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Comment Re:Links (Score 1) 188

According to the fine article "Duke Nukem Forever Demo Released, Access To First Access Club Only" In other words everyone should be able to download it soon. Right now only those who are in the club can download it and AFAIK those who have reserved a copy will have access to the demo.

Comment Re:Nope (Score 1) 607

Ah, the "go slit your wrists" troll has returned. What's wrong? Too intellectually bankrupt to write anything that adds to the discussions or debates here on /., or are you just too bored? If it is the latter then go out and get a life. If it is the former then grow up, further your education, then get a life. Simple as that.

Comment Re:Nope (Score 1) 607

I agree with you it shouldn't be there. Correct me if I am wrong on this point but TiVo was most likely forced to use DRM in their files in order to use allow the legal use of cable cards in their DVR. Fortunately not many channels are flagged for copy prevention. As far as the ease of copying TiVo desktop and Desktop Plus allows someone to download from the TiVo unit and then convert it to video that is playable on an iPod, iPhone, several blackberry devices, Palm Pre, Zune, PSP, and several other devices. As far as burning them onto a video DVD or Blu-Ray it does take a few additional steps. Start off with either TiVo desktop, TiVo PLaylist, Galleon, or any web browser to download the video or videos, using either Tivo Decode or Directshow Dump to remove the wrapper, then use any DVD/Blu Ray authoring software out there as long as it supports MPEG2.

While it is rather easy not everyone would be able to perform such acts. Then again, those who have little or no technical skill probably were not able to set the clock on a VCR, or copy a simple file on a computer. No matter how easy you make something there is always going to be quite a few people who will not simply get it.

Comment Re:Nope (Score 1) 607

IMO the reason SyFy has wrestling is simple, they are transforming into another "Men's" channel much like TNN did as they transformed from The Nashville Network to The National Network and finally to Spike TV/spike.

At least SyFi isn't as bad as Spike. When spike had Star Trek Voyager they butchered the start time like many of their other shows. More times than not it started late, sometimes up to 25 minutes late which would prevent any DVR from recording the entire show.

As far as DRMs I can download the shows rather easily from my TiVo and remove the DRM to burn to either DVD or Blu-Ray. I have even converted the files rather easily for use on my iPod classic.

Piracy

CNET Sued Over LimeWire Client Downloads 206

suraj.sun writes with this quote from Ars Technica: "Alki David, the wealthy film producer and entrepreneur behind sites like FilmOn, has sued CNET and its owner, CBS, for providing hundreds of millions of downloads of LimeWire P2P software over the last decade. He argues that CNET had 'direct participation in massive copyright infringement on peer-to-peer systems, such as LimeWire, that are used to copy and distribute songs, films and other artistic works,' and that CNET's Download.com was the 'main distributor' of the software. P2P software isn't illegal, though companies that use it to induce or encourage copyright infringement can be held liable. The principle, most famously articulated by the US Supreme Court in the Grokster shutdown, was extended to LimeWire last year when a federal judge shut down most of the company's activity."
Government

'Motherlode' of Data Seized At Bin Laden Compound 718

itwbennett writes "The raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan Sunday also turned up an 'intelligence harvest' of computer-based data that was described by an anonymous government source as 'the motherlode of intelligence.' The data is being sifted through at a secret site in Afghanistan. An unnamed official was quoted by Politico as saying: 'Hundreds of people are going through it now. It's going to be great even if only 10 percent of it is actionable. They cleaned it out. Can you imagine what's on Osama bin Laden's hard drive?'"

Comment Re:Microsoft's use of patents against free softwar (Score 1) 7

Once again twitter you have no idea what you are talking about. First of all my name actually is John, not Joe. I live in Richmond Indiana and that can be verified at http://www.johnbwilcox.net./ Also at pal-item.com as the same user name. I have nothing to hide unlike you. I get absolutely no money from Microsoft. But since you are making the claim that I am this "Joe Wilcox" why not put the money where your mouth is and prove it?

Businesses

Comcast Hounded By Collections Agency 142

Bob the Super Hamste writes "According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Comcast is being taken to court for non-payment by a bill collection agency it used to collect past-due payments from customers. The suit alleges that Comcast agreed to pay $5 for each account it closed and that for each account the collection agency handled Comcast would pay 33% of the collected funds. The suit is seeking $314,210 for account cancellations and estimates Comcast owes them $50,000 for delinquent funds collected."

Submission + - Doctor Who's Elisabeth Sladen dies aged 63 (bbc.co.uk)

Dexterous writes: "Doctor Who star Elisabeth Sladen, who was also in spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures, has died aged 63.

Sladen appeared as Doctor Who assistant Sarah Jane Smith in the BBC television sci-fi series between 1973 and 1976 opposite Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker.

In more recent times the Liverpool-born actress had appeared in four series of The Sarah Jane Adventures on children's channel CBBC."

Comment More typical Twitter spin (Score 1) 7

Yep, once again another "story" that is really more FUD against Microsoft and a slashdot user. For example the story mentioned that "Google and Microsoft are working to make sofware patents livable" That is totally way off from the actual story "Microsoft, Google Sue Troll Who Sued 397 Companies" Plus this whole story is spun in such a way that makes it appear Microsoft is attacking Apple and Google over media patents when in fact Microsoft was attacked over them as well, and it was possibly by MPEG-LA. From what I can tell most of these stories are actually from patent trolls who just hold onto patents to make money and not to innovate. Is Microsoft free from being guilty? The answer to that is far from it, but stories should stick to the facts without spin and personal attacks against other slashdot users.

Cloud

The End of Content Ownership 247

adeelarshad82 writes "In recent weeks companies like Amazon, Sony, Google, Verizon, 24symbols and others have started to roll out 'cloud-based' content streaming and on-demand services (or plans) for movies, music and even books. Video on demand is nothing new, nor is streaming. The difference now, though, is that companies like Amazon want you to stream your own content. This article sheds some light on how the cloud, along with subscription and on-demand services, will transform our perception of content access and ownership."
Cloud

Google Rolling Out Live Streaming For YouTube 60

An anonymous reader writes "YouTube has already live-streamed a number of popular concerts, sporting events, and interviews, but most were one-time deals. Now Google wants to crank it up a notch, and has announced YouTube Live. YouTube Live integrates live streaming capabilities and discovery tools directly into the YouTube platform. From the announcement: 'Today, we'll also start gradually rolling out our live streaming beta platform, which will allow certain YouTube partners with accounts in good standing to stream live content on YouTube. The goal is to provide thousands of partners with the capability to live stream from their channels in the months ahead. In order to ensure a great live stream viewing experience, we'll roll this offering out incrementally over time.'"
Music

Amazon's Cloud Player: We Don't Need a License 539

halfEvilTech writes "Amazon has launched Cloud Drive and Cloud Player without securing streaming licenses from the music industry. But does it need to? Amazon says 'No.' The music industry? 'Yes.'" Do I need a license to stream MP3s from system RAM to the MP3 player? From my hard drive to RAM? From my file server to my machine?

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