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TWC Runs for the Hills
Helicopter Hotel is a Hoax
Massive Magazine Ad Sales Slowdown
Housing Economic Recovery Act of 2008 and Tax Implications for eCommerce
TWC Blinks Three Times
NYC Considering Blocking Chatty Cabbies' Phones
News Corp. creates new unit to share content
New venture aims to introduce fees for online news
Twitter can make you immoral, claim scientists
TWC Customers leaving in droves

Show Notes:
New Atomic Clock not very Accurate ;)
Amazon locking out some Kindle users
TWC Runs home to Mama after getting beat down!
Watch out for stuff in your Car
Psystar still delivering PC's
Nokia business down 90%
TWC PR Disaster o BW Caps
Do you blog Anonymously?
Facebook letting Users Decide TOS Fate
National Geographic Amazing Infinite Photograph
Have Mac - Used P2P - Probably Hacked
Apple Market Sales Down
Internet Sales Tax Maybe coming!
Beyond Stupidity on Dominoes Gag
Move Over User Generated Content on YouTube
IPO for Skype would love to buy some Stock
Those that Snoop get Snooped on!
Cobert gets a Treadmil :) ISS gets Tranquility
SSD Encrypted Drives
Digg retreats on Diggbar
AT&T will have to Pay Apple big to Stay Exclusive on iPhone
Proxy + Crime = Same Jail Time
Swiss ISP say No Logging
Pirate Bay Trial Verdict Today
I Don't like those Odds 1-221 for for Hubble Mission
Google wants to play Advertiser with Twitter
Kepler begins search for Planets
A PC Users confessions on Mac Usage
NASA may get more Shuttle Money
Twitter Secret or maybe not so Secret announce today
An Idiots View on TWC - BW Caps
iPhone + WSJ = Free Content
Slingplayer iPhone App Approval in Trouble?

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90# Scam
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New test could eliminate cancer biopsies
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First Cigarette Tax now Soda Tax
TechCrunch Tablet
This looks cool for Windows.

Show Notes:
Palm Pre 5-16-09 Launch
$22.00 iPod Shuffle 3G
ZuneHD.net
OpenSecrets.org
Stumbleupon bought back from eBay
Korean Broadband Speeds
NASA Rover has Lived another day!
Middle Age People dominate Twitter
Miramax gives Show Tickets to wanna be Pirate
22 Firefox Gmail Plugins and Extensions
MPAA Hacking Case Set for Appeal
Where is your Software Easter Egg
Telecomm and TV open for Business in Cuba
2010 Shuttle Retirement Discussion
Where's the Beef?
PG&E Signs Space Power Agreement
Be careful of all downloads sites
Space Junk Sales

In doing that, I went to update my plugins. I go down the list, update each one, find out which ones can't be updated and hope they don't mess up the system.

There was one plugin I really liked. Only problem was it hasn't been worked on since 2006. When WordPress made the move to 2.7, that ultimately made the plugin fail - I couldn't even get into it from the admin side anymore.

Open Source plugins are great, but when they stop getting developed, you could be left out hanging. When Blubrry decided to put out the PowerPress player, it was to counter another Plugin in the PodPress player. Podpress was great, but there were certain glitches that could really affect things like visibility in iTunes.

Before Blogs, I ran a few Web Forums. I only have 1 left and it's not going to go away any time soon. It runs on SMF - or Simple Machines Forum. It's a nice program that had a lot more feature than PHPBB or YABB did at the time.

Now I am seeing the adverse effect of time. Plugins for this software are more 'Hard coded' - basically the code gets put right into the pages - not in a plugin folder that could dissapear tomorrow. When the site goes through upgrades, those plugins get affected and all of a sudden you cannot uninstall them. You have to manually rip them out.

In the case of my forum; I will most likely reinstall it. But with only half of the plugins. The other half havent been updated and their websites are gone. In result, the readers won't be able to do the same cool things they did a couple years ago.

Customizing the software is a neat thing to do. Sometimes it can come back to bite ya. If you are really savvy, you can make the updates yourself. For others who are not everyday coders, we have to suffer through what is out there and possibly fight with the plugin to get it to work.

So for me it's back to the website.I plan the first launch by the end of the month, so I have a lot of work to do.

