Wise Guys on WHO Radio - August 3, 2013
Brian Gongol



Computers and the Internet Google's Motorola division releases "Moto X" smartphone
Notable: It has a 10-megapixel camera

Computers and the Internet Research report claims 80% of smartphones shipped last quarter ran Android
Apple's iOS is still #2, with little falling to any otehr systems. That means there's still a decent place for a #3 competitor, if commonplace patterns hold true.

News Sale price for the Boston Globe: $70 million in cash
The principal owner of the Red Sox is buying the paper and its associated properties for a tiny fraction of what the New York Times Co. paid for it in 1993. Note that people paying high prices for Facebook stock need to take notice: Major media properties can plummet in value over time.

Computers and the Internet "Project Oasis" rumors suggest a $200-million data center is looking at Iowa and Nebraska sites


Computers and the Internet Google wants into the local-news business
Some people are taking hints from Google that the company is shifting focus. News aggregation on an ultra-local basis wouldn't exactly be a change of focus -- but it would certainly be different from organizing the information locked inside the world's printed libraries, for instance.

Computers and the Internet Idiots turn to Twitter with threats against journalists
There have always been stupid people. What's new is that stupid people have access to worldwide platforms to share their stupidity. We trade-off this exposure to stupidity for access to the world's great ideas, which are now available faster and more broadly than at any point in human history. For instance: Guacamole deviled eggs, which apparently have existed for at least six months. That is altogether too long for such a great idea not to have been brought to one's attention.

Computers and the Internet Searching the wrong things could get you visited by police
It was initially reported that a Long Island couple got a visit from police because of what they'd been searching on the Internet from home. It was later clarified that suspicion was aroused because of what one of them had searched about from work, at a job from which he had been released. Either way, it has a dreary overtone to it. Is merely searching for a topic from a work computer enough to give the police probable cause for a visit to one's home? Can one be curious how, for instance, a nuclear weapon might be built, without arousing suspicion that one is thinking of building said weapon?

Iowa Iowa makes Amber Alerts just a little easier to issue

Computers and the Internet Video-game compulsion isn't "family time"


Computers and the Internet Microsoft writes down more in lost value of Surface tablets than it sold in the last year
Microsoft still can afford to make a lot more mistakes than any other major tech company

Computers and the Internet British spy agencies won't use Lenovo computers


Computers and the Internet Someone clicked on one of those annoying "One weird trick" ads so you don't have to