Buzz Out Loud 1392: There is no Matrix (podcast)

Brian Tong returns from the islands in time for us to get collectively punked by a surprisingly elaborate rumor about Keanu Reeves and two more Matrix sequels. But that's nothing compared to the punking that is AOL's subscription service, which generates 60% of its profits and isn't needed by pretty much anyone who pays for it. Ouch. Plus, the tech bubble is our new drinking game and the white iPhone ... never mind. We're not talking about that damn thing anymore. --Molly

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EPISODE 1392

NEWS

Motorola Xoom launching February 17th at Best Buy (update: priced at $700)

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/22/motorola-xoom-launching-february-17th-at-best-buy/

Google acknowledges Web spam problems

http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/vulnerabilities/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229100049&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_All

http://searchengineland.com/google-may-let-you-blacklist-domains-to-fight-spam-62129

Mozilla offers do-not-track tools to thwart ads

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20029284-264.html

Foursquare Valued at More Than $250 Million, May Seek New Funding in 2011

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-23/foursquare-valued-at-more-than-250-million-to-seek-new-funding.html

http://blog.foursquare.com/2011/01/24/2010infographic/

Nvidia’s Tegra 2 3D unveiled

http://www.techeye.net/chips/tegra-2-3d-unveiled

60% of AOL’s Profits Come From Misinformed Customers

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/01/23/1251254/60-of-AOLs-Profits-Come-From-Misinformed-Customers

Facebook Agrees to Change ‘Friend Finder’ Feature

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,741027,00.html

Apple App Store Hits 10B App Download Mark

http://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/01/23/1836228/Apple-App-Store-Hits-10B-App-Download-Mark

$10K iTunes Winner Hung Up On Apple, Thought It Was a Prank [Exclusive]

http://www.cultofmac.com/10k-itunes-winner-hung-up-phone-on-apple-exclusive/78231

Rumor Mill

Production of Apple’s iPad 2 to begin in February, iPhone 5 in May – report

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/01/24/production_of_apples_ipad_2_to_begin_in_february_iphone_5_in_may_report.html

Report: Sony PSP2 to Have 3G Connection, OLED Sc

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2376156,00.asp

Quick Hits

Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant Gets Android 2.2 Upgrade

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Samsung-Galaxy-S-Vibrant-Gets-Android-22-Upgrade-308312/

http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2011/01/24/some_samsung_galaxy_s_owners_finally_getting_android_2_2

White iPhone 4 appears in AT&T's online system

http://www.bgr.com/2011/01/24/white-iphone-4-appears-in-att-online-system/

Geek Pop

WikiLeaks: the Movie to blow whistle on ‘most dangerous man in the world’

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/jan/21/wikileaks-movie-biography-julian-assange

The Matrix Re-Reloaded

http://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/11/01/24/1319214/The-Matrix-Re-Reloaded

Happy Ending

No app for this: Croc gulps phone, starts ringing

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hbQ6jGc_CRgwA53s5W3hPattuzXg?docId=7d4f8013791046f5be31ad24abdcd75e

VOICEMAIL

Ken from Seattle: the dumb*ss has a warrant

EMAILS

I’m surprised no one mentioned this, but Living Social’s coup last week (the Amazon gift card frenzy) could mean the bursting of Groupon’s “”bubble.”" It certainly highlights what Molly’s been saying all along: Groupon’s business model is easily replicated. All it takes a little help from Amazon, and Living Social had as much name recognition in one day as it took Groupon a year to build up.

Side note: Friday, when Jeff was trying to explain to Wilson what Groupon was (apparently no one in NY uses it), Dan chimed in and said, “”Oh, so it’s like that Living Social thing with the Amazon gift cards, right?”" Ouch!

(Sorry, I might be confusing Bakalar, Ackerman, et. al. All those guys sound the same to me.)

love der show,

Raymond in Athens

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Hey Buzz Crew,

Let’s face it whenever anyone is set up on a blind date these days your 1st stop is Facebook to see how much, or how little, info you can find about the person. So having just been given a # I hopped on Fbook to check out my prospective date. Unfortunately the profile picture was not helpful and her photo albums were not available (or so it seemed). I notice that there was a picture posted on her wall and when I clicked on it I was shocked to find that I was given access to the entire album that contained the photo. So by scrolling down the wall and clicking on posted pictures I was able to access several photo albums containing dozens of photos. Now this may just have been due to loosely set privacy setting, but I was able to drill down into photo albums via wall posts on a few other random Facebook pages as well. So my takeaway on this is 1. change those convoluted privacy setting to only share your wall with friends 2. while this flaw exists you may as well do a little computer love recon before those blind dates…

Love the show

Glenn

in Sunny South FL

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Hello Everyone,

I see one major problem with that Starbucks a payment app that you've talked about. Considering all the buzz and fuss about security, how does it make sense to use (essentially) a static bar code to pay for something? I mean think about the sheer number of camera phones around coffee houses... you prep your code, someone takes a snapshot of it, doctors the image a little so it looks like the right app and bam. Now you're buying them free mochas and Starbucks merchandise and have no clue that you're doing so until you go and check your cell phone bill. Yes I agree that paying for things with our cell phones is an interesting idea, but this just seems to be a really poor idea for how to do it, since it would be so easy for someone to steal your Starbucks ID... besides who needs another something to worry about? We already have Credit Cards, SSI#'s, Drivers License... you get the idea.

Enjoy the Show,

Chris

Hey CNET crew,

When you first started talking about the “”Brian”" streak you were surprised someone would plug in that data and figure it out, someone asked “”Who does that?”".Well I have a coworker in the IS department where I work that is just that person. The cafeteria at work offers plastic mugs that are 34 oz. and the standard cup is 24 oz. You can buy the plastic mug and get fill it up for the same price as the standard cup. So to gauge its worth this employee actually made a ROI for it, and came up that it would take 72 refills to break even on your initial investment. So even though I wouldn’t of ever thought to do that I guess there are some people out there that just think that way. I would also like to say congratulations on keeping the “”Brian”" streak alive. And I love the show.

Brad

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http://bol.cnet.com, 800-616-2638 (CNET), buzz@cnet.com