Search Results for "october 7"

Darren Kitchen is on to bust some FUD about the BadUSB. What DO we need to be concerned with. Plus Len Peralta illustrates 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 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 and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guests:  Darren Kitchen of hak5.org & Len Peralta, the artist also know as lenperaltastore.com

Headlines

ReCode reports Apple has officially closed their $3 billion deal to acquire the experience that is Beats Electronics. Apple wrote on a welcome page “We’re delighted to be working with the team to elevate that experience even further. And we can’t wait to hear what’s next.” What’s next for roughly 200 Beats workers is their positions become temporary. Online ordering of Beats products has shifted to the Apple store.

TechCrunch reports HP has teamed up with fashion designer Michael Bastian and shopping site Gilt to sell their snazzy new smartwatch. The watch is custom built and syncs with an app for iOS or Android to push email and text notices to the watch. It’ll also offer music control, as well as weather, sports and stock price updates. But its really all about looks. It has a 44mm circular watchface with straps available in brown leather, a green nylon and black rubber Price hasn’t been set but it will ship this autumn. 

Reuters reports hundreds of Chinese employees of Microsoft’s recently acquired Nokia handset business protested against layoffs at a Beijing research center and factory that currently employs 2,400 people. Microsoft intends to reduce the workforce at the site but not close it entirely. 

If you have more than 3,000 readers on your blog and you operate in Russia, you’ll need to register with telecommunications regulator Roskomnadzor under a new law. GigaOm passes along that Izvestia reports Roskomnadzor has sent its first batch of notices to bloggers who must also disclose their true identity, avoid hate speech,“extremist calls” and obscene language. They also must verify any information before publishing it. In response LiveJournal now only reports 2,500+ on its readership stats page. 

According to Engadget, Ebay published their diversity report showing 42 percent of its employees are women. Women account for 28% of leadership roles and 24% of tech jobs. Ebay’s female percentage is slightly larger than Pinterest (40%), Yahoo (37%), Google (30%) and Twitter (30%). The number are smaller when it comes to some ethnicities. 7% of Ebay’s total employees self-identify as Black, and 5% Hispanic. 55 percent of people in tech roles at the company identify as Asian. 

Tired of Europe always going after Google lately? Now they get a break. An Austrian privacy campaign group called Europe-v-Facebook is going after Facebook Ireland filing suit in Vienna claiming the social media giant violated Austrian privacy laws by tracking users on third party websites, and the company’s non-compliance with data access requests and for Facebook’s alleged participation in the Prism data collection program run by the U.S.NSA… among others. 

Android has been cleaning up in marketshare by shipping but what about actual usage? Net Applications tracks just such a stat and for the first tim Android has topped iOS in their survey of usage grabbing 44.62% of worldwide usage to iOS’s 44.19%. Windows Phone took a nice jump to 2.49% of usage.

News From You

dan_linder submitted the Wired Uk story that British scientist Roger Shawyer’s EmDrive may have got some validation from NASA. The controversial drive allegedly converts electric power into thrust, without the need for propellant by bouncing microwaves around in a closed container. Critics say that violates the conservation of momentum. Last year a Chinese team replicated the results to little fanfare. Now US scientist Guido Fetta has built his own version of a microwave thruster, which NASA agreed to test at Johnson Space Center. The test results were presented on July 30 at the 50th Joint Propulsion Conference in Cleveland, Ohio. The drive produced 30 to 50 micronewtons of thrust. Small, but positive.

the_big_endian wanted us to know that on the scrap heap of Google tech that includes Google Reader, Google Health and Knol, we should make room for…the Google Barge? The Next Web passes along the Portland-Press Herald report that the barge, which had been intended as a showroom for the Google X division, was towed into Portland Harbor last October, only to be sold to an international barging company. The four-story building built out of shipping containers will be dismantled. However a similar mystery barge docked in Stockton, California remains untouched. 

