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How FairPlay Works: Apple’s iTunes DRM Dilemma
Understanding how Apple’s FairPlay DRM works helps to answer a lot of questions: why it hasn’t been replaced with an open, interoperable DRM that anyone can use, why Apple isn’t broadly licensing FairPlay, and why the company hasn’t jumped to add DRM-free content from indie artists to iTunes.
This article throws around the idea that an open-standard for DRM is currently not possible, because the concept of interoperable DRM generally makes no sense. It’s an oxymoron. If you are a fan of DRM news, then this is a great read. In-depth, so you should have a coffee ready before starting.
Source: Roughly Drafted
IE7 and Firefox 2.0 Share Vulnerabilities
Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 2.0 share a logic flaw. The issue is actually more severe, as the two versions of the Microsoft and Mozilla browsers are not the only ones affected. In this regard, the vulnerability impacts Internet Explorer 5.01, Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7 but also Firefox 1.5.0.9. Microsoft has stressed the fact that IE7 on Windows Vista is not affected in any manner.
Yet another reason to move to Vista? Hah! This seems like a rather serious exploit, which hopefully will be fixed sooner than later.
Source: Softpedia
Intel Announces Investment in Rio Rancho
RIO RANCHO, N.M., Feb. 26, 2007 — Intel Corporation today announced that it will invest $1 billion to $1.5 billion in its Rio Rancho site to retool Fab 11X for production on Intel’s next generation 45 nanometer (nm) manufacturing process. Fab 11X will be the company’s fourth factory scheduled to use the 45nm process, with production in New Mexico scheduled to start in the second half of next year.
45nm, here we come!
Source: Intel Press Release
Parents Raise Copycat Risk From TV Ad
AN award-winning TV commercial showing a toddler driving a four-wheel-drive has been pulled off the air. The Advertising Standards Board said it had banned the ad for Hyundai’s Sante Fe 4WD after more than 80 viewer complaints. But Hyundai said the ad – an award winner in New Zealand where it was produced – had been “exceptionally popular” and that it was “disappointed” with the board’s decision. The ad shows the toddler driving the car, picking up a hitch-hiking girl of similar age, and taking her to a beach.
Australia’s laws are getting weirder with each day that passes. Apparently some parents simply allow the TV to guide their own children, so they don’t have to. I see many commercials with kids acting like adults… it’s not so new.
Source: News.com Australia
Slot Machines With Subliminal Messages?
Ontario’s provincial gambling operator has pulled 87 video slot machines out of service or physically removed them from its casinos after a CBC investigation found what appear to be subliminal messages flashing at players. Ontario Lottery and Gaming, the recently rebranded Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., is concerned about three games on video slots made by a company called Konami. It shut them down as a precaution on Friday, and is looking into the issue.
If this is really a bug, then it’s a humorous one. I feel sorry for the people who were subconsciously believing that they were winning.
Source: CBC.ca
Drag and Draw
Drag and Draw is a set of digital drawing tools. It consists of a multicolor ‘Brush’, an ‘Eraser’, and a ‘Magic Wand’ to bring their drawings to life and a ‘Bucket’ to project the virtual drawings onto the wall.
This is an impressive replacement for seeing Crayola all over your beautiful white wall. You have a bucket filled with light that you can literally stir to change color, then you can begin drawing on the wall. There is an array of colors to choose from, and animation is even an option. It’s hard to fully understand all that this offers, and even harder to find for sale…
Source: YouTube
Surveillance Cameras Get Smarter
Researchers and security companies are developing cameras that not only watch the world but also interpret what they see. Soon, some cameras may be able to find unattended bags at airports, guess your height or analyze the way you walk to see if you are hiding something.
This is cool to some degree. A camera could actually detect a crime, such as a shoplift, before it occurs. Of course, here’s another reason our privacy has gone straight out the window.
Source: Wired
Pirates Make Oscar Nominees a Free Download
Normally, movie studios are very protective of its movies from piracy, but come Oscar time, studio executives appear to be willing to risk the safety of its property at a better chance to stake claim to an Academy Award. Pirated versions of this year’s Oscar nominees made their way into illegal channels beginning late 2006, and into the hands of movie watchers who would otherwise not have access to the nominated Hollywood movies until much later.
I think this article spawns the quote of the day, “To those worried about downloading in case they get sued: by our calculations, your chances of getting nailed are way less than your chances of winning the lottery. Don’t think twice about it.”
Source: Daily Tech
BitTorrent Offers Legitimate Downloads
BitTorrent Inc., makers of a technology often used to trade pirated copies of Hollywood movies, is launching a Web site that will sell downloads of films and TV shows licensed from the studios. The BitTorrent Entertainment Network was set to launch Monday with films from Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Lionsgate and episodes of TV shows such as “24” and “Punk’d.”
