Search Results for "october 29"

Dan Patterson joins the show to try to explain why you might not get Windows 10 on launch day and how tech is either destroying or saving journalism.

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

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

Show Notes

Today’s guests: Dan Patterson

Headlines:

Microsoft gave more details on the rollout of Windows 10 in a blog post from Terry Myerson today. The short version? Not everybody will get it on July 29. OEM partners get it “soon” to start imaging for new devices. “Soon after” retailers will get it for customer support. July 29 Windows Insiders get it. THEN people who “reserved” an update will get it in waves “scaling up after July 29.” If you reserved it Microsoft will push a notification when you’re ready or will provide details if your system has issues that might prevent the upgrade. Businesess will get it on July 29 and Volume License customers will get it August 1. See? easy.

Engadget reports SEOBook’s Aaron Wall noticed some Google search ads showing up in a small number of queries on Yahoo. The New York Times confirmed the arrangement is a “small test.” Yahoo still has a partnership with Microsoft but it is no longer exclusive and the partnership can be terminated in October. Yahoo and Google walked away from a partnership in 2008 after opposition by the US Department of Justice’s antitrust division.

CNN Money reports that Mastercard will experiment to pay with your face. 500 customers will be able to us the Mastercard phone app, to confirm a purchase with either a fingerprint OR stare at a phone’s camera and blink once. The blink is meant to prevent someone using a still image of you. Mastercard has partnered with most major smartphone companies including Apple, Google, Blackberry and Samsung and is working on deals w/ the banks that issue the credit cards.

Rhino Security Labs founder Benjamin Caudill has developed a hardware proxy that lets users IP address appear to be up to 2.5 miles away according to Motherboard. The ProxyHam is a Raspberry Pi, Wi-Fi Card and 3 Wi-Fi antennas stuffed into a cardboard box. One Antenna connects to a public Wi-Fi network and the other two antennas transmit and receive to the user. The idea is to plug it in a hidden corner of a library or coffee shop, somewhere with public WiFi. That way of the user’s IP address is located, they won’t be nearby if someone shows up to find them.

TechCrunch reports Xiaomi announced it has sold 34.7 million smartphones in the first half of 2015, up 33% over last year. That’s a nice jump, but not on pace to hit the 100 million smartphones CEO and co-founder Lei Jun estimated the company would sell in 2015. Xiaomi begins selling phones in Brazil July 7. Xiaomi sold 61 million phones in 2014.

According to multiple sources talking to The Verge, Facebook has held talks with Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group about “getting into music”, but they haven’t decided exactly how yet. Discussions are still in the early stages.

ZDNet reports that HP has filed regulatory paperwork with the US SEC regarding plans to spilt the company into two entities by the end of 2015. As expected, HP Inc will sell PCs and printers, while HP Enterprise will focus on commercial Technology with HP CEO Meg Whitman as its head.

Engadget reports the United Arab Emirates National Innovation Committee, WinSun Global and a few other companies plan to use a 20-foot 3D printer to make the parts for an entire office building including the furniture . WinSun Global has already printed a six-story apartment building in China. The project will use Special Reinforced Concrete (SRC), Fiber Reinforced Plastic (FRP), and Glass Fiber Reinforced Gypsum (GRG) and be ready in a few weeks.

News From You: 

KAPT_kipper submitted the Mashable report that Apple’s new iCloud Music Library syncing isn’t working properly for some users. Tracks are moving onto the wrong albums, album art becomes incorrect and some artists get listed multiple times. And of course all errors get replicated across all devices plugged into the service. Apple has also turned off home sharing for phones and tablets in the new version of iOS.

KennedyStyle submitted the DSL Reports post about Chicago’s new 9% cloud taxes. One is the extension of an amusement tax to electronically delivered amusements like Netflix and Spotify. The other covers “nonpossessory computer leases” or cloud computing. The city requires providers of these kinds of services to begin collecting the tax starting September 1.

gowlkick shared this real life crime thriller from Ars Technica. Carl Mark Force, the head of a Baltimore-based DEA team that investigated the Silk Road drug trafficking website, has pled guilty to extortion, money laundering, and obstruction of justice. Force took payments from Slik Road’s Roiss Ulbricht that he didn’t tell his superiors about and diverted the bitcoins into his personal accounts. He also confiscated money from a customer of his own company and contracted with 20th Century Fox for a movie without supervisory approval. Force has agreed to pay about $500,000 (£320,000) in restitution with $150,000 of that already been paid. Sentencing will take place in October.

starfuryzeta sent us the news that André Borschberg — the pilot flying the Solar Impulse 2 aircraft around the world –has broken the world record for the longest solo flight. Steve Fossett set the previous 76-hour record in 2006 while circumnavigating the globe in the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer. Borschberg had been aloft for more than 4 days without fuel since taking off from Nagoya, Japan and still had almost 40 hours to go before he’s due to reach Kalaeloa, Hawaii. The trip around the world began in Dubai March 9.

Discussion Section: 

https://medium.com/the-news/quick-thoughts-about-the-news-1dc0968c169e

Pick of the day:

HotBranch in sunny, jazz-festy Montreal writes:

Listening to DTNS 2527 and the discussion about the state of modern radio and the lack of locally-produced and curated music reminded me of Bill Fitzhugh’s book, Radio Activity, where a classic rock DJ unwittingly becomes an amateur investigator.

In addition to being a fun, witty whodunnit, there is a cornucopia of incredibly well-researched musical references. Finding a print copy will require hunting through used book stores and yard sales, but the Kindle version is available at Amazon

Fitzhugh is one of my favorite authors, because he regularly weaves musical references and absurdist humor into a solid and entertaining story.

Messages:

Mat Aspinall – Nickelbacker in Having-a-mini-heatwave York, England writes:

Following your discussion of Beats 1 I thought I’d give it a try during my morning train commute. I was delighted to find that as we went through a tunnel and I lost all phone service, the music continued seamlessly. It seems the songs pre-buffer so that if you loose your data connection, so long as you pick it back up before the song ends, the station is uninterrupted.

The station isn’t really for me but I have to admit this is a really cool thing that BBC radio stations I normally listen to can’t do….I tested the iPlayer radio app and found its better at this than I remember, but always cuts out briefly when rejoining the live stream.

The real difference is that Beats 1 picks up the stream seamlessly, where as with my usual iPlayer app I notice the reconnection. The length of time the stream continues without a data connection is also pretty good.

