DTNS 2461 – Press Button, Receive Bacon

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comPatrick Beja is on today and we’ll talk about whether Amazon’s new Dash Button is bringing retail to far into your home.

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Show Notes

Today’s guests: Patrick Beja

Headlines: 

Microsoft unveiled the Surface 3 (not the Pro, the regular one) and it has an Atom x7 propcessor in place of the ARM-designed Tegra, according to ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley. The tablet starts at $499 has a 10.8” 1920×1280 ClearType HD Display, 2GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage. 128GB storage and 4GB of RAM costs $599. Ports include USB 3, Mini DisplayPort, microSD card reader, and Micro USB charging port and will ship with a free one year subscription to Office 365 Personal. The keyboard is sold separately for $130 and the stylus is also separate for $50. You can preorder the Wifi versions from Microsoft today. You can slo get LTE versions sold through T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless stores in the US later this year.

CNET reports Google announced new Chrome OS devices Tuesday.
The Asus Chromebit is an HDMI stick with WiFi and Bluetooth that will sell for less than $100 this summer. The all-metal Chromebook Flip is a tablet with a keyboard for $249. And two new $149 laptops meant for the education market were introduced. You can preorder the Haier laptop on Amazon and the Hisense laptop on Walmart.
Google intends to release about 10 new Chromebooks in the next few months.

Twitter has publicly launched Curator, a real-time search and filtering tool designed for media outlets. Tech Crunch reports the free service lets users create complex queries to find specific content or current trends. Filters include keywords, usernames, location, language, time zone, follower count, number of re-tweets or favorites, verified users, and can be combined for complex queries. Curator can also natively search through Periscope and Vine videos.

The Verge reports that Android users can now make voice calls on WhatsApp as part of an update that rolls out today.  Click the brand new Calls tab and select a contact to start talking. Voice calling for the app will come to iOS later.

TechCrunch reports Tidal turns out not to just be owned by Jay-Z but 17 other artist and Softbank as well according to the NY Post. The music service will be partnering with Softbank-owned Sprint. Tidal plans to offer limited time exclusives of new releases from artists at around a week in advance of other services. Engadget passes along a Billboard report that Apple-owned Beats’ Jimmy Iovine has already been trying to steal artists from Tidal.

The Wall Street Journal reports Raptr raised $14 million to support the launch of Plays.tv. The new service lets players record, edit and share key gameplay moments. CEO of Raptr, Dennis Fong equated it to the “Share” button on the PS4 for PC gamers. Raptr will be targeting amateur gamers.

The Next Web reports India has begun its national net neutrality discussion. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued a 118-page long consultation paper March 27. Citizens can voice their opinion on 20 questions about on the licensing of internet services in India by emailing [email protected] before April 24. Interesting ly the Cellular Operators Association of India is lobbying against against net neutrality and counts Google and Facebook as members.

IBM will invest $3 billion over the next four years in a new “Internet of Things” unit according to Reuters. Services will leverage data from building sensors, smartphones, and home appliances.As an example, the first major partnership will let customers of Weather Co do things like advise customers of safe places to park in advance of a hailstorm. Great for insurance companies. IBM expects $40 billion in a annual revenue from cloud, big data, security and other areas by 2018.

News From You:

Starfuryzeta sent us the Engadget report that on Monday the US Supreme court clarified and affirmed that if the government puts a GPS tracker on you, your car, or your personal effects it counts as a search and is subject to the 4th amendment’s protection against unreasonable search and seizure. The clarification came in a unanimous ruling on Torrey Dale Grady v. North Carolina. Grady, a twice-convicted sex offender was made to wear a GPS monitor at all times. Grady sued the state claiming this qualified as an unreasonable search. The case now returns to the lower court, and all lower courts will now need to address the 4th amendment in monitoring cases.

Sunbun noticed Amazon has launched a new program called Dash Button. The program gives you a plastic wifi-enabled button you can associate with a limited number of regularly used products like paper towels or razor blades. Push the button and the product is re-ordered from Amazon. Amazon is encouraging manufacturers to build the system into products like coffee machines that reorder beans or water filters that reorder filtration cartridges. The program is invite only for Amazon Prime members.

