Dbug

There have been several studies showing that Netflix bandwidth use has exceeded that of torrent traffic.

http://www.neoseeker.com/news/15151-netflix-popularity-excee...

A factor that adds to the impact of the streaming services is their use being more concentrated around the already high traffic peak viewing periods.

It is more than a little absurd that ISPs complain about users actually using what they're paying for. The days of people paying for broadband and using little more than email, chat, and simple web pages are over. And many of those that have consumed video online for some time are now understandably needing more bandwidth for higher quality now.

The situation with mobile is where many will be getting upset. Networks are being billed as fast and offering all sorts of video, but many consumers face plans limiting them to no more data in a month than most could get with low-end home broadband plans in a day. Of course there are good reasons why massive numbers of people can't be heavily consuming video at once on mobile networks, but the providers are not very up front about it.

Perhaps they could offer a small separate sort of "Flash Guard" utility for the blocking function. We consider the possibility of rogue Flash code opening the camera and/or microphone to be a security vulnerability. Being able to block those globally is a "feature" some need.

Of control of hardware access should be by user choice only, not a side effect of an app. Counting on stored Flash settings isn't an option since many use Better Privacy (Firefox extension) or other utilities to delete Flash storage, including the settings, due to the stalking features.

Yesterday they had a brief mention claiming that there was information posted to Wikileaks showing that the U.S. was behind the protesters, but none of their earlier reporting had made any suggestion of a connection. Most reporting is solid. Once in a while they'll say something that's a bit out there, and some might have issue with their use of "reconstruction" (shown in tiny font on screen) for video simulating the negotiations. There were cases were actors spoke dialog, yet the reporter later said the actual text of that particular conversation wasn't known.

Their release of information from the Palestine Papers initially was accurate but unbalanced by omission. They showed concessions without showing what the Palestinians would get. They later had an interview with Martin Indyk, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel during the Clinton administration, who protested that they didn't show the information in perspective by failing to mention that Palestine was to get the sought after separate state status, along with some territory from the Israel side to compensate for loss of some developed areas. When added to access corridor area, the amount gained equaled what was lost. It was pretty clear they'd had him on just to validate the papers, and hurried / talked over him some when he raised these issues, but they deserve credit for still airing it. They do a lot of good reporting, but as always it's wise to compare reports from a number of sources. I'm curious how that interview came across when translated for their Arab-language coverage or if it was included.

In addition to Aljazeera English, MHz Worldview carries broadcasts from Japan, Israel, France, Germany, Russia, Taiwan and some others. The Russian one comes across as the most propaganda oriented with them going out of their way to emphasize things, often misleadingly, that cast the U.S. in a negative light. They say things like NBC won't report stories because G.E. is a defense contractor and G.E. leaked massive amounts of PCBs into the Hudson river (Which they did, but in 1977 and earlier, long before they bought RCA/NBC) They find plenty of quotes from people that give the wrong impression (They used one of John McCain in 2008 to make it look like the U.S. supported those that make have attacked their airport. That tone was gone later, but they quick to throw out negative comments)

The combination of most of the international sources on MHz WorldView, the BBC, and PBS Newshour seems to cover most things pretty well. The two that seem to work to twist things fairly often are Fox and RT (the Russian service), with the remainder of the U.S. networks just not giving much time/depth to a great many issues that matter.

If one gets past the negative tone, the Russian service does point out things other media skips, like the lock down due to the missing nerve agent at the Dugway miltary testing grounds in Utah a few days ago. (the place that released an airborne toxin years ago killing thousands of animals 30 miles away) They also immediately covered the release of the U.S. Financial Crisis Investigative Report a few days ago. They make quite a fuss over U.S. human rights issues, pointing out the the U.S. and Sudan are the only U.N. members failing to sign on with never giving children life sentences or execution for serious crimes. The eerie part is that facts generally check out. It's too bad they make so many poorly founded negative conclusions and report few positive developments.

http://www.mhznetworks.org/mhzworldview/

Not being for-profit doesn't mean there's a lack of budget concerns. BBC World Service will be cutting around 650 people over the next few years. Let's hope they can still provide high quality service.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12283356

PBS stations have been having a tougher time than in the past. Costs are rising, they've lost some of their audience to the greater variety of things people view on cable and the net, and many viewers are being tighter with their money.

Even when all sources are truthful, perspectives and emphasis differ. It's good to have a variety of sources available.

