Buzz Out Loud Podcast

CNET's Donald Bell previewed the Zune HD and it brought him tears of joy. But the rest of us think it's about three years too late. We also debate the need for Google to get into the video codec game and whether you need a Pico projector in your camera.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Google acquires On2 video compression company
http://gigaom.com/2009/08/05/google-on2-deal/
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10303488-93.html

…and sells off radio automation
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10303498-92.html

Upcoming Xbox 360 Netflix update is still gimped, Microsoft thinks you want it that way
http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/05/upcoming-netflix-update-on-xbox-360-is-still-gimped-microsoft/

Windows 7 XP Mode enters RC
http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-10303288-12.html

Zune HD hands-on look, impressions, tears of joy
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-12519_7-10303243-49.html

Nikon camera has a Pico Projector
http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/04/nikon-coolpix-s1000pj-projector-cam-beams-into-reality-with-frie

New Sony E-Readers
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10303031-1.html

Vonage turns first profit ever
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2351215,00.asp?kc=PCRSS03069TX1K0001121

Some tweets now of out bounds at ESPN
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10303457-93.html

But dead presidents are allowed to Twitter
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10303030-36.html

Psychopaths have abnormal brain structure
http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/08/04/2226218/Psychopaths-Have-Brain-Structure-Abnormality
http://www.examiner.com/x-1242-Science-News-Examiner~y2009m8d4-Psychopaths-have-brain-structure-abnormality

VOICE MAIL
Mike in Dayton on Cell phone laws

James in Pennsylvania fighting the Shack movement

Dwight about tablet on Verizon

E-MAIL
Hey buzz crew,
Just wanted to comment on the high game prices. We have friends over from the UK and they saw the $89 price for Wii Fit and were going crazy. Apparently overseas Wii Fit costs 139 pounds. Maybe it has to do with High demand, or maybe something else entirely.

Ryan Floyd
The only listener from Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada

PS. Bell just announced that Saint John will get the first Fibre rollout in the country. Finally living in Atlantic Canada has payed off!

***********

Hey gang,

Thinking about your $100 video game concept, my initial thought was “ugh! No way!” I barely buy new games at $60 each, there is no way I’d pay $100 for one would I?

And then I realized…I bought Fallout 3 used for about $50, loved it (which is a testament to that game, because I’m really not a gamer anymore)…and then bought the next three expansion packs at about $10 each. I’m seriously considering the fourth one too which would bring my total to just under $100. I’m still pretty sure that I wouldn’t put $100 down up front for a game anytime soon, but under a model where these “expensive to make” games come out in installments, it looks like I would part with that much money over all.

Note to game industry- take a note from the crack industry and get me hooked first, then nickle and dime me into spending the money. It seems I will reward a good product.

Your BFF,

Frank L

***********

It seems kind of obvious why at&t doesn’t want huge exposure to google voice : true number portability. If you have a phone number that isn’t linked to the carrier, it becomes ever easier to not only switch carriers, but in fact even switch how you use voice services, including Skype and whatever else comes out down the road, minimizing the carrier’s power to lock people in.

Wayne the Programmer from Michigan

Natali got a little flustered when we learned that AT&T is changing the subsidy so that folks who thought they would have to pay more might not have to. But it's OK: if you preordered, the company will refund the difference. So she calmed down eventually. We also discuss China backpedaling on the filter software, and the need to encrypt.

EPISODE 999

iPhone OS 3.0 wide release coming Wednesday
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10265918-37.html
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/17/stop-hitting-f5-iphone-os-3-0-release-still-hours-away/

June 17 Announcement: iPhone 3G S upgrade eligibility update
http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=1574

Apple/iTunes doesn’t like supporting the Pre
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/16/apple-says-itunes-syncing-only-for-apple-devices-looks-sternly/

China backpedals on filtering software
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2009-06-16-china-web-filtering_N.htm?csp=34

Windows 7 downgrade to XP limited to 6 months
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10265750-56.html

Firefox 3.5 ‘Web upgrade’ planned for end of June
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10265652-2.html

AT&T and Verizon deny price fixing SMS
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2348890,00.asp?kc=PCRSS03069TX1K0001121

Gmail may HTTPS encrypt everything all the time
http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2009/06/https-security-for-web-applications.html

NSA e-mail surveillance pervasive and ongoing
http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/06/17/1323207/NSA-Email-Surveillance-Pervasive-and-Ongoing

Disney Asus Netpal Netbook…get ‘em young!
http://blogs.usatoday.com/technologylive/2009/06/disney-asus-team-up-on-netbook.html
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/16/disney-and-asus-announce-netpal-netbook-for-kids/

VOICEMAIL
Remy – very excited about Apple 3GS

Anonymous – Google Voice frustration

Christy L – HD Makeup

E-MAIL
Buzz crew,

You have mentioned this story previously – thank you for that as I
have been the person publicizing it – but the telephone incumbent TDS
just lost its last opportunity to appeal at the Supreme Court. A full
2 days before the city would have lost the investor money (they had
one year from the lawsuit start), the Supreme Court declined to review
the Appeals Court judgment. The City is now moving forward with its
all fiber network.