Interestingly you can loose your data connection whilst the presenter on Beats 1 is talking and you’ll still get a seamless experience, so I guess the station isn’t as ‘live’ as they keep saying.

So Beats is still winning on the ‘seamless experience when travelling through patchy phone coverage’ front, but not enough so that I’ll keep listening to it.

Molly Wood and Justin Young talk Apple Music launch and what companies do with your personal data when they get sold or go bankrupt. Hint: The privacy policy may no longer apply.

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

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here or giving 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

Today’s guests: Justin Robert Young and Molly Wood

Headlines:

Ars Technica reports Apple released iOS 8.4 today fixing the text message bug that could crash the operating system if a certain string of characters was received. iBooks can now be used for audiobooks as well as a few other new features And of course an updated Music app includes Apple’s new $10 a month music service, the Connect social network, For You recommendation engine and Beats One radio station.

TechCrunch reports that Cisco is buying OpenDNS for $635M In Cash. OpenDNS brings Cisco traditional network edge protection. OpenDNS runs 24 data centers, and claims more than 2 percent of the world’s DNS traffic with 100 percent uptime. Cisco says it will continue to offer the free version of OpenDNS.

Fortune reports a US Second Circuit Court in New York upheld a 2013 verdict that Apple organized an illegal conspiracy with five book publishers to raise the price of ebooks. The publishers have all settled out of court. Apple agreed last year to pay $450 million to customers if it lost the appeal.

Engadget reports the European Parliament and European Commission have agreed on a plant to eliminate roaming fees within Europe. Roaming charges will be limited from April 2016 €0.20 per MB, €0.06 per SMS and €0.05 per minute then eliminated altogether on June 15, 2017. New rules for an Open Internet were also agreed upon. Starting April 30, 2016 ISPs will be banned from blocking and throttling online content and services, with one exception. “Specialised services of higher quality” can receive special treatment as long as it doesn’t affect the rest of the “open Internet.” Also, zero rating is ok.

ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley reports that Microsoft released Windows 10 Build 10158, with the “Edge” branding for the Project Spartan browser. The new app ID causes any favorites, cookies, history and Reading list items saved in Spartan to be lost if not backed up before the update. The new build also includes updates to Continuum, the Photos and Snipping Tool apps, and bug fixes for Surface 3 and Surface 3 Pro. Microsoft will also release a test build of the Windows 10 software development kit to Insiders including an emulator for Windows 10 mobile.

Reuters reports Thibaud Simphal, manager of Uber France, and Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, general manager for western Europe will stand trial in France on September 30. The Uber executives face charges of deceitful commercial practices, being complicit in illegal operation of a taxi service and keeping and using personal data without authorization. Uber is separately fighting an October 2014 law banning apps that put clients in touch with unregistered drivers.

Xiaomi announced that the Redmi 2 handset will be available in Brazil for 499 Brazilian Real ($160) according to The Next Web. Xiamoi has a deal with Foxconn to manufacture Redmi handsets in Brazil. The Redmi 2 features a 4.7-inch screen, dual-SIM supporting 2G, 3G and 4G, and an 8MP rear camera with an f2.2 aperture and is available in dark grey.

TechCrunch reports Amazon is launching physical good sales in Mexico at Amazon.com.mx. Amazon previously only sold ebooks in the country. It’s also launching online selling and Fullfillment services for Mexican business. This puts them in competition with MercadoLibre, Walmart and Inditex. Mexico’s e-commerce sector, which is growing at 34 percent annually.

News From You: 

spsheridan noted the ReCode report that Microsoft is selling it’s aerial, 3D and street-level map imaging operations to Uber. 100 employees will transfer to Uber as part of the deal as well a Boulder, Colorado data center and some license to intellectual property.

motang pointed out the Wall Street Journal article that AOL will take over sales of display, mobile and video ads on Microsoft properties in the U.S. and eight other markets. 1200 Microsoft employees will be offered jobs at AOL. Bing will now become the search engine for AOL properties for 10 years and Microsoft will continue to sell its own search ads.

Discussion Section: 

www.nytimes.com/2015/06/29/technology/when-a-company-goes-up-for-sale-in-many-cases-so-does-your-personal-data.html?_r=1

twitter.com/btaylor/status/613951532917108736

www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/newspubs/releases/2013/True_Beginnings_objection_to_sale.pdf

www.hulu.com/privacy

arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/05/ftc-proposes-a-compromise-so-radioshack-can-sell-consumer-data/

www.nytimes.com/2015/05/21/business/bankruptcy-judge-approves-sale-of-radioshack-name-and-data.html

Pick of the day:

Jesse (a.k.a. hometownrival in the sub-Reddit / DTNS Contributor)
Indianapolis:

If you’re like me, you could with less junk paper mail in your mailbox. Enter PaperKarma for iOS, Android and Windows Phone. I simply snap a photo of any junk mail I’ve received and PaperKarma will contact the sender and have you removed from their distribution list. In my experience, 9/10 senders honored my requests within a matter a weeks; for those that don’t, PaperKarma recommends re-submitting any new mail items and they’ll contact the sender again.

The only downside is that the junk mail needs to be addressed to a specific person. Advertisements or other junk mail items that are labeled as “to the current resident,” or something similar (what PaperKarma refers to as being “carpet-bombed over an entire postal code or mail route”) can not be removed from a mailing list.

PaperKarma is free to download, and offers four free unsubscribes. After that, you’ll either need to share the app on Facebook to extend your free subscription for three months, or pay $9.99 for a one-year subscription.

Messages:

Scott Napier – Hagerstown, MD writes: 

Early in the headlines yesterday, Veronica mentioned that she thought our search habits have been formed so that if the top results are not what you want that you did something wrong. I would take issue with that, but maybe it is just me. For searches where I really know nothing about the topic (or product) I quite often scan at least three pages deep. This has come from me trying to ignore or avoid the auto filled (otherwise known as useless garbage) search results that so often fill up quite a lot of the first page and almost never provide anything useful. This applies even more as the searches become more obscure. Surely I am not the only one who does this… right?

Wednesday’s guest: Peter Wells and Scott Johnson! 

Darren Kitchen is on the show to talk about Global Solution Networks. Awful management buzzword for NGOs or the key to solving world problems? Len Peralta is in to illustrate the show too. Be nice to him folks. He’s from Cleveland.

