2007 - The Year Of Convergence Devices

This year, looks to be, the year that the convergence device has come of age. What, with, mobile phones that play Digital TV, and hardware like Apple TV and Media PCs which have HDTV support, the ease with which it is possible to interact with the first generation of convergence devices is becoming evident to all. I've been a fan of this technology for a while using my Pocket PC towatch TV show, listen to movies, and read books for a couple of years now. I'm looking forward to the next generation with anticipation.

Apple TV Due In March

Apple's, Apple TV product, is expected to ship in the middle of March. The device which is only a few weeks late, will be priced at around $299 US. It was first previewed as iTV in September of 2006 and formally announced at Macworld Expo in January along with the iPhone. The set-top box allows TV programmes and films to be downloaded to a Mac or PC and to be played on a television. It is another of Apple's convergence efforts and another product worth watching.

Korea Slaps Google On The Hand For Fair Trade Violation

Google has been slapped with an injunction by the Korea Fair Trade Commission for alleged violations of an agreement involving Googles Adsense system. A Korean company file a complaint against google that it terminated the agreement between AdSense and themselves, and that they failed to ensure payments and to providing advertisers with a right to appeal on the methods used to assess payments. It should be interesting to see how the recent complications with AdSense work out.

Firefox Fixes onUnload Events Bug

The flaws affect both the 1.5 and newer 2.0 releases of the the Firefox browser. The update will take the versions 2.0.0.2 or 1.5.0.10 respectively. The fix involves correcting a failure to correctly deal with JavaScript onUnload events. This can possibly lead to the execution of malicious scripts.

BitTorrent Launches Media Store

BitTorrent, the creators of the most popular software used for downloading illegal torrents, are hoping to convince their users to begin paying pay for content via their new legal download service. I can tell you one thing that won't be a surprise ... it won't be an easy pitch. For more info visit BitTorrent.

Vista Pricing Causes Petition On UK Govt Website.

Anger over the price of Vista here in the UK, has prompted an e-petition on the 10 Downing Street website that allows for the posting of public petitions. To date it has collected more than 2,723 signatures. The petition will be sent to the Prime Minister's office after it closes on the 20th of April. To view this petition visit Vista Overcharge.

3G iPhone Rumoured To Ship 2008

There are rumours that a 3G equipped iPhone will ship early in 2008. AppleInsider, Engadget and Gizmodo have indicated that it is likely to initially be a European specific model. A must for this market due to the market presence of 3G.

Plug-and-Play Hard Drives

NewerTech have introduced their Universal Drive Adapter, which allows old hard drives to be accessed without the need for an enclosure. The adapter is a cable with a USB connection at one end, and an adaptor with IDE/ATA/ATAPI 40 pin or Serial-ATA terminals at the other end. The Universal Drive Adapter can interface with a wide range of 2.5", 3.5", or 5.25" hard drives or optical drives including those found in laptop and desktop computers.
Connecting via a USB 2.0 connection, the adapter is capable of data transfer speeds up to 480Mbps, it can also be used with slower USB 1.1 connections. The NewerTech USB 2.0 Universal Drive Adapter costs $24.95 US and is distributed by Other World Computing at www.newertech.com.

Europes PS3 To Have Limited PS2 Title Support

The news from gamesindustry.biz is that Sony has changed the specification of the PlayStation 3 for Europe, raising converns over the number of PlayStation 2 games that will be compatible with the next-gen machine. They are doing this to cut costs, another poke in the eye to european consumers. Sony have publicly stated that the backwards compatibility is not going to be as good as in the US and Japanese models. My concern here is if they are cutting costs will the units sold here be cheaper than their US and Japanese equivalents ... Somehow I doubt it.

Microsoft Hit With $1.5bn Patent Ruling

A federal jury in San Diego has ordered Microsoft to pay $1.5bn to Alcatel-Lucent in a patent dispute over MP3 audio technology used in Windows.

Microsoft believes that they properly licensed the MP3 technology from Fraunhofer, which helped develop the MP3 compression technology along with Lucent's Bell Labs.

This ruling could have larger implications, with Lucewnt being free to go after anyone using mp3 in their products. One thing I do know, the only people really benefiting from this are the Lawyers. They make money win or lose. Who's next Apple, Sony, Creative, Intel?...

