Buzz Out Loud

Buzz Out Loud 1011: User clips galore

Jason Howell — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:00:00 PDT

CNET's U.S. offices are closed today, but we have a special episode for you. We had so many great submissions to our 1,000th episode that we couldn't fit all the clips in the show and do everything else we wanted. So, today you get all the clips--or at least most of them. Every clip sent to us that is usable is in today's montage. We've credited everyone who sent us a clip, even if there was a problem with the submission and we couldn't use it. You're too cool BOL audience. Thanks for listening! And believe us, we know it's long. You don't have to listen to the whole thing if you don't want to. We'll be back with regular episodes Monday.

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EPISODE 1011

Credits for clips (a huge thank you to all of you!):
Sean P.
lightningboy7
Elie R.
Jared S.
Sam S.
Aaron B. aka AngryFrench
Matt from NIH
Anthony in Michigan
Robert the Consultant in Dallas
Nathan
Tony@TWiT
Shareef from Philly
Uzetaab
The Fabless Damien aka Fabtraption Surveyor
Burke in Detroit
Alfredo O.
Ted the Mechanical Engineer
COBOL-Steve
Joe R.
Frank L.
Aaron G.
Joseph aka AtomicBrahms
Greg S.
Elissa G.
Blair H.
MC Fisticuffs
Patrick the sysadmin in Quebec
Forrest in Texas (somerandombystander)
M. Wong
Warren
Aaron the Delorean Driver
Jeff from London
Chris in Detroit
Michael from NC
Rafa

Buzz Out Loud 1010: Who loves the show? Metrologists

Molly Wood — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:48:00 PDT

On today's show, we discover that Microsoft is a fine American company that thinks nothing of shafting its highest-paying users or subjecting the entire Internet to multiple episodes of projectile vomiting. And Apple shouldn't be forced by some pissy little upstart to change its perfectly legitimate EULA. And don't even get Cooley STARTED on sending self-replicating nanobots to Mars. Good times all around. Plus: Metrologists!

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EPISODE 1010

Microsoft to offer Family Pack for Windows 7 Home Premium
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=1145

Some Vista users say they’re getting the Ultimate shaft
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10277506-56.html

Psystar out of chapter 11 with new Xeon-based models
http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/02/psystar-bounces-back-from-chapter-11-intros-new-high-end-hardwa/

Bing expands its piece of the search market pie in June
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/07/bing-grabs-a-larger-piece-of-the-search-market-pie-in-june.ars

Microsoft chucks vomit ad
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10278063-71.html

Traffic rockets to Twitter site
http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/technology/newsid_8129000/8129340.stm

Can Twitter trademark “tweet”?
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/07/will-trademarkhungry-twitter-beat-tweet-to-genericide.html

Firefox 3.5 downloaded 5 million times in first 24 hours
http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/07/firefox-35-downloaded-5-million-times-in-first-24-hours.ars

And it’s the third-fastest browser in the world.
http://crave.cnet.co.uk/software/0,39029471,49302846,00.htm

But Chrome is getting extensions
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10277385-2.html

NASA Suggests Nano Robots To Explore Mars
http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/07/02/138237/NASA-Suggests-Nano-Robots-To-Explore-Mars

VOICEMAIL
Jason in Marietta on Natali’s tax idea.

Poor Anthony

EMAIL
Tom
Hi Buzz Crew,

I smiled as I listened to your discussion on measurements in episode
1008.

Being a metrologist [met-rol-o-gist] or measurement scientist (not
meteorologist, that is weather) it always amazes me that most people
take the measurements that support every facet of their lives for
granted.

Without all the metrologists that go about their jobs each day,
measuring and calibrating everything in the background, in mostly
unseen laboratories, you wouldn’t even be able to get out of bed in
the morning.

Who has the time standards used to set your alarm clock, metrologists.
Who calibrates the scales that were used to make and package your
food, metrologists.
Who calibrates the measurement systems used to generate and monitor
your electric power, metrologists.
Who calibrates the temperature systems for your weather reports,
metrologists.
Who calibrates the liquid flow systems used to measure the gas
(petrol), diesel etc. into your car, Cooley?, metrologists do.
Who calibrates the measurement systems used to make medicines,
metrologists.

I could go on but I think you will see what I am getting at.

While it may sound like a boring job and definitely not a high profile
glamourous job like a podcast host, it is one of those things that
goes on in the background helping to make your day go smoother.

I love my job and while metrologists are only a small group of people
in the scheme of things, I find it tremendously satisfying to know
that what my colleagues and I do, ensures that we all live better lives.

Love the show.

Mark (the metrologist)

PS: See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrology if you want to know
more about metrology.

Buzz Out Loud 1009: Pirate Bay or Cruiseship Bay?

