Weekly Tech Views – April 30, 2016

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Real tech stories. Really shaky analysis.

First lawn mowing of the season today, thanks to the yearly tradition of a panicked neighbor thinking their pet has run away only to realize it had been standing in the middle of our back yard the whole time. I end up getting a dirty look, like it was me that made them get an easily-hidden pet like a cocker spaniel. But yard work wasn’t going to keep me from bringing you tech news as mangled as the sprinkler I ran over.

For the week of April 25-29, 2016…

 You Can’t Spell “No Expectations” Without NX
Nintendo announced that their new console will be available in March of 2017. They stated that the NX, as it is currently codenamed, is being developed “with a brand-new concept.” There was no explanation as to what the new concept might be, but industry insiders believe it will involve either a new type of controller or, more radically, getting people to buy a Nintendo console.

 So Why Not $1989 Million?
Hackers broke into the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) software to steal $81 million from Bangladesh’s central bank. There was no evidence leading to the perpetrators, but eventually they came forward voluntarily to be interviewed, saying, “Ask us how we did it. Don’t you want to know how we did it? Look, we’ll just tell how we did it–we were able to… oh, man, this is so good… seriously, I just love this… okay, here it is–we were able to tailor SWIFT to our needs. Ha! How good is that? Right? Here, you can have the money back, I really just wanted to say that. Hey Taylor! I hope you’re watching; I love you!”

A Smashing Success
Microsoft’s Word Flow keyboard, whose fanning design allows for one-handed typing, is now available for the iPhone. “Great,” said YouTube executives. “If you thought our walking-and-texting fails were funny before, just wait until people are able to carry things at the same time! The Waiter/Waitress category alone will be a gold mine!

We’re About A Year From These LEDs Becoming EMPs
In other news for those of us who see the “real” world as just a set of annoying distractions interfering with our desire to perambulate* with our eyes glued to our phones, the city of Augsburg, Germany has embedded LEDs in the street that flash red when you shouldn’t walk, BECAUSE PEOPLE CAN’T BE TROUBLED TO LOOK UP LONG ENOUGH TO SEE IF TWO THOUSAND POUNDS OF METAL IS ABOUT TO PUNT THEM ACROSS THE ROAD! Security camera footage will be analyzed by Germany’s Department of Irony to see how many phone users are watching YouTube walking-and-texting fails while crossing the street.

I’m Starting To Think Multiple Football Stadiums Shouldn’t Be My First Purchase
At gaming convention PAX East, Logitech constructed a wall of 160 gaming keyboards that displayed messages and images, with each backlit key serving as a pixel. The display capabilities are certainly impressive, but 160 keyboards on a wall is, frankly, minor league. I have a whole room covered in keyboards because I think it looks cool, and because what else am I going to do with them? Throw them out? Seems a waste since they tend to be less than a month old when they stop functioning as a result of my swinging them against my desk after my latest Mikeville goes bankrupt in SimCity. I buy them in bulk now and keep them in a giant tissue-like dispenser.

Can’t Argue With His Ground Game
It was discovered that a database containing information on 87 million Mexican voters was somehow left unprotected. These voters are understandably upset to have their personal information exposed, but not nearly as upset as Donald Trump when he found out that Ted Cruz somehow picked up 23 delegates from the group.

Do Promoted Tweets Count?
YouTube is introducing six-second long “bumper” ads that will be non-skippable. This will finally provide the data necessary to answer the question How many tweets can I read in six seconds?

This Just In: Social Networking App Delusional
Twitter is now categorizing itself as News rather than Social Networking in the iOS App Store. I’ll admit to hearing about news stories on Twitter, but I’m not a hundred percent sure that makes them a news app. Like when Ted Cruz named Carly Fiorina as his running mate. I was on Twitter, where first I saw a joke about it, then a Boris/Natasha meme, then a Donald Trump reaction GIF. Then, naturally, I went to CNN to see if it was true.

It kind of feels like saying my uncle, who usually spends the first hour we’re together telling dirty jokes, can claim to be ESPN because he took a second to tell me the Indians lost last night.

Know Your Strengths
Google, Ford, Volvo, Uber, and Lyft are part of The Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets, a group lobbying for a standardized set of rules governing autonomous cars. Asked why they were not part of the coalition, a Volkswagen executive glanced up from one of the lawsuits filed against them for faking emission testing results and said, “Yeahhhhh, rules aren’t really our thing.”

Quid Pro No
The FBI said it will not disclose to Apple the flaw that allowed access to the iPhone 5c used by a San Bernardino shooter. The FBI insists this is because they do not know the method used to crack the phone, and not to spite Apple for refusing to help access it themselves. This veracity of this claim came into question moments later, however, when the FBI grabbed Apple’s favorite stuffed animal, held it by the ear between their thumb and index finger, and waved it above Apple’s head, chanting, “Nyah-nyah, mine now.”

