Buzz Out Loud 1445: We have lasers (Podcast)

The U.S. Navy demonstrates how it can set a boat on fire remotely using a laser. Which is super awesome as a video, and slightly terrifying as a demonstration of future military capabilities. Also, Steve Jobs finally agrees to an authorized biography, Sony blinks in the George Hotz PS3 jailbreaking lawsuit, smart phone users are wasting hundreds of dollars a year, and Facebook is working on its latest venture: the Socialist Network. --Molly

Watch this: Ep. 1445: We have lasers!

48:59

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NEWS

108 mins that stunned the world: Russia honors Gagarin
https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/11/us-russia-gagarin-anniversary-idUSTRE73A2Z720110411

Steve Jobs Authorized Biography Coming in 2012 https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=13343409
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/04/10/the-man-who-won-steve-jobs-trust-2/

iPhone 5 Production Starting In September According To Talks With Key Supplier
http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-5-in-september-2011-4?op=1

Facebook Strikes China Deal With Baidu
http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-baidu-2011-4?op=1

George Hotz, Sony quietly settle PS3 jailbreak case
http://www.electronista.com/articles/11/04/11/hotz.and.sony.call.truce.on.ps3.jailbreak.case/
http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/11/scea-vs-geohot-sony-wins-a-not-quite-flawless-victory/

First Look: Adobe Color Lava, Adobe Eazel, and Adobe Nav
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/224828/first_look_adobe_color_lava_adobe_eazel_and_adobe_nav.html

Youtube rolls out a live streaming service
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2042510/youtube-rolls-live-streaming-service

Verizon Bets on Video Streaming with Digital Media Services
http://www.pcworld.com/article/224836/verizon_bets_on_video_streaming_with_digital_media_services.html

Study: Smartphone Users Wasting Hundreds Of Dollars Per Year On Unnecessary Contracts
http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2011/04/11/study-smartphone-users-wasting-hundreds-of-dollars-per-year-on-unnecessary-contracts/

Quick Hits

Winklevoss twins must live with Facebook deal
https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/11/us-facebook-winklevoss-idUSTRE73A5DX20110411

Auburn, Maine kindergarten students set to get iPads
http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article/154919/314/Auburn-kindergarteners-to-get-iPads

Windows 7 share tops XP for first time in US
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9215681/Windows_7_share_tops_XP_for_first_time_in_U.S.

Gas Shortage Halts Some Sharp LCD Panel Production
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/224812/gas_shortage_halts_some_sharp_lcd_panel_production.html

Google Acquires Music Sync Company PushLife
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/224819/google_acquires_music_sync_company_pushlife.html

Gadgets

US Navy laser cannon used to set boat aflame
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/04/11/onr_mld_boat_burn/

Happy Ending

Boy Scouts can now earn robotics merit badge
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20052625-1.html

Sony CEO calls Nintendo DS a "Great Babysitting Tool"
http://blogs.forbes.com/insertcoin/2011/04/11/sony-ceo-calls-nintendo-ds-a-great-babysitting-tool/

VOICEMAIL

Simon from Australia talks about his love for gadgets entertaining his kids over the weekend

EMAILS

Hey Buzz Crew-

This one is aimed at Molly.

These apps (read: applications) are not free. There is a cost to develop, distribute, and support every single last application on the market. The biggest problem is that the consumer is demanding something they have gotten accustomed with on one platform to transfer over to another where it just doesn’t work. Display ads only work when they coexist on screen with actual content and the phone is too small of a form factor to make that work. Therefore another way to make money is needed to deliver these apps to you at no cost. I agree they should be upfront about what the application will track and share about you, but there is no way out of this until we find a better source of revenue on the mobile device. At the end of the day you are complaining about something you got for FREE, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

Anywho… Love the show!

-Mike from Beantown

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On recent episodes of BOL, you’ve mentioned that Netflix is now poised to offer Mad Men online to its American customers. You also read a letter that mentioned that “”Princess Bride”" is not on Netflix. Interesting, since both are easily accessible already on Netflix Canada. It seems that we have a lot of content available that isn’t yet offered in the USA, which is the exact opposite of what we’re used to when it comes to online content availability, where every link we click greets us with the response “”The content you have requested is not available to your geographic region”". It’s a shame that with our ISPs ridiculous data caps and overage fees, nobody can actually afford to pay for enough bandwidth to actually watch all this great content!

By the way, I also want to comment on a remark Molly made a while back, when she said that “”director James Cameron’s interest in science must have been learned years ago, before they stoppedcteaching science in American schools…”". More likely it was because the schools Canadian director Cameron wentto were in Ontario, and they haven’t cut science out of the curriculum quite yet.

Rick, up in Canada

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http://bol.cnet.com, 800-616-2638 (CNET), buzz@cnet.com

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