Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...

[vansmack]

Even thieves don't want your stupid tangible media:
 
[T]hefts of entertainment products like CDs and DVDs have collapsed in England and Wales, to the point that they are now taken in just 7% of all burglaries in which something is stolen. They are now targeted no more frequently than are toiletries and cigarettes.

...

?These sorts of crimes are regarded even by criminals as the preserve of the desperate,? says James Treadwell, a Leicester University criminologist. Burglars are generally drug-addled, unskilled and opportunistic. Yet they are capable of making economic calculations. And their behaviour reveals something about the state of the media business. Hollywood and the record labels believe they can hold off the threat from technology, both legitimate and illegitimate, and maintain the value of their products. Britain?s burglars disagree.

http://www.economist.com/node/21542438

[vansmack]

Whether you watched the game or not, call and get your credit.  My disdain for Comcast knows no boundaries:

http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/23/comcast-xfinity-ads-interrupt-nfc-championship/

[vansmack]

No argument from me....except I'd swap out the BB drinking for Android online dating.

What does your smartphone say about your life love?

iPhone Users: The Office Romantic

• iPhone addicts are the most likely to date someone in their workplace. Nearly a quarter of iPhone singles have had an office romance in the last five years.
• After a first date, iPhone users wait just one day to reach out, while Android or BlackBerry users will wait until after 2-3 dates.
  

BlackBerry Users: The Drunk Dialer

• If you?re dating a BlackBerry fan, prepare to imbibe. BlackBerry users are most likely to drink alcohol on a first date ? 72 per cent will have a boozy beverage on a first night out.
• A whopping 67 per cent of BlackBerry users say they have experienced love at first sight.

Android Users: The Seducer

• Android users are most likely to be seduced on a first date. 62 per cent of Android singles say they?ve done the deed after date number one, compared to 57 per cent of iPhone users and 48 per cent of BlackBerry users.
• Out of all smart phone users, Android fans are most likely to have a one-night stand (55 per cent).
• 72 per cent of Android fans have visited an online dating site, compared to 58 per cent of iPhone users and 50 per cent of Blackberry users.

http://venturebeat.com/2012/01/31/match-com-android-users-are-more-likely-to-have-sex-on-first-date/

[vansmack]

Interesting:

Google Reportedly Working on a Wireless Home Entertainment System

I'm heading to Mountain View Tomorrow.  I'm definitely going to ask to peek behind the curtain. 

[vansmack]

You Gotta Fight!  For your Right! To Paaaa...wait...what?  Net Neutrality? 

http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/15/sec-sides-with-beastie-boys-mike-d-says-atandt-must-allow-shareh/

[vansmack]

The latest nonsensical technology to catch Smackie's ire is this whole SiriusXM merger. 

The merger was announced 5 years ago yesterday, happened 3.5 years ago, and still the company supports two different technologies and their content is still not merged into one.

Absolutely incredible that they would support two different technologies in OEM's for automobiles and handhelds (XM radios and Sirius radios), not offer all of the content on one of the two technologies (Sirius cannot play MLB games) or you have to pay a premium for one on the other (for XM radios, you have to pay $3.50 more a month for Sirius programming)

I will be streaming all content in my new car and not bother touching the sat radio and I LOVE technology, but if they haven't merged the hardware in 3.5 years, continue to push out OEM radio's that will need support for the life of cars and haven't fixed their bandwidth issues, SAT radio is dead as LTE gets better coverage.

[i am gay and i like cats]

i thought i heard that "sirius" is dead.  it is only really xm.  all new equipment is xm players only.  places that carry "sirius" equipment told me that it all stopped befored christmas and they haven't got a single piece of equipment that says "sirius" on it anymore.

its a dead medium anyway.  had it for six or seven years.  was incredible when it first came out.  now it is boring and outdated.

pandora . . . for the win.

[vansmack]

i thought i heard that "sirius" is dead.  it is only really xm.  all new equipment is xm players only. 

Unless you purchase (or have purchased in the last 5 years) a vehicle from the following manufacturer, which comes pre-installed with a Sirius Radio:

Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, Fiat, Jaguar, Jeep, Kia, Land Rover, Lincoln, Maserati, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mercury, Mini Cooper, Mitsubishi, Volvo or VW.

I would be willing to bet most SAT radio subscriptions are vehicle based and that owners of many of these vehicles fit one of two profiles for SAT subscribers (1) live in a huge area with poor radio coverage or (2) have a fair amount of disposable income. 

I would agree with you that XM will be the future based on compression structure and available bandwidth, but what are they going to do with all of these cars?

[i am gay and i like cats]

was it just me . . . or did the dead milkmen do a cover of "cars" on sat in dc?  everything at some point revolves around the dead milkmen.  smoking banana peels was a highlight.

[sweetcell]

http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android

[vansmack]

Only Apple could make a gorgeous tablet display that's 2048 x 1536, 3.1 million pixels, 264ppi and leave the ratio at 4:3 instead of 16:9 #bangsheadondesk

[vansmack]

Very Interesting Concept:

Walmart Instore Disc to Digital Conversion

$2 per disc for DVD (480p) or BluRay (HD) Digital Copy
$5 per disc for 480p to 1080p Digital Conversion

Currently limited to Paramount, Sony, Fox, Universal and Warner Bros. and must be replayed using the VUDU service. 

I'm really intrigued by the HD conversion price.  Anybody who's ever converted DVDs to Digital copies would think $2 is a bit of a bargain considering the hassle.

[vansmack]

Oh, and please make this happen:

Virgin America Proposes SF to DC National Nonstop Service

[vansmack]

I had a flight attendant tell me to stowe my kindle during take off.  I asked if he was serious?  He said "Yes. I see the wireless is off and I know that it doesn't use any power except when you change the page, we just don't want any items flying around the cabin in an emergency."

I looked at Smackette's hard cover novel in her lap that she was reading (easily 5x the size of my kindle) and then at my kindle, then an "are you REALLY serious?" look back at him...

"OK.  I'll let you keep it out, just don't turn the page."

"No, don't worry about it - I'll put it away.  I'm sorry you didn't get what you want for Christmas...." then I looked back at Smackette "This is why I fly Virgin.  They JUST GET IT."

He didn't ask me to put it away for landing.

The FAA is finally taking a look at this:

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/disruptions-time-to-review-f-a-a-policy-on-gadgets/

[i am gay and i like cats]

you seem to be an excellent source of information from people "in the know."  do people "in the know" think that apple is finally showing signs of being a doomed company?  i'm just a simple outsider who thinks that a lot of ipad three sales aren't going to solve problems, that is if there are any problems at all.