Buzz Out Loud Podcast

Calculator hackers have figured out how to run independent OSes on TI calculators. Unfortunately TI wants to stop them. Why? We have no idea. Also we play fast and loose with physics when discussing black holes and Higgs Bosons. We also totally redefined the word mint. In a bad way, unfortunately.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Sidekick data restored?
http://twitter.com/wcpreston/status/4848175078
http://twitter.com/ruv/status/4845969713

Wi-Fi is about to get a whole lot easier
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2009/tc20091013_683659.htm
http://www.wi-fi.org/news_articles.php?f=media_news&news_id=909

Apple shipping iPhone 3GS' resistant to jailbreaking?
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/10/13/apple-shipping-iphone-3gs-resistant-to-jailbreaking/

EFF warns Texas Instruments to stop harassing calculator hobbyists
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/10/13
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/10/bloggers-fight-tis-dmca-takedown-over-calculator-hack.ars
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-10374284-264.html

Family Guy to shill for Windows 7
http://www.pcworld.com/article/173646/family_guy_to_shill_for_windows_7.html

B&N e-reader pics leaked; event confirmed for October 20
http://dvice.com/archives/2009/10/barnes-and-nobl.php

Finland becomes first country to make broadband access a legal right
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/14/applause-for-finland-first-country-to-make-broadband-access-a-legal-right/

Twitter cracks down on spam
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-twitter-cracks-down-on-spam/

Artificial black hole created in Chinese lab
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/24234/

The collider, the particle and a theory about fate
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/science/space/13lhc.html

VOICE MAIL
Stefan on gas masks

Rafe on the pressure-sensitive keyboard

E-MAIL
On BOL1083 when discussing the Berners-Lee comment, my head nearly exploded
as my pet peeve was repeatedly forced into my ears.

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FORWARD SLASH!

There is slash; there is backslash… no forward slash, no backward slash.

I know this isn’t show-worthy, but I feel better now.

Thank you,

J.R. the GWAIN (guy without an interesting nickname)

**********

While listening to episode 1078, where you were discussing the purchasing of specific genes, I was reminded of a story about some grad students reported by NPR’s RadioLab from more than a year and a half ago. The students were doing some experiments with E. Coli. Not liking the poop smell associated with the bacteria, they got a gene for mintyness from some other researchers and inserted it. I remembered that the students also inserted a gene to make it smell like banana once the E. Coli was ready for them to do their experiment. That was not included in this short article, but is in the audio show if I remembered correctly. Here is a link to an article about it, but the audio podcast is much better (RadioLab is awesome).

http://www.npr.org/templates/text/s.php?sId=90014997&m=1

By the way, if you are mailing a link from the browser on your iPhone and get a call just before you hit send, you get the opportunity to write your entire e-mail again! Sigh. I’ve got to send this quick before another call comes in. Please insert the “love the show” recording here.

Darren Lacey
Telecommunucations infrastructure electronics technician from South Bend, IN

**********

Hey buzz crew,
I don't know if you guys know but Sprint is selling data only plans on their smart phones for $29. No voice (incoming calls blocked, outgoing $0.40 per min) but you can use data and tether (other than Pre and BB 8350i). Here is detail: http://sprintrelaystore.com/data_only_plan.htm

Love the show.

Sam in Houston, TX

Bill Gates wonders why Google would want to make a browser-based operating system. In fact he wonders what exactly a browser is anyway. We also have some crazy Steve Ballmer quotes and some crazy stats of how many people respond to spam.

EPISODE 1019

Bill Gates on Google's Chrome OS
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10286308-56.html

Ballmer: what IS this thing!?
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-microsofts-microsofts-ballmer-on-google-chrome-os-who-knows-what-this-t/

Gates: Natal to bring gesture recognition to Windows too
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10286309-56.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10286772-56.html

TechCrunch receives confidential Twitter documents from hacker
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/14/in-our-inbox-hundreds-of-confidential-twitter-documents/

Comcast offers HBO, Cinemax on the Web and on-demand
http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/07/comcast-welcomes-hbo-cinemax-to-online-offerings.ars

CBS is first broadcast network to sign on for "trial" period
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-cbs-signs-on-for-comcast-broadband-trial-first-broadcast-network/

Google Voice coming to Android, BlackBerry
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10286763-2.html

