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StarTribune Doesn’t Get the Internet

December 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Two weeks ago our print edition of the StarTribune wasn’t delivered to our house and I looked online to figure out the login info so I could use the StarTribune app on my iPad. We weren’t registered and couldn’t on their website, so was told to contact customer service.

It was 6:30am and customer service won’t open until 8am (really?) so I sent them an email. This was December 12th and I’ve had no response. That same morning I tweeted to @StarTribune and, after finally acknowledging the tweet that afternoon, asked if the situation had been resolved. I tweeted a reply that no, I’d heard nothing and their subsequent Twitter follow up was zero too.

I’m at a family member’s house Christmas eve morning and didn’t have time to read the paper so thought I’d use the app. I forgot that the StarTribune folks dropped the ball and I’m not going to chase them down on the telephone…

…and newspapers wonder why the digital generation could give a shit if they go out of business? I am in my 50′s and see them as their own worst enemy and increasingly don’t care if most of them fold either.

UPDATE 12/30/11: Just received an email from a StarTribune web developer — 18 days after connecting with them initially – and it’s resolved and I’m able to use the iPad app. While I am very appreciative of his assistance, I’m still stunned it took this long. 

Filed Under: Current Affairs, Internet

Steve Jobs – Billion Dollar Hippy (BBC Documentary)

December 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Watched this on our AppleTV last night and it’s well worth a view. As always, the BBC does a fantastic job:

Filed Under: Technology

GOP goes “Back to the Past” with Light Bulbs

December 17, 2011 By 4 Comments

The lowest-of-the-low-hanging-fruit in energy savings is replacing the horrifically wasteful incandescent light bulbs in this nation. Unfortunately our Republican congressional participants see the incandescent light bulb as somehow “taking away choice” from consumers. 

Really? I know that joking about Republicans anti-science stance is fodder for comedians, but this is the simplest means we have to radically reduce energy consumption in our nation so why are they pushing-back on this initiative? It is a lot harder to fund nuclear plants, changeover our electrical grid to a “smart” one, and shift away from liquid fuels to U.S. abundant natural gas, so I just don’t get why the GOP insists on fighting the phasing out of incandescent bulbs the Republican president (GWBush) signed in to law.

What is the GOP’s agenda here? It can’t just be anti-energy. Nor does it make sense that this is all about being anti-global warming. Or it couldn’t just be about continuing to burn fossil fuels at all costs, including war and Imperialism, can it? Lord knows it’s not about helping out the 99% with their household budgets.

Perhaps this is pre-election, political theater and the GOP knows it. According to many reports, like this one from ABCNews, “Congress Defunds Ban on Incandescent Light Bulbs but Doesn’t Quite Save Them“:

“But what many Republicans are celebrating as a win for individuals’ light-bulb-choosing freedom will probably not save the energy-guzzling bulbs from disappearing off store shelves.

“The industry has moved on,” said Larry Lauck, a spokesman for the American Lighting Association.

Lauck said U.S. light bulb manufacturers have already “retooled” their production lines to build more efficient bulbs, he said.”

Ms. Political Theater herself, Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann, has famously harped on it by saying, ““The American people want less government intrusion into their lives, not more, and that includes staying out of their personal light bulb choices.”  Bachmann, who, as a member of the House, introduced a bill to roll back the incandescent ban. Of course, she did so without acknowledgement of her anti-stance on a woman’s right to choose something a lot more important than an energy wasting light bulb.

The U.S. Dept of Energy clearly spells out the energy savings if we get off incandescent bulbs. It’s such a no-brainer that even the political theater aspect can’t be all there is to an “official” Republican effort to stop it.

Or maybe they’re just old and want to go back to the past.

Filed Under: Current Affairs

About Comcast’s 250GB Data Use “Cap”

December 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

My household's last three month data usage. We are a family of four with only three of us infrequently streaming TV (click for larger view)

Much has been written about Comcast’s 250GB data use “cap” and what it means for the future of internet-based TV. My biggest concern, expressed here in my post “Will Comcast crush internet innovation?“, is that their moves are intended solely to put up obstacles and barriers in front of any organization threatening their cable TV franchise.

