Cordkillers Ep. 45 – MPA—- Yay?

Sony wins the race to first Internet TV service, MPAA does a great job helping you find things to watch, do you want 5 HDMI signals on one screen?

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CordKillers: Ep. MPA—- Yay?
Recorded: November 17, 2014
GuestAndy Forssell, former CEO of Hulu

Intro Video 

Primary Target

Signal Intelligence

  • WhereToWatch Helps You Find TV Shows and Movies to Stream Legally
  • Where to Watch
  •  – MPAA launched wheretowatch.com
    – Service to find where stream or purchase of movies and TV shows online or DVD/Blu-Ray
    – Trailers and behind the scenes footage as well
    – Amazon, iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, Crackle, Flixster, Paramount Movies, Bravo Now, CNBC Full Episodes, E! Now, Esquire TV Now, Oxygen Now, Sprout Now, Syfy Now, ABC, ABC Family, Disney Movies Anywhere, Vudu, Xbox Video, Sundance Now, SnagFilms, Fandor, Wolfe on Demand, Target Ticket, Movies On Demand, Reelhouse, IndieFlix.

Gear Up

Front Lines

Under Surveillance

2014 Winter Movie Draft
draft.diamondclub.tv

  1. Scott: $207,234,079
  2. Brian: $36,111,775
  3. Justin: $25,910,368
  4. John: $6,471,161
  5. Tom: $0
  6. Brett: $0
     

Dispatches from the Front

That German company you mentioned that’s offering an app to chromecast Amazon Prime videos has had their app shut down. From the Primecast app page (http://primecast-app.com/): “Primecast has been shut down and is no longer available” is all it says. I guess Amazon DID care. So much for “whatever device you please.”

Brian G

 

Holy cow Brian. Sometimes you go off arguing on the silliest of nitpicky (minor) points. The most recent one of having to go thru a one time setup process for Disney, iTunes and GooglePlay. You have to be one of the laziest employees I have. Seriously, it’s getting old. Knock it off.

Your boss

Kyle in Pittsburgh

 

 

Hey guys. You are always talking about how Nielsen is behind the times, but a lot of that is contractual between Nielsen and our Clients. Often we are limited by what we can do because of the push and pull between national and local interests. Few local TV stations are interested in internet video measurement for example, because very little of their content and audience is online. The National networks how ever have their own streaming infrastructure setup.

Check out this article about how Nielsen is trying to evolve the way video ratings are done. 

David The Nielsen Guy

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/238149/nielsen-calls-for-industry-to-adopt-new-ratings-st.html

 

 

Hey guys! I am a freshman in college and my university does not have a deal with any cable company so I had to find another way to watch some shows.

This won’t apply to the vast majority of the audience BUT my parents live in Mexico so I got them cable+internet for around $40 US. The awesome thing is that for an extra $10 a month they get “on demand online” which basically means I get to stream (because I am the one that uses it) every channel they have!. For most channels this is in Spanish (which I do speak) but this also means live events like the emmys, grammys, the world series, football on sundays and monday night, basketball games, all live and online! I know I’m cheating on cutting the cord since I am technically paying for a cable service but still I get to whatch live tv without problems online in HD. I know this seems like something a slingbox could do but this way no TV is being “used” while I watch what I want some 2000 miles away.

Love the show take care!

Charles O

PS. I love Brian’s sing-along the theme song after the credits. 

 

Links

patreon.com/cordkillers
Dog House Systems Cordkiller box

 

 

DTNS 2367 – Riding in Cars with Noise

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comJustin Young is on the show today and we’ll talk about Uber’s integration with Spotify. Will anyone use it? And if so will it become a nightmare for drivers?

MP3

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

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

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

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

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

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

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

Show Notes

Today’s guests: Justin Robert Young, DTNS correspondent

Headlines:

New York City is getting free gigabit WiFi. TechCrunch reports that a public-private consortium will begin building wifi enabled kiosks all around the five boroughs, beginning in 2015. The LinkNYC kiosks will have an encrypted network connection and offer free phone calls to anywhere in the U.S, as well as a touchscreen tablet interface to access city services, interactive maps, free emergency and information calls, charging stations and displays for advertising and public service announcements. They will also feature display advertising space which the city expects will generate $500 million in revenue over the next twelve years.

