Search Results for "june 18"

Darren Kitchen is on the show to talk about the US House’s restrictions on surveillance by the NSA, the National Park Service’s restrictions on drones, and why Saturn might be the best place to take a quadcopter. Plus Len Peralta is here to illustrate the show!

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

Today’s guest:   Darren Kitchen and Len Peralta

Headlines

People familiar with the matter are BACK! Remember yesterday’s Reuters rumors about an Apple iWatch? Well the Wall Street Journal has even RUMORY Rumors that say the non-existent unannounced watch will have 10 sensors including ones to track health and fitness and come in multiple screen sizes. Now those are just statements from unidentified sources, however, somebody willing to go ON the record was KGI Securities analyst Ming-chi Kuo who said, “watches are fashion accessories.”

TechCrunch reports three Georgia Tech students claim to have hacked the Yo app. That’s the app that searches your contacts for other people that have the Yo app and then allows you to send each other messages that say Yo both outloud and in text. The GT students emailed TechCrunch details on their ability to get any Yo phone number, spoof Yos, spam users and send notifications with any text. Yo founder Or Arbel says some of the security issues have been fixed and they are working on the others. 

TechCrunch reports Path is separating out a messaging app called Path Talk from the main Path app. Path Talk has ambient status updates that let friends know things like when you’re traveling, nearby, and or have a low battery. Path also bought TalkTo and will roll its features into PathTalk soon. TalkTo lets you text businesses and provides the backend communication over the phone for businesses that don’t take texts.

The Next Web reminds us the Microsoft Surface Pro 3’s i5 processor version goes on sale in the US and Canada today starting at $799. The i3 and i7 models will follow on August 1. As a side note The Verge passes on Paul Thurott of WinSuperSite’s discovery that the Surface Pro 3 user guide has references to a Surface Mini. A lot of people expected a smaller Surface to be unveiled at the announcement on May 20.

CNET reports that search results for music on Android phones now returns links to launch music apps where you can listen to that music. Android detects which apps you have installed and offers you links to launch them. This only works for Google Play, iHeart Radio, Rdio, Spotify, TuneIn, or YouTube. It also only works in the US but Google plans to expand to other countries and other services. 

News From You

tekkyn00b posted the TechCrunch story that the US House of Representatives passed an amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill, placing limits on on how the NSA can gain access to communication, including email, online browsing, and chat histories. The amendment received bipartisan support, passing 293-123. It must also be approved by the US Senate.

ssnapier sent along the Verge article that the FCC has issued its largest fine in history, $34.9 million, to CTS Technology, a Chinese company that has been selling hundreds of models of signal jammers, which are against the law in the US. The jammers could block radio communications including cell phone, WiFi, Bluetooth, satellite radio and GPS, sometimes up to half a mile away. CTS must stop selling and marketing the jammers to US customers and hand over information about who bought them.

tm204 has the post from ComputerWorld about the passing of another print tech magazine. June 23 will be the last dead tree edition of Computerworld. Computerworld’s website will continue and get a redesign later this summer. A new tablet version of the magazine will launch August 1. 

metalfreak submitted the Ars Technica report that Johns Hopkins University professor Matt Green asked one of the developers of TrueCrypt for permission to fork the existing code to start a new independent version. TrueCrypt’s developers ceased work on the project at the end of May. One of the developers responded to Green, “I don’t feel that forking truecrypt would be a good idea, a complete rewrite was something we wanted to do for a while. I believe that starting from scratch wouldn’t require much more work than actually learning and understanding all of truecrypt’s current codebase.” 

Discussion Section Links: Drone and where in the galaxy you can fly them

http://www.theverge.com/2014/6/20/5828046/us-park-service-directing-national-parks-to-ban-drones

http://rt.com/usa/167124-nasa-send-quadcopter-drone-titan/

http://phys.org/news/2014-06-nasa-titan-potential-prebiotic-chemistry.html http://www.nasa.gov/content/titan-aerial-daughtercraft/#.U6R_yo1dXA4

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-cassini-titan-20140618-story.html

Alternate awesome titles:

Title: No drones in parks. DRONES IN SPAAAAACE!

Title: “Drones Are OP Please Nerf”

TItle: I was offered a griffen, so I’m going with the horde.

Title: Yodor

Title: That drone is after my picnic basket!

Title: “Full NASA Regalia”

Title: Parks and Drone Limitations

Title: “Is that a hodor mini?”

Title: So I married a drone

Title: “Park Your Drone”

Title:  “Hodorcrypt”

TItle: This is a drone-free park

Pick of the day:  Duolingo via Tom

Monday’s Guest: Lamarr Wilson

Russ Pitts is on the show and we’ll chat about Minecraft’s problems with openness, plus a little on the electric Harley, T-Mobile free music and more.