Pick of the Day: Keysduplicated.com

Joellen writes in: “I wanted to send in a Pick of the day… but it may be more of a discussion topic since it seems a bit controversial at the moment. The pick would be Keysduplicated.com, a service that lets you make copies of your keys by taking pictures with your phone. I’ve used it several times now to get copies of keys, as well as send copies to AirBnB guests who will be staying at my place. It’s worked great thus far, and has saved me many trips to the hardware store. The service, however, has gotten some mixed press recently. Most of it seems like nightly news “scare-mongering”, but I’d be interested to hear your opinion. At the very least, I think its something your audience should know about.”

Pick of the Day: Keys Duplicated via Joellen:

Joellen writes in: “I wanted to send in a Pick of the day… but it may be more of a discussion topic since it seems a bit controversial at the moment. The pick would be Keysduplicated.com, a service that lets you make copies of your keys by taking pictures with your phone. I’ve used it several times now to get copies of keys, as well as send copies to AirBnB guests who will be staying at my place. It’s worked great thus far, and has saved me many trips to the hardware store. The service, however, has gotten some mixed press recently. Most of it seems like nightly news “scare-mongering”, but I’d be interested to hear your opinion. At the very least, I think its something your audience should know about.”

Plug of the Day: 

Plug of the day: Like tech history? I’ve teamed up with Scott Johnson to put out monthly looks at what happened in history this month. For 99 cents you get what happened on each day of the month that helped make the tech we sue today, plus illustrations from Scott Johnson. Check them out for 99 cents each at tommerrittbooks.com or just search Amazon.        

Monday’s guest: Todd Whitehead of Alpha Geek Radio

Molly Wood is on to talk about Amazon’s new wallet app, the future of payments, and possibly a tiny little patent rant.

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, of the paper of record! 

Headlines

Techcrunch reports Xiaomi announced a new phone called the Mi4 and a wearable called the Mi Band. The wristband device is a fitness tracker and can unlock your mi phone, coming in 5 colors and will sell for 79 renminbi or about US$13. The Mi4 has a metal band reminiscent of the iPhone with a 5-inch 1080p display 2.5GHz processor snapdragon 801, 3GB of RAM, 16GB internal storage and a 3,080 mAh battery. It’s also the first model with LTE. TNW reports the Mi 4 will be available for CNY 1,999 (approximately $322) for the 16GB and CNY 2,499 (around $403) for the 64 GB. 3G versions come July 29 (China Unicom) and August (China Telecom), while the 4G version will land some time in September. 

Apple Insider posted that the USPTO granted Apple a patent for a “ “Wrist-worn electronic device and methods therefore” The device can connect with portable devices and the strap carries sensors. It also supports wrist gestures and proximity-sensing circuitry. Prior art? Never heard of it. Apple Insider points out the patent seems to be as much about putting an iPod Nano in an enhanced wristband as anything. 

TechCrunch started the wave of tech news sites noticing that Amazon had quietly launched a wallet app on July 17th for Kindles and Android. The app lets you store gift cards and loyalty cards and in some cases check balances. You can manage the app at amazon.com/wallet which also will list your Amazon-linked credit cards, implying that someday those too may become available in the wallet app. Amazon says the current app is in beta and will ship pre-installed on the Amazon Fire Phone. 

Ars Technica passes along the Nvidia announcement of a new version of the Shield Android gaming tablet. The previous all-in-one unit becomes the Shield Portable while the new unit is an 8-inch 1920 x 1200 tablet that can be controlled with a WiFi connected controller sold separately. The tablet includes 2GB of RAM, 300Mbps 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and 5MP front and rear cameras. It also supports 4K video through its micro-HDMI port. The tablet will sell for $299 at 16GB and $399 at 32GB with LTE. Controllers will cost an extra $59 and a cover-case is $39. All of that arrives on July 29 in the US and Canada.

