Saturday, April 11, 2009

Show #125

News
  • The Conficker Worm
  • New Twitter Client for the Mac Desktop: Nambu
    • 1 for full featured but unresponsive
  • Time Warner set to introduce tiered pricing for bandwidth
    • 5GB: $29.99/month
    • 10GB: $39.99/month
    • 20GB: $49.99/month
    • 40GB: $54.90/month
    • 100GB: No information yet
    • Biggest argument by Cable companies: small percentage of users forcing caps
    • (my argument: If such a small percentage, target those users because the 98% doesn't need a cap)
    • Test-beds for this cap structure going into markets where no competition is available
    • Homework assignment for users: Find out how much you use per month and then compare it to the pricing structures
  • T-Mobile / HP to use Android OS for netbooks
    • Microsoft claims they have 98% of netbook market despite no rise in sales
    • Netbooks are about cost saving, why pay premium for a low feature item
    • Microsoft should be giving this OS away (like they did with Win95) in order to corner market
  • .69 songs a missing commodity on ITunes now that new Price Structure implemented
    • Promoters decide pricing structure, which give no incentive to lower prices
    • most older songs stayed put at .99 with some raising price to $1.29
    • (derek open up itunes and get me some supporting numbers)
  • MLB dumps Silverlight
    • War inside browser being waged, who controls the media delivery mechanism
    • Microsoft = Silverlight, Adobe = Flash, RealMedia = dead
    • Olympics dumped Silverlight, now the MLB?
    • last year plagued by glitches, admin needed to install, etc.
    • Big hit because MLBAM also streams NCAA tourney and 2009 Masters
Sponsor
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Don't just take our word for it...

Gamer's Corner (Conferences, New Developments, Game Reviews)
  • Beatles: Rockband and Canon CD simultaneous release Sept. 9
  • Soldiers Choose Game, instead of film, to recount Fallujah
    • Notable because the younger generation of soldiers is choosing a medium that they are comfortable with to tell their story (not movies)
    • Will feature all sides of the conflict: Soldier, Villager, Insurgent
    • Konami promises that this will be realistic
  • Free Game: The Power of Paint
  • WoW note: 3.1 forthcoming
    • End-Game furthered - Ulduar: Dwarves gone wild (NE Stormpeaks)
    • DUAL SPEC - BIIIIIG game changer, only ooc and cast time to change your whole build
    • No equipment manager - got pushed
    • New holiday "Noble Garden" was pushed also
  • Jack Thompson's unconstitutional bill gets vetoed in Utah, takes fight to airwaves
    • Disbarred Florida Nut that really is just into grand standing and has chosen his target as gaming
    • Wanted law in place that forced M games to be put under lock and key and was giving stiff penalties if this didn't happen.
    • Stupid because rating system is voluntary and would force ppl away from rating their game
    • Claims on radio that Doom was a trainer for Columbine, Germany shooting was CS and Far Cry 2's fault
Intarweb Goldmine


