Scotsman
Apple got mental over MobileMe.

E-MAIL

If Wolverine’s bones were grafted with graphene instead of adamantium,
wouldn’t that mean he would no longer be vulnerable to Magneto’s
powers?

Good guys prevail!

Joe

—

I am the co-founder of Open Tech Inc. I just wanted to alert you and
the media that we are a Open Source Computer company that is here to
beat Psystar and not make the mistake they did. We have two computers
that are open OS and are fully capable of running more than one OS.
Our Web site is in beta and our company will be shipping by early-to
mid-August.
Our Web site URL is: http://www.iopentech.tk

Elijah Samaroo
Vice President of Open Tech Inc.
President of Online Sales and PR
Elijah.Samaroo@iOpenTech.tk

—

Hey guys,

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article4360937.ece

This is likely going to be a great day for Amazon Marketplace sellers, who now no longer need compete with Amazon’s own offerings of titles. Amazon’s really in a good position to make a move like this; it makes a complete profit from letting third parties sell through its Web site, plus its customers still get the books they want for good prices, and the security that buying through Amazon provides.

But it’s still an abuse of a dominant position. Supermarkets may get bigger discounts, but they only sell a small selection of titles and can only sell to people who come to do a weekly food shop. Amazon sells to anyone with a computer or mobile device, anywhere in the world.

If it was a CD issue then I’d be all for it. By all means cut off the major record companies and instead promote used CD sales — cutting off Hachette Group is like cutting off EMI, not like cutting off indie labels.

The major issue here, however, is that authors can’t make money from touring in lieu of CD sales (not that CDs make them heaps of cash anyway). And when was the last time you saw someone wear a Stephen King T-shirt?

What do you reckon?

Take care,

Nate

—

Can you believe this? Rogers--my ISP here in Canada-- is overriding my default search engine!

See screen shot here: http://s339.photobucket.com/albums/n444/hermanc28/?action=view&current=Picture1.jpg

Instead of getting my normal Google search result when I type in a bad URL, I’m now getting the Rogers’ “Supported Search Results” complete with all kinds of ads from Rogers!!

Why do I have to “op-out” of this when I’ve never even asked for it in the first place?

Although opting out is easy, I still have to “op-out” on every single browser on every single machine I use.

I happen to use 3 different browsers depending on what I’m doing and with 3 computers, I have to “op-out” 9 times! This is crazy!

Herman Cheung
Ottawa, ON, Canada

More screen shots here:

http://s339.photobucket.com/albums/n444/hermanc28/?action=view&current=Picture3.jpg
http://s339.photobucket.com/albums/n444/hermanc28/?action=view&current=Picture2.jpg

—

Molly,

I would not put too much stock in the rumors that mice will go away in 5 to 10 years. I lived through the great pen scare of the late 1980s early 1990s at a company called Momenta. We sold our first computer to Bill Gates and later sold the first Windows for Pen Computing computers. Pundits like John C. Dvorak, Esther Dyson and Geoffrey Moore were predicting the demise of both mouse and keyboard in something like 5 to10 years. So, this seems to be one of those things that is always 5 to 10 years away like flying cars.

Chris the podcaster

—

Hey,
The “Killer Asteroid” is actually going to pass by earth in 2029 (Friday the 13th), but should not hit earth. It’s going to be passing incredibly close to earth, and earth’s gravitational pull is supposed to alter the trajectory of the asteroid.
Nasa Web site: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/13may_2004mn4.htm

When it passes by earth, It will be so close that many scientists will be able to take very precise measurements on its trajectory. So, in just over 20 years we’ll know the probability of it hitting earth in 2036, but until then the asteroid is simply too far away for us to make precise enough measurements on it.

Love the show,

-Don