Ars Technica reports researchers from Carnegie Mellon University Alexander Volynkin and Michael McCord had to cancel a talk at Black Hat that would have shown how to discover the identity of Tor users for less than $3,000. Attorneys from Carnegie Mellon and the Software Engineering Institute requested the cancelation. Tor project leader Roger Dingledine wrote in an e-mail to Tor users that a fix is coming that should close the particular bug in question. 

CNET reports Verizon posted Q2 profits of $4.32 billion, down from last year’s $5.2 billion. But Verizon’s share of the profit, after excluding the cut that Vodafone used to get as part owner, was actually $4.2 billion, or $1.01 a share, up significantly from a year-ago gain of $2.2 billion, or 78 cents a share. Revenue rose 5.7 percent. Verizon’s customer growth was attributed to tablet demand as well as net addition of 304,000 phone subscribers.

The Wall Street Journal reports sources say Apple is asking suppliers to manufacture between 70 million and 80 million units two iPhone models with 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays by December 30. Either phone could go on sale well before that date. Foxconn and Pegatron plan to start mass producing the 4.7-inch iPhone model next month and Hon Hai will reportedly begin making the 5.5-inch version exclusively in September.

Microsoft reported Q4 revenue of $23.38 billion with earnings per share of 55 cents. TechCrunch reports analysts expected the company to earn $0.60 on revenue of $23.00 billion. It sold 5.8 million Windows Phone-based Lumia handsets in the period. Phones cost the company $0.08 in earnings per share and lost it $692 million in the quarter. Devices and Consumer segment revenue were up 42% and Commercial revenue up 11%. So in the end, more revenue, less profit.

Apple reported revenues of $37.4 billion for its third fiscal quarter and profits of $7.7 billion, or $1.28 per share. Wall Street was expecting the company to announce earnings of $1.23 a share, on $37.99 billion in revenue. The results are right in the middle of Apple’s own revenue forecast, which was between $36 and $38 billion. 35.2 million iPhones shipped, versus 31.2 million a year ago 13.2 million iPads shipped, versus 14.6 million last year and 17 million the year before that 4.4 million Macs shipped, compared to 3.8 million last year

News From You

Kylde, the self-described janitor of the subreddit, whose tireless efforts keep it spam free pointed out the daily dot post about a decision U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to allow law enforcement officials access to a suspect’s entire email account without limit. The judge placed no limits on the time frame or manner of search, which is unusual when approving a search warrant. The decision contrasts with one made by Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola, in March, blocking an attempt by the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) to obtain what he saw as an overly broad search warrant for an email account. 

melchizedek74 submitted the Verge report that FXX cable channel will marathoin the entire run of the Simpson’s, all 25 seasons, from August 21st to September 1st. After THAT, Variety reports that FXX will launch “Simpsons World” in October, which will let cable subscribers watch every episode on demand at SimpsonsWorld.com, or on the FXNow app.

Discussion Section:  Amazon Mobile Wallet

http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/22/amazon-quietly-launches-its-consumer-facing-mobile-wallet-app-amazon-wallet/?ncid=rss

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LIBDH8M/ref=mas_dl?ie=UTF8&mas_redir=T5&ref=mas_dl

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amazon.wallet
https://www.amazon.com/wallet/merchantCards?ref_=wallet_ln_mc

http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/29/amazon-wants-to-include-peer-to-peer-payments-in-its-real-world-paypal-competitor/

http://techcrunch.com/2013/12/16/amazon-reportedly-buys-mobile-payments-startup-gopago-working-on-an-ambitious-new-project/

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/22/us-nigeria-paypal-launch-idUSKBN0FR22L20140722?

feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews

 Picks of the Day: iSmoothRun & Smashrun via Neil

Mr. Merritt, Here are two picks in the category of fitness (primarily running, but iSmoothRun does work well with bicycling too).

iSmoothRun — how I collect my GPX run data and view on my phone
The best running application for iOS devices, in my opinion, is iSmoothRun.It doesn’t hold your GPX data hostage like some competitor applications, and makes it easy for you to share your data (I can export all, not just one at a time). I can also link it to many sites (including those that would be considered competitors). It has feature that no other running application has (or at least I have found) … It is only $5.99 and is the best money I have spent on my staying fit and healthy.

