May 2008 Archives

The folks at Psystar have delivered demo units to both Engadget and CNET. The machines are real, and while they have a few issues the most important thing is that their are now White Label Macs available. The Genie is now out of the bottle.

What this should do is encourage hackers to start creating drivers for a variety of devices for OS X. What I expect to happen next is that Apple will patch Leopard in a way that it will close the door on people from doing this. Not to mention the lawyers working overtime to stop the folks at Psystar from selling these units.

While I am not sure how many people will purchase these white label macs, it sure is surprising that it has taken so long for it to happen. [CNET]

I am working on my plan for the 2008 People’s Choice Podcast Awards. I am looking at some major changes, part of it has to do that we have no venue at New Media Expo this year.

We have been able to hold the event on a very small budget in the past, and I do not think this is possible this year with the NME being in Vegas the cost are considerably higher. I am open to suggestions.

One thing I thought we could do is have the awards ceremony virtually, while not as glamorous we realized last year that more people watched the awards ceremony via Ustream.tv than actually attended the event.

I will have more information shortly. But don’t fear we will have a great event regardless of the awards venue. Heck I might even consider having the awards ceremony at a Podcamp event. [PodcastAwards.com]

I have for years hoped for a large-scale and economical solution to our fossil fuel woes. One of the biggest problems with solar is the cost to produce it. While coal-fired power plants can make electric at a cost of about five to seven cents a kilowatt hour, solar costs between fifteen and twenty cents per kilowatt hour to produce. This means that large-scale adoption of solar is limited, and there is absolutely no reason for utility companies to even consider solar as part of their production method.

Sunrgi (pronounced sun-er-gee) means to change all that. Part of the problem with producing cost-effective solar is that getting enough production from normal photo cells means having acres and acres of solar panels. If too much sun is concentrated on photo cells, they overheat and are destroyed, thus the need for having so many panels to capture small bits of solar energy at a time. Sunrg has developed a way to concentrate the photovoltaics to produce up to 100 times more energy to one solar panel, and has developed their own (proprietary) system for heat removal, which takes the burn out of the cells. Combining these two things gives us a product that can produce power at a cost of about five cents a kilowatt hour in a smaller space and without the need for large amounts of water or high-cost mainenance.

Can I get one on my roof? Yes, but the initial push of sales from Sunrg will be to utility companies, government bodies, and large companies with a need for renewable energy sources. Prototypes have already been produced and tested not only in the lab, but in the field. Production should begin in twelve to fifteen months.

I encourage you to visit their website, and especially their FAQ section, which answered a lot of my initial questions about how the product works. Are we finally going to get the solar-based power we've been hoping for?

Headed for Honolulu four shows on the road is enough for me for a while and I am looking forward to getting back to the studio.

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31 Days of the HDX Dragon Notebook Giveaway
02 May - 09 May www.absolutevista.com
03 May - 10 May www.arstechnica.com
04 May - 11 May www.osnn.net
05 May - 12 May www.jkontherun.com

Full Show Notes Link

If were a Yahoo stockholder I would be in a mild panic today, with Yahoo walking away from a ridiculous amount of money the stock is going to headed to pre-offer levels and then some tomorrow morning.

I just hope all the employees were able to dump their vested shares last week because after tomorrow the stock is going to drop like a sinking ship.

Reports are all over the place discussing stockholder lawsuits. Greed caused the Yahoo board of Directors to demand to high a price for a company that is already getting smoked in the online marketplace by Google.

I really thought Yahoo would play ball but instead they have lost in extended innings. At least Microsoft will not have to deal with the deals Yang was putting in place to make it as painful as possible. [Idiots]

I unexpectedly discovered I could go a week without the Internet and survive. I had a conference last week and decided to take the family and extend it into a mini break. Moderately remote location in wine country, but advertised to have broadband connection so all good, no special planning required. The best laid plans of mice and men though. After a couple of busy days and nights conferencing, I started to catch up on a couple of things only to have my laptop die most completely.