This came to a head for me over the weekend. As part of my ongoing renovations I have put the centre of my network in a new cupboard under the stairs, which is the central point of the house. In this location I have moved my switch, cable modem, router/wireless and NAS box. Each of these devices have external power supplies. No matter how many options I tried I have not been able to prevent this rather simple setup from becoming a clutter of cable. The problem is that each power cable has a big chunky box in the middle of it which makes it impossible to neatly cable tie them out of the way.

I understand that there is probably some efficiency for companies that have multiple appliances to go throught the AC power regulations and design once for an external supply, rather than once for each device. That does not help me though. Even the design of them, with the input and output cables on opposite ends, makes the cable management of fixed devices hard.

If we cannot eliminate external power supplies can we at least do one of the following in order of preference:

- Have a common DC power standard that can use a single power supply for multiple devices. With each appliance having different voltages, size of connector, and core polarity its hard to mix and match. If I could have one power supply connected to AC under my desk, and DC cables going from this to the device. I would also not have to worry about which adapter goes with which device when I move my desk again.

- Put the input and output lines on the same side. At least then the cables can be looped or run through a cable guide easier. The adaters could be hooked to the wall with the cables neatly running down from them.

- Integrate the plug into the adapter. Even though this crowds the power board sometimes I find it preferable to the 'block in the middle' approach.

I have a few items up for replacement in the near future, when I do I am going to try and find items that don't have external power. I don't know how much luck I will have.

Microsoft has an ad that people are not only getting behind, they're causing controversy. For those of you who have been under a rock, here is the story:

Microsoft bets you can get a PC for under your budget and they'll pay for it if you do. Surprisingly enough, all three people that found a machine chose PC. So they walked out with a new gift.

Let's review the 3 hunters:

Lauren - She drives a VW. She walked into Apple, then back out. She then walked into Best Buy and found a hp Pavillion for $699.

Giampaolo - He is technically savvy. He wanted something with more power for under $1500. Macs are sexy but not powerful. He has big hands. Giampaolo walked into Fryes and purchased a hp HDX

Lisa and Jackson - I am guessing this is a single mom with 1 child - At least that's what it conveys. They wanted a machine for under $1500. They went into Best Buy and saw the Macs. Although they were "pretty" (mom said that), they were too small. They looked at the PC's and Jackson shuttered at the pink one. They ended up with a Sony Vaio.

Let's look at the stats: Out of the 3, 2 bought hp's and 1 got a Sony. Lauren and Lisa / Jackson went to Best Buy, Giampaolo went to Fryes.

So was Microsoft catering to Windows or were they catering to someone else? At the end you prominently saw the brand name. Although they weren't flaunting the stores, you know which ones they went in.

Will this make us walk into a Fryes or Best Buy and buy a hp or a Sony? It's possible. More interesting question: Will it make us walk into an Apple store and buy a Mac?

The hunt continues. Let's see where they go next. Yo, Microsoft - Maybe take them to a "Mom and Pop" Shop? Ohhh! I know. Let's buy a Psystar online!

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Show Notes:
A.P. YouTube Page Suprise to A.P.
A.P. Looses it
Time Warner Focuses on Austin on Purpose!
Metered Broadband will kill Innovation
Copyright & Fair Use
EFF Weighs in on Wiretapping
EFF Content ID Worse than DMCA
PUMA
Fiber Cut and Reward
Electric Power Grid Hack
Blockbuster may have to shut Down
High Speed in Australia
Patch Tuesday will be big
Variable Pricing on Media Sales
Conficker goes to work
French say no to 3 strike rules
Do you access Public Data
TWC Price Gouging
BitTorrent Links removed from Facebook

This tidbit is from the Columbia Journalism Review. Are we all suffering from TMI, aka, Too Much Information?

I listen to podcasts regularly, and then there's NPR programmed into my car stereo, and all the news reading I do online every day, hour after hour. In this day and age, we have the ability to gather and share information quickly an easily minute after minute, hour after hour. I get up in the morning to find that there are new articles in my RSS feed, or new articles on the local news sites, or new articles on the tech sites I visit, and it's barely dawn. Someone was writing those articles, at all times of the day or night.

