Pay-ple of Wal-Mart
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| Pay-ple of Wal-Mart | |
| Number | 2643 |
| Broadcast Date | DECEMBER 10, 2015 |
| Episode Length | 34:31 |
| Hosts | Tom Merritt |
| Guests | Justin Robert Young |
Comcast says data caps are just the same as paying for fuel and Verizon wants to let sponsors pay for your data caps. Are data caps here to stay? Tom Merritt and Justin Young discuss.
Guest
Headlines
- Following on Google open sourcing of its deep learning engine, TensorFlow, Thursday morning, Facebook announced it will open source designs for its Big Sur computer server. Big Sur uses 8 GPU boards with dozens of chips on each, to run AI algorithms. Facebook designed the machine with manufacturer Quanta and GPU maker nVidia.
- Facebook is testing a way to keep the News Feed fresh and allow commenting even when a user doesn’t have a data connection. Facebook will rank downloaded but unviewed stories based on relevancy and factor in image availability. When data connection is slow or lost, relevant unread stories are displayed instead of a spinner. Comments can also be made while offline and cached locally until a data connection is re-established. Facebook says it will roll out the new features “over time”.
- Google is rolling out collaborative shared albums for Google Photos today according to a company blog post. Like before an album can be shared with just a link. Recipients of the link can add their own photos and videos and get notifications when new pics are added. Plus photos and videos from a shared album can be saved to Google Photos library. Shared albums is available for Android, iOS and the web today, along with Chromecast support.
- PC Mag reports a new Flickr app for Gear VR highlights 360-degree photos from Flickr. Flickr claims tens of thousands of 360-degree photos have been uploaded over the years. You can get the Flickr VR app from the store tab at the bottom of Oculus Home.
- CNET reports that Chromecast Audio has two new updates: multi-room music is now supported. If you group speakers under one name in the Chromecast app, you can stream to all of them. Chromecast Audio now also supports high resolution music files up to 24 bit/96kHz over Wi-Fi. What was that? I can't hear you, because I'm playing awesome high-res music ALL OVER MY HOUSE.
- Wired reports Baidu announced its autonomous BMW 3-series car successfully navigated an 18.6-mile complicated route through Beijing. The route included side streets and highways, making turns, u-turns, lane changes and passing other cars. Baidu says it’s aiming first for autonomous vehicles that will be limited geographically like for a bus route. Reuters adds Samsung said Wednesday it will create a team to develop in-car entertainment, satellite navigation and other autonomous driving technology.
- EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova said Thursday that a new safe harbor deal to allow easier data transfer between Europe and the United States will include a suspension clause that could be activated under “concrete conditions.” The EU is seeking certain privacy guarantees. Commissioner Jourova said she hoped the deal would be in place by January.
- Automattic launched a Windows app for Wordpress. The app works with any wordpress.com site or a Wordpress install with Jetpack installed. A Wordpress app for OSX was launched November 23rd. A Linux version is coming soon.
- Reuters reports that Wal-Mart has launched its own mobile payment service Thursday, called "Walmart Pay'. The service will be available on Apple and Android devices and allow payments with any major credit, debit, pre-paid or Walmart gift card. The company had been co-developing the CurrentC mobile wallet with other retailers and similar to CurrentC requires customers to scan a code on the register with their phone camera in order to pay.
- Submitted by KAPT_Kipper
Discussion
- “The more bits you use, the more you pay”: Comcast CEO justifies data caps
- Comcast VP: 300GB data cap is “business policy,” not technical necessity
- ISPs tell government that congestion is “not a problem,” impose data caps anyway
- Verizon reportedly testing ‘toll-free’ data in the coming days
- Verizon to Start Testing ‘Toll-Free’ Data in Coming Days
- Analysis: Wireless data caps more about profit than congestion
Pick of the Day
- Anyone shopping for cars (or simply interested in online video car reviews) should check out Alex on Autos (alexonautos.com or the aptly named Alex on Autos YouTube channel). If you can get past his quirky mannerisms, Alex Dykes is one of the most detailed car reviewers online. Beyond the subjective musings of most reviewers, Alex on Autos goes the extra mile (pun intended) to painstakingly explain every little design detail, changes from previous models, how the cars stack against the competition, and he will often take on helpful sidebars to explain infotainment setups and important technology/safety or design features. One great example of this is his 2015 Acura TLX review (https://youtu.be/ZU1FqjV1Y4c) where at about 13:40 mark the reviewer takes a break from the vehicle review to explain an important difference between the two transmission setups on the different trim levels - while most reviewers won't take the time to explain this, rather just tell you one feels subjectively "better" than the other, I find the educational overview to be vastly more fulfilling than listening to someone peddle his or her opinion as fact. Anyhow, I hope this is helpful to some listeners out there - love the show, thanks for all you do.
- Submitted by Chris from (often misrepresented and misunderstood) Jersey
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| Preceded by: "Leaking Mr. Bitcoin." |
Pay-ple of Wal-Mart |
Followed by: "SHAnanigans" |