Don Reisinger joins us to talk about the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger and the new Xbox One remote. Guess which one he likes? That may be a trick question.

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

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Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the 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 and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Comcast, Time Warner Cable agree to merge, deal must receive regulatory approval from FCC & DOJ:  Bloomberg reports Comcast has agreed to acquire Time Warner Cable for $45.2 billion in stock, combining the two largest cable television and Internet companies in the US. TWC stock holders will receive 2.875 shares of Comcast for each TWC share they hold, valuing TWC shares at $158.82. Charter Communications had been attempting to acquire Time Warner Cable, with Comcast’s help but talks broke down. The acquisition would give Comcast 30 million total customers, just under 30% of the US market and operations in New York City and Los Angeles. The merger must receive regulatory approval from the FCC and US Department of Justice, neither a foregone conclusion. There is no breakup penalty if the deal does not go through.

Facebook to allow users to choose genders other than male and female:  Reuters reports Facebook is letting users choose genders other than male and female when they create or edit their profiles.  Members in the US can choose male, female or the new ‘custom’ option. The custom option allows the user to select from 10 different gender identifications, including transgender, intersex, and fluid. Users can also restrict who can see their gender selection and choose to be referred to by the pronoun their instead of his or her.

Hyperlinks allowed. Whew.  PC World reports the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled Thursday that a website does not require authorization to link to a freely accessible copyright work, even if they Frame it so it looks like its on their site not the works. The CJEU provided the advice to the Court of Appeal in Svea, Sweden, regarding a case where journalists complained their articles were linked to from Retriever Sverige in a way that made them look like they were on Retriever’s site.

News From You

Maurice from Easy New Orleans, sent in this story from the Kansas City Star about Mason Wild who used the Johnson County library’s 3-D printer to make a hand for nine-year-old family friend, Matthew. Such a hand would normally cost around $18,000. Instead, Wild used a freely available design from Ivan Owen and South African woodworker Richard Van As, 8 hours of time on the library’s printer and $60 worth of materials. Boom. Hand.

cosmicvibes pointed us to a TechCrunch article on Google and VMWare’s partnership to allow Chromebook users to access Windows app and the Windows desktop on their Chrome machines. While this kind of access to virtual machines already exists for ChromeOS, the partnership will provide a secure enterprise-ready way to do it.

AllanAV posted a Futureistech post describing how physicists have produced nanoribbons of graphene — single-atom-thick carbon — that conduct electrons without resistance at room temperature. The international researchers measured ballistic transport that exceeded theoretical limits by a factor of ten. Good know for potential graphene-based electronics that could greatly outperform silicon-based devices.

And habichuelacondulce submitted this Register article that the Chinese Jade Rabbit lunar explorer, thought to be dead after an emergency shutdown has started to receive signals normally again. However it’s still troubled by a mechanical control abnormality that led to the shutdown in the first place.

More links from the show

Verizon confirms ‘More Everything’

LG unveils G Pro 2

BlackBerry updates BlackBerry Messenger App for iOS and Android

Square announces Square Cash,  a new pay by email system

Jeff Cannata joins us to talk about the FCC’s new commitment to Net Neutrality. Should you believe it? Fear it? Ignore it? Plus a Flappy Bert chaser. Yes, you read that correctly.

MP3

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 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 and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Apple plans to introduce a new Apple TV set-top box by April: Bloomberg reports Apple plans to introduce a new Apple TV set-top box as early as April. The company is negotiating with Time Warner Cable and other partners to add video content. The idea is to have the box available for sale by the end of the year, though problems striking deals could still delay it. Oh wait— I’m sorry— I’m reading a story from last year— wait no from 2012— OH no, no this is from today. It’s so hard to tell with these Apple TV rumors.

FCC Chairmen says agency is working to reinstate Net Neutrality protections:  KAPT_Kipper, ssnapier, and many others pointed us to versions of this story. CNET reports that during a speech at the University of Colorado Law School, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said his agency is working on a plan to re-instate Net Neutrality protections. A Federal Appeals Court recently ruled that the FCC could regulate broadband providers but had used an incorrect legal justification in its Open Internet Order. Wheeler said: “…the Court of Appeals invited the Commission to act to preserve a free and open Internet. I accept that invitation, and in the coming days, I will be outlining how I propose to proceed.”

Most important story ever! Our producer Jennie spotted this psfk story about some folks from Studio Diip giving goldfish the keys to a car, sort of. “Fish on Wheels” is a fish tank, a motorized go cart controlled by Arduino,a Beagleboard, and a webcam pointed at the fish. The cart moves automatically in the direction the fish swim. Likely a demonstration of the companies image recognition prowess, we prefer to think it’s because somebody cared that fish get bored.