Good news for iOS 8 users with older devices. 9 to 5 mac reports that Apple has released iOS 8.1.1, which will improve performance for older A5-powered devices, including the iPad2 and iPhone 4s. Apple also release OS X 10.10.1, with wi-fi performance fixes, as well as a maintenance update for third-generation Apple TVs, also known as version 7.0.2. So far no reports of install issues with any of the updates.

GigaOm passes a long a Financial Times report that Facebook is testing a new product called Facebook for Work. Rather than be a clever way to hide your Facebook surfing while at work. the service would instead allow users to chat with colleague, make professional contacts and do boring job-enhancing things like collaborating on documents. Work accounts would be separated from personal accounts. TechCrunch previously uncovered info about the project back in June.

Spotify announced today it will launch a partnership with Uber in ten cities around the world on Nov. 21st that will let Spotify Premium users choose the music in their Uber rides. Users can link their Uber and Spotify accounts today. The feature is opt-in for the driver so not all cars will have it. Meanwhile TechCrunch reports developer Ethan Lee has uncovered code in Spotify’s app indicating it may add a special section for podcasts at some point. That was obvious because the entry in the code was called ‘Podcasts.’ Lee found another entry called ‘Magic’ that obviously means Spotify will be incorporating magic in its app at some point.

Engadget reports Sony just launched a stacked CMOS photo sensor for smartphones, the Exmor RS IMX230, that puts 21 megapixels into a 1/2.4-inch sized form factor. It has 192-point phase-detection autofocus and integrated HDR for high-res photos and 4K video. Pretty much its being called dSLR features in a smartphone sensor. The iPhone 6 and OnePlus One use current version of the Exmor sensor. This new Exmore RS sensor should appear in April.

The Next Web reports Apple announced Chinese customers can now use Union Pay cards with their iTunes accounts. Previously Chinese customers had to transfer money into their App Store account before making purchase. Now they can just make a purchase and be charged directly.

TechCrunch reports that a group of technology companies wrote a letter urging the US Senate to pass the USA Freedom Act, a bill that would prevent bulk collection of Internet metadata and increase transparency about government demands for user information from technology companies. The letetr was written on behalf of the Reform Government Surveillance Group which includes AOL, Apple, Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter, and Yahoo. The bill could come before the Senate this week.

The US State Department shut down its entire unclassified email system this weekend so engineers could repair possible damage from a suspected attack. A senior state department official said “activity of concern” was first detected around the same time as the October incident that targeted the White house unclassified computer network. No word yet on who was responsible for the State Department breach, but the official said no classified systems were affected.

Recode reports that Snapchat unveiled a new feature powered by Square, that allows you to send and receive money through the Snapchat app. Here’s how it works: Users type out the dollar amount they want to send as part of a private message. The app recognizes the dollar sign + number and presents a green payment button, which users tap to activate payment. We’re trying to confirm if the money stays or disappears after 12 seconds.

News From You:

metalfreak pointed out last Thursday’s Science Daily post about A3, a software suite that attempts to recognize and eliminate never-before-seen malware, repair any damage it caused and prevent against future infection. A team of computer scientists at the University of Utah led by research assistant professor Eric Eide and associate professor John Regehr developed the software. A3 detects unusual OS behavior and stops it. As a test it discovered and repaired a Shellshock attack in 4 minutes. The software is open source and is designed to protect servers running Linux.

starfuryzeta posted the Guardian story that Google’s Project Loon is coming to Australia in conjunction with Telstra. 20 balloons will fly in western Queensland in December as a test. The balloons beam Internet signals to homes and phones. Telstra will provide base stations and spectrum. Google tested the project in Christchurch, New Zealand last June. The goal of Project Loon it to eventual circle the whole Earth providing Internet connectivity to unwired areas.

jaymz668 let us know about the Ars Technica article about Martijn Wismeijer, a Dutch entrepreneur and Bitcoin enthusiast, who embedded an NFC chip in each hand. One encodes love and the other hate. I mean one hand he overwrites with things like contact details and the other contains the encrypted key to his private BitCoin wallet. He uses it to stock ATMs that are part of his company Mr. Bitcoin. He also would like to get NFC-enabled locks so he can unlock doors with his hand.

