Cordkillers 146 – D-U-M Dumb!

Cordkillers / November 22nd, 2016

Apple makes a play to be your default set-top box, Amazon Prime Video expands (sort of), and Hulu tries to get better at recommendations. 

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CordKillers: Ep.  146 – D-U-M Dumb!
Recorded: November 22 2016
Guest: None

Intro Video

Primary Target

How to Watch

  • Amazon Prime Video is going global next month to take on Netflix
    – In a video promoting Amazon’s upcoming car show The Grand Tour, host Jermey Clarkson announced the show will be available in more than 200 countries in December. The show is exclusive to Amazon which seems to mean Amazon Prime Video will be expanding outside its four markets soon. The Grand Tour comes to Amazon Prime Video Friday in the UK, Germany and Japan and went live Thursday in the US. 
  • The Grand Tour: The Official Trailer
    – The Grand Tour. Following a rather public spat, former hosts of BBC’s Top Gear Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May have essentially re-launched the show on Amazon Prime Video as The Grand Tour. From the little I’ve seen of Top Gear, The Grand Tour is a pretty faithful recreation of the format: commentary, car ranking, and comedy bits breaking up longer segments on unique and high performance vehicles. The show is bold, each episode being filmed in a travelling tent/studio in a different part of the world with incredible production value, but it’s still bouyed by the hosts’ chemisty. And when I say “production value,” I mean it. There are some very expensive, very short moments in the first episode, but their wow-factor might be worth the price. I’ll leave the surprises for you to enjoy, but it’s a gorgeous, charming show.

What to Watch

What We’re Watching

Front Lines

Dispatches from the Front

Hello Brian & Tom,
I know back in the day the show was at over 2k but now below 1,800. I’m assuming that the money you have coming in from a lesser number is still enough to keep the lights. However, is there a number below which you guys can’t continue? Hopefully we are well above that number. And I doubled my pledge to a whole 2 bucks an episode to help out.

Thanks,

– Norm from Visalia, CA
 

 

Hi Tom and Brian

I’m just wondering what I can expect from Amazon Prime’s video content when Amazon begins full operations in Australia next September? I remember when Netflix started here they had most of their exclusives except for a couple like Star Trek and Breaking Bad that were licensed exclusives. Is the Amazon Prime library full of exclusives that Amazon owns and therefore will in all likely hood appear on day one or are shows like Man in the High Castle and The Tick owned by third parties and could complicate the launch?

– Thanks from Nik.

 

Brian,
While you’re forgetting to cancel your Starz subscription this month, be sure to catch the Starz original, Ash vs Evil Dead.
All of season one is available and most of season two is now in there for your viewing enjoyment. If you love Three Stooges slapstick and way over-the-top blood and guts horror, Ash is the man!
Keep up the fight to rid us of cable
And tune into my podcast, Too Much Scrolling, every Tuesday on the same podcast app you’re using now or on our website toomuchscrolling.com
I’ll see you in the future.
–Steve 

 

Hey guys,

Just one of your free listening, faceless masses here. Just thought you guys should know that some thing’s happened to the Can I Stream It website you say you use on your show. Apparently both the app and website no longer give out current information on streaming options. No clue about when and why, only that I (and many reviewers on the Android app store) have noticed the fallout. Any suggestions for a backup option? thanks.

– Isaac from Portland

 

I’m not a fan of brian’s coined “convenience trumps fidelity” as I’m an advocate for hdr, low compression, and high quality monitors and speakers … but brian’s right.

I have a question for you guys, and maybe the cordkiller community .. I would like to take my box of DVD’s and Bluerays downstairs and port them over to digital licenses. Is there a service out there that does this?

I think Walmart did it for a while, but charged for it, which I think is ridiculous to have to upgrade my license considering they’re going to get user data and behavioral data out of this deal. Ideally I’d love to convert my physical media to itunes or google play at no charge. Is this possible? 

– Joe

Links

2016 Winter Movie Draft
patreon.com/cordkillers
 

DTNS 2908 – I’m Sorry Dave, I Can’t Grill That.

Daily Tech News Show / November 21st, 2016

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comDo we need this? How silicon valley innovates for themselves not us. Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt discuss that plus Instagram Live and Apple getting out of the router business.

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Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

Follow us on Soundcloud.

