Answering honestly so compliments mean something, how your personality is reflected in your footwear, the neo-hobo revival, life expectancy, should we live longer? The rising tide of population.
World Population Will Soar Higher Than Predicted
Download the episode at this link.
In 1962 – NASA “Relay 1” launched, the first active repeater communications satellite in orbit.
In 1977 – Young Bill Gates was arrested for a traffic violation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, leading to one of the most famous mugshots ever.
In 1977 – Robert Metcalfe et. al were awarded a patent for “Multipoint data communication system with collision detection” also known as ethernet.
Subscribe to the podcast. Like Tech History? Get the illustrated Year in Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.
Darren Kitchen is on the show and we’ll talk about Russia pulling out their engineers from Russia. It’s probably not what you think. Plus Len Peralta is here to illustrate the show.
Using a Screen Reader? click here
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 headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!
Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!
Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit
Show Notes
Today’s guests: Darren Kitchen of hak5.org and Len Peralta, artist and author
Headlines
The BBC reports Facebook is considering adding something similar to the oft-requested dislike button. In a Q&A session at Facebook headquarters, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company wants to find “the right way to make it so that people can easily express a broader range of emotions.” Zuck talked about people sharing sad moments or wanting to say ‘That thing isn’t good for the world.’ For example a post that links to a report on child slavery might inspire support for raising awareness, but clicking ‘Like’ might not seem quite right.
Chinese Internet company Baidu will hold a press conference next week to announce an investment in “a prominent US based start-up,” and TechCrunch says its Uber. Bloomberg reports the investment could be as much as $600 million. The partnership helps Baidu compete in China’s taxi space, and gives Uber access to Baidu’s wealth of mobile data as well as their experience dealing with Chinese government regulations. Both TenCent and Alibab have significant investments in popular taxi apps Didi Dache and rival Kuaidi Dache.
The Next Web reports that YouTube is testing a new feature that allows users to create GIFs from YouTube Videos. Right now users can test the feature on the PBS Idea Channel page. Click the share button, drag a trim selector to the part of the video and boom 5 second GIF. You can even add text. No word on when this feature will go site wide but I’m sure glad there’s an ENTIRE year of Daily Tech News Show video out there.
Tech Crunch reports that Google has released its list of the year’s most popular entertainment as seen in the Google Play store. The most downloaded apps included language-learning app Duolingo and health app MyFitnessPal. The most downloaded game of 2014 was Candy Crush Saga. Movie of the year? Frozen TV show: The Walking Dead. Album of the year? Frozen. Fastest growing genre: Soundtracks (thank you Frozen and Guardians of the Galaxy).
Ars Technica reports Microsoft says NPD’s data for November shows the Xbox One outsold the PS4 in the US and UK. Leaked numbers indicate Microsoft may have sold as many as 1.2 million Xbox Ones with Sony selling 2/3 as many PS4s. That’s not awful news for either company as Microsoft slashed prices in November with games bundled in. Sony just added bundles this week. And good news for Nintendo too, which announced Wii U sales were up 10% and at the end of November, the console had its best hardware sales week since launch.
Ars Technica reports Google has confirmed it is shutting down its engineering operations in Russia and offer the more than 50 engineers a chance to transfer elsewhere in the company. Sales and marketing will continue on in Russia. Google’s Aaron Stein told Ars: “We are deeply committed to our Russian users and customers, and we have a dedicated team in Russia working to support them.” A Bloomberg source says Google intends to increase investment in Russia next year.
The Verge reports Sony has launched another crowdfunded experimental project. The Qrio Smart Lock claims to be the smallest of its kind and can be securely installed without tools. It allows users to open doors with a smartphone and share encrypted keys using messaging apps like Line and Facebook. Qrio is expected to retail in Japan for around ¥15,000 ($126).
News From You
djsekani sent us the Engadget report that New York Judge Denise Cote ruled that it is NOT illegal to tell people about software that can strip DRM off e-books, as long as there is no intent to distribute the DRM-free versions. Back in 2013, Abbey House Media, a company that sold e-books for Penguin and Simon and Schuster shut down its digital store. Without the store, customers couldn’t transfer their purchases to new devices. So Abbey House told customers that Calibre could be used to strip DRM from ebooks. Guess who didn’t like that? The book publishers sued saying Abbey House was contributing to copyright infringement and inducing people to break the law, but the judge disagreed. Guess who is almost certain to appeal?