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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, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guests:  Darren Kitchen, founder of hak5.org and Len Peralta, artist

The Next Web reports that Twitter is testing two new types of pages. First, dedicated pages for businesses where users can find information, images, related tweets and prices. And in great news for businesses, users can also buy products right from the app or web. The second page type is Collections, where you can aggregate products and places that might be of interest to your followers. So if you want to know what type of products Reese Witherspoon and William Shatner really love, this is your lucky day.

USA Today reports Google says it will honor requests to remove nude or sexually explicit images posted on the Internet without consent, the same way it honors requests to remove personal information like bank account and Social Security Numbers. An online form will launch in the coming weeks for submitting requests. Google normally only removes links subject to a valid legal request.

The US FCC has clarified its interpretation of a 1991 consumer protection law to assert that text messages are the same as phone calls, and that phone carriers may block robocalls to consumers if asked.The Wall Street Journal reports that despite the creation of a national Do Not Call List, the FCC still receives more complaints about robocalls than any other issue. The FCC will also make it easier to remove consent for robocalls.

9 to 5 mac reports that the original iPad mini has disappeared from Apple’s website and is no longer available to purchase new from the Apple Store. The first iPad mini was introduced in October 2012. Refurbished iPad minis will remain available from the Apple Store for $209 and new iPad minis will be available from third-party resellers until they run out of stock.

Engadget passes along a report from Juventud Rebelde that Cuba’s telecom company will open WIFI hotspots in 35 locations across the country starting in July. An hour will cost $2 with speed capped at 1MB per user. Presumably meaning 1 MBps.

Reuters reports Nokia is finally admitting it wants to get back into the phone business. Nokia can’t sell its own phones until 2016 due to its agreement to sell its handset business to Microsoft. But Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri told Germany’s Manager Magazine that Nokia “will look for suitable partners” to design and license phones to be manufactured under the Nokia brand name.

News From You: 

d8uv would like you to know that the Heinz company had great idea to put a QR code on its Ketchup bottles so Ketchup enthusiasts could design their own labels. A German man named Daniel Korell thought that was a great idea, so he scanned the QR code on his phone. One problem: He was directed to a German porn site Fundorado. Turns out Heinz ran the contest between 2012 and 2014 and the link expired this year. Unlike the ketchup in Daniel Korell’s fridge, apparently. Korell wrote to Heinz on Facebook saying “Your Ketchup isn’t really for underage people.” Heinz’s social media team apologized and said Korell could still design his own label. Porn site Fundorado offered Korell a free year’s subscription to their site. So, pretty good day for Daniel Korell!

starfuryzeta submitted the IT World article that the US Court of Appeals for the ninth Circuit rules Thursday that Google Earth Images can be used as evidence in court. Paciano Lizarraga-Tirado claims he was on the Mexico side of the border when US agents arrested him and charged him with illegal reentry. The government has introduced GPS coordinates recorded at the arrest and used Google Earth to show the location. The court determined that machine results cannot be dismissed as hearsay though they can be contested on grounds for accuracy.

Discussion Section

http://www.wired.com/2015/06/global-solution-networks-emerging-alternative-governments/ 

http://gsnetworks.org/ten-types-of-global-solution-network/http://gsnetworks.org/the-gsn-team/

http://gsnetworks.org/the-world-needs-solutions/

http://gsnetworks.org/gsn-blog/http://dontapscott.com/global-solution-networks/http://martinprosperity.org/

https://us.fsc.org/our-history.180.htmhttp://www.accenture.com/Microsites/ungc-ceo-study/Pages/home.aspx

http://www.bitnation.co/

https://www.freedomonlinecoalition.com/

Pick of the Day

Great discussion on robotics yesterday in DTNS 2518. This has been an area I’ve been paying closer attention to recently because as you stated we are now getting to the point where we have the option to buy robotics for our home. One point I wanted to raise is the impact this will have as our population ages. As Pew has highlighted the population pyramid (large base of young people with a small peak of older adults) is turning into a solid bar ( http://www.pewresearch.org/next-america/age-pyramid/  ). That means we won’t have enough caregivers to take care of us in the same way that people are cared for today. While we may not all get a Rosie the Robot yet, we are seeing massive advances.

So here is a related pick of the day. The movie Robot & Frank (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1990314/) which talks about an ex-jewel thief whose kids get him a robot to take care of him. Really enjoyable film – but maybe as we get robot caregivers we’ll also need a few extra robot security guards!

Thanks again, love the show!

Steve

Messages 

Tom – you’re brilliant! Your comment on garage door openers being just a little unsecure led to a flash of inspiration.

I’ve been setting up Belkin Wemo LED light bulbs, cameras, motion sensors and switches in my home. It occurred to me that I could set up two factor authentication for my garage door by using a Wemo switch as well as the garage door remote – as I arrive home I use the app on my phone to turn on the Wemo switch which supplies power to the door opener and then I use the remote to trigger the door opener. Hey presto!

Even if someone spoofs my remote while I’m not home the door won’t open because it doesn’t have power.

Of course this won’t stop someone physically forcing the door but a couple of antipersonnel mines should do the trick there

Cheers, Mike from wet and windy Western Australia.

==

Hey, guys. Really enjoyed yesterday’s discussion on technology and companionship. It brought to mind part of Mary Meeker’s 2015 Internet Trend Report where she discussed messaging leaders.

Apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, WeChat and Snapchat started out as relatively straightforward messaging platforms, but are now providing things like payments, games, taxi services, and even food delivery.

I think this transformation is fascinating because a more traditional software mindset would be to solve a particular problem (like food delivery), then tack a social element on as an additional feature. But we’re now seeing models emerge where human connection is at the heart of the service — where social is the platform — and then additional value is added from there.

In my mind, these types of approaches are a much better reflection of who and what we are — and hence, what we really want from our technology.

Best,
Christian

Friday’s Guests: Darren Kitchen and Len Peralta

Patrick Beja is on to talk about announcements from Sony and Nintendo. Was there nothing good at E3 this year?

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

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here or giving 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

Today’s guests: Patrick Beja

Headlines: 

CNET called Sony’s E3 press event a mix of nostalgia and exclusives. Halo creator Bungie announced a new expansion for Destiny coming in September. Sony has exclusive deals for early access to Square Enix’s next Hitman, called Hitman, Street Fighter V and Call of Duty: Black Ops. Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Syndicate will offer PlayStation only missions and the next Disney Infinity game will come with an exclusive Star Wars figure in a PlayStation-only bundle. Square Enix remake Final Fantasy VII as a timed exclusive for the ps4. Sega launched a kickstarter for Shenmue 3 which funded its first 2 million dollar goal in 9 hours. Sony introduced a first-person shooter called Rigs that’s exclusive for Sony’s Morpheus virtual reality headset. And Sony PlayStation Vue the TV service arrived in San Francisco and LA while Sony promised future al la carte channel purchasing options. OH and Last Guardian is coming in 2016. Yeah they opened with that bombshell.