A number of international news networks including Aljazeera English are carried on MHz WorldView. It's seen on some cable systems, carried by some public tv stations over the air (often as an added digital sub-channel that many not be on their cable line up) and on direct tv. They can also be seen streamed on demand to those with ROKU.

http://www.mhznetworks.org/roku/

http://proweb.myersinfosys.com/week.php?timezone=0&stati...

iPads certainly perform well. With hardware acceleration for h.264, the ARM chip may not be seeing the toughest loads it would otherwise. I believe there's an ARM build of VLC. I've been meaning to check it out to see how video playback is with other codecs. (It's easy to use a USB tuner to record HDTV on a laptop or desktop, but the MPEG2 used in the U.S. is a bit of a chore to transcode to 720P h.264 which is the Apple default for iPad/iPhone/iPod-touch/ and the current Apple-TV (all on ARM now).

I'm not sure how far towards the high end ARM will go, but it sure makes sense to have things like Apple TV on ARM. It uses less than 6 watts.

A few things to remember for those with uncertain wireless support

1) Don't forget you can easily try Ubuntu and wireless devices on most x86 laptops in the Live CD mode before you install. If driving somewhere to buy a USB device, bring the laptop along. You might also be able to run a Live CD and try a USB wireless device on another machine in the store (ask for permission first!)

2) If there's a Mac laptop handy, OS X doesn't need any extra software installed to share the laptops wireless access out the ethernet port, allowing simple DHCP connections. Just go to the Sharing prefs panel. (add a hub or switch to share with several machines)

3) Instead of using a Mac, some routers with free open-source DD-WRT firmware installed can also act as WiFi clients giving access to machines plugged into the ethernet port(s). Older WRT-54Gs often turn up cheap at thrift stores etc. and are ideal. (some versions have more RAM than others, check the DD-WRT site www.dd-wrt.com/ for more info) It's a good way to add wireless to desktops.

4) ... and of course Ubuntu runs well in a Virtual Box virtual machine, an easy way to use it under OS X or Windows hosts with whatever net access those already have. virtualbox.org It's a particularly simple/clean free solution for Mac users, not disturbing OS X at all.

'I almost did run down to Walgreens to buy one when I heard about it. I thought, "Android is open source, it should be fun to hack right? How bad can it be?" It seems the answer is really really bad.'

If Android using the Apache license means that vendors only have to provide the (Google) source they started from and not for the final result, you basically can't hack what you got, but have to deal with code that was never customized for the device you've got. In effect the source was open for the vendor, but it isn't for you. So much for fixing bugs in what you get...

USPS has been fast and cheap. The only real complaint I've had is that they leave pickup tags for some of the heaviest packages, packages that other carriers would have delivered. But it's understandable... I feel sorry for what some of the mailmen have to lift. Most are far less muscular than the UPS guys. My area has had problems with mail theft... I think some meth use among employees, but tracked items show up. It's not safe to get mail with handwritten addresses, things like birthday cards with a little cash in the middle always vanish. And the DMV license plate tags vanish in the mail too... California no doubt has a black market for those with so many illegals from Mexico around. Their flat rate boxes are extremely competitive for shipping, especially heavier items and/or to distant zones. Mail service has been reliable since one local thief was caught. Many good people don't deserve a bad rap for the actions of a small number.

UPS gives generally great service, but they throw the packages around. Some electronic gear with glass meters on the side arrived with the glass broken. Taking the unit apart revealed it was more than just a bump to the side of the thick box. The power transformer had the brackets stretched up and it was leaning a great deal. For that to happen the package wasn't just bumped or even dropped. It was clearly thrown horizontally and down with considerable force and crash landed... like onto a dock or truck. UPS seems to have become much more costly than in years past.

Fedex is much more gentle with packages, but it's alarming how many from neighbors blocks away show up. They're not very careful reading addresses, or smart enough interpolating from neighbors addresses when they don't see one.

Yes... apps are just a subset of software. Apple has used the term Applications since the early days of the Mac. The OS X dictionary defines them this way:

"a program or piece of software designed and written to fulfill a particular purpose of the user"

There was a time when desktop applications were small too. The first version of Photoshop I ever saw, when compressed, fit on an 800K floppy. Apple released the source to MacPaint 1.3, an early Mac application. It's only 67.8K

http://www.computerhistory.org/highlights/macpaint/

iOS apps may have simple interfaces, but the hardware is powerful enough to do many things with. I think VLC is a good example of a non-trivial app. It's much bigger than MacPaint!

http://m.macupdate.com/info.php/id/35314/vlc-media-player

It seems you've forgotten Visual Voicemail. Prior to the iPhone, every phone I ever saw required playing through messages sequentially instead of jumping to what I wanted to hear. That's a huge improvement in usability.

