Was invited on to TWiT and had some excellent conversations with Baratunde Thurston, Ben Thompson and Leo. For a fun game, play spot the Taylor Swift song title references!
Today in Tech History – June 23, 2015
In 1912 – Alan Turing was born in London, although his father worked for the Indian Civil Service and his parents lived in India. He helped break the code of the German enigma machine and developed the Turing test for artificial intelligence.
In 1943 – Vint Cerf was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He grew up to become known as one of the fathers of the Internet, most famously for his co-creation of the protocols underlying TCP/IP.
In 1983 – Paul Mockapetris and Jon Postel ran the first successful test of the automated, distributed Domain Name System at the University of Southern California School of Engineering’s Information Sciences.
In 1996 – The Nintendo 64 launched in Japan becoming the first home console to rely on the analog stick as its primary control.
Like Tech History? Get the illustrated Year in Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.
Cordkillers 76 – Hulu, It’s Better Than Hulu
PlayStation overplays the a la carte hand, Roku’s ads get in your head, what Bill Simmons should do.
CordKillers: Ep. 76 – Hulu, It’s Better Than Hulu
Recorded: June 22, 2015
Guest: Fraser Cain
Intro Video
Primary Target
- PlayStation Vue goes A la carte
- PlayStation Vue comes to San Francisco and LA, with a la carte channel offering
– Sony announced PlayStation Vue now in LA and San Francisco (+Chi, NYC, Philly)
– Packages start at $50
– Got very enthused about offering a la carte channels.
– Starting in July Showtime ($11) Fox Soccer Plus ($15) Machinima ($4)
– PS-Plus subscribers get a $2 discount on each channel - SlingTV adds new channels
– Sling TV adding channels
– To Core Package
– Polaris+ (online gaming, comic and pop culture from Maker)
– Hollywood Extra Package
– Turner Classic Movies
Signal Intelligence
- Hulu Plus changes to just Hulu
– Hulu officially changed the name of Hulu Plus to Hulu
– So now if you’re watching the free version which used to be called Hulu it is still called Hulu
– But if you’re watching the paid version of Hulu which used to be called Hulu Plus it is now also called Hulu
– This was done to eliminate confusion.
Gear Up
- Roku And Innovid Roll Out Interactive Video Ads, Including SMS-Based Reminders To Watch
– Roku and Innovid partnering on interactive ads
– Games, quizzes, videos
– Personalized using data (location, demograpchis)
– CBS (CBS News, CBS Sports, CNET, GameSpot), Vevo and Crackle are early partners
– Roku SDK will now include Innovid as part of the Roku Ad Framework
– Results in extended time spent with ads. Doubled the preroll
– Soon can extend ad across devices. Movies times sent to smartphone for instance by SMS
– Reminders about show airings
Front Lines
- YouTube Launches YouTube Newswire, A Channel Featuring Verified Eyewitness Videos
– YouTube newswire is a partnership with Storify to make it easier to access verified eyewitness videos. It will feature both global and regional feeds, and will be available on YouTube.com/newswire, on Twitter, and as an email newsletter. Its feed will include videos focused on news, weather and politics. - Jason Kilar’s Subscription Video Service Vessel Expands To Android
– Vessel, the video subscription service has an open beta of their Android app now available on the Google Play store. Works on any Android 4.1 or later device. Vessel claims creators are earning more than $50 per thousand views - Bill Simmons is talking to HBO about a TV show and more
– Bill Simmons is reportedly talking to HBO although he’s supposedly also talking to Fox Sports and considering an independent operation. - How A Team Of Accomplished Entrepreneurs Plan To Revolutionize Your Television Experience
– TechCrunch has an oddly vague writeup on an 18-month old French company called Molotov which claims to have found a new way to watch TV. They call it a virtual TV provider. They describe it as Spotify, Deezer, or Netflix for regular TV. It works on TV, laptop phone and tablet and will enter beta this summer. - This media exec says traditional cable TV bundles are dying
– Cablevision’s CEO James Dolan, speaking to an audience of investors hosted by Guggenheim Partners said the number of people who pay for cable bundles could drop by as much as 25% over the next 5 years.
Under Surveillance
- Neil Gaiman’s American Gods to get a series on Starz
– Starz has greenlighted a season of American Gods written and produced by Bryan Fuller (Hannibal, Pushing Daisies) and Michael Green (The River, Heroes). Production begins once Shadow Moon is cast. - Aaron Paul is taking the lead in a new Hulu drama
– Aaron Paul will be the lead in a Hulu show coming this winter called The Way. It’s from Jason Katims (FNL, Parenthood) Paul will play a member of a controversial faith group struggling with disillusionment and ennui. - Tom: Sense8 (Ep. 6-8), Silicon Valley (Ep. 10) Orange is the New Black (2-4), Despicable Me 2, Inside Out, True Detective (201) The Shield (604)
- Justin: Daredevil (halfway through), Silicon Valley, Game of Thrones
- Fraser: True Detective ep. 1, Silicon Valley, Jurassic World
- Bryce: Other Space
Dispatches from the Front
It’s the story of Steven Quartz Universe, an 11 year old boy whose parents are Greg Universe, a former rock musician who now runs a carwash and lives in his van, and Rose Quartz, an immortal alien hero who protected the Earth for thousands of years before giving up her physical form to bring Steven into the world. It follows Steven as he tries to grow into his mother’s legacy and join The Crystal Gems, Earth’s protectors (who are also his three moms). The series is the creation of Rebecca Sugar, who was responsible for the best episodes (and songs) of Adventure Time before she left that show to create this one.