Nintendo’s E3 digital announcement conference had a lot of new titles for 3DS and a lot fewer new titles for the Wii U.  Nintendo will release Amiibo for Bowser and Donkey Kong that will work in the Wii U version of Activision’s Skylanders Superchargers in September. The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes comes to the 3DS. A three-player cooperative take on the classic adventure franchise that has online play and arrives this fall. For 2016 the 3DS will also get Metroid Prime: Federation Force a multiplayer-focused online shooter set as a spin-off and Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam.
For Wii U owners this year there’s Super Mario Maker coming September 11th. Yoshi’s Woolly World October 16th. And later this year Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival, Mario Tennis:Ultra Smash, and Star Fox Zero. Nintendo also teased Fire Emblem: Fates and Xenoblade Chronicles the next installment in the popular JRPG.

Twitter is going the way of autoplay. The Next Web reports that video and GIF’s will now play automatically, but that the sound will be muted until you click on the video or turn the phone to landscape view. Users can opt out, and Twitter automatically disables the feature if it thinks you have low bandwidth. The change rolls out today to Twitter.com and Twitter for iOS. Android coming soon.

Computer World reports that a UK company called Intelligent Environment is promising to bring emoji-only passcodes to banks.
They claim emojis as a PIN will prevent hackers from identifying common and easily obtainable numerical passcodes, like a date of birth or a wedding anniversary. There are forty four available emojis which equals 3,498,308 unique combinations of non repeating emoji. No banks have signed on to the system yet.

TechCrunch reports Adobe’s Creative Cloud new milestone update was announced. The big addition is Adobe Stock a new stock photo and video service created after the acquisition of Fotolia. Photoshop and Lightroom get a dehaze filter. And Photoshop now has support for artboards as well a an HTML5-based design space that shows only the tools optimized for app design.

TechCrunch reports Box is now integrated in Microsoft Office Online. Box has already been available in Office 365. Box competitor dropbox integrated into office online in April.

The Verge reports Razer’s Open Source Virtual Reality platform will now support Android and position tracking. Position tracking, was a noted absence from OSVR’s initial release back in January. Hardware support within OSVR will eventually be added to allow Android phones to take the place of a dedicated VR display. In total, OSVR is now up to 144 supporters including the Unity and Unreal engines.

News From You:

KAPT_kipper submitted the Last Pass blog posted that attackers had penetrated the password manager’s network and accessed account email addresses, password reminders, server per user salts and authentication hashes. The passwords may still be difficult to crak as Last Pass uses 100,000 rounds of server-side PBKDF2-SHA256 in addition to client side rounds. And to be clear the database of stored passwords for OTHER accounts, the whole reason one would use Last Pass, was NOT accessed. LastPass has put in place email verification, suggest turning on multifactor authnetication if you haven’t already, and encourages all accounts to change their master password.

Starfuryzeta posted the article from Mashable that Google Maps can now warn you if a destination will be closed by the time you get there. Of course, the hours of operation have tobe correct and Google’s traffic estimator has to be accurate. But still, nice touch Maps.

TheRealFrankL sent us the New York Times report that the FBI is investigating whether employees of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team hacked into the internal networks of the Houston Astros to steal data on players. Investigators have uncovered evidence that Cardinals officials may have obtained internal discussions about trades, proprietary statistics and scouting reports. Astros GM Jeff Luhnow left the Cardinals in December 2011. The FBI believes the attackers used a list of passwords Mr. Luhnow had used while working for the Cardinals, to access the Astros network.

Discussion Section Links:  

Pick of the Day:

Franz from -insert weather conditions here- Austria:

To play your existing PC games in full stereoscopic 3D, I recommend TriDef 3D.

The software acts as a middleware driver for games that use Direct3D 9,10 or 11. It offers extensive tweaking, works with all brand GPUs and many types of 3D technologies including color separation, and even VR headsets. There is a list of supported games on their website, but after testing all my other games, I found that a surprisingly large amount of them (>75%) did work – some even as old as 2003!

There are two downsides however:
One: At 40 USD, it’s expensive, but there is a free 2 week trial.
Two: the hardware requirements are steep, obviously, and also it takes a certain mindset to tolerate the necessary tinkering and potential frustration that come with the initial setup process
But once it runs, it’s great. So if 3D is your sort of thing, check it out.

Messages:

Alan writes:

I find it interesting that Microsoft is adding backwards compatibility to XBox One. If I remember correctly, they omitted it completely from Xbox 360. Sony got a little backlash for no backwards compatiblity in PS4, but they did start out with some backwards compatibility in PS3 before phasing it out. To me, this makes it seem like backwards compatibility is only a move to make when you’re behind in the market. That may not be the case, but it kind of looks that way. I still haven’t bought a current gen console, but I tend to favor Playstation. It seems to have more variety, since I’m not big on the most popular genres of shooters, sports, and racing. Nor fighting or zombies, so as you can see I’m really not a gamer.

Jonathan writes:

Catching up on my DTNS feed, I listened to episode 2513 where Allison and Todd talked about the FTC taking consumer protection action against Erik Chevalier for his 2013 Kickstarter campaign; a game entitled “The Doom That Came to Atlantic City”.

As an active member of the Columbus Area Boardgaming Society (CABS), I try to keep up with the boardgaming news. I wanted to note that in 2013, board game publisher Cryptozoic Entertainment, rescued the project and delivered the game in 2014 to the Kickstarter backers as was promised by Mr. Chevalier. Cryptozoic did this without receiving any money from the original campaign.

I felt they deserved a shout-out for that amazing gesture of good will toward the boardgaming community.

Relevant links:
Cryptozoic Entertainment 2013 press release – https://www.cryptozoic.com/articles/cryptozoic-saves-doom-came-atlantic-city-board-game

Dice Tower News coverage – http://www.dicetowernews.com/the-doom-that-came-to-atlantic-city/1220

Cryptozoic Entertainment 2014 game fulfillment page – http://www.cryptozoic.com/articles/doom-filled-dream-becomes-reality-42

Boardgame Geek listing – https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/124548/doom-came-atlantic-city

Columbus Area Boardgaming Society – http://www.cabsgamers.org/ 

=====

Wednesday’s Guests: Raj Deut & Scott Johnson!

