Shannon Morse joins us. Do we want Google to be our mobile phone service? Also a little more from the experts about HOLOGRAMS!

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Show Notes

Today’s guest: Shannon Morse, tekthing.com and hak5.org

Headlines

The Verge reports BlackBerry CEO John Chen published an open letter to the US Senate supporting the principles of net neutrality. Most of it is what you’d expect. However Chen accuses Apple and Netflix of discriminating against its users for not making apps for BlackBerryOS. He writes: “All wireless broadband customers must have the ability to access any lawful applications and content they choose, and applications/content providers must be prohibited from discriminating based on the customer’s mobile operating system.”

 

The Next Web reports Kim Dotcom’s Mega has launched an audio and video chat service with end to end encryption. Any registered Mega user can try out the beta service. Text chat is expected to be added soon as well as video conferencing. MegaChat users made more than a half million video calls in the first hour after launch. But nobody but the participants knows what happened in them.

The Next Web reports that Twitter is rolling out a new feature called Recap, today for iOS and in the next few weeks to Android and Web. A heading will appear called “while you were away…” that will show users the best tweets that happened– wait for it– while they were away. The more you use Twitter, the more recaps you’ll see. Which tweets you see will be determined by “engagement and other factors” according to the company. You won’t be able to adjust how it works or even turn it off, but hitting X at the top of the summary often enough will direct the system to show fewer recaps.

ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley clarifies that Microsoft Office for Windows 10 will be preinstalled for free on Windows 10 smartphones and tablets as long as they are smaller than 8 inches. The suite of “touch-first” apps will be available from the Windows Store for Windows devices with larger screen sizes. If you want to take a look at the new apps, Microsoft posted a blog with screen caps. Microsoft also officially has named the next version of Office for the desktop, Office 2016. Office universal apps will be available with the Windows 10 technical preview in the coming weeks and general availability for the Office for Windows 10 suite will be “later this year.”

Also from Engadget, Nvidia has released a GPU targeting AMDs video cards at the $200 price point. Although the recently released GTX 970 and 980 are powerful, their high costs ($350 -$600+) have turned many towards AMDs cheaper but still capable Radeon offerings. Nvidia’s Maxwell based GTX 960 sports 1025 CUDA cores and clock speed of 1.1 GHz although with overlocking and decent cooling the GPU speed can be bumped up to 1.5 GHz. For the past year AMD has been able to leverage the $200 sweet spot in GPU price/performance arena, but with the release of GTX 960 AMD will be under pressure with their next generation of products.

Ars Technica lets us know about a report from cloud backup provider Backblaze on the reliability of its hard drives. HGST, owned by Western Digital now, led the way with low failure rates. For instance 2 TB 7K2000s were on average 3.9 years old but had a failure rate of 1.1%. Seagate improved a little from the last Backblaze report but still 23.8% for the Barracuda 7200.11 and 9.6% for the Barracuda LP. The 3TB Barracuda 7200.14 had an awful 43.1% failure rate with an average of 2.2 years in service. However newer Seagate model 4 TB HDDD15 only had a 2.6% failure rate albeit after an avaerage 0.9 years in service.

The Verge reports journalist Barrett Brown has been sentenced to 63 months in prison after pleading guilty to charges of transmitting threats, accessory to hacking charges, and interfering with the execution of a search warrant. Brown uploaded YouTube videos containing threats, tried to redact sensitive email procured by hackers and hid laptops in a kitchen cabinet. Brown had been originally charged with fraud for sharing a link to an Anonymous IRC chat room where stolen credit card details were being shared. Those charges were dropped. Brown has served 28 months in prison during trial which will count toward his sentence.

News From You: 

tm204 posted the VentureBeat story that Amazon has introduced a program t help produce ebooks for students. The Kindle Textbook Creator, now in open beta, can make books to be sold through the Kindle Direct Publishing EDU service. It’s available for OSX and Windows. The books can have flashcards, allow note-taking, and highlighting, “cut” segments out to a separate notebook, or annotate with context.

metalfreak pointed out the PC World article noting that Documents, prepared by the Latvian presidency of the Council of the EU, note that blocking or filtering content in the “public interest” as part of a proposed net neutrality law could violate privacy laws that protect the confidentiality of communication. Last week EU ministers called on ISPs to do just such blocking and filtering of extreme content. The Latvian presidency plans to discuss changes to three articles of the proposed text at a meeting of the Council’s working party on Jan. 27

starfuryzeta sent us an Associated Press report about a drone overloaded with methamphetamine that crashed into a supermarket parking lot in Tijuana, Mexico. Tijuana police said six pounds of meth were taped to the six-propellor remote controlled craft. Authorities are investigating where the flight originated, but said it was not the first time they’d seen a drone used to smuggle drugs. Said the drone, “I am the one who flies.”