I guess entering a new market with a higher priced product and many established competitors doesn't count as risky if the product is really good? That's hardly a failing.

I guess when man first used fire to cook, you might argue that eating something warm wasn't a new concept. After all, some animals had eaten fresh kill or each others droppings before they cooled off.

The idea of Apple having retail stores wasn't a new concept. Risk there?

http://www.pcworld.com/article/115507/gateway_to_close_all_r...

Apple has been far from low risk. Their ditching the floppy, changing ports, switching processor families (more than once), all those iMac form-factors, moving to LCD while they were still quite costly, replacing the operating system... are all examples of them being willing to make major transitions to move forward. Some say dumping Flash is risky. There was risk getting into phones, a market that already had many very well established players, and starting with a product that cost MORE than what was out there. It's kinda funny how now people act like Apple had some early entry advantage. Apple took a risk offering a tablet that DID NOT have binary compatibility with their desktops.

After the 9/11 attacks, Apple was still working hard on development while others cut back. Many thought Apple was crazy to build fancy retail stores at very costly locations. Many said that targeting the high-end of the market was doomed to fail in a weak economy, but Apple kept expanding.

Maybe the choices Apple has made just don't seem so risky after seeing them being so wildly successful? The Gateway stores are long gone. I haven't seen details of the revenue per square foot at Microsoft stores.

Above CD quality? With 60's material done with vacuum tubes and magnetic tape, CD sampling rates and bit depth won't limit the distribution quality. Of course there are often cases where there's room for noticeable improvement over earlier CD releases, but that's due to better hardware and differences in mastering and other processing.

Microsoft is less secretive about new products than a company like Apple, and with such large fairly constant revenue from things like Windows and Office, the shipment or degree of success of their other products doesn't seem likely to be that big a factor in near future price of the stock. External market conditions, like the state of the economy and trends with competitors seem to matter much more. The short term impact of Win phone 7 will be more one of mood than the bottom line. They're competing with a free smartphone OS limiting licensing revenue and it would take a substantial market share for search/ad revenue to matter much. Without a huge pool of touch apps and trained users, any non-desktop-binary running tablets would see a much slower adoption rate than the iPad is experiencing and even then what they could get would only capture a small slice of the selling price. And not really being something new, it's hard to see much in the way of surprises from licensing revenue for tablets that are Windows-desktop binary compatible. It seems the innovation there won't be from MS, but primarily from lower power Intel chips making them more viable. And even then, to be hugely popular with consumers, they'd have to be at a not so profitable price point. They'd also be mostly cannibalizing netbook/laptop sales to users bonded to Windows.

The sales don't seem likely to be tied to insider info, but may be viewed as an admission of agreement with the ho-hum view of most outsiders.

If the author wants to rant, I would think digging into the motives for Apple backing away from Java support might be more fertile territory. At least it'd have more substance to it that what amount to PR positions on numbers.

Things to ponder... Could Apple be trying to throw a wet towel on doing Java development for other platforms (Android in particular)?

Of course if they're wanting more of a closed system, they're probably also aware that some of the more popular peer to peer apps use Java too. (Limewire / Frostwire, Vuze / Azureus). Between not being allowed on the store, Java probably not being installed by default soon, and questionable robustness of future Java options, they've thrown a wet towel on the sharing apps too.

It's not like the cost of paying developers to work on Java is a burden for Apple, and it doesn't have the reputation Flash does for crashing/slowing the system.

Vulnerabilities could be an excuse to stay clear of Java, but like Flash, if users have it installed and have to get updates outside of the (semi) automatic software updates, users are less likely to be up to date, not more.

If the author wants a little speculation for his rant, he ought to ask questions like will Steve kill X11?

The Mac with OS X has had a lot of respect as a stable very interoperable do-everything platform. If Apple wants to change that, some of us will be kicking and screaming. Apple has been able to give users an extra nudge towards new hardware by limiting the length of time old hardware sees major OS updates. (The 1985 Mac Plus was still supported under System 7.5, well past the five year period seen now). Killing support for something without the justification of certain hardware being inadequate is a tougher pill to swallow. If Apple goes too far, they'll certainly lose more science/engineering types to Linux.

>...as JVM is no longer seen as a viable and open platform.

With Apple dropping work on future major updates to the JVM for OS X, Oracle would be wise to speak up promptly indicating what support/development they'll provide for the platform. Apple has done a pretty good job integrating the JVM with OS X. If Oracle is able to continue from the code-base Apple has been using (and perhaps hire some from that Apple team?), announcing those things would certainly add to the believability of robust support actually coming. Apple isn't very likely to want to part with skilled developers though.