Apple cops to OS 3.0 Wi-Fi, Bluetooth problems
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-10285817-233.html

New Service Converts Torrents Into PNG Images
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/15/1314253/New-Service-Converts-Torrents-Into-PNG-Images

12% of e-mail users have actually tried to buy stuff from spam
http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/07/12-of-e-mail-users-try-to-buy-stuff-from-spam-e-mail.ars

State Dept. to Clinton: Please let us use Firefox
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10287084-16.html

VOICEMAIL
Steve from Seattle on economics

Pastor Hudson on Verizon Store

EMAIL
Hey Buzz Hosts,
All the talk yesterday about Netflix possibly being purchased by Amazon really made me think about how Netflix is predominately a tech company and how funny it is that my grandparents have a Netflix subscription.
You see, my grandparents have never had a computer, Internet, cable, or satellite. They don't see any need for modern technology and really couldn't care less about it. That was until my family introduced them to Netflix.
My grandparents still don't have a computer, but they are in love with Netflix. They have developed their own hack to manage their que without a computer. My grandma writes down the movies she wants and calls my mother about once a week to have her add them to the Que. My grandmother manages her Que, with shipping dates, by paper and pencil. This speaks very highly of Netflix's shipping reliability as my grandmother can tell you with accuracy when her next movie will arrive without having access to her account.
I also like the set up, since I get to use the streaming feature of their account on my XBOX 360.
I've include two photos of my grandparents' "Que."
Pic #1 and Pic #2.
I thoroughly enjoy the show. Thanks for keeping my up to date on the tech world!

-Clayton from Oklahoma.

**********

Hey BOL-
In episode 1018, you mentioned what would child between Netflix and Amazon? Its already out there: RokuPlayer. After all, they both joined forces to get more content and even cross promote each other to sell more boxes. I even have an account with both and just got a RokuPlayer. Maybe they could iron out more included content if Amazon does buy them, but I enjoy what they both currently offer on the RokuPlayer.

Kevin in Pittsburgh

**********

The Risky Business podcast has the presentation of the security researchers (hilarious, actually), and an interview with them, both discussing the 2 keystroke capture techniques you talked about on the show. There are a few points that will get missed by mainstream reporting because these are corporate security researchers, not end-user security researchers.

1) An attacher who wants to use either of these method is going to choose a valuable target that meets the functionality of the attack. E.g., many, many ATMs use the PS2 keyboard interfaces required by the electrical fluctuation attack, making this a perfect exploit to capture pin #s. Niether attack is presented as a possible for use against individuals at home or in coffee shops.

2) The point is that sensors, such as those used to detect small electrical fluctuations and physical vibrations, are becoming cheaper and more sensitive every day, and these and other methods will be more and more viable proportionally.

http://risky.biz/netcasts/rb2/rb2-shakacon-presentation-hackers-freakin-laser-beams-their-heads-presentation
http://risky.biz/netcasts/rb2/rb2-shakacon-interview-hackers-freakin-laser-beams-their-freakin-heads

Ben
The Sysadmin in Minneapolis who listens to lots and lots of security podcasts.

The whole world was fooled into fearing a huge storm of worminess that never happened. Was it because we were prepared or because it really wasn't that big of a deal at all? We also avoid most of the April Foolery and talk some Nehalem processors and BlackBerry App World.

EPISODE 943

Want April Fool’s updates? Go watch Loaded.
http://cnettv.cnet.com/2001-1_53-50005651.html

Web 2.0 Expo
http://news.cnet.com/webware/

Live blog: Countdown to Conficker
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10208722-83.html
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/04/conficker-war-r.html

Yahoo Twitter AIR app
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=15576
http://sideline.yahoo.com/

Spam back up to 94percent of all e-mail
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/31/2012228

Wales giving up on Wikia Search
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10207896-2.html

BlackBerry App World has landed
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10208852-1.html

Computer exercises help stroke victims
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE52U7XH20090401

Nehalem Xeon’s touchdown: Could sweep current market
http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2009/04/nehalem-xeons-touchdown-could-sweep-current-market.ars

SeeqPod bullied into bankruptcy by record industry
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/04/seeqpod-bullied-into-bankruptcy-by-record-industry.ars

