Otherwise Occupied - Entertainment

Info/Law: Election's Impact on Info/Law

gregh — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 19:11:34 -0600

It will prove interesting to see the results of the election as they bubble up.

In the House, it appears most likely that Rep. Howard Berman will take over the chairmanship of the subcommittee that handles intellectual property law. As National Journal’s Congress Daily noted, we can expect him to ‘protect his nearby Hollywood interests by cracking down on piracy and protecting against copyright infringement of TV, music and movie productions.’ In general terms, that means restrictive IP law that favors content producers and rightsholders and hostility toward flexibility or expansion of fair use. That’s the bad news for Info/Law. The good news is that Congressman Ed Markey, a champion of consumer-oriented telecom and internet policy (and sponsor of the network neutrality amendment in the House earlier this year) will take over the subcommittee with the most power over these issues; the full Committee on Energy & Commerce will be helmed by John Dingell, who is pretty good on telecom as well. In addition, Rick Boucher, another consistent advocate for balanced information policy, particularly fair use and library concerns, will be a very senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee (and possibly on Berman’s subcommittee). Finally, there is reason to hope education-oriented Democrats like Dale Kildee may pay attention to the serious and growing problems relating to educational uses of digital content.

Apple Faces Fresh Legal Attacks in Europe - New York Times

gregh — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 04:53:47 -0500

Apple Faces Fresh Legal Attacks in Europe - New York Times:

As for making iTunes music compatible with non-Apple players, Mr. Thon said that his office expected a response from Apple by June 21, and would rule on the matter after that.

"We are likely to rule against Apple, but it is fair to hear their point of view," Mr. Thon said. "Consumers should be able to play music they have purchased on any device they want."

Mr. Thon said that he himself had bought a large number of songs from iTunes for about 1 euro apiece, and now wanted to transfer them to his new Nokia N80 cellular phone, but could not.

"I just cannot imagine an argument in favor of stopping someone from using a song they purchased," he said.

Let's say he uses a Windows box to go to one of the other online music stores and buys a song. Now, he wants to play that song on his Mac. Or his iPod. Or, on Linux. Why is there no demand that Microsoft open up its formats to everyone?

Does Norway ban CD's with copy protection?

Has this guy tried to put a CD into a cassette player? I bet that doesn't work, either. Yet, I've never read anyone to suggest that if I bought a Mini-Disc of music and now want a CD version of the music, or bought a CD of music and now want an audio cassette, that I should be provided with one.

The Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos Experiments

gregh — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 23:29:45 -0500

EepyBird.com:

What happens when you combine 200 liters of Diet Coke and over 500 Mentos mints? It's amazing and completely insane.

Completely insane, at the very least. I'm not sure what those poor, sure-to-be-loved-by-someone bottles of Diet Coke did to these jackals, but surely they didn't deserve a death by Mentos. I don't know that I've ever had a Mentos (or is a Mento?) but at least I know what not to munch on before or after a drink.

What if Microsoft designed the iPod packaging?

gregh — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 17:42:03 -0600

This thing's been making the rounds. So, true.

Or here if the You Tube embedded object doesn't work.

Go Steelers!

gregh — Sun, 05 Feb 2006 00:18:38 -0600

There's something oddly addicting about Pittsburgh, and I didn't really recognize it until I was gone. I spent just over 5 years there as I slowly lumbered my way through undergrad at Carnegie Mellon University. By the time I was out of school, I just wanted to get away and continue getting my life back on track, after the turns it had taken through my early college career.

It wasn't until about a year after having moved to the Boston area that I wished I could find some reasonable way to go back. I never did. Now it's pretty unlikely I ever will. But I still like Pittsburgh. And somehow, through it all, and with just a little help from Jerry Jones, I really started to like the Steelers, too.

During my time in Boston, I never could like the Patriots. The fans and players were whiney and seemed fair-weather, to boot. They were never any good (while I was there.) And Drew Bledsoe was just... I don't know. Couldn't stand him.

The Steelers were never that way for me. The fans are so in love its contagious. They don't make excuses, and they never criticized in the same way other fans can. And then there's the consistency and attitide the Rooneys have brought, keeping the coaches around, letting them do their things, etc.

It's high time the Steelers got another one. They've earned it. Pittsburgh fans have earned it. I sure hope they get it.

Why Randal wasn't wrong.

gregh — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 00:09:56 -0600

If you don't watch "The Apprentice," you might want to tune out right now.

Last night, as has been spattered all over the web, so you surely aren't learning it here first, Randal was named Donald Trump's latest apprentice. We didn't always see a lot in the show to make Randal look like a standout. However, we did nearly always see him calm and collected, and most importantly, it was clear that everyone else in the suite thought highly of him. What we know of his history seemed very impressive. BSEE, Rhodes Scholar, masters in CS from Oxford, masters in EE from MIT, MBA from MIT, and a PhD from MIT, after which, he founded what appears to be a successful consulting firm. In short, he may well be the most credentialed, accomplished Apprentice candidate ever.

