Buzz Out Loud 1246: Stick it to the FCC (podcast)

On today's episode, we discover that frenemies make for great collusion, everyone at the White House is suddenly sorry they bought all those iPads, the iPhone 4 doesn't actually have an eyeball, and only birds are now allowed to "tweet."Oh, and everything's better if you're naked.

Watch this: Ep. 1246: Stick it to the FCC

42:13

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Apple’s Worst Security Breach: 114,000 iPad Owners Exposed
http://gawker.com/5559346/
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/10/technology/10apple.html

At the White House, getting in touch with the inner circle’s inner iPads
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/07/AR2010060701140.html

Report confirms Google WiFi code recorded data
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-20007277-265.html

Group claims it’s proof they violated wiretapping laws
http://www.privacyinternational.org/article.shtml?cmd347=x-347-566346

Net neutrality group amassing forces for government raid
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-20007238-38.html

It’s official: Apple kicking Google out of iWorld
http://battellemedia.com/archives/2010/06/its_official_-_apple_kicking_google_out_of_iworld.php

Does the iPhone 4 Really Have a “Retina Display”?
http://www.pcworld.com/article/198402/

Hulu to soon charge for content, sources say
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20007215-93.html

Linden Labs lays off 30 percent of its staff
http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/09/linden-labs-lays-off-30-percent-of-staff/

Bing Social searches Facebook and Twitter
http://www.bing.com/community/blogs/search/archive/2010/06/09/use-bing-social-to-search-facebook-and-twitter.aspx

Google Merges Street View with User Photos
http://mashable.com/2010/06/09/google-street-view-photos/

Stereoscopic 3D gaming now on PS3
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2010/06/09/the-ultimate-3d-gaming-experience-stereoscopic-3d-gaming-on-playstation-3-available-tomorrow/

Sony 3D TV bundles announced; the Meatballs are free
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20007204-1.html

Flickr + Facebook!
http://blog.flickr.net/2010/06/10/flickr-facebook/

New York Times’ Bans the Word ‘Tweet’
http://www.theawl.com/2010/06/new-york-times-bans-the-word-tweet

Today’s featured Buzz Out Loud remix at the end of the show:
Steve McAllister!
https://podcast-files.cnet.com/podcast/BOLremix_SteveMcAllister.mp3

Voicemail (800-616-2638)
Joe from Baton Rouge: data plan hack!

Email (buzz@cnet.com)
Hey MoRaJ-OUS!

I’m a long time listener, one of the things that has kept me coming back is that we seem to take offense at many of the same things. I love that over the years I have outsourced to you the venting of my frustrations related to DRM, Various industries suing their customers, Net-neutrality mis-information, and the general shenanigans of Comcast, Microsoft, Verizon, Apple, AT&T, and so on.

So when the lovely and talented Mr. Jobs said that the iOS 4 upgrade would be free for all iPhone and iPod touch users, I lost it, relishing the impending BOL tirade on Apple’s accounting hypocrisy.

Over the years, they’ve charged early adopters $10 – $20 to upgrade early generation models to the latest and greatest, claiming their evil accountants were FORCING them to charge for the upgrade because these upgrades introduced additional functionality and that accounting rules MANDATED that they charge for the upgrade.

With iOS 4, they want the pool of iAd-capable devices to be as large as possible so magically their accounting rules no longer apply and they can give away updates for free– so long as there’s something in it for them.

Can we give them a big “”BUZZ OFF!”" for sticking it to the consumer on these “”early adopter taxes”"?

Thanks in advance for your prompt attention to this matter :),
Bryan in Chicago

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Hey Buzz crew, I just finished episode 1241 (I’m trying to catch up!) and there was debate over AT&T’s new data plans and tethering. I have noticed you guys don’t bring up T-Mobile very often, and it’s a shame because Magenta offers some great deals when it comes to tethering, data plans, and phone deals. They have no true data cap, just 10GB for 3G, which after you hit that, on a per-subscriber basis, they may boot a subscriber to EDGE for the remainder of their billing cycle. And tethering has for a long time been a supported option and had a dedicated CSR department, though support has recently been moved to their forums. T-Mobile has no plans to charge extra or eliminate tethering, regardless of device. They also have embraced unlocked iPhones on their network. This weekend they are expected to have an awesome Father’s Day sale with Free device deals for new activations. And let’s not forget the option to get a plan with no contract, unlimited everything, and spread out the cost of the phone over 20 payments. They are a great carrier, and I feel they are overlooked far too much by others. Would love to hear what you think, will be tuning in live today. :)

Matt from Pittsburgh

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In episode 1245, during the discussion of genetic testing, Molly mentioned that only a mother really knows the truth about a child’s parents. While not necessarily incorrect, I still wanted to geek out and mention chimeras. In the link below, there is a story of a mother who had a DNA test that proved 100% that her child was not actually hers. Turns out the mother is a chimera — where twin fetuses are merged during development. The DNA passed onto her child was from one of the merged twins, while the DNA tested was from the other. This lady is actually two different people in one body.

https://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=2315693

I know this isn’t really relevant to the show, but it is always fun to pass along cool science.

Matt
Cleveland, Ohio

(PS. I was first made aware of this story through Radiolab, which is easily my favorite internet/radio program. Its like This American Life but for science.)