Discussion Section Links: 

http://www.cnet.com/news/google-reportedly-wants-to-sell-wireless-service-through-sprint-t-mobile/#ftag=CAD590a51e

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2015/01/22/google-could-become-a-wireless-carrier-heres-what-that-means-for-you/

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2391605/google-to-become-mvno-in-rumoured-deal-with-us-carriers

https://www.theinformation.com/Google-s-Next-Telecom-Move-Becoming-a-Wireless-Carrier?token=ab0427829572f58d05a85f83758ffdb5

Pick of the Day: Freedom(TM) by Daniel Suarez via Paul Wheatley

Boss #1248 Paul writes, “Hi Tom, Hope you are well?

The HoloLens Microsoft announced yesterday got me very excited for a possible future 2nd dimension overlaid over our current dimension described in the book Freedom(TM) by Daniel Suarez, this is the sequel to Daemon. Both are excellent reads and great audio books on Audible.

The book describes a dimension overlaid using hologram glasses (and contact lenses) using augmented reality, but where people can almost entirely live in that dimension, separate currency, jobs, relationships, experience point and levelling up in ‘real’ life. Of course the book details it in a partially scary way but i for one welcome our Daemon overlords and cannot wait for this second dimension to be created.

Tomorrow’s guest:  Darren Kitchen

Lamarr Wilson joins us to talk about HOLOGRAMS! Also Windows 10 and Xbox app but also HOLOGRAMS!

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

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

Show Notes

Today’s guest: Lamarr Wilson, YouTube sensation

Headlines

Microsoft conducted a 2 hour and 15 minute press conference this morning but did pack in a lot of announcements. First Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for all Windows 7 and 8.1 for the first year after release. Windows 10 also gets Cortana, the voice-activated digital assistant. Universal apps were highlighted including photos, maps and Outlook that are the same from phones to desktops. Microsoft demonstrated a touch-first version of Office for phones and tablets. We also got a look at Project Spartan, a new lightweight browser with shared note-taking, improved reading experience and built-in Cortana of its own. Skype is now integrated into messenger on Windows Phone. New release of Windows 10 goes to Insiders next week and comes to phones in February.

But that’s not all: an Xbox App is coming in Windows 10 that integrates gaming across platforms including phones and the Xbox One. Along with messaging and an activity feed similar to the Xbox’s the app enables cross-platform gameplay between an Xbox One and PC was demonstrated using Fable Legends. Players will also be able to stream Xbox One game to any windows 10 PC or tablet later this year. DirectX 12 was shown with the expected improvements including cutting power consumption in half. Oh and those universal apps will also be able to run on Xbox One if developers want.

Microsoft also showed off an 84-inch 4K display called Microsoft Surface Hub that’s essentially a huge version of Microsoft OneNote meant for collaborative meetings. It’s multitouch and multipen and includes Skype for Business. It can automatically share meeting notes to all participants.

And the company finished with Windows Holographic, a technology developed in partnership with NASA’s JPL. Every Windows 10 install will have a Holographic API allowing software and hardware makers to use the augmented reality functions. Microsoft is making HoloLens, which is wireless and has seethrough HD lenses, spatial sounds and a Holographic Processing Unit or HPU that tracks eye and head motion. HoloStudio is software meant to let users create objects with holograms and then 3D print them.

Bloomberg reports Samsung will stop using Qualcomm chips in the next version of the Galaxy S smartphone. Bloomberg’s sources said Samsung tested the Snapdragon 810 overheated during testing. Samsung will use its own chips instead. Samsung is Qualcomm’s second largest customer making up 12% of its sales. The Snapdragon 810 is expected to be used in Xiaomi’s Mi Note Pro and LG’s G Flex2.

Remember FreedomPop? The MVNO that offers free data plans as a gateway to their other other low-priced plans. It has previously run on the Sprint network. Last year, FreedomPop began selling a wi-fi only phone. Today, Gigaom reports that FreedomPop has announced its own Wi-fi network of 10 million hotspots. For $5 a month, users can purchase an unlimited voice, sms and wi-fi data plan. The Wi-fi network actually owned and run by many different ISPs and hotspot aggregators (though not Boingo) and can be found in places like Starbucks, Panera Bread, Walmart and Home Depot, with more deals in the works. An Android app ties all the services together into one interface. It doesn’t use Hotspot 2.0 yet but it will as more services migrate to the instant login technology.

