DTNS2384a – No News is Spanish News

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comJustin Young is on the show and we’ll talk about Google’s decision to shut down Google News in Spain, rather than pay Spanish publishers to list news content.

MP3

 

Using a Screen Reader? click here

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

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:  Justin Robert Young, DTNS contributor and co-host of Night Attack and Weird Things 

Headlines

Engadget reports Microsoft has made the MSN suite of apps available for iOS and Android in addition to Windows Phone. The News, Sports, Health and Fitness, food and Drink and Money apps are available now. MSN Weather is out on Android and coming to iOS in a few weeks. That news comes along with Microsoft’s acquisition of multiplatform mobile test environment maker HockeyApp, similar to Apple-owned TestFlight on iOS.

TechCrunch reports Ford’s new Sync 3 is faster, sleeker, more intuitive and NOT powered by Microsoft anymore. Sync 3 switches to Blackberry-owned QNX OS running on TI hardware. And yes that means your old Ford will not get Sync 3. Ford worked with select app developers for the Sync 3 launch including Spotify, Pandora, Stitcher, NPR One, SiriusXM Radio and iHeartRadio. The system rolls out to new vehicles next year.

So Microsoft wins some and loses some and then takes your BitCoins. TechCrunch reports the folks at Coindesk noticed that you can now use bitcoins to buy content on Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox. Microsoft confirmed that it is working with Bitpay. However you can only use Bitcoins for MS Wallet or gift cards in the US. Direct payments are not supported.

CNET reports Head of Google News Richard Gingras announced today in a blog post that Google News will shut down in Spain December 16th and Spanish publishers will be removed from Google News worldwide. An amendment to Spain’s copyright law goes into effect January 1st that requires any news aggregator to pay an unspecified license fee to any publisher for listing their content. Google does not run ads on Google News and claims they cannot afford to keep the site going under the new law.

TechCrunch reports Xiaomi confirmed it has stopped selling its phones in India after an injunction from a New Delhi High Court. Ericsson brought a patent suit against Xiaomi for “unfair” usage of a range of wireless technology patents. Xiaomi began selling the Mi3, Redmi and Redmi Note devices in India in July. Ericsson claims it spent three years trying to communicate about the issue. Xiaomi says it is open to resolving the issue amicably.

The Next Web reports that YouTube’s Android app now allows users in India, Indonesia and the Philippines to save videos to their devices to watch offline. The feature is available for select content like trailers, movies and music videos so users can watch buffer-free video in areas without data connections. Users can also choose the quality of the videos they’re downloading and videos can be played back from the app’s Offline section for up to 48 hours.

Peter Wells let us know about a new piracy development in Australia. The Sydney Morning Herald reports the government will enable rights holders to apply for a court order requiring ISPs to block access to overseas websites alleged to provide access to pirated content. Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull is part of the Coalition government, who’s policy is not to support filters. So why the change of heart? Because it’s not a filter! Turnbull said “This is not, repeat, not an internet filter” and called the idea that blocking websites amounts to a filter, “nonesense” and “complete BS.” He did NOT say “You call that a filter? Now THIS is a filter.”

ReCode reports its sources say Sony Pictures Entertainment is flooding file sharing sites with fake or corrupted versions of torrents containing stolen information from the company. One of the sources says SPE is using Amazon Web Services to power the attack. Amazon told Recode such activity is not happening on AWS.

 

 

News From You

Hurmoth sent in the report that Verizon Chief Financial Officer Francis Shammo told a UBS investor conference yesterday that Title II regulation of broadband would not influence how Verizon invests in its networks. Just to be clear, Verizon is still against Title II regulation of broadband, but Shammo said “we were born out of a highly regulated company, so we know how this operates.” Verizon sued and won to overturn the FCC’s previous open Internet guidelines which led to the current debate. Would that happen again? Sounds like it’s AT&T’s turn at the plate. Shammo quoted AT&T Chairman & CEO Randall Stephenson saying, “I think it’s going to be a very litigious environment.”

starfuryzeta submitted the Wired article that hackers have figured out a way around the Keurig coffee machine’s DRM on coffee pods. The hack involves snipping a section of the lid from a valid Keurig “K-Cup” and then taping that strip to the top of a non-Keurig pod. Alternatively you can tape the strip to the Keurig machine itself, permanently fooling it.