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

Today’s guest:  Russ Pitts, journalist of the first order 

Headlines

The top story on our subreddit today from habichuelcondulce et. al was T-Mobile USA’s announcement yesterday of new features of their mobile phone plans. The centerpiece is an exemption for music services from counting against the 1Gb, 3GB, or 5 GB data plans. T-Mobile has also partnered with Rhapsody on an exclusive Internet radio service called unRadio which will have no ads and unlimited skips. The service will be $4 a month or free to unlimited plan subscribers. Also starting June 23, customers can ‘test drive’ an iPhone 5S on T-Mobile to get an idea of how the service works in their area.

Engadget reports Intel has launched a video messaging service. Yes, that Intel. The service uses facial recognition to animate an avatar based on your facial expressions. Users can get free avatars or pay for fancier ones like care bears, annoying orange or Mr. Bill for 99 cents. 

Engadget reports BlackBerry earnings were less bad than usual. Reveue declined only 1% compared to the previous quarter. Although smartphone sales fell from 3.4 million last quarter to 2.6 million this quarter, 54% of revenue came from services, which CEO John Chen believes will make the company profitable by 2016. That doesn’t mean BlackBerry will stop making phones right away. Chen announced a phone launch event in London will unveil the BlackBerry Passport later this year.

The Next Web reports Google will give $50 million to organizations that encourage girls to take an interest in computer science at an early age. YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki wrote a blog post about the program called “Made with Code” organizations like Girls Inc., Girl Scouts of the USA, MIT Media Lab and the National Center for Women & Information Technology, among others. You can find out more at https://www.madewithcode.com/

News From You

soldierblade submitted the GigaOm story that the US Supreme Court delivered a unanimous decision against a patent owned by Alice Corp for a computer program regarding a settlement mechanism. CLS Bank argued the mechanism was centuries old and turning it into a computer program should not make it patentable. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote, “We conclude that the method claims, which merely require generic computer implementation, fail to transform that abstract idea into a patent-eligible invention.” The decision is a blow to software patents, but how much of a blwo remains to be determined.

KAPT_Kipper posted the Ars Technica story that the US Marshals service committed the email faux pas of cc-ing rather than bcc-ing revealing everyone interested in their upcoming bitcoin auction. The email was intended for anyone who had e-mailed a question to the general mailbox to ask about the auction. While it doesn’t prove the recipients will join the auction, it does reveal the names of 17 investors, financiers and bitcoin company executives who were at least interested. 

spsheridan pointed out that Twitter announced the acquisition of SnappyTV, which clips edits and distributes TV show clips across a variety of platforms like social networks and mobile devices. Twitter intends to integrate SnappyTV into its products. 

Metalfreak posted the Computerworld article about the US Postal service spending up to $100,000 to research the use of low-cost sensors and wireless tech to help the delivery of mail. The USPS is looking for proposals from suppliers with “expertise and critical knowledge” of the Internet of Things, data strategy and analytics. Everything the post office uses — mailboxes, vehicles, machines, “or a letter carrier” — could be equipped with a sensor to create what it terms the “Internet of Postal Things,” in order to reduce maintenance costs and optimize routes. 

KAPT_Kipper noted the Engadget report that Harley-Davidson announced its ‘Project LiveWire’ electric motorcycle today. Marketwatch reports the bike will launch on a 30-city tour in the US allowing customers to ride the bike and offer feedback. The tour will continue with more cities as well as dates in Canada and Europe next year.

And therobertonline submitted the CNET report that Netflix has signed a deal with comedian Chelsea Handler to create a late night style talk show to debut on the service in 2016. Netflix plans to reimagine the late night format and launch the show in all its territories. Netflix will premiere a one-hour standup special from Handler on October 10 and four docu-comedy specials from her in 2015 in advance of the talk show.

Discussion Section Links: Minecraft steps into a minefield

http://www.polygon.com/2014/6/18/5819274/mojang-multiplayer-servers

http://kotaku.com/why-people-are-mad-about-minecrafts-new-changes-1592190004

https://mojang.com/2014/06/lets-talk-server-monetisation/

https://mojang.com/2014/06/lets-talk-server-monetisation-the-follow-up-qa/

http://notch.net/2014/06/literally-worse-than-ea/

http://kotaku.com/mojang-is-trying-to-kill-pay-to-win-on-minecraft-server-1591663994

http://sterlingplays.com/

Pick of the day:  Auphonic.com via Jeremy Dennis

Auphonic.com is a free automatic audio post-processor. I’ve been using it on my podcast for a while because Levelator just wasn’t doing a good job on one of our host’s audio tracks that was really quiet. Auphonic does a great job cleaning our audio and we also have it add our tags, chapter marks, and album art to the files before it uploads the file to our web host. It’s an awesome service that has shaved a good chunk of time from our podcast editing process.

Pocketcast and Le Rendez-vous Tech via Joe Fox

Hi gang, I have a pick for you that’s not a pick so much as a tip. Lately, I’ve been listening to Patrick Beja’s Le rendez-vous Tech, which has been recommended a lot on your show. But sometimes they talk a little fast (mostly the guests — I find Patrick’s cadence very easy to understand), so I’ll slow down playback to about 85 percent using my podcatcher of choice, Pocket Casts. I don’t know how common a feature that is, but it’s really helpful for getting a handle on rapid French.