Researchers develop braille for vibrating touch-screen devices
http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/31/researchers-develop-braille-for-vibrating-touchscreen/

"Star Trek" sequel already planned
http://entertainment.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/31/2116218

NASA in Colbert conundrum over space station
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/01/0041200

VOICEMAIL
Two callers
Skype calls from Windows Mobile

Rob in Phoenix
Howard Stern on Natali DelConte

Jonathan from NZ
I use a Mac

Anonymous
Cheer up Natali

E-MAIL
Hi Buzz Crew,

in Episode 942 you played a voice mail asking the question, why Buzz Out
Loud is so Apple/Mac Centric. You made comments on the voice mail but you
didn’t answer the question. Don’t you want to answer the question or don’t
you have a good answer to the question?

I have a theory why Buzz Out Loud and similiar podcasts are a little Apple
Centric, but I would like to hear you ideas on the point.

I would love to hear a little more Linux and Open Source News on the Show.

Love the show
Matthias (Mathew) from Germany

**********

Hey Buzz Crew,

Heard about what you said on yesterday’s show regarding the Skype
iPhone app in Canada.
I am a little perplexed. I (ex-Montrealer now in San Jose) was
chatting with my ex-boss (now friend) in Canada, yesterday, and we
decided to test the app. We both installed it on our iphones (he in
Montreal, me in San Jose) and we were both successful and enjoyed a
long free conversation.

It is available in Canada. At least it was to him.

Love you guys,

Christos Kalantzis
The MySQL Guy

**********

Hey Buzz Crew,

you mentioned on Ep. 942 that iPhone users in every country except
Canada would be able to have and use the Skype app. Well guess what,
T-Mobile is OF COURSE blocking it for German customers as well.

http://www.thelocal.de/sci-tech/20090331-18359.html

I would say “bummer”, but I’m not an iPhone user, since the data plans
are way too expensive for me.

Love the show.

Niels (pronounced “Neil’s”) from Germany

We learn that, among other things, Rafe is trained in psychology and yearns to order mice. But we also kick around the meaning of security in Google Earth and Windows 7 and take up the cause of the wireless ISP in your neighborhood.

EPISODE 906

All CNET podcasts have superfast Download speeds
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-10152_102-0.html?forumID=97&threadID=328828&messageID=2971225

CNET Podcast Central redesigned
http://podcast.cnet.com

Facebook steps into OpenID Foundation
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10157980-2.html

Apple banning Facebook in stores
http://i.gizmodo.com/5148064/attention-apple-store-web-freeloaders-facebook-is-now-banned

Microsoft to tweak Windows 7 settings
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10157978-56.html

Google Earth 5.0 silently changes update policy
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/06/1510228

Gmail multiple inboxes
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10158168-2.html

WISPS mean cable and DSL aren’t the only choices
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/06/0158225

http://www.bbwexchange.com/wisps/

Time Warner to expand Internet caps
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=64509

Cap mania spreads to Charter: 100GB/month for 15Mbps tier
http://arstechnica.com/telecom/news/2009/02/charter-modifies-acceptable-use-policy-to-add-caps.ars

Just 10 registrars responsible for 83 percent of all spam
http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2009/02/data-shows-83-percent-of-spam-flows-from-just-ten-registrars.ars

Nine-year-old writes iPhone code
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7874291.stm

Trojan PS2 made of wood earns store credit for craftsman, shame for retailer
http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/06/trojan-ps2-made-of-wood-earns-store-credit-for-craftsman-shame/

Electric motorcycle promises 150 mph
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2009/02/mission-motors.html

Everything is better with bacon
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10158313-36.html

VOICEMAIL
Scott the Milkman
Ideas for google Health

Dan from Indianapolis
Mosquitoes

E-MAIL
Tom,

Just so you know in episode 904 you said that ASUS has been building the Nuvi's this is incorrect up until the G60 we have manufactured all of our own product. ASUS is only going to make the G60.

Dan Chapman
Component Engineer
Garmin International

**********

Hey BOL,

I heard Tom mention the other day that he was going to talk about
Google Earth on CNET Live. I thought I would send along some Google
Earth goodness for JaMoTo the sea turtle. Hope it’s not too late! I’ve
posted some videos online here:
http://www.wildlifetracking.org/jamoto.shtml

This is an example of how marine biologists might use Googe Earth. The
time scrubbing features in particular are really nice for visualizing
how animals move relative to their environment and to each other.