TheLazyOne pointed out TechCrunch’s report on Seagate’s Shingled Magnetic Recording drives that can store 8 TB of data for about 3 cents a gigabyte by cramming more tracks on a platter. Yeah platter. They’re not solid state and they’re not even fast at 5,900 RPM and an average read/write speed of 150MB/sec. However they are cheap. Seagate will ship the drives in January for $260 for an 8 terabyte version.
And Johnsie776 tipped us off to the TorrentFreak article claiming the MPAA and its major studios members have been brainstorming ways to legally block copyright-infringing websites without getting new laws passed. The most promising would be using Rule 19 of Federal Rules of Cicil procedure. If a judge found a foreign site guilty of infringement, Rule 19 would then be used to join an ISP in the lawsuit thus allowing the blocking without finding the ISP guilty of any wrongdoing. Another of the many approaches would note that ISPs have publicly claimed they are not telecommunications services” or mere conduits of information and therefore they should not be protected by the DMCA’s safe harbor provisions.
Discussion Links: Google ex Russia
http://fortune.com/2014/12/11/google-russia-engineering/
http://rusemb.org.uk/policycontact/52
https://www.google.com/search?q=gogole+moves+engineers+from+norway&oq=gogole+moves+engineers+from+norway&aqs=chrome..69i57.4379j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=119&ie=UTF-8#q=google+moves+engineers+from+norway&start=10
http://www.itpro.co.uk/609539/google-cuts-jobs-and-consolidates-engineering
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/changes-to-engineering.html
Pick of the Day: Sprint Reader via Franz
Franz has this one: Hi Tom,
a few weeks back you mentioned an ever increasing read list in your Pocket app. Well, maybe my pick can help here:
It is a Chrome extention called “Sprint Reader”, and it is an implementation of a fast-reading technique called RSVP – rapid serial visual presentation. In a nutshell, it flashes words in your view in rapid succession without you having to move your eyes. This allows for reading speeds of 600 words per minute and beyond. (Typical reading speeds is about 150-200, 300 for really fast readers). The way this works is by eliminating the limiting factor, which is movement of the eyes and re-focussing on the text.
Developer Anthony Nosek just updated Sprint Reader to 2.1 today*, so I thought I’d mention it. The code is also openly available on GitHub.
I got hooked on the idea of RSVP after I discovered Spritz ( spritzinc.com ) back in march, which sadly is a proprietary API, and was no product yet. Since then, I had a look on every single RSVP app I could find and found Sprint Reader to not only be free, but the best of the bunch.
I hope this helps you and your listeners to better cope with an ever increasing amount of interesting reads on the web.
Greetings to Jennie and guest, Thanks for the show, and keep it going strong.
Franz Reischl from Austria
(Patron of the show)
Link:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/sprint-reader-speed-readi/kejhpkmainjkpiablnfdppneidnkhdif?hl=en
GitHub:
https://github.com/anthonynosek/sprint-reader-chrome
* Disclaimer: The update includes a fix from myself. To be exact, my first ever contribution to an open-source project. So I might be a bit biased when I say it’s the best, but I use it for way longer than that now.
Justin Young is on the show and we’ll talk about Google’s decision to shut down Google News in Spain, rather than pay Spanish publishers to list news content.
Using a Screen Reader? click here
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 and Weird Things
Headlines
Engadget reports Microsoft has made the MSN suite of apps available for iOS and Android in addition to Windows Phone. The News, Sports, Health and Fitness, food and Drink and Money apps are available now. MSN Weather is out on Android and coming to iOS in a few weeks. That news comes along with Microsoft’s acquisition of multiplatform mobile test environment maker HockeyApp, similar to Apple-owned TestFlight on iOS.
TechCrunch reports Ford’s new Sync 3 is faster, sleeker, more intuitive and NOT powered by Microsoft anymore. Sync 3 switches to Blackberry-owned QNX OS running on TI hardware. And yes that means your old Ford will not get Sync 3. Ford worked with select app developers for the Sync 3 launch including Spotify, Pandora, Stitcher, NPR One, SiriusXM Radio and iHeartRadio. The system rolls out to new vehicles next year.
So Microsoft wins some and loses some and then takes your BitCoins. TechCrunch reports the folks at Coindesk noticed that you can now use bitcoins to buy content on Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox. Microsoft confirmed that it is working with Bitpay. However you can only use Bitcoins for MS Wallet or gift cards in the US. Direct payments are not supported.