9 to 5 Google reports that third party WhatsApp users are reporting that they’re being banned from the service for 24 hours. Most of those reporting the bug are using third-party WhatsApp clients on Android, such as WhatsAppPlus. WhatsApp has posted an article on the site suggesting that users uninstall the third-party client and reinstall the official one, saying “WhatsApp Plus contains source code which WhatsApp cannot guarantee as safe and that your private information is potentially being passed to 3rd parties without your knowledge or authorization.”

But hey you don’t even need an app, because Whats APP also launched a Web version of the service you can use on your desktop. Just go to web.whatsapp.com in Chrome, scan the QR code inside of WhatsApp to connect. And leave your phone on. And make sure it’s Android because they don’t support iOS for this service yet due to “platform limitations.”

The Verge reports Christopher Poole, AKA moot, is stepping down as administrator of 4Chan. moot founded 4Chan in 2003 when he was 15 years old. He called himself “an uncomfortably large single point of failure” and indicated he might return to the site as Admin emeritus or just another anonymous. He also wants to write about his experiences running the site. He’ll answer questions during a live stream on Friday.

Ars Technica reports that US District Court Judge Dolly Gee found that the Dish Anywhere service does not infringe copyrights of broadcasters. DishAnywhere allows users to watch their home programming outside the home on tablets and phones. Fox sued claiming this was an unauthorized retransmission. Judge Gee, ruled that Dish customers have a “fair use” right to watch television as they see fit, because they legitimately obtained the programming.

The Verge reports Twitter has launched Digits, a way to log into Web services without a password. Sort of. It’s separate from Twitter’s own app. Users associate a password with an account. Then in the future when logging in the user merely enters the phone number and a one-time code texted to that number. Twitter hopes other apps will adopt Digits. If they do once you authneticate at one site you’re authenticated at all sites that use Digits for the duration of that browsing session.

 

 

 

 

 

News From You: 

lythander pointed out a Slashdot snippet from Foundation for Economic Education that claims the US Department of Justice wants to be able to get a nonspecific warrant to search a computer if its location is hidden using something like Tor or a VPN. The requested change would have to be made to Rule 41(b) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Another proposed change would allow the same non-specific warrant if a computer has been damaged by a botnet that is spread among at least five jurisdictions.

anotherjmartin submitted the Sploid article about a hydrophic metal that causes water to bounce off it. Researchers at the University of Rochester etched a nanostructure with femtosecond laser pulses on platinum causing the water to bounce and eventually roll right off. Because it is etched into the material it doesn’t wear off like chemical waterproofing can. Possible applications range from deicing airplane surfaces to non-stick pans to efficient water collections systems.

 

 

Discussion Section Links: 

http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2015/01/21/windows-10-will-free-upgrade-windows-7-8-8-1-users/

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2015/01/21/everything-microsoft-announced-windows-10-event-one-handy-list/

http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/21/7866741/cortana-windows-10-announced-microsoft

http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/21/windows-10-mobile-for-phones-and-tablets/?ncid=rss_truncated

http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2015/01/21/skype-now-microsofts-imessage-competitor/

http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/21/7865973/microsoft-windows-10-new-desktop-features

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/01/microsoft-unveils-project-spartan-the-browser-after-internet-explorer/

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/01/microsoft-announces-xbox-app-for-windows-10/

http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/21/microsoft-reveals-the-surface-hub/

https://gigaom.com/2015/01/21/microsoft-jumps-into-augmented-reality-with-hololens-windows-10/

Pick of the Day: Moments via Jamie in Beautiful BC

Hey Tom & Jenny,

My pick this week is an app for iOS called Moment from Kevin Holesh. One of the biggest downsides to smartphones these days is that everyone is constantly staring at their devices and not socializing. This is especially true for families. Moment allows you to track your phone usage throughout the day invisibly in the background and lets you track other members of your family as well. You can set dedicated phone free family time, and a very loud audible alarm will go off if you go on your phone. It will also help you manage your smartphone addiction by setting daily limits for yourself and encouraging you to put your phone down once you reach your limit for that day.

Good for the phone addicts out there that want to be able to have screen-free time at home. Free in the iOS App Store with In-App Purchases.

https://appsto.re/ca/MUm_T.i

Thanks!
Jamie in Beautiful BC

Tomorrow’s guest: Shannon Morse

Patrick Beja and Justin Young are both in to talk about Facebook and Gabe Rivera’s wars on misleading news. We’ll discuss why both are necessary to the fight and why there’s a fight at all.

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

Show Notes

Today’s guests: Patrick Beja and Justin Robert Young, DTNS Contributors

Headlines

Facebook announced it will be using user feedback to cut down the prevalence of news feed items that are hoaxes or misleading news. The news feed algorithm will downgrade Stories that are deleted by their posters in large numbers or identified in comments as hoaxes or with links to hoax-busting sites like snopes. A new option to report a story as false has also been added. Facebook does not believe this will adversely affect sites like The Onion. Area man agrees.