I am also attaching a KML file of JaMoTo’s track for you guys to play
with in Google Earth. Feel free to use as you like and share with
Buzztown.

The last transmission we received from JaMoTo was on May 15th of 2008.
Her tag lasted about three months, which is a little below average for
our tracking program. This doesn’t mean that anything bad happened to
JaMoTo. More likely the tag fell off, was damaged, or there was a
technical problem. We have improved our attachment technique and are
tagging more turtles this year which you can see here:
http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/?project_id=340

cheers,

Michael
the sea turtle guy

**********

Hi guys

This ones a quikie.

On the Thursday show you were talking about the ocr on google books
mobile. If you tap on a paragraph it changes to an image of the
original.

Love the show
(Ps I’ve already made a cardboard pc
Hint: keep a fire extinguisher close)

Eoghan in Ireland

**********

Hey Janato-
Here is a story to go along with the monster-snake. Plus, Natali can use its DNA to get her own Mammoth.
http://cbs2.com/local/san.Diego.mammoth.2.927501.html

PS. Natali remember radiation is also used to treat cancer, it doesn't only give you cancer. J

Marc from Topeka / VWBubblehead

**********

Hey gaming research and brains, right up my alley!

There are a lot of data about sex differences in cognition, and empathy is among those differences. The brain areas mentioned are consistent with such results. Natali, sex hormones are one thing, brain chemistry is not just a function of those hormones. One should also keep in mind that a sex difference is not about individuals, but about groups. So you cannot say that Natali or Molly has more empathy than Tom or Jason, but you can (rather reliably) say that a random sample of women would have more empathy than a random sample of men. There is a big evolutionary explanation here, but that is another story.....

Don't get me started on confusing social constructionism and science....

Oh, BTW, I don't know if you can order mosquitoes online, but you can order fruit flies and rats. I have ordered rats on a number of occasions, and usually you buy 10 and get one free, seriously.

On and one more thinig, as a psychologist I can say clearly that Cooley has like no empathy...

Dave (the psychologist)

Let's be clear: we don't know how to cook a Mammoth. But Natali would like to know, because apparently she eats her pets. That is not true at all. But what is true is Google turned the whole Internet into malware this weekend. And that we can tell you why. And will. So listen in.

EPISODE 902

Google flags whole Internet as malware
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/31/google-flags-whole-internet-as-malware/
http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2009/01/google-broke-the-internet-malware-detector-went-haywire.ars
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10153942-92.html

Gmail spam filters broken
http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/this-mornings-spam-filter-issue.html

Senate passes second bill making the digital TV switch voluntary for broadcasters
http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-senate-passes-second-bill-making-the-digital-tv-switch-voluntary-for-br/

Windows 7 less annoying, but also less secure?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10153817-56.html?
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09%2F02%2F02%2F0119204

Helio Ocean 2 coming on Feb. 12
http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/01/29/helio-ocean-2-coming-february-12th/
http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phones/helio-ocean-2/4505-6454_7-33507715.html

eSlick reader
http://www.gearlog.com/2009/01/esleek_ebook_reader_aims_to_un.php

Netflix hints at premium streaming channel
http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/02/netflix-hints-at-premium-streaming-channel.ars

Sirius for iPhone?
http://i.gizmodo.com/5142096/sirius-satellite-radio-iphone-app-could-come-within-a-week

Extinct Pyrenean ibex cloned
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09%2F02%2F01%2F1657215

NASA offering free zero-gravity flights
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09%2F01%2F31%2F0710235

Virgin offers up 25 million ‘Velocity Points’ to put you in space
http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/02/25-million-virgin-frequent-flyer-points-nets-you-a-trip-to-space/

Google earth will see the ocean floor
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/feb/01/google-earth-oceans-project

VOICEMAIL
Lee
More bandwidth makes me paranoid

Alex from Buffalo
Russian Linux will help IT

E-MAIL
Hey.

I just wanted to make a correction to one emailer that was talking about Microsoft mesh and Sky drive. Skydive has 25gigs of storage but this will be upped as long as you are not abusing it. You can use Live Sync to sync your documents to skydive.

