PayPal Problems

I used to think that the only people having issues with PayPal were on the fringe of the electronic payments world.  The guy selling videos from Russia or the shop selling certain kinds of paraphernalia--those would be suspect.

I never thought the bureaucratic and arbitrary axe of PayPal's policies would be brought to bear against me.

iCaved

Finally--I don't know how I held out so long.  Life is different now, and it's kind of scary how connected I am with a smart phone.

I really resisted the idea of paying more for cell service but being able to keep an eye on work and get the interwebs while mobile is too much of an advantage.  It also helps that AT&T offers discounts for a lot of employers and extends them to employees.

The performance of the phone (OS) is amazing.  I went from a six year old Motorola Razor with a clunky and slow interface to this phone and I still can't get over it!

Bing

Probably not a good thing for Bing that I use Google to get to the site. What can I say, I've gotten lazy over the years and always type URLs into my Google toolbar to validate.

I haven't noticed much difference in web search results between Microsoft's new search engine and Google. I do like some of the features Bing has over Google. Image search with a filmstrip like control on the left is cool.

But my favorite is the travel search with Fare Advisor. This kind of comprehensive/multi-site travel search was available previously, first with SideStep, but having the fare history data is priceless. I'm assuming Microsoft can do this because they have either a different agreement with travel sites or no agreement at all.

I've never been a stingy traveler but it's nice to know what kind of deal you're getting. If you can shave a little off of airfare on an international trip, you can splurge more on meals or stay in nicer hotel. If you're looking for quick weekender and are flexible, you can often save a lot by booking during low demand.

I'm not sure what kind of future Bing will have. I'm not uninstalling my Google toolbar anytime soon but I do find myself on the new MS site a lot more than I did with the old Live Search.

Netflix Working Saturdays?

I've had Netflix for about five years now and aside from a short period of obvious throttling (circa 2004-2005) I've been very happy. For $17/month I get all the movies I have time to see, which makes Netflix a great value. Now that they have Blu-ray even more so, although the subscription is a little more (very worth it).

Occasionally I send a movie back on the weekdays and I've noticed that lately they are being processed on Saturday and sometimes I even get a movie in the mail on a Saturday (Monday delivery). Prior to July this wasn't the case, I would wait until Monday to get a movie checked in if I mailed it on a Friday.

Why Netflix hasn't publicised the increase in service this is beyond me.

Did We Learn Nothing?

Create military robots that kill and use dead bodies as fuel. Sounds like a great idea! I'm sure nothing could ever go wrong with that. Why not give them the ability to reproduce while we're at it?

This story touches on an interesting subject though. We are quickly developing military tech to the point that wars of the future may be fought by self-aware (sentient) robots with the ability to replace the "boots on the ground." At some level, they will also have to make the same decisions as soldiers/Marines in the battle area.

I believe the use of these machines against humans would be unethical.

Our current technology requires a human to pull a trigger in order to end the life of an enemy. Even the new generation of UAVs still require a remote human operator. This means a human must determine if his actions are within the rules of warfare. Soldiers, no matter what they claim at a war crimes trial, never blindly follow orders. Robots do. War isn't perfect today and removing the inherit checks and balances of the chain of command is certain to make it less perfect tomorrow.

This quickly evolving technology could also someday place a lot of power in the hands of a select few. Soldiers are part of a collective, but are also individuals from society that share our values and ideas--they weren't built in a factory. Violating Posse Comitatus would be a problem for most soldiers. Not so for robots who will lack the ability to check the orders they have been issued against an ethical code. Combine this power with the trend towards totalitarian big government and you have a recipe for disaster.

I fully support the idea of using technology to save US lives on the battlefield, but it should never replace the role of the warrior.

Microsoft Office Outlook Connector

I've had a free hotmail account for about 10 years now and I like having the same address so friends/family always know where to e-mail.

About a month ago I got an announcement from MSN that hotmail would no longer support POP3 which I was using to access hotmail via Outlook 2003--which enables me to to get important e-mails off the hotmail server and into my local personal folders so I can hang onto messages and organize them.

