Buzz Out Loud Podcast

We're not sure that Barney Frank gambles in his pajamas, but he's fighting for your right to do so in the United States. Also, Verizon gets a little slutty, looking for an iPhone...and an Android phone...and pretty much anything else. And Blu-ray is on the rise, but so are digital downloads.

EPISODE 963

Pre release date: June 7?
http://www.precentral.net/pre-release-date-june-7th
http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/palm-pre-138-to-build-according-to-isuppli/

Report: Verizon thinks Pink--as in Microsoft iPhone rival
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/04/verizon-courting-microsoft-for-iphone-competitor-pink.ars

Motorola’s first Android phone Calgary looks impressive enough that I actually care
http://gizmodo.com/5232562/motorolas-first-android-phone-calgary-looks-impressive-enough-i-actually-care

Sales of Blu-Ray, digital downloads up big in first quarter
http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-blu-ray-sales-digital-movie-sales-up-big-in-first-quarter-2009/

Cablevision power play: 101Mbps Internet, no caps, $99
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/04/cablevision-power-play-101mbps-internet-no-caps-99.ars

Barney Frank to reintroduce legalization of online gambling
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2346112,00.asp?kc=PCRSS03069TX1K0001121

Warner Music claims Lessig is a pirate, has his presentation taken off YouTube
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/04/29/warner-music-claims.html

Is RealDVD dispute really about a DVD jukebox?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10229768-93.html

Zimbra 1.0 desktop client
http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-10229060-12.html

Google Search graphs public data
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Search-Engines/Google-Search-Graphs-Public-Data-849892/
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/adding-search-power-to-public-data.html

"Swine Flu Hemagglutinin": Amino acid sequence as ambient music
http://stephan-zielinski.com/dwa/2009/04/28/swine-flu-ha-as-ambient-music/

Spanish Flu of 1918: How bad was it?
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/04/29/spanish-flu-of-1918.html

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

Webware 100 voting also closes on Thursday! Vote!
http://www.webware.com/100

VOICE MAIL
Dwight Key Grip
Time Warner digital TV shenanigans

E-MAIL
I think you guys should back just a tad off of AT&T (did I really say
that) anyway I use both a nokia and an iphone on AT&T. Although I
have not seen the types of missed calls you are describing I have
seen some on my iPhone especially in this one corner of my house where
the bars will literally go down to nothing. On my nokia however I
don’t have such a problem, but in the section of my house where the
iphone goes down to nothing the nokia goes down to 2 bars. Just wanted
to remind you there are two veriables to this reception situation;
carrier and phone.

Mark

**********

I support a server environment with Windows, Linux, Solaris and AIX systems, and I use Linux and Windows desktop systems every day. My experience tells me that stability is a factor of what applications and features you run, rather that the OS.

Windows will run for years without rebooting if you run a specific set of “uncomplicated” applications. E.g., no legacy apps, no beta apps, etc.

Linux (and other UNIXish systems) will run solidly as well. Especialy if configured to run one specific app with no other overhead. When you add a GUI, 3D acceleration, beta applications, and other fun stuff, you’ll find that those application crash as often on Linux as on Windows.

Linux is configured to be stable more often than Windows, but the increasing popularity of Linux desktops is slowly changing that ratio.

Any modern OS can be solid. Any can be flakey. None are bulletproof.

-Ben,
the OS agnostic sysadmin in Minneapolis

P.S.: Do not answer Security Questions. Pick a Question, and answer it with a secure password, preferably random. Record it in a pasword vault, or in another secure location. It should be nothing more than a backup password.

In today's show, featuring co-host Dan Ackerman, we discuss the benefits of being an independent musician (Dan says it's a great time!), the increasingly furious-yet-futile fight between the MPAA and RealDVD, Delta preemptively filtering porn on planes, and Kid Rock finding a home on the Web, regardless of whether we want him there.

EPISODE 824

eBay buys Bill Me Later, lays off 1,000
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10058660-92.html

Judge temporarily halts sales of RealDVD in wake of lawsuit
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081005-judge-temporarily-halts-sale-of-realdvd-in-wake-of-lawsuit.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10058574-93.html

Ask.com, now with more answers
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10058007-2.html

“Iron Man” release brings down Paramount’s servers
http://entertainment.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/04/2158212

Analyst: Half of ’social media campaigns’ will flop
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10058509-36.html

Delta to filter porn on planes
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10058786-94.html

Kid Rock comes to Rhapsody
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13526_3-10057638-27.html

MySpace Music: 1 billion songs streamed
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10058708-36.html

Musicians band together for more control in digital age
http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-musicians-band-together-for-more-control-in-digital-age/

Virtual fence could modernize the Old West
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/06/1253233

VOICE MAIL
Tami from SC: How could you forget the GameGear?

Joe in Sacramento: tip for Molly!

