Hi, I�m Molly Wood and welcome to the Buzz Report � the show about the tech news
that everyone is talking about. This week, Anonymous targets Facebook and I�m not
havin� it, BlackBerry just wants to be left alone, and the coolest smuggling ring ever.
But first, it�s the Gadget of the Week.
The Gadget of the Week is the Roku 2 XS, which we�re calling the best streaming media
device for under 100 bucks. Actually, that�s what we called the last one, too. But NOW
you can buy a version that includes a video gaming remote, and it has Angry Birds on it.
ANGRY BIRDS! Roku and Angry Birds � my two favorite things together! Plus, more
content, smaller size, blah blah blah. Go get one. You�ll love it.
And now for the news. The hacktivists at Anonymous have announced their next target:
Facebook. They say they�re going to DESTROY Facebook, in fact, on November 5,
2011, Guy Fawkes Day.
Now, Anonymous says Facebook needs to be destroyed because it�s turning over
personal information to the government and spying on us � which, I know, I guess that�s
bad. But what about MY spying!? I NEED Facebook to find out if that one chick went to
that one party and flirted with that one guy I like. And I need to know who got fat from
high school. And what about my Scrabble games, Anonymous!? And where am I going
to post pictures of my food!!??
Molly, you think that�s bad? November 5th is my birthday! How is anyone going to
know???
That�s my birthday too!
Happy Birthday
Ohhh, yeah, that�s REALLY bad. Anonymous? Can�t you stick to like, banks and evil
governments? We already know Facebook was evil when we signed up.
Moving on, whenever there are riots, as there were in London all week, there has to also
be a story about how social media helped organize the riots. But in this case, police
found that London�s rioters were using Blackberry Messenger to coordinate their looting.
Partly because the service is private rather than public, like Twitter, but also because
something like 37% of the youth in England use Blackberry. Who KNEW!?
Research in Motion then issued a statement saying it was helping the police find the
looters, but then hackers defaced the BlackBerry Blog with a VERY threatening letter
talking about seeking revenge even on RIM employees over the police cooperation.
Meanwhile you KNOW those poor execs over at RIM are sitting there going, �come ON,
man, can�t you just leave us OUT of this? We got enough problems right now. Have you
SEEN iOS 5!? MANGO, even!?�
Score one for Apple in the great Apple-Samsung Pissing Contest of 2011: a judge in
Germany says Samsung can�t keep selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 anywhere in Europe.
Well, except the Netherlands. For some reason. And Apple got so excited by that
ridiculous ruling in a ridiculous patent lawsuit, that they�re also suing Motorola over the
design of the Xoom tablet. The DESIGN, people. Bite me, Apple.
And in other Apple related news, it�s time for my favorite segment, The Balls on China.
Chinese police shut down a smuggling operation that was sneaking iPads and iPhones
across the border from Hong Kong.
HOW? This is the balls part. Allow me to demonstrate. The smugglers SHOT A
CROSSBOW from Hong Kong into the Shenzen province. Then they They then ziplined
the bags across the border so they wouldn�t have to pay import taxes. Authorities caught
the smugglers after a sting operation and say they don�t know how long the zipline
scheme was active. No matter how long it was? It was awesome.
And finally, the return of another favorite segment: Death from Above. Take a break from
worrying about the stock market and the global economy and the erosion of every safety
net America ever promised anyone, won�t you? The SUN is coming to kill all our tech,
sometime between now and 2013. A solar flare Tuesday was the strongest one since
2006, but it was luckily facing away from Earth, so we didn�t see much impact.
But scientists say solar activity is increasing and will peak around 2013. If the flares get
strong enough? They could mess with GPS and cell towers, make electricity go haywire,
or, if they�re as strong as the Carrington Super Flare in 1859, they could lead to
magnetic storms that do who knows WHAT to our tech, but probably brick most of it and
leave us in the technological dark ages. See!? You feel better about the economy
already, right? Or � something �
And that�s the Buzz Report for this week, everyone. I�m Molly Wood and thanks for
watching. hed: Angry Birds and Roku: together at last
dek: The Roku 2 XS gets Angry Birds, more content, and way more awesome. Plus,
Anonymous wants to kill Facebook. No, Anonymous! Leave Facebook alone!
http://cnettv.cnet.com/roku-2-xs/9742-1_53-50109316.html
http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-media-receivers/roku-2-xs/4505-6739_7-
34850104.html?tag=contentBody;similarProds
Facebook will be destroyed on Nov. 5 (jeff�s birthday)
http://news.yahoo.com/anonymous-agenda-operation-facebook-195007778.html
Blackberry helping police in London:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/09/london-riots-2011-blackberry-messenger-
david-lammy_n_921997.html?ir=Technology
and subsequently getting hacked and threatened:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/237606/blackberry_blog_hacked_for_helping_police_que
ll_london_riots.html
Apple vs. Samsung: Galaxy Tab 10.1 blocked from being sold in Europe
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/08/apple-vs-samsung-suit-galaxy-tab-
101-blocked-from-being-sold-in-europe.html
Apple is also suing over the Xoom�s design, in Europe, where apparently people think
that kind of crap is ok.
