You can always count on Louis C.K. to have a “unique” perspective on modern society. On the Conan O’Brien he takes a couple minutes to skewer smartphone usage. There’s a little NSFW language on this one folks. So maybe watch it on your phone instead of your work computer… It’s what Louis would want you to do…
Pledge to reduce distracted driving! #ItCanWait ‘Drive 4 Pledges Day’ – September 19th!
Distracted driving is becoming one of my primary technology “cause” issues. As tech becomes more fashionable, as we integrate data into more and more of our waking day, we’ve still yet to completely crack the user experience of interacting with technology while operating a motor vehicle. Some day we’ll have better solutions like heads up displays and eye pieces, probably used in conjunction with driver-less cars, but that day has not yet arrived.
Over 100,000 crashes a year involve distracted drivers. We can do better. We need to do better.
Backed by all four major carriers, the It Can Wait campaign will be sponsoring events all around the country on September 19th. During the Drive 4 Pledges Day, communities will be hosting pledges drives, encouraging their neighbors to sign the pledge to not text (or use your phone) while driving. I’ll be attending the Los Angeles pledge event to show my support.
For those of you who want to participate, but wont be able to attend community events, check out ItCanWait.com for other ways to support the cause. it only takes a moment’s indiscretion for someone’s life to be irrevocably changed.
If you haven’t yet, I would also recommend watching the documentary From One Second to the Next, directed by Werner Herzog. It’s available for free on Youtube, and I have it embedded after the break.
Free Music and Production courses available via Coursera & Berklee College of Music
I might have to make this a regular feature. First finding online Physics lectures, now hooking up you up and coming musicians and producers. I’m cool like that.
Anywho, Coursera is working with the Berklee College of Music to offer up three free courses: Intro to Music Production, Intro to Guitar, and Songwriting. Enrolling is as simple as clicking the link and signing up. The semester starts October 16.
Did I mention they were free? Because they are.
Now go get schooled and learn you some music so you can drop some phat beats.
Review: The Body Glove ShockSuit Rugged Case for the Samsung Galaxy S4
I like rugged!
Being able to use our delicate tech in challenging environments is becoming a very important topic for me. A 5″ screen is a lot of glass to potentially shatter while in the middle of a hike or out on a job site. Body Glove is offering up a new ShockSuit case for Galaxy S4 owners looking to add protection without adding a ton of bulk.
Courts agree with MPAA, Fair Use consideration unnecessary for DMCA take down.
A digital lifetime ago, I used to co-host and co-produce a movie review show called Movies You May Have Missed. Each week we’d craft a video love letter to a film we wished had gotten more attention. We think we did our jobs well, with respect, and we were proud to stay spoiler free, assuming the film in question was “new to you”. We studied Fair Use to make sure we were operating within its bounds, and contacted lawyers who vetted our content. We loved these films, and wanted to share them with other like-minded cinema fans.
The problem? We used clips of the films in our discussion to illustrate things we liked about those films.
This meant Youtube was largely a non-starter. Every episode posted to that social network would get shot down in a hail of auto-copyright ID checks. We spent a significant amount of time fighting each one, with little support. Google’s tools for Youtubers are pretty hands off in regards to these kinds of claims. You’re guilty before you can prove yourself innocent. If you’re not already a big player and famous enough to make a lot of noise, you have little recourse to correcting those copyright strikes. We ultimately had to host episodes elsewhere just so people could see them. Even though we haven’t produced an episode in well over year, MYMHM still pulls in some small traffic from fans, last tally was over 350,000 channel views for August. On old content. None of it monetized, as most online rules for such behavior are draconian. Not only were we not allowed to profit from our hard work, even just to pay off our website hosting, we were barely free to even show people our show. The largest audiences were consistently denied us.
I continue to entertain bringing the show back some day, but our legal system has taken steps towards making that return even more unlikely.
TechDirt is reporting on a strange court case involving two incredibly obnoxious bloggers flinging abusive and stifling DMCA take down requests at each other. In previous cases regarding these types of filings, the MPAA has argued that Congress did not intend for filers to have to consider Fair Use when filing infringement take down requests. This would seem to be the whole point of Fair Use if you examine the laws surrounding our rights in interacting with copyrighted materials, unfortunately the courts reviewing this online squabble have sided with the MPAA’s arguments. This case between two people having an internet cat fight has now opened the doors for even more abuse of a vaguely defined set of protections for major media companies.
And this is why we can’t have nice things.
Techdirt also has a transcript of the court’s decision in PDF.
SomeGadgetGuy CONTEST! Toast iPhone 5 cases to giveaway!
Contest time!
You all have been so great in supporting my new tech blogging adventures, I HAD to give a little something back! To celebrate the announcement of the iPhone 5S and 5C, I thought it would be appropriate to show iPhone 5 users a little love. I’m giving away to funky-fresh iPhone 5 cases from Toast in Portland. All natural wood and leather, and Toast makes all of their cases using renewable energy! Hit the video for details on how to enter, and thank you for supporting SomeGadgetGuy!
Check out my interview with Matias, and for more info on Toast product, please check out: http://www.toastmade.com/Home.html
Giveaway details:
Contest starts September 13, 2013 at 1:30am Pacific time, and submission deadline is Sunday September 15, 2013 at 11:59pm Pacific time. Valid entries must answer the question asked in the video. Open to residents of the United States. Must be 18 or older. Comment all you’d like, but only your very first comment will count as an entry.
Amazon to finally receive second batch of Google Chromecast HDMI streamers?
Chromecast is an incredible little gadget. For $35 dollars you get a fantastic stream-to-TV experience in a gadget little bigger than a USB flash memory drive, and controlling your TV with your phone or tablet feels like the future.
I got mine at launch, but since then they’ve been a little tricky to get a hold of. When a store stocks them, the $35 price tag all but guarantees they’ll sell out quickly. If you’ve been wanting to schnag one on Amazon to take advantage of Prime free shipping, you’ve largely been out of luck. The best we’ve seen for the last several weeks has been “Out of Stock” with no time estimate on when they’ll have more.
Well, looking up the little wunder-gadget this morning, the time estimate is now “Usually ships in 7-10 days”! Hopefully this means Amazon is due to receive another proper shipment soon, and those of you who were hoping to shop one there can now finally push the button.
Happy hunting!
Google Chromecast (Amazon)
Weekend Distraction: Cat Plays Theremin!
Absolutely no good reason for me to post it other than it’s a cat video on the interent. I’m specifically doing this to torpedo an practical reasons you might be online at the moment. It’s utterly nefarious, I know, but HEYLOOKATTHATIT’SACATPLAYINGATHEREMIN!!!