MrAnthropology sent us a Des Moines register report that beginning next year, citizens of Iowa will be able to use a mobile app as their official driver’s license. The ID will be protfected by a PIN and be accepted by law enforcement and airports in Iowa. Iowa is already one of more than 30 states that allow motorists to show electronic proof of insurance during a traffic stop.

Discussion Links: Adios Google News en Espańa

http://searchengineland.com/responding-strict-new-copyright-law-google-shutter-news-site-spain-210648

http://googlepolicyeurope.blogspot.com/2014/12/an-update-on-google-news-in-spain.html

http://searchengineland.com/spain-follows-germany-passing-google-tax-guide-copyright-protection-207103

http://searchengineland.com/german-publishers-google-want-snippets-back-206520

http://searchengineland.com/sweden-latest-consider-google-link-tax-207706

http://searchengineland.com/avoid-liability-google-reduces-news-content-germany-headlines-204811

http://www.stefan-niggemeier.de/blog/19058/leistungsschutzrecht-wirkt-mehrere-suchmaschinen-zeigen-verlagsseiten-nicht-mehr-an/

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30426496

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/12/the-predictable-result-of-spains-google-tax-no-more-google-news/

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/12/google-news-shuts-shop-spain-thanks-ancillary-copyright-law

Pick of the Day:   Pushbullet via Geoff in Maryland

Here’s my pick of the day, Pushbullet. It is a very simple yet powerful app that basically lets you send information from one device to another very easily. You can use it to send notes, links, or even files. I use it all the time to send links from my computer to my phone (map directions, recipes, etc.)

It also has the ability on Android (not sure about iOS) to mirror notifications which I use on my desktop to see what the notifications are on my phone. Handy because for instance I can see who’s calling on my laptop and know if I need to run to pick up my phone in the bedroom.

Finally, I don’t use this feature but it integrates with IFTT or Tasker for even more uses.

All in all, it’s an app I use all the time and don’t know how I managed without it. It’s available for Android and iOS, as well as Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Opera. There’s a beta app for Windows and an app for OSX is coming soon. The developer is great and is constantly putting out new features and updates as needed.

Geoff in MD

DTNS 2384a – No News is Spanish News

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comJustin Young is on the show and we’ll talk about Google’s decision to shut down Google News in Spain, rather than pay Spanish publishers to list news content.

MP3

Using a Screen Reader? click here

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

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

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:  Justin Robert Young, DTNS contributor and co-host of Night Attack and Weird Things 

Headlines

Engadget reports Microsoft has made the MSN suite of apps available for iOS and Android in addition to Windows Phone. The News, Sports, Health and Fitness, food and Drink and Money apps are available now. MSN Weather is out on Android and coming to iOS in a few weeks. That news comes along with Microsoft’s acquisition of multiplatform mobile test environment maker HockeyApp, similar to Apple-owned TestFlight on iOS.

TechCrunch reports Ford’s new Sync 3 is faster, sleeker, more intuitive and NOT powered by Microsoft anymore. Sync 3 switches to Blackberry-owned QNX OS running on TI hardware. And yes that means your old Ford will not get Sync 3. Ford worked with select app developers for the Sync 3 launch including Spotify, Pandora, Stitcher, NPR One, SiriusXM Radio and iHeartRadio. The system rolls out to new vehicles next year.

So Microsoft wins some and loses some and then takes your BitCoins. TechCrunch reports the folks at Coindesk noticed that you can now use bitcoins to buy content on Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox. Microsoft confirmed that it is working with Bitpay. However you can only use Bitcoins for MS Wallet or gift cards in the US. Direct payments are not supported.

CNET reports Head of Google News Richard Gingras announced today in a blog post that Google News will shut down in Spain December 16th and Spanish publishers will be removed from Google News worldwide. An amendment to Spain’s copyright law goes into effect January 1st that requires any news aggregator to pay an unspecified license fee to any publisher for listing their content. Google does not run ads on Google News and claims they cannot afford to keep the site going under the new law.

TechCrunch reports Xiaomi confirmed it has stopped selling its phones in India after an injunction from a New Delhi High Court. Ericsson brought a patent suit against Xiaomi for “unfair” usage of a range of wireless technology patents. Xiaomi began selling the Mi3, Redmi and Redmi Note devices in India in July. Ericsson claims it spent three years trying to communicate about the issue. Xiaomi says it is open to resolving the issue amicably.