Starfuryzeta submitted the Guardian report that the Belgian study determined Facebook tracks web browsing at its site even if a user does not have a Facebook account or has opted out of tracking. EU law requires prior consent before issuing a cookie or performing tracking. A Facebook spokesperson said the report contains factual inaccuracies and the authors never contacted Facebook. The studies authors said they would be happy to hear from Facebook.

Discussion Section Links:  

 http://thenextweb.com/insider/2015/03/31/amazons-dash-buttons-let-you-re-order-household-essentials-with-virtually-no-effort/
https://www.amazon.com/oc/dash-button?reqInv=1
https://www.amazon.com/oc/dash-replenishment-service
 https://fresh.amazon.com/dash/ 
 http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/31/amazons-new-dash-button-hardware-offers-instant-orders-for-staple-products/#TQUNqg:pZMw

 

Pick of the day:

Hey Tom, Jenny & Guest,

Came across this cool iphone 6/6 Plus case today and wanted to make it my pick. It’s the ALM mCAMLITE Stabilizer Mount with Video Lens & Mic for iPhone 6/6 Plus.

This all aluminum iphone case turns your stock iphone camera into a wide angle or macro lens, and includes a mic for recording better audio.

I saw an unboxing video/review for this product and it looks really solid. And for $123 on amazon, it’s not a bad price either!

Thanks for a great show as always!

Your boss from BC,
Jamie

Messages

I loved your talk with Molly regarding streaming service. Especially mentioning the Pono service and apathy towards quality of the music. I have to add that regardless of the 24 bit 96/192 KHz lossless files many of the tracks available are just high bitrate versions of blown out and dynamically compressed masters. Something audiophiles snub their noses at. It is a matter of garbage-in-garbage-out. Love the show.

Alisdair in snow covered Moncton (I almost used an expletive instead of snow covered)

Mike in Sunny Beirut:

I personally use Google Music, which offers streaming like Spotify, but also includes my own library to suppliment songs google doesn’t offer. Amazon Prime members have access to a similar service, although with less free storage.

John in lovely Billings, MT :

My service of choice is Google Play Music for one very important reason – you can upload your own music to seamlessly augment the streaming catalog. This came in handy when Taylor Swift pulled her singles when the new album released. You can buy it directly from Google or anywhere else that gives you the MP3s and boom, problem solved.

Rich from Lovely Cleveland:

You briefly touched on this with Molly yesterday, but I think it’s a major point: the fact that albums are becoming a thing again is a testament to the success of Spotify. It’s a major milestone that streaming music has become so ubiquitous that artists now see the benefit of effectively “pre-releasing” their albums ahead of streaming to capitalize on sales, knowing that between Spotify and YouTube they’ll have a consistent revenue stream going forward after the release. This isn’t the death of piracy, but this emphasis on album releases is the validation of the streaming model. Its actually a very exciting precedent.
Sean, on his way to lovely Cleveland:

Re: the Apple Watch. How hard would it have been to use recycled aluminum? Maybe they are, but I don’t recall seeing it mentioned. If an 80’s K-car can become paperclips why can’t old beer cans become an apple watch. Apple uses so much metal that does not need to bear a large load. Maybe they are using recycled material but I have not seen anything to say that they are.

Garin (as in “guarantee”) from Los Angeles:

My “brother” (who is actually my friend *wink*) I have added as one of my family members on my Prime account contacted Amazon Customer service when he had a package that missed the estimated 2 day delivery. The CS agent went ahead and credited MY Prime account with a free month, without any hesitation. Though this might not help the potential “congestion” of Amazon Prime, I thought Molly and other listeners might find this tip may ease their frustrations caused by a missed delivery estimate.  Thanks for the show!

Randy writes:

As a follow-up to Molly’s problem with late Prime shipments, I just wanted to let you guys know that if your package is late, be it the fault of Amazon or UPS, they will extend your Prime membership one month, no questions asked.
In total, since I’ve been a Prime member, I’ve gotten six months free. Just contact them via chat support and getting it extended takes 2 minutes.

=====

Wednesday’s guests: Allison Sheridan!

DTNS 2460 – A Rising Tidal Lifts All Bands

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comMolly Wood and I discuss Jay-Z’s new artist-friendly music service and how albums may be making a digital comeback. IS the future of music iTunes again?