Can’t blame them really. But the control they enjoy is far beyond what is reasonable. Of course, with the government pushing the Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA), a measure opposed by numerous organizations including virtually every major technology company in the U.S. (with the glaring exception of any wireless carrier or ISP like Comcast or Time Warner), Comcast is less likely to do anything about their data usage caps.

Based on our family use of the internet — and that our streaming music and TV is only increasing — it is highly likely that we’ll bust through that artificial data usage ceiling in 2012. Then it will be interesting to see what we are forced to do to stay in compliance (probably just pay more?). 

The prospect of SOPA passing only emboldens a Comcast since their control will only accelerate. Do anything even remotely infringing under a SOPA law and Comcast could just cut off your internet account with only suspicion (and no due process) being their justification.

Like everyone implores you often, oppose this SOPA “blacklist” by standing up and pushing back. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has this simple and fast way to tell you whom to contact in Congress.

Filed Under: Internet, Media Shift, Television

Android Smartphone? Then You Are Naked

November 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Do you ever do anything on your Android smartphone that you would like to be secure and private? You know, like banking, sending a text message to a friend or loved one, accessing secure web pages, or calling someone? If you do any of that, the U.S. mobile carriers have embedded software on Android devices that can grab every keystroke, see every app you launch, and even view the content of the secure web pages you access even when you are in Wifi mode with mobile 3G/4G turned off!

Though I’d been peripherally aware of a kid named Trevor Eckhart who’d come across what he calls a “rootkit” on Android phones, I was stunned to see this Wired article explaining it and was even more appalled when I watched Trevor’s 17 minute video (embedded below).

I’ve been observing the continuing acceleration in governmental intelligence gathering since 2006 (see, “Massive, sweeping surveillance on *all* you do“) and the U.S. National Security Agency’s warrantless wiretapping, but watching this video gave me one of those “Oh. My. God.” moments this morning.

Wired said this at the start of their article:

The Android developer who raised the ire of a mobile-phone monitoring company last week is on the attack again, producing a video of how the Carrier IQ software secretly installed on millions of mobile phones reports most everything a user does on a phone.

Though the software is installed on most modern Android, BlackBerry and Nokia phones, Carrier IQ was virtually unknown until 25-year-old Trevor Eckhart of Connecticut analyzed its workings, revealing that the software secretly chronicles a user’s phone experience — ostensibly so carriers and phone manufacturers can do quality control.

But now he’s released a video actually showing the logging of text messages, encrypted web searches and, well, you name it.

CarrierIQ, now busted, has backed off of their cease-and-desist (PDF) and pointed out that they’re not really doing anything with the data. It’s all to help out the carriers managing their networks. Aha…that’s what the guy said when the cops popped his trunk and found lockpicking and glass cutting apparatus along with a black ski mask and latex gloves. “Really officers, I don’t use that stuff for breaking and entering.” 

The Register also wrote about this and it’s a great read…but do that and make sure you also watch the video below. Yes, it’s a bit geeky and long, but the first few minutes explains the issue and about the 15 minute mark he shows what’s happening.

Action? Raise a stink by contacting your Congressperson. Join what continues to prove is our only tech-savvy defense against the assault on our Constitution and Bill of Rights when it comes to technology: the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Tweet about it using the hashtag: #CIQ.

Glad I have an iPhone 4S since it doesn’t have this embedded software on it…until we find out otherwise.

httpvh://youtu.be/T17XQI_AYNo

Filed Under: Surveillance

Is Walgreens anti-health?

November 21, 2011 By 3 Comments

17 years ago my Mom died of lung cancer at 62 years of age after a lifetime of smoking. My Dad, 85 years old, has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) which has slowly robbed him of his breath. So to say that I’m biased against smoking, I’d have to agree but also point out that I side with virtually every health professional and medical organization in the world who looks at the science of smoking-related illness and sees it as the #1 most detrimental-to-health addiction known.

To say smoking is anti-health is an understatement. To consider a retailer with health at its core making that #1 anti-health product widely available in their stores, is unconscionable. 

