Stephen Shankland joins the show to talk about the HTC One M8 and the new CEO of Mozilla. Can Firefox rule mobile?

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 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: Stephen Shankland, senior writer, CNET News

Headlines

HTC announced the new HTC One today AKA the M8, in Gunmetal Greay, Glacial Silver or ugly, I mean Amber Gold. Many gadget reviewers have admitted to crushes on the all-metal design. Among the features are two rear-facing cameras to allow changing focus on photos after they’re taken. You can also answer a call just by picking up the device and holding it to your head. The Android 4.4 KitKat phone runs HTC’s Sense 6 on a Snapdragon 801 processor, with 2 GB of RAM with either 16 or 32 GB of onboard storage. The 2600 mAh battery should be good for up to 20 hours of 3G talk time, though the phone is LTE. A $50 Dot View case from HTC allows you to see notifications like 8Bit graphics through the cases cover. AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, Rogers, Bell and Telus in North America have it for pre-order now, it’s coming to more North American outlets in early April and Australia, UK, Taiwan and France by the end of the month. Price runs $649 unlocked, $699 for the Google Play edition without Sense and from $199 to $249 with a contract.

The New York Times reports US President Barack Obama will propose bills to the US Congress to eliminate the NSA’s in-house phone call data storage and create a new surveillance court to handle phone data requests. The new court would review requests for phone data directly from the phone companies, that go no more than two hops from a phone number of interests. The bill would not address overseas surveillance programs.

Google made waves in enterprise cloud service announcing a 32 percent across the board price cut.  SVP Urs Hölzle told attendees at Google Cloud Platform Live that the company will also offer sustained-use discounts without pre-payment. Amazon is holding its own cloud event tomorrow so expect Amazon Reserved Instances to possibly get a price adjustment themselves.

MacStories reports developer Olga Osadcha noted Apple is testing a related search suggestion feature for its App Store which started rolling out today for iPhone users on iOS7. The suggestions show up as a scrollable menu bar with similar or related searches.

ExtremeTech reports Nvidia’s Jen-Hsun Huang made a handful of announcements at the GPU Technology Conference. Nvidia and IBM have partnered up on NVLink which connects GPUs and CPUs at a claimed 12-15x over the current implemntation of PCI-Express. Nvidia also talked up the successor to Maxwell, code-named Pascal coming with new features in 2016. And Nvidia announced a dual-GPU Titan card called Titan Z with up to 8TFLOPS of theoretical FLOPS performance. The dual GK110 card will run companies $3,000.

News From You

beatmaster80 submitted the Business Insider story on the IRS decision to classify Bitcoins as property not currency. That means every time you spend BitCoins you have to report it the way you would selling something like stock or a house. Put another way, buy something with bitcoins, pay capital gains tax. The good news is the US Treasury Department should now begin developing formal regulations, so this guidance may not be the final word.

ancientbearwizard submitted the Ars Technica story on Microsoft donating the source code for MS_DOS 1.1 and 2.0 and Word for Windows 1.1a to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. The museum also holds source code for Adobe Photoshop 1.0 and Apple II DOS. The source is now freely downloadable by anyone.

KAPT_Kipper gave us the TechCrunch story on Google signing up Italian company Luxottica to design and build Google Glass. Luxottica makes the Ray-Ban, Oakley, Miu Miu, Armani, and other brands of eyewear. Google cited Luxottica’s experience selling eyewear to the public as a key factor in the deal. This can easily be read as a sign Google’s getting closer to making a Google Glass product available to the general public.

cincyhuffster sent in the Engadget story about new lighter weight airbags for mortorcycles. The Ducati Multistrada D-Air has sensors attached to the bike’s electronic system that monitor the vehicle’s acceleration, breaking and orientation. In the event of a crash, it can send a signal over WiFi to your jacket, so that the internal airbags will deploy before you hit the ground. The produce is scheduled to launch in Europe in May.

