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*HOT* Tech News And Downloads, I Would Read This Thread And Post Any Good Info
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AfterDawn Addict
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3. February 2007 @ 10:22 |
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FREE,KillProcess 2.41
Author: Orange Lamp Software
Date: 2007-02-03
Size: 1.8 Mb
License: Freeware
Requires: Win All
KillProcess is an application assassin of the extreme kind.
KillProcess can terminate almost any process on a computer, including any service and process running in the system. Even protected Microsoft system processes can be terminated. All of this can be done in the matter of milliseconds. The speed that KillProcess can kill your applications with is determined by your computer speed and is not restricted by any other settings within the OS itself.
KillProcess is way more powerful than the Task Manager in other terms than speed. It can kill multiple processes, either by multi-select or by clever use of kill lists. Using these techniques it is possible to batch terminate processes, quickly and swiftly, with a click of a button.
KillProcess can also scan the running processes on the computer, and kill them on sight, much like an anti-spyware application would. In KillProcess however, you are in charge of which applications should be allowed to run or not and that applies to the computer as long as you say so.
download here
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download5140.html
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AfterDawn Addict
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4. February 2007 @ 07:51 |
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Lethal bird flu hits Britain, consumers told it's 'safe to eat'
Britain recorded its first outbreak of potentially lethal H5N1 bird flu in poultry Saturday, as tests confirmed it is the highly pathogenic Asian strain similar to that found in Hungary last month.
"Tests from the Veterinary Laboratories Agency have confirmed that the sample from the poultry found dead on a farm near Lowestoft in Suffolk contained the H5N1 avian flu virus, and that it is the highly pathogenic Asian strain," the environment ministry said in a statement.
Scientists fear the H5N1 virus -- which has killed more than 160 people globally since 2003, mostly in south-east Asia -- could mutate into a form easily transmissable between humans, sparking a pandemic that could kill millions.
But British government scientists said the outbreak was being contained and posed no immediate danger to human health. Farmers insisted that well-cooked meat was still safe to eat.
Government vets were called to the turkey farm in Holton, eastern England, earlier this week after the unexplained deaths of more than 2,000 turkeys.
A tight cordon was thrown up late Friday after preliminary tests confirmed the presence of the H5 strain of the disease. Further tests confirmed the H5N1 strain Saturday.
Last month's Hungarian outbreak of Asian strain H5N1 was detected among geese and was the first within the European Union since mid-2006.
It led to the slaughter of 9,400 birds and a poultry export embargo from some neighbouring countries.
Britain's national emergencies committee COBRA met twice Saturday to discuss the official response, a spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair's office told AFP, although he could not confirm whether ministers were present.
The virus was detected at a factory farm run by Europe's biggest turkey producer, Bernard Matthews, which also has subsidiaries in Germany, Hungary and New Zealand.
The farm is in the heart of England's chicken and turkey-rearing region in East Anglia. Some 160,000 birds are to be slaughtered to contain the virus.
It is not yet clear how H5N1 infected the animals, which are kept in warehouses.
But Fred Landeg, Britain's deputy chief veterinary officer, told a press conference that he believed it had been carried by a wild bird and was a "recent introduction".
"No birds have left the premises and no product has left the premises so the disease on that basis has been contained," he said, adding that all birds on the site were about 56 days old.
He said that there were "no plans" to vaccinate birds and described the risk to members of the public as "negligible".
Virologist John Oxford told the BBC that a small bird probably had come in through a ventilation shaft, infecting the turkeys.
News of the outbreak -- found in just one of the 22 turkey houses -- prompted Norway to issue restrictions on poultry.
Pigeon racing, bird shows and markets have now been banned while workers at the farm and those involved in the cull have been given anti-viral drugs.
Bernard Matthews told customers it had strong biosecurity measures in place and said none of the affected birds had entered the food chain.
Peter Kendall, president of the National Farmers' Union, told BBC television that farmers were being told to be extra vigilant but shoppers could continue buying poultry.
"There's enormous concern, both for the whole farming community, the producers of poultry in the United Kingdom, and making sure we get the message about how well this will be managed and controlled," he said.
A three-kilometre (1.8-mile) protection zone and 10-kilometre surveillance zone is in place around the farm as well as strict movement controls. Farmers are being told to keep poultry indoors.
The farm has been cordoned off and officials were disinfecting vehicles at a neighbouring meat factory as they moved on and off the site.
In March 2006, a swan found in Cellardyke, on the east Scotland coast, became the first wild bird in Britain to be found to have the H5N1 variant of the virus.
http://www.physorg.com/news89800966.html
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AfterDawn Addict
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4. February 2007 @ 07:59 |
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who will be there from afterdawn?
Dutch gym to introduce 'Naked Sunday'
By TOBY STERLING, Associated Press Writer Fri Feb 2, 5:33 PM ET
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Self-conscious about what you wear while working out? A Dutch gym plans to introduce "Naked Sunday" for people who like to huff and puff in the buff.
ADVERTISEMENT
Patrick de Man, owner of Fitworld gym in the town of Heteren, said he got the idea in part from two of his customers who are avid nudists.
"I heard that some other gyms are offering courses on 'pole-dancing' as a sport, so I thought: Why not bring something new to the market?" de Man said.
He said the response had been overwhelming ? positive and negative.
The 70,000-member Dutch Federation of Naturists was curious to see if Fitworld's plan would work, spokesman Bernd Huiser said.
"We recently conducted a large survey among our members, and most prefer to exercise with their clothes on," he said. "The most popular activities (for nudists) are things you do outdoors, like walking on the beach, or swimming in a lake, or maybe gardening."
De Man said the first question Fitworld customers were asking was whether it would be sanitary.
Nude exercisers would be required to put towels down on weight machines and to use disposable seat covers while riding bikes. All machines would be cleaned and disinfected afterward. "We clean them every day anyway," he said.
The first "Naked Sunday" is scheduled for March 4.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070202/ap_o...ands_nude_gym_2
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AfterDawn Addict
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6. February 2007 @ 04:35 |
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FREE,SPY ME TOOLS..........SpyMe Tools is very useful in detecting Registry and Disk changes. If any application installs spyware, adware, dlls, programs, files, or any other type of file, picture, or program, etc. or changes the Registry's content, you will be able to see exactly where the modification occurred so you can take measures. It seems like more and more programs are attempting to install spyware, advertisements, or other garbage without your knowledge, but with this software you will know everything that is added or removed. To detect Registry/Disk changes the program will create Dumps of the actual states of Registry/Disk. This means that at any time you can open the Dump file and view the contents of the Registry/Disk just as they were when you've scanned the Registry/Disk. The program can compare two different dump files so you'll see exactly what changed in the Registry/Disk between the two scans. You can also use the program to backup your Registry. The program can restore old states of Registry keys using the data in the Dump files. To prevent other persons from viewing your scanned files you may encrypt them so that a password will be required whenever someone tries to open them. SpyMe Tools also includes a Real time Disk/Registry monitor so you may spot the changes in real time.(Real time Disk monitor works only on NT platform, including Win2k and Win XP).....(free).....GO THERE!
http://www.lcibrossolutions.com/
01/14/2007 - Duplicate Music Files Finder v. 1.5.5
- Ability to send files to Recycle Bin (selected as default - DMFF module).
- Remove track number from song file name - can add exceptions for artists begining with a digit (QMFR module).
- Remove delimiters at the begining and end of a file name (QMFR module).
- Ignore text in brackets if it matches a certain criteria (DMFF module).
- Automatic check for updates.
- Added help files.
01/13/2007 - Spyme Tools v. 1.5
- IMPROVED Registry Snapshot speed.
- Snapshot files open (a lot) faster.
- Changed Registry Snapshot file format (old snapshot files - v. 1.4 - can be converted to the new format).
- Take snapshot of multiple subkeys & directories.
- Filter results displayed in realtime file monitor.
- Log actions to a log file.
- Can now delete new keys/undo key deletions and restore old key contents in Registry while in Comparison Mode.
- Added progress view for scanning & comparison processes.
- See what's changed in new versions before choosing to update program.
- Changed some icons.
- Fixed some bugs in the comparing algorithm.
- Fixed displaying correct key/folder paths in Scan Dump Files.
10/21/2006 - Spyme Tools v. 1.4
- The program is now FREEWARE. Enjoy it!
- Scan Dump Files can now be encrypted to prevent others from viewing them.
- Added automatic update feature.
- Improved Realtime Registry Monitor.
- Files/Key values can now be custom sorted.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 6. February 2007 @ 04:36
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AfterDawn Addict
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6. February 2007 @ 04:45 |
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FREE,GIGA TRIBE..........GigaTribe is software that allows you to exchange files with your friends on a private network. You create your private network by inviting your friends. No one can join your network unless invited. You can dismiss or banish your guests at any time. Your guests can't see each other on your network.....(free).....GO THERE!
http://www.gigatribe.com/tour/accueil.php
TribalWeb is also marketed as GigaTribe for English speaking users. This name change does not change anything for current TribalWeb users, you can add people to your network that use GigaTribe and vice-versa. The username/password info, and the friends/family you have in your network remain 100% intact.
Happy New Year!
December 11th : Shalsoft releases GigaTribe software
Easy, Secure and ?Free!