Tom Merritt — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:59:00 PDT

As the new owners of the Pirate Bay take over they will have to eventually change things and sell out. So Rafe has dubbed them as Cruiseship Bay. We also discuss the pyrrhic victory of RIAA over Usenet.com and Rafe and Natali hate some more on Verizon.

Listen now: Download today's podcast
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EPISODE 1009

RIAA triumphs in Usenet copyright case
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10276607-93.html

Cash for Pirate Bay file-sharers
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8128551.stm

Twitter reworks following lists, adds functionality
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13515_3-10276568-26.html

Obama adminisration lauches IT spending tracking site
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/technology/01dashboard.html?_r=1

Verizon says house shoppers crave high-fiber Internet diet
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/06/verizon-says-house-shoppers-crave-high-fiber-internet-diet.ars

New Click-Fraud Attack Is Stealthiest Yet
http://it.slashdot.org/story/09/06/30/2237256/New-Click-Fraud-Attack-Is-Stealthiest-Yet

Frustratingly long secret code enables totally useful landscape email on Pre
http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/01/frustratingly-long-secret-code-enables-totally-useful-landscape/

GDGT launch
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10276755-2.html

Chicago ‘burb ditches red light cameras, no safety advantage
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/07/chicago-burb-ditches-red-light-cameras-no-safety-advantage.ars

Most Complete Topographical Map of Earth Complete
http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/06/30/1650208/Most-Complete-Topographical-Map-of-Earth-Complete

VOICEMAIL
Nick wants to take over the world… or at least the Internet

EMAIL
in an effort to confirm Molly’s suspicion of AT&T as the worst 3G network, i present this link to PC World’s 3G test they ran in 13 U.S. cities

summary:
Verizon=fastest
Sprint=most reliable (by a small margin over verizon)
AT&T=blows (~20% less reliable than the other 2)

and a good note at the end that seems to be a recurring statement:
“Somewhat surprisingly, our testers also found that the “bars of service” readings on their phones were rarely an accurate predictor of the quality of the ensuing connection. In most places and with most wireless providers, the “bars” did little more than indicate whether the phone had access to some service or to no service.”

thanks for an entertaining show
corey
http://www.pcworld.com/article/167391/a_day_in_the_life_of_3g.html

**********

Hi Buzz crew,

Just a quick e-mail on the subject of the Amazon referral scheme and the
impact of local tax legislation here in Hawaii.
When the legislation went through state and house, very few locals
seemed aware of it, then all of a sudden one of the members of a major
local tech community site here, TechHui, caught wind of it and alerted
everyone:
http://www.techhui.com/profiles/blogs/urgent-help-stop-hb1405-the?id=1702911%3ABlogPost%3A44364
From there numerous letters and petitions to house representatives and
Governor Lingle went out explaining the significant financial impact it
was liable to have on local business and citizens, along with TV and
radio interviews; no doubt, though, a number of residents here not
members of techhui were surprised to receive e-mails telling them their
referal income was suddenly being stopped by numerous websites, not just
Amazon.

Today it was announced that Governor Lingle has decided to Veto the bill
(HB1405), amongst others:
http://www.hawaiisenatemajority.com/wp-content/upLoads/2009/06/govs-veto-list.pdf

That was one significant hurdle, now all that’s left is to persuade the
House not to override her veto. It’s an amazing tribute to what local
communities can do if they collaborate and put the pressure on.

Paul, the Brit in Hawaii.

**********

Two things..
I don't see any risk of microbes from earth infecting another local planet, since any microbes already on the planet are well adapted to local conditions and our microbes would be wimps in comparison.
Likewise microbes from space is not a real concern...do you have ANY idea about how many different microbes/viruses are already on this planet (check out Bergey's manual for a list of sorts..it is the bible of microbiology). The competition on this planet is extreme..
Have you not heard of Darwin?
From: Bob..Your tame microbiologist.

Your discussion about NASA was very interesting....it seems to support the concepts I've outlined at http://www.h2liftship.com , which has had no response to speak of since I put it up...such is the risk of being way forward thinking..

Thanks,
Bob Freeman

**********

Hey there buzz crew
This is Rohan from India.

It is my first time writing to you guys.

Regarding the whole debate over the caps lock key, how about adapting
the “double tap” of the shift key like the iphone/ipod touch to
regular keyboards. I too accidentally hit the damned caps lock key on
my macbook and just wish that they would get rid of it.

On other topics (just to fuel your anger towards your telecom
companies), we Indians only have to pay 1 paisa (the “cent” of Rupees)
for sending an SMS, and nothing for receiving. If you take the current
exchange rates, that would be just 0.00021 U.S. cents. Enjoy!

