flinh

SONY SUCKS

2005-11-12T09:50:00.000+07:00

Sony BMG decided everyone who buys their music is a thieving pirate. With a rootkit DRM system installed on about 20,000,000 of their music CDs, PC users can expect their computers to crash if they try to remove the DRM rootkit. What makes the Sony strategy utterly stupid is that they've provided a backdoor for virus writers to piggyback the Sony code straight into your PC. Lots of virus scanners cannot even detect this yet.

Glad to see that several class action lawsuits have been filed in California and New York to stop the rootkit DRM from spreading.

Don't know what elese to say ... Sony Sucks

Bit Torrent Conviction

2005-11-07T17:39:00.000+07:00

The Google News service popped up an interesting link in the latest war on Bit Torrent and illegal file sharing. A Hong Kong man, Chan Nai-ming, aka "Big Crook," has been convicted of uploading Red Planet, Daredevil and Miss Congeniality. Talk about bad taste. I think the judge sentenced him for wasting bandwidth.

IOL Article

BBC Article

Ala Napster and Kazaa, we can expect more BT prosecution cases, but this will drive more people over to the Freenet FAQ. Once this app spreads, it will be incredibly difficult to track and prosecute uploaders and downloaders.

Let's face it, studios need to make money so they can create products for consumers to consume. But the problem is that the studios appear unprepared to deal new technologies such as Napster, Kazaa, BT and Freenet. At the moment, only Bob Iger and Buena Vista seem to have a clue with regards to downloading. iPOD downloads of Desperate Housewives and Lost the past 20 days has shown that people are willing to pay for downloads!

The problem with BT, Freenet, etal... is that the major studios do not control the technolgy. Here's a, dare I say it, simple solution. Stop the prosecutions and pour money into creating the next technology to better allow consumers to watch what they want when they want wherever they want.

Here in Asia, 3G networks in Korea already allow mobile phone subscribers to watch TV programming on their phones.

What's the next killer app? Wifi-Max. Imagine entire cities where broadband is available to everyone! Lost on demand - 24/7!!!

Pictures of Michael

2005-11-06T12:42:00.000+07:00

Just a reminder for those looking for pictures of Michael the pages has been moved to http://mic-hcmc.blogspot.com

Blu-Ray vs. HD DVD or Microsoft PR

2005-09-28T09:43:00.000+07:00

Wow wouldn't it be great to be able to store 50GB on a DVD?! Or is that 30GB? What's Blu-Ray or HD DVD. You may have heard about the looming DVD format wars that is essentially VHS vs. Beta Part II.

On one side Blu-ray is supposedly the better supported format in terms of manufacturer (Apple, Dell, Hitachi, HP, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson) and specs - 50GB dual layer.

The HD DVD format is being supported by Toshiba and the majority of the Hollywood studios, with the exeception of Sony and Disney.

However, with today's news at Tom's Hardware Guide it would appear the war is going to be long and bloody. Microsoft has commited itself to the HD DVD format citing lower production costs in China as one of the important factors. The Tom's Hardware Guide article suggests that 75% of all the DVD players in the USA are manufactured in China and that it would cost these factories in China very little money to retool for HD DVD mass production.

Okay...things sound pretty straight forward right? Well maybe not...what you have to keep in mind is that 75% of the DVD players made in China are OEMs for the BLU-RAY Association companies (JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp). By suggesting that China manufacturers are capable of producing HD DVD players and discs at a lower cost Microsoft has just delievered another complication into an already complicated situation.

What's going to happen is that a independent Chinese OEMs manufacturers, will have a "potential new" business opportunity to outdo their Japanese competitors. Whether or not the business materializes as expected is another matter. With the fallout from the Microsoft vs. Google lawsuit, Microsoft's position in China took a big black eye. With this annoucement Microsoft is now back in the good books without having to deliver (yet) any substantial investment.

This announcement is akin the vaporware PR of the 80's.

Read the following links to learn more:
HD DVD Organization
Blu Ray DVD

Once a Geek Always A Geek

2005-09-27T11:41:00.000+07:00

I admit it...I'm a Geek. Techno-fetish, cool toys, comic books, storer of useless information...That's me.

Check back often to find links and cool, but useless information that will make your life better.

flinh