RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes

Podcasts, or more generically, downloaded media, run the gamut from network TV shows to grade school class projects. In most instances, no one knows for sure how many people listen to any particular podcast. There are also issues like royalties, advertising, ratings and professional conduct that are cropping up as the relatively new medium finds its legs. Now, to help chart the new territory, two associations of podcasters are forming. One, the Association of Downloadable Media requires individual dues of $150 and corporate dues of $1,000. It's guided by people from Apple and National Public Radio, among others. Another group formed as an answer to ADM under the working name, the Association of Podcasters and Online Media Producers and hopes to charge no annual dues.

Scott Bourne, president of Podango Productions in California is on the steering committee to build the APOMP according to members' ideas. Organizers plan to conduct an online survey to gauge members' interests and priorities.

RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes

The journal Science is taking note of the 25th anniversary of the first documented computer virus. Science says the Elk Cloner virus, written by a Pittsburg high school student spread through Apple II systems through infected floppy disks. Today, malicious code is a problem more associated with Windows while Apple machines remain, for all intents and purposes, walled off from viruses and worms. Tom Merritt, executive editor of CNET and co-host of CNET's Buzz Out Loud podcast discusses how today's malware makes early versions of viruses seem rather quaint.

RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes

A worm called "Storm" is picking up intensity this month.

Storm first showed up in January. A recent campaign to distribute the virus by spam messages has made it among the worst attacks of the last couple of years.

RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes

A new study finds that one in five online Americans watch video on the Internet on any given day.

Mary Madden with the Pew Internet and American Life Project says the rising number of high-speed Internet connections is partly responsible for the popularity of Internet video.

RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes

Windows Vista has been on the market for about six months. How's it doing? We put that question to Dwight Silverman, co-author of Windows Vista: Peachpit Learning Series.

RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes

California Secretary of State Debra Bowen will soon reveal the results of a two-month study of touch-screen voting systems in her state.

Making good on a campaign promise, Bowen ordered the so-called "top-to-bottom" review to ensure California's voting systems are secure for the state's February primary election.

A team of computer security experts have been poking and prodding the systems from three companies - Diebold, Sequoia and Hart InterCivic, looking for vulnerabilities that would make them prone to error or manipulation. Bowen could decide to decertify any of the machines, a
prospect that has county election officials on edge.

Guests: Brad Friedman of BradBlog, Stephen Weir of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials, Kim Alexander of the California Voter Foundation, and Michelle Shaffer of Sequoia

RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes

As lovely as it is, Apple's iPhone isn't really customizable, at least not yet, and is locked down to one carrier - AT&T. A new kind of phone, based on a platform called OpenMoko, promises a very different experience. With the open source Linux at its core, OpenMoko phones are being built to function more like the open environment of a computer, and are not tied to specific carriers. The first consumer version is expected in October.

RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes

On Monday night CNN will televise a debate among the Democratic candidates for president. What makes this debate unique is the candidates will answer questions submitted by YouTube users on video. CNN editors will choose which user-submitted clips make the debate. About 1600 YouTubers have submitted questions on issues ranging from health care reform to a potential conflict with Iran.

Guests: Michael Cornfield, George Washington University; Peter Leyden, New Politics Institute

RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes

Today's guest is Mark Frauenfelder, founder of BoingBoing and author of the new book Rule the Web: How to do anything and everything on the internet - better, faster, easier.

In this segment, Mark recommends three Web sites for listeners: BugMeNot.com, Fundrace.org, and LivePlasma.com.

RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes

Despite an intense international security and secrecy campaign by the publisher, the final book in the Harry Potter saga is all over the Internet several days before it goes on sale.

Bruce Schneier is surprised it didn't happen sooner.

For a transcription of this interview, visit wavLength

RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes

The Free Press, a group that lobbies for Internet neutrality and against media consolidation, has begun a campaign to persuade Congress and the FCC to open the wireless Internet to more competition. Free Press sees the iPhone's exclusive partnership with carrier AT&T as symbolic of a larger problem.

RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes

A new study published in Consumer Reports examines Web sites that offer paid access to consumer credit data in combination with credit scores, credit monitoring, and identity theft insurance.

Consumer WebWatch concludes most of these sites offer expensive services that consumers either don't need or can get for free at AnnualCreditReport.com (which credit bureaus were forced to create as the result of a 2003 law giving consumers free access to their credit reports).

RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes

The National Legal and Policy Center this week released a list of 50 full-length movies, TV shows and concerts available for free on Google Video. The NLPC's Ken Boehm says he's trying to raise awareness of video piracy.

Google turned down an offer to appear on Future Tense, but sent us the following statement:

"For all of the content we host - whether from premium content providers or creative end-users - we require the content provider to hold all necessary rights to the material. We cooperate with copyright holders to identify and promptly remove any infringing content. Of course, no system is bulletproof. As a company that respects the rights of copyright holders, we will continue to take the lead in providing state-of-the-art DMCA tools and processes for all copyright holders."

RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes

Rock band R.E.M. invited the public to attend working rehearsals of new songs recently in Dublin, Ireland. For the five shows, R.E.M. encouraged fans to bring their cell phones and cameras to record the events, then post videos and photos on the Internet. R.E.M. built a Web site to encourage fan discussion and participation.

Guest: David Bell of remHQ

RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes

Prince was one of the first major artists to sell music from his Website. He was an early supporter of peer-to-peer music trading. Now, he's giving away his new album inside a U.K. newspaper before it's officially released. Prince's 10-song album, Planet Earth, will be tucked inside the Mail on Sunday newspaper.

Prince's giveaway has angered music retailers, who say the recording artist is helping to cement the notion that music should be free.

Guest: Eliot Van Buskirk, Listening Post

RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes

The John S. And James L. Knight Foundation is putting $11-million toward a couple dozen online projects as part of its News Challenge program. The Knight Foundation was set up in 1950 to support journalism and community programs in the 26 communities where it publishes newspapers. The News Challenge grants are part of a five-year funding program.

The idea behind the News Challenge is to find out if traditional functions of a newspaper -- such as providing a sense of community through the news -- can be performed through inventive uses of technology.

Guests: Knight Foundation program officer Gary Kebble, and grant recipient Nora Paul of the University of Minnesota's Institute for New Media Studies.

RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes

Seems like reaction to the iPhone is everywhere you turn. And we couldn't resist getting in on it, too. For those of you who've been blissfully unaware, the iPhone is a slim touch-screen device the size of a pack of cigarettes, that combines a cell phone, i-Tunes, and a web browser all in one. I checked in with Future Tense contributor Julio Ojeda-Zapata. I visited him at the Pioneer Press in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where he's a consumer technology columnist. He says, overall, the iPhone is a remarkably polished, very powerful device.

RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes

The Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, aka Silicon Valley, is home to what's billed as the world's largest collection of computing-related objects. It's got several hundred tons of computer hardware, historic software, 12-million pages of documents. It's got games, photographs and videos, and oral histories of computer industry pioneers. And now, the museum has a new coffee table book of lush photographs featuring select artifacts in its collection.

Guest: Karen Tucker, Computer History Museum

RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes

The Pew Internet and American Life Project is out with its latest survey of high-speed internet usage in the United States. It finds that nearly half -- 47 percent -- of all adult Americans have a broadband connection at home as of early 2007. That's a five percentage point increase over 2006. John Horrigan, Associate Director of the Pew Internet Project, says broadband adoption in the U.S. is important to measure to see how the country stacks up against the rest of the world, but it's also key differentiator of people's Internet usage patterns.

Guest: John Horrigan, Associate Director of the Pew Internet Project

RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes

When looking for romance the Internet-way, you can turn to the Big Three: Match.com, Yahoo Personals and eHarmony. But there are also over 1,000 niche dating sites for those who are looking for something more specific. Say, for example, you're really into Harley Davidsons, or Star Trek, or you want a mate from a certain religious denomination. It's all out there, and more.

A closer look at farmersonly.com and prescription4love.com

RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes

An autumn trial date appears likely for Hans Reiser, a well-known computer programmer accused of killing his estranged wife Nina. She was last seen on September 3, 2006 after dropping off the couple's two children at Hans Reiser's home in Oakland, California. Nina's body was never found.

Hans Reiser met Nina in Russia, where she was trained as a physician.

This month's Wired magazine reports the Reiser's marriage became strained in part because Nina apparently had an affair with Reiser's best friend.

After their separation, the Reiser's argued strenuously over Hans' insistence that his son be allowed to play violent video games.

Guest: Wired's Joshua Davis