IronWil Blog » DRM

A Microsoft marketing mantra becomes a life mantra for all of us
Stretching PC/technology lifetimes
Saying no to new gadgets … Every time we peddle something people don’t need, we lose a slice of our soul
Reassessing what it is you really need to get work done
Paul’s “28 Days Later” concept: Revisiting things Paul’s reviewed or recommended: Do they stand the test of time?
Next “Everything Must Go” event: Late February
Not just about spending less – decrease tech life’s overhead as well
v. small ex: Paul doesn’t install/configure any Firefox add-ons – 7 less things to do on reinstall

Related: Gmail goes offline: Long expected, but this is a game-changer

Internet Explorer 8 RC1 release

Near-final, “platform-complete” version of Microsoft’s next browser
For XP, Vista, 2003/2008 not Windows 7
A few new functional changes but mostly about performance and fit and finish

Is Windows 7 UAC dangerous … or just useless?

Rafael Rivera and Long Zheng have discovered that the dumbed-down UAC in Windows 7 is easy to bypass and could be used to compromise PC

Also in Windows 7 news…

Windows 7 public beta set to end February 10
Rumors of a Netbook SKU

iTunes Plus goes a la carte

Previously, you had to upgrade your entire collection in order to get DRM-free 256 Kbps AAC tracks. Now you can pick and choose
iTunes now a first-class choice for online music w/ Amazon MP3 and Zune Marketplace

News: Dell will sell a smartphone based on either Google Android or Windows Mobile. Paul’s advice: Don’t

Tip of the week: More Windows 7 theme packs … many are based on Mac wallpapers

Software of the week: Gladinet

Many readers have recommended this: It lets you access SkyDrive from Windows Explorer (and other things).

Audible picks of the week: The Ultimate Cheapskate’s Road Map to True Riches: Enjoying Life More by Spending Less and Elsewhere, U.S.A.: How We Got From the Affluent Society to the Home Office.

Check out Paul’s blog at the SuperSite for Windows for more information.

get yours here.

iron wil

Windows Weekly [#90] NetCast

Iron Wil — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 00:17:17 +0000

The Last Beta

Hosts: Paul Thurrott and Leo Laporte

Windows 7, Office 14, Zune rumors, MSDN, Software Wars, Roku, and more.

Windows 7 Beta Fallout
There is almost universal praise for the Windows 7 public beta which was released on January 9, 2009. After impressive demand for the new beta Microsoft has suspended its previous policy which would place a limit on the downloads to 2.5 million and will allow people to download the beta until January 24, 2009. Paul recommends re-arming rather then activiting to save your license keys. Windows 7 also runs great on netbooks, lower end notebooks designed for portability and low power usage. Paul describes a good experience on a 1.6GHz Atom system with 1 GB of RAM and 16GB of harddrive space. The only big question is: will the positive reviews of Windows 7 be enough to get XP users to upgrade?
What about Office 14?
With Windows 7 coming out in mid-2009 many are wondering if Office will quickly follow. Microsoft just started a limited beta test of their server offerings, but there is no news about the client. Sources say that we will have to wait until late 2009 or early 2010 for the new Office.
Zune rumors
Rumors abound that Microsoft may be exiting the portable media player business by discontinuing the Zune. However, Microsoft recently stated that rather then discontinue the Zune they are going to be expanding the product line. With Apple offering DRM free downloads from it’s iTunes music store, Microsoft may have their work cut out for them.Paul is going to try to get Rob Greenlee of the Zune Insider podcast on a future episode of Windows Weekly to discuss the Zune in more depth.
Keith Curtis
Keith Curtis is a long-time Microsoft employee and the author of “The Software Wars,” a book which states that open source software, not Apple, is the real future competition to the Windows operating system. GNU/Linux has been all but dismissed as a possibility on the desktop, but Keith disagrees and he may have a point. He will appear on a future episode of Windows Weekly where he will discuss his book and his ideas in detail.
Roku Digital Video Player
- This just in: Roku Digital Video Player adds hundreds of HD movies and TV shows via Netflix, plus 40,000 movies and TV shows from Amazon On Demand. The latter is coming in a few weeks
- Netflix HD content
- Office, 30 Rock, Heroes, Star Trek, plus movies like Elf, Ace Ventura, etc.
- An amazing list of Windows 7 tips published by a Microsoft engineer.
- Free Battlestar Galactica webisodes on Zune Marketplace In Season 0: A 10-part episode, Face of the Enemy, that bridges the gap between the last season and the next, plus two specials, “Recap” and “Catch the Frak Up”

A Message From Paul Thurrott”This week I’m going to be in Reston, Virginia on Friday for the ‘D.C.’ edition of the MSDN Developer Conference held at the Hyatt Regency Reston. It’s sort of a mini-PDC that’s going around the country. In DC to visit with Rafael. But drop me a line if you’ll be at the show.”

Tips of the week

Software of the weekWindirstat: Excellent disk usage viewer for Windows – surprised I haven’t had this one in here before. Thanks to Greg Martin for the tip. See the discussion page for other similar free programs.
Audible pick of the week: Cross Country, Unabridged, by James Patterson, narrated by Peter J. Fernandez and Dion Graham.