Discussion Section Links:  HTC One M8

http://www.cnet.com/news/htc-one-m8-to-arrive-in-google-play-edition/

http://www.cnet.com/news/htc-announces-htc-one-m8/

http://www.cnet.com/products/htc-one-m8/

http://www.cnet.com/news/the-inside-story-of-the-htc-one-m8/

http://androidcommunity.com/htc-one-m8-dot-view-case-hands-on-20140325/ 

http://www.cnet.com/news/brendan-eich-mo zillas-alpha-nerd-takes-over-as-ceo-q-a/

Pick of the Day: Boxcryptor

I came across this great piece of software for encrypting your documents in cloud storage accounts called Boxcryptor
They have a free and paid for accounts that allow you to…….wait for it…..encrypt your files…..
You can use it with OneDrive, Box, Dropbox, Google Drive etc…. It uses AES-256 bit encryption, you can use it on Mac or PC. It’s just a great way to keep you stuff secure. I found this program looking for something to put on added security with my tax returns in the cloud.

As always a huge fan of all your podcasts and keep it up!

Chris Denny

Wednesday’s Guest: Andy Ihnatko, technology columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times

Justin Robert Young is on the show and we’ll talk about Comcast and Apple’s plans for an Internet TV service. Do they violate net neutrality? We ask Ars Technica’s Jon Brodkin what he thinks.

MP3

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 guests: Justin Robert Young of  Nightattack.tv and Jon Brodkin, senior IT reporter for Ars Technica

Headlines

Comcapple? Ars Technica reports on the Wall Street Journal story that Apple and Comcast are negotiating video service. Sources say the video would be delivered to Comcast customers separately from Internet traffic, to avoid net neutrality violations. Comcast must abide by the FCC’s guidelines until 2018 as part of the NBC acquisition. The service would be viewed on Apple-made hardware. The negotiations involve who controls customer data, how much is charged for the service, and how the profits are split. WSJ’s sources say the two sides are not close to a deal.

And after all, you’re my Photowall: TechCrunch reports Google launched an app called Photowall for Android and iOS, that sends photos from a mobile device to a TV using Chromecast. Stop yawning because I haven’t told you it includes photo editing that allows you to make snarky notes and draw mustaches on people. Multiple participants can take part and even add photos from a Web-based interface if they don’t have the app. You can also make a YouTube video montage of the creation. Ok, you can yawn now if you want.

Nokia does not expect to close handset business sale this month:  Reuters reports Nokia does not expect to close on the sale of its handset business to Microsoft this month, and no hopes to close in April. Google and Microsoft have asked Chinese regulators to ensure the deal doesn’t lead to higher patent licensing. Right now Nokia has to pay to license patents for the handset division, as well as charge for its patents. Once the handset business is Microsoft’s problem, Nokia might choose to jack up patent license fees since it no longer risks retaliation. Future revenue from patents is expected to make up as much as half of Nokia’s market capitalization.

Some ATM companies considering Linux to replace Windows XP: As we near the end of support for Windows XP on April 8, ComputerWorld reports some companies are considering migrating their ATMs to use Linux. Windows XP currently powers nearly 95% of the world’s ATMs. Microsoft has offered extended support to some, but not all, companies. Many are upgrading to Windows 7, though often that requires hardware upgrades as well. If you’re laughing about Windows XP, remember the previous dominant operating system of ATMs was IBM’s OS/2.

It was like a SmartBulb going off over my head! TechWeek Europe reports LG announced a smart light bulb controlled from a mobile app. The LG SmartBulb app runs on Android 4.3 and iO6 and later versions of both OSs. The app lets you turn on and off, put the bulb on a timer and more. The Android app can have the bulb flash to the beat of music. LG claims at 5 hours of usae a day the bulb should last 10 years. It costs 35,000 won ($30) and is only available in Korea.

News From You:

Draconos and Lythander both submitted reports from the New York Times and Der Spiegel that the US NSA infiltrated servers at the headquarters of Huawei. Reuters reports Hong Lei, spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry said, “We demand that the United States makes a clear explanation and stop such acts.” Huawei has been accused by US lawmakers of connections with the Chinese military and of spying on US interests.

HobbitfromPA sent in the Engadget story that Google Now’s preemptive search and assistance has arrived for all users of the Chrome browser. Cards will show up in the system tray or notification area of your operating system. Users get access to voice search, reminders for events and flights, and location-based info like commute times. Although the location may often come from your phone not your PC. If you’re signed into Chrome and don’t see it, hang in there, Google says it will roll out slowly to all over the next several weeks.

tekkyn00b pointed out the TechCrunch story that security company Palo Alto Networks bough Cyvera, a security company from Israel. The $200 million deal is expected to close in the second half of 2014. Cyvers touts an approach to combatting zero-day vulnerabilities, providing real-time prevention that slows down malware long enough to identify and eliminate it. Palo Alto Networks makes firewall-like hardware and software that protects against all kinds of Web malware, including botnets. Together they’re murder— on malware.