If Oracle doesn't get or (still?) have developers with heavy OS X experience, and perhaps some code to build on, one has to wonder if/when they could ever deliver a quality release for the platform.

Indeed. I know of someone quite poor that paid $500 to have his credit repaired. They got around the laws by calling it education. Most of it amounting to having him send out form letters that looked like fraud to me. The letters would say debt wasn't his. He didn't seem to read or understand any of it, but happily sent out the letters. I wonder what the court that had a judgement against him for child support thought on getting a letter saying it wasn't his debt? When someone says the little things don't matter, tell them that those who'd bought Apple stock in the early 2000's instead of a pack of cigarettes or 6-pack of beer could have ended up with a couple of hundred dollars for each one instead.

It's a major adjustment, but people should live within (below actually) their means. Unheard of to do without cable tv, cook your own meals from basic ingredients, or give up alcohol or smoking? Some people need a serious reality check.

I'm extremely suspicious of a for-profit venture to "help" consumers. Just what is there that a consumer can't get or do for free? It seems many consumers have fallen victims to so-called help. The article mentions plenty of easy to relate to grief situations, but is very short on solutions.

Remove social stigma for debt? I'd say that depends on the circumstances. Some would have made better choices if they'd seen MORE social stigma attached.

Talk to people about paying rent, and few are very happy about it, but let them rent money.....

I'd suggest you do some reading, there's a serious hole in your knowledge of HP. The HP history and culture that people admire has nothing to do with PCs or printers, and predates those going back many decades. (Does anyone know of a museum or collector that might be interested in my HP 300A Harmonic Wave Analyzer? I think that was their second product, a very impressive one for the early 40's... It's still useful)

HP has a long history of very sophisticated electronic test equipment. A great deal of innovation and hard work went into development of that equipment, including many things that hadn't been done before. Many other tech companies used HP (and Tektronix) gear when developing their products. Aside from the many tech contributions, their corporate culture was certainly one to admire. HP was better known to engineers than consumers, but they did do some things that crossed over. The HP-35 hand-held scientific calculator was the first product of it's type I ever saw (and owned too...), certainly seeming worth the $400 one cost back in the day (around 1972). HP was constantly pushing the state of the art. HP wasn't merely successful, they were special.

I was sorry that the HP/Compaq computing combination got the HP name. I wish that had stayed with the real tech products, but in Agilent tech lives on. HP certainly stands out from an era when the U.S. really shined as an engineering and manufacturing leader. HP wasn't another Dell or Gateway.

There are (and were) tech companies with a past that goes way back. For instance most think of Motorola as a cell phone company. They were huge in semiconductors (some of that lives on in Freescale), but how many remember them as being the ones behind the first car radio or first under $200 television set, or making communications gear that went to the moon?

In comparison, I find it a little sad to see highly valued companies like Facebook that don't really seem to produce anything. If it had never come into being, would we have really missed much that mattered?

If one looks at historic FCC regulation, it was always okay to listen to communications, but not to divulge the contents to 3rd parties. Even with just those older regulations, using data "heard" would be prohibited since that would involve transfer to others. I believe strong protections similar to wiretap laws were added for cell service, but unlicensed gear that has no protection from interference generally doesn't have any. For example in spite of an expectation of privacy, cordless phones are unprotected. Anyway, while there may be room to argue over access to certain communications being permissible, it's clear that one is prohibited from using anything heard (obviously including passwords, credit card info etc.)

The FCC rules for WiFi devices basically state that they must not cause any harmful interference and must accept any interference that occurs including that which may cause undesired operation. Read the manual that comes with any WiFi device and the text of that will be in there (the FCC rules require it to be).

I'd like to see a list of OS X apps using Java. Some may be using Java apps without knowing it. Some P2P apps come to mind.

I've got one for you. Sometimes he'd write about tech that was twisted enough to raise a few eyebrows and bring a chuckle or two. I was surprised to see this on pbs:

http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2005/pulpit_20050414_0008...

Flash is disabled on all of our machines due to the history of serious stability issues and vulnerabilities. (most of the time we also avoid enabling scripts from other domains, and don't even try if there are more than a couple or it isn't obvious which is for what) I wouldn't have watched the videos if I hadn't been able to stream or download to another player.

Both videos played smoothly streamed into VLC with the Open Network command. The Jobs video clearly had older codecs, the audio was very marginal. The aspect ratio had to be forced to 16:9 to look right. For some reason VLC recogonized it as 4:3.