Friday’s Guests: Darren Kitchen and Len Peralta

Raj Deut is on the show from E3. Did Sony keep the lead in Mindshare? Is there any hope for Nintendo? Plus a wearable SIM card that can authenticate any device.

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

Today’s guests:  Raj Deut, of Reckoner Australia and 1,000 Words On

Headlines

Nintendo held a virtual E3 announcement again this year, streamed over the Internet. The main star was Super Smash Brothers for Wii U and 3DS, that lets you put yourself, or at least your Mii avatar, into the game. It also will work with 10 new Nintendo toys that connect with the Wii U through NFC on the touchscreen controller. Nintendo showed off several more games including an open world Zelda and a Mario Maker tool that lets you design your own Super Mario levels, both coming in 2015. Also coming next year is a new property called Splatoon, a family-friendly FPS that uses paint balls and lets participants swim through the paint. After the stream, Shigeru Miyamoto was showing off a prototype for a new Starfox game in development.

Sony made a big deal about exclusives in their E3 press conference Monday night, and didn’t shy away from talking hardware and services. Bungie’s Destiny will be available in Alpha Thursday, with a multiplayer beta coming July 17 and shipping September 9 bundled with a white version of the PS4. Among the avalanche of other games, were a look at The Order: 1886 coming in August and Uncharted 4 exclusive. Far Cry 4 will allow players to invite friends to play even if they don’t own the game and Little Big Planet 3 made a urprise appearance. Sony announced two game title for its virtual reality headset Project Morpheus, called Jurassic Encounter and Street Luge. The PlayStation Now game streaming service built on Gaikai will arrive in beta July 31. And the PlayStation Vita TV will come to the US can Canada under the simpler name PLayStation TV for $99 or $139 bundled with a memory card and controller. Sony’s also getting into the original content game on the PS4 with an animated series called “Powers” based on the comic book and a Ratchett and Clank movie coming in 2015.

Engadget reports Google has agreed to spend $500 million to purchase Skybox Imaging, which builds small high-resolution imaging satellites. The satellite tech could help Google Maps but also might be used as relay to spread wireless Internet around the world.

Gigaom report Honeywell launched its first Smart thermostat Tuesday called the Lyric.Unlike the Nest which attempts to learn your habits, the Lyric uses geofencing to tell if someone is home optimizing for comfort when you are and energy-savings when you’re not. It also uses humidity sensors to tell when a fan would be better at keeping things cool vs. AC. The Lyric will be available in August for $279.

VentureBeat reports Oculus VR has hired Jason Rubin to head its worldwide studios. Rubin cofounded Naught Dog game studio co-created the game Crash Bandicoot. Rubin will run content studios in Seattle; San Francisco; Menlo Park, Calif.; Dallas; and Irvine, Calif.

The Verge reports NTT Docomo announced a prototype of Portable SIM, intended to replace a phone’s SIM card. The prototype incoroprates Bluetooth, NFC and SIM into a credit-card sized unit that makes it possible to authenticate phones and other devices and allow them to make calls and connect to dat networks without having to have a SIM card inside. The device can also store profile data and credentials for other services like Amazon and Google. The carrier hopes to reduce the size even more to make it fit in a wearable device like a bracelet.

News From You

spsheridan submitted the Next Web article that Amazon has updated its Kindle apps for iOS and Android to include access to audiobooks without leaving the app. Kindle books have been able to sync with select audiobooks from Audible for awhile, but users needed to launch a separate audible app. Now, while reading a Kindle book, one tap launches the audio version and picks up from the page you’re looking at. Amazon says about 45,000 Kindle titles have the feature enabled.

JohnEllsworth3 posted the FastCompany story that the Facebook temporary message app called Slingshot that appeared in the Apple app store yesterday, appeared by mistake. A Facebook spokesperson told the Associated Press: “Earlier today, we accidentally released a version of Slingshot, a new app we’re working on.” Oops. But hey they’re very excited for you to try it out. Just not yet.

russiancatfood pointed out the Ars Technica article that gives Netflix the latest word in their spat with Verizon. Yesterday we mentioned Netflix said they would remove controversial error messages being tested on some users, that said things like “The Verizon network is crowded.” Netflix General Counsel David Hyman sent an official response to Verizon reiterating that the test of the error messages would end June 16 but adding that doesn’t mean they won’t bring them back. Hyman wrote, “…we are evaluating rolling it out more broadly. Regardless of this specific test, we will continue to work on ways to communicate network conditions to our consumers.” 