Speaking of zero-day vulnerabilities,

Today’s guests: Justin Robert Young of  Nightattack.tv and Jon Brodkin, senior IT reporter for Ars Technica

Headlines

Apple and Comcast talking? Ars Technica reports on the Wall Street Journal story that Apple and Comcast are negotiating video service. Sources say the video would be delivered to Comcast customers separately from Internet traffic, to avoid net neutrality violations. Comcast must abide by the FCC’s guidelines until 2018 as part of the NBC acquisition. The service would be viewed on Apple-made hardware. The negotiations involve who controls customer data, how much is charged for the service, and how the profits are split. WSJ’s sources say the two sides are not close to a deal.

And after all, you’re my Photowall: TechCrunch reports Google launched an app called Photowall for Android and iOS, that sends photos from a mobile device to a TV using Chromecast. Stop yawning because I haven’t told you it includes photo editing that allows you to make snarky notes and draw mustaches on people. Multiple participants can take part and even add photos from a Web-based interface if they don’t have the app. You can also make a YouTube video montage of the creation. Ok, you can yawn now if you want.

Nokia does not expect to close handset business sale this month:  Reuters reports Nokia does not expect to close on the sale of its handset business to Microsoft this month, and no hopes to close in April. Google and Microsoft have asked Chinese regulators to ensure the deal doesn’t lead to higher patent licensing. Right now Nokia has to pay to license patents for the handset division, as well as charge for its patents. Once the handset business is Microsoft’s problem, Nokia might choose to jack up patent license fees since it no longer risks retaliation. Future revenue from patents is expected to make up as much as half of Nokia’s market capitalization.

Some ATM companies considering Linux to replace Windows XP: As we near the end of support for Windows XP on April 8, ComputerWorld reports some companies are considering migrating their ATMs to use Linux. Windows XP currently powers nearly 95% of the world’s ATMs. Microsoft has offered extended support to some, but not all, companies. Many are upgrading to Windows 7, though often that requires hardware upgrades as well. If you’re laughing about Windows XP, remember the previous dominant operating system of ATMs was IBM’s OS/2.

It was like a SmartBulb going off over my head! TechWeek Europe reports LG announced a smart light bulb controlled from a mobile app. The LG SmartBulb app runs on Android 4.3 and iO6 and later versions of both OSs. The app lets you turn on and off, put the bulb on a timer and more. The Android app can have the bulb flash to the beat of music. LG claims at 5 hours of usae a day the bulb should last 10 years. It costs 35,000 won ($30) and is only available in Korea.

News From You:

Draconos and Lythander both submitted reports from the New York Times and Der Spiegel that the US NSA infiltrated servers at the headquarters of Huawei. Reuters reports Hong Lei, spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry said, “We demand that the United States makes a clear explanation and stop such acts.” Huawei has been accused by US lawmakers of connections with the Chinese military and of spying on US interests.

HobbitfromPA sent in the Engadget story that Google Now’s preemptive search and assistance has arrived for all users of the Chrome browser. Cards will show up in the system tray or notification area of your operating system. Users get access to voice search, reminders for events and flights, and location-based info like commute times. Although the location may often come from your phone not your PC. If you’re signed into Chrome and don’t see it, hang in there, Google says it will roll out slowly to all over the next several weeks.

tekkyn00b pointed out the TechCrunch story that security company Palo Alto Networks bough Cyvera, a security company from Israel. The $200 million deal is expected to close in the second half of 2014. Cyvers touts an approach to combatting zero-day vulnerabilities, providing real-time prevention that slows down malware long enough to identify and eliminate it. Palo Alto Networks makes firewall-like hardware and software that protects against all kinds of Web malware, including botnets. Together they’re murder— on malware.

Speaking of zero-day vulnerabilities, Darren Kitchen alerted us to the fact that a new zero-day vulnerability in Outlook allows remote code execution just by viewing rich text email in Outlook while using Word 2010 as the viewer. Microsoft suggests delpoying a fix that disables the ability to open RTF content in Microsoft Word from Outlook as well as reading all email in plain text format.