Microsoft will hold Windows 10 day tomorrow starting with a keynote presentation at 12 Noon. Expect to hear about unified apps on the unified OneCore, Cortana everywhere, the new Spartan browser, touch-first version of Office, PC gaming, new perceptive pixel large touchscreen, and possibly a phone-laptop hybrid and a VR Helmet code-named Project B. Mary Jo Foley writes that some of the mobile announcements will be held for later, possibly for Mobile World Congress, including the Windows 10 preview for phones. Microsoft will live stream the announcement at http://news.microsoft.com/windows10story/

GigaOm reports Ubuntu has a minimal version of Linux for the Internet of Things. “Snappy” Ubuntu Core already has the Open Source Robits Foundation, drone-maker Erle Robotics and connected hub maker NinjaBlocks on board. Core keeps each part of the OS isolated making it perfect for containerized apps like Docker. It will also have an app store.

Wired has an excellent long read about a telecommunications nonprofit called Rhizomatica, which is trying to bring cellular service to small towns in Mexico that have been passed over by the country’s dominant telecom Telmex. Founder Peter Bloom uses Open BSC, an open source cell network developed by a German developer named Harald Welte. Here’s how it works: Communities pay 120,000 pesos (about $8,000 USD) for equipment and installation. Subscribers pay 30 pesos (about $2) a month for local calls and texts, and the town keeps any profit left over after paying for electricity and maintenance. Rhizomatica can also hook up the town’s network to a voice-over-IP connection, which allows users to make very cheap long-distance calls to Mexico City and even the US. It’s not a perfect system, but it’s a great article. Go read it!

PC World reports on HP’s announcement of several new tablets for professionals. The ProSlate 12 is a 12.-3 inch display, the new Concore Gorilla Glass and the Duet Pen that can digitize notes on paper as well as take them on the tablet. Prices start at $569. HP also announced the Pro Slate 8 a 7.9-inch tablet with a 2048 x 1536 screen and support for the Duet Pen for $449. The Pro Slate 10 EE has a 10.1-inch screen, and a micro-HDMI port, targeted at educational uses for $279. There was also the 10.1-inch ElitePad 1000 G2 Rugged Tablet, which starts at $1,599.

“Flashing” or “sinpa” is the practice of calling and hanging up as a way to indicate a message. Sort of like the app Yo. This practice in some parts of the world has become so prevalant that companies like ZipDial have started making money by sending texts and accepting hang-ups as responses. This makes for low-cost or no cost business communications. ZipDial has used it for things like Cricket Scores, political campaigns, market research and more. GigaOM reports Twitter is acquiring Zipdial for what Bloomberg estimates is around US$30 million.

 

News From You: 

Quantum memory is hard since any interaction with the environment can erase the data. Cottage reports Ars Technica has a story on research conceived by Matthew J Sellars from The Australian National University and Jevin J. Longdell at the University of Otago in New Zealand. they along with several colleagues published a paper in Nature describing a nuclear spin that can be written to with radiofrequency radiation and insulated well enough to store quantum states for as along as six hours. To get your 6 hours of memory though, you’ll need an intense magnetic field at 2 Kelvin. So not so much the desktop memory yet.

Habichuelacondulce posted the USA Today report that at least 50 US law enforcement agencies have deployed radar device called a RANGE-R that uses radio waves to detect motion, even breathing and and can tell if individuals are within a house. The device costs about $6,000. The use of the device came to light in December during a case in Federal Appeals Court in Denver. It’s use was not material to the decision. U.S. Supreme Court has said officers generally cannot use high-tech sensors to tell them about the inside of a person’s house without first obtaining a search warrant.

Sunbun passed along a Verge report that Nintendo will close its customer loyalty program Club Nintendo. US and Canadian members will have until the end of March to collect “coins” and until the end of June to redeem them. Nintendo will also add extra merchandise to help people spend their coins. The rewards program never caught on in the US or Europe, although it was apparently successful in Japan. Nintendo of America will relaunch a new rewards program in the future.

iSting sent along a report from Tech Hive that Marriott is testing in-room access to Netflix, Hulu and Pandora, as well as other online streaming services. It’s unclear whether the service would allow users to access their own Netflix account or whether they would pay for it as part of a larger “premium internet package”. Bloomberg reports that several other hotel chains are looking at whether to make Neflix available in-room as well.