A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you are willing to support the show or give as little as 5 cents a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

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

Daily Tech Headlines – November 21, 2016

Daily Tech News Show / November 21st, 2016

DTH_CoverArt_1500x1500Symantec to buy Lifelock, Oracle to buy Dyn and Facebook to hire 500 Brits.

MP3

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

Follow us on Soundcloud.

A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you are willing to support the show or give as little as 5 cents a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the theme music.

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

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

Today in Tech History – November 21, 2016

Today in Tech History/ Writing / November 21st, 2016

Today in Tech History logo1877 – Thomas Edison announced his invention of the phonograph, a machine that could record and play sound.

1905 – The Annalen Der Physik published Albert Einstein’s paper, entitled “Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?” The paper revealed the relationship between energy and mass. You know the relationship as E = mc².

1969 The first permanent ARPANET link was established between the Interface Message Processor or IMP at UCLA and the IMP at the Stanford Research Institute.

Read Tom’s science fiction and other fiction books at Merritt’s Books site.

What Do We Do Now?

Writing / November 20th, 2016

In the United States a common question on a lot of people’s mind is, “What do we do now that Donald Trump has been elected president?”

That comes from supporters as well as detractors.

So you may be asking:

“Someone who I believe is dangerous to the country has been elected. What do we now to stop him from damaging our country?”

OR you may be asking

“Thankfully Donald Trump has been elected president but he is only one man. What do we do to stop the political elites from stopping him from doing what needs to be done to fix this country?”

Unfortunately, many folks have decided the answer to either question is to start a fight on Facebook or Twitter. The next time you’re about to do that, do the following instead.

Write your Senators and Representatives. Yes I know that sounds like a trite answer that has been bandied about for literally centuries.

BUT many of you find the time to write a lot on social media. And while I’m not saying you shouldn’t— after all a free discussion is lifeblood of a republic— it is significantly less effective than taking that time you spent writing a Facebook post to write to your representatives. And writing to them is easier than ever before.

OBJECTIONS

BUT I’m not from here, I’m, not registered to vote, etc.

It doesn’t matter, as long as you live in the United States.

All you need is an address. US Senators and representatives are sworn to serve the people in their states or districts. Voting is a privilege reserved for adult citizens, yes, but representation is for anybody who lives in the area. If you can be taxed, you get representation.

I will argue that filling out a form on a Congressperson’s website makes this easier than it’s ever been. But I would be remiss if I didn’t note that:

Writing a letter is often more effective than calling–
Calling is often more effective than emailing–
BUT Emailing or filling out the Website’s form is always more effective than posting on social media.

You can read more on what actually works with Congressional staffers here.

FIND YOUR REPRESENTATIVE

To find your representative go to http://ziplook.house.gov/ Sometimes all you need is a zip code. For some districts you may need to specify a street address.

For Senators it’s even easier. Just go to http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/ and look for your state.

Now you have the contact info. All you need to do is know what to say. And this is where it differs from Facebook. You need to be polite.

HOW TO PHRASE YOUR OPINION

First of all, only send messages to *your* representative. You’ll need to give them your address and they are only bound to represent people in their district. So don’t be anonymous and don’t write to representatives in other districts. Start with your name and address.

Then:

Be factual, not emotional. State what the issue is “You will be voting on the confirmation of a nominee for Attorney General”
Or if it’s a bill state the bill number. “You will be voting on the “Foreign Registration Act SB-1234”

State how it affects you, again without stridency or emotion. “I am greatly concerned with crime/rights in my community.” It is good to include examples or evidence to support your position but keep it short. This should be less than one page in length.

Finish with your request for action. “I urge you sincerely to vote yes/no for the confirmation/bill.”

DON’T
Don’t swear. Don’t threaten. Don’t joke. Don’t write anonymously and don’t demand a response.

You can find more, including proper forms of address for Representatives and Senators in this article: http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/letterscongress.htm

With so many members of congress including Web forms on their official pages, it is just as easy to post to them as it is to your Facebook friends. And you will not get into a flame war. Instead you will have registered your opinion with someone who can actually vote based on it. Who is bound to consider it.

Your opinion alone will certainly not determine their vote, but most people do not write their representatives so if you do, you will have made your voice count a lot more than the others who do not. And you had much more of an effect than your argument on Facebook.

So here’s my suggestion. The next time you’re about to post on social media about something because you think something needs to be done and folks are getting things wrong. Take a moment and write that same thing, respectfully, to your Senator or Representative, instead.

Then you can finish your social media post with “and I’ve been in communication with Congress about this.”