How Many Quatloos For Battleborn?
Valve says it will allow Steam users to pay for purchases with Bitcoin. Oh, so we’re still pretending Bitcoin is a thing, huh? That it’s not just a digital version of Monopoly money? Don’t tell me… I can buy Half-Life 3 with it, right? I think they meant to say Bitcoin can be used in some Steam games, like “I demand 38 Bitcoins for the antidote to the Wart of Death.”**

Like I’m Not Going To Buy Her Daring Mistake, The Latest In The Dare To Love Series
Amazon dramatically exceeded analysts expectations in their latest earnings report, thanks primarily to the success of Amazon Web Services and my inability to know when enough $1.99 Kindle books are enough.

 

*   I win this round, Word-A-Day calendar.

** Burning, redness, and peeling may occur. If signs of infection result, see your Wizard immediately.

 

In the Night Attack Movie Draft League, Jennie and Tom continue to rake in cash as if they’d hacked a Bangladeshian bank. Second place and gaining on the leaders. You can follow the chase with the CRUMDUM.

 

Feels good to be able to kick back and not have to worry about the lawn for another eight weeks or so. I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend, too.

 

Mike Range
@MovieLeagueMike

DTNS 2749 – Daily Tech Normie Show

DTNormieS_1400x1400_coverartJennie Josephson & Rich Stroffolino talk about switching between operating systems and why it hurts our brains so very much. Welcome to the pilot of the Daily Tech Normie Show!

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

If you are willing to support the show or give as little as 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:

Hello! It’s Jennie, senior advisor to The Daily Tech News Show. These are not your usual show notes, because this is not your usual DTNS. (Although it is an official epsiode of DTNS, hence the numbering.)

Part of my new role in the DTNS ‘verse is to do a monthly bit of tech-related storytelling.  So I asked long-time DTNS listener, emailer and creator of the post-show wrap up Rich Stroffolino to come on the show so we could work through a tech-related conundrum, switching from a Mac OS to Windows OS, and even more difficult, switching between the two on a daily basis.

This is tech from a normie’s POV, so you’ll hear some places in the show where I ask for your advice. If you have thoughts you can go to reddit and comment here or you can write us at the usual email address feedback at daily tech news show dot com.  Just put something like “DTNormieS” in the subject line so I can find it easily.

Oh and go check out Rich’s podcast, The Novelization Realization Project – it’s a lot of fun.

Let us know what you think!

 

 

DTNS 2748 – Execute Rule 41

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comThe Supreme Court amends court procedures to make it easier to get a warrant to search remote servers. A boon to legitimate law enforcement investigations or open door to trampling privacy? Tom Merritt and Darren Kitchen discuss.

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Using a Screen Reader? Click here

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

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

Follow us on Soundcloud.

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

If you are willing to support the show or give as little as 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
To read the show notes in a separate page click here!

DTNS 2747 – A Wolfram Ate My Homework

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comWhat funding fade? Justin Young reports back from the Collision Conference in New Orleans with tales to tell Tom Merritt of bots and natural language processing.

MP3

Using a Screen Reader? Click here

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

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

Follow us on Soundcloud.

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

If you are willing to support the show or give as little as 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
To read the show notes in a separate page click here!

DTNS 2746 – Blizzard Streisand

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comWhy do game companies like Blizzard have such a rabid following and what does it mean for the future of video game trade shows like E3? Jenn Cutter and Scott Johnson discuss.

MP3

Using a Screen Reader? Click here

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

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

Follow us on Soundcloud.

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

If you are willing to support the show or give as little as 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
To read the show notes in a separate page click here!

#253 – A Tale Of Two Styles

The Hugos are out! We leave the drama to the side for this one and celebrate the novel nominees. But we didn’t waste the drama… we just saved it for our evaluations of TV show and movie-based SFF books! We even brought a little to season our conversation about The Fifth Season and A Darker Shade of Magic. It’s OK to like different styles of writing, folks!

DTNS 2745 – Disclaimer: Beyonce’s Hubby works at Tidal

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comListening to music is a mess. Streaming systems no longer all have all the music you might want. Did they ever? CNET’s Iyaz Akhtar and Tom Merritt discuss what artist exclusivity does to the music fan.

MP3

Using a Screen Reader? Click here

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

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

Follow us on Soundcloud.

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

If you are willing to support the show or give as little as 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
To read the show notes in a separate page click here!

Cordkillers 118 – Steam’s Stream Dream (w/ Jaime Ruiz-Avila)

How the FCC helped cablecos explain why they resist innovation, Apple might make its own original TV shows, HBO NOW FINALLY gets popular.