Discussion Section Links: E3 Part Two!

http://reckoner.com.au/2014/06/e3-media-briefing-breakdown-ubisoft-sony/

http://www.cnet.com/news/nintendo-lays-out-gameplan-for-wii-u-with-hefty-lineup-of-software/

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/e3-2014-nintendo-wii-u-star-fox-hands-on-and-miyamoto-q-a/1100-6420327/

Pick of the day:  ZipList via Matt Maher

This pick is in response to your Big Oven pick. I’ve been using ZipList for a couple years now and I love it. I was approaching this type of app from the opposite direction. You were looking for a recipe app that could make grocery lists, and I was looking for a grocery list app that could draw from recipes. Consequently I think the focus of the two services is different. Grocery lists are more important to me, so ZipList works a little better for my uses. For one thing, my wife and I have a shared list that we can both add to, which makes shopping SO much easier.

ZipList also has a slew of great features. One of my favorite is that I can set up a number of stores that I go to regularly. I can then edit those stores and tell ZipList the exact order of the aisles, thereby making shopping trips a breeze because I can just sail through from one end of the store to the other. It also lets me add a bunch of items to one list, and then I can choose to only show one store at a time. That way I can take a single list, but go to Costco and Safeway without seeing the items for the store I’m not in at the moment. I highly recommend the service and app.

Wednesday’s Guest: Peter Wells, who also writes cool tech stories at Reckoner, Australia

 

Iyaz Akhtar and Sean Hollister are on the show. We’ve got news coming out of E3 from Microsoft who swears they love games so please forgive them. Also did a chatbot pass the Turing test? Sort of.

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

Today’s guests:  Iyaz Akhtar, CNET and GFQ Network

Headlines

CNET reports Microsoft made its E3 announcements and focused on games and thanking fans. The star of the show was Halo. The Master Chief Collection will come to Xbox One November 11, allowing players to take on almost every Halo game including Halo 2 multiplayer. Purchasers also get a crack at the beta of Halo 5 Guardians which isn’t scheduled for release until sometime in 2015. Further hitching their hopes to Halo, Microsoft announced Halo Nightfall, a live-action weekly series directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan and produced by Ridley Scott. The series will be part of the Master Chief Collection.

Of course Microsoft had lots of other things to announce as well, but the focus was firmly on games. A sequel called Rise of Tomb Raider was announced coming in late 2015 as well as the announcement of a new Crackdown. Foul-mouthed squirrel Conker is coming to Project Spark. The hit mobile game Threes comes to the decidedly not mobile Xbox One this year. And Sunset Overdrive got a release date of October 28th. 

Engadget reports EA announced developer DICE is making Star Wars: Battlefront for a spring 2015 launch. Also the Sims 4 will come to PCs September 2nd. Sims will have “heart,” can die of laughter and can be imported into someone else’s game.

The Next Web reports Microsoft has redesigned Skype for iOS from the ground to give it a consistent look and feel with Windows Phone and Android apps. Microsoft promises the app will be five times faster, with smoother scrolling and synced notifications. Users will also be able to start group chats from the main hub and send messages and photos to offline users. The new app will arrive in Apple’s App Store in about a week. 

Ars Technica reports Netflix released a new monthly speed index for May showing Verizon FiOS dropping two slots behind DSL providers Frontier and Windstream. Netflix reached an interconnection deal with Verizon that should improve performance but is still being set up. GigaOm reports Netflix also announced they will stop a test on June 16 that shows error messages claiming a particular ISP is “crowded” when connections suffer. 

TechCrunch reports Minecraft creator MArkus Persson AKA Notch has released his latest game called Cliffhorse in which you control a horse on a hilly green landscape as it pushes a ball. The game is free to download though users can choose to pay dogecoin or Bitcoins if they like and is available for Windows.

TechCrunch reports Facebook has launched a new app called Slingshot that lets you send annotated pictures and videos to friends, who can only see them if they send something back. Unlocked shots can be held to view later, but once swiped away they are not stored. The app is not available in all markets around the world.

News From You

KAPT_Kipper submitted the BBC story that Sony sold 18.7 million game consoles in its fiscal year that ended in March putting it in front of Nintendo which sold 163 million. That’s the first time Sony has passed Nintendo in 8 years. Nintendo fans may take solace int he fact that figures released for the last week of May, showed 19,312 Wii Us were bought in Japan compared to just 6,022 copies of the PS4.

melchizedek74 posted the CNET story about Amazon expanding their “Login and Pay” service to allow for recurring payments like subscriptions. Login and Pay lets customers use their Amazon account and its associated payment methods, to buy products on non-Amazon sites. Amazon has been testing the new subscription portion of the service with mobile phone service company Ting.

Our top story on the subreddit today, comes from tekkyn00b. The Verge reports developer Frederic Jacobs noticed that iOS 8 will randomize a phone’s MAC address when searching for WiFi hotspots, reducing the chances that your phone can be identified. Lots of businesses, especially at malls and shopping centers, gather the publicly broadcast MAC addresses in order to gather marketing data on shoppers. While shops promise they do not collect personally identifiable information, randomizing the MAC address broadcast to WiFi will make sure of it.

And Berke80 sent in the Engadget story that Elon Musk told folks at the UK launch of the Tesla Model S yesterday, that he wants to open the designs of the Supercharger system in order to make a standard that other car makers can adopt. Musk would require participating companies to include charging costs in the cost of the car and help pay to maintain the supercharger network.

