It's 11/11/11 and it's episode 100 of Reporters' Roundtable. Sounds like an excuse for a predictions show. So here, without further hand-waving justification, are me and Tom Merritt of Tech News Today on TWiT going through 11 categories of tech predictions for the next 11 years. Or 11 months. It varies.
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HANAM, Vietnam--Once you've been gone for so long, the place you come from no longer exists.
The place in question is my birthplace of Nhan Dao, a small village of about 4,700 residents in Hanam province, some 60 miles south of Hanoi. To put things in perspective, when I was growing up here in the '80s and early '90s, a trip to the capital of Hanoi would take eight hours one way. There was no paved road, no electricity, and no running water. For those reasons, until about 10 or 15 years ago, most people in Nhan Dao spent their whole lives within about a 20-mile radius of the village.
During that time, the only piece of modern technology I knew of was the lone loudspeaker, positioned in the middle of the village, which broadcast Radio the Voice of Vietnam from 5 in the morning to 10 at night. For years, it was what I woke up to and went to bed with, and it was the voice of one of the VoV newscasters that inspired me to become a journalist.
Life in the village was calm and simple then, and, for the most part, happy, despite the lack of wealth or connections to the outside world. Everybody, apart from working hard day in and day out in the rice fields, always looked forward to holidays, especially Tet, the traditional Vietnamese new year, when relatives and friends visit, children get lucky money, and celebrants feast on dishes including steamed square cakes made of sticky rice, pork, and green beans and wrapped in leaves. In the simplest terms, Tet in Vietnam is like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's all rolled into one.
After being in the States for so long and especially after several long days immersed in gadgets at CES 2011, I wanted to go back and experience Tet again for the first time in 10 years. I wanted to try to stay away from technology and the Internet for a while and find glimpses of the simple life I had once known.
That was not to be. I discovered that while Tet is still here, most of the simple life I remember has gone for good.… Read more
Happy Chinese Lunar New Year! According to the lunisolar calendar, this year's animal zodiac celebrates the rabbit, the fourth animal in the 12-year cycle. Jeff can't get enough talk about Chinese cultural traditions, although this day of celebration is a little bittersweet for me thanks to a present I received today from Amazon.com.
Rabbit Mothers aside, Verizon subscribers and AT&T haters are celebrating today for the release of the Verizon iPhone. Early reviews are already in, and it turns out the Verizon iPhone is indeed...a phone; which is more than we can say for the AT&T version.
CNET's cell phone expert Kent German already ran anecdotal testing to compare the data and call quality of the Verizon handset, and Big Red's version definitely has the advantage in almost all of the trouble-prone test sites in San Francisco. Keep in mind that this may change depending on your location, but if you were waiting to see if Verizon would deliver on its promise for better service, it did.
Like a good Apple fanboy, Wilson already has a digital copy of News Corp.'s experiment iPad-only newspaper, The Daily. He played around with it for a little while before the show, and even though he refuses to say anything bad about it on the recorded segment, I'll throw him under the bus to tell you that he wasn't entirely happy about the loading speed of the category carousel on the front page. We're also wary of a daily newspaper that updates itself at noon every day...is this today's news tomorrow?
We can't say anything too incendiary about The Daily since we live in fear of Peter Ha, a friend of the show who's also the tech editor for the good afternoon paper. He's booked to guest host tomorrow's episode of The 404, so we'll wait to grill him on it then.
Google also gave its Android Marketplace a makeover yesterday, and although it's been criticized in the past for being too difficult to install and pay for apps, the company hopes to change that with a new interface that allows users to access the store with their Google IDs. You can search for apps on desktops or laptop computers, and the apps will automatically download and install on your Android phone.
The new Android Market will also allow in-app purchasing, so you can add levels to games and other enhancements to existing apps over Twitter to all your friends. Check it out at http://market.android.com.
Mubakalar finally approves of a few voice mails that we listen to after the break, so keep them coming! The phone number to call is 1-866-404-CNET.
Finally, if you're looking to back up your data so this doesn't happen to you, consider today's Deal of the Day, brought to you by Kodak.
It's the Western Digital 1TB Portable USB Hard Drive for $99.95 from B&H Photo and Video. The drive is portable, easy to use with any USB 2.0 port, and is made from recycled materials to decrease your digital footprint on the environment. Enjoy!
Episode 750 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read moreWe're on the cusp of a new year, and that means it's time to make all sorts of resolutions we probably won't keep (who knows? Maybe we will this year). That list might include resolutions to be healthier, more organized, more fiscally responsible, more philanthropic. But given that you read Crave (faithfully, we hope!), a few tech-related resolutions have probably made it onto your list, as well.
Maybe you vow to untangle the gnarl of cords that's choking the life out of your home office. Or come up with a viable plan for curbing your home energy use. Or refrain from texting while crossing busy intersections. Or spend less time playing World of Warcraft and more time playing with your nieces and nephews. … Read more
Note to self: Don't post one-day-only deals during vacation weeks. Apparently there was considerable confusion following Monday's Ad-Aware Pro freebie--which, as noted in the post, was available Monday only. My apologies to newsletter subscribers who thought the deal was for Tuesday or Wednesday.
Well, here we are at the end of another year. We saw some pretty amazing bargains in 2010, everything from $49 1TB hard drives to, ahem, a $220 software bundle for $19. (This is my last pitch for it, promise. The offer expires tomorrow, Dec. 31!)
I want to thank all of you for hanging … Read more
The 102-year history of the Times Square New Year's Even Ball is one filled with technology, death and, of course, pretty shiny lights. See it all unfold in our historical timeline.
Of course, for those who don't appreciate the festivity of the ball drop, despite all of the hard work behind the scenes, feel free to ignore the ball's 32,256 glimmering Philips LEDs and turn your attention to your iPhone...because, yes, Waterford has made an app for that.
Happy New Year everyone!
This story originally appeared on Gizmodo.
Remember your New Year's Resolution? No? It's not surprising that you don't. It's not the type of thing you want to remember anyways. Well, today is your lucky day and I'm here to remind you what it was. It was to lose 10 pounds, right? Well, no wonder you let that one slip. Losing weight is no fun. Except if you do it right, there is no need to sacrifice flavor. Drinking juice is certainly a delicious and healthy way to help you to get back in shape in the coming months--if done in moderation.… Read more
We want to thank all of our listeners for the tons of mail we received over the break, it really means a lot. Here's to making 2009 the year of The 404!
So sit back, relax, and enjoy our first episode back. There won't be a show tomorrow, but we'll be broadcasting live everyday from CES 2009 beginning this Wednesday at 8pm eastern.
EPISODE 252 Download today's podcast … Read moreOur final mini-sode and the very last 404 before 2009! It's been a big year for The 404 even though it's been a really crappy year for everything else in the world. We talk about the origins of the show, the infamous BOL hijack, the addition of Justin Yu and of course, Dan the Mantern. We reminisce about all our fantastic guests and dry our eyes as we count down to the new year. Thanks to all our loyal fans! We couldn't do this without you! See you in 09...
The 404 New Year's Eve Show Download today's podcast … Read moreGoodbye, 2008 and hello, 2009!
A new year means new calendars, new personal resolutions, and an end-of-year celebration to ring it in. Our collection of applications for your PC has bartending and DJ downloads for all that party planning, a calendar to keep you up to date, desktop sticky notes to remind yourself of those all-important resolutions, and screensavers to get you into the spirit of the season.
This classic fireworks screensaver lets you get interactive with the spectacular display you shoot onto your desktop. Have fun choosing the number of rockets for a grand finale that sends … Read more
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