Eastern European ISPs Better Value
Both Canada and the US are starting to lag when it comes to broadband service. With companies trying to make the most out of aging landline technology, Canada and the US are falling behind countries like Bulgaria, Estonia, and Lithuania, who are installing fibre optic lines and providing faster service at a lower cost. Time to put pressure on the big network service providers to upgrade.
Exercise Video Games More Effective Than Exercise
Researchers at the Healthy Aging and Neuropsychology Lab at Union College in New York State have determined that exercise video games help both body and mind. "Exergames", such as the WiiFit line, are providing both physical and mental exercise, unlike a stationary bike that only deals with the physical. The key is the engagement of the mind; traditional exercise only deals with the body. Could we be seeing the end of the couch potato?
No Jobs Action Figure
Apple puts the kibosh on a Steve Jobs action figure. In Icons, the Chinese company that was planning on the figure's release, said that Apple's lawyers put pressure on the company. Pre-orders will be refunded.
–Scott D
Life wound up getting away from me the past few days. Highlights of relevant items will commence.
Former Nortel Execs on Trial
The trial of three former Nortel execs started today in Toronto. The three are charged with fraud; the Crown attorney noted that the former technology company's financial statements were incorrect by "over half a billion Canadian dollars" in the first and second quarters of 2003. This might be the end of the Nortel saga.
Ending the Cell Phone Dominance
OpenMedia.ca has started a petition to have Canadians speak out over the domination of the Big Three service providers. Between Bell, Rogers, and Telus, they control 94% of the market. OpenMedia.ca wants some of the new wireless spectrum set aside for new wireless companies to allow them to compete with the larger companies. The activist group believes that allowing more companies into the marketplace will force the existing firms to compete and lower some of the world's highest fees.
Tricorder Coming Soon?
The latest X-Prize challenge comes from Star Trek. The X-Prize Foundation is offering US$10 million to anyone who can create a working medical tricorder. Some criteria needs to be met, including diagnosing fifteen diseases in thirty patients accurately in three days, capture realtime health metrics, and quickly and effectivly assess health in any location. No word if a Feinberger will be an allowed accessory. Even if a medical tricorder doesn't come out of this challenge, breakthroughs in medical treatment should occur.
Playbook Finally Gets Update
RIM will release the Playbook 2.0 update in February. The free update will include native email, contacts, and calendar software, the ability to synchronize with LinkedIn and Twitter, a video store catalogue, and access to Android apps. The good news, the update, as mentioned, is free. The down side, the update took ten months.
Samsung to Leverage Smartphone Success
Samsung is using its success in the smartphone arena to move into tablets. Included in the process to get their tablets out to consumers, the company will encourage their vendors to learn to use the new technology, including how to set up email on it. The company is also trying to ensure that their tablet's apps will work with all smartphones, not just their own.
–Scott D
Looks like newsmakers are done with their New Year's holiday.
Know Your Rights
A recent report from Oekom has placed the electronics industry as the most likely to violate workers' rights. So-called advances such as just-in-time delivery and the disposability of electronic gear such as iPods and cell phones has created the situation leading to the abuse of workers.
So, How Do You Right Click?
OnLive has developed a streaming application allowing iPad users to run Windows. Using streaming and cloud computing, Windows software can be run without being installed on the tablet itself. The app requires wifi access to run properly; anything less reduces the streaming and slows Windows down to the point where a 486 with XP is faster. This could be a big step towards replacing desktop PCs in businesses with tablets.
Nokia and Microsoft Team Up
The Consumers Electronics Show saw the introduction of the Lumia 900, a joint project by Nokia and Microsoft. The Lumia 900 is an attempt by both companies to catch up in the smartphone field. This could be a new entry point for geeks wanting to get work in a new OS and hardware environment – apps for the Windows phone could be in demand.
The End of Roaming Fees?
Roam Mobility of Vancouver has teamed up with T-Mobile in the US to provide roaming fee-less phone service in the US. Canadians pay some of the highest roaming fees in the world, with half the fees coming from travel to the US. Definitely a game-changer. Watch for the larger providers to react.
Tracking Epidemics? Google It!
A research team at Johns Hopkins Medicine has shown that Google Flu Trends has accurately predicted surges in flu cases at hospitals. The real-time Google search engine has better, more up-to-date information than the data released in government reports, which take time to process and release. Technology is getting more and more integrated into critical aspects of people's lives.
Social Networking Expands
A new scale by Fitbit has an added feature – it can tell your social network your weight. The idea is that a group of people working on weight loss can network their progress through Facebook, Twitter, or other social media. And, if that's not bad enough, terrorist groups are using social networking to recruit. However, in this case, social networks can also be used to spy on the groups.