Easy
# Install GigaTribe, select the folders you want to share and invite your friends to join your private network!
# Share all your files (movies, pictures, documents?) no matter how large they are.
# Interrupted exchanges automatically resume with no data loss.
# All files are exchanged at maximum speed.
Secure
# No one but the users of your network can see the files you share.
# When exchanging a file, only the sender and the receiver are aware of the exchange.
# All data exchanged on your network is encrypted (Blowfish encryption with a 128-bit key).
Free
# All these features are included in the standard version and are totally free.
# GigaTribe contains no adware and can be uninstalled easily.
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AfterDawn Addict
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6. February 2007 @ 04:56 |
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HDClone Free Edition 3.2.4
Author: miray
Date: 2007-02-05
Size: 4 Mb
License: Freeware
HDClone copies the content of hard disks on a physical level from one disk to another hard disk. Depending on the sizes of the hard disks, a complete or abridged image of the source disk will be created.
To give users the possibility to move their system from an older (smaller) disk ono a newer (larger) hard disk, miray offers the Free Edition of the HDClone, which is made for this purpose. The later correction of partition sizes can be done with a number of tools, but the migrated system is usable even without these modifications.
To copy a system on the same disk or a disk of the same type, you should purchase and use the Personal Edition or the Business Edition, especially for companies and technicians.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download3809.html
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AfterDawn Addict
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6. February 2007 @ 05:01 |
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Microsoft has no plans to close Vista upgrade loophole
It just hopes you'll feel naughty if you exploit it
By INQUIRER newsdesk: Tuesday 06 February 2007, 11:08
MICROSOFT CAN'T BE bothered to close the loophole that allows users to install Vista upgrade versions even when they're not upgrading.
"People without a licensed copy of XP that use this workaround are violating the terms of use agreed to when they purchased the upgrade version of Windows Vista," a spokesvole told vnunet.com.
"As such, we believe only a very small percentage of people will take the time to implement this workaround, and we encourage all customers to follow our official guidelines for upgrading to Windows Vista."
The vole said it does not have any plans to disable the workaround. Which is handy. The upgrade version is around two-thirds the price of the unupgrade version. µ
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37453
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AfterDawn Addict
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6. February 2007 @ 05:15 |
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US movie biz is booming: MPAA
p2pnet.net News:- You know how Hollywood is on the verge of collapse because of the depredations of p2p file sharers and counterfeiters, lumped together as the most evil entities since Ghengis Khan?
At least, that's what the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), owned by Time Warner, Viacom, Fox, Sony, NBC Universal and Disney, declares. Over and over and over .....
Well, "The industry maintains a positive balance of trade, resulting in a $9.5 billion surplus, which represents 12% of the entire U.S. private sector service trade surplus in 2005," says the first Hollywood analysis and compilation of data from, "studios, networks, payroll companies, guilds and government agencies," trumpets the MPAA.
And you know how scores of support workers are in desperate plights because they've lost their jobs, a tragedy attributed to the same evil forces?
"The industry creates more than 1.3 million American jobs" and, "Direct employees of the industry earn an average salary of $73,000 annually, not including highly compensated talent," says the report, also stating.
"Export of U.S. films earned $10.4 billion in 2005, a 20% increase since 2000."
In other stats, according to the MPAA:
* The industry produces $30.2 billion in revenue for 160,000 U.S. vendors, 85% of whom employ 10 people or less.
* The industry generates $10 billion in state and federal taxes
* On-location motion picture and television production generates economic benefits at the state and local level.
* Production occurs in nearly every state each year creating a dramatic economic impact on their communities.
* 30 states have enacted incentive laws to increase production in their states.
* The industry invests in infrastructure and community development nationwide.
* On-location filming is estimated to increase tourism by up to 54%.
Don't bother to stay tuned.
http://p2pnet.net/story/11238?PHPSESSID=d1e6c15d9390024d6e1770f
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AfterDawn Addict
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6. February 2007 @ 05:31 |
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ITS ABOUT TIME...
How Kodak intends to wipe the floor with HP
On the Mohney Ink wars
By Doug Mohney: Tuesday 06 February 2007, 12:58
EASTMAN LODAK, the company best known for film and pretty photos, has decided to enter the consumer inkjet market. Needless to say, it?s picking a fight with HP ? but one it is confident it can win.
Kodak has announced the Easyshare All-in-One printer line today and they?re doing a big launch in the Big Apple at NBC Studios with CEO Antonio Perez with special guest Molly Shannon doing something or other. The company is announcing hardware, yes, but it?s the underlying philosophy of razors and blades, er printers and ink, that is the real story.
How does it intend to dethrone the reigning king of inkjets? Price and quality. Kodak is underlining the fact that the company has been in the bulk chemicals business and printing for oh, since it started, while HP has been in the calculator business. This means Kodak intends to start offering ink jet refills at around half the price of the competition. A cartridge of black ink will cost $9.99 while a five ink colour cartridge will cost $15, so Kodak is saying a 4 x 6 inch photo will cost as little as 10 cents a print.
Cost is a great start, but Kodak is pounding the table consumers will get a better print due to the company?s Kodakcolor technology built into the Easyashare process. You start with pigment-based inks, add micro-porous photo paper, colour and image science, then finish with a MEMS print head to deliver high-quality and long lasting sharp and vibrant photos.
Exactly how good will, no doubt, be a matter of some discussion between HP and Kodak marketing people for the next year or so.
Hardware on the Easyshare series is priced to move. The entry level 5100 starts at $150 and includes print, scan, and copy capabilities, and Pictbridge support. Print speed is up to 32 pages per minute in black and 22 pages per minute in color. One bump up, the 5300 costs $200 and adds a three-inch colour LCD with the ability to view and crop photos directly on the printer, plus memory card slots for printing without a PC. At the top of the line, the Easyshare 5600 lists at $300 and includes fax support, a 2.4-inch colour LCD display, automatic document feeder, and a duplexer attachment.
The 5100 and 5300 printers hit Best Buy shelves exclusively in March 2007, while the 5500 is expected to begin shipping in May 2007.
Let battle commence. µ
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37458
See Also
Kodak takes on HP with low cost printer ink
Kodak takes on HP with low cost printer ink
Ink-jet wars begin
By Nick Farrell: Tuesday 06 February 2007, 08:33
EASTMAN KODAK is releasing a line of inkjet printers with low-cost replacement inks in a bid to kick market leader HP in the bottom-line.
From March, Kodak will flog three EasyShare All-in-One printers, ranging from $150 to $300. These will print, scan and copy document and photos.
So far the prices are more or less equal to HP, but where Kodak is probably going to scare HP, Cannon and Lexmark is in the cost of its ink cartridges which will sell for $10 for black and $15 for colour. This will undercut the standard market cost by about half.
So far HP, Canon and Lexmark have been flogging inexpensive printers at a loss, and profits are earned over the long term in sales of replacement ink cartridges.
Kodak reckons that it can make a profit on both the printers and the ink.
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37450
Kodak launches printer to compete with HP, others
By Franklin Paul 10 minutes ago
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE:EK - news) introduced a line of desktop printers on Tuesday that use low-cost replacement ink cartridges, entering a market dominated by Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ - news)
ADVERTISEMENT
For the camera and photography company, the long-awaited launch of inkjet printing products kicks off a year in which it hopes to end the tough and expensive three-year transformation that has seen Kodak shed tens of thousands of workers.
Kodak will start sales in March of 3 EasyShare All-in-One printers, ranging from $150 to $300, which will print, scan and copy document and photos. Black replacement ink cartridges will sell for about $10, and color cartridges for about $15, about 50 percent less than its rivals, Kodak said, adding that it will profit on sales of both printers and ink.
Kodak said this strategy is meant to disrupt the market dominated by HP, Canon Inc. (7751.T) and Lexmark (NYSE:LXK - news), where inexpensive printers are sold at a loss, and profits are earned over the long term in sales of replacement ink cartridges.
In that model, consumers purchasing ink unknowingly also buy expensive brand-specific technology that is built into each cartridge, Kodak says.
Each Kodak ink cartridge prints more pages than a comparably priced rival cartridge, the company says.
"You are throwing that (technology) away and buying a new one every time you buy one of their cartridges, which is pretty expensive stuff," said Cheryl Pohlman, a marketing director at Kodak. "With our system we have put that print head right into the printer... so all you have to buy is ink."
She notes that the products close a loop, of sorts, for Kodak, such that customers can now use Kodak services to print in any of the three most common ways: online, at one-stop kiosks at retail stores, or at home.
"What we want to do is give people who want to print at home a choice," Pohlman said in interview. "We believe that this is a profitable business model for Kodak and that for a consumer it is freeing the way they can print at home."
INVESTORS MEETING THIS WEEK
Citigroup analyst Matthew Troy said the news could in the near term benefit Kodak's shares, which have vacillated between $20 and $30 for the better part of two years. Kodak rose about 10 cents in early trade on Tuesday to $26.36 on the
New York Stock Exchange. Lexmark fell 1.7 percent and HP fell 0.8 percent.
"While official launch will not be financially material for Kodak until 2008 at the earliest, expect shares to be active on (the) perceptual positive," Troy said in a client note.
The product unveiling comes just two days before Kodak meets in New York with investors who are certain to ask tough questions about whether its shift away from traditional film -- a declining market -- to digital products and services will soon pay off.
There are positive signs: last week Kodak reported a fourth-quarter profit, versus a loss in the previous year. Still, much of that profit was driven by royalties from licensing patents and technology, and overshadowed a 25 percent decline in digital camera and related accessories.
Analysts, who had been told since late 2003 to look for an inkjet strategy from the Rochester, New York-based company, are skeptical about how Kodak will be able to compete with companies that have millions of printers sitting alongside personal computers owned by families and small businesses.
"We remain concerned that the upfront costs of establishing an installed base will be high, and that the mature and competitive nature of consumer inkjet requires considerable research and development and (operating cost) commitments," said analyst Shannon Cross of Cross Research, in a client note published in anticipation of the inkjet launch.