Mesh is a separate system (why I don't know). Mesh works in a better way it gives you a mesh "desktop" in the cloud. Any folder on your local machine that is change to a Mesh folder is then automatically synced to your mesh desktop. Your mesh desktop any file on your mesh desktop can then be viewed anywhere with an internet connection. The reason I think it better then live sync is it is automatic and you don't have to constantly go into a browser, but mesh is limited to 5gigs

I use skydive for storage of files that I won't be changing a lot. I use mesh for files that will need a lot of editing. Sorry for writing such a long email about this subject I just think it's a great free service.

Mark

**********

Hey Tom, Molly, Jason and Natalie,
Chris the former Snowmen Hunter here to say recently I was catching up on my Buzz when I heard the back and forth about the kilowatt laser jets and remembered an evil epiphany I had awhile back.

Since at least the 1970s, various satellites, space stations and planetary rovers have sported solar panels to take energy from the sun.

In 1998 NASA launched the Deep Space 1 probe, which sported the first in-service ion engine.
Here’s a link: http://nmp.nasa.gov/ds1/tech/sep.html

In 2004, the U.S. Airforce successfully tested it’s 747 based Airborne Laser, and this year has been cleared to test it’s ability to shoot down a missile.
Link: http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/boeings-747-laser-canon/5351

Lastly, in 2004, Spaceship One became the first privately funded spacecraft to put a person in space.
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scaled_Composites_SpaceShipOne

What do these technologies have in common? They all sport gear used by the Galactic Empire on their workhorse weapon of terror, the TIE Fighter. That’s right Buzztown. With enough money, we can now be the proud owner of a self-built TIE Fighter. The TIE stands for Twin Ion Engines for those of you who don’t speak Nerd.

Question is… if I’m realizing this, it’s only a matter of time before someone in the Twit Army realizes it. And can the listeners of NPR’s Science Friday be far behind?

Can we let Buzztown fall behind in the TIE Fighter gap? I think you know the answer.

Thanks,
Chris

Love the show… and always will as it remains un-fried by a Science Friday-backed TIE Fighter attack. Those NPR listeners aren’t as docile as they appear.

**********

Hey BOL,

according to the Apple’s documentation available for the iPhone Developers, the iPhone and the iPod Touch can recognize 5 fingers simultaneously touching the screen.

Just thought you’d like to know.

Love the show,
Dimitris,
(normally in Greece, right now in Sweden )

**********

The reason the DMCA applies to wowglider is that it uses it’s own client by reverse engineering the wow client and allowing scripts. The reason blizzard used legal means is because WoWglider sued blizzard for banning their users.

–
Feldar, Aegwynn

**********

Thanks for the shout out!
I worked out just how much whiskey needs to be used in order to make a 150Kw data centre to work.

Average ounce of whiskey is 64 calories.
With 40 ounces to the bottle that would be 2,569 calories.

2,569 Calories is equal to .002988 Watts

But in order to get to the Kilowatts you would need to take in 859,800 Calories AN HOUR.

That is equivalent to 21,495 bottles of whiskey per hour to equal 1 Kilowatt.

So, for the 150Kw data centre to work that would be 3.224 Million bottles of whiskey an hour.

Between Cooly and I, I think we could maybe light up a 15 Watt bulb… As long as he doesn't get distracted. But I am not feeling the love to save the earth on my own.

But throw in a sorority house, and I will be willing to give it a shot.
CrankyCanuck

Episode 875

Personalized spam rising sharply, study finds
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08%2F12%2F18%2F1417232

Cable to temporarily pause digital switch
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10126105-93.html

What does Andy Samberg’s YouTube hit say about NBC sites?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10125961-93.html

Toshiba launches 512GB SSD using 43nm MLC NAND
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/12/18/toshiba-launches-512gb-ssd-using-43nm-mlc-nand/

Mac OS X Netbook Compatibility Chart
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/12/17/osx-netbook-compatib.html

Texting ‘is a sign of recovery’
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7787768.stm

iPhone thief thwarted by MobileMe sync
http://www.tuaw.com/2008/12/17/iphone-thief-thwarted-by-mobileme-sync/

Linux-ignorant teacher spat with Helios resolved (Thanks Amanda!)
http://linuxlock.blogspot.com/2008/12/character-assasinations-aint-us.html

BlackBerry Storm buyers returning phones en masse?
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/12/blackberry-storm-returns