I have put the details up at muninetworks.org

Thank you for mentioning this story, over the past year, folks in
Monticello took great heart that people were watching from across the
country, indeed planet when one counts your listeners.

Christopher Mitchell
Director, Telecommunications as Commons Initiative
Institute for Local Self-Reliance
http://www.newrules.org/information/
http://www.muninetworks.org

**********

Hey guys, just thought I’d make you aware of plans in the uk to pay
for faster broadband in the long run by charging 50p per month ontop
of our landline bills. Currently in Britain the majority of people
have a landline with a line rental payable to ‘British Telecoms’ even
if you have another provider, so a £10 per month phone package starts
to cost £20. And with the prices of mobile Internet, mobile calls and
voip services (especially being free on mobile carrier ‘Three’)
becoming more popular and cheaper it is conceivable that the only
people paying for this upgrade are going to be the ones that aren’t
actually going to require it, namely the older technophobics who will
never ditch their landline and never been online. Anyway just though
I’d let you know what was going on this side of the Atlantic. Have a
great 1000th.

Si from Sheffield, England.

**********

here is a quick video showing the augmented reality possibilities that the compass in the new iPhone will unlock. This is already on G1. As you can see, this seemingly pointless feature can have some pretty remarkable affects on the apps created for the iPhone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b64_16K2e08

Donald S. Clark
University of Illinois: Urbana-Champaign

**********

Hi Buzz Crew,

Let me cut to the chase. I heard on last Friday’s episode that this 1,000th Buzz Out Loud Podcast is going to be “longer.” How much longer will it be?

As much as I enjoy listening to the daily audio podcast, a longer one is not going to work for me. If the 1,000 episode was two months ago I would have jumped for joy (I “used to” listen at work). Recently, I’ve made a deal with myself (and my wife-to-be) that leading up to our wedding, I would go to the gym in an effort to be healthier (not as fat). I begin and end my routine with Buzz Out Loud. I press “play” on my 2nd gen ipod (I know I’m behind the times) to begin my work out, and I and end it the second the closing music finishes. If I’m in the middle of a set, it doesn’t matter, I stop and I leave. You see, I HATE the BORING gym. It’s the bane of my existence.

So that said, you will KILL ME if I have to work out for an hour and a half, or god forbid, two hours. I promise I will curse your names down to the last email, caller, or heaven help us, horrible Opera reference…

Speaking of Opera, Can someone please tell me why our country is so ridiculous that a company, such as Microsoft, can’t include or make their software the “default” browser within…well…. their software? What happened to a little elbow grease? If you have a browser “Opera” and you think you should have the right to be on someone’s machine, do what every company on the planet has done to gain market-share. “Do a little advertising. Make a better product. Creatively distribute it.” Perhaps that will help you get your product to the masses & gain some name recognition. I don’t recall firefox ever having a pity-party. I don’t hear them running to big brother, crying “It’s not fair! It’s too hard for me to get into the game.” Grow up, learn to hit, and then maybe you’ll get to play. Why does everyone think they deserve a trophy?

Thanks for listening. Thanks for sometimes having unusually short podcasts. Finally, Thanks for being my daily hub into the tech world. Congratulations on 1,000!

Sincerely,
Joe Pifher (Pie-fur).

**********

The 1000th episode is tomorrow! There will be no pre-show, here will be a live audience it will be streamed live on cnet.com/live. There will be audio and video on demand afterwards in the normal podcast feeds.

1000th episode meetup in San Francisco: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=113374732587

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

IBM is creating a computer that will go to battle against contestants on Jeopardy, and we envision that it will be something like an Internet-connected Google computer searching for the answers in real time. Something tells me this computer will be a little bit smarter than that. Also, Nicole Lee joins us to discuss a slew of cell phone-related news.