 

Discussion Section Links: 

http://digiday.com/publishers/techmemes-gabe-rivera-tech-media-lot-intellectual-dishonesty/

http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2015/01/news-feed-fyi-showing-fewer-hoaxes/

http://www.spacex.com/news/2015/01/20/financing-round

Pick of the Day: Bitcoin Billionaire via Sachin Bahal in Toronto

Hello Tom & the DTNS Crew,

Tap … Tap… Tap… That is all you have to do in the game, Bitcoin Billionaire.
The premise of the game is that you are are a Bitcoin miner (but you aren’t not mining actual Bitcoins). It is a very simple to play game and yes the game does have in-app purchases to buy “gems” but you earn them ever so often that you won’t need to buy some. The game came out on iOS a few months ago and most recently came to Android. Caution this game can be highly addictive.

Below are the links to the game on the App Store and Google Play.

iOS
Android

Tomorrow’s guest: Lamarr Wilson

It’s Martin Luther King Jr. day in the US, so Tom gives his contributors the day off and hits the headliens regarding US infiltration into North Korea’s nets, Amazon making movies for theaters and Elon Musk’s plans for space Internet.

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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

Darren Kitchen is on the show and we’ll talk about the new Hacker’s List. Are hackers for hire always a bad thing? Plus Len Peralta is here to illustrate the show!

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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

Allison Sheridan is on the show and we’ll talk about Google Glass moving out of the lab. Is it dead? Or just beginning?

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

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

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

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

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

Show Notes

Today’s guest: Allison Sheridan, host of the NosillaCast on podfeet.com

Headlines

The Google Glass team announced on Google Plus today that the “open beta’ that has been the $1500 a pair Google Glass Explorer program will end Monday Jan. 19. Additionally Ivy Ross and her team will move out of X labs and under the supervision of Nest CEO Tony Fadell, though not as a part of Nest. The post only said “you’ll likely see future versions of Glass when they’re ready” but rumors have indicated Intel would power the next version of glass and a consumer version might be announced at Google I/O this year.

Elon Musk took to Twitter today to announce the building of a Hyperloop test track for companies and students, “most likely in Texas.” He also mentioned holding “an annual student Hyperloop pod racer competition.” The Verge reminds us a California project is building models for possible Hyperloop pods already, but Musk has been silent himself on the project for awhile.

Engadget reports on Xiaomi’s new line of device announced by CEO Lei Jun. The 5.7-inch 1080p dual-SIM Mi Note comes January 27th for CN¥2,299 (US$370) at 16 Gb or CN¥2,799 (US$450) for 64 GB. At 6.95mm thick and 161 grams it’s a touch slimmer and lighter than an iPhone 6 Plus. The Mi Note Pro will have a 2560 x 1440 display for $530 in March.

Yesterday, Reuters published an exclusive report that claimed Samsung had offered to buy Blackberry for as much as 7.5 billion dollars. Today, BlackBerry issued a press release to state plainly that they have not “engaged in discussions with Samsung with respect to any possible offer.” Also they don’t comment on rumors, and won’t comment any further on this one. So there.

CNET reports that Marriott has removed a ban on personal Wi-Fi networks in their hotels. The decision comes just three months after Marriott was fined $600,000 by the Federal Communications Commission for using the containment features of a Wi-Fi monitoring system at the Gaylord Opryland and then charging consumers, small businesses and exhibitors as much as $1,000 per device to access Marriott’s Wi-Fi network. The company claimed that it had banned personal hotspots to protect its visitors from rogue hot spots. A group of hotel chains has issued a request to the FCC for permission to block personal hotspots in order to protect its guests.

TechCrunch reports that Rdio has launched in India becoming the first International streaming service to do so. It’s not unexpected as Rdio purchased Indian streaming service Dhingana in early 2014. The premium Rdio service will be priced at 120 Rupees per month (about US$1.99) and the company will offer a free internet radio player for mobile as well.

Reuters reports China is setting up a 40 billion yuan ($6.5 billion) to support start-ups in emerging industries. The fund is expected to be established within a few weeks. China hopes to expand its small venture capital market with the fund.

Bloomberg reports Mark Zuckerberg unveiled a plan for a free Internet.org app in Colombia. Customers of mobile service Tigo will have free data access when using the Internet.org app, including a group of global and local websites with information on health, education, finance, employment and weather.

Intel reports its 4th quarter earnings today.
Analysts expect a profit of 66 cents on revenue of 14.7 billion. Strong server sales are part of the reason for Intel’s results. The focus is on whether Intel is making any headway selling chips for smartphones and tablets. Intel lost $4 billion on its wireless business in 2014 and is not expected to break even before 2016.

