Secretly Listening to Dr. Demento
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| Secretly Listening to Dr. Demento | |
| Number | 2797 |
| Broadcast Date | JUNE 29, 2016 |
| Episode Length | 40:11 |
| Hosts | Tom Merritt |
| Guests | Scott Johnson, Tamar Sandel |
How transistor radios paved the way for smartphones. Tech historian Tamar Sandel talks with Scott Johnson and Tom Merritt about what we owe the cheap radios of the 1950s and 1960s.
Guest
Top Stories
- It's official. Windows 10's Anniversary Update will arrive August 2. Here are some more top stories.
- Facebook published a document explaining changes to how things show up in its news feed. The post by VP, Product Management, News Feed Adam Mosseri emphasizes that user interest and friends and family are priorities over publisher and advertiser needs. After friends and family, Facebook tries to prioritize items that inform and entertain, based on behavior such as likes and clicks. Facebook also encourages users to use the “unfollow,” “hide” and “see first” options on News Feed options to help the algorithm improve. Facebook does expect the changes may cause reach and referral traffic to decline for some pages.
- Google's Project Zero researcher Tavis Ormandy says they found vulnerabilities in 25 Symantec products including Norton Antivirus. Some of the vulnerabilities could be triggered by emailing a file with no user interaction required. Symantec has published fixes for all the vulnerabilities. Ormandy chided Symantec for allowing its unpacker to have kernel access and using 7-year-old code in need of updates in its decomposer library.
- Submitted by flyingspatula
- Amazon announced today that they will begin offering Prime members discounted unlocked smartphones, with pre-installed Amazon apps and lockscreen ads. Similar to what Amazon does with its Kindle with Special Offers, this is the first time Amazon will subsidize a device not sold with their branding. The first two devices will be the Moto G for $150 and the BLU R1 HD for $50. The ads will appear both on the lock screen as well as below lock screen notifications, although these can be swiped away. Amazon did not announce a release date.
- Submitted by habichuelacondulce
- Uber will now use information gathered from drivers phones to send a weekly score card, speeding alerts and reminders to take breaks. The Uber app for drivers will use the gyrometer, accelerometer and GPS to collect data. Uber has been experimenting with looking at the data to confirm complaints about aggressive driving. Monthly reports sent to drivers in some markets resulted in a 10% reduction in harsh braking. The features will roll out in 11 cities across India and the US.
- Sony CEO Kaz Hirai told investors it started a robot division in April to provide "emotionally compelling experiences." Hirai also expects the PlayStation VR which launches in October to lead a future area of growth and hoped dual-lens cameras might slow the slide in sensor sales. Sony also announced UStream will no longer be an option for streaming gameplay from the PlayStation 4 after August 1st. UStream broadcasts will no longer be viewable in Live from PlayStation either. Sony will continue to support Twitch, YouTube and DailyMotion. And while Sony wouldn't confirm the number of PlayStation Vue Numbers, Bloomberg says sources tell it Sony has signed up more than 100,000 subscribers since March 2015.
- Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto told investors the company did not display the Nintendo NX console at E3 because it is concerned about copycats. The NX is expected to arrive in March. Myamoto also said Nintendo has the core technology for VR but wants to release, "something that can be played for long periods, carries value, and is affordable." Engadget notes that in a slide presentation, Nintendo said it is shifting focus from expanding the gaming population to increasing exposure of Nintendo's characters and game titles.
- This afternoon, HTC confirmed to the Verge that it has established a wholly-owned subsidiary called HTC Vive Tech Corporation in order to develop its VR business.
- For a limited time Microsoft is offering a free Xbox One with the purchase of a Surface Pro 4 according to Microsoft’s head of Windows and devices Terry Myerson. The bundle is only available at the Microsoft Store in the US and only to students, parents, and faculty. According to Polygon Users must add both a $899 Surface Pro 4 and a $299 Xbox One to their cart to get $299 taken off at checkout. The deal goes live today and runs until August 14th.
Discussion
Messages
- Please don't promote a new DRM site for games on my PC I have steam origin uplay already installed so I can play all my games and even that mostly only if I am online so no chance on a train.
There are tools that are easier like gog.com's galaxy that is optional ( okay they are more like steam).
DRM is bad and fraudulent codes should rather be blocked from selling then having new DRM.
Greets - Sent by J from Frankfurt Germany
- Please don't promote a new DRM site for games on my PC I have steam origin uplay already installed so I can play all my games and even that mostly only if I am online so no chance on a train.
- A similar example to game codes are the digital download codes for movies that come with DVDs and blu-rays. There are also promotional codes that are given away with orther merchandise, and occasionally even sold at discount prices, although that's rare.
So while these codes aren't usually sold directly, the similarity is that there is a large gray market for these unused codes. Movies have strong DRM, just like some games, but there can be fraud around the purchase that obtained the code. - Sent by Alan
- A similar example to game codes are the digital download codes for movies that come with DVDs and blu-rays. There are also promotional codes that are given away with orther merchandise, and occasionally even sold at discount prices, although that's rare.
YouTube
Links
| Preceded by: "50 Shady Grey Markets" |
Secretly Listening to Dr. Demento |
Followed by: "Austin as a Service" |