CNET reports Head of Google News Richard Gingras announced today in a blog post that Google News will shut down in Spain December 16th and Spanish publishers will be removed from Google News worldwide. An amendment to Spain’s copyright law goes into effect January 1st that requires any news aggregator to pay an unspecified license fee to any publisher for listing their content. Google does not run ads on Google News and claims they cannot afford to keep the site going under the new law.
TechCrunch reports Xiaomi confirmed it has stopped selling its phones in India after an injunction from a New Delhi High Court. Ericsson brought a patent suit against Xiaomi for “unfair” usage of a range of wireless technology patents. Xiaomi began selling the Mi3, Redmi and Redmi Note devices in India in July. Ericsson claims it spent three years trying to communicate about the issue. Xiaomi says it is open to resolving the issue amicably.
The Next Web reports that YouTube’s Android app now allows users in India, Indonesia and the Philippines to save videos to their devices to watch offline. The feature is available for select content like trailers, movies and music videos so users can watch buffer-free video in areas without data connections. Users can also choose the quality of the videos they’re downloading and videos can be played back from the app’s Offline section for up to 48 hours.
Peter Wells let us know about a new piracy development in Australia. The Sydney Morning Herald reports the government will enable rights holders to apply for a court order requiring ISPs to block access to overseas websites alleged to provide access to pirated content. Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull is part of the Coalition government, who’s policy is not to support filters. So why the change of heart? Because it’s not a filter! Turnbull said “This is not, repeat, not an internet filter” and called the idea that blocking websites amounts to a filter, “nonesense” and “complete BS.” He did NOT say “You call that a filter? Now THIS is a filter.”
ReCode reports its sources say Sony Pictures Entertainment is flooding file sharing sites with fake or corrupted versions of torrents containing stolen information from the company. One of the sources says SPE is using Amazon Web Services to power the attack. Amazon told Recode such activity is not happening on AWS.
News From You
Hurmoth sent in the report that Verizon Chief Financial Officer Francis Shammo told a UBS investor conference yesterday that Title II regulation of broadband would not influence how Verizon invests in its networks. Just to be clear, Verizon is still against Title II regulation of broadband, but Shammo said “we were born out of a highly regulated company, so we know how this operates.” Verizon sued and won to overturn the FCC’s previous open Internet guidelines which led to the current debate. Would that happen again? Sounds like it’s AT&T’s turn at the plate. Shammo quoted AT&T Chairman & CEO Randall Stephenson saying, “I think it’s going to be a very litigious environment.”
starfuryzeta submitted the Wired article that hackers have figured out a way around the Keurig coffee machine’s DRM on coffee pods. The hack involves snipping a section of the lid from a valid Keurig “K-Cup” and then taping that strip to the top of a non-Keurig pod. Alternatively you can tape the strip to the Keurig machine itself, permanently fooling it.
MrAnthropology sent us a Des Moines register report that beginning next year, citizens of Iowa will be able to use a mobile app as their official driver’s license. The ID will be protfected by a PIN and be accepted by law enforcement and airports in Iowa. Iowa is already one of more than 30 states that allow motorists to show electronic proof of insurance during a traffic stop.
Discussion Links: Adios Google News en Espańa
http://googlepolicyeurope.blogspot.com/2014/12/an-update-on-google-news-in-spain.html
http://searchengineland.com/german-publishers-google-want-snippets-back-206520
http://searchengineland.com/sweden-latest-consider-google-link-tax-207706
http://searchengineland.com/avoid-liability-google-reduces-news-content-germany-headlines-204811
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30426496
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/12/google-news-shuts-shop-spain-thanks-ancillary-copyright-law
Pick of the Day: Pushbullet via Geoff in Maryland
Here’s my pick of the day, Pushbullet. It is a very simple yet powerful app that basically lets you send information from one device to another very easily. You can use it to send notes, links, or even files. I use it all the time to send links from my computer to my phone (map directions, recipes, etc.)
It also has the ability on Android (not sure about iOS) to mirror notifications which I use on my desktop to see what the notifications are on my phone. Handy because for instance I can see who’s calling on my laptop and know if I need to run to pick up my phone in the bedroom.
Finally, I don’t use this feature but it integrates with IFTT or Tasker for even more uses.