…or maybe not?
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/12/verizon-blackberry-storm-return-rates-lowest-of-any-smartphone

Why the BlackBerry Storm needs Wi-Fi: iPhone owners love theirs
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/12/blackberry-storm-wifi

Researchers test whether sharks enjoy Christmas songs
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08%2F12%2F17%2F1622228
http://icanhascheezburger.com/2008/05/15/funny-pictures-sumfing-brushed-my-leg/

Voice mail
Shalin - time to buy a Shuttle

David in Colorado - About the billboard that watches you

E-mail
In these troubled economic times the outtakes should not be equal in length to the show. In fact, it wouldn't bother me if you lose the outtakes altogether. If Molly wasn't involved she would probably be ranting about it.

Danke.
Howard

**********

I'm so happy you guys included some extra chit chat after the podcast on episode 874. I love that stuff. Sometimes your 35-40 minute shows just aren’t enough to get me through the hell that is work. I think you should record everything from the time you guys get in the studio until you leave and just have that edition available as a download on the blog (so as not to create too much extra work for Jason, unless he really wants to create an extra iTunes feed for it). Love the show!

Have a Merry Christmas,

Daniel

**********

I agree with Kaadi, you guys are wrong and your insubstantiated rumours
are driving my feet into the ground!
I haven’t bought a pair of shoes in TWO YEARS! When are my fabled Steve
Jobs shoes coming? You led me astray BOL! Shame on you!

-ANkh, the computer engineering student in Dublin, Ireland.

Oh and tell Coolie to try Symbian.

**********

Hey guys. I just had a quick one. I am creating some policy rules in a device and have to use a web form to do it, and I am wondering something. Why the hell does Firefox on the Mac skip over drop down list boxes? Its a pretty big pain in the butt to be going along line by line (tab-tab-tab-tab-tab——mouse over to drop down click —–tab-tab-tab). I figured since Molly ranted so much about the Flash bug in FF, she’s want this one. As far as I know it has been this way for ever, and Safari doesn’t do it.

Love the show,
Jason in Cincinnati

**********

Dudes,

Regarding Monster and the whole company name controversy, the Linux
shampoo is one thing, but remember that video about the window wash I
found called ‘Vista — for windows’?

My argument still stands: that would still be a hilarious lawsuit. For
us, that is. Less funny for the company that makes the product (which
was called ‘Merrit’, in case you’d forgotten).

Nate

We've got a host of Black Friday news today, like Apple retail stores matching online promotions; Sony still refuses to lower the price on the PS3, but they will let you get a PlayStation credit card and a $150 discount (along with whopping interest rates, of course, so pay that sucker off right away, mmkay?); and Nintendo has a couple of new DS Lite bundles on offer instead of the DSi. At least one of them comes in ICE BLUE.
Listen now: Download today's podcast

EPISODE 861

Apple retail stores will match reseller prices
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10107987-37.html

Use the new PlayStation Visa, get $150 off purchase of PS3
http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/11/25/use-the-new-playstation-visa-get-150-off-purchase-of-ps3/

Nintendo hunkers down for Black Friday
http://www.neoseeker.com/news/9294-nintendo-hunkers-down-for-black-friday/

Sling opens up its Hulu competitor to the public
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/25/sling-opens-up-its-hulu-competitor-to-the-public/

U.K. agency bans ‘really fast’ iPhone ad
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10108679-37.html

Digital sales surpass CDs at Atlantic
http://news.cnet.com/Digital-sales-surpass-CDs-at-Atlantic/2100-1027_3-6248057.html

Gmail ‘vulnerability’ turns out to be phishing scam
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10108529-83.html

Google admits breaking App Store rules
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10108348-37.html

Microsoft ranked fifth worst spam service ISP
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10108283-83.html

90 percent of gaming-addiction patients not addicted
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7746471.stm

VOICE MAIL
Dave from New Jersey: BlackBerry Friday

Anon: PeekYou

E-MAIL
Leave it to the Swedes:

http://royal.pingdom.com/2008/11/14/the-worlds-most-super-designed-data-center-fit-for-a-james-bond-villain/

Keith

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Hey JaMoTo+1,

This is Kumar from Hong Kong. I’m just writing in about Episode 859 where you mentioned that Felicia Day’s show The Guild was paid show. In fact, the first season of The Guild is available for free on YouTube, and the first episode of the second season was just released, and is now available at MSN Video (and Xbox Live/Zune Whatever-it’s-called, obviously). You can get all the links at watchtheguild.com.