News From You: 

spsheridan sent us the Business Insider report that the founder of the super successful website Ship Your Enemies Glitter has asked people to stop using his service. Matthew Carpenter wrote “HI guys I’m the founder of this website. Please stop buying this horrible glitter product – I’m sick of dealing with it.” Wrote one commenter “You have made your glitter-coated bed and I’m afraid you will have to lie in it.” Carpenter has suspended orders for the moment writing on the site “You guys have a sick fascination with shipping people glitter. We’ve received all orders & working through them. There was a tonne so be patient.

motang tipped us off to the WSJ report that people still use MySpace. In fact 50.6 million unique users in November, up 575% year over year. MySpace also racked up 300 million video views that month, good enough for 16th on ComScore’s Video Metrix ranking. MySpace gets a lot of visits from the 17-25 year old demographic and sees a spike on Thursday when people come to look for old pictures to use for Throwback Thursday.

Discussion Section Links: Google Glass

https://plus.google.com/+GoogleGlass/posts/9uiwXY42tvc
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30831128

http://techcrunch.com/2015/01/15/google-glass-exits-x-labs-as-explorer-program-shuts-down-team-now-reports-to-tony-fadell/

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/01/google-glass-graduates-from-google-x-will-be-a-stand-alone-division/

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/01/google-glass-graduates-from-google-x-will-be-a-stand-alone-division/

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/12/google-glass-isnt-dead-intel-powered-update-reportedly-due-in-2015/

Pick of the Day: My Data manager via Jamie in Beautiful BC

My data Manager is a solid app to track your data usage for your iphone/ipad/iPod Touch in real time. It tracks both your wifi and cellular data, and you are able to set your billing cycle and data cap as well. You can see a graph of your usage to see where you use the most data and get notifications when you’re getting close to your limit. Best of all it’s 100% free!

My Data Manager: http://www.mydatamanagerapp.com/

Cheers! Jamie in Beautiful BC

Tomorrow’s guests: Darren Kitchen and Len Peralta

Patrick Beja and I talk about DailyMotion’s new Twitch competitor and whether Facebook at Home can meet the desire for a ubiquitous work replacement for email.

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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

Simon Dingle joins us as we review Prime Minister David Cameron’s desire to be able to read all your SnapChat messages if necessary. Can you have a back door that bad guys won’t use?

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

Show Notes

Today’s guest: Simon Dingle, broadcaster and product guy out South Africa

Headlines: 

Engadget reports that Facebook has partnered with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to deliver location-specific Amber Alerts to inform users about missing or abducted children in the US. The alerts include photos of the child, license plate numbers and any other relevant information and will appear on mobile devices and desktops. Facebook was inspired to add Amber Alerts after missing children were recovered due to information posted independently by users.

PC World reports AllCast is now available for iOS users. As Android users already know, AllCast can send photos, videos and music from your mobile device to multiple devices like Xbox (360 and One), Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and certain smart TVs. The app can access anything on your camera roll as well as Google+ Dropbox and Instagram. The free version has a time limit. The $5 paid version takes away that limit and removes ads.

Windows 7 is getting old. The first sign occurred today as free tech support for the operating system has ended. That also means no new features will be added to the OS. Microsoft would rather you upgrade to Windows 8.1 please. Believe it or not Windows 7 is more than 5 years old after all. You can still pay for support through 2020 and Microsoft will continue to patch security issues.

Fujitsu has a smart ring that not only does motion control but recognizes in air handwriting. Trace letters with your fingertip in the air and motion sensors translate the movements to written characters. The ring also has an NFC reader. Engadget reports Fujitsu is conducting real world tests and hopes to have a product out before March of 2016.

Boing Boing has the tale of a man from Hong Kong who tried to cross over the Chinese border with 94 iPhones strapped to his torso, legs and groin. Customs officials stopped the man for “weird walking posture” and “joint stiffness.” I’m guessing they don’t use metal detectors at that crossing. The man was carrying iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models, which have been available for purchase at Apple Stores in China since mid-October.

El Nuevo Herald reports Cuba’s ETECSA telecom denies they would offer wiFi service in Santiago de Cuba as we had mentioned yesterday. The original report was based on an announcement from the Cuban Journalists Association. ETECSA called the information false, and said it is only offering WiFi at a technological park through the Youth Club navigation network called Tinored.

Engadget reports Uber announced it will share some of its ride data with the city of Boston. The anonymized metadata zip code tabulation area for starts and ends of trips, distance traveled, time, date and duration of trip. Boston hopes to use the data to improve city planning.

TechCrunch reports a report from appFigures indicates more new apps came to the Google Play store than the iOS app store in 2014 for the first time. Google Play developer community growth also exceeded iOS for third year. The fastest growing app category for Apple was Business while for Google it was Games. Both app stores, and Amazon ’s app store experienced growth of at least 50%.

