All Blog Posts from Tech Talk

Remember blogs? Oh, sure, there are still plenty of active and beloved blogs rippling through the interwebs. But as many of us find ways to compress our lives into 140 characters or less the traditional blog (seems odd to use the word "traditional" next to "blog" but there you go) seems to be losing some steam. It used to be that the media would quote politicians who posted on their Web site or refer to what a celebrity wrote on their blog. Blogs were (and can still be) THE place to find unfiltered analysis. These days, if you want to find a following or spout your observations to the masses, then you likely head to Twitter. But is all this linguistic distillation making people more concise or less thoughtful?

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I've been so busy lately (how busy?) that I've taken to updating my Twitter page (@siebergd) more often than my blog. That must say something about the pace of life and where 140 characters fits in. In any case, lots going on and expect more updates here soon. Meanwhile, I'm off to check out the Apple store crowd today and the response to the iPhone 3GS. Anyone having problems? It might even be time to upgrade my own original iPhone. And in other news, Google has released a new addition to its translate page: Farsi (Persian). Could this affect the flow of information coming out of Iran? Stay tuned.

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During a segment on the Early Show today Julie Chen asked me what happens when the Roku digital video player runs out of space. I responded by saying you need to cycle the content through but that's not entirely accurate. The Roku doesn't have a hard drive so it's purely streamed two minutes at a time. You choose your movie or TV show from Netflix or Amazon.com and within 10-15 seconds (depending on your internet connection) it starts playing. I hope this clarifies the capabilities of the device for everyone.

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How many times have you seen a close call on the roadway and wished you could do more than just shake your fist and shout some obscenities at the offending driver? (Without getting into any road rage.) Enter the internet. A slew of sites like platewire.com and lacantdrive.com allow people to post accounts, photos and even video of their harrowing encounters. There are also ones for people who can't seem to stay within the lines of a parking stall or cyclists who use helmetcams to show how they survive any near collisions. Call it: cyber-shaming. We'll examine the trend on Tuesday's Early Show.

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A Seattle-area tech company called Veratect is being given a lot of credit when it comes to early warnings about the spread of swine flu or H1N1. Using a combination of real and virtual intelligence-gathering, Veratect reportedly sent the first alerts to the Emergency Operations Center and Global Disease Detection Center at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's a theory that's echoed in an article from the Associated Press and a timeline of the outbreak in the Washington Post. In the latter example, the system designed to detect for such outbreaks is criticized for not reacting fast enough. It begs the question -- is there a bigger role for technology to play in these types of medical emergencies and how can the reliability be improved?

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Regular readers of this blog will know that producer Jack Renaud and I recently traveled to Lima, Peru, as part of a story on micro-finance operations like Microplace.com and Kiva.org. We "followed the money" as a young man in Harlem, NY, invested in poor female entrepreneurs there. Tonight we'll introduce you to one of the women who's benefiting from his generosity, and the twist -- he's actually getting a 3 percent return on his investment. (It's not a donation since he gets his loan paid back with the additional 3 percent.) It's an idea that's gaining momentum as traditional banks lose some of their luster as a place to put your money. Plus, you get that (priceless) warm and fuzzy feeling. I hope you'll watch the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric as we explore this idea and try to connect the dots. You could say we're trying to go the extra (3,600) miles to illustrate a bright spot in this difficult economy.

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It's the worm that just won't die. In fact, quite the opposite -- it's come back to life. The "Conficker" computer worm has baffled security experts for months and spread to millions of machines worldwide. On April 1 -- because of clues found in the coding -- some people thought it would spring to action after lying dormant for so long. It did not, and the internet survived. But that didn't mean "Conficker" was a dud. Rather, the clever creators appeared to be biding their time. This week the infected computers began receiving new instructions, and it seems this digital assault is far from over. Tune in tonight on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric to see the latest chapter in this case of cyber thievery.

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I'm sure we all feel a sense of information overload at times, from Twitter to texting to telephones. As I like to say: freedom of speech is a wonderful thing -- it can just be a tad overwhelming. But all that data has spawned a rich resource for law enforcement who are increasingly gathering evidence for criminal cases from sites like MySpace and Facebook. Some police and fire departments are even using Twitter to write short updates about an emergency in the local community. Tonight on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric we explore that growing trend, and even talk to one woman who took it upon herself to use MySpace to track down the boys who beat up her son. I hope you'll tune in to watch.

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Our story about bats dying in the northeast got bumped last weekend after the NCAA basketball game went a little long. That said, it's expected to air this Sunday night on the CBS Evening News with Russ Mitchell. I hope you'll be watching. (Sidenote: here's a link to a recent article that outlines a potential plan to save them.) But wait -- there's more.

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As you probably know, CBS bought CNET (and various other properties including the news.com domain name) for $1.8 billion back in May. And as I should hope you know, CNET is the authority when it comes to tech news and reviews. I know that sounds biased, but I've read CNET for many years and worked with the folks there since I was at CNN. It's the real deal. Now that we're one big (dys)functional family (I kid, I kid), there are plenty of opportunities for crossover. That may include seeing Natali Del Conte on the Early Show, or it may include your truly being part the Buzz Out Loud (or BOL) podcast. Check out our take on the Windows 7 release date, the UNIX calendar celebration and “citizen journalists.”

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