The real question is, are we suffering from information overload, responding in extreme fear to events that BTI (Before The Internet) we didn't always know about? And how much is too much? I remember after September 11th, I was glued to television and Internet for information. After about four or five days, one of my friends confessed to me that she felt overwhelmed and just had to unplug for a while. I knew exactly how she felt, as I'd been feeling it too. And sometimes, it's not that I feel overwhelmed, but I almost feel desensitized by all the of the information pouring in.

In fact, brain research shows that we do our best thinking when we're not engaged and focused, yet fewer of us have time for downtime when we are allowing technology and information overload to take over. So if we are spending the majority of our time being "connected" and taking in information, how can we have the "down time" required to think up our best ideas and solutions?

Is it time to tune out, unplug, and re-sensitize?

I know one of the reasons I don't Twitter is because of the sheer amount of time and "connectedness" I'd have to employ to maintain it. It is also the reason I do not have a smart phone and refuse to get one. I am online all day and am available on instant messenger for anyone who needs me, and on Facebook regularly to stay connected with my kids and friends and events I may be involved in. I'm already feeling too locked in and too connected from those things, yet I keep doing them. Now I have to wonder if my creative ideas are being suppressed in all the "busy-ness" of all of my connections and information resources. It's too easy for me to be online, virtually anywhere and any time, with a laptop under my arm and WiFi everywhere I go.

Maybe it's time to take at least a short step back. Maybe I'll find it isn't so bad to be a little less connected.

This is great policy in terms of IT, economic stimulus and social equity. Surprisingly good from the same policy makers that brought us the great Australian firewall (more on this later). Rather than leaving it up to businesses to make economic decisions on where they can make the best profits from placing infrastructure, the government has decided to ensure everyone gets a chance by funding access for everyone. Suppliers of Internet services will then provide their services on top of this. This is identical to other utilities where the government supplies the base infrastructure to the homes and the service providers pay for access to provide their services over it.

Not only does it help to ensure everyone in the country has access to high speed broadband, it also increases the ability for true competition to exist in the market. Currently all of the Telco infrastructure is privately owned by the major carriers who despite some legislative controls, can block access to their competitors. This will allow smaller and local businesses to offer competitive options for Internet services and creative bundling of services like phone, broadband, television, etc.

What will still be lacking is the quality of service to the outside world which is restricted by the distance we are from everything. Our links to the US are not large enough to get good throughput from there now, and upping the links to everyones homes will not improve this situation. It could produce new options for local businesses though for high definition content hosted within country.

I am not holding my breath until the roll-out reaches my house as it will be an 8 year project in total. We might finally get to the technological level promised for the 90's.

But the tide shifted when Adobe lost their tight control on the PDF production framework. Now anyone can make a PDF, for free, any time, using software that is usually already installed or easily installed as a plug-in to existing products. Microsoft Office has a save-to-PDF plugin, and so does Open Office. And now, Firefox does too. Self-publishing websites now have their own proprietary and functional PDF converters for use by authors, and if all else fails and you can find nothing else,you can go out and download a free PDF creator like PDF 995, or PDF Converter from SourceForge. Many of these freebies now come with all the bells and whistles of Adobe Acrobat Professional, including style sheets, text-to-audio creation functionality, and complete creation tools.

I played a bit today with the Firefox plugin, which is made by Nitro, and it is adequate for the task. It is easy to save off a PDF of a website, links intact, for use in presentations or just to save for archival purposes. My complaint would be it doesn't allow me to change any settings, and it is a bit slow to create the page. The output is really good, though, so it's not a bad tool at all.

There is no reason for anyone not to be able to produce a PDF these days, whether or not they have Adobe Acrobat Professional.

Scientists studying land-based telescope views discovered a gassy planet orbiting a nearby star (HR 8799), and then went back to images from Hubble that are at least ten years old to see if they could get a closer look. By using computer technology to "clean" the image, they were able to get a closer look at the gassy planet, which may not be as gassy as once thought. It might actually be water and land-filled, refueling the speculation that other planets can hold life as well. As in, "we are not alone."

I've always been fascinated by Hubble's images, and when images can be used to further develop scientific theories and expand on unkowns in our astronomical world, that is all that much better. It still bothers me to think that Hubble will be retired some day, as it is providing so much right now for scientists studying "other worlds."