While it was good to have the time with less distraction, going cold turkey in an unplanned way doesn't do good things for the stress levels. So back home now for a Monday of catching up with work emails, personal emails, I am completely behind in the news, missed getting my football tips in, lost an ebay sale because I didn't answer a question in time.

While its good to get some time away from the world it is preferable to do so in a planned way. Hope all of your weeks went well. If you find yourselves in Sydney though, a trip north to the Hunter Valley wine country is well worth it, beautiful!

J.K. Rowling, author of the arguably iconic Harry Potter series of books, has recently been in the news for suing Steve Vander Ark, the author of the online Harry Potter Lexicon guidebook, for infringement. The Lexicon was a labor of love for Vander Ark, who is a zealous fan of the Harry Potter books. He produced and maintains the Lexicon as a free resource for Harry Potter readers everywhere. He also made zero, zip, zilch dollars on this labor of love.

Rowling believed his work was infringement, so sued Vander Ark. Who can blame Vander Ark for feeling like he's been slapped in the face by someone he'd held in high regard.

As the lawsuit progresses (it is still undecided as of this writing), several authors have come forward to add their opposing literary two cents to what is going on. What makes this remarkable is that two of these authors are extremely popular, well-known icons themselves. The first was Neil Gaiman, author of a truckload of graphic novels and the two standout literary works, American Gods and The Anansi Boys. The other is Orson Scott Card, whose work Ender's Game won Hugo and Nebula awards in 2006.

Both of these authors would know something about infringement. Both take the attitude that to be emulated is flattery; to build on an idea, image, or reference is something to be proud of, not something to be squashed like vermin. In addition, Card makes a point of connecting the dots between some of the action and characters in his most famous work to that of Harry Potter. It is possible, and likely, that Rowling herself "borrowed" ideas, actions, and characters from other work that she'd read.

What both writers are pointing out, however, is that derivative works, websites by fans, and items like the Harry Potter Lexicon, do nothing but increase your visibility and brand. There is no downside to that kind of viral marketing. The fact is, the publication of Vander Ark's reference guide could only increase Rowling's popularity and the connected interest in her work. I would do a lot of things for that kind of publicity surrounding a book I'd written. The more the merrier. It all translates into increased book sales and increased interest in the author. How can that be a bad thing?

The folks at Podcast.com have been tracking which podcast are listened to the most over at their site. We have been in their Top 25 list each month this year. In April we were ranked 16^th, which we feel pretty good about considering that 15 of the Top 25 are mainstream media shows, and that 3 of the remaining 10 are sex shows.

Only one other podcast in the Top 25 was a tech show. While we never get any love from iTunes we do get a lot of love from other sites. Geek News Central Podcast continues to grow and have an amazing listnership. Top 25 Podcast for April

Back in Hawaii a great deal cooking including more HDX Dragon Giveaways $4500.00 value and 31 chances to win one of your very own. Listen to Win!

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31 Days of the HDX Dragon Notebook Giveaway
02 May - 09 May www.absolutevista.com
03 May - 10 May www.arstechnica.com
04 May - 11 May www.osnn.net
05 May - 12 May www.jkontherun.com

Link to full Show Notes

Over the past several weeks our lead developer at RawVoice has been working on updates to the RawVoice Podcast Statistics Service. Those that are currently using the service will notice some changes to the free offering that greatly improves improves the user experience. [Details Here]

My team is also very close to introducing a premium service that will offer greater detail to existing data, along with more reports that will extend the bar even further allowing the RawVoice Podcast Statistics service to continue to be the most feature rich podcast statistics service in the industry.

We will continue to make available the free service, but the list of plus up features will be so good that are hopeful that many of you will want the premium service for a small monthly fee. RawVoice will have an announcement soon on pricing and exactly what the premium package will include.

Disclaimer: I am the CEO of RawVoice if you did not know that already!

Comcast is looking to put in place transfer limits of 250gb a month. Even more distressing is that they are considering charging users $15.00 for every 10gb that they go over that limit.

