Listener feedback this week was from Don who wrote in response to Hack Your Brew, Nicholas who wrote to share another mobile app for activists, and Jody in response to the Inner Chapter on health and exercise.

The hacker word of the week this week is flarp.

The feature this week is an in-depth review of Adrian Johns’ book, “Piracy“.

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Listener feedback was from Jed in response to the Inner Chapter on Health and Eric in response to the post-peak computing feature and the news story about the study looking at piracy as the future of TV.

The hacker word of the week this week is flaky.

The feature this week is a look at the duology of Tron films from a hackish point of view.

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Specifically I wanted an Android based personal media player (PMP) or mobile internet device (MID) to be able to severe my last tie to Apple’s proprietary software ecosystem. I’ve documented the process of installing Linux for everyday use on my Mac Pro. I have been itching to install Linux on my Macbook Pro. With a substantial iTunes library and the idiotic proprietary sync mechanism of the iPod, my laptop has been relegated to an iPod peripheral. I actively avoid using it out of the sheer frustration arising from losing OS X muscle tone and my newly ingrained Linux reflexes constantly leading me to tap the wrong booster keys and generally fumbling the Apple interface conventions.

The Archos PMP/MID devices all are capable of mounting as mass storage devices over USB which works with all the popular desktop OSes. No need for any proprietary anything to get my music library onto it. I can simply use rsync if I want an exact copy of my main music library mirrored to my portable device. Of course, I can also use a file manager, music buying and sharing apps, and network storage services like DropBox to manage my media collection even more powerfully if I want. Like using Linux on my desktop, the move to Android provides a lot more possibilities.

After several days, I’ve got a good sense of the drawbacks and benefits of this new device. My iPod Touch is currently cleaning itself out preparatory to handing it down to my wife. My Macbook Pro is busy copying my iTunes library to my Linux desktop where I will sift through it deciding what to pull into Amarok and onto my Archos. All of that is simply to say that on the whole I am very happy with the Archos, with only a couple of qualifications.

Costing only 250 USD it is clear where Archos cut costs with the 43 IT. The performance of the touch screen is inconsistent. Some times it works very smoothly, as smoothly as my iPod Touch. Other times it freezes for several seconds, being utterly non-responsive. Another portion of the time, it simply mis-registers touches, double tapping or tapping somewhere else on the screen. This is frustrating but not enough so that I am looking to return the device. Most of the time, it simply sits in my pocket or on my desktop, playing media. The flaky screen is irksome when pushing status messages out to my social network but to be honest, the tiny onscreen keyboard and inconsistent landscape support under iOS was just as frustrating. I am hopeful that the problem is software and will improve with firmware updates from Archos.

Speaking of the firmware, the device did not arrive with FroYo, Android 2.2 as advertised. There is a footnote, now that I double check, and some clarification in the support section of Archos’ site. The device is FroYo capable and a new firmware build based on 2.2 is scheduled to ship this quarter. Looking at past firmware updates from Archos, they clearly invest extra effort to polish the Android builds to work better with their hardware, an effort I appreciate. I’ll post a follow up after it arrives.

Also on the software front, the biggest question everyone has is whether the Archos tablets include the Android Market. They do not. If you read the CCD, it is pretty clear why–they lack a GPS and compass as well as hardware buttons for home, menu and back. Archos confirms this in their FAQ. I think Archos’ handling of the buttons in software that the CCD requires to be hardware is actually much nicer. Most of the time, the soft buttons are present and actually change orientation when the screen turns. With video playback and viewing slideshows of pictures, they disappear altogether. I have only noticed one app, Aldiko, where the available screen area is a bit off because of the soft buttons. (Aldiko, an ebook reader that supports ePub, is thoughtfully one of the bundled apps.)

If you search, as I did, you’ll find ways around the lack of the Market. I cannot endorse or condone this as it is pirated and illegal software. I really wish Google would just let me buy my own way into the Market with the understanding that some apps may not work right, without a cell modem or GPS. The vast majority of them are agnostic of the hardware specifics, it is very odd that the compatibility definition is so tied to a minority of applications. The process od Installing apps of any kind exposes what capabilities of the device the apps may use, both in software and hardware. It would seem to be a simple enhancement to also have this address less capable devices and possible hardware compatibility issues. Until then, if you do choose to break the law, just be aware that your mileage may vary and that Google undoubtedly has some visibility into unauthorized devices using the Market.

