Month: May 2012

Every Friday NPR broadcasts a new Pop Culture podcast. These podcasts are hosted by an NPR ensemble cast and are great fun to listen to. The cast includes NPR staff writers who cover music, art, books and movies and they always have a great time.

This weeks’ podcast is titled Pop Culture Happy Hour: Of ‘Avengers’ And The Other A-List and it highlights the new Avengers movie as well as discussing the subject of what makes an A List among other pop culture items. And also included is the weekly zany segment “What Makes Us Happy?” which has the hosts of the show offering their take on what books, movies, music and/or technology is enriching their lives at the present time.

Here’s the link to the podcast:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2012/05/10/152388599/pop-culture-happy-hour-of-avengers-and-the-other-a-list

Linda R.

Great News For Amazon Prime Potter Fans: All seven of the books in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series will be added to the Kindle Lending Library in June which, means that any Amazon Prime Members will be able to read the e-books free of charge.

For those who are not familiar with Amazon Prime it is a services offered by Amazon which initially allowed members free second day shipping on any item Amazon sold (and charged $3.99 for overnight delivery of any item Amazon sells directly); and then expanded to offer its members free streaming access to a library of TV shows and movies and the option of borrowing for free one e-book from the Amazon Kindle Lending library per month. To be more precise you can stream videos from the Amazon Prime Video holdings an unlimited amount of times per month to your computer, media streaming player or other supported device and read one e-book for free each month (only one e-book per month).

Here’s a link to a Reuter’s article on the subject

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/10/us-amazon-harrypotter-idUSBRE84913L20120510

And of course you can always visit the Amazon website for more information as they are proudly proclaiming the news to the Internet rafters on their homepage found at:

http://www.amazon.com/

Samsung 55” OLED TV To Go On Sale: If you’re not familiar with the term “OLED” it stands for “organic light-emitting diode” and the technology, which is the next big thing in the evolution of television technologies, allows for the creation of super thin televisions that you can pick up, easily carry around and hang on the wall of your living room without having two or three people to assist you to mount the new 55” TV you just bought. And the colors seen on these TVs are exceptional because of the way these new televisions are lit. And as with any new technology, initially the TVs will be very expensive; but then, so too were VHS, DVD players and laptops when they first were unveiled. And this new technology is one to keep an eye on and ear out for as the prices drop over the next few years these will be the new high tech TVs to purchase for those that love brilliantly clear and vibrant pictures. And just imagine you’ll be able to move that new 55” TV all by yourself to any room in your house!

Here’s a link to a CNET article, titled Samsung OLED Will Retail For $9,000, on the subject:

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57431847-221/samsung-oled-will-retail-for-$9000/

And here’s a link to a CNET article, titled What is OLED TV? that offers a more in-depth explanation of the technical aspects of this newly evolving TV technology:

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57386898-221/what-is-oled-tv/?tag=mncol;2n

And on a completely off topic note; here is a link to a funny Youtube video, titled “Peace and Quiet” that both promots libraries and our civic responsibility to register to vote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gJAZyQHh9JU

And if you haven’t registered to vote you can do it online – here is a link to a New York State Board of Elections page that offers more information:

http://www.elections.ny.gov/VotingRegister.html

And you can also register to vote online via the Rock The Vote Site:

http://www.rockthevote.com/rtv_voter_registration.html?source=

Or the Trigger The Vote site (they created the funny library based Youtube voter registration video):

http://www.triggerthevote.org/landing2/

Linda R.

An Excellent App & Website for the Birds:  And sorry about the title! However, I really couldn’t resist! In actual fact the app and website mentioned are not for the birds at all but instead are excellent resources for human birders! NPR’s current All Tech Considered podcast, and accompanying article, discuss how technology is transforming the pastime of bird watching. And as far as the excellent website and apps go…Cornell now has a live BirdCast feed, available through their website that allows you to watch birds in an up close and personal manner and the National Audubon Society has an great app that features thousands of bird songs so if you’re birding and want to verify

The NPR article and short podcast may be accessed via the following link:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2012/05/08/152191615/these-apps-are-going-to-the-birds-and-people-who-watch-them