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Saturday, April 4, 2009

Show #124

News
  • Google April Fools
  • GMail This Day in Tech History
  • Windows 7 RC Available in May 2009
    • Steady iterations of Beta. Now at 7068
    • Will Windows 7 help re-establish stranglehold on consumer market and buzz gallery?
  • Mobile Media (i.e. cell phone) Internet Usage on rise
    • 50% of Mobile phone internet usage happens from IPhones
    • Touchscreens: The top handset on each carrier is a touchscreen. T-Mobile has the Android device, the T-Mobile G1, Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) has the BlackBerry Storm; AT&T (NYSE: T) has the iPhone and Sprint (NYSE: S) has the Samsung Instinct.
    • Top five smartphones: Globally they are: iPhone (above, top), Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N70 (above, left), BlackBerry 8300 (above, right), Nokia N80, and Nokia N73. In the U.S.: iPhone, BlackBerry Curve, BlackBerry Pearl, Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Centro, and HTC Dream (G1).
    • OS Breakdown: Symbian lost market share in February, but is still number one worldwide with 43 percent of requests; the top Windows Mobile device is the Samsung BlackJack II, but six of the top 10 Windows Mobile devices are from HTC; Android accounts for 5 percent of the US smartphone market; iPhone generated 33 percent of worldwide traffic and 50 percent of US traffic.
  • Recharge your electronics via movement
    • Scientists working on nanogenerator
    • Uses tiny nano wires that react to vibrations to generate electricity
    • Electricity can then be used to fuel electronics
    • Being studied and prepared for military applications but personal devices also targeted
  • Kitchen PCs - The wave of the future?
    • At about $600 to $800, kitchen PCs could be to desktops what netbooks have become to notebooks today: cheap, cheerful alternatives to overpriced, overpowered machines.
    • Kitchen PCs offer a stylish form factor, a touchscreen interface to get to e-mail, weather forecasts, calendars, news or recipes — all wrapped up with an attractive price tag.
  • The Computer Work That Played an April Fools Joke on the World
    • Like Y2K the Conficker virus was set to "wake up" this past Wednesday on April fools
    • And it did, but no commands came down -- it was a dud.
  • Google Ventures
    • Google ammasses a $100MM venture fund (news story)
  • Blu-hoo-hoo: Blu-ray No More: Netflix Increases Blu-ray Cost by 500% and I quit!
    • First Bluray and HD DVD was a free add-on to your existing Netflix service, I was in love with Netflix and was enjoying the spoils of Hi-Def -- but I knew it couldn't last forever.
    • Then Netflix moved with the industry and removed HD DVD and stuck only with Bluray, they even vowed to get all of the latest releases, and that they have. As far as customer service I have no complaint!
    • Then the first e-mail came, they were adding $1 to my subscription, a sigh of relif, no biggie, that made sense, the discs were a little more expensive than DVDs, the demand was not super high at the time, but as demand increased the $1 would make a big difference for Netflix, or at least I thought
    • This past week I received the e-mail that made me change my mind, Netflix (NFLX) decided to raise the Bluray cost from $1 to $5 for me added on to my already $20ish/month subscription, that's 5X the previous cost!
    • Now I can say that on more than one occasion my wife and I have experienced a Bluray come in with a crack in the actual disc, Netflix I assume pays to replace these -- one would assume not at full cost, but still if this occurs a lot (and I have to assume it does, because as I said, its been more than a few times) this could be part of the price increase, or it could just be inflation.
    • The price increase is also not the same across the board, the more expensive (or more discs you have out at a time) the higher the increase. It's $1 more than the number of DVDs out at a time, so if you have a 4-DVD plan like me, its $5 extra dollars ($28.99 instead of $23.99), if you have a 8-DVD out plan, it's $9 extra dollars ($56.99 instead of $47.99)
    • If you have Netflix and you have Bluray enabled and this sounds too pricey for you all you have to do is click 'Your Account' at the top right, and click 'Change Bluray Access'
    • About 10% of Netflix's subscriber base has Blu-ray enabled, and on average Blu-ray costs as much as 30% more in stores, but this demand for Blu-ray is new on Netflix and has risen to this level through a 60% increase over the last six months, I am curious how many people are going to jump ship.
  • Skype now LIVE on the IPhone App Store for Free
    • Sound quality reportedly pretty good
    • News of this going Live hit Twitter first
    • Will this change the face of cell phone usage? (probly not since your paying premium price for at&t service)
Talk Points
  • Dilbert Moment:
    My boss walks in, says his boss can't use my report due to crappy pc. Not my report I say, fix his pc. "No, i can't tell him that. U need to fix report". So I'm "fixing" a non-broken report.
  • Will spam be the death of Email?
    • Easy to codify
    • No cost whatsoever to send en-masse(except marginal programming costs)
    • According to Google, 94% of all email is spam
    • Possible solutions:
      • Paid
      • Black Lists
      • Opt-In feature (i.e. Facebook and myspace)

Sponsor
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Gamer's Corner (Conferences, New Developments, Game Reviews)
  • PS2 Price Drop
    • Now $99, going on 9th year
    • 2500 titles out for this console
    • Looking to compete with Wii, but not sexy or casual friendly enough
    • Where is our PS3 price drop?