Discussion Section Links

http://www.theverge.com/2014/6/9/5793642/halo-nightfall-digital-series-coming-to-xbox-from-producer-ridley-scott

http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/09/halo-master-chief-collection/?ncid=rss_truncated

http://www.cnet.com/news/lara-croft-plans-to-raid-the-xbox-holiday-2015/#ftag=CAD590a51e

http://thenextweb.com/media/2014/06/09/halo-nightfall-digital-series-headed-xbox-one-remastered-halo-compilation-november/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=profeed&utm_reader=feedly

http://www.cnet.com/news/halo-5-confirmed-for-2015-halo-master-chief-collection-out-in-november/#ftag=CAD590a51e

http://www.cnet.com/news/e3-2014-microsoft-xbox-one-focus-is-all-about-games/#ftag=CAD590a51e

http://recode.net/2014/06/09/an-ai-program-allegedly-passed-the-turing-test-so-what/

http://io9.com/why-the-turing-test-is-bullshit-1588051412
http://www.princetonai.com/

Pick of the day:  PC Perspective’s Hardware Leaderboard via Andy Welch

Andy Welch has our pick of the day: “For building a desktop, I’d like to recommend PC Perspective’s Hardware Leaderboard as a very useful reference. I don’t have time (or interest) in keeping up with the latest in pc hardware, but when I need a new desktop pc every few years, this is a great spot that I go to. They update it monthly to provide an updated list of major components based on current prices and technology. They show 4 different builds from about $500 low end, $1000, $1300, and $3000 top end. I’ve used it myself and recommend it to others all the time.”

Tuesday’s Guest: Raj Deut, of Reckoner Australia and 1,000 Words On

Allison Sheridan Sheridan is on the show and we’ll talk about Netflix’s error message spat with Verizon and Google’s new end-to-end email encryption scheme.

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

Today’s guests: Allison Sheridan, Allison Sheridan, host of NosillaCast at podfeet.com

Headlines:

Our top story on the subreddit was submitted by davidpolanco today. The New York Time reports   Google released source code Tuesday for a Chrome extension called “End to End” that would provide OpenPGP encryption for messages within a browser. In other words, end to end encryption for Gmail users. Google wants developers to look for security vulnerabilities before the extension is released for wide use. Google will pay for any bugs found through its Vulnerability Reward program. Google already encrypts Web traffic to its Gmail product but that only works if the recipients provider also encrypts. Google released a report showing that 40-50 percent of email did not end up encrypted at the other end. Comcast was one of the worst with only 1% of its email ending up encrypted. Comcast told the Wall Street Journal its working on an encryption program for its customers that it hopes to roll out within weeks. 

Ars Technica reports that Microsoft has announced dozens of social and media apps will come to the XBox One as part of the next update. Among the apps announced for US users are HBO Go, Twitter, several cable TV network apps. All of these apps will be available without an Xbox Live paid account, as will existing apps like Netflix. Microsoft did not announce when the update will arrive but the company will have their E3 announcement in just 5 days. 

The BBC reports authorities in the Central African Republic have banned the use of SMS text messaging in the country as an emergency measure. Demonstrations have been taking place in the capital, Bangui, and a mass text campaign called for a general strike. Mobile phone users in CAR now get a message in French saying “SMS not allowed”. A government source told AFP the suspension might only last a few days.

The Washington Post reports The US Secret Service posted a work order Monday for software that can detect sarcasm in social media. The order also wants the software to synthesize large sets of data and present it visually. And it must be compatible with IE8. So if you think you can identify influencers in real time on a heat map and detect when posts are being sarcastic, and root out false positives, just submit your proposal by tomorrow, June 9 at 5 PM. I’m sure that’s plenty of time.

The Next Web reports LinkedIn revamped its premium accounts so paying members can choose a custom background, larger photo, and expanded header. Premium users also get keyword suggestions and receive emphasis in search. Paying members also get a full 90-day list of who viewed their profile and how they rank against first-degree connections. A new premium starter package including the new features will cost $10 a month.

The waterproof Sony Smartband is finally coming to secondary markets like the US and UK for $99 and £80 respectively. The band counts steps and tracks sleep activity but also notes weather and vibrates for incoming text messages and phone calls. Sony released the band in Europe earlier this year for 99 Euros.

News From You

KAPT_Kipper submitted the Verge story that Vox Media designer Yuri Victor noted a new error message on Netflix last night when the service hit a bandwidth snag. It read, “The Verizon network is crowded right now.” Netflix’s Jonathan Friedland confirmed that the company is testing the phrasing for its messages. Verizon responded that the message deliberately misleads customers.  

spsheridan posted a Reuters story about China’s People’s Daily stating on its blog that companies such as Yahoo, Cisco, Microsoft and Facebook should be punished as pawns of the US Government. The post referred to the companies involvement in the PRISM spying program leaked by Edward Snowden and published June 6 last year. The English-language China Daily echoed the sentiments. 

dwsoulsby submitted the TechRadar story about Intel’s goal to make computing wire free by 2016. Intel’s SVP of Computing Kirk Skaugen said it would do so using an upcoming CPU reference design codenamed Skylake – which will succeed Broadwell – that uses the company’s WiGig tech (rather than cables) to carry and display data signals. WiGig can send data at 7Gbps over short distances, making it candidate to replace HDMI, USB, DisplayPort and other short distance wires. Skaugen also said the company is looking at integrating wireless charging.