Smashrun.com – how I analyze my GPX run data on my computer

I use multiple sites to track and share my runs. This site has become my favorite. It has a good social aspect as well as provided a lot of details into your various runs. It is actually the first running or application with badges that are actually encouraging and worthwhile (IMHO). The ability to summarize my running data is great. The pro features allow me to do a deep dive into a run and see my pace, heart rate, and elevation along the entire course. Considering how new of offering this is, it is very impressive. Also, the blog posts show the upcoming feature set based on votes from those that are using smashrun.

Tomorrow’s guest: 

Marques Brownlee is on the show today. We’ll touch on iOS backdoors, sapphire screens and opinions on the Tesla 3.

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:  Marques Brownlee, aka MKBHD, web video producer

Headlines

ZDNet reports Jonathan Zdziarski gave a talk at the HOPE/X conference Friday called “Identifying Backdoors, Attack Points, and Surveillance Mechanisms in iOS Devices.” in which he did that. Zdziarski identified undocumented services that access user data with no reasonable explanation. He said, “Your device is almost always at risk of spilling all data, since it’s almost always authenticated, even while locked.” Even so, he wrote on his blog “DON’T PANIC,” noting that these are not security vulnerabilities. He wants Apple to explain and disclose the services and correct the problem. He wrote on his blog, “I want these services off my phone. They don’t belong there.”

TechCrunch reports Facebook launched a read it later feature for its website and iOS and Android apps, called Save. It lets you save links from News Feed and certain Facebook Pages to a list where you can view them later. In the news Feed the save button is in the drop-down menu accessed from the arrow in the top right of each story. On Pages it’s next to the like button. You can access your saved list in the Web homepage’s left sidebar list of bookmarks, and the More apps list on mobile.  

Ars Technica reports Verizon is getting symmetrical, increasing upload speeds on its FiOS service to match download speeds with no increase in current charges. New customers get the service right away and the increases will roll out to existing customers throughout the autumn. Customers who enroll in Verizon’s new rewards program will get first access. 

The Next Web passes along a report from the China Internet Network Information Center shows Chinese users accessing the Internet by mobile grew 83.4 percent as of June 2014, passing the percentage of users who access the internet by PCs (80.9 percent) for the first time. Overall number of Internet users in China is growing although not as fast as before. 46.9% of China uses the Internet up 1.1% from the end of 2013. Shopping and messaging are two of the most popular activities. 

Engadget reports the Sainsbury supermarket chain in the UK is powering its store in Cannock, West Midlands entirely with bio-methane gas generated from waste foods. Sainsbury’s gives any food from its stores that can’t be used by charities or fed to animals to waste specialists Biffa, which uses microbes to turn it into gas. The program generates enough energy to power 2500 homes and will come completely off the grid for its day-to-day energy consumption. 

News From You

AllanAV posted a link to Comcast’s page on OpenSecrets which details how much money Comcast has donated to US politicians in the first half of 2014. The number is $2 million across all parties. In a comment on his post AllanAV wrote, “As anyone can see both parties are in bed with Comcast. So no matter if you are republican or democrat lets stand together and defend OUR internet!”

metalfreak submitted an InternetNews.com story that ICANN has suspended Domain Registry of America aka Brandon Gray Internet Services aka NameJuice. The registrar is forbidden from registering any new domain names or accepting any inbound transfers until 17 October 2014. ICANN accuses Brandon Gray’s resellers subjecting Registered Name Holders to false advertising, deceptive practices, or deceptive notices. ICANN would also like an explanation of how the company mined WHOIS records to send unsolicited marketing messages to domain name holders.