Intarweb Goldmine


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Saturday, March 28, 2009

Show #123

News
  • OnLive Cloud Gaming Console
    • Video Demo from GDC
    • 1 milisecond lag
    • VOD for gaming
    • Future gaming
      • Crysis Wars
      • GRID
      • Mirror's Edge
      • Burnout Paradise
  • Dell Having Troubles entering Phone Market
    • Lackluster PC sales eating into its profit
    • Phone OS really is the next-gen profit cow (see IPhone)
      • It's more likely the hardware that is the profit cow
      • Even Apple gives away the latest version of their OS to their users
      • Right now it is because it lacks features other phones take for granted
      • But they are setting the precident, and Android has promised even before iPhone to be the OS that is upgradable for free
      • So getting the hardware that works, and maintains the functions and battery life you want will be the future of phones.
    • Its really the hardwareOr has the boat been missed because
    • PocketPC not glitzy enough, despite its utilitarian roots
    • Will they buy Palm to get PRE?
  • Twitter announces Pro account
  • Facebook, Yahoo, Aim all jumping on Twitter craze
    • Facebook was one of the first there
    • Yahoo Updates is coming soon and will likely be integrated into Y!'s very popular e-mail service
    • AOL Site Social
  • Skype now #1 International Phone Provider
    • International calls via Skype grew 41% in 2008
    • That made Skype 8% of all of the International traffic combined last year
  • IPhone Hits 17 million sales Landmark
    • Sucker born each day
    • Great device but it feeds the monopoly
      • The devices do come locked to specific networks
      • That is the work of the networks, not of Apple
      • And lots of people have successfully unlocked their phones to use with other providers
    • Article on why Carriers rule the market

Talk Points
  • Alternatives to the Universal Remote
  • The New Canon Digital Rebel 500D T1i
    • 15.1MP up from 12 in XSi
    • HD Video (no autofocus)
      • 1080p @ 20fps (unusable)
      • 720p @ 30fps
    • 3.4fps burst shooting (170 JPEG buffer)
    • Thanks to Canon for letting me play with it ($899 kit/$799 body)
  • What would make the IPhone a perfect device? (This discussion at the top of the show during the iPhone segment)
    • Slideout Qwerty keyboard
    • Non-locked device
    • No Data plan option

Sponsor
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This will give the customer free ground shipping in the continental U.S.

Gamer's Corner (Conferences, New Developments, Game Reviews)

Intarweb Goldmine

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Saturday, March 21, 2009

Show #122

News
  • Apple Catches up to Industry with IPhone 3.0
    • Cut and Paste
    • Spotlight (Search)
    • Support for MMS
    • A2DP Stereo Bluetooth
    • 1000+ new APIs (Turn-by-turn directions... etc)
    • iPod Touch = $9.95 upgrade fee (bluetooth now available on the touch)
  • Google Voice
    • SMS Forwarding
    • Google Contact Integration
    • Unlimited Groups
    • Still Free
    • Integrated Calling Out
  • Dell Unleashes Adamo
    • MacBook Air Equiv
  • IE8 the last IE version from Microsoft?
    • WebKit instead?
    • What is WebKit?
  • Amazon doesn't want your Kindle to be more useful
    • threatened the smackdown on a site offering instructions on how to trick the Kindle into reading other types of files.
    • Russian guy figured it out, Amazon threatened DMCA, said he was circumventing processes
    • kindlepid.py, allows e-books purchased legally from other stores to play nice with the Kindle
  • Star Wars Live Action TV Series
    • casting is already in motion
    • Set between Revenge of the Sigh and A new Hope
    • Focus on minor characters and help fill in the storyline
    • Hopefully this is better than the cartoon movie that was released

