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Music

Submission + - Music labels considering blanket license for P2P

Submitted by
CSMatt
CSMatt writes: "The New York Times reports that the Big 4 music labels are considering issuing blanket licenses to ISPs for sharing popular music on peer-to-peer networks. The decline in CD sales, and the inability of digital downloads to successfully fill that loss, are sited as motivations for accepting this method of compensation and lack of consumer control. Other problems concern digital downloads and interoperability with devices, which "are heating up again, at least in Europe." Whether or not the major labels will truly use such a system is unknown, but RIAA chairman Mitch Bainwol stated that the licenses would be distributed "...on a voluntary, commercial basis.""
Space

Submission + - Remembering Apollo 1

Submitted by wiredog
wiredog writes: On January 27, 1967, (forty years ago tomorrow) Apollo 1's crew — Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee — was killed when their capsule, which had a pure oxygen atmosphere, caught fire during testing. Articles from Wikipedia and Nasa.
Movies

Submission + - Bypass Netflix 'Watch Now' time limit

Submitted by
vee_anon
vee_anon writes: "I've discovered a method for viewing Netflix 'Watch Now' movies without having it deduct time from your account. Additionally, you can also choose whatever quality video you want to view without being limited to what Netflix determines.

Here is how:
  1. Login to Netflix with IE (or Firefox using the UserAgent spoofer) and goto the Watch Now tab. Choose whatever movie you want and click Play.
  2. After the Netflix movie loads you get the popup box prompting you to accept the license and click play. Don't click play — click Cancel instead.
  3. You will now see this message: "Windows Media Player has experienced an error: MediaError(0)"
  4. Right click on the webpage, somewhere outside of the video player and choose 'View Source' and you should get the source code of the webpage opened in Notepad.
  5. Do a find/search for: var WNPlaylistMovie
    This will be about midway down in the code.
  6. If you scroll to the right, you will start to see the URL's of the actual movie files, in increasing order of their quality. So the first one is the worst quality (about 100MB to download) and keep scrolling to the right and the last one will be the highest quality (about 1.4GB to download)

    The url of the movie will look something like this:http://index.ehub.netflix.com/item?x=U8wlKQQS AYM_Hlg-1Z094oB-wVes8acegEJe01iGIoE5Mpn1O4prcUs_Fs wmVi2X6Ze7rNzN-4i0ky2B0aHrQl4U01uCXZRpnB4 .
  7. Just copy and paste the URL's like this into a new browser window address bar. It will either prompt you to download the files, or open them automatically in Windows Media Player.
  8. If they open in Windows Media Player just accept the license agreement that pops up and then goto File > Save Media As... and you will now be able to save it to your hard drive.
This has been tested will multiple movies and has been verified not to subtract any time from your account if you download them and view them or stream them through Windows Media Player, which leads me to believe the time tracking of the viewing is done through the embedded Netflix Video Player. Also, since these files are DRM'd you will still need to have a valid Netflix account to watch them but it does get you around the quality limitations. Netflix has been notified about this poor system design, but has not responded."
Windows

Submission + - Vista Reviewed by The Economist

Submitted by
Erik Love
Erik Love writes: "Esteemed British newspaper The Economist, reviews Windows Vista. They love it, but advise WinXP users to wait awhile before upgrading: "Many say Vista's problem is its sheer size and complexity. All told, the program comprises some 50m lines of computer code. And as any programmer will tell you, software contains typically five to ten errors for every 100 lines of code. So, even if 90% of them were squished during the extensive testing programme, Vista will hit the shelves with at least a quarter of a million bugs in it.""
The Internet

Submission + - vBulliten License Revoked for Moral Reasons

Submitted by Drive-By Spammer
Drive-By Spammer writes: As weird and disturbing as loli is under current US laws it's not illegal — a point which Howard G. Spinks of Pirate Report failed to comprehend when he decided to revoke Hongfire's vBulliten license on the grounds that it's illegal (which it's not) and violates Jelsoft's AUP (which it doesn't). If you run your forum on vB, best be careful of what goes on, because even if it's not illegal all it has to be is disagreeable.

