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“I want one in the shape of a rhombus.”
Welcome to another episode of YATS! It’s Yet Another Tech Show! I’m Ant Pruitt with some show notes filled with references to articles discussed in this week’s episode. Thanks for coming by and checking us out. Mike Rothman is off again this week so it’s just myself, Mat Lee and Larry Press on board. Be sure to follow all of our social media connections by checking out The Crew page and subscribe to the show with iTunes so you can write us a review.
Let’s get into show…
We all took some time to watch the Red Bull Stratos jump this weekend. Apparently, some of you all did too. The live stream set a record for most concurrent connections on a feed via YouTube with approximately 8 million viewers. This jump from the stratosphere was a tremendous feat in man’s evolution seeking huge adrenaline rushes, but also collecting valuable data for future projects towards space. I did a write up on the jump by Felix Baumgartner over on aNewDomain.net providing more insight. Be sure to check it out. I also have one of the few UNOFFICIAL videos of the jump on my personal blog. It’s about 15 minutes long from the mission control check list to the landing.
Tired of patent wars? I will answer for you. Yes, you are. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is tired of it as well. Like most of us with a brainstem, Bezos thinks patents should not stifle innovation. The battle between Apple and Samsung of the likes aren’t doing the consumers any favors. Amazon, in my opinion, just wants to sell products. Having gadgets and tech devices available to the consumers is what Amazon wants. Larry’s research has found that the software patent complaints are getting complaints from people in the higher places. Hopefully, the right people will get fed up and move legislation to change it.
The Microsoft iPad. . .er. . .Surface tablet is coming on October 26th. Pardon the pun, but it’s still funny to us that the hardware patents argue over the strangest things. Tablets fundamentally are shaped a certain way. But I digress, the story at hand is the sell out of the $499 model Surface tablet from Microsoft. How’s the timing of this release? Should Microsoft have waited until the holiday season rush?
So there’s at least 1 billion people on the planet that has a smartphone? What does this say for the infrastructure around the world. There has to be a ton of growth worldwide with cellular use from over 700 million to the current number. Sure not all areas are 4G capable around the world, but the phones are easy to get. The older Androids and iPhones can be picked up for next to nothing or sometimes free of charge.
Google even makes a data center look like it’s fun to be there. There’s so much technology behind the scenes that allows web pages display across the world. Even better, how your typical search on Google for world’s best technology podcast returns in the results. Google data centers have made their mark in the tech news before with it’s set up in Dales, Oregon as Larry points out. Google is even looking to have a data center in Antarctica. Why? Because is cold! It makes perfect sense.
Some wondered about the use of the Google Events via Google+. Well with the Shuttle Endeavor crawling through Los Angeles, the Google+ Event seemed to be a perfect fit. The public was allowed to easily follow the shuttle’s travel through town online and have access to great photos and notes.
Privacy is dead. At least that what Mat and I feel. Your cell phone carriers are using your browsing history and app usage data to sell to third parties. Verizon is offering an easy way to opt out of this here. The problem with this is Verizon is getting a lot of heat about this yet they’re the only one seeming to make it simple to opt out. What are you thoughts? Larry, as usual, plays devil’s advocate and bring other things to light with this scenario.
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