All in all, it’s an app I use all the time and don’t know how I managed without it. It’s available for Android and iOS, as well as Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Opera. There’s a beta app for Windows and an app for OSX is coming soon. The developer is great and is constantly putting out new features and updates as needed.
Geoff in MD
Justin Young is on the show and we’ll talk about Google’s decision to shut down Google News in Spain, rather than pay Spanish publishers to list news content.
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 and Weird Things
Headlines
Engadget reports Microsoft has made the MSN suite of apps available for iOS and Android in addition to Windows Phone. The News, Sports, Health and Fitness, food and Drink and Money apps are available now. MSN Weather is out on Android and coming to iOS in a few weeks. That news comes along with Microsoft’s acquisition of multiplatform mobile test environment maker HockeyApp, similar to Apple-owned TestFlight on iOS.
TechCrunch reports Ford’s new Sync 3 is faster, sleeker, more intuitive and NOT powered by Microsoft anymore. Sync 3 switches to Blackberry-owned QNX OS running on TI hardware. And yes that means your old Ford will not get Sync 3. Ford worked with select app developers for the Sync 3 launch including Spotify, Pandora, Stitcher, NPR One, SiriusXM Radio and iHeartRadio. The system rolls out to new vehicles next year.
So Microsoft wins some and loses some and then takes your BitCoins. TechCrunch reports the folks at Coindesk noticed that you can now use bitcoins to buy content on Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox. Microsoft confirmed that it is working with Bitpay. However you can only use Bitcoins for MS Wallet or gift cards in the US. Direct payments are not supported.
CNET reports Head of Google News Richard Gingras announced today in a blog post that Google News will shut down in Spain December 16th and Spanish publishers will be removed from Google News worldwide. An amendment to Spain’s copyright law goes into effect January 1st that requires any news aggregator to pay an unspecified license fee to any publisher for listing their content. Google does not run ads on Google News and claims they cannot afford to keep the site going under the new law.
TechCrunch reports Xiaomi confirmed it has stopped selling its phones in India after an injunction from a New Delhi High Court. Ericsson brought a patent suit against Xiaomi for “unfair” usage of a range of wireless technology patents. Xiaomi began selling the Mi3, Redmi and Redmi Note devices in India in July. Ericsson claims it spent three years trying to communicate about the issue. Xiaomi says it is open to resolving the issue amicably.
The Next Web reports that YouTube’s Android app now allows users in India, Indonesia and the Philippines to save videos to their devices to watch offline. The feature is available for select content like trailers, movies and music videos so users can watch buffer-free video in areas without data connections. Users can also choose the quality of the videos they’re downloading and videos can be played back from the app’s Offline section for up to 48 hours.
Peter Wells let us know about a new piracy development in Australia. The Sydney Morning Herald reports the government will enable rights holders to apply for a court order requiring ISPs to block access to overseas websites alleged to provide access to pirated content. Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull is part of the Coalition government, who’s policy is not to support filters. So why the change of heart? Because it’s not a filter! Turnbull said “This is not, repeat, not an internet filter” and called the idea that blocking websites amounts to a filter, “nonesense” and “complete BS.” He did NOT say “You call that a filter? Now THIS is a filter.”
ReCode reports its sources say Sony Pictures Entertainment is flooding file sharing sites with fake or corrupted versions of torrents containing stolen information from the company. One of the sources says SPE is using Amazon Web Services to power the attack. Amazon told Recode such activity is not happening on AWS.
News From You
Hurmoth sent in the report that Verizon Chief Financial Officer Francis Shammo told a UBS investor conference yesterday that Title II regulation of broadband would not influence how Verizon invests in its networks. Just to be clear, Verizon is still against Title II regulation of broadband, but Shammo said “we were born out of a highly regulated company, so we know how this operates.” Verizon sued and won to overturn the FCC’s previous open Internet guidelines which led to the current debate. Would that happen again? Sounds like it’s AT&T’s turn at the plate. Shammo quoted AT&T Chairman & CEO Randall Stephenson saying, “I think it’s going to be a very litigious environment.”
starfuryzeta submitted the Wired article that hackers have figured out a way around the Keurig coffee machine’s DRM on coffee pods. The hack involves snipping a section of the lid from a valid Keurig “K-Cup” and then taping that strip to the top of a non-Keurig pod. Alternatively you can tape the strip to the Keurig machine itself, permanently fooling it.
