YouTube names, but do they shame? Also what’s Twitch going to do with the studio they’re building in San Francisco?
DTNS 2272 – Self-inflicted DVR
Julio Ojeda-Zapata is on the show today. We’ll talk about ways you can replace Aereo with your own DIY solutions, plus Oculus Dev conference, TSA’s war on dead electronics and more!
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 music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!
Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!
Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke and scottierowland on the subreddit
Show Notes
Today’s guest: Julio Ojeda-Zapata, Tech Writer, St. Paul Pioneer Press
Headlines
Facebook’s Oculus announced its first developer conference, called oculus Connect, will take place September 19-20th at Loews Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles. In addition to keynotes from Brendan Iribe, Palmer Luckey, John Carmack and Michael Abrash, attendees can take part in sessions and labs with in-house Oculus engineers. Oculus also acquired RakNet, a provider of a cross-platform C++ game networking engine, and open sourced it under a modified BSD license. You can get it from the oculus GitHub Repo.
TechCrunch reports Gartner published forecasts for global PC, tablet ultramobile and mobile phone shipments for 2014. 2.4 billion units will ship from these categories, 88% of which will be mobile phones and tablets. About half of those will run Android. And tablets only make up 256 million of those. PCs are expected to ship 308 million units. Meaning that tablets won’t quite surpass PCs this year. However Gartner expects that to change in 2015 when they predict 317 million PCs will ship to 320 million tablets. Interestingly, Gartner sees growth in tablets slowing while PC declines are predicted to slow and then reverse.
Daily Tech reports the LG G3 smartphone and the G watch will go on sale in the online and IRL AT&T stores July 11th in the US. The G3 is an Android 4.4 KitKat phone with a 5.5-inch QHD display. The G Watch, on the other hand, runs Google’s new Android Wear operating system.
The Next Web reports South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has introduced new rules requiring Apple and Google to make it easier for users to get refunds for apps. Google has not allowed refunds and must now also prevent apps from automatically charging full price for an app at the end of a trial period. Apple does already allow refunds but will be required to make its policy more visible and doa abtter job notifying customers of changes in its contractual agreements. Google’s changes will only apply in Korea, while Apple is considering making its changes apply worldwide.
Engadget reports the second-generation Kinect sensor for Windows will begin shipping on July 15th. The new kinect was already available for pre-order from Microsoft for $199/£159. Developers can publish Kinect apps to the Windows store.
Reuters reports the US Secret Service arrested 30-year-old Russian, Roman Valerevich Seleznev Saturday on charges of hacking US retail computer systems in order to steal credit cards. Seleznev was indicted in the state of Washington on March 2011 on charges of bank fraud, identity theft and accessing a protected computer.
Engadget reports the mobile payment consortium of telcos and commerce partners called Isis has decided to change its name to avoid comparisons with Sunni militia in Syria and Iraq that has declared a caliphate spanning those states. The new name was not announced yet. One imagines Archer may face the same dilemma.
News From You
Tekkyn00b had our top vote getter today from iMore.com. The United States Transportation Security Administration has ordered new security measures regarding electronics carried on to direct flights to the US. Passengers may be asked to turn on devices like cell phones, and devices that will not turn on will not be allowed through security. The BBC reports the checks may be done at security checkpoints or at boarding gates. Passengers can put dead electronics in checked luggage, try to charge the phone nearby, or opt to use a service to have it shipped. The rules apply to newly-purchased devices as well as broken ones.
spsheridan submitted the verge article noting YouTube has begun durfacinglinks to its Video Quality Report in videos that are buffering or having other streaming issues. A new pop-up bar reads “Experiencing interruptions? Find out why” and links to a page comparing ISPs in your area and ranks them by their ability to stream YouTube. That way informed consumers can look at the report, realize that while their current ISP may not support good streaming they can— despair if you’re in the US or Canada? Well it will work great in countries with ISp comeptition I suppose.
tm204 submitted the ReCode article claiming its sources say Google has set aside as much as $500 million to expand the Google Shopping Express Service nationwide in the US. The service lets customers order items from local retail stores and have them delivered, sometimes the same day. Google wants to tie the service into search ads for products to try to reclaim the product searching crown from Amazon.