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If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

DTNS 2459 – If the Robot’s on Fire, It’s All About the Bass.

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comDarren Kitchen joins for a robot roundup. Google wants to help make surgical bots and a robotic exoskeleton invades India. Plus Len Peralta illustrates it all. Will he draw a robot? Who can say?

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A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

DTNS 2458 – There is No King of the Jungle

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comJustin Young is here and we’ll talk with Steve Kovach about the new Samsung Galxy S6. Can it save Samsung?

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A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guests: Justin Robert Young of Night Attack.tv and Steve Kovach, senior editor at Business Insider

Headlines: 

Twitter’s Periscope app launched today adding another mobile livestreaming app to the mix alongside Meerkat and others. Like Meerkat, Periscope lets you stream video live right from your phone and see chatting from viewers. Unlike Meerkat, the chatting is in app, not on Twitter, you can tap the screen to send hearts AND the biggest difference, Periscope archives videos for viewers to watch later. Periscope also lets you choose to tweet a link or not, and even invite selected people to private broadcasts.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge go on sale worldwide April 10 and US preorders will begin March 27. The Verge reports US pricing is between $20 and $35 a month on AT&T and T-Mobile. And PC Mag reports the HTC One M9 will also be available for pre-order in the US starting at $649 at 12:01 AM Eastern March 27th. The M9 hits stores April 10.

TechCrunch reports Amazon expanded its Cloud Drive service today. While Amazon Prime users can already get unlimited photo storage, non-prime users can now pay $11.99 a year for unlimited photo. All users can pony up $59.99 a year for unlimited storage of all media. You can try it free for three months.

Bloomberg reports its sources say Apple is working with Foxconn to begin a trade-in program for iPhone in China as soon as March 31st. Apple retail staff would assess the phone and offer credit. Foxconn would then repair the devices if needed and sell them through its own e-commerce sites and through Alibaba’s Taobao.

According to an Engadget story Reuters reports China’s Cyberspace Administration of China said that sexually explicit pictures and text including nude photos and erotic animation and stories of “one-night stands, wife-swapping, sexual abuse and other harmful information” will be subject to punishment if shared on WeChat. Accounts found to be in violation will be closed for a week on the 1st offense and permanently banned after 4 infractions. WeChat has around 438 million users in China and another 70 million outside the country.

The New York Times reports Trent Reznor who was chief creative officer for Beats prior to Apple’s acquisition, is playing a major role in a redesign of the service, according to Apple employees familiar with the product, who spoke on the condition they not be named because the plans are private. – ooh, new one! The redesign reportedly includes a subscription music-streaming service, and would incorporate curated playlists and more visual appeal from the Beats Music app. However, the report says Apple could not convince record labels to lower licensing costs.

Reuters reports a group of investors led by Japan’s SoftBank is in talks to buy a 20% stake in Indian handset maker Micromax for up to $1 billion. That values Micromax at $5 billion. Canalys reported Micromax became India’s leading smartphone provider in the 4th quarter, though Samsung, who did hold the lead, disputes the finding.

Like to ride in silence? Don’t take Lyft. The New York Times reports that Lyft will add user profiles for drivers and passengers to its app, including the option to add a hometown, musical tastes and other things that make for interesting conversation. If a user has connected their Facebook account, the Lyft app can show drivers and passengers if they have mutual friends. The new feature is meant to help passengers in the Lyft Line carpooling service to get know their new friends.

The Verge reports Microsoft’s universal apps will now be called Windows Apps. In an attempt to limit confusion and simplify things in Windows 10, engineer Don Box, revealed the new naming convention at a WinHEC developer event. “Windows apps runs on all devices, Windows desktop app is PC only. Windows apps run everywhere.”

 

 

 

 

News From You:

KAPT_Kipper pointed out the European Commission press release calling for a Digital Single Market. The proposal wants to tackle geo-blocking, simplify VAT arrangements, make parcel delivery more affordable and efficient and balance copyright between the interests of consumers and creators.

the_corley sent us some awesome space news. NASA has decided on a plan for its Asteroid Redirect Mission that sadly does not involve Bruce Willis or capturing an entire asteroid. Instead, NASA decided that the ARM robotic spacecraft will take a boulder from an asteroid’s surface, then put it into orbit around the moon, where it can be studied and sampled. The Asteroid Redirect Mission is scheduled to launch in 2020.