The printers are set to sell at Best Buy stores exclusively at first, and should be more widely available by the winter holiday season, Kodak said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070206/tc_n...DJlYmhvBHNlYwM-
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AfterDawn Addict
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6. February 2007 @ 05:53 |
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this will give ye all the info ye need
http://www.cpuid.org/cpuz.php#download
CPU-Z is a freeware that gathers information on some of the main devices of your system.
CPU
* Name and number.
* Core stepping and process.
* Package.
* Core voltage.
* Internal and external clocks, clock multiplier.
* Supported instructions sets.
* Cache information.
Mainboard
* Vendor, model and revision.
* BIOS model and date.
* Chipset (northbridge and southbridge) and sensor.
* Graphic interface.
Memory
* Frequency and timings.
* Module(s) specification using SPD (Serial Presence Detect) : vendor, serial number, timings table.
System
* Windows and DirectX version.
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AfterDawn Addict
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6. February 2007 @ 07:44 |
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Wal-Mart movie download farce
p2pnet.net News:- Why would anyone want to waste good money (about $13 and $20) to download a DVD on the day of release when they could zoom on over to the local rental store and get it for a few dollars?
And we won't even mention the p2p networks.
But Hollywood and Wal-Mart figure you'll be stupid enough to do exactly that, also paying close to eight bucks for an old movie and $2 per episode for TV shows.
That's the 'deal' under the new partnership between Wal-Mart the Big Six Hollywood studios, Walt Disney, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Sony, 20th Century Fox and Universal on www.walmart.com/videodownloads.
This, "plunges Wal-Mart into competition with several established sites, like Amazon.com, CinemaNow and iTunes, and given the chain's penchant for price cutting, could drive down the cost of a digital download," says The New York Times.
It would have to, and very considerably if it hopes to attract surfers.
"Wal-Mart says it has used its clout to pull together all the right Hollywood players, create an easy-to-use Web site with Hewlett-Packard and develop a broad library of videos," says the story.
Wal-Mart will have access to films such 'The Devil Wears Prada' and 'Little Miss Sunshine' and TV series like 24 and Veronica Mars.
Yes. Well ......
Meanwhile, let's hope the service functions a little more efficiently than the web site. When we went for a look at 8:13 am PST, the pic on the upper right shows you what we saw after three attempts and 15 minutes waiting for the page to finish downloading.
. Slashdot Slashdot it!
Also See:
The New York Times - Wal-Mart and Studios in Film Deal, February 6, 2007
http://p2pnet.net/story/11241?PHPSESSID=...22e5fd9f4b94f07
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AfterDawn Addict
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6. February 2007 @ 08:14 |
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Apple warns iPod users against Vista
By Martin Beckford
Last Updated: 10:44am GMT 06/02/2007
IPods could be damaged by Microsoft?s new computer operating system, the company behind the popular digital music players has warned.
Apple, the long-standing rival of Bill Gates?s Microsoft, is urging users not to upgrade their PCs to the Vista system until it comes up with a compatible version of the software that runs iPods.
Microsoft launched its long-awaited Vista operating system in a blaze of publicity last week and claimed that more than 5,000 hardware and software products would work with it.
advertisement
But Apple, which has sold 90 million iPods since 2001, says many users of the iconic portable music players have had problems when connecting them to PCs using Vista.
It claims some have found that songs bought on its iTunes Store will not play on the new system, and that other Vista users have even seen their iPods corrupted when they try to unplug them. The contacts and calendar functions on iPods are also said to be affected.
A statement on Apple?s website reads: ?iTunes Store purchases may not play when upgrading to Windows Vista from Windows 2000 or XP.
?Ejecting an iPod from the Windows System Tray using the Safely Remove Hardware feature may corrupt your iPod.?
Microsoft has already released a software update for Vista users so they can play their iTunes Store songs.
But Apple is still warning PC users not to use Vista until it can release a completely new version of the iTunes software.
Apple?s website states: ?Apple recommends that customers wait to upgrade Windows until after the next release of iTunes which will be available in the next few weeks.?
Microsoft said it has a dedicated team working on problems with Vista and iTunes, and insisted users should not stop using the new operating system.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jht...6/napple106.xml
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AfterDawn Addict
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6. February 2007 @ 08:18 |
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Russian schools abandon Windows after piracy scare
Linux is the winner
By Nick Farrell: Tuesday 06 February 2007, 14:52
LINUX IS THE clear winner out of a dispute between the Russian legal authorities and schools over who should carry the can over the use of pirated Windows software.
Rather than attacking mobsters who peddle pirated copies of Windows directly to companies, the Russian coppers decided to lock up a Sepich headmaster who bought hot Windows software which came from Perm region?s Capital Construction Administration.
Microsoft says that the incident has nothing to do with them, but it appears that Russian schools in the area are so scared about being shipped off to a Siberian Gulag, that they are buying Linux gear instead.
Schools in the Perm region will soon quit buying software from commercial companies, said the region?s Education Minister Nikolay Karpushin. The announcement was made in line with the report on ensuring 'license purity' in the region?s schools.
According to Karpushin, schools would start using freely distributed software like the Linux OS, Russky office and Open office desktop apps, Ekho Moskvi reports.
The flavour of Linux being used will be one of the cheap localised Russian Linux distributives in Russia.
Teachers are not that happy about it. Apparently not many of them know much about Linux and there are no specialists around to teach them. Of course if they go on bulletin boards to ask questions they will be dubbed 'stupid noobs' by Linux boffins. µ
See Also
Please Bill Gates, save this Russian pirate from the gulag
Microsoft snubs Gorbachev over piracy plea
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37460
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AfterDawn Addict
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6. February 2007 @ 08:49 |
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Does Dan's MPAA crown rest easy?
p2pnet.net News:- Is Dan Glickman a little wobbly in his role of Hollywood's Main Man?
After unsuccessfully trying for Hilary Rosen's old job as head of the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), in 2004 he replaced Jack Valenti as boss of the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), bringing with him years of experience. In the US agricultural sector.
His move from, "corn and sow bellies to Internet piracy and movies," as the Hollywood Reporter put it at the time, demanded certain qualities, among them a sense of humour. He was known as "one of the funniest men in Congress," according to the story, which also had him saying of himself, "I don't know how funny I am. I think I'm funny."
The MPAA today released an economic impact study designed to spin Time Warner, Viacom, Fox, Sony, NBC Universal and Disney as vital mainstays of the American economy, thus justifing their increasing use of tax-payer funded resources, for example various US law enforcement agencies, to serve and protect themselves.
The numbers, which give the lie to MPAA claims that its masters, the Big Six studios, are being ruined by file sharing and counterfeiting, will be officially revealed at today's Business of Show Business business meeting.
And, "as the conference seeks to generate reams of statistics and talking points that paint Hollywood as a powerful nationwide economic engine, it also might mute the questions being raised inside the Beltway about Dan Glickman, the venerable organization's chairman and CEO, and his vision for the MPAA's future," says another Hollywood Reporter piece, going on:
"Since taking over for Jack Valenti 2 1/2 years ago, questions have been raised about whether Glickman is up to the task. While everyone knew that following a legend like Valenti would be tough, entertainment industry executives here have been wondering if they got the right guy.
"While they won't speak for the record, many top executives in town privately criticize Glickman. They contend that he has been too dazzled by the star power of his new position, is unwilling to do the heavy lifting required for the job and effectively has marginalized the MPAA's presence here by ceding too much power to Los Angeles and Bob Pisano, whom Glickman hired as COO in September 2005."
" 'What has he done?' asked one critic. 'He's too busy giving screenings for his friends instead of being up on the Hill doing what he's been hired to do'."
Say it aint so !!!! But not to worry because, "Glickman takes the sniping in stride," the story goes on.
He also figures he'll be able to overcome certain tax issues which have been troubling Hollywood.
"Quite frankly, [last year] we didn't have the closest of allies and friends on the tax committees," he says, but, "It's much, much better this year."
Glickman said he's so far, met with more than two dozen members of Congress, including House Ways and Means Committee chairman Charles Rangel and senator Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
"Any tax legislation will first have to go through Rangel's committee and then the one chaired by Baucus" and, "Glickman calls both men friends," says the story.
And what are friends for?
"They don't promise anything, of course, but they are sympathetic to our tax issues," Glickman says in the Hollywood Reporter. "I'm not saying that this Congress is going to be heaven on Earth, but it makes it easier for me to breathe in the new atmosphere with my relationships there."
. Slashdot Slashdot it!
Also See:
Hollywood Reporter - Glickman relishes new role, July 2, 2004
I think I'm funny - New MPAA boss a comedian, July 2, 2004
economic impact study - US movie biz is booming: MPAA, February 6, 2007
Hollywood Reporter - Glickman's had tough Hill to climb, February 6, 2007
http://p2pnet.net/story/11243?PHPSESSID=...ed4ddfa4b013c71
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 6. February 2007 @ 08:50
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6. February 2007 @ 10:04 |
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Super Bowl Virus Spreads
The game's over and patches are available, but many sites are infected with malicious code.
Jeremy Kirk, IDG News Service
Monday, February 05, 2007 07:00 AM PST
Security experts are finding an increasing number of Web sites hosting malicious JavaScript code first detected on Super Bowl-related sites last week.
Sites covering topics ranging from health care to government have been hacked to host the JavaScript, SANS Internet Storm Center Director Marcus H. Sachs wrote on the SANS blog, listing some of the hacked sites.
"System administrators might want to check their network flow logs for any traffic to these sites and for any traffic to the five sites that hosted the hostile JavaScript," Sachs wrote.
Patches Available
The attack targets two known vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows, for which Microsoft introduced patches in April and in January.