Discussion Section: Roamio, Roamio
https://www.tivo.com/shop/configure/tivo-roamio#/tivo-stream
http://www.slingbox.com/go/buy
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mohu/mohu-channels-personal-channel-guide-makes-tv-smar
http://www.channelmaster.com/Products_s/329.htm#DVR+
http://www.rcaaudiovideo.com/antennas/
http://www.winegard.com/get-free-tv/hdtv-antenna/flatwave/
Pick of the Day: Alesis Multimix 8 via Tom
Tuesday’s show: Shannon Morse of hak5.org
Today in Tech History – July 7, 2014
In 1752 – Joseph Marie Jacquard was born in Lyon, France. The weaver and inventor created the first programmable power loom and the cards he used to program it would be adapted by Herman Hollerith and others for programming the first computers.
In 1936 – Henry F. Phillips received patents for a new kind of screw and the screwdriver used with it. Endless numbers of computer cases have been held together by it since.
In 1981 – The first solar-powered aircraft, Solar Challenger, flew 163 miles from Corneille-en-Verin Airport north of Paris across the English Channel to Manston Royal Air Force Base south of London, staying aloft 5 hours and 23 minutes.
Subscribe to the podcast. Like Tech History? Get Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.
Today in Tech History – July 6, 2014
In 1920 – A U.S. Navy F5L seaplane took off from Hampton Roads, Virginia, using a radio compass for the first time. The pilots located and flew to the Battleship Ohio about 94 miles offshore.
In 1947 – The AK-47 went into production in the Soviet Union– the name stands for Automatic rifle Kalashnikov model of 1947.
In 1996 – AOL settled lawsuits in California that accused the company of misleading subscribers about monthly service charges.
Subscribe to the podcast. Like Tech History? Get Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.
FSL Tonight Week All-Star Game – Twilights it Up
East meets West in Pern for a battle dominated by players from Ponyville, San Francisco, Gallifrey and New York. But controversy still brews over the Palpatine ownership.
Get the episode here.
Lem at Nerdtacular!
Geeky Awesome Jennifer found us at the Managing Your Community panel here at Nerdtacular ’14 in Utah! She made a fantastic knitted Lem, and we are eternally grateful 🙂
Today in Tech History – July 5, 2014
In 1833 – Nicéphore Niépce died. He created the first permanent photograph in 1826– an image of the outside of his house.
In 1954 – The BBC broadcast its first daily television news bulletin. Richard Baker read the 20-minute bulletin billed as an “Illustrated summary of the news.”
In 1963 – Radio station WWVB began broadcasting standard frequencies in Fort Collins, Colorado for use by satellite and missile programs. Its time code was later used for synchronising power plants and coordinating telephone networks and eventually for setting alarm clocks.
In 2001 – Rob Flickenger and friends posted details of their now legendary 12db Pringles-can antenna to boost WiFi signal distance.
Subscribe to the podcast. Like Tech History? Get Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.
DTNS 2271 – Nerdtacular, nerdtacular, it’s part of the vernacular!
Is Tech getting jerky? We talk with Justin Young and Patrick Beja about apps like ParkingMonkey and ReservationHop. Plus illustrations by Len Peralta
Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.
Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.
A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.
If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!
Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!
Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!
Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke and scottierowland on the subreddit
Show Notes
Today’s guest: Patrick Beja! Justin Robert Young! Many nerds!
Headlines
9to5Mac reports that Jean-Claude Biver, head of watch brands at LVMH told CNBC that Apple has hired one of watchmaker Tag Heuer’s sales directors. A source confirmed the hire to 9to5 Mac. Apparently, Patrick Pruniaux former Vice President of Sales and Retail for Tag Heuer was the person hired. Apple has not said anything publicly about the hire or whether they even believe watches exist.
