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Heading to California to cover an event – Videos will be made. SXSW might be out of the question, unless I get a Sugar Mama. I also had a small run-in with a person at a Bar who didn’t think too much of my profession.

Winner of this weeks’ Diskeeper 2010: cgcreality

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I – S.U.N. (Straight Up News)
Betty White to Host SNL
Toyota Recall to Prius
EFF on iPhone Developers Agreement
Cisco Drop IPEX Over Counterfeit Processors
Windows 7 Good to go for IT
Mashable Google Wave Challenge
The New Hard Drive Revolution

QOTW – What is your take on the Cisco Router?
Video – The New Dork Video

II
Battery Trojan in the DUO
Cisco 322 Terrabyte Router
Facebook Foursquare Killer App
Leo Makes Lisa Tickled Pink: Social Experiment
iPad Commercial
Web Access a Fundamental Right

CES 2010 Video Feed – Geekazine
Check out the other podcast: Day in Tech History

Contacts: Twitter – Plurk – Myspace – Facebook Group – FriendFeed or Digg the Podcast. The Geekazine Podcast is under a Creative Commons no-deriv license

Music for Podcast by the John Masino Band

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:59 — 26.1MB)

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- New HP DataVault
- 1 week on Win 7
Now Faster than I can get .

• Internet will not cause isolation
  • Pew Internet Personal Networks and Community survey
  • 2,512 adults
  • Study found that “the extent of social isolation has hardly changed since 1985,
  • contrary to concerns that has tripled since then.” Pew said that
  • 6 percent of the entire U.S. adult population currently has “no one with whom they can discuss important matters or who they consider to be ‘especially significant’ in their life.”

• Fortune: Jobs is CEO of the Decade
  • The fall to rise of Apple
  • Michael Dell
  • Jobs Liver
  • Apples’ gain is Microsoft’s loss

• Google Wave in the Workplace
  • Wave API
  • Novell – Novell Pulse
  • Most users don’t have a developer Wave
  • Email, IM and other social networking software
  • Controlled by business.

• Virtual Pinball
  • 32-inch LCD monitor 720p resolution
  • Realism – Bump and tilt the machine
  • 17 games –
  • $6,000 – Lifetime guarantee
  • Hammacher Schlemmer

• Hulu – Apple TV
  • $30 for Internet TV
  • Hulu pay model
  • Most unlikely it will be the whole site
• Sneak peak of New Show on ABC

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I love my iPhone. The 3GS has finally got the touch screen right. I can use it without feeling like I am fumbling or fat fingering keys. While the advances are nice, I still have to wonder how Apple can get away with some of the things they do to make me use their stuff. Rejecting competing applications and not giving users a choice to remove apps, all seems to be a recipe for non-competitiveness. Will they continue to get away with it, or will the FTC and EU finally step in? Well if they do, these should be 5 questions they should ask.

Skype. iBoobs. MyShoe. Obama Trampoline. Google Voice. What do these apps have in common? They were banned by the Apple application store. Some of them need to be, but others have no reason.

Ninjawords was an application that had a very hard time to get into the store. The reason why : the dictionary does contain questionable words – Including swear words. It finally was resolved and the application was approved, but who knew the dictionary could cause such a controversy.

Some have had it with the iPhone. Proprietary system in a walled garden makes those who like to play feel imprisoned. Co-founder Steven Frank of the website Panic was one of them. He put out this statement:

I’ve reached a point where I can no longer just sit back and watch this. The iPhone ecosystem is toxic, and I can’t participate any more until it is fixed. As people have told me so many times: It’s Apple’s ballgame, and Apple gets to make the rules, and if I don’t like it, I can leave. So, I don’t like it, and I’m leaving.

The Google Voice application seemed to be the boiling point in the controversy. The biggest reason was because there was a possibility that AT&T wanted the app rejected. Whether that was true or not may never be discovered. If it was really true, then someone like the European Union or FTC should step in.