Oh by the way, we converted to the Metric system in 1954 and just last
year have also planted our Flag on the moon. You can ask ISRO (Indian
Space Research Organization) to help you convert NASA’s Imperial
measurements.

love the show!

Rohan

Buzz Out Loud 1008: China delays pr0k-blocker

Tom Merritt — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:05:00 PDT

China has delayed required installation of Green Dam Youth Escort, but we find out it does a better job blocking pork than porn. Whew. Protect those kids from the piggies! Also a big win for remote cable DVRs! And the Pirate Bay got sold. You can sell it?

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EPISODE 1008

Swedish company to buy Pirate Bay
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10275759-83.html
http://thepiratebay.org/blog/164

China Delays Mandating Filtering Software
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124636491863372821.html

China also filters Jonny Depp, Garflield, and Paris Hilton
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE55T26Y20090630

Remote Cable DVRs are legal: Supreme Court denies appeal of Cablevision decision
http://www.betanews.com/article/Cable-DVRs-are-legal-Supreme-Court-denies-appeal-of-Cablevision-decision/1246290931
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/06/cablevision-remote-dvr-stays-legal-supremes-wont-hear-case.ars

Senators want to bar contracts to foreign companies selling IT to Iran
http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090629_3881.php

With 3.5 launch, Firefox faces new challengers
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10275396-2.html

Amazon drops Rhode Island just like they dropped North Carolina
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124630810805070105.html

Toyota thinks up mind-reading wheelchair
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10275267-1.html

New HTC Hero ROM leaked, Flash 10 already chugging along on a few lucky G1s
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/30/new-htc-hero-rom-leaked-flash-10-already-chugging-along-on-a-fe/

First manned solar plane unveiled in Switzerland
http://green.venturebeat.com/2009/06/30/first-manned-solar-plane-unveiled-in-switzerland/

VOICEMAIL
Dan likes the new lineup

Bruce about CapsLock

EMAIL
Just passing along this story where they said apple’s solution to the universal charger is to include an adapter from dock conector to micro usb, so no new hardware on the horizon…

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/news.phtml/25149/next-iphone-charges-via-micro-usb.phtml

Love the show!
Javier Ardila

**********

The discussion of metric is interesting to me as we changed over here in Canada when I was in grade 4 or so. Now, what happened to those of us in this generation is that we know an odd mish mash of units. Temperatures outside, well that is in Celsius, but when I cook I use Imperial measures, including temperature. The temperature of my parents' pool, I still do that in F. Distances and speeds while driving, km and km/h are fine, distances to object, metres are great, but when I measure to say repair something in the house, I use inches. Oh and I am 6 foot 1 inch tall, and weigh about 175 lb, I have no idea what my height or weight is in metric. (I could convert of course, but I don't).

I am just confused.... My 15 year old daughter on the other hand, does everything in metric, no problem.

Dave (the psychologist)

Buzz Out Loud 1007: Crank up the beats on space

Tom Merritt — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:59:00 PDT

NASA may have found the lost moon tapes and our best hope is for some kind of remix. Also, Molly tells us all to beware the sticky death roller if we use the dead-fly-powered alarm clock. We also still don't have a sponsor. In case you were curious.

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EPISODE 1007

Steve Jobs returns to work as Apple CEO after medical leave (thanks, Nate Lanxon on Twitter!)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aSy0WezEGvvY

Sony considers adding phone to PSP
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10274415-1.html?

Sony begins shipping PCs with Green Dam software installed
http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/vulnerabilities/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=218101773

Google mistook Jackson searches for Net attack
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/06/29/003214/Google-Mistook-Jackson-Searches-For-Net-Attack

Amazon cuts off North Carolina affiliates
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/06/26/172248/Amazon-Cuts-Off-North-Carolina-Affiliates

Keeping news of kidnapping off Wikipedia
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/29/technology/internet/29wiki.html

Reading machine to snoop on Web
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13639_3-10274435-42.html

Universal phone charger deal done in Europe
http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/technology/newsid_8124000/8124293.stm

Lenovo expanding Del and Esc keys, nuking Caps Lock
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/06/28/lenovo-expanding-del.html

Has NASA Found the Lost Moon Tapes?
http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/06/28/186245/Has-NASA-Found-the-Lost-Moon-Tapes

VOICEMAIL
Dance in Boulder on Windows 7

E-MAIL
Dear Buzz Crew:

This is Siavash, alive and yet fighting.
You think airing trilogy of Lord of the Rings is a big thing? The channel 3 is going to AIR the whole Prison Break series, ha? What you have to say about that? I've heard it is 3 episode a day.
This is really stupid, let me tell you something, in Iran we have 7 channels over the air, analog and digital with standard definition, in Tehran less that 50% of people watch the Iranian TV and they mostly watch satellite TV. And most of the people have watched these movies and series on DVD, so who cares that they are aired on TV?
And there are some people like me that never watch Iranian TV. I don't have a antenna for Iran's TV , and I only watch satellite TV.( who chooses watching Mullahs instead of watching MTV?)
My source of movies and series are satellite TV and torrent download (sorry, but no copyright law here and I really love to watch the latest series and movies).
Series like Prison break, Lost, Heroes, Office, Friends, CSI , 90210 , 24 and etc are big hits and everyone watches them in DVD or downloaded Divx.