Has it become time for us to re-examine Patent and other intellectual property laws? Some say that the Patent system itself is the biggest area where IP needs to be reformed. We've seen plenty of evidence of this over the years.

Apple and Cisco Settle iPhone Dispute

This release from Cisco and Apple was released today:

Cisco and Apple Reach Agreement on iPhone Trademark
SAN JOSE & CUPERTINO, Calif. – Cisco® and Apple today announced that they have resolved their dispute involving the "iPhone" trademark. Under the agreement, both companies are free to use the "iPhone" trademark on their products throughout the world. Both companies acknowledge the trademark ownership rights that have been granted, and each side will dismiss any pending actions regarding the trademark. In addition, Cisco and Apple will explore opportunities for interoperability in the areas of security, and consumer and enterprise communications. Other terms of the agreement are confidential.

Short and sweet .... I guess all that free publicity did them both some good.

Apple

NVidia Announces GeForce 8 for Laptops

Although rumours have been circulating the net for a while, NVidia plans to ship the new-and-improved hardware in time for the launch of Intel's upcoming Centrino Pro. This may actually be the first DirectX 10 laptop graphics hardware available. In time for great HD support and extreme res gaming as well as loads of cash from the public. Power graphics and processors for power players...

Blu-ray Laptops On The March

A few manufacturers have been recently showcasing Laptops outfitted with Blu-ray drives, Samsung have announced the M505, a 17" with a 1920x1200 resolution, a 120GB hard disk and 2GB of RAM, 256MB of GeForce Go 7600 graphics, Bluetooth 2.0 and 802.11a/b/g WiFi, and HDMI.

Sony have the Vaio VGN-AR11S which comes with an Intel Core Duo T2500 processor, which is a dual-core processor running each core at 2GHz, 1 GB of DDR2 memory, though to be honest you should upgrade it to 2GB, before you even think of picking it up. There are even two 100GB hard drives so storage shouldn't be a big issue.

Dell announced the XPS M1710 with a 1920x1200 screen, Nvidia's hypersonic GeForce Go 7950 GTX video card, 2GB of RAM, a 100GB hard drive, and a T7600 CPU it however only features a DVI-D (HDMI should have been used instead).

CD Wow In Court Over Grey Market CD's

It seems that it's going to be more difficult to get foreign CD releases of domestic artists. The BPI (British Phonographic Industry) are seeking a contempt of court order against CD WOW over claims that it is deliberately selling CD's made for other countries. In a statement issued by CD Wow they denied that they'd intentionally used grey imports of CDs not intended for this country and stated that any breaches were a result of human error.

Whilst I agree that artists, their agents and recording companies are somewhat justified in protecting their intellectual property and licenses. The nature of the internet is making it more and more apparent that the copyright laws we currently adhere to, don't work all that well in a global market.

I'm confused in this day of the internet and the aforementioned global market, why certain industries are still so regional in their thinking. I'm betting that a great many of these CD's are being bought by collectors for content and packaging which is not available on domestic releases. I know that I occasionally pick up CD’s overseas which includes multimedia DVDs and other content. For the collector this "Grey" market is a source of goods which are highly sought after. These goods are even legal and are licensed in the territories they are made for. So what, are the record companies, complaining for? (Rhetorical Question).

In the case of CD WOW, the retailer may be looking at trying to keep their margins low, I can't say one way or the other because I'm not in their shoes, nor am I their accountant. But remember this ... these record companies are the same folks, who think nothing of using cheaper labour and costs elsewhere to maximise their profits here. If that’s the case, why not pass on the cost directly to the retailers and subsequently to the consumer? Even better, price the products at a more reasonable level …

Here is a quick example:
U2’s - Achtung Baby retails in the US for $13.98. It retails here in the UK for £14.99 ... Why is it twice as much here? OK the price I'm quoting is the suggested list but I'm doing so in both cases. I can buy music from UK and Irish Artists cheaper, pretty much anywhere else in the world, and in some cases, even cheaper than they are in the US.

I'm guessing it's because they think they can get away with people paying more for stuff here in the UK ... They're trying to keep us a captive and lucrative market. .