The first 35 episodes are available on Hulu Plus and all eps to date can be bought from the major online marketplaces.
– Rob
I was a little disappointed at how negative you guys were about Tivo adding streaming access through web browsers on local computers. Ok, I get it, I’d also like to be able to open my laptop on vacation and bring up my recordings. Who knows, maybe they’ll add that, but for now I’m happy that I can at least do that within my own home.
– Matt
Sterling, VA
First review of TiVo Online: not only does it make you login to your tivo account AND your cable company account, it just plain doesn’t work. Not tonight, not here. I’ve been waiting to stream a video I know is on my TiVo, the latest Big Bang Theory, for like 10 minutes so far. Silly spinning wheel is all I get. I don’t see this becoming a habit quickly.
– Whistl
Just a Sling tv tip.
As we know Sling TV offers ESPN and ESPN2. You can download the ‘Watch Espn’ app and login with the Sling TV credentials and watch ESPN3 programming.
I was able to watch the NBA finals on ESPN3 too.
– Ryan in Iowa
Links
DTNS 2520 – Swift Justice
Breki Tomasson is on the show to talk about Taylor Swift’s ‘victory’ against Apple Music. Is Taylor Swift the Music Industry now? The Internet? Un unstoppable force that has already amassed too much power and become a queen terrible as the morning and the night?
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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: Breki Tomasson
Google officially announced its new site called News Lab today. Tech Crunch reports that the goal of the program is to connect journalists with programs, data and other resources. There will be tutorials and tips on best practices when using Google products in reporting. The site will also showcase Google’s new media partnerships such as the YouTube newswire and other partnerships with Storify announced last week.
The Verge reports Sony is releasing the PlayStation 4 1TB Ultimate Player Edition. The updated machine will be 10% lighter, use 8% less power, and have a matte finish for the hard drive bay. It will release in Japan before the end of June and on July 15th in Europe and North America. Sony also released changes to the PlayStation companion app for iOS and Android letting users redeem gift codes without powering up a playstation console and display comments from viewers while streaming gameplay.
Ars Technica reports on documents leaked by Edward Snowden that show the US NSA and UK’s GCHQ attempted to subvert antivirus software in order to to succeed in attacks on intelligence targets. GCHQ attempted to reverse engineer antivirus software from Kaspersky Labs and others. The NSA intercepted email to Kaspersky containing malware samples. They used those samples to bolster their own network defenses and proposed reusing them to to attack other intelligence targets.
TechCrunch reports Docker, Google, Microsoft and Amazon are working with the Linux Foundation on the Open Container Project, a standard for software containers. Docker will contribute its container format and runtime to get the project started. Containers allow software to run on almost any server. The project will create a standard container that can work with any runtime whether its from Docker, CoreOS or someone else.
Reuters reports 1400 airline passengers were stranded at Warsaw’s Chopin airport Sunday when the flight plan system went down for five hours. LOT airline Spokesman Adrian Kubicki said the outage was due to a “capacity attack” essentially a DDoS.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports the Australian Senate passed the Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Bill 2015, introduced into parliament by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull 37-13. Right’s holders can request a judge issue an order to block a website if its primary purpose is facilitating copyright infringement. Australian internet providers, such as Telstra and Optus, would then need to comply with a judge’s order by disabling access to the infringing location.
Newly unsealed court documents obtained by The Intercept reveal the US Justice Department won an order forcing Google to turn over more than one year’s worth of data from the Gmail account of Jacob Appelbaum, a Tor developer who worked as a volunteer for WikiLeaks. The order also prevented Google from notifying Appelbaum. The Justice Department argued that Appelbaum had “no reasonable expectation of privacy”. The Justice Department asserted that “journalists have no special privilege to resist compelled disclosure of their records, absent evidence that the government is acting in bad faith”. Google’s attempt to overturn the gag order was denied by magistrate judge Ivan D. Davis in February 2011 and denied on appeal in March 2011.
Remember the emotional robot Justin Robert Young and I talked about last week that was going on sale in Japan this past weekend. CNET reports that Softbank’s Pepper robot sold out– 1,000 robots– in one minute. Pepper costs 198,000 yen (USD $1,610). SoftBank plans to produce 1,000 units a month, with the next batch planned for launch in Japan in July.