Net Neutrality: Net Neutrality, in a nutshell, may be described as two people living in the same town and mailing the exact same item, that is two items that are the same — the exact same weight and packed in the same #10 envelopes from their town to an address in another city and paying the same first class rate of postage; as compared to being charged different postage rates for that same first class mail based upon the fact that the two different individuals live in the same town but on different streets so they are charged different rates for the mail they  are sending out. To be more precise consider th eThe New York Times description of Net Neutrality; it states that: “The concept of “net neutrality” holds that companies providing Internet service should treat all sources of data equally.”*

And essentially, the lack of Net Neutrality allows Internet Service Providers to charge consumers and/or companies a different rate for data sent via the Internet because of the type of data being sent or the way the data is accessed. This issue is a big deal for a variety of reasons including the fact that inflated Internet access rates make it difficult for people with lower incomes to afford home Internet access; and, because as the streaming of movies and TV shows via the Internet gains popularity with consumers Internet Service Providers (who tend to frequently also be cable TV providers) raise the price of their Internet access if the access is provided by different ways (apps) or different devices. Thus you may pay more to stream movies of TV shows from the Internet via The Hulu app on your Xbox (The Xbox is Microsoft’s combo gaming and internet streaming device) than the Xfinity app on your Xbox simply because you’re Internet provider charges you more to access that content from Hulu than it does via Xfinity and even though in both cases you’re accessing TV shows and movies through your Xbox and your home Internet connection!

Here’s a link to a New York Times article, titled Keeping the Internet Neutral, which discusses this subject in more depth:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/business/economy/net-neutrality-and-economic-equality-are-intertwined.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=technology&adxnnlx=1336572062-5CujnPNBi9itWp3EDgkhLA#

A Pocket Sized Cell Phone Re-Charger: Lilliputian Systems has developed a pocket-size cell phone re-charger that will allow purchasers to connect their cell phone to it, via a USB cable, and re-charge their cell phones while on the go. The Portable Fuel Cell has enough power to re-charge a cell phone for up to two weeks. CNET offers an in-depth discussion of this new cell phone recharger in an article titled Pocket-Sized Fuel Cell Charges Phone For Two Weeks. Here’s the link:

http://asia.cnet.com/pocket-sized-fuel-cell-charges-phones-for-two-weeks-62215008.htm

Linda R.

* Here’s the link to the New York Times page that offers an in-depth and specific definition of Net Neutrality:

http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/n/net_neutrality/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier

People Are Using The iPad Instead of a PC: Computer tablets are growing in popularity and the iPad is certainly the King of the tablet world today. And although a PC or laptop is still a better choice if one has to do computer work that requires a great deal of writing and thus typing; the iPad is increasingly being used as a great tool in a variety of contexts. People are using their iPads to take notes during business meetings and conferences, they are using their iPads as great traveling companions as they can surf the Internet, access their e-mail, play games, watch videos and read all via a light weight portable tablet. And many people have additionally discovered that the many children’s level apps for the iPad offer kids an almost unlimited amount of educational, reading, viewing and gaming material.

Here’s a link to a related CNET article, titled Six scenarios where the iPad is trouncing the PC, that discusses several increasingly popular uses of the iPad:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57429122-37/six-scenarios-where-the-ipad-is-trouncing-the-pc/

 

Why DRM Should Be Done Away With: For those of you who may not know this, DRM is an acronym that stands for “Digital Rights Management.” And basically DRM is a type of restrictive software built into digital content with the intent to make it difficult for cyber thieves to steal or “pirate” digital content.

And there are two big problems with DRM: Firstly, it makes it difficult for people to access digital content they legally purchase* by limiting the way the content can be accessed through one vendor’s system and/or corresponding device. For example, if I purchase e-books through the Kindle Store for my Kindle I cannot then transfer those titles to my Barnes & Noble Nook; because I’m limited by the DRM software to access the e-books only through Amazon’s ecosystem. And that fact makes it hard for people to access digital content they have purchased and is also the reason why the process to check out library  e-books is so cumbersome – it is the publisher/media companies required DRM software that is built into the digital content that makes the library download process so difficult. And that process does not have to be that difficult and cumbersome; because technically, that is to say from a technological perspective – the technology is available that would allow you to read e-books, watch videos and listen to music purchased from any vendor, or checked out from the public library, on any device you own – your Kindle, your Nook, your iPad, your PC, your Mac and even the big HDTV in your living room – and the reason that you can’t easily do all of that is because of the DRM software. And all of that is, in a nutshell the first of the two main problems with DRM software.