PS: Yes if you do not live in the US then none of this applies. I would suggest possibly writing to the local US embassy or possibly to the President directly.

Today in Tech History – November 20, 2016

Today in Tech History/ Writing / November 20th, 2016

Today in Tech History logo1984 – The SETI Institute, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence was founded by Thomas Pierson (CEO), and Dr. Jill Tarter. No luck so far, but they keep looking.

1985 – Microsoft finally released Version 1.0 of Windows. It was considered slightly inferior to competitors like DESQview and the Macintosh.

1998 – The first module of the International Space Station launched. Zarya, also called the Functional Cargo Block, provided electrical power, storage and propulsion. It’s now consigned to being used for storage.

Read Tom’s science fiction and other fiction books at Merritt’s Books site.

Weekly Tech Views: The Tech, No Logic Blog – Nov 20, 2016

Daily Tech News Show / November 20th, 2016

Untitled drawing (1)

Real tech stories. Really shaky analysis.

It’s starting to snow here in Cleveland, Christmas cookies are being baked not ten feet from me, and Christmas music (currently Pentatonix) is playing on the Amazon Prime Music machine. All of which naturally puts one in the mind of gift-giving. But more on that, ahem, later. For now… to the nonsense!

 For the week of November 14 – 18, 2016…

Face-Sell Recognition
Facebook has acquired a company that specializes in providing facial analysis in real time for smartphones. A Facebook spokesman said this “will help bring more fun effects to photos and videos.” Then, after pausing a moment while employees started fourteen blenders, nine vacuum cleaners, a half-dozen chainsaws, thirty-three leaf blowers, and a garbage disposal packed with silverware, he whispered, “And it can measure reactions which could, theoretically, if we ever decided to go in that direction with it, be helpful in advertising.”

“FanKings” Was Ruled Out When An Intern Said “FanKing Awesome”
Fantasy sports sites DraftKings and FanDuel are merging. I would have bet a lot of money that the new name would be DraftDuel, but there are rumblings that, in order to better reflect their new monopolistic market dominance, they are going to go with Comcast.

Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Not Having To Be Creative Ourselves
Twitter is now letting users to add friends via QR codes, a feature very similar to Snapchat’s.

Asked just how important this ability was, a Twitter spokesman replied, “Are you kidding? This is huge! Look around, what do companies that are really thriving right now–Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp–all have in common?”

“Um, they don’t take forever to implement changes their customers want cough edit tweets cough?

“Hahaha no. They steal from Snapchat! I don’t know how Snapchat does it without a Snapchat to steal from. Hey, if you close one eye and tilt your head, doesn’t our bird look like a ghost?”

It’s Got 560 Under The Hood. No, Not Horsepower, Degrees
Samsung is buying Harman International for $8 billion. The maker of Harmon/Kardan and JBL audio products, Harman also produces infotainment, safety, and security electronics for vehicles. According to Samsung’s Chief Strategy Officer, this does not mean they will begin manufacturing cars.

“Whew,” said everyone familiar with the size of a car battery.

And Just Turn Your Phone Off If You Get Within Ten Feet Of The Supply Closet
Google’s updated Google Play Music app can now recommend music based on a user’s location and activities, presenting playlists you most often use in different situations. Google thinks this will be appreciated in most circumstances, but they do suggest that if you get to work and accidentally hit “play” on the app-suggested Barry White Sexy Time Mood Music playlist, whatever you do, you and Beth in Accounts Payable shouldn’t make eye contact.

One Potato, Eww Potato
Following the plot of the movie The Martian, The Martian VR Experience became available this week for the HTC Vive and PlayStation VR. I definitely want to try this puzzle game out, provided it realistically replicates every aspect of Mark Whatley’s challenges on Mars. Except the potato-growing part. Specifically, the fertilizing part. That can be crayon drawings. Actually, a skip button would be cool.

There’s Always A Catch
The Google PhotoScan app will let you capture physical photos and convert them to digital versions. The process requires you taking five photos of the original photo, which the app analyzes to remove glare, reflections, and shadows before stitching the best aspects together in a high-resolution image.

No thanks. This taking five shots of the same thing feels suspiciously excessive–too much of a Candyman vibe, right? Say his name five times and end up on the business end of a hook? So, what, you take the photo five times and get sucked into the picture for all time? And it’s the photo of the cramped area under your porch that you photographed for Animal Control so they could see the family of rabid skunks living there? And you’re stuck for eternity in the dark being bitten by diseased skunks and you scream with every bite and every time you scream they spray their skunky smell into your gaping mouth?