The Verge reports the Pew Research Center released another in its series of reports on the future of the Internet called Net Threats. Pew asked the experts “By 2025 will there be significant changes for the worse and hindrances to the ways in which people get and share content online compared with the way globally networked people can operate online today?” Of the respondents, 35 percent said yes, while 65 percent said no. Among the threats specified, the respondents listed government crackdowns, Internet surveillance, and prioritization of near-term profits over the long term benefit of the Net, particularly net neutrality concerns. Another threat was overcompensating for the amount of information people are flooed with each day.
TechRadar reports Lenovo has received permission to acquire IBM’s low-end server unit from the anti-monopoly bureau of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. The deal was announced in January and is also awaiting approval from the United States.
ZDNet reports the head of Google’s spam fighting team, Matt Cutts, is taking a break for a couple months. Cutts says he’ll be gone through October so he can be with his family more. Cutts is the target of a lot of consternation from folks who hate it when Google changes their search algorithm. Some speculate it may be a step towards Cutts leaving Google.The anti-spam team wills till be keeping sites from gaming search results int he meantime.
TechCrunch reports Nielsen’s US music report on the first half of 2014 shows the shift from music downloads to streaming continues. On-demand streaming was up 42% over the first half of 2013 while digital track sales fell 13% and album sales fell 11.6%. Vinyl sales rose 40% over 2013. Audio streaming is gaining parity with video streaming of music with 33.65 billion music tracks streamed compared to 36.64 billion music videos.
Wired reports that Nadim Kobeissi will release a bet aversion of an all-purpose file encyrption browser plugin called miniLock at the HOPE hacker conference in New York. The free and open source plugin is meant to make it easy to drag and drop files to encrypt so that no one but the intended recipient can unscramble them.
News From You
tm204 submitted the DasErste article about the NSA program X-Keyscore targets anyone who uses or visits sites for privacy protections tools like Tor or the Linux-based Tails operating system. German public television broadcasters NDR and WDR reporters analyzed X-Keyscore source code which indicated the program has targeted a German student who runs a Tor node. The EFF has noted that the more people who use the tools, the less helpful targeting users blindly will be for any surveillance efforts.
JalenJade on Twitter pointed out a story at iMedicalApps.com that studies demonstrating the efficacy and safety of an “artificial” or “bionic” pancreas for people with type 1 diabetes have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine and announced at the American Diabetes Association Scientific Session in San Francisco. The Boston University-based project uses an iPhone, a Dexcom G4 continuous glucose sensor and Tandem T:Slim insulin pump.
KAPT_Kipper submitted the TorrentFreak article that SoundCloud has given Universal Music the ability to remove allegedly infringing copyright music from the service without consulting anyone or taking into an account a counternotice. DJ Mr Brainz had his paid account terminated due to repeated copyright infringements as a result of Universal’s capability. The DJ believes his use of the music was either authorized or fair use but when he sought clarification on the reason for the takedowns Soundcloud could not answer as UNiversal had removed the files directly.
Discussion Section: Reservation Hop
Monday’s show: Julio Ojeda-Zapata, Tech Writer, St. Paul Pioneer Press
Today in Tech History – July 4, 2014
In 1951 – Bell Labs held a press conference announcing the invention of the junction transistor. Dr. William Shockley was featured at the conference.
In 1956 – The five-year-old MIT computer Whirlwind added the ability to input data directly with a keyboard. Programmers began to enjoy independence from punch cards.
In 1996 – Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith launched a free web email service called HoTMaiL, a play on HTML. Microsoft bought it a year later, and called it Hotmail for years, but it’s now Outlook.com.
Subscribe to the podcast. Like Tech History? Get Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.
DTNS 2270 – Round Table edition
Various attendees at Nerdtacular help comment on the headlines of the day.
Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.
A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.
If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!
Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!
Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!
Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke and scottierowland on the subreddit
Show Notes