E-MAIL

Dear JoMoTo++,

I must begin with a confession: I am not a regular listener, but my boyfriend often tells me what you all are discussing, and yesterday I discovered something awful--something I had to tell someone--and I believe you would be most understanding of my distress. I am the proud owner of a “fat” iPod Nano and I’ve been waiting for the googleplexes of companies that make MP3 accessories to start making some for the new shape. Yesterday, I visited the Apple store and, to my dismay, saw the fourth generation Nano--back to the old shape, or a close approximation thereof. Now I’ll never get all my totally-don’t-need-them-but-so-much-guilty-fun gizmos and blinged-out cases! Am I the only one who feels this this way? Appreciators of the fat nano must unite!

I would bemoan my poor fat nano’s fate,
But Steve Jobs is impossible to move.
Alas, my cries of anguish are too late:
My cause is lost; there’s nothing left to prove.

Sincerely,
Melissa Marx

Hey Guys,
So i have noticed over the past few weeks how often Molly talks about her love for Hulu. So I decided to give it a try. I was watching one of my favorite childhood shows Married with Children when I came upon a shocking realization. The original theme song for the show had been replaced with this crappy knock off tune. At first i thought it was something just for that season or episode, but when I watched other episodes they all had the altered theme song. So I was wondering if you guys knew if TV theme songs had copyrights that could expire? Or any other alternate explanation for the altered song. Thanks

Show Love They I

Endy

Hey JaMoto,

I've been, err...conversing...with Comcast about the 250GB cap and after a few emails telling them how wrong they are to have a cap and not have any way to measure it, I got this interesting revelation from one of their customer support techs:

It's important to note our new threshold will not change our practice around excessive use. We will continue to call only the top users who consume the most data each month, which is usually well over 250GB, which is the same practice we've had in place for several years.

So, given that, it seems like they're not going to pull the plug on everyone who goes over 250GB, but only those they find to be the top (ab)users. I guess it's also important to keep in mind that this was just one support tech, probably just trying to get me off their back, but hey, it's an interesting development anyway.

Keith in Spokane.

Hi BOL,

After trying to use the Amazon music store and other DRM free stores without any luck since I reside on the other side of the pond I started thinking:

“What’s up with this ? They can’t get us DRM free music stores and decent none platform dependent streaming video services so they give us the bandwidth to pirate the whole shebang instead ?”

No seriously, I found a local alternative here in Sweden (and baltic countries) cdon.com, which since I last wisted them acutely have started with regular DRM free MP3:s instead of only the nasty WMA:s. Not everything but still, they have started!

But you can never guess what I found there, sure in WMA format but still, Kid Rocks "conceptual album" Rock N Roll Jesus, available for purchase, in single track format !! Not that I would even pirate his music but still, so much for "conceptual album".

Great show!

Sincerley
Bejron

EPISODE 821

Pandora, Webcasting see victory in Senate
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10055055-93.html

Studios Sue to Bar a DVD Copying Program
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/technology/01film.html

Would Apple really shutter iTunes? Unlikely
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10055021-93.html

Microsoft still paying people to search
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10053855-75.html

New Wii due by 2011
http://www.whattheyplay.com/blog/2008/09/30/new-wii-due-by-2011/

P2P growth slowing as infringement goes deeper undercover
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080930-p2p-growth-slowing-as-infringement-goes-deeper-undercover.html

Scientists develop incredible thinking cap
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10055309-71.html

Adobe exec confirms Flash for iPhone, says Apple will decide when
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10054749-1.html

New denial-of-service attack is a killer
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/01/0127245

Dell preloading Iron Man, world asks “Why?”
http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/30/dell-pre-loading-iron-man-world-asks-why/

Starz gives Netflix fans a reason to stream
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/starz-gives-netflix-fans-a-reason-to-stream/

VOICEMAIL

Adam from Maple Valley
Some open source cloud examples

Joe from Westside
On the other side.

E-MAIL
Hi guys,

I’m catching up on last week’s episodes, and have been thinking about
this first sale doctrine mentioned re: Spore last week. Just to be
clear, I think the Spore DRM is lame… but in this day of digital
media, isn’t first sale outdated?

You can sell a CD you buy at the record store, but can't you sell music
bought online? Do you think someone would buy am unDRMed MP3 from the
Amazon store from you? In fact, are you even allowed to resell unDRMed
MP3 files?

How about iTunes purchased content--for example, movies or TV show
seasons? These actually are valuable.

– Nilay

**********

This topic may have been shared already, and it may not really be like Google’s carrier-less concept, but here in Southeast Asia, especially here in mobile savvy Philippines, a lot of local hackers offer dual-sim capabilities. In the days of Nokia 3310 (remember Space Impact or Picture Editor?!), buyers can opt for a modified back-plate cover that encases two sim slots that connect to the main sim slot, so your phone uses two carriers. Switching between carriers is seamless, but I’m not sure the extent of it’s capability, as I have not tried it.

We also have this phone called My Phone (check it at http://www.myphone.com.ph) that houses built in dual-sim slots and has advanced smartphone features to boot (albeit no Space Impact OR Picture Editor). Well, that’s it, what do you think?

Long time listener, great show!
Chris

**********

Hey Jamoto!

In response to episode 820, I think people should create their own clouds, everyone having their own miniserver. Companies could make money by releasing software to run your cloud. And then you’d only have to upgrade the hardware of the server, not your little eee PC accessing the server.