KAPT_Kipper pointed out the Register article about a study in the journal Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, that found California’s 2008 law banning handheld use of cell phones while driving, had no affect on the rate of accidents. The study accounted for seasonal driving differences, weather, gas prices and other factors. The authors believe that even a small amount changing their behavior as a result of the law should have caused a change. Possible explanation could be that hands free cell phone use is just as dangerous, drivers switched to equally dangerous behaviors or that cell phone use is not dangerous to drivers.

Hurmoth posted the Verge story that the city of Seoul, South Korea plans to not only ban Uber but come out with its own GPS_based app by the end of the year for use with existing taxis. 

Discussion Section: 

 http://www.zdnet.com/forensic-scientist-identifies-suspicious-back-doors-running-on-every-ios-device-7000031795/

http://www.zdziarski.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/iOS_Backdoors_Attack_Points_Surveillance_Mechanisms.pdf

https://www.apple.com/legal/more-resources/law-enforcement/

http://www.zdziarski.com/blog/?p=3441

http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/07/undocumented-ios-functions-allow-monitoring-of-personal-data-expert-says/

http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/07/21/apples-ios-dishing-out-a-lot-of-data-behind-our-backs-security-researcher-charges

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1742287614000036

The Iphone 6 VID 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7ANcWQEUI8

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/autos/tesla-go-down-market-mainstream-model-3-n158931

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregorymcneal/2014/07/16/a-35000-tesla-model-iii-is-coming-in-2017/

 Pick of the Day: If This, Then That via James Eriksen

This is a great way to automate social networks and web services to make your life easier. The three uses cases I set up so far?

# Text-message when it’s going to rain tomorrow, or when severe weather is coming my way. [It’s Texas.]

# Repost Instagram pics to Twitter.

# Repost a new Blogger entry to Twitter.

Lots of pre-made ‘recipes’ to choose from, easily tailored for your use. iOS, Android, and just about anything running a web-browser. [Jennie checked this site out and was SUPER intrigued by the recipe entitled ‘YO IFTTT, get me out of this meeting’]

Tomorrow’s guest: Molly Wood, of the paper of record! 

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

Eric Olander is on to chat about Huawei, Xiaomi, and the coming disruption in smartphones that has Samsung and Apple in its sites. Also how Microsoft is fighting the US government.

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:  Eric Olander co-host of the weekly China in Africa podcast

Headlines

The Verge reports Samsung announced two new tablets Thursday, an 8.4-inch and 10.5-inch Galaxy Tab S. The tablets are similar to the Tab Pro and Tab 4 lines but thinner at 6.6mm and sporting Super AMOLED screens. Samsung emphasized the screens not only have 2560 x 1600 resolution but a wider color range for more natural colors. Both devices will be available beginning July 4 in Europe, and sometime in July in the US. The 16GB 8.4-inch WiFi-only tablet will run €399/$399/£349 and the 10.5-inch version €499/$499/£449. Models with LTE will follow and run about €100 more.

Forbes reports Google plans to launch a health service called Google Fit, which would aggregate data from popular fitness trackers and apps. Similar to Apple’s Healthkit, the service would use an open API to allow apps to share information with the new Google Fit ecosystem. Forbes sources say the service will launch at Google I/O June 25-26. 

The Verge reports Apple announced a replacement program for European iPhone adapters sold between October 2009 and September 2012. The adapter is at risk of overheating. The affected adapter, Model A1300, was packaged in with European sales of the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPhone 4S, and was also sold separately. Customers should book an appointment at an Apple store or authorized service provider, or contact Apple Technical Support to make the exchange.

CNET reports Facebook has updated its Messenger app for iOS and Android. Version 6.0 includes the ability to record and send video clips without leaving the app, though there’s a limit of 15 seconds. Another new feature lets you press and hold the like button longer to register a “Big Like”. 