EPISODE 961

Verizon and the iPhone: Nothing to report…yet
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10227945-94.html

Investigated: Unlocked GSM Palm Pre on sale
http://crave.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/0,39029453,49302115,00.htm

Samsung unveils its first Google phone
http://www.pcworld.com/article/163874/samsung_unveils_its_first_google_phone.html

Report: First Android Netbook to cost $250
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10227770-1.html

Qualcomm, Broadcom reach $891 million settlement
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10227815-64.html
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/TOP%20STORY/2290467/

Windows 7 gets built in XP mode
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/27/windows_7_xp_mode/

Home Office UK drops central snooping database
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/27/jacqui_snooping_database/
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/251979/government-drops-database-plans.html

Follow the deadly Swine Flu pandemic in real time with Google Maps
http://gizmodo.com/5229314/follow-the-deadly-swine-flu-pandemic-in-real-time-with-google-maps

Twitter’s role in exaggerating Swine Flu panic
http://www.dantynan.com/2009/04/27/one-swine-flu-over-the-cuckoos-nest/
http://xkcd.com/

Optical disc offers 500GB storage
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8021012.stm

EU extends musical copyrights by 20 years, eyes movies next
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/04/eu-extends-musical-copyrights-by-20-years-eyes-movies-next.ars

Computer program to take on "Jeopardy!"
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/technology/27jeopardy.html?_r=1

VOICEMAIL
Fordo
Vonage and those pesky names

E-MAIL
Hello Natalie,

You might already know this, but you can get that iPhone mute switch fixed for free! Mine also fell off (this is beginning to sound like a really common problem), and they gave me a new iPhone in exchange at the Apple store. Maybe you can pass this along to German.

Love the show,

Paul

**********

In episode 959 you all seem dismayed that the Pirate Bay lawyers didn't know the judge was on the copyright board. I would say they did know and kept their mouth shut. Why? For this exact outcome:

Innocent--P.R. tagline Pirate Bay found innocent by judge who is on the copyright board
Guilty--P.R. tagline Conflict of interest Pirate Bay gets new trial as the judge was on the copyright board

It's a win win or lose win situation for the Pirate Bay.

Thanks, Love the Show.

Ethan Bateman

The DS has a new add-on that includes a pedometer to help you measure your walking. We don't know if it will slim down the Mii that got fat ignoring Wii Fit. Australia is going on an all-fiber diet for their Internet needs, and the AP wants everyone to stop linking to them. OK! Careful what you wish for?

Episode 947

Healthcare records: Google gets pharmacies, MS hospitals
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10213205-92.html
http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2009/04/healthcare-records-google-gets-pharmacies-ms-hospitals.ars

Australia to build a fiber network for all
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/technology/internet/08broadband.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

AP launches campaign against Internet “misappropriation”
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/04/ap-launches-campaign-against-internet-misappropriation.ars
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/04/07/newspapers-are-dumb.html

Google to publishers: We’re not evil or illegal
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10213903-2.html

XP reprieve, downgrade may continue after Win7
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/06/232225

Yahoo launches open music pages
http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=375712
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE53562820090406?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews

Amazon may be gaining traction in the MP3 market
http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-music-industry-amazon-itunes-npd-stats/

iTunes Store now infected with variable pricing, Amazon still $0.99
http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/07/itunes-store-now-infected-with-variable-pricing-amazon-still-0/

Google tweaks local searching, guesses where you are
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/google-becomes-more-local.html

GM, Segway partner on two-wheel city vehicle
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10213863-54.html

Nintendo DSi pedometer
http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/06/personal-trainer-walking-bringing-pedometers-to-nintendo-dsi/

Solar airplane
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2009/04/solar-plane-to.html

Voice mail
Anonymous Canadian
At least you’re not in Canada

Hemond from Ohio
Calling about TWiT

E-mail
Regarding MLB.com. I dare say, the video quality and user experience is worse than last year.

Nexdef is worse than last year's Silverlight. You CAN’T RESIZE THE VIDEO. You can’t watch full screen on one monitor and use your computer, it kicks the browser (all browsers) out of full screen.

And, I am appalled that they are calling this year's highest quality stream “HD”. The video resolution for HD starts at 720p (correct?). It’s nowhere near that. By my quick guess, I would say, it’s still in standard def and just a higher bitrate. When you put the video in full screen (when I say full screen, I mean a 19″ LCD, NOT big), it is still pixelated like CRAZY.

Do I have grounds for a class-action lawsuit claiming false advertising? For $109.99 a year, it’s kind of a rip-off….

And by the way, the Nexdef plugin is a CPU HOG. It consumes half the CPU power of my 2.4 GHZ 4GB RAM Macbook Pro. That’s faaaaaaar to much for a stupid web video.

****sigh****

My hopes were so high, and they let me down again.

/rant

Grant from Nashville

PS
Rafe,
You said something in effect of “you can watch all the games, not just the ones in your local area.” Correction…..you are blacked out of ALL games in your local area. The service is only available for out-of-market games.

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

Hi Buzz Crew,

Yesterday you talked about a story involving mlb.com and the streaming service that they offer. But you missed a huge nugget of information in the article. Third question from the bottom asks about streaming MLB games on the iPhone. The response given says that Apple is working on a technology that will allow for streaming the games. They go onto say that the service will come with the iPhone 3.0 software. Could this mean Flash may come to the iPhone in 3.0?