Bevy Of Beauties From Sony

Sony have announced a whole bunch of new cameras for 2007 in anticipation of the upcoming PMA show. Cameras include the T20HDPR, T100, T20, H9, H7, G1 , W200, and W90 Cybershots. All the new cams bring Sony's Super SteadyShot image stabilization and HD output.

The T20HDPR features an 8.1 megapixel sensor, a 3x optical zoom, a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tesar lens, a 2.5" LCD and a built in Dye Sublimation based Digital Photo Printer.

The Cybershot G1 has a 6 megapixel sensor, a 3x optical zoom, a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tesar lens, built-in WiFi, and Sony's usual SteadyShot and Anti-Blur features. it also features 2GB of internal memory for media playback and a large 3.5" LCD.

The other cameras include features such as 3-inch tilt-screen LCDs, a couple of 15x optical zooms, face-detection technology, and BIONZ image processing (more on that soon).

Satellite Broadband - Episode 2

Hot on the heels of the Inmarsat announcement; Eutelsat, a European satellite operator, is set to launch a satellite-based broadband service for European consumers. The service is set to launch in June and will provide broadband connectivity to consumers living in areas not well supported by fixed-line broadband.

Eutelsat has stated that prices will be comparable to conventional broadband networks but will provide connectivity for much of Europe and the Mediterranean basin and will include Germany, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.

Eutelsat is working with Viasat, which provides the satellite broadband technology, and broadband operator Skylogic. For more information visit Eutelsat.

Tugboat Enterprises, Launch Web Design Service.

Tugboat Enterprises, the makers of Selkie Rescue Data Recovery software and a leading provider of webhosting and deep data storage services, announced the launch of a new web design service. The service will create a web presence customised to your requirements, and be it a personal or family site, or even a top-selling commercial site, their expert designers will build and manage your site, quickly and affordably. The service is based around Dockspace which is built on the world leading Rackspace system and offers a guaranteed 24/7 uptime. For more information visit Tugboat Enterprises

Meccano Spyke Robot

How cool is this? Cool enough to make you want to be a kid again? The Meccano Spyke is a Wi-fi enabled robot which is equiped with a video camera, microphone, loudspeaker and an MP3 player. Spyke has VOIP phone capability, a webcam and is compatible with Skype . Units will be available in time for Christmas 2007. Pricing will be around the $270 in the US and €250 in Europe. For more information visit Spykeworld.

Sharp Launches The EM ONE

Sharp Japan has launched their EM ONE which features a sliding action which works in 2 directions and a 4.1 inch WVGA screen (800x480pixel) also has an integrated digital TV tuner. The Windows mobile based device also features a 1.3MP camera, Wi-Fi, a USB port, TV-Out, stereo speakers, miniSD card slot, and Bluetooth 1.2. The EM ONE which uses the PXA 270,520 MHz process and features the NVIDIA GoForce 5500 GPA measures 140x70x18.9mm and weighs 250 grams. Units should start shipping at the end of March.

Firefox and IE Security Bugs

Firefox and Internet Explorer both have a bug which could allow hackers to grab data via malicious websites. Another flaw in Firefox, could allow attackers to change cookie files on a user's PC. The fixes for these bugs aren't available as yet but are a high priority for both companies.

GPS Kit for consideration.

Mio have announced a GPS-enabled Pocket PC Phone, the Mio A501. The A501 is reported to be using the SiRFstar III GPS chip. Specifications include Edge GPRS, a 2.7″ QVGA screen, 64/128 RAM/ROM capacity, quad-band GSM, Bluetooth 2.0 and it will be equipped with a 2MP digital camera. The A501 will feature a 201MHz TI OMAP 850 processor and run Windows Mobile 5. For more info visit Mio GPS

Nokia has announced the 6110 Navigator, a quadband mobile phone with sat-nav capabilities. The 6110 Navigator also features A-GPS (Assisted Global Positioning System) as well as GPS capabilities. The Nokia 6110 Navigator comes with preinstalled maps, and the navigation features can be easily accessed via a click of the phone’s one-touch Navigator key. Features include:
Symbian OS (S60 platform)
HSDPA for fast web browsing and downloading
WCDMA 2100 HSDPA, GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
A 2 megapixel camera with integrated flash, 4x digital zoom and panoramic mode
Real-time video sharing and video calling
40 MB free internal memory
Support of microSD memory cards of up to 2 GB
The 6110 is expected to start shipping in Q2 for an estimated price of €450/$580