Confused about whether you can get Windows 10 for free as a preview user without upgrading from a previous genuine install? The Verge has the answers. Tom Warren interprets Microsoft’s pythoness-like pronouncements to mean the following. Anybody who does a Clean install of Windows 10 preview edition and continues to receive pre-release updates can keep using the OS for free. Anybody else will have to prove they once had a genuine copy of Windows 7 or 8.
News From You:
KAPT_Kipper sent us the news that Taylor Swift has changed the flow of time. I mean singer/songwriter Taylor Swift wrote a super polite open letter to Apple on Sunday morning, telling them that their plan to not pay artists during a user’s three month free trial of Apple Music was “shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company” and that she would be withholding her mega popular album 1989 from the service. By Sunday evening, Apple media chief Eddy Cue announced Apple would pay artists an undisclosed amount per stream for listens during the free trial. And all over the world, glitter fell from the sky and enlightened citizens of the tswiftverse rejoiced.
danielhprice1986 submitted the Globe and Mail article on how US intelligence officials followed Chinese hackers for more than five years then lost the trail last summer. It is alleged that these same groups gained admin privileges in the networks of the US Office of Personnel Management. The OPM suffered an attack that gained access to personnel records. Much of the data was stored on lightly protected systems because of the cheap available storage space.
Discussion Section
Pick of the Day
Vance wants to pick Android TV as set-top platform:
“It has been adopted as the smart TV interface for a number of TV manufacturers like Sony, Sharp, etc.” He likes the UI and says, “While it is lacking an Amazon Prime app, it makes up for that if you use Google Play Music or videos and has the best You Tube app going and a powerful voice search function (as you would expect).
The Nexus Player is $79 on Amazon, and while some find it a bit underpowered, at that price you not only the Android TV interface, but it serves as a Chromecast as well. I recently picked up the pricier nVidia Shield Android TV and am very impressed so far.
Messages
Alan writes:
Modern garage door openers (like since 1995) use rolling codes, the same tech on a car’s keyfob. Basically, it uses a random number generator to determine what code(s) to allow entry, with a +/- range to compensate for accidental pushes and multiple vehicles. Once a code has been accepted, it can no longer be used.
So garage doors are harder to spoof than you might think these days.
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/remote-entry2.htm
==
Tuesday’s Guests: Veronica Belmont
Today in Tech History – June 21, 2015
In 1948 – The Small-Scale Experimental Machine, SSEM took 52 minutes to run its first program, written by Professor Tom Kilburn. SSEM was the first computer to store programs electronically. The SSEM was nicknamed the “Manchester Baby”.
In 1981 – IBM retired the last of its “STRETCH” mainframes. These mainframes were part of the 7000 series that made up the company’s first transistorized computers.
In 2004 – SpaceShipOne became the first privately developed piloted vehicle to leave Earth’s atmosphere and reach the edge of space.
Like Tech History? Get the illustrated Year in Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.
Today in Tech History – June 22, 2015
In 1675 – Britain’s King Charles II established the observatory at Greenwich with the main purpose of determining precise longitudes to aid in navigation. This purpose led to Greenwich being marked as the prime meridian and later Greenwich Mean Time.
In 1799 – The first definitive prototype metre bars (mètre des Archives) and kilograms were constructed in platinum.
In 1999 – The first demonstration of live rats directly controlling a robot arm with their thoughts was published by Nature Neuroscience.
Like Tech History? Get the illustrated Year in Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.
Today in Tech History – June 20, 2015
In 1840 – Samuel F.B. Morse received a US patent for “Improvement in the mode of communicating information by signals by the application of electro-magnetism.” We call it Morse code.
In 1963 – A hotline was established between the Soviet Union and the United States following the Cuban Missile Crisis. While later it would become the famous “red telephone” it started as a teletype.
In 2003 – The WikiMedia Foundation was founded in St. Petersburg, Florida by Jimmy Wales to oversee the various Wiki projects like Wikipedia.
Like Tech History? Get the illustrated Year in Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.
FSL Tonight Week 2 – Waiver Goodbye to the Cellar
Despite some glitzy play the by Guardians, Skaro hangs on to exterminate LA, and Cylon raids the waivers.
DTNS 2519 – Always Use a Condiment
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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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/
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
Today in Tech History – June 19, 2015
In 240 B.C. – Greek astronomer, geographer, mathematician and librarian in Alexandria, Eratosthenes calculated the Earth’s circumference. His data was based on the length of shadows in different locations and simple geometry, but his calculations were not far wrong.
In 1623 – Mathematician Blaise Pascal was born in France. He invented a digital calculator, the Pascaline, to help his father in his tax-collecting work.
In 2003 – Apple released dock connector-to-USB 2.0 cables and drivers for third-generation iPods. Previous iPods had been FireWire only.
Like Tech History? Get the illustrated Year in Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.