Link: http://www.businessinsider.com/baseball-crushing-everyone-at-web-video-2009-4

Love the show,
Brad in Ohio

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

While I´m browsing open-source news, I thought I’d send in something else that I saw on that blog. Qimo is a Linux distribution for kids ages 3 and up. Excellent if you want to get a really low-powered cheap machine for the kids to play with. I have a nephew that’s about 3 years old and I might suggest Qimo to his parents so he can learn how to do things on his own.

http://www.qimo4kids.com/post/Qimo-in-the-News.aspx

Kinda wish this was around when I was a kid. When I was an itty-bitty, our family had good old Windows 3.1, and my dad eventually got a coloring game especially for me, since I wanted a program to use myself (before that I had made lots and lots of kiddie art on MS Paint, stored on 3×5 floppy disks). Anyway, it looks interesting.

GAC in West Virginia

Anything that nerdy had to come from Tom. And it did. Rafe Needleman joins the cast today to discuss waiting for Windows 7 (Steve Ballmer says it's OK), the fury over FireWire being omitted from the MacBooks reaches a fever pitch--so much so that Steve Jobs himself sends an e-mail in response. His response? A fairly typical, "Sorry, suckers. Upgrade."

Listen now: Download today's podcast

EPISODE 833

Ballmer: It’s OK to wait for Windows 7
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10067641-92.html

Microsoft Considers “Instant On” Windows
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/16/1710207

Tool to allow ISPs to scan every file you transmit
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/16/2137258

Users rage over lack of MacBook FireWire
http://apple.slashdot.org/apple/08/10/17/1331229.shtml

Steve Jobs' e-mail response re: lack of FireWire on MacBooks
http://www.edibleapple.com/steve-jobs-email-response-re-lack-of-firewire-on-macbooks/

Tesla Motors shaken up, laying off
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/17/1218207

September NPD numbers: Star Wars trumps flagging U.S. economy
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081017-september-npd-numbers-star-wars-trumps-flagging-us-economy.html

FBI says DarkMarket sting netted 56 arrests
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/17/0549223

Discovery CEO: Web 'take-up rate is not that strong'
http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-discovery-ceo-web-take-up-rate-is-not-that-strong/

Asus breaks sub-$300 price barrier with Eee PC 900A at Best Buy
http://www.jkontherun.com/2008/10/asus-breaks-sub.html

VOICEMAIL

Adam from Canberra: MacBooks fail

Bob from Jersey: iGoogle, how could you?

Anon: Missing Twitter girl found
http://www.wspa.com/spa/social_networking/blogs/amy_wood/article/missing_teen_kenzie_church/9809/

E-MAIL

Hey guys,
I too have been annoyed with Hulu’s odd tendencies to remove/add shows at seemingly random times. When I saw that House was being put up 8 days after initial airing, I had had too much… so I e-mailed them. Here’s what they said.

—–
Matt,

Thanks for writing. The re-air rights for the first 8 days for House were sold by the owner to another channel, like TBS or TNT or Bravo or something like that. So that’s why we only get it after 8 days. We’d of course love to get it day-after like all our other content, but that deal predates Hulu.

So the 8 day deal is not to try to force people to watch on TV, at least not on our part. The channel that paid for the first-week rerun rights did not want it streaming online.

But when that deal expires, we’ll definitely push for more immediate access since we agree with you.
—–

Eugene

**********

So, that discussion got a bit out of control. If I choose to use an open platform, then who administers the kill switch? I don’t think that Symbian will even have a kill switch.

And to extend the analogy of kill switches on PC’s, who should administer the kill switch? What if I’m using an open OS? I know no self-respecting Linux distro would dare put a kill switch on their OS.

It seems like the idea of using kill switches for viruses is a bad excuse. Kill switches are for programs that are downloaded the right way, and play by the rules. If these kill switches start trying to kill viruses, then it will become an arms race pretty quickly. How long before a virus writer thinks to crack the part of the OS (mobile or otherwise) that phones home in order to download blacklists?
Tony

**********

I just wanted to let you guys know that I was one of the lucky few that didn't had the annoying playback bug on Firefox, and when you mentioned it a couple of weeks back I thought to myself “bug…what bug?”
Then you guys (specially Molly) started talking about it EVERY FRIGGING EPISODE until my Firefox went “humm…I think I'm supposed to have that bug”. Now I can't listen to you guys from the page anymore because the friggin thing won't play unless I move the cursor over the player thingy. Luckily, I also listen to you guys from Winamp, which is kinda good, because often enough I close Firefox before realizing I'm listening to you guys on that window…Thank you…thank you very much…

Also,Tom: Mom thinks you are Howard Stern.

Oh, and love the show!

HimDRAncE

**********

You already have transit mode
It is the off button.

Sincerely,
C. Sullivan

P.S. Seriously!