Now the FCC stepped in on the Google Voice issue. However, the FCC is about protecting rights on a communications level. The FTC protects consumer’s rights, or as the FTC puts it on their website:

-          seeks out and challenges anticompetitive conduct in the marketplace, including monopolization and agreements between competitors;

There are many ways that Apple is wading into murky water. If someone posed the right questions, you would have to inquire if they are making it tougher to compete on their platform – no differently than when Microsoft was accused back in the late 90’s. Therefore, we pose these questions – to think about – for Apple on the iPhone:

1. Why Safari and not another browser?

This is a quote from Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner, who created and is CEO of Opera, an alternative web browser:

“Mr. von Tetzchner said that Opera’s engineers have developed a version of Opera Mini that can run on an Apple iPhone, but Apple won’t let the company release it because it competes with Apple’s own Safari browser.”

If that is the case, then why do we have more than one version of the following applications? Cyclops, pic2shop and redlaser are some barcode scanning apps. Tweetdeck can run your Twitter account. Twitter Pro, Tweetie and TwiterFon are some other applications. Shazam and MusicID both identify music and artists.

Personally, I would rather see and use Firefox on the iPhone than Safari. I know that some Google fanatics would rather use Chrome. Won’t mention IE – Does anyone use that browser? Oh well, those that do would use IE6 anyway….

You might be fidgeting in your seat about using another browser – you like Safari and that is well and good. But look at it this way – Safari comes out with an update that causes a Carpet Bomb or similar issue. The only option you have is to wait for the patch to come out. In the smartphone market, iPhone has 84% of all sales in the last quarter.  With banking applications now being written, that is a lot of data you don’t want to have exposed to the public.

The EU should really look into this point. After all, they made Microsoft give people an option to uninstall IE on their Windows OS. How is this any different for Apple?

1. Why iPhone Mail and not another?

iPhone mail is not as great as I would like it to be. Sure, it can connect to Outlook and Exchange, as well as webmail clients like Google and Yahoo.  Still, it would be great to have the mail, calendar, notes and contacts merged together.  One button to rule them all.

Yet we have to suffer through the iPhone mail. Good thing it’s just a “snapshot” of your actual mail client.  I can still keep it on my servers to deal with at a later time.

1. How come the device can only sync to one computer?

I have a Desktop and a Laptop. I cannot natively set up iTunes to Sync with more than one device. If I do, the phone will delete items I have on it to put what is on the other machine.

There is a “hack” that can be done to fix this. Basically, you fool one iTunes to think it’s on the other computer. It works OK, however, if I set one to not sync music, the setting will move over to the other. There may be another “hack” to fix that – It’s still a hack though.

What is more disturbing? iTunes can easily delete your files – mainly music – but Apple should not have any control to the content on your phone. It’s no different than when Amazon retracted 1984 and Animal Farm from peoples’ Kindles. Even purchased music can get removed from the phone. At least you can get it back by syncing with the other machine I suppose.

There are other 3^rd party applications I can use for sync. Nonetheless, why should I have to use something that is not supported to function properly? When I had the Windows Mobile Phone, the ActiveSync feature would let me set up profiles on different machines. Then I could connect to more than one machine without fear of data loss.

1. Tonight there’s gonna be a Jailbreak.

I am not a fan of any phone that has to be tied to a certain network. At least the worry of “Bricking” the phone is not as much an issue as it was back in the v.1 days. Still – Apple could easily turn a phone into a useless device if they so choose to by a simple update.

In all fairness, the jailbreak issue needs to be addressed on all phones. If I buy a phone for $200-400, then don’t like the service – I cannot return the phone after 30 days. I want the phone on another plan – but can’t get that phone from that other service. That, in turn, keeps me stuck with a phone and waste of money.

So I HAVE to buy into a certain plan. I cannot choose to not have the data plan, for example. I  only have 2 options from AT&T – 450 or 900 minutes. It would have been nice to get a 700 minute plan and keep at the prices I was at with the old phone. Instead I will most likely have a ton of “Rollover” minutes. Minutes that expire if I change plans or “Default” on a payment. Nonetheless, I guess it’s just a good thing I don’t have to select a business plan – they have to pay more.  And yes, the minutes are more of an AT&T issue than Apple, but is the Data plan that way, too?

1. How is it that iTunes can multi-task and another application cannot?

This is the biggest issue I believe. 3^rd party iPhone applications can’t run in the background, yet programs like iTunes can.  And when it comes to smartphones, you just assume they can multi-task. Once again, my WinMo phone could.

