Comment Re:No HD for me, thanks! (Score 1) 685
... I will never purchase one of these pieces of s*!t. I have a firm policy of refusal to support any vendor who utilizes DRM
...ummm, Syntax error?
Comment Re:Not happening to me (Score 1) 527
IF you think that you only see their (OpenDNS) ads a couple of times a year, you should look at the answer that they give out for www.google.com, and compare that with what the real nameservers for google.com hand out. You may be surprised.
Build a BoxeeBox and Wean Yourself From Cable 335
Since I've been having serious problems with satellite all week,
DeviceGuru's submission was really interesting to me. He says "Inspired by Roku's awesome Netflix video download box and impressed with Boxee's free A/V media center platform, it was merely a matter of time before DeviceGuru blogger Rick Lehrbaum would create the BoxeeBox, an Ubuntu-powered HTPC with Boxee serving as its primary media center UI. Based on a 2.5GHz Core 2 Duo CPU, the BoxeeBox has the look and feel of consumer A/V equipment and packs 2GB RAM, 1TB HDD, CD/DVD drive, USB, Firewire, HDMI, DVI-D, RGB, and 8-channel surround sound audio."
Comment Re:Could be fun (Score 0, Troll) 221
Yeah, because all of that Due Process of the Law stuff is just a waste. It's better for the Gov't agents to just intimidate the private sector.
Apple's New MacBooks Have Built-In Copy Protection 821
raque writes "Appleinsider is reporting that the new MacBooks/MacBookPros have built-in copy protection. Quote: 'Apple's new MacBook lines include a form of digital copy protection that will prevent protected media, such as DRM-infused iTunes movies, from playing back on devices that aren't compliant with the new priority protection measures.' Ars Technica is also reporting on the issue. Is this the deal they had to make to get NBC back? Is this a deal breaker for Apple or will fans just ignore it to get their hands on the pretty new machines? Is this a new opportunity for Linux? And what happened to Jobs not liking DRM?"
Doom9 Researchers Break BD+ 345
An anonymous reader writes "BD+, the Blu-ray copy protection system that was supposed to last 10 years, has now been solidly broken by a group of doom9 researchers. Earlier, BD+ had been broken by the commercial company SlySoft." Someone from SlySoft posts a hint early in the thread, but then backs off for fear of getting fired. The break is announced on page 15.
Feed Vonage Says There Is No Workaround To Verizon's VoIP Patents (techdirt.com)
After a jury sided with Verizon in its patent-infringment case against it, Vonage told customers and investors not to worry, because it was developing a workaround that would allow it to continue operating without infringing upon any of the patents in question. However, the company has now confirmed that there is no such workaround, and it's not certain that one would be feasible, given the breadth of the Verizon patents. It's filing for a permanent stay of the injunction against it, apparently with the hope that the appeals process will work out in its favor. If that move isn't successful, it's going to be awfully hard for the company to stay in business. Seeing the stay denied would be a dream scenario for Verizon, since the patents in question are so broad that it's conceivable it could be impossible to run a landline-replacement VoIP service in the US without infringing upon them -- meaning it could shut down the entire US VoIP industry and the stiff competition it provides the company's traditional phone services. Verizon's not the only company rubbing its hands gleefully, either. The whole VoIP space is so patented up that it's under threat not just from entrenched rivals who would like to see its growth stymied, but by companies that have done little to bring their innovations to market and are looking to make a quick buck.
Submission + - Vonage Admits no Workaround for Verizon Patents
Frosty Piss writes: "USA Today is reporting that Vonage has finally confirmed what many suspected: The company has no "workaround" to sidestep Verizon's VOIP patents. Moreover, Vonage isn't sure that such a plan is even feasible, given the expansiveness of Verizon's patents, which set out methods for passing calls between the Internet and conventional phone networks. Vonage has seen its shares plunge more than 80% since it went public last year. This year alone, its shares are down more than 45%. Is this the end for Vonage? How will this effect other VOIP providers?"
Submission + - Google Reaches Deal to Sell Radio Ads
Nrbelex writes: The New York Times is reporting that 'Google will begin selling advertisements across all of the stations of Clear Channel Communications, the No. 1 radio station owner in the United States, at the end of June, the companies will announce today. Google has been working for months to expand its ad sales operation into traditional media like newspapers, radio and television.'
Submission + - Who Is Monitoring Your Domain Searches?
An anonymous reader writes: It has happened to most of us: A perfect domain name pops into your mind. A quick check at your favorite domain registrar reveals that the domain is still available. For some reason, you put off the actual registration for a few days. And when you come back to finally register the domain, it's taken by someone else!
http://www.dailydomainer.com/200775-domain-tasting -monitoring-searches.html
http://www.dailydomainer.com/200775-domain-tastin
Submission + - Hard Disk Study Leaves Google Surprised
bugg_tb writes: The BBC is reporting on a study performed by Google engineers on regular 'off the shelf' hard drives that Google uses for caching data and how they perform and the likelyhood of them to fail. The author states: "We expected to notice a very strong and consistent correlation between high utilisation and higher failure rates. "However our results appear to paint a more complex picture. First, only very young and very old age groups appear to show the expected behaviour."
The report concludes that: there was a clear trend showing "that lower temperatures are associated with higher failure rates".
"Only at very high temperatures is there a slight reversal of this trend."
You can see the full report here
HD-DVD and Blu-Ray Protections Fully Broken 682
gEvil (beta) writes "According to an article at BoingBoing, the processing keys for the AACS encryption scheme used by both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray video discs have been extracted, and a crack has been released. What this means is that there is now a method to extract the copy-protected content of any HD-DVD or Blu-Ray disc out there. This is different from Muslix64's previous crack, which only extracted the volume key for each disc. This new method bypasses this step and allows anyone to extract the data without first requiring the volume key."
OLPC Available to the Public Early 2008 192
Zoxed writes "The BBC is reporting that the OLPC will be available to the public early next year on a buy-2-get-1 basis through eBay. With its cheap price, fully open spec. and full/open hardware support for Linux, expandability, 2W rating and LinuxBIOS booting it sounds like an embedded-Linux hackers favorite new toy."
The NSFW HTML Attribute 273
phaln writes "Over at The Frosty Mug Revolution, PJ Doland makes a compelling case for a new HTML attribute in the spirit of the highly-regarded 'nofollow' attribute promoted by Google — the NSFW attribute (rel='nsfw'). His original idea has been refined and expanded by positive comments from readers, resulting in a semantic solution to the issue he raises in the original post. From the article: 'Content creators can apply the attribute to paragraph tags, div tags, or any other block-level element. Doing so will indicate that the enclosed content is not safe for work. Visitors will be able to configure their browsers to block display of just the content enclosed by the flagged block-level element. This isn't about censorship. It is about making us all less likely to accidentally click on a goatse.cx link when our boss is standing behind us. It is also about making us feel more comfortable posting possibly objectionable content by giving visitors a means of easily filtering that content.'"
Robotic Deer to Fight Illegal Hunting 325
Roland Piquepaille writes "If you were a law enforcement official searching for hunters who don't follow the rules, what would be a good gift for you? In 'Robot Deer Captures Poachers,' Brian Bull, reporting from Mosinee, Wisconsin, writes that you can buy robotic decoys for deer, elks, moose and even bears. These life-like creatures are made of animal hides or skins attached to polyurethane foam bodies and equipped with remotely controlled motors allowing the head and tail to move. After you pay about $2,000 for such a robo-deer, you put it on a side road. All you have to do is wait for an illegal hunter trying to shoot the fake deer and fine him. Many officers have reported collecting well over $30,000 in fines with a single robot. Not a bad deal."