The Next Web reports that YouTube’s Android app now allows users in India, Indonesia and the Philippines to save videos to their devices to watch offline. The feature is available for select content like trailers, movies and music videos so users can watch buffer-free video in areas without data connections. Users can also choose the quality of the videos they’re downloading and videos can be played back from the app’s Offline section for up to 48 hours.

Peter Wells let us know about a new piracy development in Australia. The Sydney Morning Herald reports the government will enable rights holders to apply for a court order requiring ISPs to block access to overseas websites alleged to provide access to pirated content. Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull is part of the Coalition government, who’s policy is not to support filters. So why the change of heart? Because it’s not a filter! Turnbull said “This is not, repeat, not an internet filter” and called the idea that blocking websites amounts to a filter, “nonesense” and “complete BS.” He did NOT say “You call that a filter? Now THIS is a filter.”

ReCode reports its sources say Sony Pictures Entertainment is flooding file sharing sites with fake or corrupted versions of torrents containing stolen information from the company. One of the sources says SPE is using Amazon Web Services to power the attack. Amazon told Recode such activity is not happening on AWS.

 

 

News From You

Hurmoth sent in the report that Verizon Chief Financial Officer Francis Shammo told a UBS investor conference yesterday that Title II regulation of broadband would not influence how Verizon invests in its networks. Just to be clear, Verizon is still against Title II regulation of broadband, but Shammo said “we were born out of a highly regulated company, so we know how this operates.” Verizon sued and won to overturn the FCC’s previous open Internet guidelines which led to the current debate. Would that happen again? Sounds like it’s AT&T’s turn at the plate. Shammo quoted AT&T Chairman & CEO Randall Stephenson saying, “I think it’s going to be a very litigious environment.”

starfuryzeta submitted the Wired article that hackers have figured out a way around the Keurig coffee machine’s DRM on coffee pods. The hack involves snipping a section of the lid from a valid Keurig “K-Cup” and then taping that strip to the top of a non-Keurig pod. Alternatively you can tape the strip to the Keurig machine itself, permanently fooling it.

MrAnthropology sent us a Des Moines register report that beginning next year, citizens of Iowa will be able to use a mobile app as their official driver’s license. The ID will be protfected by a PIN and be accepted by law enforcement and airports in Iowa. Iowa is already one of more than 30 states that allow motorists to show electronic proof of insurance during a traffic stop.

Discussion Links: Adios Google News en Espańa

http://searchengineland.com/responding-strict-new-copyright-law-google-shutter-news-site-spain-210648

http://googlepolicyeurope.blogspot.com/2014/12/an-update-on-google-news-in-spain.html

http://searchengineland.com/spain-follows-germany-passing-google-tax-guide-copyright-protection-207103

http://searchengineland.com/german-publishers-google-want-snippets-back-206520

http://searchengineland.com/sweden-latest-consider-google-link-tax-207706

http://searchengineland.com/avoid-liability-google-reduces-news-content-germany-headlines-204811

http://www.stefan-niggemeier.de/blog/19058/leistungsschutzrecht-wirkt-mehrere-suchmaschinen-zeigen-verlagsseiten-nicht-mehr-an/

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30426496

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/12/the-predictable-result-of-spains-google-tax-no-more-google-news/

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/12/google-news-shuts-shop-spain-thanks-ancillary-copyright-law

Pick of the Day:   Pushbullet via Geoff in Maryland

Here’s my pick of the day, Pushbullet. It is a very simple yet powerful app that basically lets you send information from one device to another very easily. You can use it to send notes, links, or even files. I use it all the time to send links from my computer to my phone (map directions, recipes, etc.)

It also has the ability on Android (not sure about iOS) to mirror notifications which I use on my desktop to see what the notifications are on my phone. Handy because for instance I can see who’s calling on my laptop and know if I need to run to pick up my phone in the bedroom.

Finally, I don’t use this feature but it integrates with IFTT or Tasker for even more uses.

All in all, it’s an app I use all the time and don’t know how I managed without it. It’s available for Android and iOS, as well as Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Opera. There’s a beta app for Windows and an app for OSX is coming soon. The developer is great and is constantly putting out new features and updates as needed.