I use Stitcher, a push application. While it will continue to play when the phone locks, it will not let me do something simple like check email or SMS.  I then have to restart the app to continue functionality.

I will play devils’ advocate for a second – with a 3^rd party app, a malware program could then easily run in the background without you knowing it. With this way the problem can keep a program from accessing your phone data. Yet, Apple should give some “trusted” applications the ability to become multi-task. They could even create a certification program to justify who gets to make apps that run in the background. Yet I still have to close Stitcher to check my mail, then open it back up.

There are other issues as well, but I think that these 5 are what needs to be addressed. I would expect that if Apples’ rumored “Social Media App” comes to fruition, there may be question as to the other social networks and the Apps that run. Especially if Apple’s social media application doesn’t give a warning about possible adult content.

I am not ready to give up my phone just yet – after all, I JUST got it. However, I am seeing and hearing other people talk about trying out the new Palm Pre, the Android and other smartphones that are not Apple. Even others work feverishly on jailbreaking the iPhone so you can get your desired functionality. But that comes with a price – no warranty support after a jailbreak. So I guess I’ll live in the walled garden – for now.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:32 — 5.7MB)

Viva Las Vegas

In 36 hours I will be back in a city I said I would never go to. Las Vegas. Years ago, I was opposed to gambling. We had a local casino and every time I would step foot in, I would be barraged with “Ding Ding Ding” noises that would irritate me to no end.

That has changed.

Not that I am an excessive gambler, but I have realized that if you are going to start a new business, you are taking a gamble. You put down more money than you can afford and you let it ride. If you are a smart gambler, you know when to move your chips, but nonetheless, they will still be on the table.

I started pulling the slots on a business model about 10 years ago. Crazy ideas on the web. My first Website was “Toonzed” featuring “Cybeeks” – a daily online comic about 2 IT professionals that lived together. It ran for a year and a half.

I did a whole bunch of music stuff in between 2002-2009, including my other current website – WIBands – a place for musicians to talk shop. It was mostly a forum with aspiration for more, but still in the works.

The big jump was when I started doing Geekazine and the podcasts within. I was podcasting prior with “Independant Music Podcast”. That ran for a small while on a monthly basis. I thought with Geekazine, I could take a better gamble and get more out of it.

So far, it’s been a year and a half and I am happy with the results. I have aligned myself with some great people and we help each other out in many ways. With sites like Dorkazine and TVazine upon the portal, I have been able to really ramp up the viewership. Sportazine will be the next in the portal and will be coming up shortly.

So I have been gambling for a while. So why not go to Vegas?

Understand, the two times I went, it wasn’t to gamble in a literal fashion. It was to gamble in a business fashion. In January I went with Todd Cochrane and Andy McCaskey to cover CES with the Techpodcast network. This time it’s with Andy and Kara Karsten to cover the HP Buzzcorps Expo 2009 -  Soon to be called “Ivy world”. They ran contests like “31 Days of the Dragon”, where they gave away thousands in prizes.

We will be putting down video for the week, along with the infamous Backchannel action. I have the camera all ready to go and can’t wait to get going.

So that is my Gamble. I might just play the tables for a bit, too. You never know…

The New Diggs

As you may have remembered, I was totally under the gun when my last lease was up. I held out a few days and it payed off as I found a new place with some great additions. It has this room in the corner of the basement that will be perfect for the Video production. It’s a bit boomy – 4 walls of concrete do that. But it will also be great for when I set up a green screen and produce some higher quality video.

iPhone App?

I have been talking with a few people about an idea for an iPhone app. I feel it will have a good showing and with 2.1 million opportunities to download it, I think that this app may be on at least 3% of the expected 40 million iPhone sales. That would be a potential of 2 million.

I have a developer in toe, but need an investor to cover costs. It is a low overhead, but one I cannot scrape together. I will post more info on Vator when I get a chance.

Where did that come from?

I found out about some cash I had that I didn’t expect. Only problem is it’s in a 401K from a previous job. If I did move it, it would take 120 days to do. I’ll have to figure out what to do. It would be nice to borrow from it so I can get some new equipment, but I am not sure how to go about doing that.