Scott Johnson is on today and we’ll talk about Mary Meeker’s annual Internet trends report. Can this woman ever be wrong? Will messaging apps become the dominant mobile hub?

MP3

Using a Screen Reader? click here

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, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guests: Scott Johnson

Headlines: 

An AppleInsider reader, Kaitlyn, let the blog know Tuesday that receiving a particular text message made up of Unicode characters from various character sets caused iPhone restarts and lockouts from messages. When the text is received while the screen is locked the phone reboots and messenger is unavailable until a new message is sent to it. The problem according to Apple Insider is that notifications can’t render the full block of Unicode text, so iOS hogs resources trying to render the message. Apple is aware of the problem.

During an interview with Walt Mossberg at Code Conference reports The Verge, an audience member asked Apple’s senior VP of operations, Jeff Williams what Apple was going to do with its huge cash reserves. Williams said, “Well the car is the ultimate mobile device, isn’t it?” Was he trolling or telling?—- Williams also confirmed that a preview of a native Apple Watch app development kit will be released at WWDC on June 8.

Mary Meeker of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers delivered her Internet trends report at the Code conference. She started delivering them 20 years ago. Meeker says Messging is becoming the dominant use of mobile and messaging apps may become a hub for commerce and identity management. She also discussed the rising popularity of drones, identified Housing, Transportation and Food is areas ripe for innovation, the increasing easiness of freelance and contracting and the need for regulatory reform there and pointed out India is number 1 in new Internet users and is becoming the next big tech market.

Google will soon index some iOS apps in the search results it returns in the iOS versions of the Google app and Chrome, according to Tech Crunch. Google has been indexing apps on Android phones for a few years and started indexing apps whether installed or not a few months ago. Developers who want to have their iOS app indexed by Google will have to add deep linking support among a few other things and fill out an online form. The form does not guarantee Google will begin indexing the app.

Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel said the messaging service is planning an initial public offering, at Re/code’s Code Conference. Spiegel also mentioned plans to expand its reach to include older users including changes to the Apps hold-to-watch feature. Spiegel also predicted a market correction is coming and his company has prepared accordingly. You can catch the rest of the interview on the Re/Code website.

Fortune reports Pebble began shipping the Pebble Time to around 79,000 Kickstarter backers today. The Pebble cost $199 has an e-paper display multiple day battery life and works with multiple smartphone platforms.

9to5 Mac reports sources say Apple is developing an alternative to Google Now supposedly codenamed Proactive. It would automatically provide timely information based on the user’s data and device usage pattern. Apple acquired the personal assistant app Cue in 2013, which was sort of a mix of voice-recognition assistant like Cortana and predictive notification like Google Now.

Xiaomi (Shao-me) posted on Facebook that it will officially launch online stores in the US on June 1 and Germany France and the UK on June 2 at http://mi.com/store. The Mi Stores will not sell phones in these regions but will sell lots of accessories like headphones and the Mi Band.

News From You:

starfuryzeta sent us the Business Insider report that AdBlock Plus won again in court, this time in Munich, Germany. Two German broadcasters RTL Interactive and ProSiebenSat 1 had sued saying that users should not be allowed to block ads. The court ruled that the software was not anti-competitive because users chose to install AdBlock Plus and Eyeo did not have enough dominance of the market to stop online publishers from finding sufficient users who would see ads.

Kylde, our self-described subreddit janitor, sent us a Washington Post report that Chuck Johnson has been permanently suspended from Twitter after asking for funds to “take out” civil rights activist DeRay McKesson. Twitter has also suspended several of Johnson’s new accounts.

AllanAV noted the Ars Technica writeup on the US Internal Revenue Service’s disclosure that it has shut down its transcript service, which allowed taxpayers to request copies of past tax returns. The IRS noticed unusual activity and found that more than 100,000 accounts had been accessed by unauthorized parties. The system required knowledge of personal, financial, and tax information—including date of birth, tax filing status, and address. It appears the attackers had such information on the accounts that were accessed.

tm204 sent us the Engadget report that pop culture retailer Hot Topic has purchased Geeknet, owners of the ThinkGeek online store for $122 million. Companies who license pop culture, FORM A… MEGASTORE.

starfuryzeta sent us the Recode announcement that Vox Media which runs The Verge will acquire Revere Digital, which runs ReCode. Several ReCode staffers will move over to The Verge (including Bonnie Cha and Lauren Goode) to write reviews while Walt Mossberg will write for both sites.

Discussion Section Links:  

Pick of the Day:

Derek aka Bishma – Director of Engineering in Eugene, Oregon writes:

Here is a pick I’d like to share: Safari Books Online

Safari is a service from O’Reilly and Associates (makers or the iconic animal books on all things technology) that offers on-demand access to tens of thousands of titles. The service is not limited to O’Reilly as the make titles available from other big technical publishers like Adobe Press, Prentice Hall, Pragmatic Bookshelf, and more. Additionally you get access to many titles as “rough cuts” (not necessarily their final edit) or “fresh cuts” (finished editions sometimes weeks before they arrive in stores) so that you can get a jump on the latest and greatest. They also have a good collection of videos including many from O’Reilly’s conferences (OSCON, Velocity, Strata, etc).

Reading can be done via website or mobile app – their features page says the Android app is “coming soon” but it is in fact available in the play store. Each month you’re on the service you can earn credits toward downloading titles or chapters in pdf, mobi, or epub formats if you need or want offline access.

The cost, at $39/month or $399/year, seems a high compared to things like Netflix but when you consider many of the titles available retail for $40+ dollars it pays for itself quickly if you spend a lot of time researching new technologies or improving your tech skills as I do.

I’m always surprised how many technology professions I encounter who don’t know this service exists so I wanted to share with everyone in DTNSland.

Messages: 

Rich from Lovely Cleveland:

Once Google Tone makes its way to mobile, I could see it being a huge boon for radio advertisers. Imagine if radio ads had Google tones embedded, each time your phone hears one, it pings Google and lets the advertisers know (and Google gets to keep the demographic info of the phone user for their own purposes). All of this could easily be accomplished by including some small bit of language in the EULA and providing for some obscure method to opt-out. It could totally change the metrics used for ad sales on radio.

What’s that, Google Tone is included in the next Google Now update that’s already installed on every new Android phone? I could NEVER see that happening <insert yet-to-be-agreed-upon-sarcasm-punctuation-mark>.

