Media consumer, tech enthusiast, and gamer
With an estimated 500 million pounds of electronics collecting dust in California’s closets, garages and attics, finding ways to reuse those metals, plastics and chemicals is critical. That’s where John Shegerian’s company, Electronic Recyclers, comes in. The Futures Channel takes viewers inside the largest electronic recycling plant in California in its new online micro-documentary, “Recycling Computers.”
Read More “How To Recycle Computers, Xboxes, Cellphones: 5 Million Pounds Per Month!” »
Tim Westergren, founder of Internet radio station Pandora, has sent out a letter to listeners asking for help regarding the increase of licensing fees specifically for Internet radio. It revolves around a recent decision by the Copyright Royalty Board in Washington, DC to nearly triple the licensing fees for Internet radio sites like Pandora. Click here to help save Internet radio (the process is streamlined and takes approx. 30 seconds) and read below too see what Tim has to say:
Google CEO Eric Schmidt had quite a bit to say at the National Association of Broadcasters conference, including some borderline trash talk toward companies like Microsoft and Viacom. But the message that seemed to steal the show was that of YouTube’s filtering system which is almost ready for prime time. Schmidt said the following:
“We are very close to turning it on. We are testing it with two or three partners now … In a few weeks it will be available for all.”
Read More “YouTube Filter Will Go Live In Weeks: “Claim Your Content”” »
The apartment complex I live in forces me to use whatever Internet connection the whole complex is on. Since I moved here last year, it’s been a local provider until that company went bankrupt. Service stopped on January 25. Not to worry, the apartment complex switched to using Verizon DSL. But that service went live on March 22.
I’m back in school getting my MBA while running TechConsumer. Here’s my story of doing both without Internet at home:
Walt Mossberg of Wall Street Journal fame has an article out (subscription required) explaining just how much crap his brand new Sony laptop came with. And we’re not talking full programs either; these are trial versions which force you to pay later if you’re really interested. Walt counted about two dozen “craplets” pre-installed, which likely are part of the reason for the over two minutes of time it takes the computer to start up (compared to 30 seconds for a comparable Apple MacBook, ouch!). Sony’s response:
Read More “Computers Coming Preloaded with More Crapware Than Ever Before” »
I grew up with the Webster dictionary as my guide to defining words. I remember homework assignments that started with “Webster defines…” followed by the definition of some term and a follow up question on which I would need to write a paper. Another classic use of Webster was at church. Someone preaching on love? The easiest way to begin is by stating “Webster defines love as…” and then moving on to a more eloquent expansion on the basic definition.
During this past month, both of these examples came back to me, except this time Webster was replaced by Wikipedia.
Read More “Is Wikipedia the Webster for the 21st Century?” »
I’ve always been one to root for the underdog. In this case, I picked Musicmatch five years ago and even skipped out on the iPod craze by using another brand of digital music player. But for all my time spent with Musicmatch, I was somewhat disconnected from that group of friends big into using iTunes. So I decided to give iTunes a test run, and now I don’t think I can go back. Here’s why:
Read More “Why I Switched to iTunes from Musicmatch 5 Years & 5,000 Songs Later” »
Apple’s Steve Jobs joined EMI Group CEO Eric Nicoli in London to host a press conference at EMI’s headquarters. The press had already taken rumors and run with them. But now it’s confirmed. The big announcement: EMI Music is launching DRM-free downloads and Apple’s iTunes Store will be the first online music store to sell the new format. Details below along with some slides from the press conference:
Read More “DRM-Free Is Here: iTunes Now Sells EMI Non-DRM Music for $1.29 per Song” »