So, all I'm trying to say is that it does not matter if they air Lord of the Rings or Prison Break, because at least in Tehran no one cares and more than 60% percent or more don't watch any Iranian TV. We can buy a copied DVD for 2$ or an original one for 15$, now I buy BlueRay disks for 30$, why should we care what is one the TV when we can watch it with better quality and no censor?
They are doing anything they can to keep people off the streets but they can't, even one day marathon of Angelina Jolie movies can't do it.

Best Regards

Siavash

**********

It’s not enough that humans gave robots a place to congregate to plan our demise, now we’ve adapted them with the ability to extract fuel from the very nectar of life. All that innocent experimentation with fuel cells that run on blood has led to this, a flesh-eating clock. This prototype time-piece from UK-based designers James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau traps insects on flypaper stretched across its roller system before depositing them into a vat of bacteria. The ensuing chemical reaction, or “digestion,” is transformed into power that keeps the rollers rollin’ and the LCD clock ablaze. The pair offers an alternative design fueled by mice, another contraption whose robotic arm plucks insect-fuel from spider webs with the help of a video camera, and a lamp powered by insects lured to their deaths with ultraviolet LEDs. Man, this is so wrong it has to be right.

Michael

**********

The crew at BOL:

You had a round of derision for english units on the replacement for the
space shuttle. I’m glad to hear that you will be reporting the weight
of netbooks in grams, not pounds. The screen sizes will no longer be in
inches. Your CD’s and DVD’s will no longer be 5 1/2 inches. You won’t
be reporting how many pounds you lost on your last diet, and you will
report that the iPhone masses 0.135 kg instead of weighing 4.8 ounces.

As a practicing engineer (29 years), I have an intuitive understanding
of my designs in inches. I can convert to metric easily when needed,
but I have a storehouse of experience in English units. Unfortunately,
I’m passing that on to newly minted engineers, as well.

Charlie

Yes, as a matter of fact, it IS rocket science.

**********

I know one can’t predict the exact date of any given episode due to holidays, special episodes and what have you, but based on the average number of podcasts per month over year in the 2006 – 2008 period, I believe I can make at least a rough projection. I am greatly anticipating Buzz Out Loud’s Millionth Episode in October of 6120, give or take a decade.

Love the show.
-Mark, the person.

Buzz Out Loud 1006: Butt-nibbling robots

Tom Merritt — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:59:00 PDT

Artists are developing robots that can consume flies and rodents. That means they'll get a taste for flesh. What could go wrong? They come for your butt, that's what. We also take NASA to task, and discuss the effect of Michael Jackson's death on the Internet and what it might mean for future emergencies. All that and some ageism.

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EPISODE 1006

News sites swamped following Michael Jackson’s death
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10273325-93.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10273277-93.html

Sony encouraging nongaming apps on the PSP Go
http://kotaku.com/5302722/sony-encouraging-non+gaming-apps-on-the-pspgo

HTC: Hero UI upgrade for existing phones possible, but not on T-mobile USA versions
http://www.mobileburn.com/news.jsp?Id=7352

Google Voice invites on the way
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/google-voice-invites-on-their-way.html

Thumbing Windows 7 onto Netbooks
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10273188-56.html

Iran tries to pacify protesters with "Lord Of The Rings" marathon
http://idle.slashdot.org/story/09/06/25/1535219/Iran-Tries-to-Pacify-Protesters-With-emLord-Of-The-Ringsem-Marathon

Iran Not Blocking Online Games
http://kotaku.com/5302711/iran-not-blocking-online-games

Nielsen recommends not masking passwords
http://it.slashdot.org/story/09/06/25/1856214/Nielsen-Recommends-Not-Masking-Passwords

Buzz Aldrin’s radical plan for NASA
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/air_space/4322647.html?page=1

Gallery: Domestic robots with a taste for flesh
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17372-gallery-domestic-robots-with-a-taste-for-flesh.html

VOICEMAIL
Garrick on kids wanting stuff on demand

E-MAIL
Hi buzz crew. after watching episode 1005 i was wondering since i am looking to buy a new laptop in the summer. if i get the eligibility to get the free upgrade to windows 7, is it possible to not install the upgrade on my new laptop instead install windows 7 to my desktop which is around a year old and is running windows vista ultimate? – Jonathan