This will change the Internet as we know it. I shudder to think about having to deal with those types of transfer limits. For people who live in areas where Comcast is a monopoly they will really be screwed.

My family of 4 consumes a great deal more than 250gb a month. I use Amazon Unbox, I subscribe to nearly 100 podcast, I have a Apple TV and a myriad of other bandwidth using boxes.

This would essentially mean the death of streaming audio, podcasting, Apple TV, IPTV and a number of other services. Users are going to protest wildly but this may for once and for all create some competition in the market place. [DSL Reports]

I will be giving a presentation on Podcasting in Second Life on Monday May 12th at 6pm PST or 6PM SL time on Podcast Island.  

I will be presenting a talk on, Securing a Sponsor in the New Media Space, which will include invaluable tips on how to build your show and it’s brand even if you are not seeking a sponsor.

The podcaster meetups take place in the Blogger and Podcaster Magazine building on Podcast Island. IM Itazura Radio, Chugabug Goodnight, or Radar Masukami in-world for more information. [More Information]

Note: I will likely stream this on Ustream as well.

As you all know for a long time I ran my own forums here at Geek News Central. In all honesty it was a pain because every time I turned around we had an issue with the application. Either there was a security issue or some spammer had dropped in a bunch of post.

Today I discovered Lefora via an Article on Robert Scobles Website and went over and setup a new forum, the podcast audience has been asking for one so I decided to put it up for them. More on that on the next podcast but if you are looking for a way free forum. The folks over their are offering free forum hosting by lefora.

Unfortunately what they are actually trying to advertise is their own competing phone. The series of Internet ads being planned by Sprint could end up costing them a lot of actual money. And as each of them show the competing product. Sometimes the way to create a buzz in marketing is to break the rules. The unwritten rule that mentioning the competitors product in your advertising causes your audience compare when they might not have. This is generally to your detriment so is usually a risk not taken by marketers.

I am being a bit glib here, in this case this might be one of those exceptions to the rule. When a particular product is so dominant within a market that it becomes a defacto choice, then aligning your product with that competitors name gets you into the perception of customers that might not have even looked elsewhere. In this case the iPhone is so much part of the geek zeitgeist that there have been many that have bought it without considering anything else and despite some of its flaws, like not being 3G.

This is also a less risky move by Sprint because the iPhone is not really a competitive product for them. What they are really competing against is the AT&T network. The dynamic of the market though, is that an exclusive contract for a popular product is temporarily skewing the market. Sprints aim is probably more to cause people who might not even consider alternatives before walking into the Apple store to realise that other possibilities exist. This gets them thinking about the other factors they are ignoring in choosing an iPhone locked to the AT&T network. When the network is not being considered Sprint aren't even in the game so they need the decision on the phone to be harder so they have a chance.

Given that Sprint will eventually get a future version of the iPhone any positive effect on the Apple brand is probably not a bad thing for them in the long term anyway.

While Gizmodo clearly think this idea is all bad, I can see some sense to it. The main problem I see is that it is too late. The majority of the people who will buy an iPhone regardless of what else is out there is probably mostly gone. There might be a core potential market that have been witing for a plan to run out before buying if they are lucky. They have a much better idea of the market dynamics than I do, I hope.

If you're a Firefox geek, like I am, you are always looking for ways to make it work better for you. It is one of the advantages of having something open source that lots of developers can work on. I know, the majority of the world still runs on Microsoft Internet Explorer, but like a good Firefox evangelist, I'm continually trying to convert people to the lighter side of the browser world. If you've not been converted, what are you waiting for? Go visit Mozilla today and get your very own copy! It's FREE! It's easy to use! It's reasonably safe from spyware and adware and all kinds of other nasty beasts. Really, there's nothing to be afraid of! Go on! Do it today!

Er. Sorry. I think I got off track there for a minute.