=====

Thursday’s guest:  Justin Robert Young

Patrick Beja is on and we’ll talk about Twitter’s new anti-harassment measures. expect an appearance from producer Jennie Josephson on the subject as well!

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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, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guests:  Patrick Beja and Jennie Josephson

Headlines: 

The Next Web notes Adobe launched a major upgrade to Photoshop Lightroom for desktop and mobile platforms with an emphasis on integrated workflow via Creative Cloud. New features include: Leveraging GPUs for faster render performance especially with 4K and 5K displays, an updated HDR Merge tool that can get an effect out of just 2 images, a new Panorama Merge, Facial Recognition that can find files without tags, and improved Filter Brush with greater precision. The iOS app can now group photos by date, gets a n improved crop and the ability to sign up for a subscription in the app. Android users get tablet support, DNG raw file support for Lollipop devices, and access to microSD storage. You can buy Lightroom for the desktop for $149 or as part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud Photography Plan for $9.99 a month. Companion apps are free for iOS and Android.

TechCrunch reports BlackBerry is buying WatchDox a startup in Israel that develops secure file sharing software. The plan is to add WatchDox software to BlackBerry’s Enterprise Mobility Management portfolio.  In addition to the software, BlackBerry may use the WatchDox team to build an R&D operation in Israel.

Twitter announced new anti-harassment measures on its blog today. Language around threats was widened to include a broader range of threats including promoting violence against others. Twitter staff may now lock abusive accounts until certain measures are taken by users. And a filter will be put in place that limits the reach of posts that an algorithm deems may be abusive.

Re/code is reporting Yahoo earned 15 cents a share on an adjusted basis, down from 38 cents the year before, analysts expected 18 cents a share. That was down from 38 cents the year before. Revenue was $1.043 billion missing expectations of $1.055 billion. But the good news is Microsoft can terminate its search deal with Yahoo as early as October 1st.

News From You:

Starfuryzeta passed along Sean Hollister’s Gizmodo report that it is now possible to download your entire Google search history to your computer. Search history includes subject lines of private emails, street address, your personal entertainment tastes, etc. Google suggests setting up two factor authentication to protect the downloaded data. Hollister suggests taken advantage of another feature provided by Google. Delete your search history. All of it.

Hurmoth submitted the story from iMore.com that Google is shutting down older YouTube apps. That means YouTube will no longer work on original white box Apple TVs, devices running iOS6 or older, Google TV versions 1 and 2 and some older TVs and Blu-ray players.

Spsheridan wanted us to notice the Wired article about John Deere asserting farmers don’t have the right to fix their own tractors. John Deere filed with the US Copyright Office arguing people should not be allowed to alter or repair software systems in John Deere tractors because it violates copyright. Among other things, John Deere argued allowing an exemption for tractor repair could somehow lead to music piracy using the tractor’s entertainment system.

Starfuryzeta passed along some very important news from Engadget. Remember BB-8, the new circular rolling droid in the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie? Remember how J.J. Abrams shocked the world last week when he revealed that BB-8 was a practical effect? Well robotics company Sphero has confirmed that its technology is behind the droid ball, and that there is a CONSUMER VERSION IN THE WORKS. No word on whether it will be out in time for the holiday season, or whether it will be sphero-sized or full droid-sized.

Audio Illusion shared this TechCrunch story that Ubuntu 15.04 Vivid Vervet will be available for download Thursday. It comes with support for OpenStack Kilo the free open-source cloud computing platform, a new LXS Hypervisor virtualization tool for container deployments and a new stable version of Canonical’s Snappy Ubuntu Core, a stripped-down version of its OS for container hosts and small connected devices.

Discussion Section Links:  

Pick of the day:

Burhan writes: “HD Tracks Pick”

After listening to Nate Lanxon’s discussion on audio quality (4/16/15), I thought I’d pass a long a pick for him, and anyone else into high fidelity listening. I too prefer lossless audio formats, but like you mentioned yesterday, who wants to bother with a CD drive these days? I was turned onto hdtracks.com via a Audiogon newsletter about a sampler album they put together. For those who don’t know, Audiogon is a marketplace for dealers, industry techs, and consumers to buy and sell used, often higher end, audio equipment (Inception-pick-of-the-day). HD Tracks offers (DRM FREE!) WAV, ALAC, AIFF, and FLAC formats for download with a majority of albums at sample rates of 96kHz/24 bit and up. It’s definitely not the best place to go if you’re looking for a single song, but if anyone was going to purchase the album to rip, this would save a step. For anyone not sure of why high fidelity music is a big deal, HD Tracks has an album sampler to download for the low cost of your email address, so that you may see for yourself.”

Messages:

Christopher from Sunny Spokane:

Hi guys, listening to Monday’s show and I you mentioned that your site had a mobile version that might appear with Google’s new search. It did get noticed, but I have to say as an iPhone 6+ user the site doesn’t work well: it appears hard coded to a smaller width, so there is a huge margin down one side. This is the problem with mobile friendly vs responsive designs: if you don’t do it just right mobile designs can be worse than full size pages that have to be scrolled.

Fabrice in sunny and kinda windy Marseille, southern France created a Patreon account early February 2014. He didn’t want to enter a credit card number but he just discovered Patreon takes paypal and has become a Co-executive Producer!

Fabrice says:

“Every once in a while, you might want to add the detail that Patreon supports both credit/debit cards and PayPal.

Tomorrow I’ll have a warm fuzzy feeling when I’ll start my 1h commute… having the pleasure of listening to DTNS not as a freeloader but as co-exec producer. Thank you guys for your work. Your daily podcasts make a long commute seem shorter.

FYI I share some characteristics with Patrick Beja, french, hairy and born in 1973.

If you can find some Pastis Henri Bardouin at the liquor store, you’ll get the flavors of my neck of the woods.

Je vous embrasse tous,

=====

Monday’s guests:  Jason Hiner and Lyndsey Gilpin

Justin Young is in for an early show wherein we greet the new FCC Open Internet Rules and discuss why Snapchat is worth $15 billion these days.