This service is squarely targeted at the male between 15 – 35 who don’t get out of the house often enough, have girlfriends, or even friends for that matter. Large quantities of anime, TV shows and some movies will be offered at the get-go for relatively good prices. Hollywood blockbusters are on hold of course, since negotiations for lower prices is not happening right now.
Source: Wired
European PS3 Loses Emotion Engine…
In a press release issued by SCEE, the company describes the main features of the system that are common knowledge, and adds that the Euro-spec machine "also embodies a new combination of hardware and software emulation which will enable PS3 to be compatible with a broad range of original PlayStation titles and a limited range of PlayStation 2 titles."
In gist, PS2 hardware emulation will not exist in the Euro PS3, but rather rely on software. What this should result in is a much buggier, sluggish and potentially non-existent emulation experience. Of course even with this loss, the PS3 will cost more in Europe than in the US.
Source: Daily Tech
Tor Open To Attack
A group of researchers have written a paper that lays out an attack against Tor (PDF) in enough detail to cause Roger Dingledine a fair amount of heartburn. The essential avenue of attack is that Tor doesn’t verify claims of uptime or bandwidth, allowing an attacker to advertise more than it need deliver, and thus draw traffic.
There doesn’t seem to be huge concern over this exploit right now, but it’s something Tor users should bear in mind. With this information public, a “fix” is probably right around the corner.
Source: Slashdot
Pre-Installed Linux On Dells Coming
When Michael Dell took back the reins of he company he founded, one of the first things he did was to launch the feedback site Dell Idea Storm. Following up on the recent Slashdot discussion of the early results of this experiment — an overwhelming expressed desire for pre-loaded Linux — Dell reports on what it plans to do with this feedback.
This should be something worth getting excited over, but there are reports that Linux-based desktops actually cost $50 more than those that include Windows. Taking into consideration that a Windows OEM costs around $100, Dell is essentially charging $150 to install a free OS!
Source: Slashdot
First Desktop Motherboard Supported By LinuxBIOS
The GIGABYTE M57SLI-S4 [1] is the first-ever desktop motherboard supported by a Free & Open Source BIOS, thanks to AMD engineer Yinghai Lu who released GPL-licensed code last month. This state-of-the-art motherboard is based on the NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI chipset and AMD’s latest Socket AM2.
Here is proof that the open source community is moving ever forward. What’s great to see is that motherboard is top rate, utilizing the NF570 chipset. If you are interested, you can download the source for the BIOS and even edit/update it yourself. This is not something to be taken lightly though, even if you are an experienced coder. I am not sure if there is some backdoor for safety, but if you bork a normal BIOS, you normally need to have a backup chip on hand to get up and running.
Source: Gmane
States Wising Up? Video Game Bills Drop Like Flies
After a streak of futility rivaling that of the Chicago Cubs, state politicos across the country appear to be finally getting the message about the constitutionality of legislation seeking to restrict the sale of violent video games. Already this year, three attempts to pass such legislation have either failed outright or been put on hold, as lawmakers appear to be increasingly cognizant of the constitutional issues.
Is there any relief in sight? These bills are needless, and it seems only gamers are the ones who realize it. Just like the story of the deranged kid I posted about the other day, video games are hardly the root of any problem. Unless you are a WoW addict of course.
Source: Ars Technica
NFL Wants To Trademark A Euphemism For Its Trademark
The idea of trademarks isn’t to give one entity total control, but rather it’s to prevent confusion. So, for example, the law would prevent another football league from calling their championship game The Super Bowl. But advertisers may have to come up with some new euphemisms next year because now the NFL is seeking a trademark on “The Big Game”
Hahaha, hahaha! Haha! This is great. I’m going to run out and trademark “that orange tech site” right now.
Source: Tech Dirt
Firefox 2.0.0.2 Released
For all you Firefox users out there, grab the latest version off the official site or simply update through Help > Check for Updates. There are a few minor compatibility fixes but many security fixes, so upgrading is a non-option!
Source: Firefox 2.0.0.2 Release Notes
Software Deletes Files to Defend Against Piracy
Back in 2004, we discussed a program that deleted your home directory on entry of a pirated serial number. Now, a new developer is using the same method to protect his software, aptly named Display Eater. In the developers’s own words, ‘There exist several illegal cd-keys that you can use to unlock the demo program. If Display Eater detects that you are using these, it will erase something. I don’t know if this is going to become Display Eater policy.
On one side of the coin, I find this completely hilarious. I don’t exactly disagree with his actions, because if I sunk a lot of time into my application, I’d be pissed if it was pirated also. But on the other side, there has got to be some obscure law against this somewhere.
