Episode 691

In the future, we will love the cockroaches, because they bring the Wi-Fi. Sadly, autonomous deathbots will make life unliveable, and that's assuming the Large Hadron Collider hasn't turned us all into strangelets. In happier news, the music industry is floating a plan to tax everyone who uses the Internet so they can prop up the decaying corpse of their business plan! What a fun day.
==Stories Covered==
The music industry's new extortion scheme
U.S. students, alumni to get legal P2P
MPAA to broadband providers: Pull the plug on pirates
WiMAX pioneer blasts the technology, but should the finger be pointed at him and his IT department?
Amazon tightens grip on printing
Apple’s Leopard lasts ‘30 seconds’ in hack contest
Dell offers sub-$1,000 Blu-ray laptop
Experts uncover world's oldest recording
Doomsday fears spark lawsuit
==From The Phones==
* Gavin
Crazy evil genius wi-fi plan.
* Tony Florida
Mitosis Tom, not Meiosis.
* Barry
Consumer behavior.
==In the Forums==
* Can someone help me with this "error" code I keep getting
by celebratejesus 
* Geek Pop Pilot
by oce.net 
* new industrial design "fetish": vintange microphones...
by shmody 
* CFL use *more* power than incandescentsb/c start-up surge?..
by shmody 
* Opera Browser passed Acid3 100/100
by jarturof
==Emails==
===Anonymous deathbots===
Hi Buzz Crew,
Um, no comment.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/28/british-group-campaigns-against-autonomous-death-bots/
Joe
AKA dOgBOi
===YouTube video identification match===
Hi BOL,
I uploaded a video to YouTube that I created in Final Cut Express (love my new Macbook Pro). It contains some some footage of two of my grandkids and some copyrighted material, so shortly after it uploaded I received the message below. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Sony/BMG is allowing the use of this material, especially since I sent out e-mail links to friends and family as soon as the upload completed (before receiving the notice).
Since I’m celebrating my 43rd birthday on Sunday, it would be a cool birthday present to see my e-mail in the show notes. Also, I get to lay claim to being the youngest and most tech-savvy Grandpa on BOL, beating out that 50-something listener from a few weeks ago. There’s a reason the grandkids call me Grandpa Awesome, but mostly because I taught them to say that.
Here’s the link to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2Y__FD9SDI
Best wishes to all of BOL on my birthday, Grandpa Al Woodstock, Ill.
P.S. Tom and Rafe bicker a lot more like an old married couple on the Real Deal, and when Rafe is on BOL, than Tom and Molly do.
===Human Wi-Fi = higher food prices===
I think that if we had human Wi-Fi, we would have higher food prices.
Here’s why:
When our body needs energy, we eat food so that the sugars and nutrients can be converted into energy. If we had power-hungry Wi-Fi adapters attached to us, we would lose energy more quickly, become hungry, and eat more, increasing food prices.
But I love the idea of a cell phone Wi-Fi router!!
-Cody-
===Free, legal downloadable TV===
Hi Guys,
So now that we’re all big fans of Hulu, NBC seems to have taken it a step further. Actually, it looks like they’ve been doing it for a while yet you haven’t told us about this! Why?! It’s called NBC Direct. I found it here while looking for episodes of Chuck. You install a browser plug-in and download a player and then you’re supposed to be able to store shows on your hdd/ssd. I’m scared to try it because it’s in beta and they acknowledge some mildy scary known problems like “The Open Case Media Agent powering the NBC Direct service “spikes” the CPU usage and does not decrease. A partial solution was rolled out with the 11/20/2007 update (build #5.2.0.1221). A more advanced solution is being developed and will be available shortly.” Also, I’m scared of ad crap in the software and I’m too lazy to research it. Maybe you’ve mentioned this before, but I really don’t remember hearing it, and I haven’t missed more than a few episodes in the last year.
Obligatory love the show (although I do).
Luke the Pastor in Rancho Cucamonga. (I’m Luke the Pastor in Rialto when I’m at work, but now I’m home, thus the location change.)
===BOL cited in scholarly book===
I’m only slightly exaggerating to get your attention. Please read on!
Hey Buzz Masters,
Please keep “indeterminate length” in the title of the show. Mostly I don’t notice it, but when I do it’s the perfect BOL joke: slightly too hip for the room, but in a self-deprecating way. It’s folksy and arch at the same time, which I love. It’s also a true statement.
But most importantly, if you change the title you’ll make the bibliography in my first professional publication less funny. (I know, I know, keep reading).
An excerpt from the bibliography of the chapter on handheld computers I wrote for Library 2.0 and Beyond: Innovative Technologies and Tomorrow’s User. Available at your local library, Amazon, and other fine places.
___
Laporte, L. et al. (2006). This week in tech. [podcast]. Accessed 11/14/2006 from http://www.twit.tv/TWiT.
Lizza, R. (2006, August 20). The YouTube election. New York Times, p.1.
Merritt, T., Wood, M. & Belmont, V. (2006). Buzz out loud: CNET’s podcast of indeterminate length. Accessed 11/14/2006 from http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-11455_7-6457370-1.html.
Microsoft, Nokia have work cut out to rival iPod. (2006, September 6). [Electronic version].
eWeek, n.p. Accessed 11/15/2006 from Infotrac Onefile.
Miller, R. (2005, July/August). Ebooks worm their way into the reference market. Econtent, 30-34.
Mobile phone sales grow 21% in 2005. (2006). Electronic News 52(10), 25.
___
OK, so I’m mildly proud of “Laporte, L. et al.” But you see how the Buzz entry is the only mildly interesting looking thing on the list, and absolutely the only thing with any elegance? Remove the “of indeterminate length” and I’ve gotta put [podcast] in brackets. That’s no fun.
“Indeterminate length” for the win!
Chris the College Librarian
p.s. I know the URL’s changed. It’s in print. What can I do?
p.p.s. I’m secretly hoping this will spark a fight over whether Tom should have gotten top billing.
p.p.p.s. Thanks, folks–everything sensible I wrote was inspired by you or Engadget.
==Additional Notes==
==Quotes==
==After The Credits==
Category:Episodes