TR Out Loud - September 18, 2009

Sonja Thompson: Here we are, with another weekly recap of what's been going on at TechRepublic.

I'm Sonja Thompson, a senior editor, and this is TROLOV -- or TR Out Loud on Video -- for September 18th, 2009.

Let's dive right in to the top five discussions of the week.

#1: "Flash cookies: What's new with online privacy" -- and this was written by Michael Kassner in the IT Security blog. According to Michael, "If you thought refusing HTTP cookies prevented tracking, think again." Michael gives us the lowdown about Flash cookies and how to prevent them from being stored.

Sonja Thompson: The 2nd most popular discussion of the week was started by Jason Hiner, TechRepublic's Editor in Chief, and the post was called "Radiation threats: The 10 most hazardous smartphones." So, Jason, give it to us -- what's the best and the worst cell phone out there in terms of radiation?

Jason Hiner: Yeah, well in terms of the worst, the worst is T-Mobile's MyTouch 3G, an Android phone, although also on the list of the 10 worst there were a bunch of BlackBerries and Trios... so those are among the worst. In terms of the best, of the top 10 best, five of them were Nokia phone, three were Samsung -- so those guys were the best. There's also in the post you can see a list of some popular smartphones and where they rated as well.

Sonja Thompson: Ok, so do you think more and more cell phone companies are motivated to develop new products that are safer for consumer use?

Jason Hiner: I don't think they're thinking about it much right now, but to be honest, I put a poll in there that said "will radiation influence your next purchase?" -- and two-thirds of the people said that yes, it would. And about 70% said that they were concerned about radiation. So, there's no definitive science yet that says it's really dangerous or really bad - or how dangerous, that kind of thing, but it's definitely something that is precautionary and people should think of.

Sonja Thompson: Well, I'm not sure that people are going to stop using phones that they LOVE, even if the radiation levels are off the charts, but this is definitely good information to know. So, thanks for keeping us informed, Jason.

Jason Hiner: You got it.

Sonja Thompson: #3: "The Pirate Bay is back with a vengeance." Chad Perrin, aka apotheon, provided a great overview of the legal battle that's going down with The Pirate Bay, the world's best known BitTorrent tracker. According to Chad, "Civil suit brought to court by a cartel of mostly US-based corporations advocating for stronger copyright enforcement in Sweden is largely to blame for this action." In the discussion thread, apotheon asked the TR community what they think will happen next and what they think SHOULD happen next. As always, I'll link to this and the other top discussions of the week in the blog notes.

Sonja Thompson: The 4th most popular discussion of the week was instigated by Toni Bowers, TechRepublic's Head Blogs Editor, and it from her post called "Three things a manager never wants to hear you say." Now, Toni, you and I both know that I was your inspiration for this topic, but we're not going to go into details about that... instead, I'd love to hear about some of the feedback that you received from the TR community. Did they add a kabillion things to your short list?

Toni Bowers: Yeah, they did, but my favorite one was you never want to hear someone say, "There's someone from 60 Minutes here to see you."

Sonja Thompson: That's good! Excellent... so, Toni, you're a manager, right? What's the most bizarre thing an employee has ever said to you? And you can't use my example that inspired this post.

Toni Bowers: Aside from you... Well, years ago I had a guy who was missing a bunch of deadlines and he came into my office and I asked what was up, and he said, "Well, I missed them because I met this woman and I'm just head over heels in love." He said, "I figured you'd understand that." And I was like, "Why would I understand? Buddy, I've been married for 10 years, I don't know nothing about love." and now I'll get all kinds of e-mail - "How dare you talk about the sanctity of marriage like that."

Sonja Thompson: Well, thank you, Toni, and keep it up!

Toni Bowers: Okay. Bye.

Sonja Thompson: And #5: "Poll: What classic TV show should be turned into a movie?" And it looks like Justin James (aka J.Ja) squeezed in the top discussions this week with his Geekend post. At the bottom, J.Ja created a poll where he asked the TR Community, "What old TV show should be made into a movie?" The most popular response, at the time of this recording, was Quantum Leap.

And now, it's time to give a little recognition to the TR members who have received the most Thumbs Up for posting answers in the Questions forum:

Three people tied for 4th place: CG IT, seanferd, and patb071(2)

Four people tied for 3rd place: jck, ---TK---, OldER Mycroft, and OH Smeg (3)

Two people tied for 2nd place: robo_dev and NetMan1958 (6)

And #1: Jacky Howe (7)

And here are the members who have posted the most total comments on the site in the past seven days.

#5: NickNielsen (76)

#4: Michael Kassner (86)

#3: seanferd (96)

#2: Palmetto (111)

#1: jck: (198)

Sonja Thompson: Tammy Cavadias, TR's moderator, is back again this week with another Spam Buster report. Heeeeeere's Tammy!

Tammy Cavadias: Hi, everyone! Hi, Sonja! In case you're wondering why I'm dressed like this, tomorrow is the "International Talk Like a Pirate" Day, and since I can't talk like a pirate I figured I'd dress like one.

What pirate couldn't use a little extra money? You can make extra cash at home by typing spam... errrrr... I mean ads. And you get paid for every one that you type, plus you receive commission. What will you do with all that extra money? Buy some fashionable pirate clothes of course!

And if you have enough left over, you can get yourself a GPS to help you sail the Seven Seas. And last but not least, the CD-Key spammer sails again! Well, that will do it for me this week. I'll see you all next week. Bye!

Sonja Thompson: Last week's Who is this TR member? photo didn't receive a lot of guesses, so I'm going to keep this up for another week. This TR member was at the TechRepublic Community Event this past June, and he has a great accent. Do you know who it is yet? Please send your guess to trol@techrepublic.com.

Last week's Question of the Week was sent in by TR member jck: "What mainstream technology are you itching to try, and what has kept you from trying it?"

According to SKDTech: "I am itching to try an Android-based phone. I have no interest in the iPhone or iAnything, but I really want an Android phone. Unfortunately, I'm on AT&T and haven't had the disposable funds to purchase an unlocked Android phone." 

NotSoChiGuy said: "The Mac OS is something that I'd like to take for a spin in greater depth. However, I don't own a Mac, and I'm not inclined to go the Hackintosh route, so there doesn't seem to be a convenient way for me try it out without going all-in and buying a system." Please see the blog notes for the rest of NotSoChiGuy's response.

This week's Question of the Week was sent in by Hal 9000, and it's actually a fun little garden game! The first question is, "Which pitcher will be the first to be fully open -- Saracenia Purpuria, Saracenia Flava, or Nepenthes Ventricose?" (you're killing me, Hal) And the second question is: "Which flower will be the first to open   the Drosera Binata or a little nondescript white flower spike?" Please send your guesses to trol@techrepublic.com.

And the TR Pets of the Week are Chelsea and Doug, submitted by Senior Editor Mary Weilage. Chelsea absolutely LOVES playing in the sprinkler, and Doug is quite the handsome fella in his Christmas outfit.

Many thanks to SKDTech, NotSoChiGuy, Hal 9000, and Mary for participating in the show. If I mentioned your name on today's TROLOV, that means you're eligible for some TechRepublic swag -- so just send me an email with your mailing address and swag item of choice.

I was really excited to see some new folks coming out of the woodwork this past week, and I'd love it if even more people just took a few minutes to send in something for an upcoming episode, such as a comment, a Question of the Week, an answer to the Question of the Week, a photo, or a small original video clip to trol@techrepublic.com.

I'm Sonja Thompson, and this is TR Out Loud.