What You Can Do About the 30 Days of DRM

September 19, 2006

Michael has just finished his 30 Days of DRM, an astounding feat. But better yet, he’s wrapped up the series with a must read and save post on 30 things you can do about the issues raised in his posts. The wrap up page is here. This is a must-read and must-do for all of […]

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Why I Have No Time for Time

September 19, 2006

I don’t think I’ve picked up a Time magazine in ten years – except, perhaps, in waiting rooms. And there’s a simple reason: many years ago Time decided to write for the lowest common denominator – essentially to write short pieces about current world events in plain language for everyman. It decided to commoditize itself. […]

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The HP Saga: Investigation “Notable for a Lack of Close Supervision”

September 18, 2006

Much more from the NYT’s team on the HP saga. Overview: A secret investigation of news leaks at Hewlett-Packard was more elaborate than previously reported, and almost from the start involved the illicit gathering of private phone records and direct surveillance of board members and journalists, according to people briefed on the company’s review of […]

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There is no Fork

September 17, 2006

Or, I suspect, there soon won’t be one (with apologies to Messrs. Wachowski) – the proposed fork of Wikipedia seems unwise to me; it seems to me that it’s simply too darned early in the development of Wikipedia to expect people to pay much attention to a v2 or a parallel project, even if it […]

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Walmart’s Customers Don’t Want to Download Their Videos

September 17, 2006

I may be completely wrong about this, but I will admit to being entirely dumbfounded by the idea that Walmart is believed to be readying an online video distribution capability. This, only two years or so after Walmart popularized the $99 DVD player [Ed: now, $29, surely?], its customers – are what, clamouring to buy […]

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iPod fans not ‘shunning iTunes store’ (or any other digital music store)

September 17, 2006

I don’t know quite what to make of the BBC story today titled “iPod fans ‘shunning iTunes store’”: The Jupiter Research report reveals that, on average, only 20 of the tracks on a iPod will be from the iTunes shop. Far more important to iPod owners, said the study, was free music ripped from CDs […]

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Please Don’t Turn Blogging into TV

September 17, 2006

There’s an interesting debate ponging around the ‘sphere over whether bloggers should video blog. And so a few words, at least partly intended to be taken seriously, but entirely calculated to provoke the debate. In a word, no. Please don’t turn blogging into TV. I moved to the internet in part to flee what TV […]

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On the Slow Death of Radio

September 17, 2006

The NYT reports on radio’s declining fortunes. This is not to say that radio isn’t still profitable – the business still generates considerable cash, and requires little investment to continue operating as it does, but its audience is dying and young listeners are now listening online and to their iPods. Inevitably, advertisers will follow them. […]

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Is Zune the Rotary Phone of Music Players?

September 16, 2006

Since the Zune’s pre-announcement we’ve been hearing rather a lot about the so-called sharing feature, and how it interacts with Zune’s DRM. The EFF has focused attention on the Zune being a closed shop, even when it comes to Microsoft’s own protected Windows Media format, “PlaysForSure” [Ed; “Won’tPlayForSure”, surely?]: Microsoft’s Zune will not play protected […]

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Ford and GM’s Deepening Problems

September 16, 2006

The NYT on the growing realization of the depth of the crisis in U.S. auto manufacturing. Growing? I’m inclined to think that the only ones not in on that loop – for the past several years – are Ford and GM. We are back to seeing a nightly cavalcade of heart-wrenching news as their failure […]

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The HP Saga: Watching the Detectives

September 16, 2006

The NY Times’ Damon Darlin and Matt Richtel are on the HP case. Late yesterday brought a new article, brimming with new detail, as they investigate the investigation into the investigators. First, a suggestion that investigators have now dug deeper than Security Outsourcing Solutions, the first and only investigator identified so far: According to people […]

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The HP Saga: Ms. Dunn Goes to Washington

September 15, 2006

The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee has asked Patricia Dunn to testify at a hearing on September 28th. The invitation has also been extended to Baskins, Sonsini and DeLia. On a related note: Law-enforcement officials have identified Mr. DeLia and his firm, Security Outsourcing Solutions Inc. of Needham, Mass., as having worked on the […]

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