The email 'discussion' that lead up to this situation:
www.hongfire.com/vbulletin.txt

Section 502 (Subsection A and C) of the PROTECT Act excludes anime/cartoons:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi ?dbname=108_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ021.108.p df

Link to the AUP:
http://www.vbulletin.com/order/license_agreement.p hp
The Media

Submission + - Video on demand what is worth it?

Submitted by COMON$
COMON$ writes: I know this has been covered in different flavors before but I have tried software ranging from various flavors of Myth to plug-ins for Windows Media Center. Both have led me to wait patiently for a legal way to have my videos in a readily available digital format.
Enter Vongo 'www.vongo.com', this program allows for me to download movies on demand any time I want, and as many as I want. There are drawbacks, DRM, didn't play well with my remote, a questionable compression level, limited movies, and only 3 devices at a time can have the software installed. However, I was able to simply grab a movie, and have it playing in full on my TV in under 20 minutes. Which beats the pants off of netflix and blockbuster.

Which leads me to the question, what would be an acceptable media center for Joe User? Is Vongo on the right track? Personally I want a single console that will rip music and DVDs to an acceptable format, download media as needed, and work completely from a remote. I don't care much about DRM as long as I can watch/listen on my multiple media devices at any given time. I think Vongo is a start, but has a long ways to go to meet my wish list. What about you?
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Hans Reiser puts Namesys up for sale

Submitted by
Theodore Ts'o
Theodore Ts'o writes: "Looks like Hans Reiser may be putting his company for sale. The article suggests this is because Hans needs to raise funds for his legal defense, but I suspect it may also be because Hans, as CEO of a small company, was also the primary salesperson and dealmaker for the company, and without someone to get grants from the Federal Government and try to get sales from new customers, there won't be any new revenue coming into the Namesys company. Although the circumstantial evidence (at least as the case has been tried in the media) is pretty suggestive, he may very well be innocent; that's for the courts to decide. But if he is indeed innocent, it's really going to suck that he's been held without bail for months now, and he may end up losing his company. Even though I've been critical of his creative use of benchmarks in the past, I do have to feel sorry for him."
Censorship

Submission + - VBulletin abuse of power?

Submitted by
Anthony Boyd
Anthony Boyd writes: "A representative for the VBulletin software product has revoked the license from a site simply because he found the material objectionable. He initally claimed it was due to violation of law until people started quoting the law to him. Then he said they revoked the license because it violated some "morality" clause in the VBulletin license — but people looking at it are unable to find such a clause. What do you think? Was this capricious or reasonable? Is it justified in law? As a VBulletin customer, how secure do you feel about your license?"
Microsoft

Submission + - A "SAM" engagement with Microsoft

Submitted by
christian.einfeldt
christian.einfeldt writes: "Microsoft is getting heavy-handed again with its software subscriptions by sending "Software Asset Managers" around to poke into its customers software licensing practices. From Ed Foster's Gripelog on InfoWorld about the results after such visits: "The end result? An enterprise agreement that VOIDED the several hundred thousand dollars worth of Office 2003 licenses we had and instead gave us over 4,000 Office licenses under a new Enterprise Agreement. We had to shell out well over a million dollars for licenses that we already had."
Censorship

Submission + - vBulletin revokes forum license on moral grounds!