**********

Hey buzz crew, Jim Gooch, buzz town Computer Forensics guy here…
Just a quick note concerning the free windows 7 upgrade program.
I’ve put off purchasing 6 computers so that I could get the upgrade today. Much to my
dismay, I was told that I was not eligible for the upgrade program because I was Downgrading
to XP and this was a Microsoft decision. so, defeated, I purchased the computers with
Vista Business and promptly called Microsoft. I was a bit miffed that Microsoft had the
gall to use all the purchases that I have made over the two last years to pad their Vista
“Sales” numbers, then turn around and tell me I had no right to the benefits of purchasing
vista if I didn’t RUN it!?! so, once I was speaking to Microsoft I was informed that Dell was
in fact wrong and that I was entitled to the free upgrade!

Armed with the website:

https://windows7upgradeoption.com/ProgramInformation.aspx

which states:

PCs that are licensed for a Program-eligible Windows Vista edition which have been down-
graded to Windows XP are also eligible for this Program. However, a clean installation of
the upgrade media will be required unless you used recovery media to install the original
Windows Vista edition pre-installed on the PC, in which case you can directly upgrade to
Windows 7.

I was able to reorder the machines with XP and got the free windows 7 upgrade.
props go to “Paul” at Microsoft Pre-Sales support for his help in this.
I thought your listeners might benefit from my plight.

**********

Hey Buzz Crew,

In episode 1004 you reported how NASA will not convert to metric units because of “the cost”. I actually worked on the Constellation program for a few months shortly after graduating college. Almost immediately, I was horrified at what I saw from within NASA’s walls. Logisitically, engineers at NASA and most of their contractors live in the 50’s. There *are* computers present, but they’re in terrible shape and locked down to a point of being almost unusable. To install Linux on a project box I had to wait 3 months for approval from Washington (I worked at the cape), and I quit before I heard anything. In order to pull up engineering specs, you can’t simply view them as a PDF from a database. You need to look up the part number, which is truncated because the system was built the year I was born (literally), make a PHONE CALL down to the document center, put in an order for a printout, and a couple hours later pick up your printout or request them to physically scan it and then send you a PDF. Not only that, but there are major buildings in horrific disrepair, such as the Vehicle Assembly Building.

Sorry for this depressing e-mail, but people need to know about the state of what was once our nation’s crown jewel. NASA needs a major reset. It has a culture that oppressively resists change and technological investment at every opportunity to a point where I believe it actually costs them more money and potentially more lives. If Obama shut NASA’s doors (I hear Brian Cooley cheering) in favor of privatized space flight, such as Space-X, I wouldn’t be surprised nor disappointed.

Love the show!

Mike the surfing chip designer in FL.

Buzz Out Loud 1005: I'm Bill Gates, this beer is warm

Tom Merritt — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:59:00 PDT

Bill Gates is part of a team that has patented a new beer keg. Sure it could be used for other things. But the point was we're pretty sure he came up with the idea when drinking warm beer in Africa. We also talk about porn on the iPhone and new Windows pricing.

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EPISODE 1005

Microsoft Windows 7 pricing revealed: pre-orders kick off June 26th
http://www.slashgear.com/microsoft-windows-7-pricing-revealed-pre-orders-kick-off-june-26th-2547957/
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10272703-56.html

AT&T’s 3G upgrades to improve iPhone service
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10271450-94.html

WSJ publisher calls Google 'digital vampire'
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20090624/FREE/906249985

Porn comes to the iPhone
http://macenstein.com/default/archives/4693
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/25/apple-pulls-adult-content-app-from-app-store-anyone-surprised/

Web filters to censor video games
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/games/web-filters-to-censor-video-games-20090625-cxrx.html

China throttles Google, U.S. ratchets up trade war over Green Dam
http://government.zdnet.com/?p=5026

MetroPCS $5 unlimited international calling
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE55N59U20090624

Bill Gates on beer keg patent application
http://gizmodo.com/5302082/bill-gates-applies-for-patent-on-high-tech-keg
http://www.techflash.com/microsoft/Bill_Gates_wants_a_better_beer_keg48998721.html

15-Year-Old Invents Algae-Powered Energy System
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/06/24/2223245/15-Year-Old-Invents-Algae-Powered-Energy-System

VOICEMAIL
Helen has something…er… for Cooley

Sean from Boulder on Windows

EMAIL
This will be my first “well actually” but as a mechanical engineer I
thought it worth pointing out that converting between units on a
complicated platform like the space shuttle is probably a bit more
complex than entering a few searches in google. Unfortunately, you
can’t just replace every 1/4″-20 x 1″ socket head cap screw with a
M6.35-1.27 x 25.4 screw. For one, the hardware doesn’t exist, and two,
the nomenclatures are different. You would actually have to reengineer
quite a bit to make a functioning system using only metric units.