Computers with unpatched software are vulnerable to the attack. If one of the hacked sites is visited, the JavaScript code directs the browser to a second Web server, based in China, and tries to install a Trojan Horse downloader and password-stealing program on the victim's computer.
Bowl Site Hit First
Initially, the exploit appeared isolated to Web sites related to U.S. football, as hackers tried to capitalize on the surge of traffic to sites concerning the Super Bowl sporting event, which was played on Sunday. The site of the Miami Dolphins team, and another site for its stadium, were hacked, although they were eventually cleaned up.
Security company Websense reported the problem on the stadium site on Friday. Websense recommended users stay away from the affected sites until they had been cleaned up.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,128758-page,1/article.html
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6. February 2007 @ 11:53 |
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Ex-Border Agent Said Beaten in Prison
Feb 06 3:15 PM US/Eastern
By ALICIA A. CALDWELL
Associated Press Writer
EL PASO, Texas (AP) -- A former U.S. Border Patrol agent who was convicted of shooting a drug smuggling suspect and then lying about it was beaten by fellow inmates in prison, his relatives and a congressman said Tuesday.
Prison officials did not immediately confirm that Ignacio Ramos had been attacked.
The convictions of Ramos and fellow former agent Jose Alonso Compean sparked outcry from critics who argued that the men were merely doing their job defending the border against criminals.
U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., a vocal supporter of the agents and opponent of illegal immigration, criticized the Bush administration Tuesday for failing to protect Ramos and demanded a full presidential pardon for the two men.
"Not only did the administration choose the side of a foreign dope runner over the agents who stopped him from smuggling a load of drugs into the county _ now they've failed to protect that agent while his case is on appeal," he said in a statement.
Ramos and Compean, who reported to prison in January, were each sentenced to more than a decade behind bars. Ramos is being held at a medium- and low-security federal facility at Yazoo City, Miss. Compean is serving his sentence at the Elkton Federal Correctional Institution in Ohio; no problems have been reported with his detention.
The agents were convicted last year of shooting Osvaldo Aldrete Davila in 2005 near El Paso and then trying to cover up the incident. Davila was shot once in the buttocks.
Ramos' wife, Monica Ramos, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that her husband described being attacked late Saturday, when he "let his guard down." She said the attackers kicked and stomped him for several minutes.
He was able to identify one man in the group, Monica Ramos said.
Officials of the Federal Bureau of Prisons did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Tuesday.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/02/06/D8N4E48O0.html
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7. February 2007 @ 05:24 |
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MAGIC SPEED..........Your PC is slow in boot-up and operation? Magic Speed will make your PC faster and more efficient in 5 simple steps. The software package includes startup management, fixing registry errors, Disk clean-up, and memory management. It is free of charge and does not require special PC knowledge! Magic Speed will analyze your applications, which are loaded with your PC boot-up. Are you sure that you really need these applications? Being loaded, they occupy PC memory and slow down PC operation. A check-up will also include virus and spyware tests thanks to a new anti-virus engine updated on a daily basis. Registry errors also negatively affect PC efficiency. By deleting temporary files, you will increase free space on your hard drive and speed up its operation. Make use of the unique Boost Windows option - by adding it to the startup you will experience real improvement of your PC operation .....(free).....GO THERE!
http://www.smartpctools.com/magic_speed/index1.html
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7. February 2007 @ 05:27 |
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Why Macs are so much better than PCs
Letters Old coals raked over at length
By The Letterman: Wednesday 07 February 2007, 13:04
Subject: Vista @ $8 a pop
It's funny to see that such a capitalstic idea is happening in ole Iran.
$8 a registerable through a Vole Hole.
I hope the little critter doesn't get many paper cuts from all that registering passing through the ol' vole' hole.
Daysum
Subject: scribble of CSI
are you sure that's not a ~4 year old scribble of an opteron/HT system? ;)
hahn
Subject: vista's pretty face
Since all vista has to offer is a pretty face why not mention this option to spending $200 on a DRM fiasco.
http://www.windowsxlive.net/?page_id=15
regards
Mike H.
Subject: Apple urges users to delay Vista upgrade
"Apple telling consumers to 'wait' before upgrading seems to suggest that it did not really want punters to upgrade at all."
If apple releases its OS as a stand alone product, i.e. with no hardware...
i'd definitely go for Mac OS, or atleast give it a try...
the question is,,, why aren't they doing so, it will be a good thing for people who are p*ssed off with Vista... and that's including me :D
A.H.A
Subject: numa numa
Since the Everywhere Girl is apparently not suitable material for wikipedia then perhaps it's time to start a campaign to also get this page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numa_Numa removed.
And maybe everything else on this page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_phenomenon
Andy
Subject: Please Bill Gates, save this Russian pirate from the gulag
Hi Desky! ;)
If I would see that a teacher uses stolen software in a school, I would go angry too!
They can work and learn on an good or better Office and Database with a free DEBIAN distribution, FreeBSD, a cheap SUSE LINUX an so on and if they must work on a cheap CAD workstation (3D mechanic, programming, SPICE simulation, PCB layout and more) there can buy an old W2K system, install an free WIDGETS engine (and other free goodies more!) on desk and work with it!
For a school CAD System under W2K SP4 you can use an old 800Mhz CPU with 256MB memory, an good 19" display and a new fast HD drive! (costs an sixpack on a scapyard and it will be enough power for the fastet CAD Software like IronCAD and the best SPICE simulator and VHDL programmer like Electronic Workbench!)
Who understand an OS and can work under Linux or BSD with an computer can also work under MS Windows ..... aaaannnnd ..... who can only work with an pretty shiny stupid Windows thing, sheesh ...... is too rich an too stupid for the real life thing on earth! :)
Have nice week!
Frank-J. Bebber
Subject: Proof reading
Since the four people here who read this can't proof read as well as you, I've institued a new policy - we'll just send it to you first, then after you've proof read it, we'll send it out to the rest of the world. :-)
Thanks
Jon Peddie
Subject: Cracked Vista
I always wonder about these cracked versions. Sounds like a scheme.
I can see Bill at his desk right now: "Yes, yes! THEY ARE EATING IT UP! They won't be smiling when they find out we started this fiasco in the first place - I want to see the look on their faces when 'Sorry, you just got fucked by Microshaft, again.' appears. Kodak Moment"
I agree, Kodak Moment.
Source: Right outta my ass.
Regards,
Mark
Subject: Bill Gate$
Argh, bother me not with that pocket calculator stuff! They invented menu bar?!? Oh noes, Firefox is doomed, Gate$ will sue them for using File, Edit, View... they better change it into File, View, Edit.. just to be safe. In these crowded days you never know whose toes you are stepping onto.
I am sorry but there were systems in use with displays, windows and menus when PC was still amber text on a black background only.
Regards,
Igor Levicki
Subject: Intel CSI diagram scribbled on back of fag packet
Intel's new architecture will differ from Hyper Transport how?
Heath
Subject: Iran
Iran ! Iran ! Iran !
Hackers
Subject: Microsoft has no plans to close Vista upgrade loophole
Hi there,
Interesting article especialy for people who have XP licence and want to do a clean Vista installation after they bought the Upgrade for £20 through the redeemer coupon.
But I cannot understand why someone will buy the upgrade version of e.g. Vista Premium for £133 and not the Vista Premium OEM (£67) plus a mouse worth £2. MS OEM licence state "any kind of hardware including keyboard or mouse". At least the last time I look at it 4 days ago.
Also if someone isn't bothered about Aero, the Vista Home Basic OEM cost less than XP SP2 (£50) and just get a Flash mem stick to use it at SSD Ram.
Thank you
Panos
Subject: EMF damage the Swedes
the swedish people are right,the damage of WiMax can not be over stated enuff. ck out lighthealing.com their rejuvinizer's(I've had mine for 16 plus years I never take it off) this is NOT spam,what I saying here is that I diligently protect MYself from eletromagnetic damage,this stuff WiFi and WiMax,cell phone EMF damage is NO Joke and this will show to be so,in the coming months,weeks and years as such. thatsd the ONLY reason I'm even recommending the rejuvinzer devices for protection. lighthealing.com blessings and light Bryan Keith. stay conscious,stay free. with NO Bullshit ,sincerley and authentcially,
Bryan
Subject: Apple urges users to delay Vista upgrade
Hello, sign me up, I'll buy OSX.... oh yeah the only problem;
Desktop: CPU: AMD X2 4800+
Laptop: CPU: AMD 64 mobile 3000+
DOH!!
Ah well I guess if they can't do that then I can't buy. Come on Apple open up your OS let us all enjoy your OS even those pesky AMD Fanboi's.
Dan Bastianello
Subject: Apple urges users to delay Vista upgrade
Nick,
This is anything but unbiased reporting. Having given Vista a test drive for the last year in it's various forms, PB1, PB2, RC1 & RTM I'm not surprised by Apple's announcement, bc almost nothing is ready to run on it. Even RTM is quirky and unstable, with tons of new security hooks to throw non MS programmers into a tailspin. I had to use compatibility mode for nearly everything, as nothing will run on it unless it was deliberately programmed for Vista, and nearly nothing has been released that is designed to run on Vista native to date.
What do you gain by demostrating such unenlightened bias? Nearly all the "Wow factor" features of the Aero interface were embedded into Mac OSX years ago when Steve Jobs design folks got the final version of NeXT ported over to the Mach Kernel and released it as Mac OS X 10.0 Beta. And that was 1999! So where's the wow now? Vista is a dog, it eats resources like there's no tomorrow. I have a 3.8GHz P4 with hyperthreading, 2GB's of RAM and both a 100 GB and 60 GB 7200rpm Hitachi hard drives in my Alienware M7700 notebook, and Vista has burned out not one but two NVidia 6800 Go Ultra video cards in the last 6 months, and I'm using it for forensics, not even for high-texellation features like gaming!
