Paul Flemo and Adam Plante take us on a video tour around the house, pointing out things that we love. Geek Chick Nic makes an appearance, as does Schmidt and Marc’s new band. Rock on, geeks!
Shut up. I know I hated Apple products forever. I still do. Except I hate them for making me want to buy them because they are oh so hot.
Anyways, I made the iPod Touch plunge. It’s pretty hot I must say.
I jailbroke it immediate using www.jailbreakme.com.
For the uninformed, jailbreak means to unlock the iPhone or iPod Touch so that you can install 3rd party apps. I wasn’t really impressed with the apps available, although Apollo was a pretty sweet IM client. All in all it wasn’t worth potentially killing my warranty so I restored it through iTunes.
I hate safari, but it works really nicely on the touch. Wifi speeds are quick and I don’t think I’ll ever check my Gmail on my laptop again. The finger scroll thingy is awesome for this. Google did a great job on Gmail and Reader mobile I have to say.
At 16 gig it doesn’t store tons, but I never seem to have a collection of music or videos over 10 gig so that’s not a big deal.
I really want to see what Apple allows developers to do with the iPhone SDK. If it is truly open ala Facebook and Google’s Open Social, then it’ll be my next phone.
Typing without a keyboard is a beyatch and I’ll use the touch to get used to it.
My only 2 gripes are the lack of a mail app and no flash on the browser. Are you freakin kiddin me? Apple says flash eats up battery life but so freakin what.
I hate you Apple.
I lurv you Apple.
_drew
News
From the who gives a shit files, apparently “Tom” Anderson the cofounder of MySpace has set a precedence for lying about ones age on the site. According to his profile, he is 32 but records have uncovered that he is actually 37. Michael Arrington from Techcrunch was outraged “If you can’t trust the founders to be truthful in their profiles, how can you trust what anyone says on the site.”
Rumor has it that Google and Verizon are in talks to offer the long-speculated GPhone system. Could it be that Verizon are kicking themselves by not agreeing to Apple’s stipulations over the iPhone? This may their way at getting some form of redemption. Verizon are well known for their restrictions on phones so this rumor may be a signal that they are willing to open things up - it’s tough to imagine. http://techdirt.com/articles/20071031/093942.shtml
Meanwhile Google are looking to roll out Gmail 2.0 which adds some interesting new features. Proported to be faster and more convenient…we wonder if it will finally be out of beta.
Schmidt Faced
Schmidt’s cheap
irus on the virus
Mac porn trojan
(URL: http://www.theregister.com/2007/10/31/in_the_wild_osx_trojan/)
OSX.RSPlug.A
A new trojan for the Mac is out. This one uses social engineering to accomplish it’s goal as it requires the admin password in order to install.
Users on a dubious site are prompted to view a video. The video appears to be a quicktime mov, but is actually a link to a trojan installer. The user when attempting to view the mov, are informed that they will require a special codec to play the movie file, and are provided a link to download the “codec”. What the user is actually installing is a virus known as OSX.RSPlug.A which is a DNSChanger. The site hijacks web requests made to EBay, PayPal, and a few banking sites. So later when a user goes to login to his EBay account, he is unknowingly providing his login credentials to a phishing site. The main thing here is that Macs have been targeted by h4×0rz. As Apple begins to increase their market share, this will become more common. Much of Apples security reputation comes from the fact that almost no one writes virus that work on Mac. Apple has not made any statement about the virus.
Virtual Stripper trojan tricks pervs to aid hackers
(URL: http://www.theregister.com/2007/10/31/captcha-busting_trojan/)
Users play a “game” where a stripper removes clothing when users successfully enter distorted text into text box. The distorted text is provided by the hackers and is coming from bots that are trying to create online accounts at various websites. The bot encounters a CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) image and sends it to a server which sends to an active game session. The user types the letters in plain text for a glimpse of more skin, and the bot is provided the text bypassing the CAPTCHA check. Evil Genius.
Tech it Out
From the Kick me in the Ass for not buying stock files. Google shares are now sitting nicly above the $700 per share mark
Hulu have launched a private beta for those who bothered to sign up and the others who are considered special people.