No, wait. Flappy Bert  is more important:

News From You

t2t2 submitted this on the subreddit. In response to reports of large-scale surveillance, the European Commission has published a proposal for changes in Internet governance. The proposal calls for the globalization of ICANN, the institution that manages domain names and numbers. It also proposes strengthening the Internet Governance Forum, promoting more transparency in Internet Policy and commitments to globalize key decision-making while safeguarding the open and unfragmented nature of the Internet. The Commission does not support handing over the keys to the International Telecommunications Unions as some countries have proposed, but prefers a multi-stakeholder approach.

KAPT_Kipper pointed us to a TechCrunch article on how the “Day We Fight Back” protest went yesterday. More than 87,000 phone calls were placed to Congressional representatives, along with more than 182,000 emails. Nicole Perlroth at the New York Times, suggested a better response could have been had if the goals were clearer. Rather than the simple message of Stop SOPA, visitors were urged to fight one surveillance bill, the FISA Improvements Act, and support another, the USA Freedom Act.

More links from the show

Google’s Nest deal closes

Jobs time capsule discovered

Twitter redesign coming?

Mozilla to show ads when users open new tabs 

David Prager joins us as we enjoy “Today We Fight Back” “Safer Internet Day” and the idea of an airline gate agent wearing Google Glass being a first class ticket perk.

MP3

Warning: David’s video mysteriously disappears 20 seconds into the show. David’s video after that is replaced by YOUR IMAGINATION. Use it wisely.

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 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 and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Dong Nguyen: Flappy Bird became addictive product Forbes spoke with Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen and got a little more info about his reasons for removing the popular game from the app stores. Nguyen said “Flappy Bird was designed to play in a few minutes when you are relaxed. But it happened to become an addictive product. I think it has become a problem. To solve that problem, it’s best to take down Flappy Bird. It’s gone forever.” Nguyen met a Forbes reporter at a hotel in Hanoi after meeting with Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Duc Dam. Nguyen also said he will continue to develop games and he does not plan to remove his other games, some of which are also highly ranked.

The internet fights back against surveillance: A broad coalition of organizations, companies, and individuals joined together today to take a stance against unwarranted mass spying—over 6,000 websites have demanded reform. Some links:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/02/today-we-fight-back-against-mass-surveillance

https://necessaryandproportionate.org/take-action/EFF

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/02/11/microsoft-google-and-twitter-mark-safer-internet-day-with-privacy-awareness-initiatives/#!vhUn0

News From You

spsheridan submitted a GigaOm story about HP deciding its time to start paying for firmware upgrades. In an HP Blog post Monday, ZDNet’s Ed Bott noticed that starting Feb. 19 HP says it will “provide firmware updates through the HP Support Center only to customers with a valid warranty, Care Pack Service or support agreement.” Everybody else has to pay. The new policy applies to ProLiant system ROM and CPLD firmware. Security patches will remain free, as will upgrades to HP’s iLO server management, I/O and controller firmware.

And oh what a little competition can do. jaymz668 pointed us to this Ars Technica story about San Marcos, Texas-based Grande bringing GigaBit Internet to western parts of Austin, Texas this week, several months ahead of AT&T and Google Fiber. Grande’s President Matt Murphy told the Austin American-Statesman that the service will cost $65 per month with no contract required.

More links from the show

Lithium Technologies will acquire Klout, the ranker of popularity on the Internet

Google and Foxconn discuss building robotic manufacturing technologies

Yahoo acqui-hires company that makes Days App

Verizon says they are not throttling Netflix

Hackers launch DDoS attacks across the Bitcoin eco-system in an effort to exploit the software vulnerability known as “transaction malleability”

Sprint Q4 earnings

Two competing wireless charging standards agree to join forces

Andrea Smith joins us to lament the fate of Flappy Bird, duck drones in Dubai and get prepped for protest.

MP3

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 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 and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Developer removes Flappy Bird game from Android and iOS stores Reuters reports that Dong Nguyen removed his popular app Flappy Bird from the Android and iOS App stores, this weekend. Now that it’s gone, phones with the game installed, which still works, have showed up on auction sites like eBay, some with bids in the tens of thousands of dollars. Nguyen posted on Twitter that the game’s success ruined his simple life and he couldn’t take it anymore. He says the removal was not about legal issues, and he would still make games.