What's uncanny is that Microsoft's perpetual ability to write sloppier and sloppier code, hogging eternally more memory without freeing it, code that's ever becoming more and more bloated so that their software inefficiencies more than make up for any gains Intel gives us with it's perpetual doubling of internal clocks and transistor counts. The faster the hardware the slower the OS Mr. Gates gives the minions of the world to run on.
Now that Apple has rolled their systems onto an all Dual Core Intel Architecture you are finally going to see the beginning of the end for Microsoft. Vista is going to flop and big time. Why else would Gates be spending billions on "demand creation" a term I saw in an official MS communique a few weeks ago. Demand creation to generate a need for an OS that won't run well on any mid range machine out there today--just like ME which decimated well running Windows 98 machines, promising an upgraded GUI and delivering a lot of glitz and eyewash without boosting the core OS engine by trimming and optimizing the underlying OS code. Instead it was bloated boggy, and slow. Vista will be a disaster for users who currently are running XP on anything less than a 2GHz machine with a Gig of RAM!
And wait until they get a load of the wonderfully, mind-numbingly annoying User Access Controls which lock your desktop, grey out your screen and ask "Mother may I run this executable" every time you click on a program! It was the first thing that had to go! It's not like using a personal firewall like Black Ice or Zone Alarm, those products actually "learn" which programs you are okay with running--UAC never learns!!!! I couldn't wait to figure out how to turn UAC off so I didn't have to deal with it any more. And then there's the issue of how locked down the accounts are so that even the normal user will have to know his way around the NT permissions controlls like an MCSE in order to do anything Gates' folks think is risky or unsafe, like actually have write permission to your own files! Of course this might actually prevent some of the critical files from being deleted by users too--more on that later...
No I think you're going to see a lot more reviews like this one instead: http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/17992/page1/. And that's what Job's is secretly hoping for. Will they move more machines, yes I think so. There's very little reason *not* to buy a Mac now. The price for a good Mac is equivalent to a good PC, and you get a superior OS for nearly everything you do. I got tired of having to repair my PC just to do simple things years ago and have been slowly migrating all of my family over to Apple and Macs. I didn't start out this way. I was a Unix power user and forensic examiner for the US Army and they sent me to a Mac Forensics course to be the resident expert in Mac OS. I was surprised about what I learned about why Macs are so much faster, why they are better at graphics, why they never crash, and why they are just all around better thought out and why they operate better period. I know you are a hard sell, so hear me out and I'll give you some things to thi
Most PC enthusiasts think they are better than the average user because they want to muck with the hardware and aren't afraid to pull and reseat a CPU, or add memory, or add a hard drive or whatever. And they like the freedom to do just that. Well, if you've ever worked on a Mac, you'd know that for years, the form of the Mac is just as important as it's function. At least since Jobs came back and rescued Apple from it's love affair with beige, and we've seen for years that Macs are uncannily physically beautiful from both a physical Art Deco standpoint and from an engineering standpoint--they are as much a pleasure to open and work on as they are to look at. All of the edges are either ground smooth or the sheet metal is folded over and rounded--you'll never scrape or cut your knuckles open in a Mac Case. Go to CompUSA and open the side panel on a G5/Pro model and you'll see what I mean. The cooling system is divided into zones and the fans are thermostatically controlled so they
The file system is likewise a beautiful thing. I am referring to the Hierarchical File System, and the Hierarchical File System Extended (which equate to FAT-16 and FAT-32 on a PC) which are far superior to either FAT for reasons which I will now enumerate:
1) instead of using a maximum of 4 physical partitions with numerous logical partitions in the fourth partition like the original IBM/MS partitioning scheme, Mac's can have as many as 64 partitions--as many as you want, and you aren't limited to an assignment to a corresponding drive letter. In fact, it is not uncommon for a Mac to have a dozen or more partitions, and here's why:
2) There is great logic in the way Macs are partitioned: The first partition is the Partition Map Partition, it is 64 sectors long and each sector provides a pointer to a separate physical partition. Its a roadmap to the rest of the drive's layout...
3) On the Mac, each device driver sits in it's own separate personal physical partition--There are separate drivers for the Internal and External SCSI Chains for older SCSI-based Macs, theres a separate driver for the Primary and Secondary IDE chains on IDE based Macs, there's a separate partition for the IOKIT module which deals with all the IO devices, (keyboard/mouse, video and audio), theres even a partition for Apple driver updates, and for firmware pushes, and finally there's as many User partitions as the user wants to create from the remaining space as evenly divided out, left over space (less than a single allocation unit) is allocated to a partition called "Apple Free."
Okay, you buy that this is different, why is it superior?
How many times have you had a BSOD because some file in Windows got corrupted? Like when the $MFT can't find the $Boot file and you get "NTLoader not found?" Has this ever happend to you? It happens all the time--the NT bootstrap loader $Boot's pointer in the master file table $MFT gets lost and $Boot can't find the cross reference to NTLDR which has the actual boot strapping instructions. Why does this happen? Because all of these critical files $Boot, $MFT, and NTLDR are all in the root of Drive C:\ the user accessible area.
4) On the Mac all of the bootstrap code is in a /MacBoot partition that is not visible to mere mortals, nor are any of the device drivers, such as you find in a PC in C:\Winroot\System32\Drivers\.
5) Because they are unaccessible, neither virii, nor mere mortal mac users can inadvertently corrupt them. But the OS Kernel knows where they are and that location never changes and is never stepped on, never accidently deleted.
Now let's address file system inefficiencies.
Let's say you work in an office where all of the filing cabinets have all of the files but they are organized by the date of creation. So the oldest files are in the left most cabinets and the newest files are in the right most cabinets. Someone calls you and you are not allowed to ask how long the customer has been with your company. How do you find the file? You start at the left and begin there and work forward until you find their file right? It could be the first or it could be the last file in the last drawer, you have no way of knowing until you pull it. So on average you have to pull half of the files before you will find the customer's file. Best case is it's the first, worst case it's the last average is half. That's how FAT filesystems work. Chronological storage with no hierarchy. It's a flat file lookup, and yes I know that NTFS is a hybrid but it still suffers from what amounts to a basically flat architecture within the $MFT itself.
6) In contrast with that is the HFS/HFS+ file system where everything is stored on not one but two hierarchical binary trees. Unix and linux use a single tree, but Macs are superior to both and here's why: the Catalog tree in HFS stored the first three fragments of a file in HFS+ it's 8. In the Extents tree, the remaining fragments are stored (in HFS 4-End of File (EOF) in HFS+ its' 9-EOF)
7) To use our corporate Analogy imagine you're working in the same office and the same customer calls you and gives you the same information--his name, and just his name. The difference is that now instead of being sorted chronologically, the file cabinets are sorted Alphabetically, and even though there's still no labels on the drawers the sorted order of the file system leads to much greater efficiencies in house keeping: Say the customer's name is Mr. Smith, On the PC you start at the beginning looking for Mr. Smith and you stop when you get there.
On the Mac you start at the middle of the file system at the master index node and then you play high-low to find Mr. Smith's file. The binary trees enable you to quickly divide and conquer the entire file system in just a few splits.
We start at the Middle drawer and find the first folder is McInerney, so we split the distance between M and Z 13/2=6.5 so we go to the 7th drawer from M and we discover the first file is Simmons, now we divide the drawer's contents in half and voila we are in the Smith's and have to find the first name. With an ordered hierarchical file system it is rare for the OS to have to do more than 7 divisions. The OS makes up for this by creating a series of Index nodes which point to the bottom-rung leaf nodes which actually contain the pointers to the sectors containing the files out on the hard drive. The number of index nodes constantly grows as files are added at the leaf node level, so that no index node tracks more than 7 leaves.
This is an extremely efficient way of storing data. The user doesn't ever know the machine is doing this, they just know that when they ask their mac to bring up a file, it's got a lightning fast response time, and that's why. 8) It doesn't matter if you're running OSX on the latest Intel Mac Pro, or on the oldest slowest Motorola-based G3, or even older Motorola 68K series machines running Mac OS 6--the HFS file system was the same, so file accesses are extremely quick even on a slow hard drive.
Why are Macs so great at graphics?
9) I don't know that they will be any more, because the key to fast graphics was the Big Endian vs Little Endian way of processing data. In graphics it is key to know what you are drawing/displaying. The Motorola chips functioned by processing the most significant nybble of the byte first--the high order nybble, then the low order nybble. Intel based processors do the exact opposite, processing the low order nybble before the high order nybble. If you're painting a shade of lipstick it's more important to know that the color is Red or Pink first, then rendering the exact shade of Fire Engine/Candy Apple Red or Coral Sea Pink. Make sense? The intel is trying to give a specific shade number to a GPU that wants to know what end of the RGB spectrum are we in first, and it has to do this for every stinking pixel it renders all day long 60 thousand times per second (at 60Hz refresh rate) Do you see why this mattered to graphic artists? Do you see why many still prefer to use a G5 t
Okay, so why are Mac's so great at iLife type things:
10) Because, well let's face it Steve Jobs is well, a little bit of a nut. He's a severely ADD type, an out of the box eccentric who knows what's cool, what's hip and what real people are into. He cares about what they're into because he likes people, and also because he's a blatent opportunist who wants to make his next billion by making products that people love and want to use. You can't get there by making an inferior product and he knows that.