It may be the bane of every freshman engineering student in the US,
but mixed units are the current reality.

Chris the LabVIEW Guy

***********

Hey Buzzcrew,

Just wanted to pass along a thank you. In large part to your constant harping about the DMCA takedown procedure’s lack of consideration for fair use, I decided to tackle the issue as the topic of my paper topic in my Copyright seminar this past semester. I got an A in the class and sumbitted it to a copyright writing competition. I won the competition at the local level and will move on to the national competition. I got $600 from ASCAP for winning at the local level, so it turns out the ASCAP is actually good for something.

If you have any interest in reading the paper, you can find it here (warning- it’s long).

-Will the lawyer in Milwaukee

***********

Hey All,

So Tom, from episode 1003, you had a 1977 Maverick? Tell us about it.
I had a 1969 and a 1977 Maverick at the same time.
Bought the ‘77 new, my 1st new car ever. Loved the ‘69 and cussed the
‘77 most of the time.
The 1977 had a 302 engine and by the time all the pollution crap was
hung on it I think it had less
power than the 1969 did with it’s straight 6 (170 c.i.d. I think). ‘69
was fast and had great fuel mileage.
Did you have a CB too or was that just a Midwest thing? Would that
qualify as the original form of Twitter?
What’s your 10-20 good buddy? I bet Cooley had a CB, am I right?

Anyway, The good old days, huh.
kenwarf02

p.s. Note of pride, that login was my first for the BOL Chat room of
episode 1000,
so I figure I probably won something for getting you to 1,000 in the
chat room.
http://www.lovefords.org/galleries/images/77_maverick_orange.jpg
http://www.ehuggydesigns.com/ford-maverick.jpg

Buzz Out Loud 1004: We have come for your units

Tom Merritt — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:58:00 PDT

Dr. Kiki from This Week in Science joins us to talk tech and science, and we realize that we will all soon wear solar-powered Gundam suits and travel the Earth. That is until they become self-aware and eject us and kill us all. We also take NASA to task and tell you when to get a new Windows PC.

Listen now: Download today's podcast
Subscribe now: iTunes (audio) | iTunes (video) | RSS (audio) | RSS (video)

EPISODE 1004

HTC Hero running Android and Sense UI
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/24/htc-hero-details-begin-leaking-from-htcs-own-website/

China not backing off despite filter code post on Wikileaks
http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/06/china-not-backing-off-despite-filter-code-post-on-wikileaks.ars

Comcast, Time Warner team up to control TV on the Internet
http://gigaom.com/2009/06/23/comcast-time-warner-team-up-to-control-internet-video/
http://newteevee.com/2009/06/23/what-you-need-to-know-about-tv-everywhere/

Dutch gov. wants to tax online media to fund print
http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/06/23/1925228/Dutch-Gov-Wants-To-Tax-Online-Media-To-Fund-Print

NIH funding level correlates with lower U.S. mortality rates
http://arstechnica.com/science/2009/06/nih-funding-level-correlates-with-lower-us-mortality-rates.ars

Free Windows 7 won’t last forever
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10271092-56.html

Windows 7 upgrade program nears launch
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10271742-56.html

OLPC Fork Sugar on a Stick goes 1.0
http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/06/24/1243255/OLPC-Fork-Sugar-On-a-Stick-Goes-10

Switching to solar power, one year later
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/06/23/191230/Switching-To-Solar-Power-One-Year-Later

Deep in bedrock, clean energy and quake fears
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/business/energy-environment/24geotherm.html?_r=1&ref=science

NASA sticking to Imperial units for shuttle replacement
http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/06/24/1430236/NASA-Sticking-To-Imperial-Units-For-Shuttle-Replacement?from=rss

Jury reports that Steon’s Orbo does not produce free energy
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/06/23/jury-reports-that-st.html

VOICE MAIL
Alex from Europe about the Mercedes E class

Erin from Punxsatawnee on Verizon customers
http://reviews.cnet.com/best-verizon-wireless-phones/?tag=rb_content;contentNav

E-MAIL

Dear Buzz Crew:
I'm OK guys, and today angry, no not they way you might think, I'm angry on the company I love the most and I have spent thousand of dollars buying their products, and loving them, yes, I'm talking to you Nokia.
As you can see on the article below Nokia has sold a monitoring application to Iran's Telecom, for monitoring calls, sms, mms, and internet usage.

http://www.mobile-review.com/fullnews/main/index_eng.shtml#24832

I have read in some other articles that Nokia has said we sold that application on late 2008 and the agreement says it can be used for limited number of users, mostly for security reasons like tracking and finding spy or anything like that, but the Iranian government is using it to monitor everyone's phone, and this is against Nokia's agreement and term of use and Nokia is going to sue Iran's government.
But who knows?
Have a great day

Best Regards

Siavash

Buzz Out Loud 1003: Natali smuggles drugs in her undergarments

Tom Merritt — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:27:00 PDT

OK, not really. Although she did admit to it. But it had to do with Intel getting into Nokia phones somehow. Or did it have to do with the Clear Pass getting discontinued at airports? Or was it? And there were chickens. And turtles. You have to just listen.

