Episode 817

It's an exciting time to be in the market for a confusing incremental upgrade to your wireless broadband speeds, especially if you're into white space. Donald Bell joins the cast today for a rollicking discussion that includes a trifecta of unexpected good news for actual consumers. It's very exciting. Especially the part about the giant human smiley face in Russia. 
==Stories Covered==
Judge declares mistrial in RIAA-Jammie Thomas trial
DoJ agrees: IP enforcement bill is a bad idea
T-Mobile lifts 1GB cap from new Android phone
Move over, Netflix — Roku to open the box
Google founder lobbies FCC to free spectrum
MySpace launches interactive music service with labels, Amazon
Asus adds 3.75G to latest Eee PC; What the hell is “3.75G”?
Netbooks win top-selling spots on Amazon
Chinese say they’re building ‘impossible’ space drive
Russian town puts giant smiley on Google Maps
==From The Phones==
Anonymous Viagra
==Emails==
===Email to Replace MMS?===
Sorry, I have to be a whinger and disagree with your conversation from BOL 815. I think e-mail would be perfect, and in the end should replace MMS. If the e-mail client on phones became more streamlined, then it would be difficult to see the difference, and you would have a far wider range of options for sending and receiving (on your phone, computer or other e-mail-enabled device). Call me stoopid, I just don’t get MMS. It seems redundant.
Patrick Hanlan
===Phones to Unlock Cars, What Took so Long?!===
Hey, Buzz Crew,
In response to the story on episode 816 about using your phone to unlock/start your car: what took so long?! I have been waiting for this for years, not only because it means I might no longer have to carry around keys and a phone, but also because I think the security of this device could be much better than a normal set of keys. You seemed worried about someone getting your phone and then being able to find and steal your car. But what if your phone had a built in fingerprint reader or some other method of authentication (even if it’s just a simple 4-digit PIN as you mentioned), and required you to authenticate yourself before it would unlock your car? Also, many phones already have remote data wipe, so if you lose your phone you can just wipe it and your personal data and your car are safe. Furthermore, if the phone is required to start the engine and keep it running, and if your phone has a GPS device built in, a thief is forced to carry around a real-time tracking device if they want to take your car.
I don’t even know how tightly integrated the phone and key portions of the system can be, and I know there are issues such as the phone’s battery dying, but I think that eventually this technology could be both cool and very secure.
Love the show,
James from Texas/South Korea 
===Apple to Disallow Tethering Apps?===
Hey JaMoTo (or… whoever happens to be filling in today)
In case you haven’t heard, Nullriver has posted a notice saying that Apple is going to now disallow any tethering apps.
WHAT!? Molly, help me rage a little bit here.
Tethering is officially supported in MANY countries (including up here in Canada!) by the telcos. WHY can Apple not just find out which countries it is allowed in and selectively allow it in those App stores? Ridiculous!
To make matters WORSE--I managed to buy the app while it was still available for $9.99. However, this means Nullriver can’t do any updates for it. What if 2.2 firmware breaks Netshare? Can I get my $10 back?
A big WTF, Apple. You are really starting to make me angry.
Kevin
==Additional Notes==
==After the Credits==
Category:Episodes