Buzz Out Loud Podcast

Riding an electric motorcycle can make you smarter, but as Molly points out, it can also kill you. So six to one, half a dozen to the other. We also can break you off a piece of that Ice Pod bar. As soon as someone sends us one. And Sweden is trying to send us some bandwidth. Thanks, Sweden!

EPISODE 924

Obama names IT change-agent Vivek Kundra as federal CIO
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/hiner/?p=1175

Sprint and Palm hosting Palm Pre Webcast on March 12
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10188601-1.html

Microsoft may let Windows 7 users turn browser off
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10188612-2.html

Sizing up a possible Nvidia-made x86 processor
http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2009/03/sizing-up-a-possible-nvidia-made-x86-processor.ars

How will BlackBerry App World work?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10189110-94.html

Exclusive: First Real Photos of the BlackBerry 9630!
http://crackberry.com/exclusive-first-real-photos-blackberry-9630

Intel develops embeddable DTV antenna for OTA on the go
http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/04/intel-develops-embeddable-dtv-antenna-for-ota-on-the-go/

TV converter-box coupons start flowing again
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jIpdUSger8jBtyxle5zqogWtPingD96NVT4G1

Amazon entering used game business
http://kotaku.com/5164720/amazon-entering-used-game-biz

The Beatles come to Rock Band, instruments and all
http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/05/the-beatles-come-to-rock-band-instruments-and-all/

Kindle 2 is hacked!
http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/04/kindle-2-hacked-for-tethered-web-browsing-but-not-the-way-you-t/

Taking it too far: Ice Pod ice cream bars
http://www.tuaw.com/2009/03/03/taking-it-too-far-ice-pod-ice-cream-bars/

VOICEMAIL
Chris
Authors Guild

E-MAIL
Hey buzzers,

Maybe Best Buy can sell the electric motorcycle you talked about in
ep. 922 in the video game section. AFP is reporting a study by the
designer of Nintendo’s “Brain Age” game that says commuting on a
motorcycle works just like the game to make you smarter:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090304/hl_afplifestylehealthjapanmotorcycles_20090304110821

Sure, you could question the study’s crappy science, but I ride
motorcycles, and I, of course, am very smart. Therefore, this study
must be completely true. And even if it’s not, riding a bike is much
more fun than playing a video game on a bus.

-Mark, the supercomputer repairman

**********

Hi Buzz Crew,

I was wondering if the zillion could be successful in the average house. With the current set top boxes supplementing cable or satellite, you usually have one high bandwidth user on the system. With the Zillion box being used to replace cable, that would require me to have one in the family room and one in each of my kids rooms. That's four feeds at once. I don't know if four TV's per house is average, but even at half that, I don't see ISP's being able to provide that amount of bandwidth. I would like an alternative, but until we are a one TV household, I don't see ISP's providing it.

Bart

**********

Hey Buzz Crew,

Listening to episode #923 where Tom mentioned the download speed test
he did with Brian Tong between the Kindle 1 and the Kindle 2. I have
an theory as to why the Kindle 1 won over the Kindle 2. One of the
major improvements touted in the Kindle 2 is the improved battery
life. Well, one way they might have accomplished this is by
implementing more aggressive power management and/or power throttling
of the wireless chipset, which would impact wireless performance (i.e.
less power to the wireless chipset = less speed). Just my $0.02.

Love the show,
Donald, the out of work software engineer (yet another victim of these
troubled times… DRINK!!)

**********

Hello Buzz, I don’t know if this is something you report about but I think this is a important thing to talk about since it is the “next” step in creating more bandwidth (I’ve heard that you need more of that…).