TheLinuxNinja pointed out the Wires article about a program created by Berlin artist Julian Oliver called Glasshole.sh. It detects any Google Glass device attempting to connect to a WiFi network by MAC Address. It then ses the program Aircrack-NG to impersonate the network and send a “deauthorization” command, cutting the headset’s Wi-Fi connection. Oliver has only tested the device on his own studio’s network. 

Discussion Section Links: 

http://www.cnet.com/news/netflix-takes-aim-at-verizon-over-slow-data-speeds/#ftag=CAD590a51e

http://www.theverge.com/2014/6/4/5780006/verizon-slams-netflix-pr-stunt-that-told-users-their-isps-were

http://publicpolicy.verizon.com/blog/entry/shifting-blame

http://ispspeedindex.netflix.com/

http://ispspeedindex.netflix.com/usa

https://twitter.com/yurivictor/status/473978204852453376

https://twitter.com/jsf33/status/473992321394954241

http://gigaom.com/2014/06/04/isp-to-netflix-please-come-to-hong-kong/

http://reg.hkbn.net/WwwCMS/upload/pdf/en/140604%20Letter%20to%20Netflix%20Signed%20Scanned%20Copy.pdf

Pick of the day:   Air Droid via Kevin Kipp

After hearing you talking about device management and wireless file transfers coming soon to Apple’s ecosystem (WWDC 2014), I thought I’d suggest AirDroid as a pick of the day. It allows you to send and receive SMS via your phone, manage contacts, clipboard content, files, media and apps, locate your phone, stream video from your phone’s camera(s) or stream the screen of your device all through a web interface.

As long as your phone (can be wireless via wifi) is on the same network as your computer (connection here can be wired or wireless), they can link up making this great for using it anywhere. You just pull up the easy to remember URL (web.airdroid.com), scan a QR code on the screen, and you’re connected.

It’s great at home, the office, or even at a friend’s computer for quick direct file transfers.

Schedule for live streams of Phoenix ComicCon via Alpha Geek Radio available here:  http://bit.ly/AGRPhoenix

Thursday’s Guest: Veronica Belmont, of the internet

Lamarr Wilson is back and we’ll talk about hot new hardware coming out of Computex. An Intel Core processor with full Windows in a tablet thinner than an iPad Air? 4K Laptop? Check. A 5-way laptop/tablet/phone running Android and Windows? Not kidding.

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

Today’s guests: Lamarr Wilson, host of Mashable’s YouTube Weekly and Socially Awkward

Headlines:

You want new hardware? Intel’s trying to catch your eye at Computex. PC World reports Intel showed off the new Core M line of processors that draws less than 10 watts of power making possible a 7.2-mm thick tablet with 8 hours of battery life. The tablet is Intel’s “Llama Mountain” reference design, that manufacturers can you use as a jumping off point for their own tablets. Still a thin Windows 8.1 Pro tablet that has 8 hours of battery life and docks with a light keyboard to become a laptop looks appealing to some folks. Asus has already said they’ll ship Transformer Hybrids with the chip later this year.

The Next Web reports on the rollout of Instagram version 6 to iOS and Android devices. Now when you select a filter on your photo you’ll see a wrench icon to give you access to a suite of editing tools. Among the new features are color adjustment, sharpen and the ability to adjust filter strength. 

Glass Almanac are among the folks reporting on Google’s announcement of Diane von Furstenberg-designed Google Glass. DVF|Made for Glass includes five new frames and eight new shades to convert you from GLASS-hole to GLASS-sionista! The collection will be available June 23 for Glass Explorers. 

Kickstarter has gone anarchist and ended all rules! Well not quite. GigaOM tempers things with facts, but DOES report that the new rules make it more attractive for hardware makers who had been turning to Indiegogo and the like and their less restrictive policies. One major change is a new feature called “Launch Now” for qualifying projects to skip the wait for a community manager’s approval. About 60% of projects qualify right now and Kickstarter expects that to rise. The new simplified rules simply state the project must create something to be shared, be honest, and not raise money for charity, offer financial incentives or involve prohibited items.

The Next Web reports Motorola announced Moto Stream, an accessory that can make any speaker a wireless Bluetooth speaker. Up to five connected devices can drop tracks into the speaker as long as they’re within 300 feet. It’s available today for $50 at Motorola.com.

Reuters reports Facebook acquired Finnish company Pryte which provides a service allowing phone users without data plans to purchase data in small quantities meant to gain access to specific apps like Facebook itself. 