Weekend warriors delight, Mainnav have released the rugged MW-705 GPS Watch. This device looks like something every fan of orienteering and rugged outdoor living would enjoy. The Watch will feature the SiRF Star III LP chip, a digital heart-rate, speed and distance and a temperature sensor and it can even come equipped with bluetooth 2.0 should you so choose. It will also be waterproof. For more info visit Mainnav

Cool Gear - Watch Phone

It appears that the watch phone is now a reality ... Australian company, SMS Technology, recently demonstrated the M300 at the 3GSM show in Barcelona. They also announced that the first units will start shipping in March to South Africa. With Shipments to the rest of the world to follow shortly thereafter.

The M300 will feature over 80 hours of standby time, 200 minutes talktime, full SMS capability, Bluetooth, dial-up networking, games, an integral MP3 player, 64 MB of internal memory, USB connectivity, operating on 900mhz 1800mhz and 1900mhz, frequencies, 99-number memory storage and over 40 embedded real tones. Price is rumoured to be around $649.00 AUD .

A second model, the M501 is also slated for release but there are no other details other than it also supporting 850mhz. For more info visit Mymobilewatch.com

Broadband Uptake in the US and UK

Residential broadband penetration is projected to pass the 50% sometime during 2007. The UK is supposed to have a figure of around 49% of households which have a broadband connection. These figures are interesting but I wonder just how accurate they are. Sources indicate that there will be more than 60 million US households with connections at the end of this year, with an official population of 300 million thats one residential connection for every 5 people. Visit Silicon.com for more details.

LG Prada V2 To Ship In April

The new version of this interesting competitor to the iPhone looks to be larger than the current version and is set to include support for terrestial DMB based mobile television. We'll hopefully soon see what the new unit will look like.

Global Satellite Broadband Service Launched

Inmarsat, in partnership with defence company Thales UK, have launched a satellite based broadband service to offer global internet connectivity. The Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) service, should be fully active by June 2007. The service will provide connection speeds of up to 492Kbps to much of the world, with the exception of areas above the latitudes of 80 degrees north and below 80 degrees south which are outside the active coverage of the satellite network. The service is expected to cost approximately $1 per minute for voice calls and $8 per megabyte of data. Connecting will initially require a proprietary device in the form of a GPS equipped tablet, which provides directional information to the user so that they can ensure the best signal reception. For more information read Gemma Simpson's article at Silicon.com.

iPhone Lookalike Coming From Meizu

As you can see from the image above the M8 WM6 based smartphone looks very much like the much awaited iphone from Apple.

It does however feature one feature which places it higher in my mind and that is a removable battery, which apple have consistently failed to consider in all of their portable media devices and the iphone. Visit the Meizu Forums for more coverage. Meizu are a manufacturer of excellent portable media devices who are based in asia.

Cyberlink's Products "Vista Ready"

CyberLink have announced that they have made their full range of products “Vista ready” - these products include:

· CyberLink PowerDVD
· CyberLink PowerDirector
· CyberLink PowerProducer
· CyberLink PowerCinema
· CyberLink Power2Go
· CyberLink InstantBurn
· CyberLink PowerBackup
· CyberLink PowerDV
· CyberLink MagicSports
· CyberLink MagicDirector
· CyberLink MakeDisc
· CyberLink SoftDMA
· CyberLink Media Server
· CyberLink PhotoNow
· CyberLink MediaShow
· CyberLink PowerDVD Copy

More information about CyberLink’s Vista ready products is available at the Cyberlink website.

Nokia and YouTube Deal

Nokia and YouTube were both very vocal about their partnership to provide access to media on web enabled Nokia Phones. In the deal, all new Nokia Nseries phones will be able to access YouTube Mobile via the built-in web browser, Users will also be able to subscribe to YouTube video RSS feeds with the new Nokia Video Center, which is designed to manage sideloaded PC vids, internet video and RSS video subscriptions on multimedia phones like the N95 and N93i.

Democracy In Action Crashes Prime Ministers Website

The Downing Street website crashed under the load of anti-road-charging protestors rushing to sign an online petition. The e-petition, in question, urges people to sign in opposition to plans the government is considering for controversial pay-per-mile road-charging plans, as announced by the government last year. The petition, which has now passed the 1.3 million signature mark, has less than a week left to go. Visit the Number 10 website.