–Scott D
Wrap up from the weekend!
Facebook Worm
The Ramnit worm has hit approximately 45 000 Facebook accounts, primarily in France and the United Kingdom. Ramnit allows hackers to access the credentials needed to access bank accounts and corporate networks. Facebook is assisting users in regaining control of their accounts. The main problem is that people tend to use the same password for multiple sites; yet, many sites require a password where it's not really needed, adding to the password issue.
Computer-Aided Medicine
The American National Institute of Health is developing a database to assist harried doctors. Researchers are using over 200 000 questions compiled by AskTheDoctor.com and 9000 questions gathered by Stanford University and the University of Minnesota. The NIH has also contacted IBM over the possibility of using Watson to test the questions. The goal is to reduce the amount of time needed to research medical problems with doctors being able to ask their computer assistant to do the work instead. The takeaway here is the coming together of different knowledge bases towards a common goal. We'll be seeing more of this in the coming decade.
More Bad Internet Law to Come
This time, in Canada. The ruling Conservatives are expected to introduce a bill that will force Canadian ISPs to hand over client data to law enforcement without a warrant. The bill would also require ISPs to implement technology to intercept customers' communications. I'm not surprised, really – the Canadian Conservative Party tends to be a few years behind the American Republican Party when it comes to enacting bad laws like this. Tends to not work out as well, though. The Canadian privacy commissioner already has reservations and the activist group OpenMedia.ca is warning canadians about the proposed bill. (Also in the story, more security issues even with RIM's BlackBerry Messaging System, which is still more secure than text messaging. It's not a question if something can be hacked, just a question on when.)
Classic Getting a Remake
Wizards of the Coast has announced that the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons is open to playtesting. It's a way to see how games are created and refined.
The Future of the Consumer Electronics Show
With both Microsoft and Apple pulling out of the CES, people are starting to wonder if the expo has a future. The main question is without two of the biggest companies, will people and the media continue to go to CES.
Siri Doubles iPhone Traffic
Users of Siri have double the data traffic of people who don't use it. For people who have bandwidth caps, this could cause extra charges.
Microsoft Improving WiFi Networking
Microsoft has developed a new WiFi protocol that uses white spaces to improve speed even with interference. The network uses multiple transmitters and receivers and switches frequencies as needed.
–Scott D
So far, I've left out tie-in novels, treating them more as merchandising more than an adaptation. Probably an unfair assessment, but it does cut out a large number of reviews as quality can vary author by author. This time around, though, I will look at a series of tie-in novels.
In 2009, ABC first aired Castle, a police procedural/murder mystery series starring Nathan Filion as the titular mystery writer who managed to cajole a ride-along with a New York City homicide detective. What could have been just yet another police procedural lasted several seasons because of the chemistry and abilities of the lead actors Filion and Stana Katic. The show is one part Moonlighting, one part Murder She Wrote and one part Law & Order.
Naturally, whenever a show becomes popular, the studio tries to make the most of it. Most shows wind up with a variety of merchandise, from backpacks and shirts with logos to action figures. However, with mysteries attracting a literary crowd and the geek factor inherent in Nathan Filion, ABC went meta.
Instead of releasing a series of novels using the characters from the show, ABC hired a ghost writer to work under the penname Richard Castle to write the books that the character Castle was researching with the homocide unit in the show. To get things truly twisted, Castle has a self-insert character, Jonathon Rook, who is a writer who had spent time with the main character, Nikki Heat who is based off Katic's character Kate Beckett, to research a story for a magazine. So, we have a fictional author writing a real book based loosely on the fictional homocide unit in the show and writing himself into the story.*
Yet, anyone who follows the show can recognize the different characters and acknowledge the differences because it's a Nikki Heat novel, not a Castle tie-in novel. At the same time, anyone unfamiliar with the series doesn't have to worry about not getting the metacharacters and can enjoy the story on its own merits, a light read that is still filled with plot twists that keeps the reader guessing whodunit until the reveal.
So, how successful is the book, in terms of an adaptation? On one hand, technically, it's not a Castle tie-in novel. It uses a fictional fictional character** created in-universe. Characters line up but aren't one-to-one matches. At the same time, the meta levels of the characters from the show shine through, leaving no doubt about which character is which. The humour of the series comes through, even when dealing with murder. And, it's a fun read. The author (the real one, not the guy on the back cover, unless Filion is the real one***) had a deft touch while writing, making sure that the characters from the series were seen through the character Castle's eyes. It looks like the writer took the time to get to know the characters in the show and applied that knowledge, and, as seen many times in this column, that seems to be the key element into making a successful adaptation.