And the second main problem with DRM software is that as an anti-piracy (anti-cyber theft) tool it simply doesn’t work well. And that is because persons with moderate to advanced technology skills can break the DRM restrictions built into digital content and/or in the case of printed book simply buy a cheap scanner and scan each page of the book and make a digital copy of it, and then transfer that digital content to any devices they want anyway – and even though this practice is illegal it is occurring.  So in essence, people who legally purchase digital content, or want to easily access public library digital content, encounter a cumbersome download process which is much more difficult than it needs to be so that an anti-piracy software that doesn’t work well can be incorporated into digital content.

Here’s a link to an O’Reilly Radar article titled DRM-Free Day, forever. Authors and publishers need to get creative with piracy. DRM isn’t the answer that discusses the subject in more depth:

http://radar.oreilly.com/2012/05/drm-free-day-forever.html

And here’s a link to a short New York Times Tech article titled Pottermore Sells $5Million of e-Books Without DRM in First Month which discusses how Harry Potter series author J.K. Rowling, who kept the digital rights to her Harry Potter series and is self-publishing the entire series of e-books online, is actually bucking the DRM trend and allowing consumers to buy Harry Potter e-books without the DRM software incorporated into the e-books:

http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/2012/05/08/pottermore-sells-5million-of-e-books-without-drm-in-first-month/?mod=google_news_blog

Linda R.

 

* Simply to clarify the point when I say “buy” digital content as in consumers “buy” digital content; what I really mean is that consumers, in most cases, don’t actually purchase e-books, downloadable videos or music instead what they “buy” is in fact a license to access the digital content. And that is a huge change from why that copyright laws apply physical materials as, of course, you really can buy physical copies of books, movies on DVD and music on CD – but that change in the rules/laws of ownership of digital content versus physical content is also a whole other conversation…

Streaming Music Options Increase: The technology we use to listen to music has changed dramatically over the last forty years. As a kid I can recall seeing and playing 78 RPM records and 8-track tapes. We then moved on to analog tapes and I can still recall the thrill of being able to listen to my favorite music on a generic Walkman, via a cassette tape. And of course 33 1/3 vinyl records were popular as well and those sort of fell out of mainstream favor when the compact disc came along. And today many people are turning to yet another music format – streaming of music from the Internet from vendors like Pandora Internet Radio and Spotify. Both Pandora and Spotify offer listeners the ability to custom tailor the music they are listening to – to fit their own tastes. Right now I’m spending hours a week with the Billie Holiday channel piping the sounds of Billie and her contemporaries through the sound system in my living room courtesy of Pandora!

And both Pandora and Spotify offer free and paid subscriptions to their streaming music services that can be accessed online, via apps for portable Wi-Fi devices and through media players like the $49 Roku player. The free subscription from Pandora has a few commercials and the free subscription from Spotify has a limit of 10 hours per month of listening so you don’t have to subscribe to check out the services and in the case of Pandora if you don’t mind a few commercials you really don’t need to upgrade to the paid service.

And later this year Microsoft will be upgrading its Zune music service to a new unnamed streaming service currently being referred to as “Woodstock” so streaming music services are increasing offering music fans more ways to listen to music than ever before!

You can find more information about Pandora and Spotify from their respective websites;

http://www.pandora.com/

And

 www.spotify.com/us/start/

For additional reading on the subject of streaming music from the Interent; here’s a Reuter’s article titled Pandora, Spotify face off in free online music market

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/07/uk-internet-music-pandora-idUSLNE84600H20120507

And here’s a Rolling Stone blog article titled Microsoft Prepares ‘Woodstock’ Streaming Service that discusses the upcoming Windows streaming media services going by the unofficial name of Woodstock:

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/blogs/gear-up/microsoft-prepares-woodstock-streaming-service-20120427

iOS 5.1.1: And Apple has just released an iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch software update that is supposed to address some minor bugs including increasingly the reliability of taking photos on the iPad via the home screen and a few AirPlay hiccups.