Also, someone asked why it wasn’t available as a podcast. While it isn’t officially a podcast, there is a website (www.rsshandler.com) that converts YouTube channels to video podcast feeds. Pretty nifty, huh? It’s come in handy for me many times (I use it for Season 1 of the Guild, the official Monty Python channel, the official PotterCast channel, and more).

Cheers,
Kumar

P.S.: Is there a way to send you guys voicemail through Skype or something of the sort? Or how about sending an mp3 through email? The US telephone number isn’t of much use down here in Hong Kong.

**********

Hey Buzzers,

I vote for the immediate establishment of the Association for Creation of Reliable Obfuscated Naming for Your Meaningless Subcommittee aka ACRONYMS

I wonder if I can get hold of the acronyms.gov? I'll let you know how that goes

Dave the Software Engineer
Ireland

**********

The government department charged with creating names like “SAFER”, “PATRIOT”, “CANSPAM”, etc. is the “American Central Research Office
(for) Names Yielding Mnemonics.”

Simon

**********

Dear Buzz Crew, or JaMoTo as the case may be : )

I’m writing you concerning the verdict in the Amero Case. I’m the Technology Coordinator / IT Admin for the Clarendon Public School District in Clarendon, AR. I am absolutely disgusted and in shock that this case was even brought to court in the first place. The ones who should be paying fines, and more appropriately being tossed out on their collective asses, are the police computer “expert” and the school tech guy. They lied in court and proceeded to make several errors and mistakes when talking about internet technology. Stories like this make me want to be like the old South Western Bell Telephone: Reach out and “touch” someone. And by touch, I mean slap the holy crap out of. I feel really bad for this poor woman. I know her health is not good, but I’d find me a good lawyer who understands the tech and sue the living pants off of the idiot cop, the tech guy, and the district.

I have had a few cases where I’ve found porn on systems and porn on the browser cache, but they have all been linked to spyware that has infested the machine. The source is usually from software such as “free” screensavers that the teachers bring from home via thumb drives and install on their teacher computer. I also see a lot from botched installs of Limewire, Frostwire, Aires, Bear Share, etc. They can install all the major file sharing apps they want. My school side firewall and the DIS side filtering system won’t let them work. Simple, but effective.

I manage a Novell (Suse Enterprise Linux w/ Novell Open Enterprise Server) network and right at 300 computer systems. We have a hardware firewall at each campus, a site license with Grisoft for our AV, Firefox w/ Adblock as the default browser, and we are behind the AR Department of Information Systems 8E6 filtering system. I use several free tools to manage malware infections when they happen.

My point is this. Even with the very good protection that the state’s filter system, our firewall, and AVG provide for us, I still get porn pop-up and malware issues that happen. I do not care how much hardware and software protection you throw at it, if you have a large network, you will have issues. Period. End of Story. Add kids on computers to the mix and your risk goes way up. If you want to have and impervious system, I have a very simple solution. Unplug the network cable. Until you are ready for that day, at least hire some people with more than a brain stem to run your network.

I cannot guarantee that as of right now every machine on my network is updated with the latest patches and AV updates. But I can guarantee that none of our systems are more than two months behind. It boggles my mind to think of the problems that the Kelly Middle School faces now if the same idiots still run the network.

Sincerely,

Brent Cannon

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I’m a teacher.

Not only should Julie Amero go after the IT department in her former district. I think the whole commuity needs get up in arms about the huge waste of money persecuting this poor woman. They need to impeach/fire the DA, the head of the police department that arrested her. The cops and DA’s office should have laughed in the district officials faces - and if the district pushed it they should have been arrested for filing false charges.

I’m am disturbed by the fact she didn’t know how to turn off the monitor. I teach technology to students K - 5 all of them know how to turn off the monitor. SOP for hitting an inappropriate website is turn off monitor, tell an adult, the adult gets you out of the site and checks what you were doing just before. If the student was acting within the rules - a note goes home to the parents explaining that a site was accidentally accessed and has been turned into IT to be blocked. If the student acted outside the rules - well they don’t report the bad site unless they get caught (My classroom is set up so I can see all the screens easily). Those I find by checking histories on the computers.