The only other frustration is the camera quality. Given the size of the optics, it is understandable. The default quality setting in the picture taking software exacerbates the noise arising from the small glass and tiny sensor. On the maximum quality setting, with bright lighting, the photo quality is quite good. It drops off very rapidly in darker conditions, reminding me of an old Casio point-and-shoot I had with really stinky low light performance. The lack of a flash makes this more of a problem. However, to supplement proper cameras, either point-and-shoot or DSLR, I am entirely happy. I rarely carry a camera outside of specific, planned occasions, so even a lower quality camera is better than none at all as I carry my MID with me everywhere. Having it on the network, ready for posting to social networks, microblogs, and photo sharing sites also offsets the lesser quality considerably. I also plan on experimenting with the micro-SD card, shooting with my point-and-shoot using the standard SD card adapter then using the MID is a quicker means of sharing than downloading to my desktop library.

If, like me, you primarily are looking for a media player, I think the Archos is a solid buy, especially for the price. I consider the apps and other capabilities as bonuses. If you are looking for something more, you may want to wait for future iterations or devices from other vendors. Maybe hanging onto my 1G iPod Touch has set my personal expectations very low. I love having physical volume buttons, an external speaker, and a camera, all things the original Touch lacked. The bundled media apps are very nice, back porting some features from what my friends have shown me to be standard in FroYo. The included app market is OK, though no real replacement for the Google Market. You can also install standalone packages, like I did with the Firefox Mobile beta (review pending). My usage patterns minimize the frustrations I’ve noted though your mileage may vary.

I am also hoping that my order helps send a market signal that there is strong demand for non-phone, non-tablet (that is smaller than 7 inches) internet devices powered by Android. I choose to think that the long time it took my order to be filled is due to the high volume of orders, a reason for optimism. In the meantime, the Archos 43 IT is pretty much what I hoped it would be, a very pleasant way to step into the Android space without tying myself to a cell carrier.

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In the intro, a quick review of “The Dervish House” by Ian McDonald.

Listener feedback this week was Wild Biker who was curious for my thoughts on Ballotpedia.

The hacker word of the week this week is fireworks mode.

The feature this week is a rant on how I think the current network neutrality debate came to be.  The Berkman Center had an excellent podcast episode recently that serves as a good backgrounder.  I mention the Carterfone case as the antecedent for open access to networks.

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In the intro a quick review of the board game, Ra.

This week’s security alerts are new tactics attackers are using to evade network security and compromise turns security vendor’s site into a malware hub.

In this week’s news Mozilla announces open web apps (which might take advantage of Prism) and experimental app store, breakthrough could eliminate need for computers to boot, how Allies used math against German tanks, and turning brain waves into music.

Following up this week barriers to real competition in the wake of the Google Books settlement and Oracle wants LibreOffice members to leave the OOo council.

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In the intro, apologies for the missed news cast, though I had a very productive weekend on other show related tasks as well as on the volunteering Saturday. My thanks to Wild Biker and James M. for their donations this past week. And a reminder that DC’s CopyNight is this coming Tuesday, the 26th.

Listener feedback this week was from Jed who wrote in about the Singularity feature as well as hacker health habits and post-peak resource technology.

The hacker word of the week this week is firehose syndrome.

The feature this week is a book review of “Out of Control” by Kevin Kelly. I also reference the books “Complexity” by Mitch Waldrop and “Godel, Escher, Bach” by Douglas Hofstadter.

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In the intro, good news about the enhanced/AAC version of the show.  As reported earlier on the blog, thanks to my friend Jay I now have a tool to continue to add chapter marks to the AAC audio files.

The hacker word of the week this week is finn.

The feature this week is a review, from a hacker point of view, of one of my very favorite films, Brazil.

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In the intro, the last reminder of my impending travel to Dragon*Con. Also a quick review of Neil Netanel’s “Copyright’s Paradox“.

Listener feedback is a thoughtful and thought provoking email from Grant who wrote in response to my discussion of ebooks in the developing world.

The hacker word of the week this week is finger-pointing syndrome.

The feature this week is an Inner Chapter on the subject of superstitions.

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In the intro, my thanks to Mike for his donation for which he has earned a merit badge. A final reminder there will not be a feature cast this coming week, I’ll be out in San Francisco for most of the week. Also, a quick review of George Mann’s “The Osiris Ritual“. I reviewed his first novel, “The Affinity Bridge”, earlier in the Summer.