Next time, something far less meta.
* And this doesn't even include the author's bio on the back page, complete with photo.
** Math-wise, it'd look like "fictional (fictional character)" if that helps parsing.
*** Which would start creating a meta-black hole.
More movement at RIM, cheap tablets, and the cost of charging too much.
RIM to License Blackberry Platform?
RIM may be in talks with Samsung and HTC about licensing the Blackberry 10 platform. This may keep RIM afloat in the short term, but the company gets 79% of its revenue from hardware sales.
The Downside of Usage Based Billing
Canadian ISP Teksavvy will be raising rates due to "capacity-based billing", allowing the big ISPs to charge smaller ones for chunks of capacity for potential use. Teksavvy says that while fixed costs have gone down, variable costs, such as capacity, has grown and blames the CRTC for instituting capacity-based billing after usage-based billing turned out to be unpopular enough to get all three parties (Liberal, NDP, and Conservative) to force the agency to back down from it. However, even capacity-based billing will stifle Canadian Internet expansion as costs rise.
India to get $35 Tablet
Canadian company Datawind has created the Aakash Tablet, which will be sold in India for $35. The Aakash has a basic touch screen and can run word processing, web browsing, and video-conferencing with its Android co-processor.
The Future of North American Entertainment?
Two Chinese sites, Youtu and Tudou, are going to court over rights on what shows and content could be shown by the companies. At stakes are 400 million online viewers and the ad revenue chasing the eyeballs. The sites started out as Youtube imitators, allowing people to upload videos, including the ubiquitous cat vids. However, the sites since branched out, getting foreign content and creating their own much like a TV station would. North American broadcasters may want to pay attention to how this shakes out. content creators may also want to think about creating original content for online streaming.
Texting Down
The use of texting is down as people find cheaper means of communicating. US providers are still getting 12% of their revenue from texting, but the costs are driving some people to use social networking instead. Given that it is cheaper to use Facebook on a smartphone dataplan than to send a text directly, the providers have themselves to blame, really.
Canadian Government Cracking Down on Spam
The Canadian government will be opening a spam resource centre (SRC) to identify, track, and analyze spam and malware sent via email. Industry Canada will be responsible for the centre. The purpose of the SRC is to prevent the undermining of the online economy by spam. Unlike in the US, where the CAN SPAM act was written by companies who wanted to send junk email once the spammers were dealt with, Canadian companies are mostly on board against spam, seeing it as a threat to the Internet.
–Scott D
Netflix Streaming
Netflix streamed over 2 billion hours of content in the last quarter of 2011. In Canada, though, this has led to subscribers being dinged for going over bandwidth caps, a controversial (to be nice about it) way major ISPs like Rogers use to get more money out of users.
Smartphone Help After Disasters
A team of British computer scientists has developed software to help in the aftermath of natural disasters. The software, which can be deployed by rescue workers, can locate missing persons by tracing GPS signals and help direct people with smartphones to safety.
RIMpocalypse Continues
RIM has slashed prices on Playbooks. US prices are now $299 for each of the three models while Canadian prices are $199, $249, and $399 (for the 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB models, respectively). This looks more like an attempt to clear out backstock than anything else at the moment.
Yahoo! Gets New CEO
Yahoo has hired Scott Thompson, former CIO of PayPal, as its new CEO. Given that Thompson is a technology person, not a slash-and-burn-style CEO that sells off chunks of companies, Yahoo! may be trying to leverage itself back into being a mover in the online world.
–Scott D
A bit of backlog after being offline for a couple of days.
Social Networking to Meet Customer Service
A Halifax, Nova Scotia, company is working on software that will allow two people online to surf together, as if they were sitting together instead of on opposite coasts, without the need for plugins. Co-found and CEO Jevon MacDonald already reports having some of the bigger websites interested. Halifax geeks, you know where to send resumes.
More Trends for 2012
Covers some of what others here at FanToPro have mentioned, though ITBusiness.ca differs on RIM's future (they'll survive through 2012). Not on FanToPro's radar was the development of Ultrabooks, lightweight laptops with extended battery life. Toshiba, LG, HP, and Lenovo have been working on ultrabooks. HP has already released the Folio, a $900 ultrabook with a nine-hour battery life claim. Intel is assisting companies designing ultrabooks by investing $300 million into them. If the companies can get the price down to tablet levels or lower (and keep in mind that a netbook can run about $250 before taxes, lower than an iPad), ultrabooks may give tablets a run.
Apple Lead Designer Knighted
Jonathan Ive has been made a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his work at Apple, including introducing coloured Macs and the clean designs of the iPod and iPhone. For geeks in the Commonwealth, being good at something may mean getting recognized from on high.
