Archive Pen & Links

Time to take a Tech Dump

January 13, 2010

Now that CES is over, news is starting to roll out of the tech world. It’s time for another of my signature Tech Dumps:

Firefox 3.6 has hit release candidate status, though I’m still not sure I’ve found a reason to download it. Sure Personas makes things look pretty, but I’m eh on it for the time being.

• Want to sell your own cell phone for the first time on your site? Make sure you include this little thing called “tech support.” Otherwise you’ll end up like Google has with the Nexus One. Speaking of Google’s “Superphone,” holy $550 termination fee Batman!

• You know that little checkbox that says you accept the terms of service on a site. It might be a good idea to read them closer after a Missouri court has ruled they’re quite enforceable.

• Soundbars – a row of speakers in one body – seem like a good idea, but they didn’t offer much wow at CES this year.On a side note, I almost bought one last year at Costco. Seemed like a good setup but as I was testing it out, some of the employees felt the need to play around with the remote on it. Long story short, that’s how a brick-and-mortar store lost yet another sale to Amazon and Bose instead.

Music sales were up in 2009, but as the record companies will argue, “Well yeah we could have like totally sold a billion more CDs if it weren’t for all them pirates out there.” On a sidenote, if it weren’t for all those other blogs out there, my blog would have soooooo many more hits. Interestingly enough, vinyl celebrated a nice uptick.

• Where’s one place you wouldn’t expect to find DRM? Your garage door. But apparently it exists.

• I’m officially calling it: Airport scanners are insecure. There’s no reason the machine should be able to store or transmit images. It just leaves a hole open for hackers. Expect Halle Berry body scans in the next year.