This week’s security alerts are RFIDs can be provably read at over 60 meters and an algorithmic attack on reCAPTCHA.

In this week’s news an algorithm to improve the energy efficiency of mesh networks, concerns over a citizen vigilante group monitor ISPs though the groups claims may be overstated, Google ends Wave development though is dedicated to learning from its failure in this case probably from its complexity despite adding more resources and opening up to more users, and unpacking what exactly went on between Google and Verizon especially as they deny claims of an anti-neutrality pact (even on Twitter). Odds are good they are still meeting and talking to some end which may be why the NYT is sticking to its story. Cringely has the most intriguing guess at their possible goal.

Following up this week EFF offers assistance to targets of the US Copyright Group and the FCC ends closed door discussions on its net neutrality plan.

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In the intro, a quick review of the tabletop game, “The Stars are Right“.

Listener feedback this week is from Andrew and Carey, both of whom responded to the last feature on complex privacy .

The hacker word of the week this week is Finagle’s Law.

The feature this week is a monologue considering the true burden of forking. It was inspired by my recent reading of Clay Shirky’s excellent, “Here Comes Everybody“.

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In the intro, a reminder there will be no news show this Sunday as I’ll be at Balticon. Also, a quick review of “Dreaming in Code“, by Scott Rosenberg.

Listener feedback this week is from Randal on the Dr. Who as a hacker and DeepGeek in response to my discussion of Danah Boyd’s essay on Facebook as a utility.

The hacker word of the week this week is featurectomy.

The feature this week is an Inner Chapter on the subject of legacy code.

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Listener feedback this week is Philip, Jed and Brad who all commented on my Dr. Who monologue. Sergio, Claudio, and Curtis also chatted up the segment on Identi.ca. Mr wrote in about my NoSQL rant. And pseudomorph wrote in response to the Mozilla Account Manager story from the 2nd news cast. He shared a couple of links on digital identity and whether intellectual monopoly is making us dumb.

The hacker word of the week this week is fear and loathing.

The feature this week is an in depth book review of “Postsingular” and “Hylozoic” by Rudy Rucker. In the review, I mention the two short stories from which the first book was developed, Rucker’s blog post questioning the wisdom of computronium, my earlier review of one of Rucker’s non-fiction works, the internet of things, and the free download edition of “Postsingular”.

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I would say without hesitation that I enjoyed “For the Win” even more than “Little Brother”. I dug the ideas explored in the book more than I expected–organizing labor, virtual economies, the effects of online games on globalization and youth culture. The dialectic is very well woven into the stories of all the characters, you rarely if ever feel like you are receiving an info dump. The only thing I suspect some people may not like, depending on their tastes, is that the narrative is shared across the points of view of several characters. I don’t mind that, personally, but I have friends who do. For the younger readers, there is a bit of violence but it isn’t gratuitous and should be fine for teen aged readers.

I read my copy during the big blizzard earlier this year, when we had no power for a few days and no heat. It thoroughly kept my mind off of a very worrying situation and held up to non-stop reading over the course of a few days. Not many books would have held my interest well enough to read pretty much continuously like that, “For the Win” definitely did.

Of course, as with all of Cory’s books, you can download a free electronic copy of the book, in a number of formats, and see for yourself if you enjoy it enough to pick up a print edition. I love that this time out he included my favorite format, ePub. That format is a fan conversion and is made possible by the liberal license Cory uses. You can remix or convert the book any which way you like as long as you share your changes and don’t charge for the end result.

As with “Little Brother”, Cory is working with educators and librarians to get this book into the hands of kids. There are more details on how you can help with that effort at the book’s web site. You’ll also find a link to the book tour that is kicking off this week. I encourage you to go out and see Cory if he’s coming to your town. He’s a dynamic and engaging speaker and reader plus you can pick up a signed copy of the book if you are a fan.

Lastly, I will be interviewing Cory while he’s on the book tour specifically to dig into various aspects of the book and the tropes he explores in it. If you have a relevant question you’d like me to pose, send it to me before Thursday the 13th and I’ll include as many of your questions as time allows. That interview should go out next week, Wednesday the 19th.

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In the intro, a quick review of the film, “Astro Boy“, based on the original manga by Osamu Tezuka. I also highly recommend Dan’s review of the film on Geekadelphia.