Wait, I know–take the five photos of that beach you loved in Hawaii! How great would that be? Living on that beach forever, where the setting sun makes the sky an eternal, spectacularly beautiful reddish-orange, and where all your worries melt away until you realize the only thing you have to eat is sand that falls far shy of your recommended daily allowance of everything but sand and it’s a race to see whether starvation or the ironic dehydration of drinking ocean water gets you first.

I’ll live with a little glare, PhotoScan.**

I Didn’t Actually See The Last Driver Do It, But He Had That Look In His Eye
Domino’s has begun delivering pizza via drone in New Zealand. This is great news for customers, because not only will the drone get their order to them inside of ten minutes, but it won’t spit on their pizza because they tipped it only fifty cents last time.

Old Buddy, Old Pal
412 million user accounts were accessed in a hack of the Friend Finder Network, including 339 million from AdultFriendFinder.com. The question, of course, is why? Why add to the problems of people who are obviously so overwhelmed with job and family responsibilities that they don’t have time to make friends in their daily life and are willing to pay hard-earned money to find comradeship from… “the world’s largest sex and swinger community.”

Hmm. Okay, in my defense, Friend Finder Network is not as descriptive as it could be.

What Would That Even Be?
Barnes and Noble is releasing a new fifty-dollar Nook tablet to compete with Amazon’s cheapest Kindle. Initial excitement waned, however, when the Fifty Shades of Grey crowd listened closer and discovered it was a Nook e-reader and not, in fact, a nookie* reader.

Maybe They Can Hold The Phone
A recent Google AI experiment features a phone app that can rap about what it sees, which, unfortunately, will soon take jobs from elderly white actresses in bad comedies.

 

*   Do people still say “nookie”? Try it, it’s fun.

** Did you know if you rearrange the letters in PhotoScan you get Nacho Stop? No, it doesn’t have anything to do with what we were talking about. Some things are just interesting, okay?

 

What else? I feel like there was something else. Nacho Stop was big, but there was something… I want to say… Kickstartery?…

Yes, the Kickstarter for Tech, Please!, my collection of the year’s Weekly Tech Views, is LIVE. What a great gift idea! The chance to read over 500 stories recapping 2016’s tech news without the burden of wondering if the author is qualified to put the news in perspective. He isn’t! Never has been! Isn’t that freeing? One way or another, you end up laughing–either with me or at me. A no-lose proposition! Check it out RIGHT HERE!

 (I’m not saying you necessarily need to drop everything and go right away, but the campaign is only three weeks long, so if you aren’t holding anything breakable…)

 

 

 Mike Range
@MovieLeagueMike

Creative Commons License
Weekly Tech Views: The Tech, No Logic Blog by Mike Range is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

DTNS 2907 – Don’t Call It A Soft Launch

Daily Tech News Show / November 19th, 2016

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.com Facebook is sorry you think they’re to blame for fake news, Amazon did not launch in Australia, and NYPD Hackers.

MP3

<!–Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.–>

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

Follow us on Soundcloud.

A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you are willing to support the show or give as little as 5 cents a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

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

Today in Tech History – November 19, 2016

Today in Tech History/ Writing / November 19th, 2016

Today in Tech History logo1872 – E.D. Barbour of Boston, Mass. received the first US patent for an adding machine capable of printing totals and subtotals. The so-called “calculating machine,” proved impractical.

1967 – Hong Kong TV, the first free over the air commercial television station in Hong Kong was established. Today it is known as TVB.

1981 – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos banned video games, citing such insidious examples as Space Invaders and Asteroids as a “destructive social enemy, the electrical bandit.”

2006 – The Nintendo Wii launched in North America.

2007 – Amazon launched an e-reader called the Kindle that used an e-ink screen.

Read Tom’s science fiction and other fiction books at Merritt’s Books site.

DTNS 2906 – Breach Blanket Bingo

Daily Tech News Show / November 18th, 2016

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comData breaches are everywhere but maybe not as widespread as you thought. Darren Kitchen talks with Len Peralta about the prevealnce of fake breaches and what you can do to protect yourself against real ones.

MP3

Using a Screen Reader? Click here

<!–Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.–>

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

Follow us on Soundcloud.

A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you are willing to support the show or give as little as 5 cents a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

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