Weekly Tech Views – Feb 13, 2016

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Real tech stories. Really shaky analysis.

Only one thing heightens the romance of Valentine’s weekend more than lovingly reciting tech news to your significant other, and that’s reciting badly-analyzed tech news. Tell your sweetheart to brace themselves…

For the week of February 8 – 12, 2016…

Now What Do We Do With All These Shoeboxes?
Google apparently has plans to offer a more substantial version of their Google Cardboard VR device, with a headset made of plastic. This move would skip right over the rumored straw edition. Future premium upgrades Google Wood and Google Brick are still on track. This in no way affects work on the super-economy version Google Wet Paper Bag.

And One Guy Who Blew Off Work In Case Coldplay Did “Viva La Vida”
Super Bowl 50 set a record for Super Bowl streaming views, with a total of 315 million minutes, an average of 1.4 million people per minute. Viewers were split pretty much as expected–10% Panthers fans, 15% Broncos fans, and 75% Beyonce worshippers.

We Recommend Grape With Meat, Cherry With Fish
Amazon Japan has a sommelier (French for “without me, you wouldn’t know a good wine from a bottle filled with melted grape popsicles”) service which will recommend a wine based on your planned meal and budget and then have it delivered to you. I’d like to assume he delivers it personally, hangs around while I do the whole cork-sniffing, sip-swishing routine that I saw somebody do in a movie, waits for me to nod awkwardly so he can facetiously fawn over my exquisite taste like he’s dealing with James Freaking Bond, pockets the ridiculously extravagant tip I give him in a futile attempt to look cool, and returns to the Amazon warehouse where he swaps his tux for sweats and melts some more grape popsicles for the next rube.

There Are No Non-Users, Just Friends That Haven’t Signed Up Yet
Facebook has been given three months by the French government to stop tracking non-users via the use of cookies. This after the French rejected Facebook’s proposed compromise of providing government officials a “People We May Have Tracked” section in their News Feed.

Look, I’m Not Saying You Have To Dream About Me Or Anything…
Twitter has gone ahead and pulled the trigger on its rumored timeline changes. The first dozen or so tweets–if you decide not to opt out of the feature–will now be presented according to how many times the letter P appears. Well, probably not. More likely, you’ll see tweets from people you interact with most. The folks at Twitter aren’t revealing the algorithm, but have referred to the new feature as While You Were Away 2.0.

Okay, fine, Twitter, try something new. It’s optional, so why not? There is one vital question, however, that I am stunned has not yet been addressed: Do I ever appear in anyone else’s While You Were Away section? Frankly, I don’t hold out much hope. I haven’t seen my name in my own wife’s WYWA, and I know she has favorited/liked many of my tweets (I stare at her over the top of her iPad until she does). I can’t get anyone at Twitter to confirm it, but I’m nearly certain I’m populating some undisclosed demographic’s Who You Were Avoiding section.

I’d Help Clean Up, But I Don’t Like The Way The Dishwasher’s Been Looking At Me
The government reportedly could use the “Internet of Things”–basic household devices connected to the internet and each other–for identification, surveillance,  location tracking, and access to networks. I’m already longing for the good old days when I only had to hide my late night five-cheese-and-bean burrito binges from my wife,* not Homeland Security.

Jim Cramer Downgraded Them From “Buy” To “Looking For A Fight”
On Wall Street, Twitter met analysts expectations by pissing everyone off (and also by matching expected revenue of $710M).

I’m Afraid “Interferometer” Quashed The Interest “Laser” Had Sparked
The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory Scientific Collaboration has confirmed a direct observation of gravitational waves, a result of two black holes merging. According to all the hubbub, this is apparently a big deal. You have to wonder, though, what this organization has been doing since its founding in 1992. Twenty-four years before getting their first result? I’m just saying, that doesn’t fly here. Sure, these Tech Views posts are hilarious,** but even I can’t say they’re worth waiting twenty-four years for. Ten, tops.

And all this time and expense for what? To prove that Einstein was right about this in 1918? How about we agree to just assume Einstein was right about everything and put this research money toward something that can really make a difference, like, say, a tech blogger retirement fund or something.