Talk Points

Sponsor
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Gamer's Corner (Conferences, New Developments, Game Reviews)

Intarweb Goldmine
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Saturday, March 14, 2009

Show #121

News
Steven's Twitter Feed

Talk Points
Sponsor
Doghouse Systems
Here is the code: POI

Gamer's Corner (Conferences, New Developments, Game Reviews)

Intarweb Goldmine
  • Chinese Establishing Military Space Station
    • Don't tell the chinese that it's fatal to shoot a gun in space...
    • US MOL project, 1967, surveillance purposes
    • Chinese guy sitting at the porthole with a pair of bino's....
No Alchohol, just plenty of beef....
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Saturday, March 7, 2009

Show #120

News
  • Thought Identification Through Technology (FMRI's) - User Submitted
    • Not Mind Reading but "Thought Identification"
    • FMRI's show where the activity is in the brain at a given time (think heat-map)
    • Computers identify these heat maps with objects, hammer, nail, boat,house
    • Shown to have very high accuracy when using simple objects
    • Already research is brisk when it comes to complex thought structure
    • Are your brain patterns like DNA or should they be treated more like your thoughts?
  • Amazon Backs off Text-to-Speech with Kindle 2
    • Oops, our bad. We know it's legal but we don't want any headaches
    • Authors and Publisher's can now "opt-out" of the robotic service
    • Should Accessibility experts now be up in arms because the new device is now less accessible?
  • On-Demand Online (Cable companies wanting their pound of flesh online)
    • Comcast is coming up with a service, similar to Hulu, that will deliver streaming content from their network to your computer
    • Will be restricted to Comcast subscribers
    • Trying to protect their business model where they are the content providers over the Internet and can still charge you requisite money, because they are still paying a "per-user" fee to the networks they host
    • 34% adults watch at least 1 video a week on the Internet, up from 20%
    • At least they are coming along and trying to adapt (not anti-agile like RIAA)
  • TV.com Releases Streaming Player for Iphone, CBS shows included
    • Showtime and CBS shows will be on the Iphone
    • Works best in Wi-Fi mode but still serviceable in cell mode
    • Spotty coverage currently (no CSI, etc)
    • Direct Response to Hulu and also a shot across the Apple IStore's bow
    • Can create favorites and subscriptions

Talk Points (pick one or two and we move the rest to next week)

Sponsor
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New Laptop
  • Pre orders only - $50 Jinx Gift Certificate
  • 17" display 1920 x 1200 resolution (just like your 26" displays!)
  • Single or dual video card (CrossFire) configuration
  • Single or dual hard drive options
  • Backlit keyboard
  • Excellent service - call anytime during daylight hours for order status and tech support
  • Performance driven
  • 10 years experience building high end servers
  • 48 hour burn-in process
  • OS comes pre-installed with WoW (not on recovery CD)
  • Plenty of upgrade options yet simple enough to not be confusing during checkout


Gamer's Corner (Conferences, New Developments, Game Reviews)
  • Tabula Rasa Ending with a Bang
    • Failed MMOG going out with a bang
    • Instead of closing down the servers with a whimper, giant invasion planned.
    • Atomic weapons will be used...
  • Quake Live Open Beta
    • Play Quake III Arena online and in your web browser
    • Be prepared to wait in queue currently (avg. 30 mins)
    • ROCKET JUMP BABY!