A few weeks after my Mom died I happened to be in a Walgreens where I was acquainted with the manager. “Why do you sell health as an organization and yet sell cigarettes?” He had no answer other than to lean forward and whisper, “Because we make A LOT of money off of them.“

A cool smartphone user smoking. She'll look like 10-miles-of-bad-road in just a few years (like most smokers do)

Stopping off this past week at a Walgreens near my Dad’s house to pick up a few things for him, I saw a young man in front of me buy two packs of Kool menthol cigarettes. When it was my turn I asked the older woman cashier, “Why does Walgreens promote health and yet sell cigarettes?” Sheepishly she averted her gaze and in a low voice said, “I know its wrong…but I just work here and we sell alot of them.“

To Walgreens leadership I say: Be a leader in health and get rid of the cigarettes or don’t bullshit us with stuff like this on your website in your ”health encyclopedia” about the hazards of smoking and how to quit which, ironically, contains solid information about smoking’s detrimental impact on health which you published.

It’s been 17 years since my Mom died and I haven’t become an anti-smoking crusader by any means, but I like and shop at Walgreens so want to see you take a position for health!

I’m sure you make money on supplying tobacco, a clearly addictive, health destructive product. Walgreens also has a Respiratory Services group for which, I’m fairly certain, helps people who’ve damaged their lungs through smoking. But if all you want to do is make money, why not sell porn? Malt liquor? Some constantly morphing designer drug brand just one-step ahead of the Drug Enforcement Agency?

There is absolutely zero argument that a leader of a 7,500 store “health” chain could make to justify carrying a highly addictive, irrefutable cancer-causing product like tobacco. Unless Walgreens thinks that selling cigarettes might ensure long term growth in Respiratory Services and other products? Even a sometimes cynical guy like me would have a hard time believing that so to Gregory Wasson, CEO of Walgreens, I say, “Show some leadership and get cigarettes and other tobacco products OUT of your stores…now.“
Filed Under: Current Affairs, Science

3D Printing: Manufacturing’s “Big Bang”

November 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Visualizing the future for me is so easy that I get very impatient waiting for it. Way back in 2005 I wrote a post called, “Print” 3D Objects on Demand which talked about a breakthrough in 3D printing technology that promised to turn computer aided design in to end-products in an instant. 

Since then we have come a long way but I’m still impatiently waiting for mainstreaming, even though I’m about to jump in to MakerBot, “…a company founded in January 2009 by Bre Pettis, Adam Mayer, and Zach Smith producing an open source 3D printer to democratize manufacturing. You order it, build it, and you have a machine that can make you almost anything!“

But is mainstreaming close? Yep. The New York Times “Bits” column about “The Business of Technology” had a brief post on Sunday by Nick Bilton about 3D printing called, Disruptions: The 3D Printing Free for All which said, in part:

It won’t be long before people have a 3-D printer sitting at home alongside its old inkjet counterpart. These 3-D printers, some already costing less than a computer did in 1999, can print objects by spraying layers of plastic, metal or ceramics into shapes. People can download plans for an object, hit print, and a few minutes later have it in their hands.

Near the end Bilton writes:

A recent research paper published by the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, Calif., titled “The Future of Open Fabrication,” says 3-D printing will be “manufacturing’s Big Bang.” as jobs in manufacturing, many overseas, and jobs shipping products around the globe are replaced by companies setting up 3-D fabrication labs in stores to print objects rather than ship them.

No question we’re a ways off from buying a 3D printer for our home to make finished goods, “Honey! Will you come here and look at these designs online so we can start printing our plates for Thanksgiving?” More likely 3D printing is going to first enable organizations to rapidly prototype new designs and shorten the cycle times for taking a great idea or innovation to manufacturing. Later on we’ll undoubtedly head over to a “Kinkos for 3D Printing” to have stuff made on industrial-strength printers, like those made by my hometown dominant player in the space, Stratasys. 

But who knows? Maybe breakthroughs in nano-materials will enable us to buy a 3D printer at Best Buy and crank out all sorts of finished goods right at home. Finally I’ll be able to just ‘print’ my ideas vs. taking weeks to get a production-ready prototype.