Congrats Sunspot

Sunspot, the band I have hilighted in my latest videos, just put out a new album called “Singularity” I haven’t heard the whole album yet, but I have heard some songs in live shows. If you get a chance, download it.

Win the Epson Artisan 700

Monday is the Quickcast “Week in Tech History” where we will talk about the third step in the Summer of Geekazine contest #1. Don’t worry. It’s actually really simple. And you can get a great printer with WiFi capabilities.

—

That’s all for now. Now it’s time to roll the dice and head out to Vegas. Keep an eye on TVazine for some quick videos next week!

It’s not the newest news, being about two weeks old, but it’s fascinating.

Scientific Blogging reports on the St. Andrews Air (STAIR) Battery, which has the potential to smooth out the delivery of electricity from renewable energy sources, such as wind or solar, removing the peaks and valleys that happen when the wind dies or the sun sets. Read the report here.

The battery uses oxygen from the air to help it do its work, giving it a smaller footprint than other batteries, which are completely self-contained. There’s a neat diagram at the link.

An excerpt is below the fold.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ashton hit 1 million – he was the first – on Twitter. Oprah is at 83,000. CNN, Ellen, Jimmy Fallon, Barack Obama and Shaq are those who make the top list of Twitter Followed profiles.

It seems Twitter is getting us closer to people we see on Radio, TV and Movies. You can find out what someone is doing from wherever you and they are. You can use your computer, phone, mobile device or mental telepathy – if you have an API written for it.

Then there is the chance that you might reply to @aplusk. Then you can say “Ashton talked back to me.” Well, maybe it’s his assistant who’s job it is to watch the twitter account. Even though Ashton is following 73, he can see all the @ replies.

There are those who are trying to find a way to get more followers. The best way would be if you did get a @ reply from Ashton. Really – it’s true: I have seen where I would @ a person, they would @ me back and I saw my followers jump up. And, No – it’s not all spammers and “Qwitters” (People that unfollow you after so many days hoping you will follow them).

Think about it – It’s like if you went to California, ran into Ashton and he said “Hey! Let’s go to Element and have a drink”. You walk up to the door and Ashton shakes hands with the security in the front, then says “Hey, this guy’s with me”. You then walk in without your name being on the guest list. All of a sudden you have people looking at you.

OK, I sensationalized the Twitter experience a little more than usual. But the same result is true. You have a few people going “I wonder what @geekazine is like…”

Now don’t expect to start @aplusk on every twitter he sends. It might get him to block you. It might get your account suspended by Twitter.

Twitter is a great tool to get your name across. If it wasn’t for the social Microblogger, I wouldn’t have met a lot of the people in my profession. I still have a lot to go. Maybe I’ll hit 1 million followers. I suppose I would need to create a million twitter accounts to do that….

BTW – twitter me @geekazine

According to Bloomberg and several other sources, EBay is planning to spin off Skype with an IPO. Read the story here.

Apparently, Skype has never quite fit in with EBay. Here’s an excerpt:

“The only problem with Skype is it’s part of EBay,” said Jeff Lindsay, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York. “It’s a marriage made in hell. They will make more money from spinning it out than they ever could by keeping it.”

Read the rest of this entry »

“No one gets left behind! No one gets left behind! Outstanding soldier!” Frank (Steve Carell) – Little Miss Sunshine (20th Century Fox – 2006)

There are slightly more than six billion people on the planet.Not everyone is connected as those folks in the Silicon Valley areas of the world.We have about 15 +/- percent of the adults who work on systems/devices, creating stuff, collaborating, sharing content/information and even blend the devices into their social networks and entertain.

They buy newer/better/more devices every 3-6 months.

Then we have another 15 +/- percent who use the basic mobile device applications – email, phone, photo/video exchange, use the web for productivity and creativity.They upgrade or add devices every 6-12 months.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Guardian reports that Honda has unveiled a robot that can be controlled by the thoughts of an operator wearing a special helmet. Read the full story and see a picture here.

The control module, if that’s the right word, appears to be slightly larger that a large washing machine, not counting the area where the operator sits. I have no doubt that it will rapidly shrink into something more portable.

An exerpt:

Read the rest of this entry »