PC World reports AT&T has joined Verizon in filing a friend of the court brief in support of Microsoft’s resistance to hand over email from a server in Dublin, Ireland, to a US Government investigation. Microsoft argues the investigators should get an Irish judge to issue the order through the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty or MLAT process. The US argues the location of the company, in this case Microsoft, is what matters, not the location of the server. AT&T wrote “this practice rests on an understanding that when it comes to data storage and privacy protections, location matters.” And warned that if the US ignores MLAT, then other countries might too and take data from US servers. 

News From You

HobbitfromPA got a good number of upvotes on the Ars Technica story that Jonathan Daniel, the man who parodied Peoria Illinois mayor on Twitter is suing Peoria’s mayor and police for violating his civil rights. Daniel created a parody account called @peoriamayor using a picture of mayor Jim Ardis. In response Peoria’s mayor got Twitter to shut down the account, but also threatened to prosecute Daniel for impersonating a public official, and had police raid search and seize property. No charges of impersonation were filed, although police did charge Daniel’s roommate with felony possession of marijuana.

metalfreak posted the Network World story that Google has started an open-source project called PDFium to create a PDF software library which developers can incorporate into apps on a variety of platforms. Google intends to replace its current closed-source PDF reader with the project. The rendering engine for the project was developed by Foxit, a long-time maker of PDF-reading software. The code will carry a BSD-3 clause software license.

KAPT_Kipper posted the Ars Technica story that IPv4 addresses have just about run out from all major registries. Asia’s APNIC, Europe’s RIPE NCC and Latin America’s LACNIC will only allow operators to get one more block of 1024 addresses and then that’s it. ARIN, the North America registry just reached it’s last phase in April, so it’s still letting ISPs come back for more for now. Only Africa’s AfriNIC is continuing to supply IPv4 addresses as needed. So IPv6. You’re up.

spsheridan posted the CNET story that the US Marshals Service announced Thursday  will auction nearly 30,000 bitcoins seized from Silk Road last October. The auction will take place June 27. Interested bidders mist register by June 23 and make a $200,000 wire transfer to a government bank to hold their place. The US Marshals Service will carry out the auction by selling nine blocks of 3,000 bitcoins and a tenth block of 2,657 bitcoins.

And KAPT_Kipper pointed out the BBC story that Xbox One owners complain a new TV ad featuring Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul messes with their Xbox. In the ad for the Xbox One, Paul says “XZbox On” which apparently activates some Xbox One’s voice command interface turning the console on. 

Discussion Section Links: Huawei

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/06/13/huawei-renews-focus-on-europe/?mod=rss_Technology

http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/12/huawei-launches-an-online-store-to-sell-its-own-unlocked-phones/

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-06-06/huawei-says-it-can-beat-xiaomi-in-race-to-be-chinas-top-smartphone-brand

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-06-04/chinas-xiaomi-the-worlds-fastest-growing-phone-maker

http://www.cnet.com/pictures/xiaomi-mi3s-brings-style-to-android-pictures/

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/05/28/biden-name-one-innovative-product-from-china/

Pick of the day: Tripit & FlightAware via Tom 

Monday’s Guest:  Mike Schramm

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

Darren Kitchen and Eklund are on the show today to talk about companies responding to the 1st anniversary of the PRISM leaks from Edward Snowden. Also Len Peralta will be here to illustrate!

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: Darren Kitchen of hak5.org, Len Peralta of the arts & Eklund of hockeybuzz.com 

Headlines

As MRAnthropology submitted on the subreddit, The Guardian reports mobile phone carrier Vodafone published a Law Enforcement Disclosure Report revealing how many requests for personal information the company gets by country, where it was legal to report such information. Vodafone also revealed wires have been connected directly to it and other telecom’s networks to allow government agencies to listen record and track the whereabouts of customers. These wire taps do not require warrants and Vodafone is allowed no oversight. Information on taps was not disclosed about Albania, Egypt, Hungary, India, Malta, Qatar, Romania, South Africa and Turkey where it is illegal to reveal intercepts. Ireland denied Vodafone permission to publish such info. Vodafone is making a call to end direct access to communications data. direct government wiretaps.