Instead of just being told I was S.O.L., Microsoft created the Outlook Connector which is free to download and use. I've been using it now for about three weeks and find it far superior to POP3. E-mails download faster and Outlook doesn't freeze up like it did with POP3.

Moral of the story: Instead of aggravating existing users, MS found a superior solution and made it available free of charge.

MS has gotten a lot of criticism throughout years, some of it justified, but it's important to point out the good as well.

Too Cool for Social Networking?

I've become aware there are very tech savvy people who claim they are too cool to be caught on social networking sites. Very rare, but very curious.

I can understand not wanting to post personal info and not wanting your entire day to revolve around checking in with friends, posting updates, managing photos, etc... When you consider that a lot of people have accounts with different sites, this can become overwhelming. And if you're social person, why not actually get out and actually see your friends? For this reason I have limited myself to one account and check it rather infrequently--usually while at work waiting for processes/queries to return.

No matter how cool you say you are, here are two reasons you are most certainly using social networking sites...


1. Bands

Bands/artists aren't just using social networking to promote themselves but are offering access to themselves in ways never before possible. Some will write blogs and open them up for comment (i.e. interaction). Some will post updates on tours and new releases.

But the biggest advantage of having your fav artists as friends is the streaming audio player.

Just heard of a new band you want to check out? Yeah, you can sample on Amazon or iTunes. But the band's MySpace player will give you an entire track v. 15-20 seconds. You can see which tracks in the player are the most popular by play count.

Sometimes artists will post new tracks for streaming before they are even released!

If you love music you are on MySpace so stop denying it already!


2. Cyberstalking

Now let me clarify, when I say "cyberstalking" I don't mean anything nefarious or illegal. I'm talking about those little checks we all do on people from our past.

Want to see what your high school sweetheart looks like 12 years later? One profile pic and you know.

Got a crazy girlfriend from months ago? Want to see if she's moved on (i.e. will stop calling you after having three too-many at 1:30AM)?

A quick check of her MySpace/Facebook page and you'll know. Yes, some people make their profiles, or certain pages private. But it's more information than you had 30 seconds ago and it cost you nothing. Nada. Zilch.

No uncomfortable silences on the phone. No mixed signals when you make contact. No paid background checks to see if she really has moved to Fayetteville Arkansas and lives in a trailer.

Twitter may be able to give you even more information: real-time locations/plans/etc... Have some mutual friends with said nutcase? Want to know if she's going to the house party you're planning on going to? Twitter can be a life saver.


So keep lying all you you want to. I know you're on social networking sites and you know you're on social networking sites.

Google Latitude

Lots of buzz about Google's new Latitude application which allows uses to track friends, family members, lost cell phones, etc... Apple has a similar app for the iPhone, but it is device specific. Latitude will work with any phone that has is data capable (except the iPhone and a few others) and it's free!

After using Latitude for a few days I have few notes...

1. Was the name Google Stalker taken? Latitude does offer some privacy controls, but you have to make a point of taking yourself offline.

2. Make sure you have a data plan (unlimited or lots of bandwidth). To use on a mobile device, you must install Google Maps which actually a really cool little app and it's also free! I have no idea if Latitude works overseas, but the roaming data costs could be a problem.

3. If you don't have a GPS enabled phone, forget about it. The triangulation method, using cell sites, has a radius (for me) of about 5,000 meters which is a little over 3 miles--huge radius for urban environments.


Overall I really like the app. There are lots of privacy concerns, but in the information age that comes with the territory. I tried to do some Googling to see how much location data the cell phone carriers keep and for how long and couldn't find a concise answer. Lots of links on this data being used in criminal cases, so I think it's safe to assume the carriers have the data and keep it for some length of time.

If the carriers have this data, and there is no way to opt out of collection, then the new concerns presented by Google Latitude are minimal.

Google has a record of delivering cool new products, at low or no cost, to get user adoption and then evolving the product over time. So what will the future hold for Latitude? I'm thinking targeted adds, more traffic through Maps, and maybe more online interaction (think chat with proximity).

iTunes 8 Remote Speakers Problem

Yesterday, I decided to upgrade to iTunes 8 to check out the new Genius functionality (which I'll try and review later). After thinking I had a good install and all was good, this morning I tried to play some tunes via my Airport Express and received this error message...