Discussion Section: Riding in Cars with Noise

http://thenextweb.com/opinion/2014/11/17/think-ubers-deal-spotify-awful-idea/

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/11/17/official-spotify-uber-team-let-control-music-ride/

http://techcrunch.com/2014/11/14/uber-music/

https://news.spotify.com/us/2014/11/17/uber/

http://techcrunch.com/2014/11/17/uber-spotify-bmw/?ncid=rss

Pick of the Day: Alien Blue via Andrew Hughes from epic Portland

Andrew from epic Portland here and I want to recommend the reddit app Alien Blue for iOS. It’s got a ton of different features but the things that make it stand out the most to me are how it manages your subreddits and how easy it is to share a post. I definitely think that any redditor that has an iOS device needs this app. Thank you to everyone at DTNS for a great podcast keep up the amazing work.

Tuesday’s guest: Patrick Beja, DTNS correspondent

Today in Tech History – Nov. 17, 2014

20140404-073853.jpgIn 1790 – August Ferdinand Mobius was born in Schulpforta, Saxony. The mathematician, astronomer and physicist is most well remembered for the discovery of the Mobius strip, a 2-dimensional object with only one side when embedded in 3D space. Poor Johann Benedict Listing also discovered it at the same time but Listing strip just doesn’t have the same ring.

In 1947 – Walter Brattain dumped a semiconductor experiment into a thermos of water and unexpectedly saw a large amplification of electricity. Working with John Bardeen they developed it into a new amplifier that would eventually be called the transistor.

In 1970 – The Soviet Union landed Lunokhod 1 on Mare Imbrium on the Moon. It was the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another world.

MP3

Subscribe to the podcast. Like Tech History? Get Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.

Today in Tech History – Nov. 16, 2014

20140404-073853.jpgIn 1904 – Sir John Ambrose Fleming went “scudding down Gower Street” in London on his way to patenting the “oscillation valve” which we fondly call the Vacuum Tube. His patent was later invalidated by the US supreme court, but that didn’t stop Fleming from being Knighted and receiving a medal of honor from the Institute of Radio Engineers.

In 1965 – The Soviet Union launched the Venera 3 space probe toward Venus. It would become the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet, though it failed to return data.

In 2000 – ICANN announced its decision to include 7 new top-level domains giving birth to the .aero, .biz, .coop, .info, .museum, .name and .pro, TLDs.

MP3

Subscribe to the podcast. Like Tech History? Get Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.

Today in Tech History – Nov. 15, 2014

20140404-073853.jpgIn 1926 – The National Broadcasting Company radio network opened with 24 stations. It was a joint creation of RCA, General Electric and Westinghouse. AT&T provided the spark for the network by selling WEAF to RCA.

In 1971 – Intel released the world’s first commercial single-chip microprocessor, the 4004 with an advertisement in Electronic News, though the chip may have been delivered earlier in the spring to some customers. It was the first complete CPU on one chip.

In 2001 – Microsoft entered the game console war with the first Xbox going on sale in North America. It pitted Microsoft against Sony’s PS2 just three days before Nintendo’s GameCube went on sale.

In 2013 – Sony’s PlayStation 4 game console went on sale with a big event in New York where Sony rented out the entire Standard Hotel.

MP3

Subscribe to the podcast. Like Tech History? Get Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.

DTNS 2366 – Biased Neutrality

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comMolly wood is on the show and we’ll dig into what’s really going on with the net neutrality fight and hopefully dispel a few myths from all sides. Plus, Len Peralta is here to illustrate the show!

MP3

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

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

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

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the 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 in Tech History – Nov. 14, 2014

20140404-073853.jpgIn 1922 – The BBC sent its first daily transmission from station 2LO at Marconi House London. Arthur Burrows, first Director of Programmes, read the first newscast.

In 1971 – The American space probe Mariner 9 began orbiting Mars becoming the first spacecraft to successfully orbit another planet.

In 2007 – The last Direct Current electrical distribution system in the US was shut down by Con Edison in New York.

MP3

Subscribe to the podcast. Like Tech History? Get Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.

DTNS2365 – Come on Data– Let’s do the Twist

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comJason Hiner and Lyndsey Gilpin join the show and we’ll talk about Facebook’s new privacy tutorials and proposed privacy policies.

MP3

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

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

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

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

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

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

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

Show Notes

Today’s guest: Jason Hiner, editor in chief of Tech Republic & Lyndsey Gilpin, staff writer at Tech Republic

Headlines:

The Next Web reports Facebook has launched a ‘Privacy Basics’ site to help people understand what options they have to protect their privacy while using the social network. The company also has made public their proposed new terms of service which are written in plain language. Users have until November 20 to provide feedback on Terms and Conditions, Data Usage and Cookies policies.