 

Discussion Section Links:  

http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-s6-first-impressions-2015-3
http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/26/8292311/galaxy-s6-edge-price-colors-verizon-att-sprint-t-mobile
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/a-first-look-at-the-samsung-galaxy-s6-and-s6-edge/?_r=0
http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-s6-edge-preview-photos-release-date-2015-3?op=1
http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/samsung-galaxy-s6-release-date-rumours-news-specs-and-price

 

Pick of the day:

Hi Tom and DTNS Crew , I’m $1 worth of a boss and I thought of a pick on the way home in grey and windy London (see pic attached) for you to let everyone know about. Of course everyone knows about Amazon Prime and how good its 2 day US and next day UK delivery, and instant video etc, but did you know you can share the prime delivery perks with your family members who live at the same address for free? Just go in to your prime account management and invite family members and its done and they get the free 2 day/next day delivery.

Keep on keeping on

Jody

Messages

Tom (I’m assuming all of these points will be in the discussion section today, but my two cents),

…I find myself much more compelled to use Meerkat. I’ve been coming around to the ephemeral nature of Snapchat for a while now, and I like the fact that with Meerkat, I can create a live stream of doing something silly to make a few of my friends laugh, but then I don’t have to worry about it following me around on social media down the line. Its temporally limited nature feels like it allows for more “authenticity” at the expense of production quality— Maybe Meerkat vs Periscope will become like Snapchat vs Instagram, their focus is completely different even though there are some surface similarities, and we’re only comparing them now because they both run on top of Twitter (arguably to Meerkat’s detriment now). Or Meerkat will be the next Chat Roulette and be dead in a month.

Also, by being able to save streams, isn’t Twitter opening itself up to a world of hurt (or at least inconvenience) with copyright issues?

Rich from Lovely Cleveland

=====

 

BOL REUNION!

Just announced: The Buzz Out Loud 10 Year reunion on March 29th at 12:30 pacific /3:30 p eastern and 7:30p GMT! It’s free! Tom, Molly, Veronica, Jason and many other special guests! Tickets for the event at the Hak 5 warehouse are available at http://bit.ly/BOLreunion but if you want to attend online you don’t need even need a ticket. The event will stream live on Alpha Geek Radio and on YouTube with more details forthcoming.

Buzztown’s Back!

 

Friday’s guests: Darren Kitchen and Len Peralta!

DTNS 2457 – Orwellstralia

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comPeter Wells is on the show to help review the F8 announcements and bring us up to speed on Australia’s move to allow warrantless metadata surveillance of all its citizens.

MP3

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Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.

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A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s Guest: Peter Wells, editor of Reckoner.au

Headlines

Lots of announcements from Facebook’s F8 developer keynote this morning. So let’s run through them. The big one was Messenger Platform. This allows developers to integrate Messenger into their apps. For example you can go from Messenger to the Giphy app to find that perfect animated GIF then back to messenger to send it to a friend. Or jump to the ESPN app to grab a story and send the link to a friend. Facebook is also trying out business communication over Messenger with Everlane and Zulily. Customers can talk to customer support and get order updates through messenger.

More from F8! Facebook will now support 360-degree ‘spherical’ videos in news feed which will also be supported in Facebook-owned Oculus Rift. You can also now embed Facebook videos on other sites, providing a direct challenge to YouTube.

Facebook also updated the comment system so that comments on a story Facebook sync with Facebook embedded comments on that story’s web page and vice versa.

And Facebook’s platform-as-a-service product Parse announced Parse for IoT, Enhanced Sessions to improve app security, support for React and a new debugging tool. The first step for IoT is an SDK for Arduino with other SDKs to come.

Engadget reports Sony announced the “yukimura” update will come to the PlayStation 4 tomorrow bringingthe long promised suspend/resume function that lets you go from sleep mode into a paused game. You also get the ability to back-up and restore to an extrenal USB drive, the ability to share to DailyMotion and search your Facebook contacts to find anyone who is also a PSN member. Finally verified accounts arrive to identify developers, producers, designers and community managers.