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CordKillers: Ep. 118 – Steam’s Stream Dream
Recorded: April 25 2016
Guest: Jaime Ruiz-Avila

Intro Video

Primary Target

  • Comcast will bring its Xfinity app to Roku and Samsung Smart TVs this year
    – Comcast announced its HTML5 Xfinity app is coming to Samsung Smart TVs
    – A custom app is coming to Roku.
    – Subscribers to Comcast’s Xfinity cable service can access the channel guide, cloud DVR, and live and on -demand TV.
    Comcast believes this shows the FCC does not need to mandate set-top box compatibility.
    – The FCC told the Verge the new app does not “integrate or search across Comcast content as well as other content consumers subscribe to.” 
  • Disney, CBS, Viacom worry FCC cable box proposal would do to TV what iTunes did to music
    – Several companies inl. Disney, CBS, Fox, A&E, Time Warner, Scripps and Viacom filed feedback to the FCC’s proposed rules to require MVNOs to support third-party cable boxes
    – Companies object that they would lose revenue if they can no longer control the order in which channels appear
    – particularly concerned that these new set-top boxes will offer up shows individually, instead of presenting entire channels as cable boxes
    – Worry about “commitments to secure and protect content”
    – Comcast made a separate filing
    – Added arguments are technical burdens to support the new boxes, might require more bandwidth
    – “In any event, at a minimum, the [FCC’s proposal] vastly understates the level of work, and associated costs, that would be necessary to implement its Set-Top Box Mandate,” it writes.

Signal Intelligence

  • Apple talking original content
    – Feature by Nicole Laporte on Fast Company
    – Apple held a private dinner at Sundance and heard pitches in LA in the weeks that followed.
    – Fast Company says it would be for an “exclusives” app on Apple TV
    – Two “lanes”
    – 1. Beats-driven programming meant to promote music
    – 2. Multiple original series.
    – Alibaba Pictures set up in Pasadena.
    – Run by Zhang Wei, former talk show host and Harvard MBA

Gear Up

Front Lines

Under Surveillance

Dispatches from the Front

Hey guys,

Just listened to last week’s show and was wondering if either of you have tried the Xbox One for its media options.

I am not sure how common this set up is for everybody but an Xbox with kinect, HDMI pass through for a cable box and a harmony remote let’s me easily access anything I want using the Xbox – One Guide.

The One Guide lays out suggestions for movies to rent or purchase, what is popular in most video apps like Netflix, Hulu, YouTube or if you chose to look at your cable provider’s channel guide will list categories such as live TV shows trending on Twitter.

What has really surprised me is that I recently realized how easy it is to be able to say “”””Xbox on”””” which will wake it up and turn on the TV and follow it with “”””watch ESPN”””” and it just finds the channel for me.  (No need to memorize #s) Or I can use a remote, a game pad or cell phone to control everything.

I know one of the features (that admittedly might bother some) is that the kinect will recognize when I’m sitting in front of the TV and have favorites/suggestions loaded based on my profile and the same based on my wife’s profile if she is watching TV.

If you guys have tried it out would love to hear your thoughts.

Cheers!
Byron

 

 

Hi Brian, Tom, Bryce and guest,

I know they are several months away but I was thinking about how I was going to be able to watch this summer’s Olympics. Since I cut the cord I have found ways to get some of the live TV I was missing but sports has been the hardest to find. This will be the first Olympics since ditching cable TV so I was wondering if you know if NBC makes the Olympics available to those of us without a cable box.

Thank you for making my commute enjoyable and educational. I’m happy to say I am one of your bosses.

Jennifer, Stuck in traffic on the Mass Pike

 

 

 

Hey gentlemen got to say something……. YOU JJEERRRRKKKKKSSSSS. You guys just had to say Animaniacs was on Netflix didn’t ya. I was dumb enough to watch the first episode AND NOW I CANT GET THE DAM ANIMANIACS THEME OUT OF MY HEAD AND WANT TO BINGE ON EVERY EPISODE phffft 😛 Jerks 😉 . Even after all these years I remembered the theme word for word, I missed that show. Keep up the awesome work

Robert E from Oklahoma  

The love affair is over. The sling streaming beta blacked out the blues Blackhawks game. I had to prove where I lived to get the channel. Sling is saying they are subject to the same blackout rules as everyone else. This is a lie since local dish and cable subscribers can watch. I got to watch the game earlier this week on Fox sports Midwest without issue. Maybe Playstation view is right for me. 

Sean

 

Bryce asked about netflix country availability:

http://moreflicks.com

That will do more than what you want, but it will do what you were talking about.

Kurt

Links
www.patreon.com/cordkillers

2016 Summer Movie Draft

Hatting The System

Tootz the Unicorn

DTNS 2744 – SWIFT on Security

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comCan Google stop employees from leaving to do startups? Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt discuss project 120 which aims to do just that and give Google some ownership at the same time.

MP3

Using a Screen Reader? Click here

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

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

Follow us on Soundcloud.

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

If you are willing to support the show or give as little as 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
To read the show notes in a separate page click here!