Urbin Report

Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category

Bad move by Apple

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

Apple barred the new Google Talk App from the iTunes App Store.

The initial claim was that the app duplicated core services of the iPhone.

To get around Apple’s monopolitics ban, point your iPhone browwer to www.google.com/talk.

There has been other fallout from Apple’s ban, besides pissed off customers, the FCC is asking questions and Google CEO Eric Schmidt resigned from Apple’s Board of Directors.

Then there is also the added buzz about Google Talk this has generated. Perhaps it would have been better for Apple just to have allowed the app in the iTunes app store.

Originally posted at Urbin Technology

Tags: Apple, Google, Google Talk, Technology, Urbin Technology

Posted in SmartPhones & PDAs, Technology | No Comments »

Obama administration plans to destroy the $100 Billion Space Station

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

Our Dear Leader’s appointees at NASA use the more PC term, “De-Orbit”, which means letting the incredibly expensive International Space Station drop out of orbit and burn. Any large leftover chunks are supposed to fall into the Pacific Ocean.

The station has cost $100 billion to put into orbit, build and maintain, so far. No plans to replace it with something useful that I’m aware of.

Hopefully, for $100 Billion, it will provide a decent lightshow for US tax payers on the way down.

Look at this way, $100 Billion is only double what the US tax payers got stuck with for BHO’s failed mortgage foreclosure scheme (it was supposed to prevent more foreclosures, instead, the numbers have shot upwards), and it’s only 20% of what Barry claims he can same in fraud and waste in the part of the American health care system that the government already runs. Personally, I’d have more faith in his scheme to inflict a socialist medical system on the American people if he cleaned up the fraud and waste in the current government run system first.

There is actual, real science being done on the ISS, so why is our Dear Leader looking to scrap it? Could it be that there isn’t enough pork for his democrat cronies in Congress to skim off it? As far as I can tell, there are no plans to replace it, even though it is a lot cheaper to go to the Moon from Earth orbit than it is to go from the bottom of Earth’s gravity well to the Moon, or Mars, or…

Tags: Barack Obama, incompetent, Science, Space, Technology, Worst President Ever

Posted in Our Dear Leader, Politics, Space Tech, Technology | 1 Comment »

Monday Book Pick: Space: The Free-Market Frontier

Monday, July 20th, 2009

Space: The Free-Market Frontier by Edward L. Hudgins

The way to make space travel work is let the free market do it. It’s the way God and Robert Heinlein intended it to be.

The Monday Book Pick Archive.

Tags: book, Monday Book Pick, Space, Technology

Posted in economy, Monday Book Pick, Technology | No Comments »

The Kindle “Creep Factor”

Monday, July 20th, 2009

As I’ve noted before, it is my theory that Amazon does not actual sell e-books on it’s Kindle device, it leases the book to the reader.

Another point of evidence to support that theory has just come out. According to this New York Times story, Amazon can delete e-books off your Kindle, that you have “purchased” from them, without your knowledge or consent.

One of the books removed, George Orwell’s “1984”

Update: Keep in mind that Amazon was the first company to grab a noticable portion of Apple’s iTunes digital formated music business by offering MP3 files without copy protection. Amazon is using it’s dominate position in the online bookselling business to force an ugly “DRM” scheme on its customers that assumes that they are thieves.

Amazon, and publishing companies, need to recognize that they make most of their money off avid readers who are willing to spend money to support their favorite authors. Their fear driven reaction to the fear mongering of the RIAA is pushing them toward a business model that is hostile toward their best customers. They would better serve their customers, and their stockholders, by working with the customer instead of treating them like criminals.

Tags: Amazon, e-book, e-reader, Kindle

Posted in Technology | No Comments »

I called the Chrome OS back in October

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

Google announced an OS based on Chrome, this is supposed be a seperate OS than Android, which is already shipping on smartphones and has been ported to netbooks.
The Chrome OS is also based on open source LINUX code, and Google plans on freely distributing the OS. This can’t make Microsoft very happy.

Back in October 2008, I noticed that Chrome had the potential to be a thin layer OS.

One of the exisiting theories is that Chrome is the first componet of a Google OS. Chrome is supposed to be the interface to the applications. If you look under the hood of Chrome, it is built more like an OS than a browser.

All it will need is a thin layer to access the hardware (boot, and then interface with video/storage/audio/periferal I/O(USB for a start)/network interfaces) and it’s pretty much good to go.

This would a thin client model with most of the applications out in the cloud, and as much of the data. as well.

Originally posted to Urbin Technology.

Tags: Chrome, Google, Operating System, OS, Technology, Urbin Technology

Posted in Technology | No Comments »

Leasing ebooks from Amazon

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

I came to the conclusion a while ago that you don’t buy ebooks from Amazon, you are only leasing them.

First off, the highly restrictive Amazon DRM not only limits access to the ebook to their proprietary Kindle device, it restricts it to your specific device. Once you are done with the ebook, you can loan it to friend or sell it at used book store. If you want your friend to read the book, you have to give them your Kindle, because that is the only place that ebook will be displayed.

Second, Amazon doesn’t pay it’s associates a fee for any Kindle books “sold” through them. Why not? They pay the associates for just about everything else sold through their sites. Could it be that Kindle owners really are not “buying” the ebooks, but are just paying for a very restrictive lease in order to access the ebook?

Next, Megan McArdle just discovered a catch in the Amazon ebook fine print.

…there is always a limit to the number of times you can download a given book. Sometimes, he said, it’s five or six times but at other times it may only be once or twice. And, here’s the kicker folks, once you reach the cap you need to repurchase the book if you want to download it again.

I know people who buy paper books in both hardcover and paperback, but that is a different scenario. You have two separate versions of the book in different formats. One for the shelf and one to carry around and loan to friends. Amazon wants its customers to buy the exact same content, in the exact same format, multiple times, because their business model assumes that their paying customer are thieves.

That is not a consumer friendly business model.

Also posted at Urbin Technology.

Tags: Amazon, e-book, e-reader, ebook, Kindle, Technology

Posted in E-Commerce, Technology | 4 Comments »

Yahoo for the Epic Customer Service Fail!

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

I get an email from Yahoo stating that the domain registration fee for the one domain I have with them has jumped to an absurd $34.95 and that my domain will automatically renewed at that customer gouging price automatically in three days.

So I immediately start the process to transfer the domain. During that process, the Yahoo site describing it says that Yahoo may take up to nine days to acknowledge a domain transfer request.

The crystal clear conclusion here is that Yahoo hates its customers, which has been pretty clear since their other epic failure their takeover and mutilation of webring.org. They screwed that pooch so hard they ended up selling it at a big loss.

Update: I’m not the only one noticing Yahoo’s “Bait and Switch” tactics on domain registration, Elliot C. Back is justifiably pissed off too, as is YahooBullshit. CNet covers this rip off by Yahoo as well.

Tags: bad customer service, Bait and Switch, Internet, Yahoo

Posted in Internet, Technology | No Comments »