The Daily Dot has sources that say YouTube is planning to relaunch its live streaming platform with a renewed focus on live gaming and esports. YouTube has apparently recruited a team, of up to 50 engineers with expertise in the streaming industry. The company will likely make an official announcement on its revamped streaming service around E3 in June.

Engadget reports Leap Motion announced it’s building an optional faceplate to add motion sensing to Razer’s Open Source Virtual Reality headset. The faceplate will be an option for the OSVR dev kit expected to be available for pre-order in May with units shipping in June at the earliest. Leap hopes to embed its motion sensors in more VR headsets.

Gizmodo reports Ford has introduced technology that limits a car’s top speed based on posted speed limit signs in the UK. The Intelligent Speed Limiter will be available on the Ford SMAX (S-Max? Or Smacks?) and uses a dashboard camera to keep an eye on road signs, adjusting the speed of the vehicle accordingly. Speed limit data can also be pulled from GPS systems if installed. If the vehicle exceeds the set speed limit, an audible warning alarm is triggered and the vehicle’s engine stops getting fuel until it slows down enough.

TechCrunch reports Apple has acquired FoundationDB, a company specializing in NoSQL databases. FoundationDB was well known for its ability to handle ACID-compliant transactions quickly and strong scalability of its database technology. TechCrunch notes the acquisition could bolster Apple’s server-side infrastructure for the App Store, iTunes, cloud services or rumored live TV service. A notice on the FoundationDB website notes that downloads of its database software is no longer available.

The Verge reports a free-to-play game called Halo Online will launch in closed beta this spring in Russia. The game was developed by 343 Industries along with Saber Interactive and Innova Systems. It will be a multiplayer only version of Halo 3 designed to run on low-end PCs. Activision recently partnered with Tencent to bring Call of Duty Online to PCs in China.

 

News From You

djsekani submitted the Verge article that Radio Shack put its database of 13 million customer email and 65 million physical addresses up for auction as part of its bankruptcy proceedings. Dominant shareholder Standard General won the bid but the court must approve. Attorneys general from Texas and Tennessee have challenged the purchase on the basis that Radio Shack’s privacy policy says it will not sell customer information. AT&T also claims it is the rightful owner of some of the data. The US FTC has previously allowed data like this to be sold in bankruptcy cases as long as the privacy policy is maintained and the buyer is in the same general line of business.

habichuelacondulce sent us the Verge story about Amazon’s testifying before a Senate subcommittee that the drone approved by the FAA is already obsolete. The FAA took a year and a half to process Amazon’s application to fly one specific model of drone. Amazon’s VP of global policy Paul Misener claimes the European Aviation Safety Agency, which treats drones as a new category of aircraft has a dramatically shorter approval time. Amazon also argued for automated flight to be allowed not just line of sight. Misener warned that drone innovation would suffer and development could move overseas to take advantage of less restrictive legislation.

Hobbit fromPA saw that ReCode saw a document outlining a new Google service called Pony Express that lets you receive and pay bills from within Gmail. Gmail users have to verify their identity with a third party and provide account numbers. Once done, bills show up in a special folder and users can choose to p[ay them from within Gmail, using a linked credit card or debit card. The service is scheduled to launch in the fourth quarter.

 

Discussion Links: 

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/abbott-government-and-labor-reach-deal-on-metadata-retention-laws-20150319-1m2ozj.html
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/401876,offshore-storage-to-be-allowed-for-australian-data-retention.aspx
http://www.zdnet.com/article/team-australia-your-surveillance-is-ready/
http://www.zdnet.com/article/greens-propose-warrants-for-all-under-data-retention-amendments/#ftag=RSSbaffb68
http://www.afr.com/news/politics/how-to-get-around-the-metadata-laws-and-leak–to-me-20150325-1m74io
http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/25/tech-giants-call-for-clear-strong-and-effective-end-to-nsas-phone-metadata-surveillance/?ncid=rss

 

Pick of the Day:  Sublime Text

Hi Tom & Jennie

On Friday’s show the listener’s pick was learn Python the Hard Way. This got me thinking about a pick that I’ve been meaning to send in for a while.