I Almost Didn’t Know That This CVS Had Two-Liter Sierra Mist On Sale!
Chrome for Android will soon start supporting bluetooth beacons. People near the beacons can access the “physical web” via notifications on their smartphones, where links provide information on one’s surroundings. A beacon might relay a nearby restaurant’s menu, sale prices at a store, or historical landmark information. Some of you may remember an early precursor to this, experienced on childhood trips to the zoo. This device was called “The Big Metal Box That, After You Stick A Big Plastic Key Shaped Like An Elephant Into It, Yells Stuff At You About The Animal You’re Looking At.” I learned a lot of important information from those boxes, most importantly that if I played the same monkey spiel three times in a row I really had to hustle to catch up to my parents, who usually weren’t much for running.

When Will People Realize That, No Matter What It’s Called, All Encryption Is A=1, B=2, Etc?
Under England’s Investigatory Powers Bill, internet firms would be banned from offering unbreakable encryption. “Unbreakable encryption? Uh, okay, if you say so. What about unicorns? Can we offer unicorns?” said a spokesman for every internet firm.

Now I Won’t Be Late For That Appointment On October 12, 733842016
Physicists in Germany have made the most accurate clock ever by using ytterbium ions (pronounced “eye-ons”). The clock would not gain or lose even a single second over several billion years, and will be ready for retail sale once leap years stop making it think it’s March 43rd.

 

* Fun Fact: It takes seventeen dish towels to sufficiently muffle the beeps of a microwave so they aren’t heard in our upstairs bedroom.

** Granted, you and I may define this word differently.

 

Okay, Valentine’s Day celebrants, I’ve supplied the sweet, sweet aphrodisiac of botched tech analysis, the rest is up to you.

Mike Range
@MovieLeagueMike

Creative Commons License
Weekly Tech Views by Mike Range is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

DTNS 2687 – The Oxen of the Cloud

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comWould you still use US products if they were mandated to have an encryption backdoor? Darren Kitchen and Tom Merritt discuss the findings of Bruce Schneier and company.

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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
To read the show notes in a separate page click here!

DTNS 2686 – Kitchen Table Encryption. Also Jobs.

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comHow much data do political campaign have on you? Dan Patterson discusses the relationship between politics, big data, security and social media with Tom Merritt Veronica Belmont and Justin Young.

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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 2685 – Twitterbolic

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comJustin Robert Young is filling in for Tom who is under the weather. Scott Johnson is on the the program too! Changes to Twitter are on the menu.

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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 2684 – 1.51 Gigabits!

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comCan you ever have too much bandwidth?Patrick Beja has a revelation after getting fiber in his new home in Finland.Tom Merritt discusses.

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 107 – WYWWYWOADDYW

The Super Bowl breaks records online and streams for free. The best Blu-Ray player might be the best streaming device for 4K.

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CordKillers:  107 – WYWWYWOADDYW
Recorded: February 8 2016
Guest: None

Intro Video

Primary Target

Signal Intelligence

  • Super Bowl breaks streaming record
  • CBS annoucnes numbers
    – CBS says a record audience streamed the Super Bowl
    – Streamers watched 315 million minutes of game coverage.
    – An average of 1.4 million people streamed the game per minute.
    – NBC had 800K avg viewers per minute and 1.3 million current users last year
    – Some Apple TV users had problems with the stream (Tom didn’t)

Gear Up

  • First Ultra HD 4K Blu-ray player goes on sale
    – Samsung UBD-K8500 was on sale in a store in Santa Monica and will now ship Feb. 10th acc. to Best Buy
    – Ultra HD 4K
    – Was not supposed to ship until March
    – The Martian and Kingsmen still preorder only
    – Can do Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, Amazon , M-Go and YuppTV

Front Lines

Under Surveillance

Dispatches from the Front

“CBS’ Super Bowl telecast averaged 111.9 million viewers, according to Nielsen’s fast nationals, and peaked at 115.5 million between 8:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. The total is off from last year’s record 114.4 million on NBC. That featured the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks in a game that went down to the wire. CBS called the 2016 telecast, during which the Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers in a relatively humdrum game, the third-most watched program in TV history. The live stream drew 3.96 million unique viewers across a variety of screens.“

Super Bowl Averages 111.9 Million Viewers

Doing some quick math means that 3.5% of viewers watched via the internet.