For two weeks research teams in Sweden, Norway and the US have been perpearing for a big test of one atlantic cable. And they managed to send data at a rate of 40gbps from Sweden to Manasquan in the states. The cool thing about this is that the cable they used were not meant for this speed and allthough they did over-use it this much no problems occured on the other spectrums on the line. Last year there was a story about a granny that got a really fast ADSL line and a even faster Fiber connection (see first link) the same technic used then was also used now and the brain behind the mentioned test was also the one that made this one possible.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/13/40gbps-internet-connection-installed-in-swedes-home/
http://www.idg.se/2.1085/1.215856/sunet-forst-med-40-gigabit-per-sekund-under-atlanten

Sorry for the bad grammar and spelling and the even more swedish last link

// Inga from Sweden =)

Google has joined the OpenID crowd, but just like Microsoft and Yahoo, you can't use the OpenID on Google, but you can use Google credentials other places. Unlike Microsoft and Yahoo though, Google has decided to tweak the OpenID implementation a little to make it better. That means that it's nonstandard and won't work for all standards-compliant OpenID servers. Bullies. We also admire the new DRM-free music store from clothing retailer, Hot Topic. Really.

Episode 842

TiVo to stream Netflix
http://newteevee.com/2008/10/29/october-surprise-tivo-to-stream-netflix/
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10078711-1.html

MTV and Apple announce Beatles music project
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/30/rock-band-the-beatles-now-official/

Motorola: No Google Android ‘GPhones’ til next christmas
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/10/motorola-no-google-android-gphones-til-next-christmas

OpenMoko working up Android-based handset?
http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/30/openmoko-working-up-android-based-handset/

Hands on: Windows Media Player 12’s surprising new features
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081030-hands-on-windows-media-player-12s-surprising-new-features.html

Court rules hash analysis is a Fourth Amendment “search”
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081029-court-rules-hash-analysis-is-a-fourth-amendment-search.html

Google abandons standards, forks OpenID
http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/google-doesnt-use-openid/
http://tech.slashdot.org/tech/08/10/29/2043218.shtml
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081029-openid-being-balkanized-even-as-google-microsoft-sign-on.html

Study shows social networking at work is good
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/29/2212254

Hot Topic launches DRM-free music service
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10078414-2.html

USB Port is neither USB nor Port, just amazing
http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/30/usb-port-is-neither-usb-nor-port-just-amazing/

Voice mail

Shane in Vegas - iPhone firmware 2.2’s nifty new feature
http://www.iphonehacks.com/2008/10/downloadpodcast.html#more

Erin in New York - You know who else uses wireless mics
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081029-rockers-refuse-to-throw-the-horns-for-white-space-broadband.html

James Irvine - Decentralized search

E-mail
Hey Buzz Crew
Just thought I’d let you know there is a hybrid F-150 in the works saw it on auto blog and I’ve tried the RFID package at the Chicago auto show and it is SWEET asked them how much the RFID’s cost $. 25 but you have to buy them in packs
Love the show
Tristan
P.S.thought you might find it cool that As an aerospace welder our shop has been working on an X prize rocket I’d give you more details but I can’t

**********

Hi Buzz Crew,
I know you guys don’t like it and maybe you think its stupid but I will admit it: Google Goggles is a good thing. When I heard about it on your podcast I immediate activated it for my main Gmail account. I keep it on level one but I know sometimes when I am really drunk I can’t even do those simple calculations on my calculator that is right next to my computer.
So maybe people won’t admit it but I will. Sometimes I send out stupid (drunk) emails. (To bad this isn’t used on my phone too
You guys have always said that Google doesn’t do anything stupid (non-productive). Believe me people will use it, even if they don’t admit it.
For those of us who like the service,
Thurman
Brooklyn, NY

**********

In response to the caller's question on Episode 841 "What use is Google Earth"? - I work at an architecture firm in Dallas, TX, and we use Google Earth to place 3D models of client projects (created in Google SketchUp) into their actual location during the design process. This allows us to present our designs to our clients in a 3D format that they can manipulate from their own computers. This also has the added benefit of populating Google Earth with a few more 3D buildings for the people who just use it to look at stuff. There's my two cents - Love the show!