Today, the Goog (Google) announced that there is no GPhone. But there will be thousands of GPhones instead. Huh?
Basically, Google has formed an alliance of cell networks and phone manufacturers to create an open platform for cellular phones.
Of course, Google will be front and center, so there will be Gphones. But not manufactured by Google. Smart move. Apple is the king of hardware, Google would rather let other people handle that mess, and just put their cool stuff on it.
How does Google do it? Amazing. With their announcement of OpenSocial, which is basically an open platform to build applications to integrate with every major social network (minus Facebook for now), they’re doing it again with the mobile market.
“Alliance” and “Open” are common themes in the Google domination plan lately. Microsoft is notorious for being closed off. Google is simply taking the opposite approach in a huge huge way.
Google is evil. Don’t fall for it. But that’s fine. They’re not more evil than Microsoft is, and at least Google is doing it by the book and letting everyone else do their dirty work. A web monopoly is upon us and rest assured that the zillion lawyers over at Goog have their asses covered.
Evil and smart. And you can’t hate them. You just can’t.
The past year has left me fairly disgruntled about the broadband opportunities here in West Philly. My particular neighborhood’s cable/internet used to be Road Runner (Time Warner). Sometime last year Comcast bought up the neighborhood. I don’t particularly care what’s happening behind the scenes though. I just know that my connection rarely hits advertised speeds. On top of that several times the connection has had issues and I get the feeling the broadband hardware installed in the neighborhood is from web 0.1 beta. Needless to say I’ve been paying attention to new broadband services available.
This is what led me to attend the Verizon block party for MyHome 2.0. Here’s the deal. Verizon is marketing their new FiOS with a show they call MyHome 2.0. Basically they pick a family and give them all new computers and TVs and network it all together in a ‘Pimp my Car’ style reality show. I’m no sucker for reality TV, but I couldn’t resist a chance to check out FiOS for myself. So off I went to learn about FiOS, get a speed comparison of my own, and maybe find one of those glowing vans.
I learned from Freddy FiOS (a Verizon tech) that what makes FiOS different from other home broadband providers is that they bring fiber optic cables direct to prem. ‘prem’ is an industry term for premesis (FiOS hates slow, hence the need for acronyms and shortened words). Yeah Comcast, Road Runner, and the like have fiber optic networks too, but their fiber optic cables go to a substation. From there copper goes out the homes. This means that all the homes connected to a substation are sharing the fiber optic goodness. That’s not the case with FiOS. FiOS was really fast. Here’s a screenshot I took when I ran a speakeasy speed test on the FiOS network. I was in Thornton, PA and ran the test to New York City.
That’s a whole lot faster than I get with my current cable provider and way faster than I thought it would be. But why all that bandwidth? The average user doesn’t need that much now do they? As it turns out, they do. FiOS bandwidth is not just for browsing the web and VOIP. Like cable providers, there are television signals shooting through those wires too. HDTV requires a lot more bandwidth. Many Comcast users wouldn’t notice the difference now, but when all the neighbors get HDTVs and start watching the HDTV channels, talking on VOIP phones, playing Xbox Live, surfing the web, and the like, the network will start to bottleneck. HDTV will show artifacts, the guide channel will take a long time to update, VOIP will sound crappy, and junior will have something other than the controller to blame for his corporal ranking on Halo 3. Home use of the internet far exceeds the bandwidth model of FiOS’s competition in the market. The internet isn’t just for browsers anymore and when every new toaster has a wifi connection, Verizon will be prepared.
Needless to say, like a good podcaster I didn’t leave with out my video camera. The video above shows what I got.
All in all it was a good event and I’ve determined that barring the graces of a T1 fairy or Comcast revamping their concept of a fiber optics network, I will be getting FiOS when it is available in my area. Rumors of FiOS coming to Philadelphia for late 2008 were heard, but nothing was said officially so take it as hearsay. I’ll keep a geek eye on Verizon progress in my area and in the mean time stay acquainted with all those download progress bars.