Jay

 

Hi Cord Killers

I downloaded this app from Yahoo called Yahoo Video Guide.

Is possible you guys featured it on the who already but if not here it is.

The app detects which streaming services you have installed on your device (Netflix, Amazon Video, HBO Now..etc)
Then is shows you what new movies and shows are available, also breaks down by categories and in which services are available. I’d like for this to be included within the Apple TV or other boxes.

Thanks
Alex from NYC

 

Hi Guys,
I have a suggestion.  Since Man In The High Castle seems to have taken a bit of a backseat I would suggest this.  Just watch the last episode and you will be fine.  Much of what has happened up to where you are has been a set up for the last episode.  I don’t think you will be disappointed and will understand why I keep harping on it after you have watched it.  

Stan

 

 

Hey guys,
 
Undateable on NBC has been live all this season and is great to see current events and the actors personal lives intrude on the show, plus the screw ups are usually really fun and the cast is great, check it out.
 
Also, Grease Live was great, the scope of the moving sets, both indoor and outdoor plus the cast was amazing to watch even in the rain.
 
Mike from Bastrop TX

 

 

Hey guys, just to check in why I pay for cable.  I watch probably 40 shows a week more or less and only some are on Hulu timely and don’t come to Netflix or Amazon Prime until the season is over making talking with co-workers impossible on current shows.
 
Buying them individually would be way more than paying for cable at this point in time and I am too far from Austin to use an antenna without planting a pole and using a huge aerial. 
 
Thanks for your time,
Michael

Links

patreon.com/cordkillers

2015 Winter Movie Draft

DTNS 2683 – Ek-cellent

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comEklund joins us to help explain why the NHL switched streaming in the middle of the season and why it had so many outages even with MLBAM involved.

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!

Weekly Tech Views – Feb 6, 2016

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Real tech stories. Really shaky analysis.

First, thanks for stopping by for the Weekly Tech Views. Now that you’re here, definitely go ahead and read it; what the heck, you may get a few laughs. But if you want a lot of laughs, get over to YouTube when you’re done here and search “Bob & Ray.” Bob Elliott passed away this week, but left behind a treasure trove of comedy that achieves the remarkable feat of remaining hilarious over the span of nearly seven decades. I watched some more today and laughed out loud more during a five minute bit than I do during a month of most sitcoms.

Do yourself a favor and check out some Bob & Ray. Unless you hate laughing. Which would be weird.

Now, back to our regular program…

The next four days may be the most party-intensive time of the year, with the Super Bowl, Carnival, Mardi Gras, and, headlining the celebratory stretch, and, frankly, making the other events wish they could reschedule to avoid the inevitable shadow cast by such a spectacle, a new Weekly Tech Views! Who wants some beads!? (Don’t worry, all you have to flash is the questionable judgment to keep reading.)

For the week of February 1 – 5, 2016…

What Wizardry Is This?
Nostalgic first-person shooter fans rejoice, Bethesda announced May 13th as the release date for the next entry in the Doom franchise, twelve years after Doom 3. “Twelve years between games? What kind of performance-enhancing drugs are you guys on?” said the Duke Nukem development team.

Thank God For All Those Suds
Microsoft is planning a submersible data center called Project Natick that would sit on the ocean floor. “We really should have seen this coming,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s parents, showing off home videos of young Satya at bath time, happily splashing about with a Lego-encased Busicom LE-120A calculator anchored by three bars of soap to the bottom of the tub.

No, Sir, “Up To 150 Mbps” Means We Promise Not To Exceed That
A Comcast Internet customer has devised a way to creatively complain when his promised 150 Mbps speed drops below 50 Mbps. He has a Raspberry Pi run an hourly speed test and automatically tweet when the result is below the 50 Mbps threshold. In three months of use, his speed has reached the 67% drop sixteen times. “He’s getting above 33% of the promised speed an average of six days a week?” asked a Comcast technician, who then jumped up on his desk and yelled, “Hey guys! We’re getting our bonus!”