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: http://www.digg.com/software/PirateReports_revokes _vBulletin_license_of_HongFire_com_for_moral_reaso ns Forum Developer vBulletin revokes license for Hongfire.com on moral grounds that it didn't want to be associated with a site that carried lolicon imagery. Is this a step towards the quashing of internet free speech as software developers determine how software should be used ?
Windows

Submission + - Microsoft limiting Vista Technology Guarantee

Submitted by MSRedfox
MSRedfox writes: I'm a 32 year old gamer and beta tester of Microsoft Vista. When Microsoft offered the Technology Guarantee to upgrade new systems to Vista on its release, I went ahead and built a new computer with the understanding that I would be able to upgrade to the 64-bit Vista. I picked up a copy of Windows MCE 2005 for my new system. I entered the required data on https://upgradeweb.moduslink.com/Vista to setup my update. But for MCE 2005 they didn't offer a 64-bit upgrade, only 32-bit. Both Windows XP Home and Pro have 32-Bit and 64-Bit upgrade options on the website. When I email the support and asked about the 64-Bit upgrade for MCE 2005 to Vista Home Premium I was sent this response: "Dear Customer, Thank you for your interest in the Upgrade Redemption Program. The upgrade you qualify for on this offer, is directly related to the version of WinXP that is installed on the qualifying computer. For example, if you have a 32 bit version of XP, you will get Vista 32, not Vista 64. If you want further upgrades, you will need to purchase an upgrade when Vista becomes available retail. Regards, Upgrade Redemption Center" They have successfully turned this MS Fanboy angry. So what I'd like to ask the Slashdot community, is if anyone has any advice on who to contact at Microsoft to try to get them to fix this blatant mistake. They've already taken $120 for my OEM of copy of MCE 2005, please help me from giving them more cash. Thanks.
Music

Submission + - Alabama Man Beats RIAA Motion Without Lawyer

Submitted by
NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "Representing himself, without an attorney, an Alabama man has defeated a summary judgment motion by the RIAA. In Motown v. Liggins the judge ruled that "there is a genuine issue of material fact that precludes granting summary judgment: whether Defendant copied or distributed any of Plaintiffs' recordings. In his responses to the requests for admissions, Plaintiff did not admit that he copied or distributed any of Plaintiffs' recordings. Plaintiffs have not demonstrated the absence of a genuine issue of material fact, and their motion is therefore due to be denied". The case is published in Westlaw at 2006 WL 3257792."
Operating Systems

Submission + - What can't you do at the command-line?

Submitted by writermike
writermike writes: I haven't worked exclusively at a command-line since DOS-days. ('tis sad, I know) Earlier today while listening to a podcast that explained in good detail how to install Slackware Linux and how it only comes up to the command-line by default, it got me to wondering: What can't you do at the command-line today? Some things are obvious, like You Tube, but what about other things? If you were sent into an O/S with a command-line, what would you be unable to do?
Displays

Submission + - Revised Dell 3007WFP-HC 30" LCD, 92% Color Gam

Submitted by
MojoKid
MojoKid writes: "Dell's UltraSharp 3007WFP has historically earned high marks as a high-end 30" panel but recently Dell has made some upgrades to the big, beautiful beast. If you're in the market for something huge, this article at HotHardware that shows Dell's new UltraSharp 3007WFP-HC might be of interest. Not only does this monitor feature a gigantic 30" panel with a native resolution of 2560x1600, but it also features ultra high 92% color gamut capability based on new backlighting technology that is currently one of the industry's best. Most other desktop LCD monitors feature a 72% to 76% color gamut. The UltraSharp 3007WFP-HC is going to be somewhat expensive, and at first will only be available with the purchase of an XPS system. Word is general availability will come in February."
Patents

Submission + - Sourceforge is displaying ads for patent attacks

Submitted by RobinPeterson1968
RobinPeterson1968 writes: I just visited SourceForge, and they are displaying ads for www.Patent-Infringement.org, which is apparently a law firm that specializes in prosecuting patent infringements on contingency; i.e., they are a variety of patent troll. The add is coming up above the fold on about 25% of page loads on sourceforge.

So here's my question: why is Sourceforge permitting a patent troll firm to advertise on their website? Isn't this a direct attack on the open source projects using SF.net? 'Cause that has to be the reasoning behind placing the ads...the firm is presuming that someone who has a patent is looking at open source packages that might be infringing. The contingency approach will make it particularly nasty to get rid of these folks.

Just my 2 cents.

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