It was generally well produced and easy to follow. The bit about MS investing 150 million in non-voting stock probably should have mentioned the deal including a few other things too - avoiding litigation over the unauthorized copied QuickTime code that had been put in Video For Windows, Apple getting continued Office for Mac updates, MS getting Apple to keep I.E. as the default browser for the minimum term of the investment (3 years)

The Facebook video sounded much better and played fine without forcing modes although it displayed as 16:9 inside of 4:3 (black letterbox area seem to be part of video). For 120 meg and 220 meg, h.264 could have delivered great quality at well above the 320*240 or so those are. Even phone displays can handle/show much more detail, but the videos didn't look bad.

I don't mean to be overly critical, just trying to provide detailed feedback. I enjoyed watching both videos. Thank you.

Now I see why some say a 250 meg data plan is way too limiting. The Jobs video alone would nearly eat it up. Old codecs cost everyone.

If the reviews are to be believed, Ghostery has been sold to an advertising company and may be functioning as spyware

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/9609

From the Ghostery/Better Advertising Privacy Policy- "We collect user traffic patterns"; "we track click-through information, including IP addresses"; "We may place a text file called a 'cookie' in the browser files of your computer."; "We may provide personal information to or permit access to personal information by our vendors and service providers"; "If Better Advertising should ever file for bankruptcy or have its assets sold to or merged with another entity, information Better Advertising receives from you, from this website, is a Better Advertising asset and may be transferred."

USB Specs are available here: http://www.usb.org/developers/docs/

USB 2.0 in particular (10.9 MB zip file): http://www.usb.org/developers/docs/usb_20_122909-2.zip

The show is also on the well known torrent sites

While it generally isn't true of computer displays, some LCD televisions do have slightly reduced power consumption on black. It's not from the LCD shuttering the light from the backlight, but from control electronics reducing the backlight brightness dynamically. Those "dynamic" contrast specifications on some displays are a little misleading. One tends to think of a display having a high contrast figure as being more effective at blocking the light when displaying black (less "Bleed-through"), but they cheat by dimming the backlight. That may result in small bright areas in dark scenes ending up a bit darker than they should be.

With all backlit LCDs, lowering the (backlight) brightness setting conserves more energy than having the content dim the same amount. Using the lowest acceptable brightness setting not only saves energy, but extends display life.

C.R.T.s usually have the greatest change in power consumption with content brightness shifts, particularly in Trinitron tubes.

Keep security issues in mind if/when opening those links to .pdf files.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10168266-83.html

it looks like there's an unpatched critical vulnerability in Acrobate reader that even fixes of a couples of days ago don't address.

http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb10-07.ht...

I wonder if it is much safer to use Preview.app on OS X instead?

It'll be a bit like those online profiles that show people with a cellphone taking their picture in the bathroom mirror. (It's kinda funny when they're mostly or entirely naked, but the camera blocks the face)

Maybe it's time for a phone that doubles as a razor?

Yes, his more detailed piece (in two parts) tells far more. And it isn't only insightful about the blunders of the newspaper industry, much of it applies to the mess that is commercial t.v. broadcasting and the broadcaster websites as well. (at least for the U.S.)

A Windows desktop box is kept around mainly for gaming. (all on the road, kitchen, and sofa activity has moved to a MacBook Pro that has Ubuntu in a VM, but no flavor of Windows for now - don't want to pirate it, and won't pay for it). I would litterbox Windows in a VM on the desktop box, but for gaming the video driver situation is better booting directly into it. VirtualBox is used for speedy access to Ubuntu (where all email access and routine net browsing is done for safety). VLC is the default media viewer. Handbrake and FFMPEG seem to run better within Ubuntu, but the Windows versions are installed too. Firefox with NoScript and Adblock Plus is there mostly for updates to Virtual Box and as a backup in case of problems with it.

MS Windows Security Essentials seems to work decently, so AVG has finally been retired. It's surprising it took MS so long to provide these tools considering that Windows is pretty much unusable online without something. Better late than never, even if the only net access is for games, updates, and the VM.

I too feel the internet is falling short in some ways. My take on the shortfalls is different, but related. The attempts to commercialize every aspect of the net have created this massive amount of noise that too much of the time gets in the way of the best information. In the early days it was a more select intelligent crowd that had discussions on the newsgroups. Some groups produced some real treasures as "FAQ" files. Most people doing casual searches now would have a hard time finding information not driven by a commercial motive. If not made dysfunctional by outright spam, many forum have paid trolls and shills.

Contrast U.S. commercial television with programming from the B.B.C. and P.B.S. to see just how destructive heavily monetizing media can be.