Listen now: Download today's podcast
Subscribe now: iTunes (audio) | iTunes (video) | RSS (audio) | RSS (video)

EPISODE 1003

Like Bigfoot, we now report on ‘Steve Jobs’ sightings
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10270847-37.html

Clear, aka the “TSA Fast Pass,” shuts down
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/06/22/clear-aka-the-tsa-fa.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10270837-16.html

Intel wins Nokia as customer for mobile chips
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=axL1cxJCUAwU
http://www.nokia.com/press/press-releases/showpressrelease?newsid=1324456

ASCAP wants to be paid when your phone rings
http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/06/22/225207/ASCAP-Wants-To-Be-Paid-When-Your-Phone-Rings

Intel demos wireless “resonant” recharging
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/06/22/1714202/Intel-Demos-Wireless-Resonant-Recharging

Mercedes Attention Assist detects drowsy driving by parsing minute steering-wheel inputs
http://sev.prnewswire.com/auto/20090623/NY3650223062009-1.html

iCrack: The iPhone is an accident magnet
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/06/22/icrack-the-iphone-is-an-accident-magnet/

Apple approving apps with push, Beejive goes live
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/06/22/apple-approving-apps-with-push-beejive-goes-live/

Ultrasn0w iPhone 3G unlock for 3.0 is out
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/23/ultrasn0w-iphone-3g-running-3-0-unlock-is-0ut/

Kodak kills Kodachrome
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/06/22/1921210/Kodak-Kills-Kodachrome

Cyborg turtles
http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/06/23/video-meet-yuu-chan-the-teenage-cyborg-ninja-turtle/

VOICEMAIL
Andy in Wisconsin about Twitter charity from Green Bay Packer

Jeff in San Francisco on BOL at doublespeed

E-MAIL
Hi buzz Crew

In Episode 1002 you talked about that a country with 95% broadband
cover is no 1?

All I can say is:

W T F(ragg) !!!

Here in Austria (home of the Governator) we have a 99% coverage with
HSDPA 7.2 MBit !!!

Plus at home I have (via Cable) unlimited 100MBit for only Euro 74!

So suck it Korea: Austria is the King of the Internet!

LTS

Alex

PS: We are the Kings of Phones to. Not only you can get here the
Iphone 3g for 1 euro or a free PS3 if you sign a 2 year datacard
contract – i am on a mobile plan were I GET 6 eurocent for every
Minute someone calls me on my cell!

TOP THIS WORLD

**********

Hey Tom,

I’m not sure what I think about this article (a bit too colorful for
me), but if true, it’s pretty amazing that this guy was able to locate
and recover his lost iPhone.

Cheers!
Donnell in Ann Arbor, MI

**********

I just saw this trailer for this movie (it`s only coming out here now)
and could not send you this. When was it that tom predicted a movie
coming this exact title? “Laughing Out Loud (LOL) the movie” is a
typical teen movie, about a disfunctional little family about a mother
and her teenage daughter discussing drugs, boys, love and sex. A
typical hollywood movie, except for the fact it’s in french.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1194616/ page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-deBkirN8s trailer

alex, from rio

**********

Dear Buzz Crew:

I want to thank you guys for your support and care. It really means a lot to us (Persians).
Now a days in Tehran life has two different segments. First segment is from the morning till the noon around 12:00 to 13:00 that every one goes to work and do their usual stuff and from 14:00 to night we are on the streets fighting for a free and new Iran. So through this hard time (drink) one of the thing keeping me fresh , and eager to have some hours to myself is CNET podcasts, it makes me forget about everything and enters me in the world of tech and fun. Few days ago Natalie's theory for the Panasonic remote control on Gadgettes made me laugh so hard, I could not remember the last time I laughed like that.

Anyway, keep up the good work; I appreciate your care and attention, hoping for Freedom in Iran.

Best Regards

Siavash

Buzz Out Loud 1,002: The French Connection

Tom Merritt — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:25:00 PDT

Without Rafe and Brian Cooley on the show, we felt it was safe to have French tech podcaster Patrick Beja on the show to talk tech. Don't worry, he speaks in English for this show. We talk about the iPhone phenomena, the poor penetration of broadband in the US, and how HD-DVD is still beating Blu-ray.