Chase

EPISODE 736

Mars lander’s robotic arm makes contact
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9956964-7.html

U.S. town tells Street View to push off
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/02/north_oaks_street_view/
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9956753-7.html

Motley Crue single does better on Rock Band
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/30/184204

Radiohead to Prince: Put “Creep” back on YouTube
http://www.musicradar.com/news/ guitars/radiohead-to-prince-put-creep-back-on-youtube-157573
http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/blog- radiohead-vs-prince-157937

Gartner’s Top 10 technologies list
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-9956573-16.html

Self-destructing DVDs make a comeback
http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/007040.html

Canadian group charges that Facebook violates privacy laws
http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/ id;1185625472;fp;16;fpid;1

Best Buy offers up free electronics reycling in 117 stores
http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/02/best-buy-offers-up-free-electronics-reycling-in-117-stores/

Adobe Acrobat takes big online leap
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9956334-7.html
http://mashable.com/2008/06/01/adobe-acrobat/
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/adobe_launches_online_office_suite.php

I like Plurk better than Twitter, but should I even bother?
http://mashable.com/2008/06/02/plurk-better-than-twitter/

VOICE MAIL

Shalin
Intriguing new idea for cable charging.

Jeff from Jacksonville
Why are they called …

Wayne from Michigan
It’s obvious why Apple stopped selling old iPhones.

E-MAIL

BOL at WWDC?

Is BOL planning a WWDC-related event next week? As a dedicated BOL listener, I’m flying into SF to attend WWDC and hoped to participate in a BOL meet-up.

Thanks and love the show,
Dean

**Yes! Thursday, June 12! Details to follow**

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

Mini laptops

Hi, I thought Molly might want to know that not all mini laptops have the small keyboard that the Asus EEE-PC has. The newly announced MSI Wind mini laptop actually has a full-size keyboard while maintaining a size that is only slightly larger than the EEE-PC.

I believe the HP/Compaq 2133 mini note also has a larger keyboard than the EEE, as well as the new Dell mini laptop.

As a side note, I think you guys are very wrong on the mini laptop craze that is going on. I really see small non-optical drive flash hard drive Linux OS machines as perfect for the “school” market. Have you ever tried to take notes on a desk in a typical college lecture hall?? The size is perfect, the flash hard drive gives them durability (something that’s important for college), and Linux gives them almost a free pass in the malware department. As companies experiment with designs, it looks like they are finding a happy medium on the keyboard size.

Matt from Maine

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

Firefox 3? Delicious!

Hey Tom, Jason, and Molly,
Kyle from Chicago here. On either your Thursday or Friday show, Molly was saying that she hasn’t upgraded to Firefox 3 rc1 because the Delicious add-on wasn’t made for it. Turns out, there is a beta that Yahoo has released for rc1. I’ve installed it on my machine, and it works exactly like the old one. (robot voice) Love the show.

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ delicious-firefox-extension/message/2512

Kyle Crumrine

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

Twitter clone

I have been working on a Twitter clone since Molly issued her challenge last week. It’s nothing special, but if you want to check it out, http://www.ONE4T.com. (pronounced one-four-tee) It runs on PHP and PostgreSQL. While I don’t personally know how to scale the site, there are solutions out there, and I’m someone in Buzz Town would be willing to help scale to site if it outgrows its current incarnation. Again, it’s a work in progress and I’d love some feedback.