MrAnthropology sent us a Des Moines register report that beginning next year, citizens of Iowa will be able to use a mobile app as their official driver’s license. The ID will be protfected by a PIN and be accepted by law enforcement and airports in Iowa. Iowa is already one of more than 30 states that allow motorists to show electronic proof of insurance during a traffic stop.
Discussion Links: Adios Google News en Espańa
http://googlepolicyeurope.blogspot.com/2014/12/an-update-on-google-news-in-spain.html
http://searchengineland.com/german-publishers-google-want-snippets-back-206520
http://searchengineland.com/sweden-latest-consider-google-link-tax-207706
http://searchengineland.com/avoid-liability-google-reduces-news-content-germany-headlines-204811
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30426496
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/12/google-news-shuts-shop-spain-thanks-ancillary-copyright-law
Pick of the Day: Pushbullet via Geoff in Maryland
Here’s my pick of the day, Pushbullet. It is a very simple yet powerful app that basically lets you send information from one device to another very easily. You can use it to send notes, links, or even files. I use it all the time to send links from my computer to my phone (map directions, recipes, etc.)
It also has the ability on Android (not sure about iOS) to mirror notifications which I use on my desktop to see what the notifications are on my phone. Handy because for instance I can see who’s calling on my laptop and know if I need to run to pick up my phone in the bedroom.
Finally, I don’t use this feature but it integrates with IFTT or Tasker for even more uses.
All in all, it’s an app I use all the time and don’t know how I managed without it. It’s available for Android and iOS, as well as Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Opera. There’s a beta app for Windows and an app for OSX is coming soon. The developer is great and is constantly putting out new features and updates as needed.
Geoff in MD
“We have known for centuries about the transformative power of solitude; it’s only recently that we have begun to forget it.” – Susan Cain.
Get the episode here.
Links
“Quiet Quiz: Are You an Introvert or an Extrovert? – By Susan Cain”
“The Open-Office Trap – The New Yorker”
“Susan Cain: The power of introverts | Talk Video | TED.com”
Eric Franklin joins us to talk about why you need to put your phone out of sight and whether video game makers should stop publishing broken games.
Using a Screen Reader? click here
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
Why season five has become season 1 for Brian, The brilliance that is Black Mirror and why Tom enjoyed this episode of The Shield the most yet.
01:10 – The Walking Dead
12:50 – Black Mirror (Season 1)
37:10 – The Shield (Season 4, Episode 1)
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This week we’re busy. We congratulate the winners of several year-end awards. We kick off our December book pick, The Night Circus, a beautiful novel by Erin Morgenstern. And we dive into some of the most wretched and hated terms and phrases in the professions of authorship. Mary Sue is under siege!
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Red Trolley Ale
Veronica: Red Branch Hard Apple & Honey Cider
Casey: What are YOU drinking?
QUICK BURNS
Tamahome: The Goodreads choice awards are in
Sky: Audible’s best of 2014 released. Sanderson managed to win out over UF/Paranormal 🙂
Dara: SyFy has cast the leads for The Magicians series. Jason Ralph will play Quentin Coldwater and Sosie Bacon (daughter of Kevin Bacon) will play Alice.
Nick pointed out the successful test flight of the unmanned Orion space capsule.
Nick: Christopher Nolan rumored to be offered Ready Player One to direct
Fiona: The BBC adapted Good Omens as a 6 part audioplay. First part will air on Radio 4 on Monday 22nd December. Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman have cameo appearances!
Tamahome: What James Cameron says you’ll do when you see the Avatar sequels. NSFW.http://boingboing.net/2014/11/26/james-cameron-on-avatar-sequel.html
PICKS
Andrew picked: The City and the City by China Mieville
BARE YOUR SWORD
Louie: Terms authors are tired of hearing: “Infodump,” “Mary Sue,” “Hard SF,” “Dystopian.”
What are some terms that you are tired of hearing/reading?
Marion: What Is The Strangest or Most Unique SF/Fantasy Novel That You Have Ever Read?
BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION
Kick off: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Erin Morgenstern on The Night Circus – YouTube
the night circus | erin morgenstern
Erin Morgenstern – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
ADDENDUMS
Support our show on Patreon
You can also support the show by buying books through our links! Find upcoming and past new releases at swordandlaser.com/calendar
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