An error occurred while connecting to the remote speaker 'speaker_name'. An unknown error occurred (-3256).

After researching possible solutions for some time; opening up UDP ports, temporarily suspending Windows firewall and thirds party firewalls (anti-virus), nothing worked. There is a lot about this issue on Macs, but not much for Windows.

I finally stumbled on a post, which I've lost, with regards to a Mac, that suggested the Airport firmware be upgraded to the latest version. This resolved the issue!

To check the firmware version, open the Airport Admin Utility and select the base station...


The firmware version will be at the end of the description field, the latest version at this time is v6.3 (download from Apple).

iTunes Plus

iTunes Plus is Apple’s newest offering via its iTunes Music Store and just released yesterday. iTunes Plus music costs about 30% more than traditional iTunes music (I just used “traditional” and “iTunes” in the same sentence).

Previous to this product, consumers were given one choice on encode rates (128K AAC) and the files purchased were locked down with Apple’s proprietary DRM (Digital Rights Management)—tracks will only play on iTunes or an iPod. The new encode rate is twice that of the previous product, 256K and I’m making the assumption the file sizes are about twice as large.

My first impression; higher encode rate, no annoying DRM, how cool!

Then I got to thinking…

Apple is asking consumers to pay 30% more for these files/tracks/albums. Thankfully, you have the option to upgrade if you’ve previously purchased the entire album via the iTunes Music Store. Otherwise, a new album purchase will cost you around $13 instead of the $10. For upgrades, you pay the difference and must upgrade the entire library (see a trend here?).

Currently, Apple only has one major label on board with the DRM-less offering; EMI. The result is that not all of one’s purchased music is upgradeable, but Apple claims to be working on more deals which would open up more albums and artists to iTunes Plus.

The DRM issue has always been a mixed bag for me. On one hand I see the need to prevent piracy and IP distribution, on the other if I own a license for a track/album I should be able to enjoy that music where ever and when ever I please (provided I don’t violate the terms of the license). I was willing to go along with the scheme for the convenience and relatively low cost of iTunes purchased music.

Now that I see a major label willing to forego DRM protection for a 30% price increase (who knows what EMI’s cut is) I’m left with some questions. If DRM was so important at $10 an album, what makes it less important at $13? Piracy is still piracy, right? Or is EMI okay with a little bit of piracy if they get more in sales out of their iTunes agreement? After all, anyone who upgrades will be giving Apple/EMI 30% of the cost of purchased music without an actual sale (imagine Honda asking you for 30% of the cost of your new Civic to have a better car).

This transition to DRM-less media would also give Apple a strong defense in anti-trust suits (DRM requires you play Apple purchased music on Apple portable devices). For Steve Jobs to shelter Apple from litigation and make an instant 30% on music consumers already purchased is pure genius.

DRM has never been a problem for the true pirates anyway and iTunes itself offers a workaround (burn as audio, import as AAC (no DRM), MP3, or any other format).

Encode rate is configurable through Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced tab -> Importing tab, Setting = “Custom…” If you rip your own CDs, this setting would import at a higher rate. After a track has been encoded in the default 128K there is no way to re-import with a higher rate even if burning as audio first (theoretically, the loss occurred at encode).

In the end I think I will wait on higher rate files (near “lossless”). I’ll continue my practice of buying CDs when I can (price/availability) and import at the default. In order to keep from paying a premium on music you already own, CDs are the only way to go!

As digital storage prices continue to drop (hard drives, flash memory), and more users are building media servers in their homes, I think there will be more demand for higher encode rates, true 5.1/7.1 won’t be far behind. There will still be an issue managing that much data on a portable device like an iPod, but I’m convinced future versions of iTunes will allow users to manage multiple versions of files; one large lossless file and a smaller, lower encode rate portable file.

UPDATE: 06/01/07 12:15

I learned last night while watching G4's The Feed that certain account attributes are embedded in iTunes Plus files so distribution can be traced back to the purchasing user. More info here.