Sublime Text is a plain text editor with loads of useful features. In fact I’ve used it for several years as a web developer as my main editor. I even wrote my university dissertation using it! There’s also lots of plugins for it to assist with editing all sorts of languages or just plain text files.

Both major versions are free to use with a “unlimited trial”, which basically means every 15th time or so you press save you’ll have to close a popup window. Which sounds annoying but if you’re just editing the occasional file I think its totally fine.

So if you’re ever in need of a lightweight, easy to use text editor which is supported on all desktop platforms, Sublime Text is my go-to recommendation.

Keep up the good work,

Ali Smith a.k.a fortythieves in chat

P.S. [Feel free to ignore this during the show] I’ve been a bit slack on this myself, but I just wanted to put out a quick reminder that bestofbot is still a thing and archiving the best bits of DTNS :)

Message of the Day

It seems lately you or guests have made a mention to divx when talking about something that has failed. On episode #2453 JuRY mentioned it after talking about the DRM on LED. This was the last straw. There is no way you could be talking about DivX (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DivX) the video codec because its a codec. It either is used or not but fail is kind of a strong word for a media wrapper.

So I did a search of the tubes in the event there was another meaning and sure enough Wikipedia has the answer. DIVX (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIVX) was a Circuit City video rental service. I have no knowledge of this and I think I would have been their target audience.

Thank you for the great shows!

-Jim

======

Just wanted to let you and your audience know that the docket and some of the pleadings in the RadioShack BK case (case# 15-10197, Delaware), are available via the RECAP project on archive.org if they care to peruse (otherwise Pacer access cost $0.10 PER PAGE). While a Chapter 11 case is a morass of legalese and somewhat arcane procedures, it may be of some interest, if for nothing else then getting a glimpse at the inner workings and relationships of a large corporation. For a more readable version, your listeners can also checkout https://cases.primeclerk.com/radioshack , which does a better job of presenting the same info.

Rich from Lovely Cleveland

========

Rafael: Listening to the show and yes I use my roku in a hotel with a software program called connectify hotspot which creates a router based on hotel Wi-Fi.

Tomorrow’s guests:  Special early time at 11am PDT, 2pm EDT, with Justin Robert Young and Steve Kovach of Business Insider. 

DTNS 2456 – Facebook Times

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comPatrick Beja is on to discuss the rumored Facebook plan to bring NY Times and others pages into Facebook. Is it crazy to think it’s NOT a bad idea?

MP3

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A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here or giving 5 cents a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s Guest: Patrick Beja, DTNS contributor and independent podcaster, host of host of Pixels, Le Rendez-vous Tech and The Phileas Club

https://www.patreon.com/RDVTech

Headlines

The New York Times reports that the New York Times may be among media sites in talks with Facebook to host content within the Facebook site. The New York Times would not comment to itself on the matter. According to several of the people briefed on the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were bound by nondisclosure agreements, he idea would be to improve the load time of links to news pages by not sending people away from Facebook. News sites would possibly sell ads on the pages. National Geographic and BuzzFeed are also allegedly considering the partnership.

Business Insider passes on a report from AdWeek’s Sam Thielman that Google will soon test a system to target and track TV ads on Google Fiber in Kansas City.  Sponsors could deliver ads in real time and match the ad to geography, type of program or viewing history.
Viewers would have to opt out of having their viewing history used for targeting. — Also Google Fiber is coming to Salt Lake City which will make our friend Scott Johnson happy I think.

Tom’s Hardware reports Logitech has replaced the venerable Peformance Mouse MX with the MX Master. The MX master is slightly larger and lighter than its predecessor, sports 5 buttons vs the original’s 9 but adds a gesture button, and features a thumb wheel on the left side. The mouse comes with a USB dongle but also supports bluetooth for up to 3 devices. MX Master uses Logitech’s Darkfield Laser Sensor for use on glassy surfaces and adjustable DPI setting from 400 to 1600 DPI in 200 DPI increments. The MX Master will release in April for $99.

CNET reports that a software update for Amazon’s Fire TV and Fire TV stick— will make it easy to sign in to things like hotel WiFi that usually require a browser.  The update also adds support for USB connected storage, compatibility with Bluetooth headphones, as well as shortcuts to sleep, display mirroring and prime music playlists. The update will roll out over the next few weeks in all countries where the stick is available.

