The Buzz

iPad image courtesy of Apple. Kindle image courtesy of Amazon. Tortured Mortal Kombat Photoshop illustration by Joshua O'Connell.

Back when the iPad was announced and the book reading feature was revealed as part of the full list of functions, I noted the question of reading on a back-lit screen and whether there could be consequences to that. I mentioned eyestrain, which is obvious, but that’s not the only side effect of a bright screen.

Now, experts are noting that the Kindle’s e-Ink has another benefit – it can make it easier to fall asleep. I, for one, sometimes like to read at night, and I’ve noticed how naturally I can fall asleep, just as easily as when I was reading standard books in bed. Experts note that because the Kindle doesn’t have a backlit screen, it doesn’t interfere with the body’s natural processes. However, the iPad, with its bright screen, can cause your body to be thrown off and stop the needed release of melatonin. Those who already have insomnia issues should take note, as well as those who have occasional sleeping issues, as this could push you over the edge.

This does give the Kindle another strong selling point, but really, I just like reusing that Mortal Kombat Photoshop.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times via Gizmodo

Mac users, skip down to the next entry – this one’s for my Windows brothers and sisters, since we all can relate with the fickle nature of Windows; random things happen and sometimes you don’t know why or how to fix it.

Those of us with a little technical prowess can start hunting down the solution using Google and some convoluted step-by-step fixes on a message board, but you have to mentally fight with the fact that you don’t know if you trust the site that’s telling you to download this little registry patch to fix the problem with your computer.

A company that’s a little closer to home when it comes to Windows has stepped in with one mighty easy offering.

Microsoft’s had in beta testing for awhile now something called the Fix it Solutions Center, which offers one-click fixes for the more common Windows issues out there. To bring those fixes a step closer to you, they’ve now made available a downloadable tool.

The tool lets you search for solutions to more common Windows issues, and can scan your computer for problems you may not even know you have. You can also report whether the fix worked or not, so Microsoft can continue to expand and refine its library of fixes.

It’s a nice way to help people, and a good way to monitor issues so they can continue to improve the operating system.

SOURCE: Windows Weekly on the TWiT Network

In what will probably be another death knock on Blockbuster’s door, YouTube has begun expanding its rentals selection, with rentals of TV shows and movies starting at 99 cents. While their selection doesn’t come close to what competitors offer, it adds another a la carte option, and does it via a service just about everyone’s become comfortable using.

Movies can be rented by paying via Google Checkout, and rentals last for 48 hours. The titles available at the moment are weighted towards more indie fare, including documentaries and anime.

SOURCE: ReadWriteWeb via Tech Radar via Gizmodo

When you buy video, like a DVD or a movie online, it is likely protected with something called “digital rights management.” In a nutshell, it’s a layer of protection that the digital content is wrapped in to prevent people from stealing copies of it, either by making unauthorized copies or sharing it with people who didn’t pay for it. The flipside of this can be troublesome: it could limit how many devices can play a video, in the case of iTunes; restrict whether you can make a back-up of something, as previously allowed by law, as in the case of a movie or CD; or even, in some cases, break something that should otherwise work.

That last point is the case with the release of Avatar on DVD. People have been heading to Amazon’s review section to vent about problems that have resulted from the DRM on the Avatar DVD, which includes the disc not being able to play on some Blu-Ray players.

While Avatar was an incredibly popular movie in the box office, it’s a bit surprising that DRM was added to the DVD. You see, DVDs already have protection, called CSS, which already creates a hurdle for most users. And while it’s been over a decade since CSS has been cracked, no matter what DRM you put on something, it just is an enticement for people to crack it, which then defeats the purpose of it to begin with.

Meanwhile, DRM has been a pain point in digital media for years. Steve Jobs made a passionate plea to get rid of DRM in music, something which he ultimately succeeded in doing but in return made us start having to pay more for music (and make us pay to upgrade our library, to boot). DRM in Spore created an uproar after it was discovered that the game could only be installed on three machines. After Ubisoft implemented DRM in some new games that required a server to verify the game install was legit, a denial of service attack took down the server, leading people who owned legitimate copies of the games unable to prove themselves, and therefore unable to play. The biggest DRM outburst came from CDs that used rootkit technology to hide themselves; they created a backdoor that allowed malware to hide using the loophole as well; once hidden, it made it practically impossible to find and remove the malware.