**********

After having listened to episode 8, I have two things to say. First, I AM the customer Google is trying to hit with Goggle mail. I send stupid e-mail after drinking all the time (no intervention, please). Second, math problems as a barrier are just lame. There are multiple studies saying that people’s math skill don’t degrade as quickly as their physical skills. Requiring a path trace test would be much more relevant. Let’s make me solve a maze before I send mail!

When I was cave diving, I took a deep air class. One of the requirements was to do a series of math problems on the surface, then do the another set at depth, which represented an impairment of 2 drinks (theoretically, at least). I did the set at depth 30% faster than the set at the surface. Did that mean I wasn’t affected? No. It meant I could slow my brain down enough to concentrate on the problem at hand. That doesn’t make me nicer or cause me to regret my mail.

I’m drinking as I write this. I wonder if I’m going to feel bad about it later? If only I had math problems to stand in my way…

Sad trombone for no reason.
LTS
Tom, you make my son fall asleep every time I play the podcast on my Zune (Thanks!)

EPISODE 823

Steve Jobs heart attack… not
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10057521-37.html

Music publishers keep same download rate, Apple keeping iTunes open
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/10/music-publishers-keep-same-download-rate-apple-keeping-itunes-open-aapl-
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081002-royalty-rate-stays-same-for-itunes-other-download-services.html

Microsoft gives users 6 months longer to flee from Vista
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/03/windows_xp_recovery/

Cybercriminals syndicating Google Trends keywords to serve malware
http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=1995&tag=nl.e540

South Korea’s free computer-game business model hits the U.S.
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/02/2149239

Sega to launch PSP beater in 2009
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/03/sega_vision/

Linux rescues battery life on Vista notebooks from Dell
http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/03/057200

Hands on with Sony’s new PRS-700 digital reader
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10057331-1.html

Oops I’m Late’ phones ahead for you
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10057264-2.html

Bank robber hires decoys on Craigslist, fools cops
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10057472-36.html

VOICEMAIL
Mike: CDMA SIM cards

Dan from Ohio: How are they tracking these Firefox downloads?

FORUMS

Control music with your brain--need I say more?
by benofsky–2008 - 10/1/08 4:19 p.m.

Gizmodo in Australia has an interesting article about a company that is producing a type of headband/music-player which will read your brain waves and play music that is appropriate for your mood. Of course, currently they’re using an audio format (MXP4), which allows for multiple versions of the same song, such that they can shift the version of the song depending upon your mood. It doesn’t seem a far cry away to have such a player selecting music based upon your mood instead, however!

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2008/10/musinaut_music_player_djs_music_according_to_your_brainwaves-2.html

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6035_102-0.html?forumID=97&threadID=310684

E-MAIL
I became so enraged by Molly’s little rant about the removal of
streaming content on Netflix, that I signed on to leave them a nasty-
gram. But guess what? The missing seasons of both The Office and
Heroes are back for online streaming. Maybe they were just doing some
maintenance. Or…maybe they heard you, Molly!

Richard
Washington, D.C.

**********

Hey Jamoto +1,

About yesterday’s discussion about disappearing Netflix content: I had started season 1 of 30 Rock last weekend. It showed up in my queue with a note that said it was available until October 1. My guess is that it wasn’t a Netflix decision, it wasn’t related to the added content, and since the season premiere is at the end of the month, the suits in charge probably think scarcity will drive up sales on iTunes. *cough, torrent, cough*

[insert molly rant here]

love the show.
engnr_chik from the chat

**********

Hey Jamoto,

Thursday, after the story about Aussie’s phones having the wrong time,
Molly uttered the melodic universal mark of failure: Wah waah. Anybody
know the origin of that utterance? Perhaps a Vaudeville trombonist? I
ask because I occasionally use it myself, and my five-year-old son has
*hilariously* picked up on it.

“Dad, can I play the Wii?!”
“We’re about to leave. There’s no time.”
“Wah wah waah.”

While writing this e-mail, I’ve come up with a great name for it: The Fail Wail.

Joe

**********

Hey, a little well actually,

You guys had a little confusion about the resolution of the camera in the Nintendo DSi.