Anyway, I have daily contact with plenty of people that use Firefox add-ons to enhance their use of the browser. I'd like to point out a few of these add-ons today that my visually impaired students are using on a regular basis.

Text Size Toolbar
This add-on creates tools on your standard toolbar that gives you three quick links: to enlarge, to reduce, or to "equalize" or bring back to its default size. The tools are unobtrusive, easy to manage, and quick to use.

QuickZoom
Adds two buttons to the status bar that are the equivalent of the crtl+ and ctrl- commands. Right-clicking on either of the two buttons returns the view to its default size.

QuickZoomCM
Adds three menu items to the context menu (right-click menu) that allows you to enlarge, decrease, or return to default size.

Accessibar
Adds a complete toolbar that allows changes in font size, background and font colors, and line spacing. Also includes the ReadAloud text reader.

All of these add-ons are guaranteed to work with versions 1.5-2.x, and are also being reconfigured to work with Firefox 3.0, which is currently in beat. All of these add-ons can be located by visiting the Firefox Add-Ins Site.

Don't feel that you have to have an impairment to use these add-ons. How many times have you visited a web page where the web designer has put white text on a black background, and it hurts to look at it? The Accessibar can reverse these colors for you, easily and quickly. And what about those forum pages that you may come across that give you a tiny little window and an even tinier font to type your post into? The QuickZoom or TextSizeToolbar will increase the size in a click. And while I know that there are keyboard commands and keyboard plus mouse movements that will do some of these same things, if you're surfing, you don't want to take your hand off your mouse to complete a keyboard maneuver if you don't have to. These add-ons can make it a whole lot quicker and easier to get through what you need to get through.

Those of you following the Podcasting Space and User Generated Content, will want to check out the Interview I did with Elisabeth McLaury Lewin of [PodcastingNews.com]

I swear I was half asleep recording this show. If nothing else it should be funny, send me time hacks to anything wacky I may have said.

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Twitter Me http://www.twitter.com/geeknews
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Comments to 619-342-7365 e-mail to geeknews@gmail.com

31 Days of the HDX Dragon Notebook Giveaway
03 May - 10 May www.arstechnica.com
04 May - 11 May www.osnn.net
05 May - 12 May www.jkontherun.com
06 May - 13 May digitalmediaphile.wordpress.com
07 May - 14 May www.bostonpocketpc.com and www.techronical.com

Full Show Notes Page

Last year I closed the forum I had here on Geek News Central but by popular demand of my listeners of my podcast, I have put one back online and hopefully we will be able to get some traction on it.

I am hosting it off site with the folks from Lefora. So feel free to get involved on the forum today at forum.geeknewscentral.com

I am very unexpectedly sitting in the Airport tonight headed for the West Coast. While I would not normally travel on Mothers Day I need to be where I am headed by tomorrow morning and in meetings starting tomorrow afternoon.

Quick trip out to Silicon Valley more on that in the show. Little bit shorter show tonight due to the timezone change but lots to talk about..

Please Support Show Sponsors:
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BLOCKBUSTER Total Access click to activate coupon for $10 off your first month.

Twitter Me http://www.twitter.com/geeknews
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Comments to 619-342-7365 e-mail to geeknews@gmail.com

31 Days of the HDX Dragon Notebook Giveaway
006 May - 13 May digitalmediaphile.wordpress.com
07 May - 14 May www.bostonpocketpc.com and www.techronical.com
08 May - 15 May www.the-gadgeteer.com
09 May - 16 May www.thedigitallifestyle.com
10 May - 17 May www.digitalhomethoughts.com
11 May - 18 May www.windows-now.com


Full Show Notes Here!

There have been a few reports of people having reboots after upgrading their XP systems to SP3. Considering the frequency with which this occurance seems to be observed, particularly amongst those with AMD processors it does beg the question whether Microsoft applied the proper rigor to their pre-release testing. While we have come to expect that new software releases from MS have been a little less than bug-free, there has been an expectation that service packs offer a greater degree of reliability.