Microsoft Unveils WM6 And Other Goodies At 3GSM

Microsoft officially announced their new Windows Mobile Version 6 and also 2 new services Live Search and PlayReady for mobile phones. Live Search is a service for Java and Windows Mobile enabled phones to facilitate advanced local search and mapping capabilities on their mobile devices. PlayReady is a new technology which is designed to meet the needs of users, mobile operators and handset manufacturers.
PlayReady facilitates easier access and support for music, video, games, ring tones and images. Audio/video formats supported include Windows Media® Audio (WMA), AAC/AAC+/HE-AAC, Windows Media Video (WMV), and H.264. Read the following press release Windows Live Mobile PR and the Windows Mobile Live Search Page site. Details about Microsoft PlayReady can be found here.

3GSM World Congress Underway

The 3GSM World Congress is open for business in Barcelona. In case you don't know, it is the largest cellphone trade show in the world. As I'm not there I can't really experience all the cool gadgets firhand but I have been following the news on all my favourite Mobile Phone sites. So far the sexiest Phone has to be the LG Shine ... and Shine it does, Although it, like a few other phones out there, does look like a cousin of the Razr from Motorola.

Intel Creates Teraflop Chip

Intel has developed a proof of concept teraflop chip that demonstrates supercomputer-like performance. There are no plans to bring the 80-core chip to market in the near future however the figures appear to be quite impressive... According to Silicon.com the super-chip - which is around the size of a fingernail - is able to deliver trillions of calculations per second and move terabytes of data while consuming only 62 watts of electricity. These figures show substantial improvements over single-core processors.

Tech Facts are Sometimes Nonsense

In Bryan Walsh's "Greenhouse Airlines" article in the February 12, 2007 issue of Time Magazine, he wrote that a jet airliner emits 5,200 lbs of carbon per passenger during a New York-Tokyo-New York round trip. In case you're wondering, that equals roughly 780,000 lbs of carbon each way. Since a fully loaded Boeing 767 has a maximum takeoff weight (including fuel, passengers, luggage, etc.) of only 401,000 lbs., some of us are trying to figure out how Mr. Walsh came up with his carbon emission statistics. According to the laws of physics, the carbon emissions stated in the article are simply impossible. For Mr. Walsh's statistic to be accurate, every molecule of the aircraft and its payload (people, fuel, luggage, food, seats, and the rest of the aircraft itself) would have to be converted into carbon then magically increased 400% in order to create 5,200 lbs of carbon per passenger during such a round trip. I recently traveled from Toronto to London and back. I was not converted into a carbon smudge.

Music, Media and Money

I'm both fascinated and annoyed at many of the approaches to money making being taken by the music companies. They bitch and complain about piracy and to be honest they are probably right to a certain degree. However, I've been buying music for a long time, and much of my music until about 10 years ago was on vinyl. Every time a new device or media technology is announced, I cringe and think, "does this mean I'm going to have to buy all the music in my library again".

I've previously bought music on LPs, Tapes, CDs, DVDs and even the odd piece of digital music online and on memory card. I love gadgets like many others, however I can tell you this: I won't be jumping to, or spending a lot of money on new media. I'll continue buying CDs and ripping them to my media players. I'm happy enough with that.

Stop re-inventing the wheel. Frankly I'm sick of spending my hard earned money to make some fatcat music executive or lawyer rich. If you want me to buy music I already have, you've got to offer me a lot more than some new packaging or a "remastered" version. Invest some money in value added content and pay the artists more. You media moguls can certainly afford it.

In case you're wonder why I'm so pissed I sat down recently and figured out how much it would cost me to replace my record collection at £15 a CD. I freaked. Think about this a moment. The record companies sue the hell out of copyright violators and yet when it come to paying the creators of that same music, they drag their heels and cry saying the music business is expensive. Yet the RIAA and other organisations with similar interest have been trying to change the law as regards royalties so that they don't have to keep paying the creators of the music they're selling. Read this article over at IGN for more. It details that the RIAA recently petitioned judges to lower the royalties so that the record companies can make more money.

For another take on why the MPAA thinks piracy exists, read another article, again at IGN. It made sense to me.