Robert the Soviet

EPISODE 820

Stallman rejects cloud computing
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080930-why-stallman-is-wrong-when-he-calls-cloud-computing-stupid.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/sep/29/cloud.computing.richard.stallman

House Web site overwhelmed by e-mails
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10054346-38.html

RealNetworks files suit against Hollywood over realDVD
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/30/realnetworks-files-suit-against-hollywood-over-realdvd/

http://www.download.com/1770-20_4-0.html?query=dvd%20ripper&searchtype=downloads&tag=mncol;rbxcdl.2.a.1

Meanwhile Amazon had some Adobe Flash problems and was giving away movies
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080929-adobe-amazon-point-fingers-over-video-ripping-exploit.html

U.K. spy agency looking for a few good Facebook users
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080929-uk-spy-agency-looking-for-a-few-good-facebook-users.html

MI6 terror photos, data accidentally sold on eBay
http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/slashdot/eqWf/~3/AM–AiheNPg/article.pl

AMD’s 45nm Shanghai enters production, next stops are Deneb, Istanbul
http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/30/amds-45nm-shanghai-enters-production-next-stops-are-deneb-ist/

The 25 most influential people on the Web
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/09/0929_most_influential/1.htm
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10054281-36.html

VOICEMAIL
Doug in Culver City
Trick for burning without CDs

RogueTess
In defense of men using EeePCs

Anonymous
Zune is DRM-free (mostly)

E-MAIL

OK, two (three?) things.

About Spore, did you see: http://xkcd.com/480/, very funny. No need to buy Spore!

Secondly, the comments in various episodes about turning off the DRM servers...Games get patches, right? Well, when the game is 5 years old and people want to still play, just release a patch. Didn’t that happen with another game (also discussed on BOL previously) where the DRM was bunk and the developer actually released a community-created patch to strip the DRM? Few people will be playing it then and piracy wouldn’t be as rampant on a 5-10-year-old game.

For music, they just die because they are built into the files…but this could apply as well. Look at DRM-stripping programs for iTunes, etc. Walmart (from Ep. 819) could just release/e-mail a bit of software that looks in a folder and runs the program to strip the DRM and it’s done. If the labels are OK with them coming out and saying, "Hey burn to CD and re-rip," why not just allow them to strip?

Erick the Satellite Guy.

*********

Hi Buzz Crew -

I’d like to throw some ice water on the idea that a 250GB cap from Comcast should be enough for the average user. I just listened to the Real Deal episode on Bandwidth Caps (plug!) where the size of a “downloadable game these days” was guessed at 1GB.

I just purchased Call of Duty 4 over Steam and downloaded all 10 Gigabytes of it. 1/25th of my monthly stipend gone. Guess what? The install went awry and I had to redownload the game, which thankfully Steam easily allows you to do. 20GB later… BAM…. 1/12 of my monthly allotment gone. One-twelfth…. just downloading a game.

We’re doomed.

Love the show!
Fraggle

*********

JaMoTo & Guest

In Ep. 799 you talked about the 100-flavor Coca-cola soda fountain (http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/29/coca-cola-readying-100-flavor-soda-fountains/). Here are a few quick updates:
There a 100 flavor-cartridge bays--not 100 flavors.
The syrup is very unstable and must be kept at a specific temperature and must be agitated to keep from EXPLODING.
Carbon is added separately to the water, allowing for non-carbonated drinks such as Gatorade.
The image on Engadget is confirmed. The freestanding fountain features a touch screen.
The machine is so complex that the company making the inside of the device makes and designs medical equipment.

The project has just been completed and is now into production. Hopefully to be seen early 2009.
Sam
Melbourne, Australia

*********

Hi,
I kept laughing through Buzz Out Loud 818: The Zipless Squirt as you discussed “College bookstores turning to kiosks to stem e-textbook tide” and how they do not understand how to save themselves and all the things they should consider.
They are already history; they just do not know it yet.

My son just started his second year at UMBC (University of Maryland Baltimore County), which is a totally wireless zone with Internet everywhere.

Other than the first books that we purchased on the Internet for his first semester, he has not purchased books.

Since everything at the school is online, there is an online community for swapping books without going through the bookstore.

Two of his computer science teachers give the books they wrote away in PDF form--the professors figured they were paid to be there and present the material in a form needed/understood by the students.
In his current Java class, the teacher refered the students to sun’s JavaDocs and the Sun Tutorials at http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/. Their IDE is eclipse.
Similar story in his C class, GNU GCC complier and my 20-year-old copy of K&R C, the oldest copy in the class!

For his reading assignments in English Literature, he found the books in text form at the Gutenburg project http://www.gutenberg.org or MP3s for his iPod also at the Gutenburg project.

As for teaming with Amazon, it has already happened. We purchased his first books through Abe Books (http://www.abebooks.com), “used”. They are now owned by Amazon, who has always had a very good used book market. Read http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/01/shelfari-and-librarything-awkward-bookends-to-abebooks-amazon-deal/

Now, I admit he is a programmer, as am I, and we tend to go to the Web before going to the store.
But where the geeks (and engineers) tread the world eventually follows.

luv the show,
Kent -> State of the Ark programmer -> 37 years of coding excellence!