Gates does not. Bill Gates is a real geek who's out of touch with how real people interact, how they work, and in general with how they live. And the results show up in the product. He cares only about getting a mediocre product out to the public--getting it good enough that people will buy it. And just barely good enough at that. And he expects that advertising will convince the uninitiated and the inexperienced that Bill knows best what you want and need, and that he has the "cool factor" or as they're actually calling it the "demand creation field" the "Wow factor."
11) Apple on the other hand has understood the real needs of real people for years and years. Mac OS 8 had the concept of building network profiles so that you could connect to various networks with your laptop. Once you built that profile once and all the settings were stored including whether the network was DHCP or Static IP, what the gateway and router and DNS servers were, what your primary printer was on that network, and even what time zone the location was in for all the jet-setting types, all you had to do was select the appropriate profile for that location on the Mac from the Apple Menu, or the Power Strip and all of those settings changed instantly without rebooting. Vista's so-called "Automatic" network discovery features don't do that. Vista's Automatic Discovery features only work when you change from one static network to another. Move from Static Network to a DHCP and it'll futz up every time, and you're back to the comparatively painful process of havi
And on a PC wireless is even harder with WPA settings etc.
12) Whereas Airport just works. Set it up once, build an Airport profile, the WPA key is stored in your keychain and you are automatically connected as soon as you click on the Airport icon in the menu bar and select the profile you want to connect onto. That's how real people work.
13) And the Ethernet network routines are compiled into the Mach kernel, just as they were in Mac OS 6-9.22 OS Kernels, which has always made Mac's superior at networking whether you were surfing the net or FTP'ing the file from hell across the globe using Timbuktu. Vista still has networking functions external to the kernel as if it's optional to be connected to other people in 2007... Get a grip will ya Bill!!!
There's a few thousand other reasons why Macs are far superior to PCs but I'll spare you those. For instance there's the power of open source code, Open Firmware, (Running XP in Parallels so you can run a PC app if you have to), Macs don't have tons of extra drivers so the installation process is quicker when you do need to rebuild a drive, or migrate to a new system, I could go on and on and on, but you can go revel in your ignorant "Bliss" in XP or in your new "Wow Factor" Aero desktop...
Sincerely,
Tom
Thomas P. Milley, Mac Forensic Examiner dNovus RDI Systems
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37461
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7. February 2007 @ 05:32 |
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Male sweat boosts women's hormone levels Discussion at PhysOrgForum
Just a few whiffs of a chemical found in male sweat is enough to raise levels of the stress hormone cortisol in heterosexual women, according to a new study by University of California, Berkeley, scientists.
The study, reported this week in The Journal of Neuroscience, provides the first direct evidence that humans, like rats, moths and butterflies, secrete a scent that affects the physiology of the opposite sex.
"This is the first time anyone has demonstrated that a change in women's hormonal levels is induced by sniffing an identified compound of male sweat," as opposed to applying a chemical to the upper lip, said study leader Claire Wyart, a post-doctoral fellow at UC Berkeley.
The team's work was inspired by previous studies by Wyart's colleague Noam Sobel, associate professor of psychology at UC Berkeley and director of the Berkeley Olfactory Research Program. He found that the chemical androstadienone - a compound found in male sweat and an additive in perfumes and colognes - changed mood, sexual arousal, physiological arousal and brain activation in women.
Yet, contrary to perfume company advertisements, there is no hard evidence that humans respond to the smell of androstadienone or any other chemical in a subliminal or instinctual way similar to the way many mammals and even insects respond to pheromones, Wyart said. Though some humans exhibit a small patch inside their nose resembling the vomeronasal organ in rats that detects pheromones, it appears to be vestigial, with no nerve connection to the brain.
"Pheromones are chemical molecules expressed by a species aimed at other members of the species to induce stereotyped behavior or hormonal changes," Wyart explained. "Many people argue that human pheromones don't exist, because humans don't exhibit stereotyped behavior. Nonetheless, this male chemical signal, androstadienone, does cause hormonal as well as physiological and psychological changes in women. More cognitive studies need to be done to understand how androstadienone affects female cognitive functions."
One implication of the finding is that there may be better ways to raise cortisol levels in patients with diseases such as Addison's disease, which is characterized by low cortisol. Instead of giving the hormone in pill form, which has side effects such as ulcers and weight gain, "a potential therapeutic mechanism whereby merely smelling synthesized or purified human chemosignals may be used to modify endocrine balance," the authors wrote.
Sweat has been the main focus of research on human pheromones, and in fact, male underarm sweat has been shown to improve women's moods and affect their secretion of luteinizing hormone, which is normally involved in stimulating ovulation. Other studies have shown that when female sweat is applied to the upper lip of other women, these women respond by shifting their menstrual cycles toward synchrony with the cycle of the woman from whom the sweat was obtained.
Androstadienone, a derivative of testosterone that is found in high concentration in male sweat, and in all other body secretions, has garnered the most attention. However, though its effect on a woman's mood, physiological arousal and brain activity suggests that the chemical is a possible pheromone-like signal in humans, its effect on hormone levels was unknown.
Wyart and Sobel set out to test whether androstadienone affects hormone levels as well, focusing on the hormone cortisol. Cortisol is secreted by the body in times of stress, priming the body for "fight or flight."
In two trials, a total of 48 undergraduate women at UC Berkeley were asked to take 20 sniffs from a bottle containing androstadienone, which smells vaguely musky. Over a period of two hours, the volunteers provided five saliva samples from which cortisol levels were determined.
Compared to their response when sniffing a control odor (yeast), the women who sniffed androstadienone reported an improved mood and significantly higher sexual arousal, while their physiological response, including blood pressure, heart rate and breathing, also increased. This was consistent with previous studies.
In addition, however, the UC Berkeley researchers found that cortisol levels rose within about 15 minutes of sniffing androstadienone, and remained elevated for more than an hour.
Wyart noted that, though this is the first time a specific component of male sweat has been shown to affect women's hormones, other constituents of male sweat likely have a similar effect. The question remains: Which comes first - the change in cortisol level, which may induce a change in mood or arousal; or a mood change that increases cortisol levels?
"We next need to look at other hormones that could explain the diversity of effects of androstadienone on sexual arousal and mood," she said.
http://www.physorg.com/news90053913.html
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7. February 2007 @ 07:02 |
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20 Things the Average Person Doesn¡¯t Know About Windows XP
By Unknown Writer
Via Digg
1. It boasts how long it can stay up. Go to the Command Prompt in the Accessories menu from the All Programs start button option, and then type ?systeminfo?. The computer will produce a lot of useful info, including the uptime. If you want to keep these, type ?systeminfo > info.txt?. This creates a file called info.txt you can look at later with Notepad. (Professional Edition only).
2. You can delete files immediately, without having them move to the Recycle Bin first. Go to the Start menu, select Run? and type ?gpedit.msc?; then select User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Windows Explorer and find the Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin setting. Set it. Poking around in gpedit will reveal a great many interface and system options, but take care ? some may stop your computer behaving as you wish. (Professional Edition only).
3. You can lock your XP workstation with two clicks of the mouse. Create a new shortcut on your desktop using a right mouse click, and enter ?rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation? in the location field. Give the shortcut a name you like. That?s it ? just double click on it and your computer will be locked. And if that?s not easy enough, Windows key + L will do the same.
4. XP hides some system software you might want to remove, such as Windows Messenger, but you can make it show everything. Using Notepad or Edit, edit the text file /windows/inf/sysoc.inf, search for the word ?hide? and remove it. You can then go to the Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel, select Add/Remove Windows Components and there will be the software and you can now uninstall it.
5. For those skilled in the art of DOS batch files, XP has a number of interesting new commands. These include ?eventcreate? and ?eventtriggers? for creating and watching system events, ?typeperf? for monitoring performance of various subsystems, and ?schtasks? for handling scheduled tasks. As usual, typing the command name followed by /? will give a list of options.
6. XP has IP version 6 support ? the next generation of IP. Unfortunately this is more than your ISP has, so you can only experiment with this on your LAN. Type ?ipv6 install? into Run? (it?s OK, it won?t ruin your existing network setup) and then ?ipv6 /?? at the command line to find out more. If you don?t know what IPv6 is, don?t worry.
7. You can at last get rid of tasks on the computer from the command line by using ?taskkill /pid? and the task number, or just ?tskill? and the process number. Find that out by typing ?tasklist?, which will also tell you a lot about what?s going on in your system.
8. XP will treat Zip files like folders, which is nice if you?ve got a fast machine. On slower machines, you can make XP leave zip files alone by typing ?regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll? at the command line. If you change your mind later, you can change things back by typing ?regsvr32 zipfldr.dll?.
9. XP has ClearType ? Microsoft?s anti-aliasing font display technology ? but doesn?t have it enabled by default. It?s well worth trying, especially if you were there for DOS and all those years of staring at a screen have given you the eyes of an astigmatic bat. To enable ClearType, right click on the desktop, select Properties, Appearance, Effects, select ClearType from the second drop-down menu and enable the selection. Expect best results on laptop displays. If you want to use ClearType on the Welcome login screen as well, set the registry entry HKEY_USERS/.DEFAULT/Control Panel/Desktop/FontSmoothingType to 2.
10. You can use Remote Assistance to help a friend who?s using network address translation (NAT) on a home network, but not automatically. Get your PAL to email you a Remote Assistance invitation and edit the file. Under the RCTICKET attribute will be a NAT IP address, like 192.168.1.10. Replace this with your friend?s real IP address ? they can find this out by going to www.whatismyip.com ? and get them to make sure that they?ve got port 3389 open on their firewall and forwarded to the errant computer.
11. You can run a program as a different user without logging out and back in again. Right click the icon, select Run As? and enter the user name and password you want to use. This only applies for that run. The trick is particularly useful if you need to have administrative permissions to install a program, which many require. Note that you can have some fun by running programs multiple times on the same system as different users, but this can have unforeseen effects.