Sony is the first of the potential cord-cutter TV services to announce they’re ready to go. PlayStation Vue will offer live and on demand programming from more than 75 channels. Subscribers will need Internet and a PS3 or PS4. Sony intends to launch an iPad app too as well as apps for other devices. Networks include NBC Universal, Fox, Viacom and Scripps, but NOT ABC/Disney or Time Warner’s HBO. The service will launch in invite-only beta this month in New York, followed by Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angels. Sony intends to launch commercially in Q1 of 2015.

TechCrunch reports the Great Book War of 2014 has ended, just in time for the holiday shopping season. Amazon and the Hachette Book Group have agreed on a new multi-year agreement for e-book and print sales. Hachette will set its own prices for e-books, the so-called Agency model, but will receive “better terms” (aka more promotion) when those prices are closer to Amazon’s guidelines. The new prices will take effect in 2015, but Amazon will stop holding back pre-orders for Hachette titles now.

Reuters reports BlackBerry announced its new mobile security and device management platform Thursday. BES12 will let companies and government agencies manage Android, iOS and Windows devices along with BlackBerry’s own products. It will also be able to handle medical diagnostic equipment, indsutrial machinery and motor vehicles. Among the partnerships is one with Samsung to combine BB device management with Samsung’s KNOX Security platform for Android phones starting in early 2015. BlackBerry also announced partnerships with Salesforce.com and wireless distribution company Brightstar.

According to The Next Web, Nvidia announced the North American launch of its new cloud gaming service, called Grid. The service launches November 18th, and requires an Nvidia Shield tablet or handheld, on a 10 Mbps internet connection with a ping of 60ms or less to Grid servers. Once you have all that in place, you can play 20 games at launch including Batman: Arkham City, Borderlands 2 and Darksiders II and the service is free until June 30. Nvidia also revealed that its Shield tablet will upgrade to Android 5.0 Lollipop on November 18th.

The Verge drops a little mathematical reality on the Taylor Swift Spotify grudge match. Spotify’s founder Daniel Ek said that Swift was projected to earn $6 million on his service, before she pulled all her tracks. Then the head of Swift’s label Scott Borchetta said, WTF? Spotify only gave us $500,000! Turns out, both numbers are true. Spotify paid Ms. Swift $500k for her US streams. Globally, they paid T-Swift $2 million dollars.The six million number Ek used was, as he said, projected earnings over time. Granted they were the most optimistic projection he could use since that gave him the biggest number.

Ars Technica reports Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington DC ruled country code top-level domains cannot be transferred as part of a civil judgement. The plaintiffs in Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran sought to have the top-level domains for Iran, Syria and North Korea transferred in compensation for damages awarded in a case brought regarding a 1997 suicide bombing in Jerusalem by Hamas. The Court determined that country code top level domains cannot be conceptualized apart from domain name services and therefore cannot be garnished.

TechCrunch reports Reddit CEO Yishan Yong has resigned. Investor Sam Altman wrote on his blog that Yong resigned due to a disagreement about the price and location of a new Reddit office. COO Ellen Pao has become interim CEO and co-founder Alexis Ohanian has returned as full time executive chairman.

Microsoft said on Twitter today “We plan to upgrade all Windows Phone 8 devices to Windows 10 in the future.” So there you go folks. Upgrade path assured.

News From You:

anotherjmartin gave us the Ars Technica story that digital rights activists are continuing to criticize AT&T subsidiary Cricket for preventing email from being protected by STARTTLS by removing the STARTTLS flag that causes the encryption to take effect. EFF staff technologist Jacob Hoffman-Andrews posted Tuesday that ISPs must stop removing customer security measures. Last week VPN provider Golden Frog petitioned the FCC opposing the practice. A Golden Frog engineer discovered the issue. In our Oct. 15 show, Patrick Wolfe wrote in to note he had used Cisco ASA firewall software that broke STARTLS in a very similar way and speculated that might be going on with Cricket.