What exactly does "broadband" mean? According to ATT, it's anything not dialup. To others, like the Communications Workers of America, it is anything over 3 mb. And since our median "broadband" speed in this country is about 2.3 mb, while Japan boasts an median of 63 mb and Canada about 7.6, what are we truly talking about when we talk about broadband?

And what is meant by "underserved" areas? Is it rural areas with no access to broadband? Or is it broader than that, applying to any area that can't get 3 mb or more, which includes both urban and suburban areas?

This is what the FCC is trying to figure out, and is open to comments through April 13th. The acting chairman of the FCC, Michael Copps, believes his agency is up to the challenge of defining these terms for the purposes of deploying the stimulus funding. But he notes that President Obama's long-term goal is to get broadband deployed deep into the country, which could place rural deployment of broadband at the top of the list.

I'm all for that, since I've been craving a move to the country for some time. But I also want to see fatter pipes, to the tune of at least 10 mb, if not more. I realize I'm very blessed at this moment to have a realistic 8 mps down and 3 mb up on a regular basis, but I'm living in an area where the majority of people are using dialup, and if I were to move even one more mile further away from the main metro area, I would lose any type of broadband altogether. I'm also one of those that believes true broadband (I subscribe to the better-than-3mb club) should be a basic utility, just like gas, electric, and phone service. To me, it is no different.

You can submit your own comments to the FCC, through April 13th, on this important determination. Visit www.fcc.gov for more information, or take this link to go directly to the comment instructions (PDF file).

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Listener Links:
www.blellow.com
Second Laptop Hunter Ad on Loose
Firefox Tabs Folder Style
Space Shuttle in Legos
Time Warner Net Neutrality Not

Show Notes:
Hubble Triple Galaxy
Copyright Holder threatened with Copyright Violation
Zecco April Fools gone Foolish
Antarctic Bridge Gone
Fonera 2 Coming Soon
BoinxTV Mac Screen Application
Microsoft Ad goes after Apple Big Time
FriendFeed Live Stream
XP until April 2010
FCC to look at American Broadband Policy
Time Warner its all about slowing down Innovation
UK Storing User Internet Data for 12 Months
EU Gravity Satellite in great shape
The Daily Hack
Ad Block Plus Maintainer RIP
Security Threat Analysis Review
President Obama keeps Pres Bush Wiretapping Protections in Place
X-Men Leak and Dumb Fox Columnist
ISS in all its Glory
ISS Crew Quarters
Mortgage Fraudsters
A.P. = MPAA = RIAA Protectionism at it's best!
Windows 7 can be downgraded to XP
iTunes Light
Mini Hydro Turbine
Pogo Plug Review
Believe it or Not
Optimal's Electric Car

A new small study out of Australia has come forth to reinforce an earlier study done in the states that indicate that personal surfing actually increased productivity by about 9%. The indication was for those that surfed 20% or less of their at-work time. 20% is quite a bit, in my mind, but that's probably about how much time I spend doing personal stuff at work. That 9% figure is pretty astonishing; I have never missed a deadline and often work on complex projects that have a lot of pieces to keep up with, and a lot of people to keep focused on the goal. Yet, I do surf non-work-related sites on a regular basis.

The presumption, from both studies, is that those short surf-breaks allow the mind to re-gather its resources and enhance concentration for continued productivity. That makes sense, but I believe there is an old adage at work: if you want something done, give it to a busy person. Busy people manage to do everything that is required, plus some, but also don't give up their own selfish pleasures while they are doing it. I am often told I'm one of those people, as I accomplish considerable tasks and meet many goals, yet I still indulge my own guilty pleasures along the way, because life is too short to do otherwise.

Now, if we can just convince companies to stop spending their profits on unnecessary blocking software, that could be a good thing. It is obviously a good thing to surf a little on company time.

I am surprised at how many techs in my department either don't know about tabs, or haven't tried them. One of my coworkers has so many instances of her browser open that there is no task bar left, and I can't imagine how she even figures out which item is which in that mess, the tabs are so squished in her task bar.

I rarely use IE, so I can't speak as confidently about how tabs work in it as I can about Firefox, which I use 99% of the time. If you're a tech and not using tabs in the browser, I'd be interesting in knowing why not. If you haven't heard of them before, or tried them, you should.