Let's Talk Tech
Ok. I’m a fan of Microsoft’s recent moves, but this is hilarious.
Engineers at Google started to suspect that Bing was copying their search results, so they set up a sting, tying nonsensical strings of letters to dummy web pages. Quickly after indexing each page and fake word search, Google Engineers found they could search for the same nonsense and get the dummy page on Bing.
Microsoft has yet to comment on the matter, but it would appear that not just consumers, but even Bing prefers Google…
Shooting video. Using your LCD to compose stills. Outdoor photography can be challenging in direct sunlight. Kamerar’s VF4+ uses brackets and rails to isolate your LCD screen, protect it from the sun, and provide a little extra magnification to insure you land your focus. Let’s take a look!
The problem companies face when communities lack competition for services like Internet? The community might try to roll their own.
There are laws on the books in twenty states preventing communities from building out their own public high speed and fiber broadband, but communities in Kansas and Colorado are looking to move forward on their own local offerings.
Seven cities and counties in Colorado voted during the last election to exercise an escape clause in their anti-competition legislation. All that was required was allowing a community to take a vote on the matter, and every community that put it up for a vote had it pass by a large margin. Boulder Colorado passed their measure with 84% of the voter turnout supporting it.
The GAO released their report on Fixed Internet Usage and Usage-Based Pricing. The 41 page report details their testing and offers up their recommendations.
Their conclusion?
That the FCC should work with providers on educating consumers and developing a code of conduct for pricing and service. The FCC has already stated that they will be monitoring complaints to see if a more direct approach is necessary, but there hasn’t been much consumer uproar over capped home internet plans, especially as many groups are trying to influence the FCC’s “Fast Lane” proposal. With more of the focus on Net Neutrality and the upcoming Time Warner + Comcast merger, there’s probably far less noise being made about data caps.
This could become another battle soon however, as caps are another way ISP’s can enforce their policy and services to the detriment of their competitors, and it could have a chilling effect on consumer behavior. We’ve already covered Comcast’s horrifically bad “Flexible” plans, but it’s no surprise that more communities are following Chattanooga’s example and looking to build their own public data networks.
It’s a happy week for High Speed Internet junkies in Austin!
Google Fiber is getting the ball rolling in the south and southeast areas of the city for homes, apartments, and small businesses. Full Gigabit broadband will start at $70 a month, $130 a month will land you over 150 TV channels, and the fantastic free option remains for customers who pay a one time $300 construction fee, with speeds topping out at 5Mbps.
If you’re in the area and want to sign up, make sure you check out Google’s deadlines as they focus on building out the fiber in small pieces of each city. Congrats Austin! Hopefully someday, in my lifetime, the rest of us can join you in having truly fast internet access… Sigh… Someday…
Spoiler alert: It’s a really good camera.
You can always count on Nokia to pack a great camera on a phone at any price point. The Lumia 830 is a mid-range phone, so let’s see if the 10MP shooter is a mid-range camera!
I’ve really been enjoying my time with the Samsung NX30 which I picked up during their #DITCHtheDSLR event in Hollywood. It’s been a killer little mirrorless APS-C camera, and we’ve been using it recently to shoot our video reviews at 60FPS!
Well, you can’t really test an interchangeable lens camera without a couple extra lenses to interchange, so the fine folks at Samsung sent over a few for us to review, including their 45mm F1.8 3D lens!
I’m finding it’s actually terrifically difficult to share 3D files using traditional social networks, so I’ve set up a OneDrive folder where you can download the MPO files and view them directly via whatever method you prefer to use for 3D content. I’ve personally been running the files through an NVIDIA 3D Vision setup, and the shots are coming out much better than I would’ve expected for a consumer 3D solution.
Click on the folder or link below to see some of the 3D samples before we wrap up our review!
Score a new Android over Black Friday? Looking to pick up a tablet this holiday season? Wondering what apps you should install first?
Google published their top Android app list for 2014, and it’s jammed pack with some winners. I’m happy to say that I’ve already snagged about half of these. Probably because I have excellent taste.
Did your favorite apps make the cut? Check out the list by hitting the link below!