Nokia to launch Android-based phone at Mobile World Congress Mashable passes along a Wall Street Journal report that Nokia will launch an Android-based phone later this month at Mobile World Congress. The device will not come with the Google Play app store and will target emerging markets. Microsoft is in the process of finalizing a deal to acquire Nokia’s handset business which predominantly makes Windows Phones.

News From You

AllanAV posted a cleantechnica article to the subreddit. The article describes a Polish Startup producing grapheme. The startup is co-owned by mining company KGHM and the Industrial Development Agency (ARP). It uses technology developed at the Institute of Electronic Materials Technology in Warsaw. That would make the company the only one commercially producing graphene. Graphene-based devices could make a big difference in solar power and energy storage among other industries.

Kylde, our self-described Subreddit janitor, submitted an article from AndroidPolice noting T-Mobile winning its lawsuit against former suitor AT&T over the color purple. A federal court in Texas has ruled that AT&T’s budget carrier AIO Wireless infringed T-Mobile’s corporate trademark magenta. Aio said it was plum not magenta.

And spsheridan and habichuelacondulce both submitted articles from geek.com and geekosystem respectively, discussing a DARPA program to develop a brain implant for soldiers to help trigger memories and overcome memory loss. The device would record and stimulate brain activity.

More links from the show

HTC to focus on low-end smartphones in an effort to boost sagging profits

Huawei to show off a smartwatch at Mobile World Congress later this month

Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange still down

Microsoft opens multi-factor authentication to all Office 365 users

Darren Kitchen joins the show to talk about NBC’s Sochi hacking report among other things, and Len Peralta illustrates the stories.

MP3

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 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 and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Kill Switch legislation to be introduced in CA The LA Times reports California lawmakers led by State Senator Mark Leno plan to introduce legislation requiring devices like smartphones and tablets to be sold with a “kill switch” that would render them inoperable if stolen. Some devices, like the iPhone and the Galaxy S4, come with such features already. The carriers are lukewarm on legislating technology, but most are waiting to see the text of the bill before opposing or supporting it.

Facebook lets you Look Back at your Look Back video (and edit) TechCrunch reports Facebook has added an edit button to the “Look Back” videos it automatically created for most users in celebration of its tenth anniversary. The function lets you pick new photos and posts from a pre-populated list and no you can’t change the order. if you never got a video, then you also don’t get the edit feature.

Nokia and HTC bury the patent hatchet For all you people who complain that all we report is bad news, patent news, or both, here’s a ZDNet story for you. Nokia and HTC signed a patent and technology agreement that dismisses all patent litigation between the two companies. HTC pays a little money. The collaboration involves HTC’s LTE patent portfolio. Lawyers cash fat checks. Consumers get to buy phones. Everyone goes home happy.

NSA metadata program collects less data than you might think The Wall Street Journal has a new report, not from Edward Snowden leaks this time, that cites anonymous sources saying the NSA metadata program only collects data for 20 percent or less, because it doesn’t cover most cell phones. The Washington Post said even that smaller amount is still useful.

News From You

jaymz668 posted a story from the WSJ’s Corporate Intelligence blog, indicating that next year the US will joint the majority of the world in implementing a chip and pin system for credit cards and ditch the old signed receipts. Both MasterCard and Visa have set October 2015 as an important deadline in the switch. That’s the “liability shift” After that time liability for fraudulent transactions switches to the merchant unless they are using chip and pin.

MANAGEMIKE WHO’S ALWAYS SHOUTING HIS NAME submitted an Ars Technica story of one Ronaldo Boschulte who got a new modem form his ISP Comcast, which unbeknownst to him, doubles as a public WiFi router. Comcast started adding the modems by default in mid-2013. Comcast reassures customers that their broadband connection will be unaffected, but if they REALLY want to switch it off, they can, they just have to perform the arcane ritual of self-immolation known as calling Comcast customer support.

People in Russia may not care now, but SkyJedi does, and he submitted this coin desk post that bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox paused all withdrawals yesterday while they tracked down an issue encountered by some bitcoin withdrawals. Not only that but they promised an update Monday. At least that’s Monday Japan time. Users with bitcoin withdrawals stuck in limbo started to receive their coins back in their Mt. Gox wallets this morning.

More links from the show

Fazio Mechanical Services issued a statement Thursday saying it was the victim of a sophisticated cyber attack and is working with Target and the US Secret Service to investigate.

Amazon integrates image recognition into its iOS shopping app, no barcodes necessary

Apple buys back $14 billion of its own shares in the past two weeks for a total of $40 billion over the last 12 months

Russian officials rule that BitCoin is a money substitute and can not be used by individuals and legal entities