Japanese Ice Pooping Snowplow Robot.

This automated snowplow bot has been featured on several tech blogs. I think it's a really cool piece of tech (pardon the pun) ... The Japanese robot scoops up snow and compresses it into ice blocks. Not that you would like to do anything with the ice involving drinks but hey there are lots of uses for ice which don't need hygenic considerations. My mates in Canada would love this ...

Clippy is dead

At long last one of the most annoying helpers for Office has met its demise. Many will mourn it's demise, but, I for one, will not miss Clippy. I didn't always dislike the helpers, in fact one of my faves, was the Genius, who looked somewhat like Einstein. Bring him back anytime.

In case your wondering what I'm blathering on about, its all about Microsoft Offices Helpers and that Microsoft have recently retired Clippy the paper clip. Nuff said.

Richard Branson Offers $25 Million Eco Challenge

Richard Branson has offered a prize of $25 million to the first person who can demonstrate a system which reduces carbon gases in our atmosphere. The Virgin Earth Challenge prize requires that the solution be able to remove one billion tons of carbon gases a year from the atmosphere for 10 years. No mean feat.

The panel of judges include, Al Gore, the former presidential candidate turned environmental campaigner; James Hansen, a noted climate scientist and the head of the Nasa Institute for Space Studies; the inventor of the Gaia theory, James Lovelock; UK environmentalist, Sir Crispin Tickell; Australian mammalogist and palaeontologist, Tim Flannery; .

Richard Branson also announced the new Virgin Fuels business venture, which is going to invest up to $400 million on green energy projects over the next three years. Sir Richard Branson has already promised to invest $3bn in profits from his travel firms, such as airline Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Trains, into research for technologies dealing with renewable energy.

I've always found the activities of this very public man inspiring and very laudable. Here is a man who knows how to spend his money and also how to use his influence in very positive ways. He also knows how to have fun... For more information visit Virgin Earth Challenge.

Microsoft Securty Patch Blitz On Tuesday

Microsoft has plans to release a dozen security patches on Tuesday. The patches include about four "critical" patches. These patches usually deal with security issues which could allow an attacker to gain full control of affected systems with no or minimal action by the user.

Microsoft stated that critical fixes are lined up for Windows, Office, MDAC and the security tools. They have provided no further details on the problems being fixed, other than that some of the updates may require a system restart.

Make sure you get yours...

Spyware Law Up For Reconsideration

It looks like Leaders of the US House of Representatives have introduced a bill which is aimed at tackling the threat of malicious PC-disrupting spyware. Spyware has become as big a threat (if not bigger) as Virii and Trojans. This bill would impose 31 pages of regulations on the software industry in order to define the types of activities which are permissible and which aren't. It's time all governments told businesses involved in this area to lay off... Lets hope it's an effective Bill and that the Senate enforces it. Let's hope other Governments carry through similar measures.

Eco Sites

If like many out there you've been getting the green bug or are even the slightest bit interested in environmentally centric information and products, I have a couple of sites I regularly visit that might interest you. Treehugger.com and Hugg.com, both of which feature a blog type approach to news and info. I visit both sites on a regular basis and enjoy the ideas and info they impart.

Windows Mobile 6 Due Soon.

Microsoft is planning to officially announce Windows Mobile 6 next week at the 3GSM trade show in Barcelona. WM6 is promised to offer improved search, better security and tighter integration with Windows Live services. I'm hoping they'll address some of the issues people are experiencing with WM5. One of the biggest improvements is integrated support for VOIP. Windows Mobile will come in three flavours; Professional (for touch screens), Standard (for phones) and Standard (for PDA's without phone capabilities). One bit of news is that support for Office 2007's new file formats will be missing from the initial releases. Support should be added sometime in the summer though. Engadget have a nice gallery featuring screens from the standard edition.

Update
Engadget have added a gallery with screenshots from WM6 Pro for those of you interested...

Gmail Now Open To Everyone

Google has announced that its free email service is now open to anyone who wants an account. Gmail or Googlemail as it's known here in the UK, used to be by invitation only. The free service provides users with 2.8GB of email storage space.

Web 2.0 a Perspective

Visiting Gizmodo, I came across an article featuring a brilliant video by Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University. The video is a journey which begins with writing test on paper and progresses through to a creative demonstration of Web 2.0 ... well worth taking the time.

