[Download Show #42 as MP3]
News
- Rockstar Announces Future GTA IV Sequal Projects Exclusive to PS3
- While neither Sony or Rockstar have officially announced this, Michael and I felt it important because of the kind of pull GTA has on gamers
- Gamers love their Grand Theft Auto.
- If Sony really does have exclusives on the GTA IV sequals and any other Rockstar games, then they have a serious leg up on Microsoft and Nintendo
- SoundExchange Entrenches Position as IREA Faces Music
- Quick recap: The recording industry got a law passed that requires the folks who run internet radio stations to pay royalty fees for songs play on their stations.
- The problem with this is, a lot of those popular internet streaming radio stations are run out of some person's garage, and they do not have the funds that a real radio station would have. This means that a lot of them would have to shut down
- A group known as SoundExchange are working to change the agreement a little to relieve the smaller radio stations of the fees, at least temporarily.
- Huge Black Holes Sighted Through Dust
- Scientists have discovered some new black holes on the other side of some space dust
- Using X-Ray telescopes to see through the thick dust they have discovered several black holes
- The newly discovered black holes are being defined as "massive"
- This is an exciting new discovery using a relatively new technology
- I wonder what they'll find next.
- J.K. Rowling Answers TONS of Harry Potter Questions
- Don't worry I'm not going to spoil anything for you, if you haven't finished the Deathly Hallows
- But if you have finished the 7th and final Harry Potter book, then you'll definitely want to check out this link I found where J.K. Rowling answers some of the unanswered questions from the series
- Some non-spoilers questions involve a description of the Huffelpuff common room, the importance of socks, and a definitive answer on the question on a lot of people's minds, "Is Snape a bad guy"
- Again, only check this out if you've finished the last book, otherwise you'll be hit with several spoilers.
- Amazon Releases Payment Service to Rival PayPal
- This is mainly a payment service (from Amazon Web Services) for the back-end of websites rather than a way to send money to individuals
- This is a fairly extensive tool-set (API) that developers can use to send payments through Amazon, giving them a way to easily set up a way to take payments on their website in a much easier manner than the current PayPal tool-set allows for
- If you are designing shopping cart based websites, you might want to look into this as an alternative to PayPal or Verisign
Software / Hardware / Power Web Picks
- Cellular Data Cards
- All companies offer both PCMCIA and USB connection devices with the exception of T-Mobile
- Verizon
- $49.99 - $129.99
- Download speeds range from 400kbps to 2Mbps
- NationalAccess - Slower but decent (up to 1.4Mbps down)
- Broadband Access - Faster (up to 2Mbps down) available in less locations overall
- Sprint
- $9.99 - $179.99
- "Broadband like speeds where available"
- Currently some of the best wireless broadband speeds/location ratio on the market
- AT&T/Cingular
- All Laptop Cards currently on Special at $49.99 (interesting)
- Works in almost as many places as Sprint's Broadband, but not quite as fast at the moment.
- Speeds up to 1.5Mbps, with plans to reach the 7Mbps range in the next year and a half
- T-Mobile
- $149
- Only one option
- Edge Data access Only, no 3G high speed access on T-Mobile currently
- Has a WiFi (b/g) option though, this was the only card that seems to offer this option
- WiMax
- What is WiMax
- a telecommunications technology aimed at providing wireless data over long distances in a variety of ways, from point-to-point links to full mobile cellular type access.
- Designed to be widespread with signal reaching several miles
- Highly scalable
- Currently being looked at as a wireless alternative to Cable/DSL as well as providing nomadic connectivity
- According to the WiMax Forum, there are over 350 current WiMAX trials and deployment
- While WiMax is not widespread at the moment, the technology does show promise.
- Cellular Data Plans
- In addition to the data card, you will need a data plan
- Most companies offer data plans that start around $40
- Sprint
- $40 - 40MB/month
- $60 - Unlimited/month
- Verizon
- $60 - ??/month
- Verizon does not make the data amount for their Broadband Access data plan overly apparent, so you might want to check with your local Verizon representative for more details.
- AT&T
- $30 - 10MB/month
- $80 - Unlimited/month
- T-Mobile
- $50 - Unlimited/month
- When you consider that you are getting internet anywhere you have cell phone service, a price of $60-$80/month is not that bad. All of the major cellular providers run deals on their data plans from time to time which can allow for an even better price. So check your provider's prices & specials regularly.
- How do Secure Yourself on Your Cellular Data Network
- Since a Broadband card is similar to a home broadband internet connection (DSL/Cable Modem) you will need to follow similar rules when surfing and transferring data over the internet as you would if you were on your home computer
- A software Firewall is essential, Windows XP SP2 and Vista both have a Firewall that is on by default
- Keep in mind that things like IM and Email are clear text so people can still read what you send if they are packet sniffing the networks
- Like I said earlier, you need to follow the same rules you would when surfing the internet at home.
- Playing Games over the data cards
- Is it possible
- In theory and for some games most definitely
- You have an internet connection
- Some things to keep in mind
- There is going to be latency invovled
- You'll get some pretty slow ping times as a result of this latency
- So playing games like Unreal Tournament via this connection could prove to be a bad idea
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