tm204 sent us a BBC article about physicists from the University of Vienna using the “twist” of a visible light beam to transmit information by laser through the sky above Vienna. Here’s how it worked. Twisted light photons, aka light with “orbital angular momentum” can twist like a corkscrew. Researchers set up a green laser in a tower and shone it on a spacial light modulator, which twisted the beam twice. When the light showed up on a screen three kilometers away it had a detectable pattern of dots, which the scientists then used to transmit black and white images. It could be used for fast transmission of data where separate channels can be sent simultaneously. The results were reported in the New Journal of Physics

Discussion Section: Facebook has new Terms of Service

http://thenextweb.com/facebook/2014/11/13/facebook-proposes-changes-tcs-gets-basics-new-privacy-guides/

https://www.facebook.com/about/basics

https://www.facebook.com/help/contact/?id=541939745937896

http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2014/11/updating-our-terms-and-policies-helping-you-understand-how-facebook-works-and-how-to-control-your-information/

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/13/facebook-tries-to-explain-its-privacy-settings-but-advertising-still-rules/?_r=0

http://recode.net/2014/11/13/facebooks-new-privacy-rules-clear-the-wear-for-a-payments-push-and-location-based-ads/

http://venturebeat.com/2014/11/13/facebook-expands-ads-based-on-sites-and-apps-you-use-to-australia-canada-france-germany-ireland-and-uk/

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102138902#.

https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads&section=platform&view

Pick of the Day: Desert Bus via krvhill

Charity season is here and I wanted to pick my favorite “desert bus for hope” https://desertbus.org a comedy troupe playing the world’s most boring videogame for child’s play charity. It is in its eighth year and keeps getting bigger. If you prefer different games check the schedule at http://www.childsplaycharity.org to see a list of other webathons coming in the next months.

Friday’s Guests: Molly Wood and Len Peralta

DTNS 2365 – Come on Data– Let’s do the Twist

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comJason Hiner and Lyndsey Gilpin join the show and we’ll talk about Facebook’s new privacy tutorials and proposed privacy policies.

MP3

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

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

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

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

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

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

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

Show Notes

Today’s guest: Jason Hiner, editor in chief of Tech Republic & Lyndsey Gilpin, staff writer at Tech Republic

Headlines:

The Next Web reports Facebook has launched a ‘Privacy Basics’ site to help people understand what options they have to protect their privacy while using the social network. The company also has made public their proposed new terms of service which are written in plain language. Users have until November 20 to provide feedback on Terms and Conditions, Data Usage and Cookies policies.

Sony is the first of the potential cord-cutter TV services to announce they’re ready to go. PlayStation Vue will offer live and on demand programming from more than 75 channels. Subscribers will need Internet and a PS3 or PS4. Sony intends to launch an iPad app too as well as apps for other devices. Networks include NBC Universal, Fox, Viacom and Scripps, but NOT ABC/Disney or Time Warner’s HBO. The service will launch in invite-only beta this month in New York, followed by Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angels. Sony intends to launch commercially in Q1 of 2015.

TechCrunch reports the Great Book War of 2014 has ended, just in time for the holiday shopping season. Amazon and the Hachette Book Group have agreed on a new multi-year agreement for e-book and print sales. Hachette will set its own prices for e-books, the so-called Agency model, but will receive “better terms” (aka more promotion) when those prices are closer to Amazon’s guidelines. The new prices will take effect in 2015, but Amazon will stop holding back pre-orders for Hachette titles now.

Reuters reports BlackBerry announced its new mobile security and device management platform Thursday. BES12 will let companies and government agencies manage Android, iOS and Windows devices along with BlackBerry’s own products. It will also be able to handle medical diagnostic equipment, indsutrial machinery and motor vehicles. Among the partnerships is one with Samsung to combine BB device management with Samsung’s KNOX Security platform for Android phones starting in early 2015. BlackBerry also announced partnerships with Salesforce.com and wireless distribution company Brightstar.

According to The Next Web, Nvidia announced the North American launch of its new cloud gaming service, called Grid. The service launches November 18th, and requires an Nvidia Shield tablet or handheld, on a 10 Mbps internet connection with a ping of 60ms or less to Grid servers. Once you have all that in place, you can play 20 games at launch including Batman: Arkham City, Borderlands 2 and Darksiders II and the service is free until June 30. Nvidia also revealed that its Shield tablet will upgrade to Android 5.0 Lollipop on November 18th.