Here’s a link to a MacObserver article titled Apple Releases iOS 5.1.1 for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch that will tell you more!

http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/apple_releases_ios_5.1.1_for_iphone_ipad_ipod_touch/?utm_campaign=feature

Linda R. 

Acorn App for Roku: The Acorn Media group has put out a new app for the Roku Media Player that will allow viewers to pay $24.99 per year to access a host of great British dramas and mysteries series including: the Midsomer Murders, Murdoch Mysteries, Cadfael Mysteries, Trial and Retribution, Touching Evil and Upstairs Downstairs. The content will be periodically updated to include new episodes and shows.

Here’s a link to an article titled Best of British Acorn TV Now on Roku which offers more information on the subject:

http://www.appmarket.tv/news/1663-best-of-british-acorn-tv-now-on-roku.html

And the New York Times features an article today titled How to Muddy Your Tracks on the Internet which offers tips on how you can keep more of the information you share online, including what you say in emails you send and which websites  you visit, to yourself and not broadcast it for other persons to acquire online (including Internet Service Providers).

Here’s the link to the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/technology/personaltech/how-to-muddy-your-tracks-on-the-internet.html?_r=1&ref=technology

 

Linda R.

iPhone as a Tool for the Blind: The iPhone has become a great tool for the blind. There are iPhone apps that greatly assist blind individuals in being even more self-sufficient.  These apps include VizWiz which allows the iPhone user to take a photo of clothing they have selected and then relays to  them what color clothing they are about to put on, LookTel Money Reader which will scan paper money and tell the holder if they are holding a ten or a twenty etc. and SendrosGPS which tells the phone holder which street they are on and what the nearest cross street are.

Notable, one has to turn on the VoiceOver Accessibility function on the iPhone (and iPad too) to set the iPhone up for usage by the blind – that can be done by tapping on the Settings app which also allows one to increase the size of apps so that the visually impaired can see the information displayed on an iPhone or iPad screen more clearly.

Here’s a link to an Atlantic article titled How the Blind are Reinventing the iPhone that discusses the topic in more depth:

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/05/how-the-blind-are-reinventing-the-iphone/256589/

New Microsoft Xbox with Kinect For $99: Microsoft is issuing a new $99 Xbox with Kinect. The Xbox, for those of you who may not be familiar with it, is a gaming consoling and Kinect is a full body motion sensor game controller. And the Xbox allows you to play games with others via the Internet and stream videos from Netflix, Hulu Plus and other media companies to that large screen HDTV in your living room.

And the low price is due to the fact that this promotion is rather like a smart phone promotion – you have to sign a two year contract and pay $15 per month subscription fee to the Xbox gaming service to get the low price for the gaming console and Kinect controller.  However, for those who’d like to dip their toes into the combo online gaming and streaming video pool – the price may just be right.

Here’s a link to a Washington Post article, titled $99 Xbox console with Kinect may launch next week, but there’s a catch, on the subject:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/report-99-xbox-console-with-kinect-to-launch-next-week-but-theres-a-catch/2012/05/02/gIQAf0rzwT_story.html

Linda R.

Yesterday it was announced that Microsoft has purchased a 17.6% share in Barnes & Noble’s Nook business this strengthen sales of Barnes & Noble’s Nook E-Books and readers.

It was even announced that the Nook E-Book store will somehow be incorporated into Windows 8 – the new Microsoft operating system coming out this fall. This new business partnership should foster competition in the E-Book market so it is a good thing for E-Book readers!

Here’s a link to a New York Times article on the subject:

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/04/30/microsoft-deal-adds-to-battle-over-e-books/?ref=technology

And here’s a link to the CNET video cast that relayed the information about the Nook store being built into Windows 8:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-33692_3-57424374-305/microsofts-got-the-hots-for-nook/

 

Linda R.