Source: Slashdot
Telecom To Refund $8m To Broadband Customers
Telecom has admitted it made an error with its Go Large broadband plan and is to credit customers of the service. An internal technical review of the service, launched in October, identified an issue with how internet traffic was being managed on the plan, Telecom said today. With around 60,000 customers on the Go Large service, the refunds were expected to total $7.5 million to $8.5 million.
Some customers should be happy! If you want a cool bank with no interest, sign up with Telecom. In a few years at some random moment, they will refund all that you “deposited”. Clever.
Source: Stuff New Zealand
67-Kilowatt Laser Unveiled
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California has announced they have working in the lab a Solid State Heat Capacity Laser that averages 67 kW. It is being developed for the military. The chief scientist Dr. Yamamoto is quoted: ‘I know of no other solid state laser that has achieved 67 kW of average output power.’ Although many lasers have peaked at higher capacities, getting the average sustained power to remain high is the tricky part.
Imagine the fun you could have with this beast! Of course it’s not a toy. The article mentions that 100kW lasers could be possible in the next year, which could end up being direct battlefield weapons.
Source: Slashdot
Ballmer, Show Us The Code
It’s come to many in the Linux community’s attention you have claimed again and again, that Linux violates Microsoft’s intellectual property. Not only that, but it’s been reported Microsoft has convinced businesses to pay for a Linux patent that you can’t provide. Therefore, this website will serve as a response to this accusation, and within it, a request. The request is simple, since you, Microsoft, claim to be so sure of yourself: Show Us the Code.
It’s hard to believe that nothing has come of this yet. How can a company sue other companies for something and have no proof of original ownership?? This website pleads with Ballmer for proof that code was “stolen” from Microsoft and even points him to Googles Code Search for starting out.
Source: Show Us The Code
IRS May Ask eBay To Snitch On Sellers
The IRS thinks that many sellers on online auction sites are unaware of their obligation to declare their profits and pay their taxes to the IRS. Tax experts are now asking the IRS to require online auction sites like eBay, Yahoo, and Ubid to report the gross sales numbers for their sellers. Such a requirement will surely send a shock wave across the online trading world because it could drastically reduce the profits a seller would make on these sites.
This will hurt sellers in a huge way. eBay and PayPal already charge out the ass (I’ve sold a few things before, so I know); Any additional charge would really be the cherry on the top of a putrid cake.
Source: Slashdot
Nintendo Confirms Wii Hardware Revisions Coming
In an interview, GameDaily asked Nintendo of America VP Perrin Kaplan if the ‘hardware revision model’ would apply to the Wii, to which she replied succinctly, “Sure, absolutely. You’ll see the ways in which we do that.†Kaplan’s assertive but tight-lipped answer points to more than just adding something like DVD video playback.
In true Nintendo fashion, we will likely see Wii’s released in different colors in addition to a few themed ones as well. If anything, I’d like to see the Wiimote charging station become a reality.
Source: Daily Tech
Going to Canada? Check Your Past
There was a time not long ago when a trip across the border from the United States to Canada was accomplished with a wink and a wave of a driver’s license. Those days are over. Take the case of 55-year-old Lake Tahoe resident Greg Felsch. Stopped at the border in Vancouver this month at the start of a planned five-day ski trip, he was sent back to the United States because of a DUI conviction seven years ago.
Brutal! That’s the only word to describe this. There is one example listed of a guy who was disallowed to enter Canada because of a weed possession charge… that happened over thirty years ago. I completely fail to understand how such meaningless charges have anything to do with entering a new Country… seems like Canada is not such a friendly place to visit anymore.
Source: SF Gate
Meetings Make Us Dumber
People have a harder time coming up with alternative solutions to a problem when they are part of a group, new research suggests. Scientists exposed study participants to one brand of soft drink then asked them to think of alternative brands. Alone, they came up with significantly more products than when they were grouped with two others.
This is quite interesting actually, and is a great new way to get out of meetings! Personally, I find I “get more” done when working alone, but I know some people who are the complete opposite. It sounds like this is something on a per-person basis, really.
Source: MSNBC
Microsoft Tests “Pay-As-You-Go” Software
Microsoft has been quietly testing a new “pay-as-you-go” software rental service in South Africa, Mexico, and Romania. The service allows users to pay a monthly fee of around $15 for the use of Office 2003. The program is a pilot project, designed to help Microsoft gauge the public reaction to the idea of software rentals.
It wouldn’t be too surprising to see this catch on with other types of software as well, but I can’t say it would necessarily be my cup of tea. Worrying about MMO subscriptions is one thing, but applications as well?!
Source: Ars Technica