News From You: 

Philo1927 posted the Multichannel News article assessing the world’s readiness for 4K streaming. Akamai’s latest State of the INternet Report suggests 15 Mbps is required for sustained adaptive bitrate 4 K streaming. OK. How we doing? 12% of connection to Akamai arounf the world can be considered 4K ready. That’s a 32% jump from last year at this time. South Korea is most prepared with 66% of its connections ready, followed by Hong Kong, Japan, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Latvia, Sweden, Norway, Singapore and Belgium. Those last three had 21% readiness. The US as a whole is 19% ready.

HobbitfromPA sent us the Business Insider report that Amazon Studios has signed Woody Allen to create his first ever television series. The show will be a half-hour long, and available to Prime Instant Video subscribers in the US, UK and Germany. Allen got his start writing in television in the late 1950’s. He wrote monologues for The Tonight Show, and various comedy specials, including one for Sid Caesar. But Allen’s standup career began to blossom, and he began appearing on TV shows instead of writing them. Allen’s Amazon show does not yet have a title or a release date.

Pick of the Day via Joe Fruchey

My pick is the book Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software by Charles Petzold.

If you’re at all interested in technology (and you certainly are, since you’re listening to a tech news podcast!), this book is a serious eye-opener. We use these things–computers, tablets, smartphones–every day, but the vast majority of us don’t know how they work. How DO they work? How can an array of transistors play a movie on my screen?

In this book, the author takes you through the process of building a theoretical computer, starting with nothing but a flashlight. It’s very easy to understand, and is highly relevant, despite the fact that it was published 15 years ago(!).

It’s the #1 seller in Theory of Computing on Amazon, but don’t let the categorization scare you. It’s very approachable and requires no prior computing knowledge.

It is definitely my favorite book.

Justin Young and I debate the warning from the Future of Life Institute about safe development of AI. It’s a sober debate about the risks of artificial intelligence. RUN!!!!!!!

MP3

Using a Screen Reader? click here

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

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

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

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here or giving 5 cents a day on Patreon. Thank you!

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

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

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

Show Notes

Today’s guest:  Justin Robert Young, DTNS contributor and co host of Night Attack, Weird Things and host of The JuRY show

Headlines

The Next Web reports The United States Central Command twitter and YouTube accounts were accessed and messages posted by a group calling itself the CyberCaliphate and claiming an affiliation with ISIS, presumably referring to DAESH. Links were posted to zip files which contained some public documents as well as others of unverified origin.

The Verge reports that Samsung has added the 5.5 inch Galaxy A7 to its line of metal-frame smartphones. The phone is 6.3mm thick, with a dual 1.8GHz and 1.3GHz quad-core processors (or 1.5GHz and 1.0GHz in the dual-SIM version) and a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon chip 2,600mAh battery and 1280×720 screen resolution, instead of full HD. The A7 also ships with Android 4.4 Kitkat, so no Lollipop on this phone in the immediate future. The phone is expected to be priced at what the Verge describes as “mid-range levels.”

The New York Times reports that according to a declassified report, the FBI has been more involved with the United States warrantless surveillance system over the last few years. Over the past 7 years, The FBI has reviewed email accounts of non-Americans from the NSA’s Prism system, retained copies of unprocessed data for analysis, nominating new email accounts of phone numbers for collection. The information comes from a Justice Department review of activities under the FISA Ammendments Act of 2008. The Times requested the report be declassified through the Freedom of Information Act. Parts of the report remain heavily redacted.

The Next Web reports that US President Barack Obama called for a new law today that would require US companies to report any data breaches to their consumers within 30 days of discovering the attack. The Personal Data Notification and Protection Act would also make it a crime to sell a person’s information overseas. The Federal Trade Commission would be empowered to issue penalties to companies that fail to comply.

Bloomberg Business Week reports IBM was granted the most patents int he US for the 22nd straight year. IBM received 7,534 patents in 2014. Samsung had the second most and Canon third. IBM spends about 6 percent of its annual revenue on research and development. Companies like Google and Oracle spend around 13 percent.

Did someone say Google and Oracle? The US Supreme Court has requested the view of the President of the US regarding an appeal’s court conclusion that Oracle’s Java APIs are protected by copyright. The Supreme Court is considering taking up the case. The US Department of Justice will likely respond to the request. Google’s Vint Cerf argues allowing copyright on code meant to enable programs to talk to one another sets a dangerous precedent. Oracle felt the lower court decision was a victory for software innovation.

