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Buzz Out Loud 665: Run, Alex, run!

We're hoping to get to three miles today...you'll understand in a bit. Also, what's the only thing worse than Vista? Vista SP1.

Molly Wood Former Executive Editor
Molly Wood was an executive editor at CNET, author of the Molly Rants blog, and host of the tech show, Always On. When she's not enraging fanboys of all stripes, she can be found offering tech opinions on CBS and elsewhere, and offering opinions on everything else to anyone who will listen.
Molly Wood
4 min read
What's the only thing worse than Vista? Vista SP1. In other news, we wonder what the world is coming to, as Microsoft and Sprint both make big, powerful moves toward openness and interoperability. We feel so off- balance and yet strangely thrilled. Also, are social networks totally over? We investigate.

--Molly


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EPISODE 665

TODAY'S LINKS:


TODAY'S VOICE MAIL:
John the bomb maker
All about the bombs.

Drew from Phoenix
Love the show notes.



TODAY'S FORUM:


TODAY'S E-MAIL:
Yesterday's Buzz Out Loud Artwork
Here is the link to the fan art created by Chris from Pennsylvania. Not quite sure why it didn't make it into the notes yesterday, but it is worth adding in a day later so everyone can see it. Love it!
http://kobun04.deviantart.com/art/Indeterminate-Length-77497584

Indeterminate distance
Hello Buzz crew,
This week I was trying to mess how many meters I am running (and walking) while listening to your podcast, but hey...today's podcast was shorter than 3 miles! I couldn't wait until my little research is done to start complaining...please keep it longer than 3 miles, or I won't get in shape!
Here are some little interesting data I have made up:
  1. Assuming that someone covers 5 miles while jogging in an hour, and that BOL has 663 episodes and the average length is 30 minutes, BOL has the exact length of 1,657 miles. That's not even going from west coast to east coast.
  2. Assuming you are driving while listening to BOL, and an average person drives at 65 miles per hour, you are 71 episodes short about completing a whole turn around the world!
  3. Assuming you are inside a Concorde traveling at twice the velocity of sound while listening to all BOL's episodes, you could reach the moon! Yeah baby!
That's all, thanks for your attention!
Keep up the good length (about over 3 miles).
Alexandre from Brazil

The original Apple shoe
Apple has, in fact, already produced an Apple shoe.
Of course, after seeing that, it is understandable why they just decided to partner with Nike these days to make the shoes for their iPods.
One other point about the salivary gland cancer. People have been talking on phones for 7 to 8 hours a day since the phone was created (operators, tech support agents, lonely people). If excessive talking on the phone (or even just excessive talking) were the cause of salivary gland cancer, I'm fairly certain that someone would have noticed this trend by now.
Matthew F. Theiss

OnStar upgrade from analog update
Hey guys,
Just an update that OnStar will upgrade your equipment off of the dying analog network with a one-year service agreement. Not so bad after all.
Thanks,
Jason

A-ha! Google airborne wireless broadband fleet is (possibly) go!
Excerpt:
According to the Wall Street Journal, Google is considering either a partnership or a full-on buyout of Space Data Corp--a company that provides balloon-based wireless networks. If you think that seems a little strange, consider this: the balloons can help bring wireless service to individuals in rural areas and they can be launched on the cheap--about $50 to launch the balloon, $1,500 for the receiver, and a $100 finder's fee for recovery after the balloon returns to earth.
OK, it's not as dramatically cool as a fleet of airplanes, but still pretty neat. :)
Best,
Shalin

Radio-controlled shark
After hearing Molly joke that perhaps a radio-controlled shark was responsible for the Internet access cables in the Middle East being cut, I was inspired to create this.
Please keep in mind I did this very quickly this morning, at work, with GIMP, a program I'm not terribly proficient in (I use Photoshop at home).
Hope you get a laugh out of it, or at the very least an LOI. ;)
Marc Johnson
aka TNVWBOY
Nashville, Tennessee
P.S. Love the show and listen every day.

Hydrazine and you
Hi BOL,
I was an engineer at NASA down at the cape for a while, and they taught us everything about hydrazine. It's simply a fuel that the orbiter and solid rocket boosters use for maneuvering. What I found most interested (or terrifying) is that it's supposed to smell like ammonia, but we were told that if you could smell it, you've already received a lethal dose. They had alarms just for hydrazine exposure all over the place-- indoors and out. Pretty nasty stuff.
Love the show!
Mike (the electrical engineer in Florida)