Listener feedback this week is from Philip who wrote in to comment on my nowhere to go rant.

The hacker word of the week this week is exec.

The feature this week is a monologue on the social gravity well.

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In the intro, a quick review of the expansion, On the Brink, to the game Pandemic. I reviewed Pandemic on the March 25th podcast.

There is no listener feedback this week.

The hacker word of the week this week is evil.

The feature this week is a Hacking 101 segment on the terms front end and back end development. I mention the model-viewer-controller design pattern and refer to my interview with Celeste Lyn Paul.

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In the intro, two books that just launched that I want to recommend to you, J.C. Hutchins’ “7th Son: Descent” is now in print and Cory Doctorow’s “MAKERS” was released today. Additionally, J.C. has offered to give away three signed copies of his book to listeners. Send a note to 7thSonNovel at gmail dot com with the subject line, “cmdln sent me”, and the phrase, “Kilroy 2.0 is everywhere”, and your mailing address in the body. J.C. will draw three lucky winners on November 6th so get your emails in now.

There is no listener feedback this week.

The hacker word of the week this week is epsilon squared.

The feature this week is an Inner Chapter on the subject of perfection and compromise.

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In the intro a quick review of the file, “Sita Sings the Blues“, by Nina Paley.

The hacker word of the week this week is enhancement.

The feature this week is a monologue on embracing fair use. Here’s the promised links defining fair use and fair use for trademarks. I mention Open Media Review and The Arbiter Chronicles.

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In the intro a quick review of the movie, District 9.

The hacker word of the week this week is engine.

The feature this week is a rant on owning innovation. In it I mention VoloMedia claiming to have the patent on podcasting including their own words on the matter, Iain Bank’s publisher claiming first podcast novel, Christiana Ellis wins the preposterous claims contest that followed on Twitter, the Creative Commons and the Free Idea eXchange.

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In the intro a quick review of the family friendly game, Qwirkle.

Listener Feedback this week comes from Marc who commented on the new Inner Chapter theme music and Dave who commented on the Inner Chapter of the role of leader as law giver.

The hacker word of the week this week is elite

The feature this week is an Inner Chapter on focus. This builds on my previous chapters on will and yak shaving.

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In the intro a quick review of the family friendly game, Cheeky Monkey.

Listener Feedback this week comes from Philip Durbin who writes about using frameworks to help manage code complexity and Gladwell’s review of Anderson’s new book, “Free”.

The hacker word of the week this week is elephantine.

The feature this week is an Inner Chapter on when a leader must act as law giver.  This builds on my previous chapter on leadership.

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In the intro, a quick review of J.C. Hutchins and Jordan Weisman’s new book launching this Tuesday and more details on how you can contribute to my upcoming anniversary show and possibly even win a prize for doing so. Visit J.C.’s site for more details about his work and for the prequel novella he is podcasting for a taste of what to expect in the novel. The reason I am reviewing this book, other than the fact that I am friends with one of the authors, is that Jordan Weisman is a giant in the gaming industry, largely responsible for fleshing out the genre of Alternate Reality Games but going all the way back to table top and RPG games and having worked with video games and some very recognizable franchies. PE:DA includes an ARG that ties in with the very compelling psychological thriller that is the novel itself.

This week’s security alerts are a mass drive by injection attack and the .org zone moving forward with DNSSEC.

In this week’s news gathering support for native media support in HTML5, Knuth speaks out against software patents, the EFF launches a terms of service change tracker, and a dreaded intellectual monopoly for fashion bill is resurrected including a form you can use to lodge your complaint and even an email address of a House Judiciary Committee member looking for feedback.

Following up this week the Bilksi appeal moves forward and a preview of the Jammie Thomas re-trial.

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In the intro a reminder that my interview with Thomas Cagley of the SPamCast is up if you haven’t checked it out already.  Also a quick and spoiler free review of X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Listener Feedback this week is from Alex who compliments and asks after the audio from my interview with Jonathan Zittrain.  He also has a meta-correction, yes, I got DEE-bold wrong yet again.

The hacker word of the week this week is eat flaming death.

The feature this week is a new Inner Chapter on the practice of research.

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In the intro I chat up Penguicon and share a promo.  Also, on a sadder note, the co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons, Dave Arneson passed away recently.  Tor.com has a very nice remembrance.