The Verge reports Kyle Pflug, Microsoft’s Project Spartan program manager wrote on the IE Blog that the new browser Project Spartan will be the exclusive engine on Windows 10. “Internet Explorer 11 will remain fundamentally unchanged from Windows 8.1, continuing to host the legacy engine exclusively.” So long IE.

News From You

ccastro425 and Johnsie776 both noted stories on the first two lawsuits against the US FCC’s Open Internet Order. The Verge reports industry group USTelecom filed suit in Washington DC challenging the Title II classification as not “legally sustainable.” US Telecom does not have issue with the rules themselves, just the legal basis for them. Texas ISP Alamo Broadband filed suit in New Orleans claiming the new rules cause the business harm. The FCC believes the suits will be dismissed. The new rules have been made public but have not been published by the Federal Register and will not go into effect until 60 days after that publication.

starfuryzeta sent us the IT World report that Microsoft will have 8k video compatability in Windows 10 for displays larger than 27 inches.  Windows 10 will also support 4K resolutions on PCs with screen sizes of 8 inches or higher, and on small-screen tablets and smartphones with screen sizes of 6 inches and higher.  The OS will support 4K video codec HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding, aka H.265).

the_corley posted the Ars Technica report that a US District Court Judge Vernon Broderick has ruled against China’s Fentago software, ordering its domain names be seized, social media accounts blocked and payment processes cut off. Decryption licensing body AACS brought legal action over the sale of DVD ripping software. Fentago claimed it had stopped selling the software in the US and the court had no jurisdiction elsewhere. The Judge noted the tools are still available in the US and Fentago’s explanations as to why were not credible. It is doubtful whether registries in Japan, Germany and China will obey the order.

KAPT_Kipper noted the Verge story about Twitch’s decision to reset user passwords, stream keys and YouTube and Twitter connections after the discovery of unauthorized access to some user account information. In an email to affected users Twitch wrote the compromised information possibly included username, email address, password (which was cryptographically protected), the last IP address you logged in from, and first and last name, phone number, address, and date of birth.

doorsrio sent us the story from NDTV that India’s Supreme Court struck down Section 66(A) of the Information Technology Act finding it vague and unconstitutional. Section 66(A) read: “Any person who sends by any means of a computer resource any information that is grossly offensive or has a menacing character; or any information which he knows to be false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine.” Section 66(A) is part of the larger Section 66 in the IT Act which deals with computer related offenses. It was amended to the IT Act in 2008.

Discussion Links:  Facebook’s Walled Garden of Links

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/24/business/media/facebook-may-host-news-sites-content.html
http://consumerist.com/2015/03/24/news-sites-consider-moving-their-content-inside-facebook-because-that-worked-so-well-in-the-aol-era/
http://recode.net/2015/03/24/jonah-peretti-explains-why-buzzfeed-is-happy-to-cut-a-theoretical-deal-with-facebook/
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2009/02/jurassic_web.html
http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users/
http://newsroom.fb.com/company-info/

 

Pick of the Day: Trip Log Mileage via Mark Wonsil

Hi Tom,

In these taxing times, citizens of many countries might have to keep track of their mileage and there’s a pretty slick app available on iOS and Android that helps one track automobile expenses either by mileage (with gps) or actual expenses. It’s called TripLog. The results can be sync’d to the cloud and it produces some nice reports for your accountant.

https://triplogmileage.com/

Thanks!

Mark Wonsil
Not surprisingly in Detroit, MI

Message of the Day

Hey DTNS folks,

I’ve been listening to Tom break down tech news for right around 8 years now. I think this is the first time I’ve written in.

I think varying the visual makeup of security warnings is a horrible idea. Yes, people take them less seriously when they see them a lot, but I have encountered several successful phishing scams that used pop-ups disguised as security warnings. If people can be fooled by these when they look passably similar to their existing warnings what is the click-through rate going to be when they don’t know what an actual warning should look like? I just think sometimes complacency is an acceptable risk.

Love the show,

James the Aircraft Mechanic,
Rainy Lake Charles, Louisiana