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

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here or giving 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

Today’s guest: Justin Robert Young

“As Ars Technica reports the FCC released its report on “Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet”. In the 400 page document the rules themselves make up 8 pages. The rest is commentary and analysis including a 64-page dissent from Commissioner Ajit Pai and a 16-page dissent from Commissioner Michael O’Reilly. Among the analysis are the forebearances from Title II which include this line that will cause most of the debate: “”we do not forbear from
sections 201, 202, and 208.”” The rules will now be published in the Federal Register within a week or two. 60 days after that happens the rules go into effect, except for additions to the transparency rules which require approval by the Office of Management and Budget. Let the parsing BEGIN!”

Recode reports that Apple has stopped selling Jawbone Up, and Nike + FuelBand in its stores ahead of the Apple Watch launch. The Mio, a heart tracking device worn on the wrist, can only be found in Apple’s online store. Recode checked stores in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Los Angeles and New York. The CEO of Mio said Apple notified her a few months ahead of time that the tracker would be removed from the store, citing a desire to “rework branding for the stores, and to make the Apple brand more front and center” and “minimize the number of accessories.”

Bloomberg Business reports that 11,000 people have already signed up for a Stanford University cardiovascular study using Apple’s Research Kit. The medical director of Stanford’s Cardiovascular Heath department said that getting 10,000 people enrolled in a medical study would normally take a year, and 50 medical centers around the country. The article also notes some researchers are skeptical that the data won’t be skweed by the type of participant or rendered controversial by things like unclear consent forms. Way to harsh Stanford’s mellow, Bloomberg Business.

Buzzfeed reports that Twitter has issued new rules that say “You may not post intimate photos or videos that were taken or distributed without the subject’s consent.” and says it will lock the accounts of users who violate the rule. The company also issued a new FAQ regarding stolen nudes and revenge porn which they posted on reddit. Users can report possible violations through Twitter’s reporting process.

Reuters reports that U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman in San Jose said Tuesday that plaintiffs can bring a class action against Facebook regarding online purchases by children. Facebook argued against a class action, saying the claims were too disparate, and an injunction would not address them. The parents of two children who made large amounts of in app purchases brought the suit in April 2012. It says Facebook violated California law by refusing refunds under its “all sales are final” policy when the parents complained. A trial date is set for October 19th.

Bloomberg has sources that say Alibaba will invest $200 million in Snapchat based on a valuation of $15 billion. Snapchat is supposedly seeking a round of $500 million of investment. CB Insights says the valuation ranks it right behind Uber at $40 billion and Xiaomi at $45 billion.

Meanwhile Reuters reports Alibaba is hiring in Seattle for positions related to cloud computing. Microsoft and Amazon, also in the Seattle area, also do cloud computing. Alibaba has already hired 10 software engineers or computing experts from either Microsoft or Amazon since July 2014. Alibaba launched its first cloud computing hub outside of China on March 4 in Silicon Valley.

Reuters reports US District Judges Edward Chen and Vince Chhabria in San Francisco federal court said in two rulings that the status of drivers for Uber and Lyft will need to be decided by juries. Both companies face class action lawsuits on behalf of drivers who want the benefits of being employees not independent contractors.

The BBC is working with Samsung, Microsoft, ARM and the people behind Raspberry Pi to give 1 million 11 year-olds in the UK a free computer reports CNET. The low cost machine, still in development, is called the Micro Bit, and is similar to the Raspberry Pi and Arduino. The unit fits inside the palm of a child’s hand and sports a simple array of LED lights as a display plus Bluetooth. It launches this September and will support Python, C++, and Touch Develop. The BBC will also launchshows about programming as well as a new drama based on the development of Grand Theft Auto along with a documentary on Bletchley Park.

Reuters reports Xiaomi will being local production of devices in India within 12 to 18 months. Xiaomi has sold more than a million phones in 5 months in India. Xiaomi is also looking to invest in start-ups and service centers and will open 100 stores in the country to help consumers “experience” the phones. So you’ll be able to walk into a store in India and by a Mi Phone? No. Xiaomi insist on continuing to use online flash sales and Flipkart.com to actually sell phones.

The Next Web reports a new UK Parliamentary report from the Intelligence and Security Committee revealing how the agencies gathered bulk personal data, and recommending Britain’s laws governing those agencies should be overhauled. Some members of the UK’s intelligence services have been fired for “inappropriately” accessing personal data. The report concludes that existing laws were not broken and bulk data collection did not amount to mass surveillance or threaten privacy.

If you’ve seen the video going around of a laughing Spanish man subtitled as if he’s telling the story of how the new MacBook was created, the Next Web would like you to know. Juan Joya, a Spanish actor and comedian known as El Risitas. If you don’t speak the language, the story he’s actually telling is about washing pots and pans in the ocean. It is the new “Hitler Reacts.”

Bad news in chip town. Reuters reports Intel cut its revenue forecast for Q1 from $13.7 billion to $12.8 billion +- $300 million, citing lower-than-expected demand for business PCs and lower inventory levels across the PC supply chain.

News From You

metalfreak submitted the Ars Technica article that Google now claims its Project Loon balloons can stay aloft for more than 6 months and deliver LTE service to an area the size of Rhode Island. The US State of Rhode Island is 3,140 km².

philo1927 cited two stories of major companies taking a breather from competing. In a TechDirt article Cablevision vice chairman Gregg Seibert says “I don’t want to roll a truck to you every two years if you keep going back and forth to another provider … So we’re getting rid of that lower quality, lower profitability base of subscriber.” And in a CNET article, AT&T CFO John Stephens says “We won’t chase customers net additions for the sake of another account. We’re going to be smart about it.”

Discussion: Snapchat

Pick of the day: tapiriik.com

I had wanted to keep this one to myself as it is so useful but it’s probably time to share…

I am a keen runner and will change running tracking app depending on features or, for example, whether my Garmin is charged! I also like to keep a backup of my runs on Dropbox. Have a look at the site – he supports all major providers – a massive selection and it keeps growing.

There is only one service which allows this – tapiriik.com. It is run by a chap called Colin Fair who offers great support. Best of all, it’s free for manual syncing. If you want automagic syncing, it costs a paltry $2 per year.

Oh, and it isn’t limited to running, but all sports. It will even sync activities marked private and keep them private.

I encourage listeners to try it and to pay for it!

Love the show, as ever.

Andrew from libertine London

Message:

Hello Tom,
Another issue with MLB tv is, if you are in between markets, you are considered part of their viewing areas. I live in Charlotte and when I subscribed two years ago I was considered to be in the Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals, Baltimore Orioles, and for some reason the Cincinnati Reds markets. As a Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox fan it seemed like every game I tried to watch was blacked out because of markets or national broadcasting rights, so I cancelled the service. Thanks for the great work.
Chris in Charlotte NC
Sent from my iPhone

Tomorrow’s guest: Brian Brushwood! Darren Kitchen! Len Peralta!