Dan the computer forensic technologist

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

Indiana Jones sound blockouts

Hey, it's Brad, and I just had to say two things about that Indiana Jones and The Crystal Skull movie and how Paramount is taking out random bits of sound. First, when I went to see it and noticed the random sound cuts, I asked for my money back and got it (in the theatres defense, it was the midnight premiere on Wednesday the 21, so they might have not been informed about this sound policy). What I find funny about this is that they are trying to eliminate piracy, yet me and my four friends saw it for free. Secondly, If a person recording the film (pirate) sees the movie twice, couldn’t they edit the film so the sound that is missing from one can be made up from the other. Since they said that each film will have a different segment of sound cut out, if the pirates sees it twice, they could just edit in the second of sound they're missing, and no one would know where it was pirated. Just had to ridicule this retarded policy. I —- the podcast (fill in the blank with your preference of word choice). Bye

Bradley

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

Idea for anti-copy movies

Hey guys, I’m not a inventor or light specialist, but I was staring at my paycheck today and thought about the "void if copied" idea in movies. Why not infuse all screens in movie theaters with little infra-LEDs inside the screen. They are invisible to the eye but cameras pick them up, ruining the movie. I’m sure special cameras or special filters would block it out, but “hopefully” it will stop most of the copiers and they will stop messing with our movies! Love da show!

Micheal

EPISODE 730

Sony to distribute ‘live’ shows to theaters
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/ SB121142408161613141-lMyQjAxMDI4MTIxMjQyMjI0Wj.html

Twitter reportedly closes $15 million funding round
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-9950170-36.html
http://blog.twitter.com/2008/05/ i-have-this-graph-up-on-my-screen-all.html

One guitar for Rock Band and Guitar Hero
http://gizmodo.com/392699/ ant-commandos-double-range-guitar-one-guitar-to-rule-them-all

PC World: 'GTA IV' earns $600M to voice actor’s $100K; time for a street fight?
http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/007000.html
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/22/125233

Google Sites for everyone: GeoCities 2.0?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-9950147-36.html
http://sites.google.com/site/subbrilliant-tv/Home

Musopen puts classical recordings, scores in public domain
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/ 20080521-musopen-puts-classical-recordings-scores-in-public-domain.html

Sites ready to sue Oregon for right to publish laws online
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/ 20080521-sites-sue-oregon-for-right-to-publish-its-laws-online.html

Genetic discrimination by insurers, employers becomes a crime
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/05/the-genetic-inf.html

Bacteria can be turned into living computers (Thanks royterp!)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml? view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/05/20/scibacteria120.xml

The secret history of 'Star Wars'
http://entertainment.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/21/2250231

VOICE MAIL

The Baird
How Netflix works.

--Tom in Florida
Rebates from search engines.

--Ted Teacher in Marin, Calif.
New name for semantic Web.

E-MAIL

The iShoe

Thought you might like to know that on Ellen today (5/21 she made an iShoe joke. The premise was the same as a caller suggested a couple weeks ago. Supposedly an Apple promotion for the movie Get Smart. They had two models mocked-up, an iPhone attached to the bottom of a Chuck Taylor and a Nano attached to the bottom of a baby shoe.

Maybe Ellen has been listening to BOL for material.

--Nancy

P.S. I swear I never watch Ellen, but I just got home from vacation and had the TV while I was unpacking and there is nothing on at 3 p.m. on a Wednesday.

Ellen part 2

OK, I’ll admit it, I’m still watching Ellen.

But now I know why there is a Wii shortage. She just gave everyone in the audience a Wii and a Wii Fit.

Molly and Tom called it

ID-protection ads come back to bite pitchman

Todd Davis has dared criminals for two years to try stealing his identity: Ads for his fraud-prevention company, LifeLock, even offer his Social Security number next to his smiling mug.

Now, LifeLock customers in Maryland, New Jerse,y and West Virginia are suing Davis, claiming his service didn’t work as promised and he knew it wouldn’t, because the service had failed even him.

The story at : http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080522/ap_on_hi_te/ identity_fraud_flap

--John

You can buy albums on Napster

Hey guys,

I thought I’d respond to the e-mail from episode 729 stating that you can’t buy an album on Napster. This isn’t entirely true. Last night I took a look at Napster to see what was available. I used to use Napster before Amazon’s store came around, and I’m now thinking about repurchasing some WMA albums I bought through Napster in non-DRM MP3 form.