12. Windows XP can be very insistent about you checking for auto updates, registering a Passport, using Windows Messenger and so on. After a while, the nagging goes away, but if you feel you might go insane before that point, run Regedit, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/Advanced and create a DWORD value called EnableBalloonTips with a value of 0.
13. You can start up without needing to enter a user name or password. Select Run? from the start menu and type ?control userpasswords2', which will open the user accounts application. On the Users tab, clear the box for Users Must Enter A User Name And Password To Use This Computer, and click on OK. An Automatically Log On dialog box will appear; enter the user name and password for the account you want to use.
14. Internet Explorer 6 will automatically delete temporary files, but only if you tell it to. Start the browser, select Tools / Internet Options? and Advanced, go down to the Security area and check the box to Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed.
15. XP comes with a free Network Activity Light, just in case you can?t see the LEDs twinkle on your network card. Right click on My Network Places on the desktop, then select Properties. Right click on the description for your LAN or dial-up connection, select Properties, then check the Show icon in notification area when connected box. You?ll now see a tiny network icon on the right of your task bar that glimmers nicely during network traffic.
16. The Start Menu can be leisurely when it decides to appear, but you can speed things along by changing the registry entry HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop/MenuShowDelay from the default 400 to something a little snappier. Like 0.
17. You can rename loads of files at once in Windows Explorer. Highlight a set of files in a window, then right click on one and rename it. All the other files will be renamed to that name, with individual numbers in brackets to distinguish them. Also, in a folder you can arrange icons in alphabetised groups by View, Arrange Icon By? Show In Groups.
18. Windows Media Player will display the cover art for albums as it plays the tracks ? if it found the picture on the Internet when you copied the tracks from the CD. If it didn?t, or if you have lots of pre-WMP music files, you can put your own copy of the cover art in the same directory as the tracks. Just call it folder.jpg and Windows Media Player will pick it up and display it.
19. Windows key + Break brings up the System Properties dialogue box; Windows key + D brings up the desktop; Windows key + Tab moves through the taskbar buttons.
20. Windows XP secretly KNOWS that the average user has no idea what they are doing. Therefore, it doesn?t let you do really stupid things like deleting the windows directory (at least not without spending several hours convincing it that you REALLY want to do this). Oh yeah, and internet explorer kinda sucks, get Firefox.
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AfterDawn Addict
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7. February 2007 @ 07:11 |
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Victim of RIAA "driftnet" awarded attorneys' fees
2/7/2007 9:12:04 AM, by Eric Bangeman
Some of you may remember Capitol Record v. Debbie Foster, where the RIAA sued an Oklahoma woman over copyright infringement. In July, the case against her was dismissed with prejudice, which, in the eyes of the judge, made her the prevailing party. Earlier today, the judge handed her another legal victory, awarding her "reasonable" attorneys' fees from the RIAA.
Foster was originally sued in November 2004 after someone using an IP address assigned to an Internet account in her name was discovered with a shared folder available on a file-sharing network. Foster said that she owned the account, but that she was completely ignorant of the existence and use of file-sharing software. Foster did say that her adult daughter and estranged husband had access to the account, and may have been responsible for the infringement. (The RIAA was granted a default judgment against Amanda Foster after she failed to answer the RIAA's complaint.)
Instead of immediately dropping the case against Debbie Foster and suing those they believed were responsible for the alleged infringement, the plaintiffs amended the complaint to add her daughter Amanda Foster, while keeping Debbie as a codefendant. The RIAA told Debbie Foster that she was liable for any infringement regardless of whether she had shared or downloaded files herself because she was the registered owner of the account. Foster responded by filing a counterclaim for a "declaratory judgement of noninfringement."
Over a year and a half after the lawsuit was filed, the RIAA decided to dismiss their claims against Debbie Foster with prejudice. Foster, however, refused to drop her counterclaim. In July 2006, Judge Lee R. West dismissed both the original lawsuit and the counterclaim (finding the latter to be unnecessary), ruling that Foster was the "prevailing party" under the Copyright Act, opening the door for an award of attorneys' fees.
Secondary infringement and the Copyright Act
The RIAA's strategy of keeping Foster as a defendant and saying that she was responsible for secondary copyright infringement appears to have backfired and was cited by the Judge as supporting his attorneys' fee award. Judge Lee was unconvinced by the the RIAA's argument that she was secondarily liable due to her owning the account allegedly used for the infringement.
"The Copyright Act does not expressly render anyone liable for infringement committed by another. Rather, the doctrine of secondary liability emerged from common law principles," wrote Judge Lee. "Under those common law principles, one infringes a copyright contributorily by intentionally inducing or encouraging a direct infringement."
Judge Lee set out the three elements of a claim for contributory copyright infringement: direct infringement by a third party, knowledge by the defendant that third parties were directly infringing, and substantial participation by the defendant in the infringement. "Merely supplying means to accomplish infringing activity [e.g., an Internet connection] cannot give rise to imposition of liability for contributory copyright infringement," according to the opinion.
The record labels could not support their argument of secondary liability, according to the judge. Perhaps most importantly, Judge Lee could find no case "holding the mere owner of an Internet account contributorily or vicariously liable for the infringing activities of third persons."
The judge also had harsh words for the RIAA, saying that it looked as though they had pressed the secondary infringement claims to force Foster into a settlement, even after they realized she was not responsible for the alleged file sharing.
As expected, the labels submitted a number of opinions supporting their contention that Foster should not be awarded attorneys' fees. Judge Lee found them unconvincing:
Unlike the courts in the unpublished opinions cited by the plaintiffs, this Court must consider whether a defendant should receive an award of attorneys' fees when she successfully defends against the novel application of secondary copyright infringement claims... Her only alternative to litigating the plaintiffs' contributory or vicarious liability claim was to capitulate to a settlement for violation she insists she did not commit. Such capitulation would not advance the aims of the Copyright Act as the plaintiffs' untested theory would remain untested.
A change in strategy?
Will this cause the RIAA to rethink its litigation strategy? Probably. The industry cartel will have to tread carefully with any secondary infringement claims now that there is case law that owning an Internet account used for infringement does not automatically make the owner liable for said infringement. Attorney Ray Beckerman told Ars that he believes there are huge implications from this opinion. "It sends a message to the RIAA... that there are consequences to this 'driftnet' litigation strategy," Beckerman said.
"We respectfully believe that the Court got it wrong," an RIAA spokesperson told Ars Technica. "We are studying the opinion and will make a determination as to how best to proceed after we have completed our review and analysis." The spokeperson highlighted the previous rulings on attorneys' fees: "Prior to this Court's decision, five other courts have ruled on substantially similar motions for attorneys' fees in virtually identical factual settings. All five ruled for the record companies, and we respectfully disagree with the decision of this Court to depart from those prior decisions." It should be noted that Judge Lee reviewed all five of those cases and in contrast with the RIAA's assertion, found that they were irrelevant in Capitol v. Foster.
The RIAA spokesperson also accused the defendant of working hard "to avoid disclosing that her daughter was the underlying direct infringer." The trade group believes that "Such a pattern of behavior on the defendant's part should not give rise to an award of fees."
One of the worst things that could happen to the RIAA is finding itself on the wrong end of case law. As a result, the RIAA has made a habit of dismissing cases that are going badly. In the case of Capitol v. Foster, the defendant was named the prevailing party, which opened the door for the awarding of attorneys' fees. If the RIAA acts quickly to drop defendants once it realizes they are not responsible for infringement?something it failed to do in this case?it may be able to minimize its liability for attorneys' fees (which are reported to be in the neighborhood of $50,000 in this case).
One of the worst things that could happen to the RIAA is finding itself on the wrong end of case law. As a result, the RIAA has made a habit of dismissing cases that are going badly. In the case of Capitol v. Foster, the defendant was named the prevailing party, which opened the door for the awarding of attorneys' fees. If the RIAA acts quickly to drop defendants once it realizes they are not responsible for infringement?something it failed to do in this case?it may be able to minimize its liability for attorneys' fees.
The ruling also opens the door wider for a "prove it was me using the computer" defense. The RIAA's strategy of relying heavily on IP addresses to identify infringers is likely to draw even closer scrutiny as a result of this ruling. This is the first ruling that we know of where a direct relationship between an IP address and an accused party was demonstrated, but deemed insufficient to prove infringement.
The court's finding that the owner of an Internet account cannot be held liable for copyright infringement that occurs without his or her knowledge is more significant. Although the judge in Elektra v. Santangelo declined to dismiss the labels' infringement claims against Patti Santangelo, he doubted that "an Internet-illiterate parent who does not know Kazaa from a kazoo" could be found liable for file sharing done in her house without her knowledge or consent. In short, it means that merely owning an account used for infringement doesn't rise to the level of liability under the Copyright Act.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070207-878
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AfterDawn Addict
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7. February 2007 @ 07:16 |
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RIAA forced to cough up $50,000 legal fees
Victim support
By INQUIRER newsdesk: Wednesday 07 February 2007, 16:07
THE RIAA IS BEING made to cough up to cover some legal fees incurred by file-sharing defendent Debbie Foster, after the case against her was dismissed last summer.
Wired seems to think the case is definitely significant - until now, there has been no precedent existing for the RIAA compensating wrongfully-sued defendants for their legal costs.
Approved by Judge Lee R. West, whose order you can view here (PDF), the court has granted Foster compensation of "reasonable attorney fees," though the judge has denied her "attorneys' fees under 28 U.S.C. § 1927."