Gigaom reports that the interior ministers of 12 European Union countries met on Sunday and issued a joint statement condemning the attacks on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. The ministers also reaffirmed their “unfailing attachment to the freedom of expression, human rights, democracy, and tolerance.” Then they called on ISP’s to “create the conditions of a swift reporting of material that aims to incite hatred and terror and the condition of its removing, where appropriate/possible.” Which, could be seen as the opposite of freedom of expression, human rights, democracy, and tolerance. The group also resolved to develop positive, targeted and easily accessible messages, able to counter propaganda.

For the second time in less than a month, Google’s Project Zero disclosed a Microsoft bug before Microsoft got a chance to fix it. Google notifies software manufacturers of a bug and then waits 90 days for it to be fixed before disclosure. Microsoft The Verge quotes Chris Betz, senior director of Microsoft’s Security Response Center summing up the age old debate over responsible disclosure. “Those in favor of full, public disclosure believe that this method pushes software vendors to fix vulnerabilities more quickly and makes customers develop and take actions to protect themselves. We disagree … We believe those who fully disclose a vulnerability before a fix is broadly available are doing a disservice to millions of people and the systems they depend upon.”

Google’s under a little scrutiny themselves. According to Tod Beardlsey, an engineer at security firm Rapid7, there are 11 vulnerabilities in Android WebView, a key component of the old Android browser and one used by apps to display web pages. Google has stopped patching the component for phones running older versions of Android before KitKat. About 46% of Android users run JellyBean the version right before KitKat, meaning those users won’t get the patch. Google refers any patches for those systems version of WebView to OEMs many of whom control the updates anyway. Google does support other patches for older version of Android and also issues patches for its own software through Google Play Services.

GigaOm reports the US FAA has approved CNN to test the use of drones in news coverage. CNN has been working with the Georgia Institute of Technology on drone use for aerial footage. Now CNN will test multiple professional-grade drones for the FAA. The administration will consider setting a range of rules for different drones.

Engadget reports Cuba’s ETECSA telecom is launching it’s own public WiFi in Santiago de Cuba this month. The price will be $4.50 an hour. Keep in mind the average monthly wage was $20 as of 2013. But it’s legal unlike sneaking access to WiFi from hotel’s and offices without approval.

News From You

starfuryzeta submitted the TechCrunch report on the company Palantir formed in 2004. The company is thought to use data mining techniques to assist law enforcement agencies and security companies. TechCrunch received a private document from 2013 that’s being circulated to investors. It describes Palamntir’s data analysis targets as government, fincance sector and legal research. Securities Investment Protection Corporation used Palantir’s software to sort through the mountains of data, over 40 years of records, to convict Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff. Clients like the LAPD can search datasets for connections using natural language. It has also been used to comabt fraud. the CIA, DHS, NSA, FBI, the CDC, the Marine Corps, the Air Force, Special Operations Command, West Point, the Joint IED-defeat organization and Allies, the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children have all used the sysetem. International Consortium of Investigative Journalists uses Palantir to gain insight into the global trade and illegal trafficking of human tissue.

KAPT_Kipper submitted The Verge report that Google is about to release an updated version of its Google Translate app for Android which will automatically recognize speech in several popular languages and change it into text. Previous statements from Google have hinted that upcoming versions of Google translate would be able to deliver delay-free, “near perfect” translations. Last month Skype unveiled its real time translation program. Time to get those two programs to translate each other in hilarious videos.

Discussion Section:

http://www.cnet.com/news/artificial-intelligence-experts-sign-open-letter-to-protect-mankind-from-machines/

http://futureoflife.org/misc/open_letter

http://futureoflife.org/static/data/documents/research_priorities.pdf

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/stephen-hawking-transcendence-looks-at-the-implications-of-artificial-intelligence–but-are-we-taking-ai-seriously-enough-9313474.html

Pick of the Day: Downpour via Tom

Downpour for DRM-free audio books. Been trying it out over the weekend and it’s great!

Announcements!

Our next DTNS contributors have been announced: Scott Johnson and Veronica Belmont!  If you’d like to hear more of Scott and Veronica, go here: patreon.com/acedtect

DTNS has an Instagram account! Jennie will be posting from CES until she falls down.  http://instagram.com/dtnspix/ 

Tuesday’s guest: Simon Dingle, partner at 22seven and hosts (tech)5 on 5FM in South Africa

In 1908 – Lee de Forest, an engineer and scientist, broadcast a phonograph record show from the Eiffel Tower for an audience of less than 50 people. The show was also heard over 500 miles from the tower, becoming the first long-distance radio message transmission.

In 1964 – Jeff Bezos was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He would grow up to study computer science at Princeton, and set the standard for online shopping with his company, Amazon.com.

In 2005 – Deep Impact launched from Cape Canaveral on a Delta 2 rocket, headed to an impact with comet 9P/Tempel.

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