Entries from May 2007 ↓
May 31st, 2007 — Technology
Back when Apple and EMI announced they were going to sell DRM-free files on the iTunes Music Store, I made the following comment in my post.
It will be interesting to see if they files are “tagged” or watermarked somehow, so that there is still some accountability if the files end up on the P2P networks. I really hope this is the case, I would hate for piracy to be used as an excuse to stop a bold move such as this.
Well the time has come when Apple has rolled out the DRM-less tracks, and according to a piece by Ars Technica this is exactly what they’re doing.
They pose the question:
We also have to wonder: who is buying DRM-free music with the plans of slapping it up on a P2P share, anyway?
I don’t think people will actually plan to share the music. I’d imagine many people share their music folder, which will include the files they have legally purchases, making them available for others to download. Until now these purchased tracks have been useless to anyone else, but not anymore…
Update (20070601): The EFF is reporting that Apple might be encoding significantly more than just names and email addresses in the downloaded files. See here.
May 29th, 2007 — Online
What is it with Fairfax Media and porn (*cough* adult entertainment) this week? There’s no less than three articles and two blogs on the topic this week alone!
Articles
May 26: “How porn is wrecking relationships” (link)
May 28: “Ethics of porn are in the eye of the beholder” (link)
May 29: “The obscenity of porn: X-rated and exploitive” (link)
Blogs
Samantha Brett (aka “Sam in the City”): “Are we over sex?” (link)
Katherine Feeney (aka “CityKat” aka “I wish I was Samantha Brett but I live in Brisbane”): “How your passion for porn is ruining your relationship” (link)
Looks like someone pulling the purse strings doesn’t like porn too much!
Edit: Missed one!
May 26: “Record numbers visiting porn sites” (link)
May 29th, 2007 — Career
I’ve been a bit quiet on here lately, and it’s mostly because I’ve been working hard on getting a few things sorted out career-wise. On the bright side, some of the new work I’ve (hopefully) picked up will lead to interesting posts! What incredibly exciting and not at all boring things have been getting sorted out, you ask?
Well…
Continue reading →
May 29th, 2007 — Links
These are my links for May 25th through May 28th:
May 27th, 2007 — Technology
I’ve finally decided to give Windows the flick from my system at home. My Windows XP install had decided to do all sorts of crazy stuff, such as not let iTunes save it’s library file and to run out of RAM inopportune moments. While a yearly re-install is somewhat expected with Windows, it finally annoyed me enough to make the “big switch”.
While I’ve been using Fedora Core 6 at work for some time now, I decided to try Ubuntu at home. Why? It’s reputation as a stable and usable system, with a community that is focused towards everyday use. So far I’ve managed to get the Nvidia drivers installed, and xorg configured to use my Dell 2007WFP in widescreen; both required manual editing of the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file.
I also have Amarok set up for playing music now, and I must say I’m VERY impressed. One of my biggest concerns with ditching Windows was the lack of iTunes. So far, Amarok seems like a very suitable replacement. I’m especially impressed with the last.fm integration, as well as the whole “context” menu on the left of screen.
So far…
Pros:
- No more pirated software
- Hopefully no more periodic reinstalls
- Amarok is awesome
- Beryl is slick
Cons:
- Getting video drivers working STILL requires hacking xorg.conf
- Pidgin isn’t in the “Add/Remove” software installation menu yet
- My other partitions are all NTFS still, so I may have some file permission issues to sort out
To do:
- Find out if GnuCash is a suitable replacement for Microsoft Money
- Get my iPod synced with Amarok
EDIT ( 2007/05/29):
Done:
- NTFS hasn’t been any issue, I have full read-write access after using nfts-3g
- Get all my Samba shares set up so I can watch things on XBMC
- Find out how to use BitTorrent on Linux!
- Worked out the GnuCash can’t import Microsoft Money’s .mny files, and I should’ve exported to QIF first. That’s not the impression I got from the GnuCash main page…
May 25th, 2007 — Links
These are my links for May 24th:
May 22nd, 2007 — Links
These are my links for May 21st:
May 21st, 2007 — Links
These are my links for May 19th through May 20th:
May 17th, 2007 — Interesting
Thought I’d repost a couple of pretty cool animated GIFs the guys over at Something Awful made in this weeks’ Heroes thread.
Linderman being de-brained by DL
Sylar going “Boom”
Hiro’s Dad being a bad-arse Samurai
May 3rd, 2007 — Interesting
A study outlined in the New York Times today has found evidence of racial bias in the way referees call fouls. Over 13 seasons, the study found that white referees called fouls against black players at a greater rate than against white players.
After accounting for a large number of factors, which are outlined in the article, it was found that:
“[W]e find that black players receive around 0.12-0.20 more fouls per 48 minutes played (an increase of 2 ½-4 ½ percent) when the number of white referees officiating a game increases from zero to three.”
The NBA disagrees of course, stating that it’s own study found no evidence of bias. The NBA’s study was less formal and academic, and also didn’t adjust for the various factors such as position and veteran status as the original article.
From Freakonomics