If you are having trouble with the XP SP3 upgrade, blogger Jesper Johansson has a great page detailing some of the problems that have been encountered and how they can be circumvented. It will be interesting to see how this issue plays out over the coming weeks. I would expect MS to be fairly quick with a patch.

I hope all of you that do not listen to my Podcast have been at least reading the blog post associated with the show as I have been providing links to the schedule of contest and giveaways to the participating sites.

In case you haven't I wanted to provide a updated list of sites that are now holding contest and are about to give away these machines with a retail value up to $5000.00 dollars.

Geek News Central kicks off our giveaway campaign at the end of the month and we will make it real easy to apply. Some of the sites have made entering the contest a bit difficult but that will not be the case here. For now head over to these sites to win a HP HDX Dragon Notebook

31 Days of the HDX Dragon Notebook Giveaway 
07 May - 14 May www.bostonpocketpc.com and www.techronical.com
08 May - 15 May www.the-gadgeteer.com
09 May - 16 May www.thedigitallifestyle.com
10 May - 17 May www.digitalhomethoughts.com
11 May - 18 May www.windows-now.com

Disclaimer: This is a HP Sponsored Event that have been organized by the good folks over at BuzzCorps

I literally receive well over 100 press releases each that are addressed directly to me and seem to all have a semi-private note attached. So a tact I have begun to take lately is sending them a little note back to them.

It says in part, Thank You for contacting Geek News Central, and while I understand that your excited about your clients product have you ever considered Podcast Advertising to get the word out on your product?

I send them over to this page at RawVoice. I just want the PR people to understand that this site is not just a press release recycling center. I delete 99% of this sort of email. If the PR agent had thought it really important they would have called me first to tell me about the product or service they are representing.

So why do these companies not do some basic marketing and build a quick reaction awareness campaign with us to reach the consumers they are trying to reach it surely will be more effective than these hundreds of email's I get. While it will cost them a few dollars at least they will be reaching the millions of early adopters that we have a connection with.

I read an article this morning touting the safety of the Smart Car, the tiny two-person, just shy of 9-foot car in production by Daimler. The Smart twofer did well in crash tests, achieving an overall rating of "good."

But that's not what caught my attention about the article. No, what caught my eye was the touted gas mileage the Smart twofer gets. "Up to" 31 mpg in the city, and 40 on the highway. We all know those factory-touted numbers are inflated; actual mileage is usually 3-5 points less. This means the Smart twofer, in reality, probably gets about 28 or 29 mpg city, and 37 or 38 highway.

Color me not impressed. My 1989 Toyota Corolla Wagon regularly gets 30 mpg in the city, and 40 on the highway. That's with the air conditioner running! And I can fit four people easily in my Toyota, and carry cargo as well. I'm not sure what my Toyota is supposed to get in mileage, I just know that in the year and a half I've owned it I've been happy with the mileage it gets.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm getting awfully tired of hearing "gets 25 miles to the gallon" like that's a good thing. My 1967 four-door Ford Fairlane got 25 mpg city, and that was back in the early 80's. When they can start advertising 50 miles to the gallon, or at the very least, 40 miles to the gallon, in most cars, we'll be getting somewhere.

In the meantime, I'm growing less and less impressed with the Smart Car. It's not cheap to buy, and doesn't get good enough miles per gallon to even pay for that extra cost over the years you would own it. I'll stick with my Toyota, thanks.

This news story has been all over TV today, words cannot adequately express how much I want one of these.

I doubt there is a geek in the world that has not dreamed of their own jetpack, and the key disapointments of the turn of the millenium where that there were no jet packs or flying cars. While the Moller flying car has been a disapointment so far but at least there is now an actual working jet pack that will gives me hope that I might get to try one.

This particular model required that he go into freefall from a plane to get started, and he landed by parachute, but he was travelling at one stage at almost 200mph (over 300kph) which is seriously cool! The inventor and pilot is Swiss man Yves Rossy who is my new hero, at least for this week.

Story on Yahoo
Yves site