MP3 Can't Be Here To Stay

Something has been disturbing me for a long time. It has to do with the music I listen to and the fact that something is just not right. I think I've finally figured it out. Bear with me for a couple of paragraphs. It goes something like this:

1. 1978 - A young man and his stereo. Sixteen thousand dollars worth of discrete equipment. It was very good stuff. It included a Revox A2, 10" reel-to-reel deck, Klipschorn speakers, Macintosh power, Oracle turntable and on and on. Lotsa, lotsa money baby and man oh man did it sound good. Play something—anything—from direct to disk (LP) recordings from Telarc to the finest pressings from Deutsche Gramophone, the hardest rock and, well, you-name-it, and the walls would shake, your soul would stir and the music swept you away.
   
   
2. 1988 - Fast forward. CD had already arrived in full force, reel-to-reel tape was relegated to curiosity status, Compact Cassette was waning rapidly, and the LP record was nearing the end of its widely distributed life cycle. I started feeling uncomfortable then, but there wasn't any single factor to which I could attribute the disconcerting feeling. The $16K, six foot high stack of gear had morphed into an $8K, three foot stack. Sounded good too; expansive, detailed, open, crystal clear and powerful. What more could I ask.
   
   
3. 1997 - Fast forward. Advanced MP3 encoding arrived. More . . .

Maintenance and Backups - When Will This Be Fully Automated?

By all that is right with this world, I hate—really hate—doing backups.

Digital photos by the hundreds (and thousands), documents and spreadsheets on all kinds (by the hundreds at least), e-mail by the bucket load, video files, downloads and you-name-it, accumulate at a spectacular and surprising rate on each and every one of our computers. The more files you create, receive or download, the more there is to back up. The more fragmented things get, the more you need to analyze and maintain your hard drives. The complexity means increased maintenance. Avoid maintenance and backup chores at your peril. Data loss. Bad.

There are reliable, effective maintenance and backup tools out there. A few of them stand out because they're automated. Less work for you. Good.

But come on. Why bother? I mean really now, aren't new hard drives, like, guaranteed or something? Well sure they are. And if they fail during the warranty period, you can usually get a free replacement—minus all the precious data that was stored on the old drive that is. More . . .

Is Microsoft Poised To Kill All Competing Browsers?

Permit a brief history lesson.

First there was Mosaic. After a couple of years it was renamed Netscape. It was nice. Slow too. But nice. It cost $60 to register. Real money. By the summer of 1995, Netscape owned almost 80% of the browser market. Impressive.

Then Microsoft released Windows 95 which bundled Internet Explorer (IE). It was a crappy browser, glacially slow, and absolutely free (if you ignore the inflated price of Windows 95). All hell broke loose.

By 1998, Microsoft owned 70% of the browser market. Netscape owned only a comparatively paltry 30%, less than half of its 1995 position. Not so good.

Netscape reinvigorated itself (too late, much too late) and announced two things: a) the browser would thereafter be offered as a free download, and b) the browser's source programming code would be released for open source development. The organizational spinoff directing the open source development project would thereafter be called Mozilla. More . . .

Still Using a Film Camera? Better Trade It In NOW!

Digital photography is here and there's no looking back. Digital photography has permeated every facet of imaging. From amateur and pro sports to a family day at the beach or the ski slope or the park, everybody has gone digital. And why not? Digital is easy. Any old Windows PC, Mac or Linux box can be used to load and store your photos. Software - by the carload - is available for every platform and for every skill level, to view, edit, share and print your digital photos. CD and DVD burning is almost automatic these days, so there should never be a situation in which your precious shots are lost.

Buy a digital camera now. Six megapixel models (point & shoot, digital SLR) have reached the point where image output on a $150 photo inkjet printer is indistinguishable from top quality 35mm print film output. Lenses are superb. Features and functions abound in sufficient quantities on dozens of different camera models to satisfy even the most technical minded.

If you're going to do it, pass the Tums, gather up all your old film gear, and head over to the nearest pro shop. Then prepare to be shocked at the terrible trade-in value. Nikon F100 bodies are getting about $250. An F3 or F4 body will get you around $400 (if it's in really great shape). Your precious collection of lenses will draw about the same money. A non-AF 300mm Nikon F2.8 beauty will fetch little more than $350. Better keep your autofocus lenses if you plan on buying a digital SLR from the same manufacturer. More . . .

Sony Corporation . . . Is Real Convergence Coming Soon?

The technical mavens at Sony must be suffering from indigestion by now. Domination through superior technological firepower used to be the only game in town. There's a new formula now though, something which has been slowly revealing itself over the past 6 or 7 years. Some of Sony's largest shareholders also have rumbly tummies, pining for the days when the Big Kahuna of Japanese electronics companies was just that—the leader of the pack.

Sony is still an electronics giant. Sony is also a content giant, what with the Sony Pictures, Sony Music and all. But the curiously opposed executives who ruled the upper floors at 7-35 Kitashinagawa 6-chome in Tokyo, couldn't seem to figure out that when you own the rights to tens of thousands of songs, hundreds of movies, electronics to download and play everything in sight, bandwidth to support online gaming, game consoles and even portable multimedia hardware, smartphones and wireless entertainment, it's probably a really smart idea to bundle all of this into a comprehensive package. Convergence? More . . .

Done Something Good Lately? Congratulations! You're A Target!

Three programmers have released PyMusique, a program which allows users to log on to the iTunes Music Store to purchase and download songs before any of them can be protected by Digital Rights Management (DRM). "Joining Jon Johansen, the Norwegian programmer responsible for distributing DVD [encryption] cracking code in late 1999, the programmers say their PyMusique software is a 'fair interface for iTunes', primarily aimed at allowing people who use the Linux operating system to purchase music from Apple's store," reports CNET News.com. "But with a Windows version of the software also available, it's likely to trigger a legal response from Apple, which has closely guarded access to its online music store and has depended on its copy protection software to gain rights to sell music online."

Here's the article from MacMinute (although it's all over the newswires too):

http://www.macminute.com/2005/03/18/pymusique/

Well heck Louella, I say LET THE GAMES BEGIN! More . . .

We'll Try Anything Once!

A Blog you say?

Well . . . yes and no. With the frequency of attacks on BBS forums running on PHP (and the widely used phpBB has been a particular favorite lately), we decided to investigate all the fuss over Web Logs to see if it's a solution for Hot News articles, editorials, reader feedback and, well, you-name-it.

This is the first post. All Hot News articles on our former (hacked) forums will be posted between now and April 1, 2005. Wish us luck, 'cause we just don't have the time to stay on top of weekly phpBB updates that plug security holes and battle hackers.

I'll bet you thought those hacker dudes only chased Microsoft products. Zounds!