Not all DRM is created equal, of course. Amazon lets you read books on up to five Kindle devices, which includes PC, Mac, Blackberry, iPhone, iPad, and the Kindle itself. Apple allows playback of items bought by iTunes on up to five machines, and allows a computer to play iTunes content from up to five different accounts (so if you and your significant other had separate accounts before getting together, you can still listen to each other’s content). DVDs, as mentioned before, have largely had DRM for ages, and you can still watch DVDs on all sorts of devices.

The more intrusive and restrictive the DRM, however, the more problems seem to crop up. Fox should know better, but instead, they give us a flawed product. It’s food for thought if you’re thinking of buying the DVD.

SOURCE: Amazon Reviews via Consumerist

We know that a Twitter post is 140 characters. But there’s been an increasing amount of things you can add to a tweet, like your location, what software was used to post it, etc.

So what’s really in a tweet?

Quite a lot, actually, as this document posted by Raffi Krikorian shows on Mehack. This definitely falls into geek territory, but for those of you wondering how Twitter can pack so much into so little, this shows you just how complex a simple service like this is.

I’ve dabbled in web development and providing services to a mass audience in the past, and know just how complicated this stuff can get, but rarely do you see this kind of nice breakdown. So remember, when you’re typing into that small box, there’s a lot more going on under the hood.

map-of-a-tweet

SOURCE: Mehack via Consumerist

I wrote here about the rumors that Hulu was going to charge a subscription fee for access to older episodes. They are pushing ahead with testing of a plan ahead of the anticipated rollout.

The L.A. Times reports that the $9.95 a month plan, dubbbed Hulu Plus, would offer access to a larger selection of shows than the free site would offer. Generally, the most recent five episodes of a show available on Hulu would remain avail for free in an ad-supported form.

Testing of the service is expected to start near the end of May. The L.A. Times did not note whether subscribers would also see ads, something which happens with the likes of cable TV today.

The fact that there’s two tiers of service should come as some relief to those who are ditching cable for watching TV online. However, it now puts it more in competition with Netflix, which offers both TV and movies, streaming on a larger array of devices, for a dollar less per month. Hulu’s history includes restricting how people watch the content served from their service, which could end up making their subscription fee seem less attractive than Netflix. That, of course, could be remedied; we’ll have to see what the company does as the subscription fees approach.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times via Houston Chronicle TechBlog

Most people have antivirus installed on their computer, hoping that the software can protect them from an increasingly complex and varied set of bad stuff out there hoping to take control of your PC. It’s not an easy thing to do, given that malware, trojan and virus creators are iterating their creations with speed thanks to the ability to proliferate these threats on the Internet.

Of course, when the antivirus makers introduce a glitch via an update to their protection software, that can cause as much trouble as getting infected.

Such was the case with an update from McAfee, who released a definition update that erroneously flagged a file in Windows XP as malicious.

The antivirus quarantining or removing the Windows file effectively borks the machine, sending it into an endless loop.

McAfee rushed a fix out, so those machines that hadn’t grabbed the update were saved. For those who already got hit, they weren’t so lucky, as an automated solution to fix the problem wasn’t immediately available. Corporate customers were the ones mostly affected by this, which makes sense; corporate customers are more likely to be relying on older versions of Windows, and are more likely to deploy antivirus definitions more quickly to ensure the best protection possible. It’s also possible McAfee hadn’t deployed the update to consumer versions yet.

Situations like this are what cause some to avoid antivirus, but for the vast majority of people, the benefits still outweigh the risk. Meanwhile, if you were hit by this problem, you can get more information about it and how to fix it here.

SOURCE: Houston Chronicle’s TechBlog

Much has been made of KFC’s “Double Down” sandwich, which eliminates the bun and uses two pieces of chicken to surround two pieces of cheese and two pieces of bacon. Consumerist, however, points out that although it seems like it’s a bad thing for you (it has a deceptively low 540 calories, although it has 32g of fat and 1380mg of sodium), there’s definitely worse, including salads.

As usual, they point out it could be much worse with a list of 10 fast food options that will corrode your arteries just a bit quicker. Still, the Double Down is an instant contender for “This is Why You’re Fat.”

SOURCE: Consumerist