In the last 4 years, I have had 2 or 3 kids a year accidentally access inappropriate sites usually while doing research on cancer, the Civil Rights Movement or the Civil War.

Love the show,
Kimberly a Texas Teacher

Episode 852

BlackBerry Storm gets release date
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/11/13/verizon-announces-blackberry-storm-release-date-november-21st-199/

Microsoft Live becomes social network
http://home.live.com/
http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-and-now-windows-live-is-a-social-network/

The flap over Twitterrank and the social echo chamber
http://blogs.zdnet.com/collaboration/?p=164
http://blogs.zdnet.com/collaboration/?p=163

End of a snarky era: Gawker shuts down Valleywag
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10095984-36.html
http://valleywag.com/5085562/valleywag-clusterfuck-faq

Spam sees big nosedive as rogue ISP McColo knocked offline
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081112-spam-sees-big-nosedive-as-rogue-isp-mccolo-knocked-offline.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10095730-83.html

EU court rejects Lego trade-mark
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7726700.stm

Worldwide Wrath of the Lich King launch nerfs credit card systems
http://www.gamepro.com/article/news/207893/worldwide-wrath-of-the-lich-king-launch-nerfs-credit-card-systems/

Move over Wii Fit, EA announces EA Sports Active
http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2008/11/13/move-over-wii-fit-ea-announces-ea-sports-active

Korean geniuses invent lithium batteries with eight times the juice
http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/13/korean-geniuses-invent-lithium-batteries-with-eight-times-the-ju/

Boot Windows Vista In Four Seconds
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/12/2249253

Voice Mail
“Anonymous”: Google terrifies me!

Rafa: On the flu

Dan: Hobobook

E-mail
Hey buzzards!
First off love the show!
This email is in response to the voice mail about online video. I wanted to point out that you shouldn’t be mad at cbs as all the shows they produce are online. If you will notice all the shows that warner brothers produces, ie “the mentalist” “cold case” and “without a trace” are not online anywhere. Same goes for the shows produced by abc studios for cbs- “criminal minds” and “ghost whisperer”. Instead of cbs you should be mad at the company that produces the show .
Just my two cents.
Stephen
Charlotte, nc

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Maybe this explains why Apple’s Cinema Displays are so expensive:

http://www.macobserver.com/article/2008/11/13.4.shtml

Steve Jobs was just waiting for the verdict to come in before he
released new models at a lower price.

-Andres (Austin, TX)

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Hey JaMoTo

This was regarding what Ken said in 851 I live downtown Chicago and I see net books every day around the Merchandise Mart and I actually saw one when I was Noodle Company this past weekend. So they’re out there I actually don’t have one but my laptop is close VGNS-360 Sony Vaio running Ubuntu 8.10

Thanks I love the show!

Zach in Chicago

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Lee from Boston writes:

Regarding Episode 851 and the discussion of the many press releases,
pitches and the like that use the phrase “in these troubled times”.

I’ve decided to put together a new economic metric, the Buzz Phrase
Index (BPI) — I’ll be tracking the number of hits that a Google
search for the phrase “in these troubled times” yields. We’ll see how
this curve compares to the national and international economic
situation over the next year or so.

Details will be on my blog at http://www.tlex.com/wordpress

A search on November 13, 2008 yielded 334,000 hits.

**********

I’ve come across a few Netbooks (Asus EeePC’s) out here in the wilds of
Dublin…

The GameSoc lads here in DIT have all got laptops, at the moment four of
them are equipped with XP-running EeePC’s. But that is tech-savvy crowd.
However my uncle who is not at all tech-savvy bought an EeePC for my
cousins. They’re running the EeePC linux operating system and really
loving it.
So there you have it, wild.

-ANkh, the Computer Engineering Student, Dublin, Ireland.

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Hurricane Electric:
Hey! People have heard of us! You have execs from the company in the
buzz army! Since I am a director for the company, I feel obligated to
point out we are the 8th largest ISP in the world for IPv4 and the
largest ISP for IPv6 in the world. Anyhow, just thought I would touch
base again as an offer of assistance if you need anyone from the IP
backbone industry…
–Reid
Director, East Coast Operations
he.net