Why the Occupy Movement Exists
The gap between CEOs and workers continues to grow. Making 189 times what the average worker does, CEOs have made their employees' salary by noon on January 3. And this is just in Canada.
McAfee's Top Threats for 2012
McAfee Labs have released their top five security threats. Among them, hacking attacks on both mobile devices and embedded hardware and "legal" spam. Security geeks will have a lot of work in the new year.
RIM Shakeup?
RIM may wind up having a new chair, replacing founders Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie. The move, if it happens, comes from pressure from shareholders to reform the management structure. Something to keep an eye on, if people aren't watching RIM already.
Texting Injuries
As texting becomes more popular, the risk of repetitive strain injuries grows. Most of the injuries occur to the thumb because of how it is used when typing on a smartphone or even a regular old cellphone (do they exist anymore?). The first people to come up with an improved interface will win the hearts of many people with sore thumbs.
iPassport Gets Man Across iBorder
A Montreal man used a scan of his passport on his iPad to get into the US. He had forgotten his actual passport on a day while going to Vermont to visit friends. He was allowed through. The problem? A scanned passport is not a secure document. However, if an electronic passport can be created that prevented the obvious security issues, they could become popular.
–Scott D
Last week, I reviewed, briefly, adaptations up to the end of the year. This week, I look forward to what we can expect.
As I mentioned last week, adapations are popular with studios, in part becase most of the heavy creative work is already done, but also because there's a built-in fanbase. People enjoy watching more of their favourite characters. This desire to see more drives TV ratings, results in the creation of fanfiction after a series is off the air, and pulls in people when a movie is made based on the series.
What can we expect in 2012? Already in the works is a District 9 sequel with Matt Damon. Tom Cruise is allegedly in talks for a possible new Top Gun movie. JJ Abrams will be bringing a new Star Trek movies in 2013, with news of it being made available even now. The Hobbit is being filmed. A new Batman movie and Marvel's Avengers are due in the new year. Can they succeed?
Maybe.
To be fair, Abrams has already has a successful Star Trek reboot movie under his belt. The Hobbit is being worked on by people who love the book and want to keep the movie faithful. Disney's acquisition of Marvel has kept the quality of movies based on the comic company's properties high. These movies should be successful.
On the television front, a second season of A Game of Thrones is coming. HBO inked the contract after two episodes. This, plus the success of Dexter and True Blood, hopefully, heralds a new trend in adapting geek-friendly novels. And, in an odd case, a TV series has spawned a novel series that isn't, technically, a tie-in.
Adaptations will continue to happen. In the current economy, studios are loathe to risk money on unknown properties, especially for big budget productions. The studios want guarenteed seats in seats and using existing properties and adapting them or remaking them will at least get people in during the opening weekend. Smaller films, those with lower production costs, will still come out; but the blockbusters are where the studios get the money these days.
My hope for 2012 is that studios realize that just throwing together a movie using an existing name doesn't fly anymore. Fans do have certain expectations about characters; changes have to be justified. Word of mouth has become more critical with the advent of social networking. Bad reviews travel fast. Good reviews are slower, but travel just as far. It's easier to write "It stunk" then to write a thoughtful review.*
Lost in Translation will continue into the new year, looking at adaptations, remakes, and reboots. The sucesses, the failures, and the almosts; sometimes, we can learn more from a failure than a success. There will be lots of each to work from.
Next time, a fake author writes a real book.
* And, after twenty entries, I know what I'm talking about.
Oops
The New York Times sent out over eight million emails offering a special deal to people cancelling subscriptions. The emails were only supposed to go to 300 former subscribers. People are still sensitive about receiving junk email. Corporations should be careful with how they manage email addresses they collect or just drop them if they're not current or very recent subscribers. Spam can and has gotten businesses, small and large, fly-by-night and legit, on to spam blocklists.
Expanding 3D Technology
Motion capture is heading into a new field – medicine. Through the use of motion capture and analyzing a runner's gate, potential injuries can be located and corrected. It's one way of using existing technologies in a creative way. It may also be the start of a new trend – instead of military applications driving advances, entertainment may be the motivator behind new technologies.
Canadian Press Agrees With FanToPro!
The Canadian Press, a Canadian news agency, released its predictions for trends in the New Year. Among its predictions are more mobile commerce through smartphones and tablets, and more viewing television over the Web. You know, things that FanToPro has been seeing grow this past year already.
Question Period? There's an App for That
The British government is considering an iPad app for the Prime Minister to deliver information to his tablet. 10 Downing Street didn't comment further. However, fellow geeks, there's room for personalized apps on iDevices. Get to it! 😀
–Scott D