Mashable reports Turkey’s telecommunications authority lifted a ban on YouTube Tuesday four days after the Constitutional Court ruled that the ban violated Turks’ free speech rights. YouTube was blocked for a total of 67 days.

GigaOm reports on the launch of a robotics research partnership between the European Commission and 180 private companies, called SPARC which will invest €2.8 billion. The European Commission believes SPARC will lead to the creation of over 240,000 European jobs and hopefully a lot of really friendly European robots.

Mary Jo Foley at ZDNet reports that her sources say Microsoft’s Tiled Interface version of Microsoft Office, meant for tablets, won’t arrive until Spring 2015 now, meaning Office for Android will arrive first, sometime before the end of 2014.

News From You

KAPT_Kipper sent in the CNET story about how John Oliver brought down the FCC. Sort of. Oliver spent 13 minutes on his show “Last Week Tonight” delivering an insightful description of Net Neutrality, capping it off by calling for all the trollish commenters of the Internet to “focus your indiscriminate rage in a useful direction” at fcc.gov/comments . Yesterday the FCC’s comment system buckled yesterday afternoon under the pressure of that rage suddenly being focused on one point. It seems to have recovered— for now.

metalfreak posted the Ars Technica article about the release of a 64-bit version of Chrome announced on the Chromium blog. Google claims the new version brings 25% performance improvement in graphics and multimedia. Google also claims improvement in security and stability. 64-bit Chrome is currently available for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 in the developer and canary channels. 

And Splendor78 pointed out the Washington Post article about Suzi Levine becoming the first US Ambassador to take the oath over a Kindle e-reader displaying the US Constitution. This continues a trend. New Jersey firefighters were sworn in on an iPad edition of the Bible in February. 

Discussion Section Links: Hardware Delight!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/sharifsakr/2014/06/03/computex-2014-roundup/

http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/02/asus-gx500/?ncid=rss_truncated

http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/02/asus-steam-machines/?ncid=rss_truncated

http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/03/intel-llama-mountain-prototype/?ncid=rss_truncated

http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/02/intel-bets-on-surface-pro-3-like-2-in-1-devices/

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/06/intel-shows-off-fanless-broadwell-tablet-thinner-than-the-ipad-air/

http://9to5google.com/2014/06/02/asus-announces-transformer-book-v-androidwindows-3-in-1-new-fonepad-memo-tablets/

Pick of the day:  Audible.com via Brian in Houston

Audible is my pick of the day. I started with a book called The Moon is a Harsh Mistress a few years ago when I heard it mentioned on a podcast by Tom. I have discovered a ton of great content including the Dresden Files series and several biographies that are made so much better when read by the author. My library now includes hundreds of books and with the cost per book being less than $10 when you do the highest tier membership it’s a great deal.

Thanks Tom for introducing me to Audible, it has made the daily commute, workouts at the gym, and walking the dogs daily much more enjoyable.

Schedule for live streams of Phoenix ComicCon via Alpha Geek Radio available here:  http://bit.ly/AGRPhoenix

Wednesday’s Guest: Allison Sheridan, Allison Sheridan, host of NosillaCast at podfeet.com

Molly Wood is on the show today. We’ll discuss whether the $129 Moto E is a smoking gun, and why Microsoft is backtracking on Kinect Xbox One bundles and the Xbox Live requirement for Netflix.

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

Today’s guest:  Molly Wood, columnist for The New York Times. 

Headlines

CNET reports Microsoft announced a new Xbox One without the Kinect bundled will begin selling June 9th for $399 in the US and £350 in the UK. A separate Kinect will become available later, though no timeline was announced. Microsoft also announced that sometime in June, its paid subscription service, Xbox Live Gold will no longer be required for most apps, including Netflix, ESPN, and YouTube. If you do keep paying though, Xbox One owners will get Games with Gold and Deals with Gold features starting in June. 

Ars Technica reports Motorola announced the Motorola E Android smartphone for sale unlocked at $129. The E runs Android 4.4.2 Kit Kat, has a 4.3-inch 960 x 540, 256 PPI display, a 1.2 GHz dual-core Snapdragon 200 processor, 1 GB of RAM and 4 GB of storage. Although it does have a microSD card slot that can add up to 32GB.Motorola even promises it will get at least one update to the next version of Android, possibly more. Like the Moto G has swappable rear shells you can buy for $15. One big gap, no front-facing camera. The phone comes to 40 countries in the next few weeks.

9to5 Mac cites “sources with knowledge of the enhancement in development” say Apple will add split-screen multitasking to iOS8 for iPad. It’s described as similar to how Windows 8 can snap multiple apps in the tiled interface on tablets. The iOS feature would let users drag content from one app to another. On the back-end this means iOS developers could share content between apps. Sources do warn that the feature might be pushed back to a later version or canceled altogether. Oh sources.

ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley reports Microsoft is adding advanced rules and a new undo option to Outlook.com.  Users will be able to create multi-condition, multi-action rules, including options for options for time constraints, email tallying, checking read/unread email state and more. Microsoft also simplified undo functions by adding an undo button and allowing CTRL-Z to work wherever you need to undo. The new features start rolling out today and should arrive for all users in the next few weeks.