The Verge drops a little mathematical reality on the Taylor Swift Spotify grudge match. Spotify’s founder Daniel Ek said that Swift was projected to earn $6 million on his service, before she pulled all her tracks. Then the head of Swift’s label Scott Borchetta said, WTF? Spotify only gave us $500,000! Turns out, both numbers are true. Spotify paid Ms. Swift $500k for her US streams. Globally, they paid T-Swift $2 million dollars.The six million number Ek used was, as he said, projected earnings over time. Granted they were the most optimistic projection he could use since that gave him the biggest number.

Ars Technica reports Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington DC ruled country code top-level domains cannot be transferred as part of a civil judgement. The plaintiffs in Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran sought to have the top-level domains for Iran, Syria and North Korea transferred in compensation for damages awarded in a case brought regarding a 1997 suicide bombing in Jerusalem by Hamas. The Court determined that country code top level domains cannot be conceptualized apart from domain name services and therefore cannot be garnished.

TechCrunch reports Reddit CEO Yishan Yong has resigned. Investor Sam Altman wrote on his blog that Yong resigned due to a disagreement about the price and location of a new Reddit office. COO Ellen Pao has become interim CEO and co-founder Alexis Ohanian has returned as full time executive chairman.

Microsoft said on Twitter today “We plan to upgrade all Windows Phone 8 devices to Windows 10 in the future.” So there you go folks. Upgrade path assured.

News From You:

anotherjmartin gave us the Ars Technica story that digital rights activists are continuing to criticize AT&T subsidiary Cricket for preventing email from being protected by STARTTLS by removing the STARTTLS flag that causes the encryption to take effect. EFF staff technologist Jacob Hoffman-Andrews posted Tuesday that ISPs must stop removing customer security measures. Last week VPN provider Golden Frog petitioned the FCC opposing the practice. A Golden Frog engineer discovered the issue. In our Oct. 15 show, Patrick Wolfe wrote in to note he had used Cisco ASA firewall software that broke STARTLS in a very similar way and speculated that might be going on with Cricket.

tm204 sent us a BBC article about physicists from the University of Vienna using the “twist” of a visible light beam to transmit information by laser through the sky above Vienna. Here’s how it worked. Twisted light photons, aka light with “orbital angular momentum” can twist like a corkscrew. Researchers set up a green laser in a tower and shone it on a spacial light modulator, which twisted the beam twice. When the light showed up on a screen three kilometers away it had a detectable pattern of dots, which the scientists then used to transmit black and white images. It could be used for fast transmission of data where separate channels can be sent simultaneously. The results were reported in the New Journal of Physics

Discussion Section: Facebook has new Terms of Service

http://thenextweb.com/facebook/2014/11/13/facebook-proposes-changes-tcs-gets-basics-new-privacy-guides/

https://www.facebook.com/about/basics

https://www.facebook.com/help/contact/?id=541939745937896

http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2014/11/updating-our-terms-and-policies-helping-you-understand-how-facebook-works-and-how-to-control-your-information/

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/13/facebook-tries-to-explain-its-privacy-settings-but-advertising-still-rules/?_r=0

http://recode.net/2014/11/13/facebooks-new-privacy-rules-clear-the-wear-for-a-payments-push-and-location-based-ads/

http://venturebeat.com/2014/11/13/facebook-expands-ads-based-on-sites-and-apps-you-use-to-australia-canada-france-germany-ireland-and-uk/

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102138902#.

https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads&section=platform&view

Pick of the Day: Desert Bus via krvhill

Charity season is here and I wanted to pick my favorite “desert bus for hope” https://desertbus.org a comedy troupe playing the world’s most boring videogame for child’s play charity. It is in its eighth year and keeps getting bigger. If you prefer different games check the schedule at http://www.childsplaycharity.org to see a list of other webathons coming in the next months.

Friday’s Guests: Molly Wood and Len Peralta

Today in Tech History – Nov. 13, 2014

20140404-073853.jpgIn 1851 – The first public message was sent on the submarine telegraph cable under the English Channel between Dover, England and Calais, France.

In 1982 – 15-year-old Scott Safran of Cherry Hill New Jersey set the world record score on Asteroids. His record stood for 27 years, the longest-running high score in videogame history.

1983 – The MIT TX-0, an experimental transistorized computer, was brought back to life for the last time at The Computer Museum in Marlboro, Massachusetts.

MP3

Subscribe to the podcast. Like Tech History? Get Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.