Episode 42 – Government tries to spy on a Fuller House
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Welcome to another episode of Geek Bytes Podcast.
I’m Ramon Mejia…….and I’m Edgar Acosta
Every podcast we bring you the roundup of the week’s best Geek and Tech news, then we discuss that news and anything else we’re interested in that week.
If you enjoy the podcast and want to support us you can head over to patreon.com/geekbytespodcast
In Geek News this week, we’ll talk about Congress sneaking in surveillance, Brazil tries to shut down WhatsApp, California rules for self-driving cars, Google Driverless Ride sharing, Netflix streamlines video streaming, Register Your Drones, The Terminator in 3D, Fuller House Release date, Trailers of the Week and More…
In our Discussion section we talk about…Star Wars The Force Awakens
Now let’s Begin our show with Geek News
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Geek News
Congress snuck a surveillance bill into the federal budget
The Verge reports that after more than a year of stalemate, Congress has used an unconventional procedural measure to bring a controversial cyber surveillance bill to the floor. Late Wednesday night, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) announced a 2,000-page omnibus budget bill, a last-minute compromise necessary to prevent a government shutdown. But while the bulk of the bill concerns taxes and spending, it contains a surprise 1,729 pages in: the full text of the controversial Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015, which passed the Senate in October.
CISA has been widely criticized since it was first introduced to congress in 2014, with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) calling it "a surveillance bill by another name." The bill would make it easier for private sector companies to share user information with the government and other companies, removing privacy and liability protections in the name of better cybersecurity.
http://www.theverge.com/2015/12/16/10288182/cisa-surveillance-cyber-security-budget-proposal
Brazil judge tries to shut down WhatsApp
On Wednesday this week a judge in Sao Paulo ordered WhatsApp to shut down for 48 hours. However the ban was lifted after less than 20 hours, when Brazilians flocked to social media and railed against the order.
WhatsApp is the single most used app in Brazil, with about 93 million users, or 93% of the country’s internet population. WhatsApp allows users to text and make video calls over the internet without the need for an additional expensive phone plan.
Brazilian telephone companies have been lobbying for months to convince the government that WhatsApp’s voice service is unregulated and illegal, and have publicly blamed the “WhatsApp effect” for driving millions of Brazilians to abandon their cell phone lines.
This latest stab at WhatsApp is only a symptom of an anti-internet trend by the Brazilian government. Brazil’s conservative Congress already has numerous bills circulating through the legislature to criminalize posting social media content and to allow the government to spy on its citizens.
ALPHABET INC. WILL START A DRIVERLESS RIDESHARING COMPANY IN 2016
Bloomberg reports that Alphabet Inc., parent company of Google, has set its sights on establishing a driverless ridesharing company in 2016. And with CEO Larry Page, 71 billion dollars in annual revenue, and an intensive research effort that started in 2009, the goliath conglomerate is likely to bring self-driving vehicles into our daily lives.
This new as-yet-unnamed self-driving ridesharing service is set to make huge waves in a pond crowded with companies like Lyft, Uber.
Video of Google Driverless Car - https://youtu.be/uCezICQNgJU
California submits new regulations for self-driving cars.
Tech Insider reports that California's Department of Motor Vehicles released a draft of regulations for the public to use driverless cars.
Once approved, this draft of rules would allow self-driving cars to be used by the public on California roads. But there are a few catches under the proposed rules.
· Even if the car is fully autonomous there still needs to be someone behind the wheel.
· In addition to a normal license, special training will be required if you want to operate an autonomous vehicle.
· You won’t be allowed to purchase an autonomous vehicle only lease it.
· Autonomous car manufactures will have to undergo additional 3rd party tests in addition to the normal safety tests all vehicle go through, just to get a 3 year operating permit.
· Manufacturer must provide a monthly report regarding safety, performance, and usage of their autonomous vehicles.
http://www.techinsider.io/driverless-car-dmv-regulations-2015-12
The HoloLens Experience
The Verge reports that Microsoft's flagship retail store in New York will open a HoloLens Experience Showcase for developers. In its three rooms, the Verge's Adi Robertson tried a holographic version of MS Paint, Project X-Ray, where you shoot alien robots moving around your actual room, and “Holographic storytelling” sort of a Marketing Presentation that tracks viewers' gaze. The first wave of $3,000 dev kits ship in the first quarter of 2016.
http://www.theverge.com/2015/12/17/10314876/microsoft-hololens-experience-showcase-new-york
Order an Uber from Facebook
Facebook announced Transportation on Messenger Wednesday allowing US users to request rides from ridesharing services, starting with Uber, using Facebook Messenger. A transportation option has been added to the More menu within Messenger. The deal is similar to services offered by messaging apps like WeChat. Facebook says it will add more rideshare companies "in the coming months." More countries and partners are promised soon.
http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2015/12/introducing-transportation-on-messenger/
Netflix streamlines video streaming
Did you know that at peak hours Netflix makes up almost 37 percent of all internet traffic in North America? That’s a lot of My Little Pony streaming. To help reduce this data footprint and increase streaming speeds of popular titles Netflix is planning to streamline their video algorithm process.