The DSi has two cameras, one on the outside that is 3 megapixels, as well as another inside on the hinge that is VGA, so 0.3 megapixels. (I thought of attaching an image, but i realize you guys could Google one faster than you could open an attachment…)

Anyways, love the show

Faiz

EPISODE 800

Apple Store in Hawaii still not open
http://www.ifoapplestore.com/db/2008/08/23/hawaiian-spirits-dictate-storefront-materials/

Meet Chrome, Google’s shiny new browser
http://news.cnet.com/Meet-Chrome%2C-Googles-shiny-new-browser/2009-1032_3-6246210.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10030025-2.html
http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-09-02-n72.html

Apple makes September 9 iPod event official
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10030344-37.html

Is Cuil killing Web sites?
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/01/is-cuil-killing-websites/

IE8 Beta 2 fatter than Firefox and XP
http://tech.slashdot.org/tech/08/09/02/1418252.shtml

Lenovo won’t refund the Windows tax without an NDA
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080831-lenovo-wont-refund-the-windows-tax-without-an-nda.html

Spore to finally appear later this week
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/09/02/spore-finally-appear-later
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122031227102788791.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Nokia ‘Comes With Music’ to offer ‘Free’ music to cell phone subscribers
http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/09/nokia-comes-wit.html

Ultrasound to give feel to games
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7593444.stm

Is technology making it harder to be unfaithful?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10029985-71.html

Shower TV!
http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/02/sony-floats-waterproof-bravia-xdv-w600-1-seg-tv-for-the-bath/

VOICE MAIL

Jim from London
About bandwidth caps.

Bill
An example of an album as a single file.

E-MAIL

Josh Denver wasn’t very far off, in fact BMW developed a racecar that runs on the same principal. It was super fast setting 9 speed records and its only byproduct was water. It was called the BMW H2R. Here is the the Wikipedia article link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_H2R

Google it if you have any other questions

Comcast’s limits:

Take 250GB and divide by thirty (8.3GB daily cap), 347MB hourly cap, 5.7 meg per minute, and 96k per second. The key question is, “What applications do I run that consume 100kpbs per second?” In a family of five, here’s the math:

Son 8 - Club Penguin
Daughter 11- Homework, AIM chat
Daughter 4 - iTunes video
Wife - Web browsing/online chat, Internet radio
Me - Buzz out Loud, Skype, Adium, Transmission, Slingbox, Pandora

OK, maybe we ought to switch off our router at night… that would double our numbers, but let’s face it, the real problem is if you need to run something that persistently consumes bandwidth: Torrents & Persistent Music & Video connections are still the big issue. Who’s kidding who?

Glad I’m on Time Warner...so far, we’re safe, for another five minutes. Even so, I know we all know they’re shaping our traffic, it’s just a matter of how sneaky they are at it.

Love the show,

Ernest

I am sure that this is beat to death but I am one of the few who may be affected by this new cap. My husbands employer just allowed him to work at home as a software developer. He VPNs everyday for 8-to-9 hours into his works network. I myself work from home as a writer for a daily news blog and maintain a personal blog where I upload pictures and videos daily. My husband and I do online gaming at night, watch Hulu, just browsing, and so on. My children are home schooled and we use an online learning program and lots of Web sites as educational resources. We even use VoIP for our phone! We pay for the most expensive Comcast plan at $75/month. It was advertised as a “gaming and entertainment plan”. So much for that. If we get booted from Comcast our only choice is 1.5MB DSL thru Fairpoint. Sounds ridiculous but we may have to buy a new house just to get the Internet we need.

-kate

Hey JaMoTo,

Quick update on your analysts site, I settled with NTT DoCoMo. After having a few e-mail discussions with DoCoMo, they eventually told me it was a mistake to send me that e-mail, and the person who sent the e-mail misunderstood what causes infringement on there copyright! Also you can now access the site from a new URL, Jamotoanalysts Dot Com. Plus the first press release comes out wednesday!

-Hayden

August 31, 1998, is when the very first mp3 player was available:

http://www.teamteabag.com/2008/08/31/retro-computing-corner-the-worlds-first-mp3-player-c-1998/

The mp3 player is now a decade old!

Hi Crew,

Regarding Lloyds "password" saga (BOL 799)--it isn't actually a password, it is a "secret word".

Amongst the many joys of the British banking system, any call to customer service will involve (after a 20 minute wait and multiple choice questions) providing such information as age, date of birth, inside trouser (pant?) measurement, and so on, and finally the Secret Word.

From this word you are asked to provide, for example, the first and third letter--all this is to supposedly prove you are you and no one else, said word is not part of any login system and is purely for human consumption.

Finally--Top Gear and the i-pod pronunciation, that is just James May aka Captain Slow, he has made it into the 21st Century, but only just.

Regards

Mike Lumley
Torquay U.K.

While listening to episode 797 the superbug of piracy, you guys were talking about spreading the rumor about The Beatles coming to itunes September 9, well I just wanted to let that the other day at work (I work at Best Buy…… yeah Best Buy, who buy the way are proud sponsors of CNET TV just wanted to throw that in there). I informed a friend of mine (who is also a BOL fan), that The Beatles were coming to itunes September 9 and he was all like REALLY!!!!!!!!! (all excite) and I was like no….. it’s just a rumor that Molly and the guys from BOL are spreading, and he than just started laughing, than later in the day when I was sitting in the lunch room talking with a bunch of other staff, Pat walked in and said “So Nicole did you hear that The Beatles are coming to iTunes September 9” everyone in the room was like really…….and I was like ya didn’t you hear. It was a super funny moment anyways LOVE THE SHOW.