Wired managed to get a word in with Foster's attorney, Marilyn Barringer Thomson, who apparently is "pleased with the outcome." It looks as if the label, Capitol Records, will end up owing Foster over $50,000, not a figure to be sniffed at. µ
See Also
RIAA loses court case
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37491
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AfterDawn Addict
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7. February 2007 @ 07:38 |
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Skype reads your BIOS
Talks to your motherboard when your dad is out too
By Nick Farrell: Wednesday 07 February 2007, 15:02
REPORTS are coming in from eagle-eyed users who have spotted the Voice over IP outfit Skype's software reading their BIOS and motherboard serial number.
Over here, one bloke who runs 64-bit versions of Windows, spotted a strange dialogue box which says "the program or feature "\??\C:\Documents and Settings\Myria\Local Settings\Temp\12\1.com" cannot start or run due to incompatibility with 64-bit versions of Windows."
In other words your phone is trying to run a .com file, which doesn't work that well in Win64 because there?s no NTVDM.
Thinking that getting an unreadable executable file coming from Skype sounds interesting, he opened the file up to see what it was. It is 46 bytes long and includes the phrase
int main(void)
{ fwrite((const void far*) 0xF0000000, 1, 0xFFFF, stdout);
fwrite((const void far*) 0xF000FFFF, 1, 1, stdout);
return 0;
}
Now, as any fule kno, that is a catchy programming phrase designed to dump your system BIOS, which usually includes your motherboard?s serial number, and send it to the Skype Mothership.
The bloke was unsure what the hell Skype would want that information for. He points out that if it weren't for that pesky Windows 64 not having an NTVDM they would have gotten away with it.
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37489
Other places it has been spotted are here
http://www.planetamd64.com/lofiversion/index.php/t29640.html
and here. µ
http://forum.skype.com/lofiversion/index.php/t72320.html
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AfterDawn Addict
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7. February 2007 @ 07:51 |
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RIAA cases, state-by-state
p2pnet.net News:- Warner Music (US), EMI (Britain), Vivendi Universal (France) and Sony BMG (Japan and Germany), the members of the Big 4 Organized Music cartel, are in a decidedly awkward position.
They continue to seriously mismanage the p2p file sharing situation, suing their own customers instead of wooing them. And instead of using p2p as a light, and highly manoeuvrable, distribution and marketing vehicle for the digital 21st century, they've turned it into a massive dead-weight. The big question now is: how can they unload it with the minimum amount of embarrassment?
The answer would be to simply admit they were wrong, lower their wholesale prices, license the full contents of their catalogues, and let bygones be bygones. Music lovers would be delighted and Big 4 shareholders would see the results positively reflected in dividends. It would also be an amazing PR coup they'd be able to capitalize on for years to come.
And who knows, perhaps someday, they'll do that, or something close to it?
Meanwhile, they'll continue their carefully orchestrated victimization of innocent men, women and children around the world, adding to the vast stores of ill-will they've already accumulated.
Ray Beckerman's Recording Industry vs The People, a, "blog devoted to the RIAA's lawsuits of intimidation brought against ordinary working people," has also become a repository of many of the US cases, with a smattering of foreign ones.
And as well as providing links to the documentation, he also has a list of lawyers defending lawsuits launched by the Big 4 not only in the US, but also Denmark, Finland France, Hungary, Israel and The Netherlands.
Now he's gone a step further, providing a directory of cases on a state-by-state basis, with single (so far) Canadian and Dutch examples at the end.
Thanks, Ray.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Alabama
Motown v. Liggins (M.D. Alabama)
UMG v. Heard (Birmingham, Alabama)
Arizona
Interscope v. Duty (Arizona)
California
MGM v. Grokster (C.D. California)
Motown v. Lisberg, (C.D. California)
UMG v. Hummer Winblad (San Francisco, CA)(Case Against Napster Investors)
Universal v. Hogan (San Diego, CA)(MPAA case)
Virgin v. Marson (Central Dist. California, Western Divis.)
Warner v. Maravilla (C.D. California)
Florida
Virgin v. Morgan (Pensacola, FL)
Georgia
Atlantic v. Zuleta (Atlanta, GA)
Illinois
BMG v. Gonzalez (USCA 7th Cir.)
Elektra v. Wilke (Chicago, IL)
Lewan v. Sharman (Chicago, IL)(class action against Kazaa)
Michigan
Elektra v. Harless (Detroit, MI)
Motown v. Nelson (Detroit, MI)
Priority v. Chan (Detroit, MI)(Closed)
Priority v. Chan II (Detroit, MI)
Warner v. Pidgeon (E. D. Michigan, Southern Div.)
Warner v. Scantlebury E.D. Michigan, Southern Division)
Minnesota
Elektra v. McCall (Minnesota)
New Jersey
SONY v. Scimeca (Newark, NJ) (Closed)
New York
Arista v. Lime Wire (New York, NY)(RIAA case against Lime Wire)
Atlantic v. Does 1-25(New York, NY)
Atlantic v. Huggins(Brooklyn, NY)
Atlantic v. Shutovsky (New York, NY)
Elektra v. Barker (New York, NY)
Elektra v. Does 1-9 (Closed)
Elektra v. Santangelo (White Plains, NY)
Elektra v. Santangelo II (White Plains, NY)
Elektra v. Schwartz (Brooklyn, NY)
Interscope v. Does (New York, NY)
Loud v. Does (New York, NY)
Maverick v. Becker (Brooklyn, NY)
Maverick v. Goldshteyn (Brooklyn, NY)
Motown v. Does 1-99 (New York, NY)
SONY v. Does 1-40(New York, NY) SDNY 04cv473(Closed)
UMG v. Lindor (Brooklyn, NY)
Warner v. Cassin (White Plains, NY)
Warner v. Does 1-149 (New York, NY)
Oklahoma
Capitol Records v. Foster (Oklahoma)
Warner v. Stubbs (Oklahoma City, OK)
Oregon
Atlantic v. Andersen(Oregon)
Elektra v. Perez (Oregon)
Pennsylvania
BMG v. Does (E. D. Pa. CV 04-650)
Rhode Island
Elektra v. Werry (Providence, Rhode Island)
South Carolina
Interscope v. Korb (Charleston, SC)
SONY v. DeMaria (Charleston, South Carolina)
Texas
Arista Records v. Greubel (Fort Worth, TX)
Arista v. Tschirhart (San Antonio, TX)
BMG v. Conklin (Pro se case in Houston, TX)
Fonovisa v. Alvarez (Abilene, TX)
SONY v. Arellanes (Sherman, Texas)
SONY v. Crain (Beaumont, Texas)
Warner v. Payne (Waco, TX)
Washington
Interscope v. Leadbetter (Seattle, WA)
Canada
BMG v. Doe (Canada)
Netherlands
Foundation v. UPC Nederland (Netherlands, District Court of Utrecht)
http://p2pnet.net/story/11253?PHPSESSID=...c729741e1697046
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AfterDawn Addict
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9. February 2007 @ 07:46 |
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Why movie downloads suck,
p2pnet.net News:- Forget corporate online flics. Why? Gizmodo's Charlie White puts it in a nutshell:
Movie downloads suck.
You know it. I know it. And so do Time Warner, Viacom, Fox, Sony, NBC Universal and Disney, the Big Six Hollywood movie studios.
But in exactly the same way Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG, the members of the Big 4 Organized Music cartel, and the lamescream mainstream media talk about the corporate online music download biz just like it's real, the studios keep coming up with scams to sell movies online just like you and I'd be dumb enough to fall for them.
They seem to think they can handle movie sales like they pump out propaganda. But there's a big difference between repeating lies over and over until they're perceived as truth, and trying to make people buy grossly over-priced 'product' by constantly shoving dodgy sales 'services' in their faces.
White lists Top Ten reasons on why it's a waste of time, but the five we like best discuss:
Pricing. Downloads cost a, "whole lot more than you'd pay to rent a movie at Blockbuster or have one delivered to your mailbox from Netflix". And in the same way the labels are trying to flog paltry selections from their bulging catalogues, movie downloads won't be able to match the "vast collection of an ordinary video store" for a while, at least, says the story.
Speed. Who's going to pay $20 bucks or so for a movie download which'll take hours, and maybe even days? And, "Let's don't even think about downloading HDTV movies, which will take four times longer to download," says White.
ISPs. Some (most?) ISPs throttle the amount of data customers can download. "Sure, might think you have 'unlimited' Internet service, but it's only unlimited as long as you don't use it much."
DRM. "Even if you are able to solve all the problems with downloading movies, there's still gobs of digital rights management slathered onto that data, restricting how and when you can play it back. Nobody but the greedmeisters at the Hollywood studios likes this."
Too complicated. Finally, the average person is, " just not willing to go through the learning curve to get the digital data from the PC to the TV screen when they can effortlessly pop in a DVD".
And the Gizmodo post doesn't even bother to mention most Hollywood's releases are so bad they're not worth 20 cents, let alone $20.
But none of the above will stop the cartels.
Slashdot Slashdot it!
Also See:
Gizmodo - Top 10 Reasons Why Movie Downloads Suck, February 8, 2007
whole lot more - Wal-Mart movie download farce, February 6, 2007
Want to subscribe to p2pnet by email with Feedburner? Just click here.
rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss | | Mobile - http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php | | And use our own p2pnet newsfeeds for your site If your Net access is blocked by government restrictions, try Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies. Go here for the official download, here for the p2pnet download, and here for details. And if you're Chinese and you're looking for a way to access independent Internet news sources, try Freegate, the DIT program written to help Chinese citizens circumvent web site blocking outside of China. Download it here.
(Thursday 8th February 2007)
http://p2pnet.net/story/11268?PHPSESSID=...9f08b539ba96b27
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