Instead of allocating the same amount of bandwidth for every Netflix show and movie, the company is going to prepare each individual video file so it can stream the fastest and look the best. This means that popular high resolution movies like The Avengers will get more bandwidth allocation than Casper the Ghost School Adventures, a low resolution kid’s show.
While the idea seems simple enough Netflix estimates the new algorithm may reduce peak bandwidth usage by up to 20%. This is especially important for the company as it plans to expand its reach globally. Which includes countries with severe internet bandwidth restrictions.
http://gizmodo.com/how-netflix-plans-to-cut-its-behemoth-bandwidth-use-1747997090
Register Your Drones
The US FAA launched its drone registration program today. Starting December 21st owners of drones weighing more than 250 grams and less than 25 kilograms will need to register their machines. Registration will be free for 30 days and cost $5 afterward. Pilots must be at least 13 years of age and carry a copy of their registration during drone operation . A registration number must be clearly marked on all drones owned by that pilot. Current drone owners have until Feb 19th, 2016 to register. People who buy a drone after Dec 21st, will need to register before they can fly them.
http://techcrunch.com/2015/12/14/get-ready-to-register-your-drone-with-the-faa-on-december-21/
Google Chromecast deal
The Verge reports that Google is offering $20 in Play Store credit when you purchase the new latest version of the Google Chromecast, which is currently on sale at Best Buy and Walmart for $30 (regularly $35).
Google says the free Play Store credits will be available for Chromecasts purchased between December 13th and January 2nd, 2016.
http://www.theverge.com/2015/12/14/10106494/google-chromecast-sale-play-store-deals
Kojima Finally Leaves Konami To Start His Own Studio
The Japanese newspaper Nikkei is reporting that Hideo Kojima’s time with Konomi Sega has finally ended.
The legendary designer, best known for developing the Metal Gear Solid series, will reportedly start his own studio with other former Konami staff. Sony has already announced online that they’ve signed a deal with Kojima Productions to produce a new game for the PS4.
This news comes after a seemingly endless saga of reports about Konami mistreating Kojima. Earlier this month, Game Awards host Geoff Keighley fired shots at Konami for not letting the celebrated game designer come to Los Angeles and accept an award for his most recent game, Metal Gear Solid V.
http://kotaku.com/report-kojima-finally-leaves-konami-to-start-his-own-s-1748162428
The Terminator is coming for you in 3D
James Cameron made a statement this week that he was preparing a 3D version of Terminator 2 that will be released worldwide theatrically in 2016.
In his statement to the Hollywood Reporter, Cameron said "Next year marks the 25th anniversary of Terminator 2 and that seemed like the perfect time to bring it back but this time in an all-new 3D version. If you've never seen it, this'll be the version you want to see and remember."
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/terminator-2-3d-rerelease-set-849272
Release date for Fuller House announced
Fuller House is upon us! The Netflix continuation of TGIF staple Full House will debut on Friday, Feb. 26 with 13 episodes in all territories where Netflix is available.
The official description from Netflix: "In Fuller House, the adventures that began in 1987 on Full House continue, with veterinarian D.J. Tanner-Fuller recently widowed and living in San Francisco. D.J.'s younger sister/aspiring musician Stephanie Tanner and D.J.'s lifelong best friend/fellow single mother Kimmy Gibbler, along with Kimmy's feisty teenage daughter Ramona, all move in to help take care of D.J.'s three boys — the rebellious 12-year-old Jackson, neurotic 7-year-old Max and her newborn baby, Tommy Jr."
That’s it for Geek News
We’ll move on to trailers of the week.
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Trailers of the Week
Every week we bring you the best trailers that came out this week. This week we begin with…
X-Men: Apocalypse
I know this one technically came out last week but we missed it because we recorded early.
Professor X and Raven lead a team of young X-Men to stop the immortal mutant Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) from destroying mankind.
Release date: May 27, 2016 (USA)
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
The adventures of writer Newt Scamander in New York's secret community of witches and wizards seventy years before Harry Potter reads his book in school.
Release date: November 18, 2016 (USA)
Star Trek Beyond
Stranded on a hostile planet, Capt. Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto) and the rest of the Enterprise crew face an alien threat.
Release date: July 22, 2016 (USA)
Independence Day: Resurgence
The sequel no one asked for. In the original movie Independence Day (1996) aliens invaded an unprepared earth. Now they’re back.
Using recovered extraterrestrial technology, the nations of Earth collaborate on an immense defense program to protect the planet. When the aliens attack with unprecedented force, only the ingenuity of a few brave men and women can save the world.
Release date: June 24, 2016 (USA)
That’s it for Trailers of the Week
Now onto our Discussion section
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In our discussion section we talk about anything we’re interested in this week, and this week we’ll begin our discussion with…
That’s it for us this week. Thanks for listening.
For the Geek Bytes Podcast I’m Ramon Mejia and I’m Edgar Acosta. Now Go Geek out about something.
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Music Credits
"Happy Bee", "Movement Proposition", "Theme for Harold (var.3) ", "Take the Lead"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/