Nicole Drummond
just another BOL fan

EPISODE 799

Comcast puts a cap on Net usage
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2008/08/25/daily35.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10028506-2.html
http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-comcast-to-roll-out-monthly-usage-cap/

Kaminsky DNS bug claimed fixed by 1-character patch
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/29/127210

Microsoft warns of IE8 lock-in with XP SP3
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9113739

No new Kindle this year
http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/007628.html

Yahoo kills their social network
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10028716-36.html

Psychologist invents new uber-wiki
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/29/mememoir_uber_wiki_announced/

Android developer challenge winners announced
http://code.google.com/android/adc_gallery/

Alphabet decides who gets most spam
http://www.pcworld.com/article/150464/alphabet_decides_who_gets_most_spam.html

Coca-Cola readying 100-flavor soda fountains
http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/29/coca-cola-readying-100-flavor-soda-fountains/

Voice mail

Camilla
Rant of the week.

Josh Denver
So… About the hydrogen…. Seriously.

RogueTess
Why water is different than OS X

E-mail

Hey Guys,

About the story in 798 - artists not selling their music on iTunes because of lack of an album only option - I disagree with the stance that this purely the record labels trying to exert more control. In the Ars Technica piece you will notice the it says Kid Rock decided to pull out of iTunes not his label. I’m assuming that this decision is because it’s a concept record, which is something of a lost art these days.

I work on three music projects in which I write, produce, and release all the music myself through Tunecore. While I love the service and it’s very convenient to release to iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody and others, I find it to be a rather frustrating process to figure how to release our music in that i write in terms of a concept album and to break it up is difficult decision to make because you feel like you are putting something out there that is out of context. What ultimately I decided to do is to use iTunes to release compilations containing songs from all three projects and use Amazon mp3 the sell them as an album only, as you failed to mention or you didn’t know Amazon does offer this option.

I leave you with this if Pink Floyd released the The Wall today would have gained as much acclaim, attention and influence on later bands as it did in 1980 when it was released or would be just about Another Brick in The Wall and Comfortably Numb.

Great show.

Eric - DC, Soon to be back in Austin

**********

Buzz clique,

It appears in episode 798 you have finally addressed one of the fundamental issues that have divided our two nations for decades. I thought I’d set you straight as to what the deal with ‘pants’ is.

There’s a reason why pants is a British adjective for something that is not good. This is because when we use the word pants we don’t think of a pair of well cut, nice fitting khakis from Gap, but rather a pair of sweaty, skid marked, discarded undercrackers.

The American use of pants in place of trousers has always bothered me slightly, but not as much as the over pronunciation of the letter I. I will not be going to EYEraq, taking antEYE-depressants or installing Norton AntEYE-virus. Pretty sure you guys aren’t guilty of this one though. Right on, and more power to you.

Love the show, and what the frack is a Kindle?

Greg, London

P.S. Caprica? WICKED!

**********

Buzz Fellows,

I simply cannot believe that the circumstances behind the situation of the Pants story (from episode 798) exist at all! Everyone knows (or, apperantly they don’t!) that you never, ever store customer’s actual (plain-text) passwords ANYWHERE.

The standard practice is to use a Hashing algorithm to create a unique and one-way translation of the user’s password into a key. This key cannot be reverse engineered to obtain the original password, but the same password will always generate the same key. So, when you store or check a user’s password, you hash whatever they enter and compare the key to the key you have in your database.

If you store plain-text passwords, as Lloyds TSB clearly does, then you run the HUGE security risk of providing a malicious attacker with thousands of users’ real passwords, which could be used immediately to log into their accounts. This is all a story within itself BEFORE we even get to the fact that someone felt the need to change a user’s password!

When I read “In these cases an advisor can read the full password.”, I nearly had a heart attack.

~EndangeredMassa

**********

hey buzz crew

i have been waiting to hear about a solution to the firefox flash video issue, as it affects me all the time!
i mostly have 15-20 tabs open when browsing.. maybe that does have something to do with it?

in the mean time, i’ve found that i can watch flash video in firefox ( 2 / 3 ) without the issues by using the ‘ietab’ extension

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1419

So, everyone can use this while they wait for adobe and mozilla to work it out!

Cheers

Aladar

**********

I was the person who created the JaMoTo Analysts site. I don’t know if you noticed, but the logo I used was the NTT DoCoMo (The Japanese cell phone carrier) logo, I changed the logo around a little bit and added some effects, but the next day I got an email form DoCoMo asking from me to take down the logo! I don’t even know how they saw the page so fast! The email said that the DoCoMo logo is there property and that it should not be used or altered at all, and that if I don’t take down the logo it could lead to quote “LEGAL ACTION”! My first thought was to take down the logo, but should I? Do I have the right to use a heavly altered logo on the site. I have no intention of making money off the site, I am not selling a product or anything. I have no idea what to do!