Nikkei Asian Review reports that sources say Apple will bring out a watch-like device running iOS this October. The device would have a curved OLED screen and collect health-related data, as well as send and received messages sent by smartphone. Apple will also partner with Nike to integrate services according to the rumor.

The Next Web reports Yahoo continues its move to get rid of third-party log ins on its site. Yahoo’s photo-sharing site, Flickr will no longer accept Facebook or Google IDs as logins after June 30. Users of Flickr are urged to create a Yahoo account if they don’t already have one, and then link that account to Flickr.

TechCrunch reports Amazon’s secret June 18 announcement will be a phone with a 3D interface, but then every self-respecting blog is reporting that. What TechCrunch found out is that the phone will use Omron’s Okao Vision face sensing technology to track the user’s head and project the three image in the right way. The tech allows a user to tilt their head to access side panels hidden from the interface otherwise. The system which uses four infrared cameras can also recognize faces and and estimate gender, age and ethnicity although TechCrunch doesn’t believe Amazon has taken advantage of these last features.

The Next Web reports Google announced its Play Movies and TV Chrome app now has an offline mode on Chrome OS. That means you can watch shows on your Chromebook even when you’re in a place without Internet like some backwards airline or city park bench. Google also announced that it is making Chromebooks available in nine more countries – New Zealand, the Philippines, Norway, Denmark, Mexico, Chile, Belgium, Spain and Italy.

Engadget reports the University of Michigan will open up its Mobility Transformation Facility this autumn for testing self-driving cars. The 32-acre research center will have a four-lane highway, city streets and road signs, street lights, roundabouts and various road surfaces. Pop-up pedestrians and mechanized bicycles will also keep things interesting. A Ford Fusion Hybrid will be the first test vehicle, but General Motors and Toyota are also involved. No plans to make Freshman use the facility to walk to class.

Engadget reports on the release of Ted Nelson’s Xanadu, released in April at Chapman University after 54 years in development. Nelson coined the term “hypertext” and began work on Xanadu in 1960. The software can embed clickable links in documents that when clicked lead to targeted information without closing the original document, shrinking out of the way or scaling up for side-by-side comparison. Nelson didn’t have the resources to beat Tim Berners-Lee to the punch but Nelson still believes Xanadu could replace a lot of what people use PDF’s for.

News From You

MikePKennedy submitted the Engadget report on VICE’s claims that US cable companies are funding groups that pretend to represent consumers in the campaign over net neutrality rules. Broadband for America for instance describes itself as a coalition involving “independent consumer advocacy groups,” and is funded by the NCTA. The American Consumer Institute is fighting against net neutrality and receives its funding from the CTIA. 

KAPT_Kipper submitted the Wall Street Journal post that research from Adobe shows Google’s browsers are the most popular in the US now, passing Microsoft. The survey combines desktop and mobile browsers. Google’s Chrome and Android browsers had 31.8% share in April, up from around 26% the prior year. Internet Explorer had 30.9% share, down from roughly 37% a year ago. IE is still the most popular on desktops alone though with 43% and Safari is the mot popular on mobile with 59%. But neither is popular on the other platform and Google is popular on both.

Discussion Section Links

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/microsoft-to-us-stop-hacking-data-centers-2014-06-05

http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_on_the_issues/archive/2014/06/04/unfinished-business-on-government-surveillance-reform.aspx

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/03/google-offers-new-encryption-tool/?_php=true&_type=blogs&hpw&rref=technology&_r=0

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/jun/06/vodafone-reveals-secret-wires-allowing-state-surveillance
http://www.vodafone.com/content/sustainabilityreport/2014/index/operating_responsibly/privacy_and_security/law_enforcement.html#eocp

Pick of the day:  Big Oven via Tom!

http://www.bigoven.com/ 

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

Monday’s Guest: Iyaz Akhtar