And motang posted the Mozilla announcement that co-founder and current Chief Technology Officer Brendan Eich was appointed to the role of Chief Executive Officer of Mozilla. He was the guy who invented javascript back in 1995 when he was at Netscape. So he’s got chops. He brings along Li Gong, who’s been built up Firefox OS, as Mozilla’s new COO. Co-founder Mitchell Baker remains Mozilla Executive Chairwoman. Interim CEO Jay Miller will stay on through the transition then leave for a solo career as a saxophonist. Or possibly something more technology related. It’s impossible to tell for sure from the press release.

Discussion Section Links:  Comcapple?

http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/03/apple-wants-its-own-path-on-comcast-network-for-video-service-wsj-says/

http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/23/apple-comcast-streaming-tv/

http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/03/att-promises-to-lower-your-internet-bill-if-fcc-kills-net-neutrality/
http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/comment/view?id=6017609040

Pick of the Day: Rescue Time  

Your conversation about distraction motivated me to write in about one of the most useful anti-distraction tools I use: Rescue Time.

I’ve been working from home as a web developer for the majority of the past 10 years. When you don’t have a boss breathing down your neck, managing distractions becomes pretty important to getting any work done.

Rescue Time is a desktop app (with a web component) that does two main things.

1. Tracks all of your website and desktop app usage, then gives you daily productivity reports with fancy graphs and charts. The app comes with good presets for common productive and distracting websites/apps. But you’re also able to redefine these. On top of this, you can configure reporting goals (like “limit distractions to 1.25hrs per day”) to give yourself some positive feedback when you’re doing well.

2. It allows you to set a “Get Focused” time. During this time it the app will block all distracting websites (unfortunately, it’s not technically possible to block desktop apps). They haven’t made the block impossible to bypass, but I find that the Rescue Time wall is often enough motivation get my ass back in gear. This feature works well with something like The Pomodoro Technique.

BTW. Thanks for letting the listeners fund the show to keep it ad free and gratz on the $10k.

Ryan Neudorf

Tuesday’s Guest:  Stephen Shankland, cnet.com

alerted us to the fact that a new zero-day vulnerability in Outlook allows remote code execution just by viewing rich text email in Outlook while using Word 2010 as the viewer. Microsoft suggests delpoying a fix that disables the ability to open RTF content in Microsoft Word from Outlook as well as reading all email in plain text format.

And motang posted the Mozilla announcement that co-founder and current Chief Technology Officer Brendan Eich was appointed to the role of Chief Executive Officer of Mozilla. He was the guy who invented javascript back in 1995 when he was at Netscape. So he’s got chops. He brings along Li Gong, who’s been built up Firefox OS, as Mozilla’s new COO. Co-founder Mitchell Baker remains Mozilla Executive Chairwoman. Interim CEO Jay Miller will stay on through the transition then leave for a solo career as a saxophonist. Or possibly something more technology related. It’s impossible to tell for sure from the press release.

Discussion Section Links: 

http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/03/apple-wants-its-own-path-on-comcast-network-for-video-service-wsj-says/

http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/23/apple-comcast-streaming-tv/

http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/03/att-promises-to-lower-your-internet-bill-if-fcc-kills-net-neutrality/
http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/comment/view?id=6017609040

Pick of the Day: Rescue Time  

Your conversation about distraction motivated me to write in about one of the most useful anti-distraction tools I use: Rescue Time.

I’ve been working from home as a web developer for the majority of the past 10 years. When you don’t have a boss breathing down your neck, managing distractions becomes pretty important to getting any work done.

Rescue Time is a desktop app (with a web component) that does two main things.

1. Tracks all of your website and desktop app usage, then gives you daily productivity reports with fancy graphs and charts. The app comes with good presets for common productive and distracting websites/apps. But you’re also able to redefine these. On top of this, you can configure reporting goals (like “limit distractions to 1.25hrs per day”) to give yourself some positive feedback when you’re doing well.

2. It allows you to set a “Get Focused” time. During this time it the app will block all distracting websites (unfortunately, it’s not technically possible to block desktop apps). They haven’t made the block impossible to bypass, but I find that the Rescue Time wall is often enough motivation get my ass back in gear. This feature works well with something like The Pomodoro Technique.

BTW. Thanks for letting the listeners fund the show to keep it ad free and gratz on the $10k.

Ryan Neudorf

Tuesday’s Guest:  Stephen Shankland, cnet.com