-Hayden

We're joined today by special guest Wil Harris from ChannelFlip.com, in what he chooses to call "British Invasion" and we choose to call "extremely welcome third voice." In the news today, MobileMe accounts are extended again, free beta style (hint hint), Muxtape bites the dust (temporarily?), and Bigfoot turns out to be a rubber costume. Astonishing.

EPISODE 791

Episode 791

Apple extends MobileMe accounts--again
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10019909-37.html
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9715

Google tops among search sites for customer satisfaction
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10019621-93.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Apple customer satisfaction scores gain
http://news.yahoo.com/s/cnet/20080819/tc_cnet/83011357931001971137

Vendors add features to Windows that Microsoft should have thought of
http://www.pcworld.com/article/149896/vendors_rally_while_windows_sleeps.html

One third of new PCs downgraded to XP?
http://tech.slashdot.org/tech/08/08/18/2016228.shtml

Muxtape shut down by RIAA?
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/8/muxtape-shut-down-by-riaa

FCC commissioners will hit the road to tout DTV transition
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080818-fcc-will-go-on-the-road-with-dtv-transition.html

Apple releases iPhone firmware update, 3G fix?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10019471-37.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Entire Olympics built of Lego
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1046255/On-marks-set-Lego-Welcome-Olympics-everyones-quick-blocks.html

Bigfoot body revealed to be Halloween costume
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,406101,00.html

E-MAIL

Hey Buzz Crew,

This is Sperling, the digital cinema product manager. On episode 789 you mentioned that the release date of the next Harry Potter film, due out November 21, had been pushed back into next year. In the story, Warner Bros. seemed to be faulting the recent writer’s strike as having altered the competitive release date landscape and the reason for the date change. While this is no doubt true, it is more likely issues with their own releases that caused the date change.

Scheduled for release around the original date are big name titles such as Australia, Benjamin Button, Madagascar 2 and the next Bond film, Quantum of Solace. But let’s face it, Harry Potter has such a large built-in audience that it can guarantee a healthy opening in which the film tops the box office for at least the first week, if not two. What is more likely the issue is that Warner Bros., having folded New Line Cinema and Warner Independent Pictures into the main studio, simply has too many films to release between now and the holiday season. Los Angeles Times columnist Patrick Goldstein recently covered this in one of his columns:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_picture/2008/08/warners-films-m.html

Of course, there is always the absurd theory Roger Friedman has pegged as the reason for the delay--that Daniel Radcliff, the actor playing Harry Potter, will be in the midst of starring a in a highly publicized Broadway play in November, Equus. Radcliffe will appear naked in the play and have simulated sex on stage, and Friedman’s theory is this is not the image Warner Bros. wants associated with Harry Potter:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,404681,00.html

As always, love the show.

Regards,
J. Sperling Reich

—

Hello JaMoTo,

Yes, I just told you about my netflix experience. However, I just saw
an article that claims that the outage shows why disks deserve to die.

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/08/netflix-outage.html

I think the only thing the outage showed was how vulnerable computers
still are. And if anything, streaming service computers are MORE
vulnerable to outages. Besides, at the moment, I still like the disks.
While I have 8Mbs download, streaming services don’t always work well on
it. I think the Net, as a whole, needs to improve, possibly by moving to
IPv6, before we can have EVERYONE streaming movies rather than just a few.

—

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold the phone…

You guys reported on episode 790 that Toshiba is going to be selling “upconverting” DVD players. That’s great, I guess. But I was just wondering, are those really upscaling DVD players, or just the leftover, repackaged stock of HD-DVD players with a firmware update? If I remember correctly, the HD-DVD players did the upconverting thing already.

Hey, I’m not complaining; in fact I applaud their ingenuity. Why waste the millions you’ve already spent by throwing away manufactured goods when you can update the product’s software, slap a new label on it, and sell it at a slightly higher cost than when it became obsolete? And you get to do it all whilst undermining the competition’s entire advertising campaign (or lack thereof)! If nothing else, it’s environmentally friendly.

Love the show!
J-2 in Maryland

—

I’m a week behind but had to e-mail you about your text-messaging air
traffic controller.
I have been a controller 20 years in the U.S. Sorry we can’t
duplicate this task, you are on your own.
Two years ago the FAA imposed what they call a contract (we call it
imposed work rules) and it forbid electronic devices in control rooms
and towers. This includes cell phones.
This despite the fact that controllers facing communication failures
in the past have used personal cell phones to contact adjacent
facilities.

Mike in New Hampshire,
Sent from my iPhone