GigaOm reports LG will begin selling its Lifeband Touch fitness wristband on May 18 in the US for $150, with Asia and Europe releases to follow. The lifeband can track the usual fitness metrics but can’t track your heartbeat. That’s why it’s fortuitous that LG will also start selling its Heart Rate earphones this month exclusively at Best Buy for $180, with additional retailers coming mid-June.

Recode reports 28 CEOs of US Internet Service Providers sent a letter to the US FCC urging the agency not to reclassify their services as Telecommunications. Some have urged the FCC to classify ISPs as telecommunications providers, as they were until 2002, in order to have a firmer legal justification for net neutrality regulations. The ISps say in their letter that doing so, “would impose great costs, allowing unprecedented government micromanagement of all aspects of the Internet economy.”

More elements of the cold war are returning! The Verge reports Russia has rejected a request by the United States to continue to use the International Space Station after 2020. The US wanted to extend joint missions until 2024. The US currently pays Russia $60 million per person to ferry its astronauts to the space station. Russia will also bar the US from buying Russian rocket engines that would be used to launch military satellites from the US.

News From You

Our top story on the subreddit today came from ancientbearwizard who submitted yesterday’s Guardian excerpt from a book by Glenn Greenwald alleging the NSA has been intercepting shipments of routers heading for export. The US spy agency then installs surveillance tools, repackages the device and sends it along. The allegation is based on a leaked June 2010 report from the head of the NSA’s Access and Target Development.

mranthropology sent us a Wired article that Volkswagen announced it will introduce a 10-speed dual-clutch transmission targeted to arrive in the 2015 Passat. More gears allows the engine to optimize RPMs and save fuel. VW Group Chairman Dr. Martin Winterkorn believes the design can help improve fuel economy across VW’s group model range by 20 percent. That includes not only Jettas and Audi A4s but Bugattis and Porches as well. 

MikePKennedy posted the Verge story about  a European Court of Justice ruling that Google is responsible for content on its servers and must respond to individual requests to remove outdated or irrelevant information originating from third parties. A Spanish resident asked Google to remove links to an article about his house being auctioned after a failure to pay taxes. The individual said the matter had been resolved making the articles outdated. The decision runs counter to a statement made last year by the Advocate General.

tm204 sent us a Rice University posting that Rice chemist James Tour and his colleagues have developed a flexible material that combines qualities of a battery and a supercapcitor without using lithium, which is found in almost all commercial batteries today. It can charge and discharge quickly like a supercapacitor or discharge more slowly like a battery. The capacitor is about a hundreth of an inch thick and flexible like graphene. The researchers hope they can make it even thinner.

The Kicker

 According to former Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield, today the last day you can (legally) watch the video of him singing ‘Space Oddity’ aboard the International Space Station. The first music video shot in space was filmed in 2013 near the end of Commander Hadfield’s tenure on the ISS  and his license of the David Bowie song expires today. Although Hadfield says he’s working with Bowie’s people to extend the rights, it’s worth watching again, for the weightless guitar solo, and to honor Hadfield for proving that astronauts don’t just have to be stoic scientific ciphers; they can also take the time to be creative in space. If you’re listening to this podcast on Wednesday, never fear, Hadfield’s original song “Jewel in the Night” is still available.

Discussion Section Links: Ground Control to Moto E

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/05/motorolas-moto-e-runs-kitkat-resists-scratches-costs-129-unlocked/

http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/12/htc-sensation-4g-official-1-2ghz-dual-core-qhd-display-and-th/

http://www.cnet.com/news/new-399-xbox-one-without-kinect/

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/05/head-of-xbox-says-plans-to-decouple-kinect-from-xbox-one-began-in-april/

http://gigaom.com/2014/05/13/microsoft-wants-to-boost-xbox-video-streaming-by-making-it-free/

http://news.xbox.com/2014/05/xbox-delivering-more-choices

Pick of the Day:  Ghostery via Loren Lang

Ghostery is a web privacy tool that is available as a browser add-on (for most major browsers, anyway) and an iOS app. It blocks all sorts of trackers, beacons and cookies from over 1900 sources and you can choose to allow or disallow any or all of them with individual granularity as well as whitelisting sites to allow everything from them. You can also choose to allow an item once and then automatically go back to blocking it which is extremely useful when blocking something breaks a site in some way. I’ve first checked it out when i heard Steve Gibson recommend it in 2011 (see Security Now, Ep. 305) and have been using it ever since. I’m not fully in the Tin Foil Hat Brigade but I also don’t necessarily want to have everything I do on the web tracked and sold. There wasn’t a lot of middle ground between being not caring and locking things down so much as to make some sites unusable. Ghostery is exactly the compromise I was looking for.

Plug of the Day: It’s a Thing, a podcast about things that are becoming  ‘ a thing’ with Tom Merritt and Molly Wood.

Wednesday ‘s guest:  Dr. Kiki Sanford, host of This Week in Science