Intarweb Goldmine
  • WE HAVE ARRIVED!!!!
    • Gamer targetted Gillette commercial and product "The Gamer Razor"
  • Star Trek Cologne and Perfume
    • Red Shirt Cologne - Because tomorrow may never come...
    • (reference to the no-name landing party members who always managed to die, they always wore red shirts)
  • No Armed Woman Gets Pilots License
    • Congenital defect, Lady has no arms and functions normally
    • Can play the piano with her feet, and even fly an airplane (you have to watch the video)



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Saturday, February 28, 2009

Show #119

News

Talk Points
  • RIAA Against Harvard Law
    • Defense of Joel Tenenbaum: 7 songs at issue
    • Multiple tries to settle with no help: last offer $10,500 from RIAA
    • Law states up to $150,000 per infringement
    • Harvard Professor outraged (Charles Nesson) and decided to take the case Pro Bono
    • Students using a real court case as their Thesis through Prof. Charles Nesson
    • Obscure rule that student lawyers could be at trial in Massachusetts under a real lawyer
    • Judge Gertner who is digital savvy: "basically bankrupting people, and it's terribly critical that you stop it."
    • Now the case will be tried live and on the Internet
    • Not recompensed but gaining invaluable experience

Sponsor
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Gamer's Corner (Conferences, New Developments, Game Reviews)

Intarweb Goldmine


MMMMM. I so want ....

Pew Pew Pew...

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Saturday, February 21, 2009

Show #118


News

Talk Points
Sponsor
Doghouse Systems
Here is the code: POI
This will give the customer free ground shipping in the continental U.S.

Gamer's Corner (Conferences, New Developments, Game Reviews)
Intarweb Goldmine

Worst Ad Placement Ever....

Just because....

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Saturday, February 14, 2009

Show #117

News
  • M$ Confirms 6 separate Windows 7 SKU's
    • M$ because the separate SKU's are a pureplay for money
    • Why ruin your great marketing push by muddying the water with too many SKU's
    • People just want clarity and knowledge that they chose the right thing
  • Sirius-XM File for Bankruptcy
    • The blogs are screaming that the end is near
    • Filing for bankruptcy, 3.4 billion in debt
    • Satellite airtime is waaay expensive
    • reliant upon new car sales, economy tanking = less sales = less subscribers
    • Insider Information: Sirius XM looking to restructure and cut costs but don't plan to go out of business
  • Microsoft Ends Public Windows 7 Beta
    • Public release now closed
    • Microsoft mentions that they are near a "Release Candidate" but give no mention
    • Still available if you're an MSDN or Technet subscriber
  • Kindle 2 Released
    • 3G wireless, Cloud Friendly (backups to cloud and syncing), Thinner than IPhone, 16 shades of grey, 2GB Storage, mini USB Charging, Longer battery life (2 weeks), Pleasant Text to Speech, 5-way button navigation instead of the old up-and-down wheel.
  • Install Ubuntu on your PS3
    • Make sure you have a usb keyboard and mouse handy
    • Backup your PS3 to a USB drive (save games, user preferences, etc)
    • Sync your Trophies with the server
    • Go get a version of Ubuntu 8.10 and make sure you burn the alternate install disc to DVD
    • Settings -> System Settings -> Install Other OS automatically installs a dual booter
    • Plop the DVD into the cd tray and just follow most of the defaults
    • Pair your Bluetooth keyboard and mouse with the system (keyboard will be problematic but MX1100 should happen automatically with the bluetooth utility)
    • Grab Sixaxis Bluetooth Package.tar.gz and unzip it on your Ubuntu desktop.
    • Double click to install the packages inside, first the "bluez-sixaxis-bin_powerpc.deb" package and then the one named "bluez-sixaxis_rc1.1_all.deb.
    • Applications -> Accessories -> Sixaxis-gui to enable your sixaxis.
    • Now you have fully working Ubuntu on your machine
    • Remember that all X86 packages won't work because it's a cell processor but the SNESX emulator can (see our show notes for instructions on this)

Sponsor
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code: POI
This will give the customer free ground shipping in the continental U.S.