http://fosspatents.blogspot.com/2011/08/apple-is-also-suing-motorola-in-europe.html
The Balls on China:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/237510/chinese_smugglers_use_zip_line_to_get_apple_
goods_into_their_country_zippity_do_dah.html
Death from Above!
http://www.space.com/12586-solar-storms-intensity-2013-peak-nasa.html
Hi, I�m Molly Wood and welcome to the Buzz Report � the show about the tech news
that everyone is talking about. This week, Anonymous targets Facebook and I�m not
havin� it, BlackBerry just wants to be left alone, and the coolest smuggling ring ever.
But first, it�s the Gadget of the Week.
TURN RIGHT
FROM LEFT
The Gadget of the Week is the Roku 2 XS, which we�re calling the best streaming media
device for under 100 bucks. Actually, that�s what we called the last one, too. But NOW
you can buy a version that includes a video gaming remote, and it has Angry Birds on it.
ANGRY BIRDS! Roku and Angry Birds � my two favorite things together! Plus, more
content, smaller size, blah blah blah. Go get one. You�ll love it.
And now for the news. The hacktivists at Anonymous have announced their next target:
Facebook. They say they�re going to DESTROY Facebook, in fact, on November 5,
2011, Guy Fawkes Day.
Now, Anonymous says Facebook needs to be destroyed because it�s turning over
personal information to the government and spying on us � which, I know, I guess that�s
bad. But what about MY spying!? I NEED Facebook to find out if that one chick went to
that one party and flirted with that one guy I like. And I need to know who got fat from
high school. And what about my Scrabble games, Anonymous!? And where am I going
to post pictures of my food!!??
[QUENTIN]: Girl, you think that�s bad? November 5th is my birthday! How is anyone
going to know???
Ohhh, yeah, that�s REALLY bad. Anonymous? Can�t you stick to like, banks and evil
governments? We already know Facebook was evil when we signed up.
Moving on, whenever there are riots, as there were in London all week, there has to also
be a story about how social media helped organize the riots. But in this case, police
found that London�s rioters were using Blackberry Messenger to coordinate their looting.
Partly because the service is private rather than public, like Twitter, but also because
something like 37% of the youth in England use Blackberry. Who KNEW!?
Research in Motion then issued a statement saying it was helping the police find the
looters, but then hackers defaced the BlackBerry Blog with a VERY threatening letter
talking about seeking revenge even on RIM employees over the police cooperation.
Meanwhile you KNOW those poor execs over at RIM are sitting there going, �come ON,
man, can�t you just leave us OUT of this? We got enough problems right now. Have you
SEEN iOS 5!? MANGO, even!?�
Score one for Apple in the great Apple-Samsung Pissing Contest of 2011: a judge in
Germany says Samsung can�t keep selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 anywhere in Europe.
Well, except the Netherlands. For some reason. And Apple got so excited by that
ridiculous ruling in a ridiculous patent lawsuit, that they�re also suing Motorola over the
design of the Xoom tablet. The DESIGN, people. Bite me, Apple.
And in other Apple related news, it�s time for my favorite segment, The Balls on China.
Chinese police shut down a smuggling operation that was sneaking iPads and iPhones
across the border from Hong Kong.
HOW? This is the balls part. Allow me to demonstrate. The smugglers SHOT A
CROSSBOW from Hong Kong into the Shenzen province. Then they They then ziplined
the bags across the border so they wouldn�t have to pay import taxes. Authorities caught
the smugglers after a sting operation and say they don�t know how long the zipline
scheme was active. No matter how long it was? It was awesome.
And finally, the return of another favorite segment: Death from Above. Take a break from
worrying about the stock market and the global economy and the erosion of every safety
net America ever promised anyone, won�t you? The SUN is coming to kill all our tech,
sometime between now and 2013. A solar flare Tuesday was the strongest one since
2006, but it was luckily facing away from Earth, so we didn�t see much impact.
But scientists say solar activity is increasing and will peak around 2013. If the flares get
strong enough? They could mess with GPS and cell towers, make electricity go haywire,
or, if they�re as strong as the Carrington Super Flare in 1859, they could lead to
magnetic storms that do who knows WHAT to our tech, but probably brick most of it and
leave us in the technological dark ages. See!? You feel better about the economy
already, right? Or � something �
And that�s the Buzz Report for this week, everyone. I�m Molly Wood and thanks for
watching.