Listener Feedback this week is from Naht Ass who writes with some clarifications on the Shepard Fairey, Manny Garcia, AP case over the Obama Hope image.  He shared a link to an episode of NPR’s Fresh Air on which most of the principals were interviewed.

The hacker word of the week this week is dumpster diving.

The feature this week is a book review of an excellent book I finished recently, Hackers by Steven Levy.  As I mention in the review, the first two chapters are freely available.

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In the intro a quick review of the geek family friendly movie, Monsters vs. Aliens.

The hacker word of the week this week is dump.

The feature this week is a monologue on choosing development platforms.  I wrote this in response to a question from Brand Gamblin the genius behind Calls for Cthulhu.  Brand is one of the first people I know personally who got a G1 and also recently looked into learning Flex.

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In the intro, a review of the board game, Pandemic.

The hacker word of the week this week is drunken mouse syndrome.

The feature this week is a new Inner Chapter on coding style.  I mentioned this article of Python do’s and don’t's and Sun’s coding conventions for Java.  And here is the Wikipedia article on Hungarian notation if you are unfamiliar.

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In the intro, I share my review of Ed Piskor’s “Wizzywig Volume 1: Phreak”.

The feature this week is part two of a round table discussion of some of the issues that were prominent this year. I was joined by Kevin Crosby, Vaskin Kissoyan, and Eric Christensen. The topic of this part is where we are at with copyright infringement and enforcement. Most recently the RIAA has announced it is stopping its individual law suits. However, they are pressing an unusual criminal case against an individual. The risk of the urge to perfect enforcement is the increasing irrelevance of copyright to the average person.

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I subscribed to Ed’s RSS feed after completing the first volume and placing my order for the second. I noticed that in his writing, he is concerned with getting hacker culture and history right. I don’t think he needs to worry, even if some the details may be off, and I don’t think they were, he clearly gets the hacker spirit.

The book is short, just over a hundred pages, but part of a four part series. The first two are available now. The page layout is a simple, four-panel square and Piskor’s drawings are somehow at once spare and richly textured. I likened the online samples I saw to Maus and I think that comparison holds up well after reading the first volume. The narrative construction is similar though Piskor favors a more detailed, almost caricatured approach to his characters.

The book itself lacks an ISBN and looks like a high end print-on-demand. My copy had a hand drawn picture of the main character and a few words from the author. If he is printing these himself through a small press or on-demand, it is no detraction whatsoever. The personal touch goes a long way to cementing its charm. I wonder if he does that for each copy he sends out?

The protagonist, Kevin “Boingthump” Phenicle, is clearly an amalgam of several notable hackers but is also a distillation of the intense curiosity that motivates those persons on whom he is based. I was captivated by the seamless progression of his interests from one to the next. Piskor contrasts this nicely with his sole cohort, Winston, who is much more clearly based on 2600′s Emmanuel Goldstein. Winston is always interested in the political angle while Kevin is only interested in a puzzle as long as it takes for him to solve it.

Phenicle is also plagued with the crushing social awkwardness that seems to bedevil many genius techies. Piskor works in the pathos of dealing with that particular flaw quite deftly. While the volume closes with the necessary set up for the second installment, Hacker, the high point for me was Kevin’s fight-or-flight moment just a few pages prior.

In short, the first volume lived up to its promise. I think this is an excellent book to provide to anyone, technically literate or not, you think needs a better grasp of what it means to be a hacker. I am pleased that the book is also appropriate for a younger audience. My two sons take a lot of technology for granted, I intend to share Piskor’s series with them to provide a launching off point to discuss in a bit more depth some of these technologies and the more interesting questions they beg.

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Listener feedback this week is from Vaskin continuing the discussion of git.

The hacker word of the week this week is dongle.

The feature this week is a review of the book, “The Hacker Ethic”, by Pekka Himanen. Here’s the synthetic biology debate that I mention in the piece in relation to Castells tie-in of bio-science with informationalism.

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In the intro, a quick review of Neal Stephenson’s Anathem.

Listener feedback this week is from Alex and Paul Fischer. The RADIUS server that Paul mentioned is StellarRADIUS.

The hacker word of the week this week is display hack.

The feature this week is a rant on the phenomenon of information overload.

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In the intro, a quick review of Cory Doctorow’s new book, hist first non-fiction title, (c)ontent: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright and the Future of the Future.

The hacker word of the week this week is dink.

The feature this week is a reading of two of my favorite selections from Cory’s new book.

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