POI: Show #33 - 06.10.2007

[Download Show #33 as MP3]

News

A couple of weeks ago we talked about getting YouTube on your AppleTV
Quick description of AppleTV
According to Apple's VP of Hardware, YouTube is coming to AppleTV in an official capacity
But before that happens the videos are being re-encoded in "H.264 streaming-efficient compression"
All YouTube videos are currently encoded in Flash Video
iPhone and iPod support H.264 as well, so that may be another reason
iTunes Store video coming in Hi-Def perhaps too

$1.29/track most albums staying at $9.99
$0.30/track upgrade for previously purchased tracks
AAC 256kb Encode rate (double the original 128), this means better quality encodes

Currently only EMI music
DRM Free AAC tracks work on players that support the AAC format (iPod, Zune, Sansa)

We've discussed Last.FM on the show a couple of times
Last.FM keeps track of what you listen to and then gives you recommendations based on that data
CBS has purchased Last.FM for $280 million, in an all cash deal.

Software / Hardware / Power Web Picks

From the same folks who brought us the Better Gmail Extension, comes the Better Flickr Extension

Need recently released video card to get the best visuals
AWESOME effects, some things that are now in Vista and several visual screen effects that are not
Some really cool accesibility options (zoom into a section of your desktop)

Assign functions different corners of your desktop
Switch to a different desktop by moving your mouse point to the edge of the screen

Lots of memory and stability issues resolved.
Some installers that didn't used to work, do now.
64bit Versions of Wine now work better, although according to the community, its still a little rough

Universal Binary available so it will run on PowerPC and Intel Processors
Features Include: Live Word Count, Auto Save, Timestamped backups, page layout mode, and selection of text by text style
We do not have Mac in our studio so, if you are running a Mac with OSX 10.4.0 or newer, try it out and let us know what you think

Penny Pinchers

When the Dell/Ubuntu machines were announced, it was possible to extend the default warranty to 2-4 years as well as adding "CompleteCare" accidental breakage protection. These options have since been quietly removed from all Ubuntu systems though remain on the Vista ones. Is Dell serious about supporting Linux or was this all just a PR stunt?

Security & Privacy

Windows Defender gives Vista a slight advantage over XP
Vista catches some trojens, viruses, and worms but lets other through undetected

Fixed: Memory leaks that were causing some odd crashes
Fixed: XUL Popup Spoofing, this actually fixes an issue we talked about last week during our discussion on Phishing. Specifically the part where a Phisher could place an image over the location bar to make you think you were are a legitimate website
A couple of smaller bugs were also fixed, it is always good to be running the latest version of your software if you can.

The end of May was the "End of Life" for Firefox 1.5.* so if you have not already upgraded to 2.0 please do so
Firefox 2.0 features include better security including built in Phishing detection, session restore (remember the sites you were on when you closed the browswer).

Immersive Media is the company that actually does the photos
They use a conspicuous VW Bug (which they have several of) to drive down the street and snap the photos.

Gamer's Corner

Editorial ("Power Up")

POI