Geoff in MD

DTNS 2383 – No One Expects the Dragon Age Inquisition!

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comEric Franklin joins us to talk about why you need to put your phone out of sight and whether video game makers should stop publishing broken games.

MP3

Using a Screen Reader? click here

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

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

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

S&L Podcast – #198 – The Most Hated Phrases in SciFi

This week we’re busy. We congratulate the winners of several year-end awards. We kick off our December book pick, The Night Circus, a beautiful novel by Erin Morgenstern. And we dive into some of the most wretched and hated terms and phrases in the professions of authorship. Mary Sue is under siege!

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?

Tom: Red Trolley Ale
Veronica: Red Branch Hard Apple & Honey Cider
Casey: What are YOU drinking?

QUICK BURNS

Tamahome: The Goodreads choice awards are in
Sky: Audible’s best of 2014 released. Sanderson managed to win out over UF/Paranormal 🙂
Dara: SyFy has cast the leads for The Magicians series. Jason Ralph will play Quentin Coldwater and Sosie Bacon (daughter of Kevin Bacon) will play Alice.
Nick pointed out the successful test flight of the unmanned Orion space capsule
Nick: Christopher Nolan rumored to be offered Ready Player One to direct
Fiona: The BBC adapted Good Omens as a 6 part audioplay. First part will air on Radio 4 on Monday 22nd December. Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman have cameo appearances!
Tamahome: What James Cameron says you’ll do when you see the Avatar sequels. NSFW.http://boingboing.net/2014/11/26/james-cameron-on-avatar-sequel.html

PICKS

Andrew picked: The City and the City by China Mieville

BARE YOUR SWORD

Louie: Terms authors are tired of hearing: “Infodump,” “Mary Sue,” “Hard SF,” “Dystopian.”
What are some terms that you are tired of hearing/reading?

Marion: What Is The Strangest or Most Unique SF/Fantasy Novel That You Have Ever Read?

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION

Kick off: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Erin Morgenstern on The Night Circus – YouTube

the night circus | erin morgenstern

Erin Morgenstern – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

ADDENDUMS

Support our show on Patreon

You can also support the show by buying books through our links! Find upcoming and past new releases at swordandlaser.com/calendar

null

DTNS 2382 – Can You Spare a Plaintiff?

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comPatrick Beja is on to look at the top YouTube videos of the year and discuss why rivals like Vessel are trying to hire the YouTube Creators away. Shouldn’t they be going after the dog spiders?

MP3

Using a Screen Reader? click here

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

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

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: Patrick Beja, DTNS contributor and independent podcaster 

Headlines

ReCode reports YouTube has updated its Apple TV app after a long period without any change. The app now looks more like the versions available on other platforms like Xbox. While that means ads will now play that also means videos like music videos will be allowed on Apple TV. Apple also added apps from Conde Nast, Fusion, Daily Motion and a $10 a month UFC.TV Fight Pass.

The Verge reports password manager Dashlane has added a function to change all your passwords at once. It will only work with 75 major websites at launch, but it will work with two factor authentication. Dashlane is available for Mac and Windows. It is free on one device or $40 a year to sync between multiple devices.

The Verge reports Amazon announced 4K Ultra HD streaming is now available in the US, for customers with the Amazon instant video app on compatible TVs. Videos are encoded with h.265 meaning the TV has to have an HEVC decoding chip inside. Offerings are limited but include some of Amazon’s own shows like Transparent as well as non-Amazon shows like BBC America’s Orphan Black (4K clone club!), as well as a selection of movies from Sony Pictures. The purchase price for an Ultra HD movie it will start at $19.99

9 to 5 mac obtained  internal hiring documents that suggest Apple is recruiting retail employees with a fashion or luxury background. The article also describes possible changes to the Apple Store footprint to accommodate all the different Apple Watch options. It also describes security enhancements for that 18 Karat Rose Gold option– rumored to cost thousands of dollars.

If you tried to visit the Pirate Bay today you may have noticed it’s offline. The Next Web reports Swedish Police have raided a server room in greater Stockholm containing The Pirate Bay’s servers. Torrent Freak says Sweden’s police national coordinator for IP enforcement said the raid is being done, “in connection with violations of copyright law.” The site reappeared a few hours after the raid at a new domain name.