Prediction 2: “Rogue Drone” Will Soon Be A Series On Syfy
Law enforcement in the Netherlands is training eagles to take down rogue drones. Prediction: Pilots start disguising their drones as eagles, which proves fairly effective until mating season, which doesn’t end well for anyone.

Think I’ll Go Watch “Draft Day” Again
In other drone news, unmanned aerial vehicles will not be permitted within 36 miles of Levi Stadium in Santa Clara on Super Bowl Sunday. “Makes sense; why should drones get any closer to a Super Bowl than us?” said the Cleveland Browns.

How Many Friend Requests Can You Send Before Facebook Finally Asks You To Face Reality?
Friday was Friends Day on Facebook. I think I held up fairly well, knowing others were celebrating, spending the day watching their friend-filled videos, while I searched in vain for a People You May Know section in my barren News Feed. But then I used the day as a learning experience, to appreciate what it’s like for my Jewish acquaintances (I’d call them friends, but, if that were the case, I’D HAVE A VIDEO TO WATCH, WOULDN’T I?) on Christmas Day. So I ate Chinese food and went wherever I wanted on the internet–with no crowds!

One Less Lonely GIF
Some Android users noticed a GIF button temporarily in their Twitter app. Asked by a reporter for comment, Twitter management sent an email reading “Here’s our statement,” accompanied by a GIF of Justin Bieber shrugging, marking Justin Bieber’s most likeable appearance in the last five years.

You’d Better Update Before I Get My Belt!
Microsoft has recategorized Windows 10 from an “Optional” update to “Recommended.” This is certainly understandable to any parent who has realized the optional method (“Okay, you don’t have to eat your vegetables if you don’t want to be big and strong”) isn’t going so well, and has to kick things up a notch (“I recommend you finish that broccoli or you can go to your room and forget about ice cream for the next year”).

Expect “Recommended” to soon become “Mandatory” (“We’ve had to listen for years to you whining for a Start menu; you’re damned well going to use it!”).

Is My Tin Foil Hat On Straight?
A study shows that, at any given time, sixteen apps are running on an Android phone, eight of which the user is unaware. “I knew it!” said every AM radio overnight talk show host.

Yeah, We Know, But Trust Us, This Is Better Than Being Able To Edit A Tweet, Even If None Of You Asked For It
It was mentioned a few weeks ago that Twitter was considering a non-chronological method of displaying tweets, and now it appears that the change is imminent. You might say that I’m overreacting to something just because it’s different, without giving it a fair chance, but based on what little I’ve heard discussed, providing my timeline according to some new “Al Gore rhythm” seems an outdated idea, at best.

Also, “Organic Malware” Is My Favorite Band; I’m Sure You’ve Never Heard Of Them
The Internet Archive has launched The Malware Museum, where you can see the resultant messages from computer viruses prevalent in the eighties and nineties, without, of course, your computer being infected. In independent coffee houses across the country, hipsters huffed and downloaded actual viruses on Windows 95 desktops.

Like That’s The Worst Thing That’s Happened To It
Word is that Apple will be allowing iPhone users to trade in damaged phones for credit toward a new phone, the credit ranging from $50 to $250, depending on the device. I’d be willing to accept significantly less if, just once, they’d take my phone back without feeling compelled to incessantly grill me about what led to the problem: “Do you work around industrial vats of peanut butter? How else could you get so much so far inside every crevice? Seriously, do you realize at this point this is more peanut than phone?” Sheesh.

Whoa! That was some party! Am I right!? Hope you saved a little hell-raising for the secondary celebrations.

Till next week,

Mike Range
@MovieLeagueMike

P.S. Carolina 31 Denver 20

Creative Commons License
Weekly Tech Views by Mike Range is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

DTNS 2682 – Just assume it ends in doom

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.com
Scott Johnson and Molly Wood fill in for Tom Merritt and talk VR and Len Peralta illustrates the day.

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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!