I noticed that one of the albums I had previously purchased as WMAs was not fully available as MP3s. The tracks from this album was ala cart; however, the other album I checked had all the tracks available as MP3s was purchasable as a full album. I’m certain of this because I did a price comparison between Napster and Amazon on this album. Amazon was cheaper by a few cents, by the way. Anyway, I definitely had the option to buy the full album.

So, it appears that if an album is not fully available in MP3, then you can’t buy the album. But, you can buy a full album (with the inherent discount) if all the tracks are available as MP3s. I’m hoping that this is one of those growing pains that always seems to happen when music services come online or make major changes.

Also, Napster’s new interface is kind of confusing, and it’s easy to miss the button to purchase the album as it’s this small button next to the album art that has “MP3″ on it in a small font. So, it’s also possible I just didn’t see the album purchase button on the album that didn’t have all tracks available.

--Stephen

Gully the caller!

Dear Tom, Molly, and Jason,

I am your puzzle from Liverpool, my accent does give a few people quite a number of problems so I'll translate.
I'm with an ISP in the U.K. who has a "fair usage policy" and I do a lot of downloading and have never run into problems, and its fast for only 10 pounds a month which is rather good. I did mess up half way through so the bleh helped me to recover.
I'm also not Golem, but Gully as my surname is Gulliver "as in travels."
I can't afford elocution lessons so I'm afraid I'm stuck with my accent.
Glad I could enlighten you to a strange yet still English way of talking.
It takes a lil getting used to.

Love the show

--Gully in Liverpool, U.K.

Scouse to English translation

Hello Buzz people,

Just listening to episode 729. The dialect of English spoken in Liverpool is called Scouse. Fortunately, I speak fluent Scouse and English, so here’s a transcript in English…

“Hello this is Scully(?) from Liverpool U.K. Erm, the Internet provider I’m with, talk about capping, says they have a fair u-usage poli–bluuur–, if I could actually spit that out, usage policy, but I’ve never run into it and I’ve got quite fast broadband for ten of our English pounds. Love the show, bye.”

FYI, the correct Scouse response to this would be “Tarr Larr”, which translates in English as “Why thank you, my good friend.”

--SEM
(Simon Morris)

Mac OS 10.5.2 a lemon for music

Let's see Apple get the same coverage that Microsoft does for it's flaws

MAC OS 10.5.2 a lemon for music
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=1781

Peter Chipman
P.S. If you ever want to see how electronics gets built, come and visit.

2008 EMS Week

Don’t forget to mention Happy 2008 EMS Week to all of the Emergency Services around the world (Fire, EMS, Rescue, Aeromedical, USAR, etc…..From 05-18-08 thur 05-24-08.

Here’s the link to the National ACEP page for more info
http://www.acep.org/practres.aspx?id=30212

Cheers!

--Fire Chief Kevin
Buzztown Fire Department

**Proudly responding to the Buzzards of Buzztown since Episode #242

Faceparty bans people older than 36 in shock ageist move

So in four years it will be assumed I am a pedophile?

“Minor social networking site Faceparty has deleted what it describes as “a huge number of accounts” of its users older than 36 in recent weeks, in a bid to cut down on sex offenders misusing the site.”

Faceparty bans over-36s in shock ageist move

--Jim Lunsford

Yet another milestone for BOL?

Hey Jamoto (BTW, I’ve always thought it was a shame, Jason, that your name wasn’t Jim, cause then your collective handle could be Mojito…
mmmm…. mojito….)

But, the real reason for this e-mail is to congratulate you all on two full years of the best podcast (bar none) on the interwebtubes. Yes, 730 episodes, that’s 365 x 2. And if you want to celebrate twice (with a mojito, perhaps?), then 731 also counts as two years, since this year was a leap year.

Friends, Buzz Out Loud is my desert island podcast. You guys rock.
KUTGW LTS.

--Peter from Montreal, Canada