Listen now: Download today's podcast
Subscribe now: iTunes (audio) | iTunes (video) | RSS (audio) | RSS (video)

EPISODE 1,002

T-Mobile announces second Google phone
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10269459-94.html

Google to cut China porn results
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8112971.stm

Steve Jobs had liver transplant
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10269685-37.html

Apple’s Biggest iPhone launch ever: More than 1 million sold
http://www.businessinsider.com/apples-biggest-iphone-launch-ever-more-than-1-million-sold-2009-6
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10269991-37.html

Apple’s $30 apology for iPhone activation delays?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10269855-37.html

Pwnage Tool for iPhone OS 3.0 now live, ultrasn0w still on standby
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/20/pwnage-tool-for-iphone-os-3-0-now-live-ultrasn0w-still-on-stand/

US 20th in broadband penetration, trails S. Korea, Estonia
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/06/us-20th-in-broadband-penetration-trails-s-korea-estonia.ars

LG Electronics adopts ARM processors in TVs--to help with Web 2.0 features
http://digital.venturebeat.com/2009/06/22/lg-electronics-adopts-arm-processors-as-digital-tvs-move-toward-web-20-features/

Blu-ray Adoption Soft, More Still Own HD DVD
http://slashdot.org/story/09/06/22/1339213/Blu-ray-Adoption-Soft-More-Still-Own-HD-DVD

Report: FTC to go after blogger freebies
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10269962-38.html

Patrick Beja’s projects
http://frenchspin.com/en/

VOICEMAIL
Randy in Hawaii about Sprint

EMAIL
Heya BuzzCrew- (I have to go back to this default since I no longer know which day folks are on…)

So just reading thru twitter and found a very interesting blog post:

http://is.gd/18Y3w

The first post seemed a VERY bad thing, major unknown DRM on the Kindle. “Luckily” there is a 2nd post--that seems to try and clear up the original DRM problem, but has found that Amazon is just as confused and may not be ready for the forthcoming storm of download problems…

Cheers from Oxford (where we still aren’t allowed to buy even the first Kindle yet)!
Tom Merritt the Doppelganger

**********

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8109267.stm

This is a very interesting news story about the British top 40
singles, which has for many years only been based on record sales but
now they're thinking about including last.fm streams in their stats.
This is very good as it all those sites are really popular here.

What is more interesting is the stats halfway through the story about
single sales, that have gone up in the UK from 30 million in 2003 to
over 115 million in 2008. That is a fivefold increase. How dare the music
labels say they are losing money when this is the case. If anything
it shows that people are more interested than ever in music.

Well done on 1,000 shows.
Love the show

Jon the computer network manangement and design student from Portsmouth

**********

Hey Buzz Crew,

I was driving around town today, doing errands and listening to Buzz Out Loud. When I heard about Bozeman job services requesting applicants to provide username and passwords for social networking sites, I was totally in denial. Molly, Tom and Jason talking about Bozeman, MT? How could this be? Afterall, Bozeman is no Silicon Valley.

As a current resident of Bozeman, I am glad to hear about my town on BOL, but the story does not put Bozeman in the best possible light. Good thing that they rescinded this policy. Please make sure the Buzz town is aware of this and this can somehow clear Bozeman’s name a bit. Bozeman is a great little town (hmm, the smallest city I’ve ever lived in, but the fifth largest city in MT) with great nature resources all around it and hope you all have a chance to come and visit this area. It is beautiful out here!

Any other BOL listeners in Bozeman?

Sandra

**********

When is episode 2000? Approximately Thursday, June 13th, 2013. [It's the second Thursday of June - gonna have to bump it back a bit]

So how’d I get that? First, I wrote a little script that would go through the months and count the number of weekdays for me. This gave me a nice estimate of how many BOLs there’d be. But it didn’t take into consideration the holidays. So I Googled a holiday list and came up with http://www.opm.gov/Operating_Status_Schedules/fedhol/2009.asp and added those to the spreadsheet, too. I had the spreadsheet do the math for me to remove them and then run a count for me.

I did the last bit by hand, knowing that the last episode of May 2013 would be #1991, I counted into 2000 by hand.

A few other notable or neat episode numbers:
1194 – Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 – BOL’s 10th Anniversary.
1234 – Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
1250 – Thursday, June 17th, 2010 [A third Thursday!]
1337 – Thursday, October 21st, 2010 [A third Thursday!]
1500 – Thursday, June 16th, ts on 1[A third Thursday!]
1750 – Thursday, June 14th, 2012 [A second Thursday - booo]

All of these dates are obviously approximate – Days off for things like CES travel and such aren’t included, nor are double-episode days.

You can see the spreadsheet at http://bit.ly/bol2000math.

Love the show, and ‘grats on 1k!

Tommy in Kingston