–Adam Plante
One of the biggest stories over the past couple of weeks is the RIAA’s victory over Jammie Thomas who was ordered her to pay the recording industry $220,000 in damages. Stories from the jury (who deliverated for only 5 minutes before coming up with a decision) are coming out, most of them are admiddedly not savvy net users and didn’t believe her IP spoofing story. One of the Jurors wanted to send a message “that you don’t do this, that you have been warned.”Meanwhile, a support account has been set up on Freejammie.com which crashed as a result of so many users wanting to donate to her cause but is now back up and has collected some $9000. She is appealing.
A hack is now available to add more functionality to the iPod touch, utilizing the Wifi capabilities. Not sure why it wasn’t Apple, potentially licencing restrictions.
http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/11/ipod-touch-now-running-mail-and-more/
IRIS ON THE VIRUS
CrudWare dude fined $25k for pushing his Crud
BEST DAMN GUEST
We sit down with Alive in Baghdad
SCMIDT FACED
Schmidt loves Madonna…not sure if Madonna feels the same way…
YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS SHIT….IF YOU DON”T IGGS’LL TELL YOU
One year anniversary of GoogTube
TECH IT OUT
Google’s rumored cell phone appears to be more like an operating system than a phone
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/11/google-mozilla-and-the-open-source-phone/
GEEK CHICK
Vanity Ring
SITE OF THE WEEK
www.aliveinbaghdad.org
Halo 3 is here and the boys are busy playing the hottest videogame to hit Microsoft’s XBOX 360 since Bioshock. Paul tries but can’t seem to get the crew away from Masterchief, the Flood and the Covenant…
September 25th, 2007.
Taser dude dedication http://youtube.com/watch?v=6bva6jn4rpe&mode=related&search=
Yahoo! acquires Zimbra
GodTube Named Augusts Fastest Growing Site
http://mashable.com/2007/09/18/godtube-comscore/
diggspacebooks? http://mashable.com/2007/09/18/digg-social-network/
nyt now offering their info for free, removing the subscription model and adding the ad supported model. Could be pressure from Murdoch’s newly acquired WSJ who is expected to drop their subscription model for an ad supported one.
Presentlying: Google Presentations
Jobs says Apple will fight iPhone unlocking hacks’It’s a cat-and-mouse game,’ says CEO in London
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewarticlebasic&articleid=9037398
around THE WORLD WIDE WEB
The UK can expect iPhones on November the 9th through the O2 network for 269 pounds
The country of Belgium was put up for sale on ebay.http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/ebay-halts-sale-of-belgium/2007/09/18/1189881479834.html
microsoft vs. EU - Schmidt facedThe Court of First Instance (CFI) delivered its final judgement on the aged lawsuit between the European Union (EU) and Microsoft. The court upheld the earlier victory for the European Union, requiring Microsoft to enable third-party integration to its rivals through documentation and support, to release a version of Windows without Media Player, to pay a substantial fine and to pay the majority of the legal costs of the case.
YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS SHIT, IF YOU DON”T IGGS’LL TELL YOU
We’re celebrating 25 years of the smiley face emoticon. Iggs has more.
TECH IT OUT
Trent Rezner, the outspoken frontman for NiN is speaking out against the RIAA, encouraging fans to “Steal it. Steal away. Steal, steal and steal some more and give it to all your friends and keep on stealing,” calling Universal and the RIAA “greedy fucking assholes”, Said the music industry reps in response “no comment”.AOL are NYC bound in an attempt to become more hip to what the kiddies are doing these days. http://www.nytimes.com
Of course Macs crash, originally uploaded by pragmatic_pete.So yeah. Amazon did something fucking awesome. DRM free MP3’s. Hell yes.
Quite a kick to the balls of the Apple, eh? You don’t even know the half of it.
#1 (and #5) song on amazonmp3.com ?
“So what?” you say?
Not so what. 1234 by Feist just so happens to be teh h0t ass music in the new Apple iPod nano commercial.
Double nut shot!!!
We salute you Amazon!
UPDATE: The top artist on Amazon is “The Apples in Stereo” I’ve never heard of them. Coincidence? Maybe. 2 sack kicks for Amazon, rawk!
_drew
Things that happen at the Best Damn Tech Show, Period. don’t always stay at the Best Damn Tech Show, Period.
Plante’s bringin’ preschool back. Yeah.
The lads at Best Damn Tech Show recommend
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