To learn more:

Filed Under: Commerce, Innovation, Technology

TiVO and “Content Discovery”

November 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

For all the whining I’ve done about Comcast’s DVR, bundling of shows and more, I must admit being so delighted with my new TiVO — and especially with their iPad app — that it has materially changed the way we watch TV and how much we consume.

As I’ve said before, I’m embarrassed *for* Comcast that they have such crappy DVR technology. Though they continually promised that it would be replaced at some point, that never happened. I was either going to cut-the-cord and dump cable TV…or try something new. I thought I’d give it one last shot and bought a TiVO.

TiVO iPad app screen (click for a larger view)

Wow. The interface is what I remember from my TiVO experience in the early 2000s but, of course, better. But I didn’t realize how amazing it would be until I tried the TiVO iPad app. Holy smokes! I can easily select a channel, scroll through two weeks worth of upcoming shows in seconds or choose one to record or get a “Season Pass.”

What I didn’t expect was content discovery. Because the interface is so well done, so easy to navigate through (and even use as a remote control to change channels or start recorded shows) I found about a dozen movies and shows to record the first night! 

It’s been like that ever since we got it a few weeks ago. Discovering good, quality programming that is mixed in with hours and hours and hours of crap (IMHO).

Makes me wonder: Why can’t Comcast deliver a DVR like this one? Or buy TiVO? Comcast has built out the infrastructure well but, when it comes to using it, all of their human interface and access technologies are a joke.

Filed Under: IPTV, Media Shift, Television

Google, Amex & Your Business or Non-Profit

October 31, 2011 By 1 Comment

Google and American Express have announced a new contest that has several things you can take advantage of: You can win $5k in advertising; get press by a feature on YouTube; learn how to tell your story in 20 seconds (a discipline we ALL need to learn!); and learn how to use the new YouTube video editing feature.

The contest details state, “Google and American Express want you to share your business story. So we’re offering you the opportunity to win one of 36 online ad campaigns worth $5,000 and be featured on the YouTube homepage on November 25th in honor of Small Business Saturday.” The full rules are here.

Of course, we believe that every small business, non-profit and startup needs a strong web presence, especially before you embark on a campaign which may likely get you A LOT of online attention. To show you how widespread the lack of an online presence is, Google’s Minnesota representative, Ben Theis, dropped a startling statistic on us during this Minnov8 podcast: 58% of Minnesota’s small businesses have ZERO WEB PRESENCE!

So make certain you have a good website and that you take advantage of highly visible contests and offers like this one. We are…

Filed Under: Web/Tech

Elderly Need Super-Simple, Phone-like Skype

October 26, 2011 By 1 Comment

By now many of you have probably seen, and chuckled about, this delightful video that went viral of a senior couple goofin’ around with their webcam. These two are trying to figure out how to use it (and having fun in the process) but the humor obscures the reality: Using a computer, using Skype, and making certain Skype’s audio/video inputs are set correctly is befuddling to most senior citizens!

Let me tell you a story that may mirror many of your own to illustrate why we need a brain-dead-simple Skype phone that is as cheap, super-simple to operate, and as powerful as a landline phone.

It’s a few years ago and I’m in my home office on a Saturday, facing the street and my neighbors house across it. I bear witness to my elderly neighbors — he a fairly tech-savvy retired Fortune 100 executive and she a loving mother and grandmother — saying a very emotional farewell to their son, daughter-in-law, and two toddler grandsons. 

The son is an executive at a different Fortune 100 company and the family was headed to Europe for two years to open a new line of business. My elderly neighbors would have only one visit during that time and I immediately thought, “Oh geez…those two boys will grow up so fast and forget them” so I had to do something.

I sent my neighbor and email clearly laying out all of the power of Skype, that it was free, that if he and his son each had a webcam that they could see one another and talk often. The biggest reason to do it was to maintain (and continue to build) grandpa and grandma’s relationship with those two little boys.

Not hearing anything for two weeks, I feared that I’d stepped WAY out of bounds as a neighbor. But what happened next surprised even me.  [Read more...]

Filed Under: Innovation, Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness
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