GigaOm reports the latest locations fighting Uber. Both Thailand and Spain banned Uber Tuesday. The city of Rio de Janeiro’s transport department filed a police complaint against Uber AND the City of Portland is suing the company for operating without permission there.

Reuters reports Joe Demarest, assistant director with the US FBI’s cyber division spoke on the Sony Pictures Entertainment attacks and said, “There is no attribution to North Korea at this point.” Demarest also said that there has been no confirmation of government involvement to date. Demarest was speaking on a panel at a cybersecurity conference sponsored by Bloomberg Government. FBI representatives plan to meet with Sony employees Wednesday to train them in cybersecurity practices.

The Next Web passes along Intel’s announcement that it is launching its own Internet of things platform. The Intel IoT platform and reference design is meant to help companies deploy products faster. It also promises to improve security. Intel is partnering with Accenture, SAP, Dell, Wipro and others on the platform.

The Guardian reports Blackphone is launching an app store in January for apps that help protect privacy and security. While Blackphones run Android, they do not have access to the Google Play store. Blackphone is also launching new software called “Spaces” which splits work and private life into two containers on the phone. The large bulk of sales of Blackphone are expected to be enterprise users.

Fortune reports a leaked memo says HBO will use technology from MLB Advanced to run its standalone streaming service in the US. HBO had been building its streaming service in house. The memo also indicates HBO plans to launch the service in April along with the season premiere of Game of Thrones.

Engadget reports the FIDO alliance has published its 1.0 draft standards for password-free authentication, both Universal Authentication Framework (UAF) and Universal 2nd Factor (U2F). The alliance, made up of of Google, Microsoft, Paypal and others relies on alternatives to passwords like fingerprint readers and USB dongles. The identity standards do not yet support Bluetooth- or NFC-based authentication thought they hope to add those as extensions to the standard. Apple’s TouchID also doesn’t work with FIDO except for one implementation by Nok Nok Labs.

News From You

metalfreak and starfuryzeta submitted the Ars Technica article about a trojan for Linux that is the missing piece of an Advance persistent threat disclosed in August called Turla. Researchers detected the malware. It cannot be detected using the common netstat command. It is able to run arbitrary commands even without elevated system privileges. Administrators can check for it by watching outgoing traffic to command and control connections and detecting strings.

habichuelacondulce sent us the Ars Technica report that CBS and Dish reached an agreement this weekend to end all pending litigation between the two companies. The deal follows a 12-hour blackout of CBS on Dish including (gasp) NFL games. The deal will also limit some of the Dish Hopper DVR’s ad-skipping ability. During a seven-day window following the airing of a CBS show, AutoHop will be disabled.

starfuryzeta passed along the San Jose Mercury News article that the Apple iPod trial will continue despite having no plaintiff. On Monday Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers rejected the lone plaintiff representing the class of customers who had their rights harmed by what lawyers allege was an illegal monopoly to limit iPod downloads to the iTunes store. Lawyers for the Class have until today to present another person who can represent the 8 million iPod owners. “We don’t anticipate any problems,” said plaintiff’s lawyer Bonny Sweeney.

Discussion Links: YouTube 2014

http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2014/12/youtube-rewind-2014.html

http://adage.com/article/media/jason-kilar-s-vessel-plans-youtube/295857/

http://www.wsj.com/articles/youtube-offering-its-stars-bonuses-1417994309

http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/08/youtube-star-bonuses-vessel/

http://variety.com/2014/digital/news/youtube-reopens-checkbook-for-original-content-1201308922/

http://www.theverge.com/2014/12/3/7326375/zoella-girl-online-best-selling-debut-novel-of-all-time

Pick of the Day:   Untappd via Norm Fazekas

Hey Tom & Jennie,
hope all is well and I wish you both a wonderful holiday season. I’m glad things are working well for you guys and look forward to another year of DTNS.

I know most of your apps are technologically based but I have a penchant for drinking beer and had a great app to share. I have used the Untappd app the past couple of years to find, track, rate brews and see what my friends are drinking. Plus it has a gamification element to earn badges for types of beers and/or places to drink. The Untappd folks keep making updates and adding new badges to keep things interesting and find it an integral tool to finding my next cold one. Obviously this isn’t for everyone but I love seeing what my friends recommend and trying to stay ahead of said friends in tallying badges.

Wednesday’s guest: Eric Franklin of cnet.com