Veronica Belmont joins the show to talk about the rising use of emojis. Does it signal the final demise of our civilization or is it the birth of a new universal language that will unite humanity in peace and prosperity? Or somewhere in between.
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Show Notes
Today’s guests: Veronica Belmont
Headlines:
The BBC reports on Facebook’s announcement that it will open its Internet.org program to all developers who meet certain criteria. Internet.org allows mobile users to access certain services without incurring data charges. Net neutrality advocates in INdia have accused the service of picking winners and losers. In response Internet.org will allow developers to join if the service is not data-intensive, can run on feature phones as well as smartphones, and encourages exploartion of the broader Internet.
Engadget reports that Microsoft Office 2016 is now available for free public preview. You don’t have to be a dev, or even an Office 365 subscriber to test out the newly redesigned universal apps or try out real-time co-authoring in Word, one-click forecasting in Excel, or access to OneDrive attachments in Outlook. Just go to products.office.com/office-2016-preview or look for the link in our show notes.
According to a post from 9 to 5 Mac the makers of Reserve Strap have confirmed plans to take advantage of a hidden 6 pin port on the Apple watch. The hidden port means the strap doesn’t have to use the indictuive charging, allowing quicker and higher capacity charging, improving durability and eliminating interference with the Apple Watch’s sensors. The port is covered and hidden inside of the slot where straps connect to the device. Reserve Strap will provide a tool to access it. You can preorder Reserve Strap for $249, but availability has not been determined.
BizTechAfrica reports Alcatel-Lucent and the Algerian government have signed an agreement to deploy 560 km of fiber-optic cable to link Oran, Algeria to Valencia, Spain. Upon completion in 2016 the cable will deliver an ultimate design capacity of 20 Tbps.
Mozilla has made its https plans official. VentureBeat reports Mozilla announced it intends to “start removing capabilities from the non-secure Web” specifically sites that don’t support https. Before you freak out keep in mind Firefox’s security lead Richard Barnes said “… we will have to monitor the degree of breakage and balance it with the security benefit. We’re also already considering softer limitations that can be placed on features when used by non-secure sites.”
Security Researcher Luigi Vigneri and his colleagues at the French graduate school and research center Eurecom have developed an app that checks what sites Android apps connect to according to the The MIT Technology Review. The team say 10% of apps they tested connected to more than 500 different URLs. 9 out 10 most frequently contacted ad related domains run by Google. They call their new app NoSuchApp or NSA and plan to make the app publicly available on Google Play in the near future.
Every 3 years the US copyright Office considers proposed exemptions to Section 1201 of the DMCA which makes it a felony to break “an effective means of access control.” Boing Boing reports this year a petitioner has requested an exemption for the right to use unapproved materials in 3D printers. 3D printer maker Startasys has asked the Office to deny the exemption claiming only one person wants to use unapproved materials in their 3D printers. Interetsed parties can reply at https://dmca.digitalrighttorepair.org/form
Android Police reports Google + announced Collections today, a new way to group your posts by topic. Or a way to curate your content by sets, if that helps. Or a way to Pinterest on Google. Each collection can be shared publicly, privately, or with a specific set of people. Once you create your first collection, your profile will display a new tab where other people can find and follow your collections. Android Police dug into the code and noted that collections can be suspended for violating terms of service, including hate speech, illegal content and copyright infringement.
TechCrunch got Facebook and Nokia to admit they’re partnering to provide Nokia Here maps to some Facebook users. Facebook confirmed its testing Nokia HERE maps in Android versions of standalone apps like Instagram and Messenger. TechCrunch also discovered HERE maps being used in Facebook’s mobile site. Facebook has been among the companies rumored to be interested in acquiring Nokia’s mapping division.
News From You:
jaymz668 pointed out the Verge article that multiple sources say the US Departent of Justice is looking into Apple’s business practices regarding music services. Allegedly Apple has encouraged major music labels to push Spotify and others to shut down their free streaming tiers. Apple has an antitrust monitor on its campus after it was found guilty in an ebook antitrust case last year. Apple is appealing that decision.
Motang brings us the Guardian story that Twitter has disabled the feature that allowed you to play classic DOS games from Archive.org embeded in a Twitter post. Twitter’s policy prohibits gaming inside Twitter Cards. No word on whether FUN in general is prohibited by Twitter policy :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:
Indi_de_lis posted the Ars Technica article about a bug in Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner Jet. The US FAA issued a memo last week that Boeing reports that when the 787 has been powered continuously for 248 days all generator control units go into failsafe mode and lose AC power due to a software counter error. If all 4 units were powered on at the same time they could conceivably all lose power at the same time 248 days later. Boeing is developing a patch, meanwhile the workaround is to turn the generators off and then on again.
Discussion Section Links:
Pick of the day:
Co-Executive Producer anotherJmartin:
Hello Tom, Jennie, and esteemed guest,
On DTNS #2473, Nate Lanxon talked about how he rips his music & syncs it with his mobile devices with iTunes. If you want to do this with your Android, I want to recommend the Google Music app. You can upload up to 50,000 songs to it for free, and you can either stream or download them to any device with the Google Music app. It’s great if you already have a collection of ripped music already and want to listen to it anywhere.
Messages:
Dan from Marysville:
Last week on DTNS and later on CurrentGeek I heard you state that California doesn’t allow you to sell back excess power to the power company. I live in northern California and I have a solar home and I can tell you that I can indeed sell the excess back. Take a look at California’s Net Energy Metering Law
http://www.gosolarcalifornia.ca.gov/solar_basics/net_metering.php
Tim writes:
Listening to the latest DTNS while I draw buildings.
Another thing the Powerwall is an option for is a generator. I live on well and septic. When the power goes off we can’t flush the toilets. I think having a Powerwall in the garage is better than have a gas generator that I should to run once a month to make sure it always runs smoothly. Would be nice if the power went out that my electrical system just starts off the Powerwall, no hassles. You really appreciate the things you have once they are gone. Those on city water can always flush there toilets when the power goes out. We got woods for #1, not so much for #2! 
Good to see the BOL reunion show!
Keep on keepin’ on and say Hello to Eileen, we do miss her too!
Adam wanted to comment on several statements around unlimited use of the Internet. He writes:
For example content for the World Cup or Masters tournaments must be blocked for the stability of the network but, there’s another side of this, the Top Talker. 90% of the time network congestion is driven by a few Top Talkers. They decide they need to fully replicate a database or backup during business hours and we have a capacity issue. We can often address our capacity issues by changing their behavior.
Chris with another goat report:
I’m a little behind on episodes due to work, but I have my own annual goat story. The city uses goats annually to clear the grass on the hillsides up here on hills in the East Bay. They simply erect a temporary electrified fence and then unload a few trailers worth of goats for a few days, and until they mow it all down. It is a very green approach, though the renewable remnants smell awful. They also tend to bleat allot and the billies feel compelled to ram each other for an unusual sound infusion on my corporate con calls.
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Tuesday’s guest: Patrick Beja