Gamer's Corner (Conferences, New Developments, Game Reviews)

Intarweb Goldmine
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Saturday, February 7, 2009

Show #116

News

Talk Points

Gamer's Corner (Conferences, New Developments, Game Reviews)
  • Texting Death Crash Woman Jailed
    • 21 yr old jailed for 21 months after striking a person and killing them while texting
    • 20 text messages in 2 hours plus various phone calls. Sent a text right before the crash
  • Rifle Stock for DSLR Stability Platform
    • Not the smartest thing to bring a camera stability platform that is shaped like a rifle into a war zone
    • this guy was a soldier and embedded with soldiers though
    • Valid applications for stability platform, photography of moving objects a lot easier
  • Google Streetview Turns up Interesting - Results
    • Larping and Deer strike
  • Wobble boobs and booties on your IPhone
  • Cornify
    • New link on our site because there's nothing that Unicorns and Rainbows can't cure...

(jacket can be found here)

(thank you ELR for digging these up and please leave Lucas frozen)
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Saturday, January 31, 2009

Show #115


[Download Show #115 as MP3]

News



Talk Points
  • What is Microsoft doing right Marketing-wise with Windows 7?
  • TV Switchover Debate
  • Warner Music Backlash

Gamer's Corner (Conferences, New Developments, Game Reviews)
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Saturday, January 24, 2009

Show #114


[Download Show #114 as MP3]

News

Talk Point

Gamer's Corner (Conferences, New Developments, Game Reviews)
  • WoW Patch 3.0.8 Released
    • First since Wrath of the Lich King published
    • World of Warcraft now supports 3-D imaging.
    • Lots of crashing on release day, Revolves around Wintergrasp
    • Can now create Death Knight on any server if you have lvl 70 on account

Intarweb Goldmine


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Saturday, January 17, 2009

Show #113



[Download Show #113 as MP3]

News

CES Stuff

Talk Point

Gamer's Corner (Conferences, New Developments, Game Reviews)

Intarweb Goldmine
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Labels:

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Show #112



[Download Show #112 as MP3]

News
  • HUGE ITunes Change
    • DRM Gone, but so is the old pricing structure
    • $1.29 for all new stuff, $.99 for moderate, $.69 for older stuff

  • RIAA Fires MediaSentry
    • Sloppy work - Investigators would download music files from peoples computers and use that as evidence that they were file sharing, without confirming that the file had been in fact shared with anybody else other than the MediaSentry investigator.
    • Tactic since 2003 and has spawned many Civil Right lawsuits
    • RIAA quietly dropped the company and cites their winding down of "evidence collecting"
    • RIAA states that they will be "measuring the popularity of various online entertainment sites" instead

  • 30 Gig Zune Meltdown on Jan. 1
    • National News, a certain portion of the Gen 1 Zunes stopped working on NYD
    • Source code subsequently leaked and here's the detail explanation
    • They didn't account for leap year properly when day counting.
    • Microsoft's fix: Wait until Jan. 2

  • Mars Rovers 5 Years Old
    • Spirit landed on Jan 3, 2004 and sister, Opportunity, was 21 days later
    • Only expected to function 30 days
    • Both have driven over 12 and a half miles
    • Uploaded 36 Gigabytes of data, 250 thousand photos

Consumer Electronics Show
  • Samsung 7mm TV
  • 150 inch TVs of course
  • NBC coverage, first time a major broadcaster has been there

Gamer's Corner (Conferences, New Developments, Game Reviews)
  • TBD if there is anything noteworthy out there to discuss, kinda quiet

Intarweb Goldmine
  • That's "Wheel Good" - In-Car Microwave
  • Man in Thor Costume Scares Away Burglar
    • There's a web comic out there from "PvPOnline" where one of the chars scares away a burglar by wearing a Thor costume
    • Life Imitates Entertainment, rather than Vice Versa
    • Man comes home, house being robbed, Wearing Thor costume from a halloween party, burglar sees him, gets scared, runs out of the house leaving his shoes.

  • Shouting at your HD can make it slower
    • Tiny vibrations from the soundwaves of your voice can cause latency.
    • Proven with a disk monitor
    • Punchline: "Just like a woman, whisper sweet nothings to your HD and you might actually get farther..." (working on this)

FREE Stuff

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