So, it was no surprise that he won. It's often a surprise when the clear leader of the pack is well liked by everyone. And then the real surprise came when Trump asked Randal what he thought of the idea of a second Apprentice this season. Randal wisely answered, "There may be only one." (Okay, that's Santa talking to Jesus and not Randal to Trump.)

People really seem to think that the Apprentice is a job interview, as if the job is a real job. All you have to do is look at the appearance schedules of the apprentices to know that's not the case. It's a publicity piece, and for those entrepreneurial, it likely helps expose them to lots of people and it gets them lots of exposure. It's not about getting a job making $250,000 a year. The show's in New York, for crying out loud. Lots of people make that.

The show is about getting you noticed. It's about making contacts. It's about consulting and speaking. And in Randal's case, as a part-owner of a consulting firm that has no doubt been inundated by traffic, it's a big advertisement, with the principal having been lauded all the way.

And if there were two apprentices, as Randal said, he couldn't advertise himself as "The Apprentice." He could advertise himself as "one of the the apprentices from the fourth season." The value of winning would suddenly diminish. As the opening of the show said, "It's not personal. It's just business."

There's been lots of talk that this occurred only because Randal's black. Trump couldn't stomach having a black Apprentice, so he had to open it up to the white woman. I can't tell if those who feel that way are stupid, naive, or just so hung up in their paranoia that they can't see reality. Trump needed something new. The "surprise" that had been advertised for weeks, which had to be one of the most poorly kept secrets ever. Offering a second hire would have got people talking, if they hadn't known it was coming. The show's gotten boring. Trump knows that. He's been trying to liven things up all season. This was going to be one more attempt. "Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence."

Randal made the right call to maximize the value of what being "The Apprentice" is all about.

ProfessorBainbridge.com: Grump, Grump, Grump

gregh — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 02:03:40 -0600

ProfessorBainbridge.com: Grump, Grump, Grump:

I've got a Tivo. I've got a PSP. So am I going to be able to take advantage of Tivo's new service that lets you download TV shows to your PSP or video iPod? Nope, because I get Tivo from DirectTV. Please excuse me while I go get some cheese to go with my whine.

The problem, as so many of us have found out, is that despite the advertisement of the service being DirecTV with TiVo, it was really DirecTV with some TiVo functionality. The lack of ability to use the full range of TiVo services without hacking the receiver is incredibly frustrating, and I don't consider it whining at all.

Some have suggested I should just hack my receiver and quit complaining. However:

I don't have time.
I don't want to risk being without my unit.
I don't trust DirecTV enough to expect them not to shut off hacked units at someone's random whim.

In short, I question if those so eager to suggest hacking really value TiVo functionality.

The attitude of DirecTV (especially with their current move, replacing TiVo with a DVR from another News Corp. company) has been enough that if there was a suitable replacement, I'd drop DirecTV in a heartbeat.

What does a suitable replacement require?

Suggestions, which I use as "soft" season passes.
Direct to disk (no external channel changing).
True program following capability.
Multiple tuners.

It's really not a big list, and with some combination of the competition, I can just about get there. But none combines them all, as far as I'm aware. I'm open to be proven wrong.

Top 20 geek novels - the results! from Guardian Unlimited: Technology

gregh — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 01:52:49 -0600

Most of the time I find myself underwhelmed by these lists. I guess in part, maybe it's because I've never really done a lot of the "geek" things. About all I know of role playing games is that I make fun of them. All I know of Neal Stephenson is that poorly done treatise on user interfaces. I don't have a vast network of computers at home. My sole gaming console has sat on a shelf for years (and was purchased only for Grand Turismo 3.)

And so, here's this list. I've read three of the "novels" on i t. I, Robot, at least as by Asimov, is not a novel; it's a collection of short stories, one of Asimov's many, many anthologies, so I'm not even sure why it's there. To a large degree, so is Foundation, which is good, but not the best of the Foundation series. And then the one Heinlein novel I read is there. I barely made it through it.

Top 20 geek novels - the results! from Guardian Unlimited: Technology:

"7. I, Robot -- Isaac Asimov 52% (54)
8. Foundation -- Isaac Asimov 47% (47)
. . .
15. Stranger in a Strange Land -- Robert Heinlein 33% (33) "

(Via Slashdot.)

Basically, I guess I just don't have much geek cred. Oh well.

And "Arrested Development's" development is... arrested.

gregh — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 14:54:42 -0600

Tim Goodman lays out the situation. A move to Showtime would be great. A viewing public that didn't insist on laugh tracks or spelled-out jokes would be even greater.

Shining

gregh — Fri, 30 Sep 2005 00:31:14 -0500

Catch the trailer here. For a reimagining of "All work and no play."