Patrick Beja is in today. First the Web now mobile. In light of the shut down of GigaOm, can journalism survive continued disruption?

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Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.

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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, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guest: Patrick Beja, DNTS contributor and independent podcaster. Check out Pixels and The Phileas Club on Frenchspin.com

Headlines: 

TechCrunch reports an Apple Spokesman confirmed the Apple Watch battery is replaceable and the lifecycle is about three years. The Next Web has a good breakdown of the way Apple calculates battery life. The 18 hours of typical use means 90 time checks, 5 per hour, 90 notifications, 45 minutes total app use and a 30-minute workout with Bluetooth. Other estimates are that total talk time is 3 hours. Total music over Bluetooth is 6.5 hours. Heart rate sensor use runs 7 hours. And if you do nothing but check the time you should get 48 hours. Charging up from empty takes 1.5 hours to 80% and 2.5 hours to full.

The Intercept reports on documents leaked by Edward Snowden from a security gathering called the “jamboree” sponsored by the CIA’s Information Operations Center and held on a Lockheed campus in Northern Virginia. Researchers from Sandia National Laboratories discussed a modified Xcode that put secret backdoors into apps— a modified OS X updater that could install a keylogger— and attempts to break encryption on iOS firmware. Attacks against Microsoft devices were also discussed.

The Next Web reports that The Wikimedia Foundation is joining Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and 6 other organizations to sue the National Security Agency and the US Department of Justice over the NSA’s mass surveillance program. Wikimedia says that the intelligence agency’s methods captures communications by its users and staff, thereby violating their privacy and threatening intellectual freedom.

Yesterday the tech news blog GigaOm came to a sudden halt.  A post on the site said GigaOm was unable to pay its creditors and had ceased operations. Founder Om Malik, who is no longer working on the site, expressed regret and thanked its workers and readers.  The company does not intend to file for bankruptcy but it’s eventual fate is unclear.

The Verge reports a “source knowledgeable with Android Wear’s product road map” says the next software release will add WiFi support, gesture support like flicking the wrist to scroll, and easier access to apps and contact.

The Verge has the news that the Playstation 4 and PlayStation Vita are going on sale in China on March 20th.  The PS4 will code 2,889 yuan (about $464) and the Vita will sell for 1,299 yuan ($207). Chinese officials banned foreign game consoles in 2000, driving most gamers to PCs or mobile devices.  The prohibition was lifted in 2013, and Microsoft launched the Xbox One in September 2014.

The Daily Dot reports the UK’s Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology issued a briefing saying a ban on data encryption and online anonymity is neither acceptable nor feasible. Earlier this year UK Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to ban encryption on the web and end online anonymity to combat terrorism and child pornography. The briefing specifically mentioned TOR as a tool used to bypass censors and the difficulty foreign censors have had in blocking it. Furthermore it noted that 1,624 domains were found to have child abuse material on the open Web, while 36 were found on the Dark Net.

TechCrunch reports the app Yik Yak seems to have been delisted from the Google Play store. The anonymous localized chat app can be found in search but is not listed on any charts. Yik Yak is listed as #20 in social on iOS. Several college campuses in the US have banned the app recently because of the offensive and abusive nature of some postings.

News From You:

tninja3000 & starfuryzeta would like you to know that the US Senate has confirmed former Google Inc executive Michelle Lee as the head of the US Patent and Trademark office. Reuters reports that the position had been vacant for more than two years with Lee as acting director. Lee had been head of patents and patent strategy at Google and joined the USPTO in 2012.

the_corey has sent us a story from The Next Web with a report that Sky Broadband has been ordered to hand over customer data to copyright enforcement company TCYK by a UK court.  Sky has sent letters to subscribers explaining the situation and that they should examine any correspondence from TCYK carefully.  Sky subscribers who receive a letter from TCYK can contact the Citizens Advice Bureau for guidance.

Discussion Section Links:  

Pick of the Day:  Synergy Project via Satya

Satya: Hi Tom,

My pick is Synergy Project, http://synergy-project.org.

It is a pretty cool and very useful software for a sharing a single keyboard and mouse across multiple computers without any additional hardware.

It costs 10$ and works on all operating systems. It is worth every penny.

Messages:

Hi Tom-

When I saw the new USB port world serve as charger and it’s some input, I freaked at first. When I thought about it, I realized with modern battery life, Wi-Fi, cloud storage, and Bluetooth, ports are less useful than they were in the past.

I’m glad they kept the headphone jack since Bluetooth audio fidelity still isn’t quite to to snuff yet. I’m hoping future Wi-Fi specs can support multiple connections to connect wireless storage or wifi headphones or speakers while not cutting off your network access. Pull that off and we might enter a brave new portless world.

Thanks for the great work!

Mike in Smoggy Beirut

================

“Hey, guys. A quick thought on the new MacBooks.

To understand how Apple is positioning them, I think it makes sense to consider its specs:
Retina screen.
M-class processor (which doesn’t require a fan).
Extremely thin and light.
Just two ports (power/data and audio).
Emphasis on touch interaction.
Three colors.
Sort of reminds me of an iPad.

I think it’s really meant for people who are tired of trying to combine an iPad with a keyboard in order to get real work done. In other words, in my opinion, the new MacBook is the best iPad Apple’s ever made (and I want one).

Christian”

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BOL REUNION!

Just announced: The Buzz Out Loud 10 Year reunion on March 29th at 12:30 pacific /3:30 p eastern and 7:30p GMT! It’s free! Tom, Molly, Veronica, Jason and many other special guests! Tickets for the event at the Hak 5 warehouse are available at http://bit.ly/BOLreunion but if you want to attend online you don’t need even need a ticket. The event will stream live on Alpha Geek Radio and on YouTube with more details forthcoming.

Buzztown’s Back!

PODCAST AWARDS

Also Podcast Awards! Remember yesterday, and the day before, when we told you how you could vote for your favorite podcast in the Podcast Awards? Well guess what, you can vote again today! For example, you could vote for DTNS in the technology category, but you can also support Night Attack in the “Mature” and “Video” categories. Also you can vote for The Instance, Film Sack and our good friends at The Morning Stream and Night Attack. I guess you could also vote for Serial. But only once. Vote once a day at http://www.podcastawards.com/ until March 24th.

Wednesday’s guest: Eklund!