Nanny Culture Gone Mad...

Looks like some loon over in Albany, New York, has tabled a Bill, which would ban the use of ipods, mp3 players and other similar devices, on the streets of New Yorks cities. The cause of this, is that some folks have been killed and injured, because they haven't been paying attention whilst crossing the road. Me thinks, that people are being primed for yet another revenue generating law, rather than one which really deals with crime. Some politicians are making law enforcement more about revenue generation than about controlling crime. Someone should table a law banning time wasters like State Sen. Carl Kruger from holding office. For more read Bill Banning iPods...

DOS Attacks on DNS Servers.

Yesterday seems to have been an eventful day as hackers appeared to attempt to bring down the DNS servers that direct traffic on the internet. The Attack appears to have been focused on the domain name system servers, which maps domain names to the numeric IP addresses of servers connected to the internet. Key DNS servers had heavy traffic very early (02:30 PT) on Tuesday morning. Many root servers were affected but the "G" server, run by the US Department of Defense, and "L", run by Icann, seem to have been the heaviest hit.

These type of attacks are not common but if succesful could be disasterous even if only for a short period. Come on, why not devote your efforts to something more beneficial... nuff said.

Apple and DRM Free Music

Don't worry, it's not an announcement just the gist of an article over at engadget. They detail a letter from Steve Jobs in which he explains his preference for the abolition of DRM for media, simply because "DRMs haven't worked, and may never work, to halt music piracy." The abolition of DRM will serve consumers and also level the marketplace, in his own words:

Why would the big four music companies [ever] agree to let Apple and others distribute their music without using DRM systems to protect it? The simplest answer is because DRMs haven't worked, and may never work, to halt music piracy. ... Much of the concern over DRM systems has arisen in European countries. Perhaps those unhappy with the current situation should redirect their energies towards persuading the music companies to sell their music DRM-free. ... Convincing them to license their music to Apple and others DRM-free will create a truly interoperable music marketplace. Apple will embrace this wholeheartedly."

The issue is well stated but the writer over at engadget feels that both apple and Microsoft need to spearhead an initiative to make this a reality. I agree...

Safer Internet Day 2007

For all you folks who have children, today is Safer Internet Day. A good day to think about re-educating both yourself and your loved ones about best practices when using the internet. Here are some useful links to find out more about internet safety:
Childnet International
Internet Watch Foundation
Be careful out there...

Corel Introduces Corel® Painter™ X

Corel today announced Corel® Painter™ X, the latest incarnation of one of the best natural media centric software tools for digital artists. Painter™ X can now be preordered at Corel and Corel UK . New tools include performance improvements, new composition tools in the form of Divine Proportion and their powerful and innovative RealBristle™ Painting System that provides bristle level control over their organic painting and illustration tools. They've also made substantial improvements to the way Painter allows you to turn photos into works of art.

I've been a long time fan of Painter and looking forward to trying it out. For more information visit Corel. Corel® Painter™ X is available for $419.00 USD or UK£492.33 for the full version and as an upgrade from $219.00 USD or UK£257.33. I think the only complaint here is the relatively high price in UK £ when compared to the US Price and conversion rate.

Apple and The Beatles are All Good...

It seems that Apple and The Beatles have put their differences behind them and have come to a settlement which finally puts to rest their war over the use of the word Apple in relation to music. Who knows maybe we will soon see the Beatles music featured on iTunes or even in an advert for one of Apple's products.

AT&T Announce MobiTV

AT&T are embracing the world of MobiTV for entertainment on the go. As a result you will be able to view your favourite TV shows and other entertainment whilst on the go. Initially the offering will be limited to MobiTV content but will eventually expand to include U-verse for mobiles. So that long commute into work may not be so tiresome, hold on, does that mean that peeps will start getting MobiTV Neck or Handset Arm from holding their mobiles in a set position for long periods.

Vista and iPods

Apple has suggested that iPod users wait a few weeks before upgrading to Vista. This is due to several possible compatibility issues that may cause problems with itunes, the iPod itself and Vista. These problems include; the inability to play music or videos purchased from the iTunes Store, synchronisation problems with the address book contact and calendar functions, and several other issues. There is also the chance that plugging an iPod into a Vista computer may corrupt the device.