A lot happened in the news this week, and Benjamin did his best to discuss it all. Here’s a taste, but tune into the show for all of it. For instance, the iPhone 4 has been getting some bad press, mostly because of the reception issue, and a lawsuit has been filed for their aiding to AT&T’s “monopoly” of the iPhone. At the same time, AT&T is promising a better network, and Google is unveiling an App Inventor for the Android system.

Benjamin also gave us a guide to internet shorthand, and also some of its origins. Brb, or “be right back,” originated in the 90’s with the rise of instant messaging. Lol is even older, found in a 1989 Fido Newsletter, and rofl began as roth in Jargon File in 1990. However, it was not until recently that most of these came into common usage, and even more recently that they passed (unfortunately) into verbal communication.

The rise of technology, unfortunately, has had downsides more serious than silly abbreviations in verbal speech, though. Bluetooth technology is not yet very secure, and so people have found ways to hack into them and steal technology. Using a program to bypass the pairing process, they can access your phone and steal your information. Fortunately, there isn’t a lot to be stolen in a phone but the phone itself, except in newer smart phones. Researchers say that most people are likely to steal the phone itself, but are urging developers to fix these security holes.

On a higher note, we have two websites to watch great thinkers. www.ted.com is the online existence of an annual conference which “brings together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).” They’ve had great minds behind complicated things like String Theory, but also fun things like sky-diving. Another great site is www.thedolectures.com, based on the premise that “the Doers of the world can inspire the rest of us to go Do something.” It’s a little less formatted, but provides similar structure. These are great sites to check out!

Additionally, Benjamin brought us tips on improving the sound quality on notebooks. They don’t have great sound out of the box, but they can be given good sound. Logitech and Samson both make good speakers, and M-Audio makes a good USB sound card you can plug into your computer. Plantronics even makes a Bluetooth headset you can use. Companies see the problem here, and are looking for creative ways to fix it.

In the movie market, companies are suffering from their refusal to serve their customers. While CD’s have been burnt and backed up for years, DVD’s are still difficult to copy, even for legitimate reasons. This is particularly frustrating when you scratch or lose a disk. Some companies have caught on to this, and allow one digital copy to be made of a DVD, which is a great and helpful compromise we hope the rest of the industry will adopt as well.

Lastly, Benny came on the air to talk about the ESRB making news this week. It seems one of Blizzard’s decisions on their forums has disappointed thousands of gamers, leading them to e-mail the ESRB with their complaints. Unfortunately, the ESRB decided to send out a mass e-mail in reply, and accidentally let the e-mail addresses be seen within the message. Of course, this only outraged them more. Make sure you always use blind carbon copy when sending out an e-mail to multiple people.

In the Contacts section, Rebecca asked if it is worth the effort to defrag a computer, and Brian asked how he could keep a program from launching immediately when his computer started up.