Check out Paul’s blog at the SuperSite for Windows for more information.

get yours here.

iron wil

Windows Weekly [#89] NetCast

Iron Wil — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 03:51:37 +0000

Tripod, The Beta

Hosts: Paul Thurrott and Leo Laporte

Macworld and iTunes tax, Ballmer at CES, Windows 7 and Windows Live, and more.

Guest: Mary-Jo Foley

Macworld 2009

Well, at least they focused on the Mac for a change.
iTunes goes DRM-free.
But what about the iTunes tax? All or nothing to convert existing songs.
Also, Microsoft raises Apple Tax issues.

CES

Ballmer keynote
Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 public beta
Windows Live Essentials is finalized
Windows Mobile? No discussion of version 7, Zune Mobile
No discussion of Vista numbers (Why: SEC; earnings announce soon)
No discussion of Windows 7 schedule, SKUs (Why: Still working on it)
Schedule: WinLive Wave 3 first, then IE 8, then Windows 7
Confirmed: Only one Beta release for Windows 7
No discussion of Windows Home Server? Weird. I’ve had one of the new HPs for awhile … excellent
There are new home server partners — new versions of the OS are coming this year too
Xbox 360: 28 million sold so far

Software of the week: Windows 7 Beta available starting Friday

Tip of the week: Use Windows 7 Play To … to send content around the house.

Audible pick of the week: American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, Unabridged, By Jon Meacham, Narrated by Richard McGondale.

Check out Paul’s blog at the SuperSite for Windows for more information.

get yours here.

iron wil

TWiT [#160] NetCast

Iron Wil — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:08:05 +0000

The Large Dvorak Collider

Hosts: Leo Laporte, John C. Dvorak, Patrick Norton, and Ryan Block

Open Microblogging Bear Hug, it’s not gold Jerry, new Nanos, Spore DNA DRM, and more.

Links to all our stories are at http://del.icio.us/twit/160.

Audible pick of the week: Get two free audiobooks when you sign up for Audible’s Platinum offer at Audible.com/twit2.

get yours here.

iron wil

Windows Weekly [#66] NetCast

Iron Wil — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 18:18:09 +0000

Jumping The Obese Monolith

Hosts: Paul Thurrott and Leo Laporte

Windows 7, XP moseys, IE8, Equipt, SmartScreen, Wireless Migrator, Digsby, and more.

Topics:

Randall Stross Jumps the Shark
Dear Windows 7 Programmers, I Have a Few Ideas
Microsoft Equipt
AT&T iPhone pricing revealed
Internet Explorer 8 security features revealed
Biggies: SmartScreen Filter replacing Phishing Filter, many ActiveX changes

News of the week:

RealNetworks Rhapsody goes DRM-free MP3 (not for subscription service)
XP heads into the sunset, life goes on
60 percent of people online are not using up-to-date browsers

Vista tip of the week: Change file type associations

Software of the week: Wireless Migrator

Also: Digsby, which combines IM, social networking, and email notifications

Audible.com book of the week: Stuff White People Like: The Definitive Guide to the Unique Taste of Millions By Christian Lander

Check out Paul’s blog at http://www.internet-nexus.com and the SuperSite for Windows http://winsupersite.com for more information.

get yours here.

iron wil

RIAA drops suit against AllofMP3!

Iron Wil — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 19:04:35 +0000

I find this to be an interesting issue. The original AllofMP3 has been offline for some time & MP3Sparks is the new website. The RIAA has really put the thumb screws on and enlisted Visa & Mastercard to help put the kibosh on those trying to spend money on the music being sold there. Personally, I like the site & service. It is one of hte few places that I think the price is fair.

Yeah, I just said that.

I have to be honest, I buy from iTunes and I have purchased music from both sites. I understand that the RIAA is having a hard time dealing with the transition to New Media Distribution. That is fine, but they have to realize that ‘their’ customers don’t want music to exist the same way it has in the past 100 years or so. The internet is here and the sneaker-net has always been around. They need to embrace and lead the movement into the digital frontier.

Forget DRM it is dead.

The sooner they understand that the better off we all will be. The ‘people’ or the ‘masses’ will always find a way to beat the systems they put in place. There will always be someone working on a way to crack, hack, rip, burn, and get that content into a DRM-free medium.

Personally, I think Apple’s FairPlay is pretty reasonable. I can burn the music & then if I want it in MP3 format I will have to rip it & that can be a lot of work. Especially since I have 2 Macs and an iPod; with more Macs & iPhones on the list for the next few years.

MP3 is the way music should be delivered and in the highest quality possible. It will never be as good as live; but recorded music has never been that good.

I expect that in 10 to 15 years it will be history and the world & the recoding industry will have moved on. For now the war wages on.

If you want the whole story see the Ars Technica article and make the hop to Bloomberg for more.

iron wil

Amazon MP3, now with triple OS Support

Iron Wil — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 18:51:29 +0000

I don’t know if Amazon MP3 [Downloader] has recently added support for [or always had] Linux distributions. The four distro’s are Ubuntu, OpenSuse, Debian and Fedora, this downloader will allow you to download your audio files from Amazon without having to stay on the website. There is also a downloader for OS X and Windows.

Personally, this is a feature [or tool] that I really like. I have not used this one. I have used two others and I really liked being able to walk away and not worry about getting kicked out of the website before all the files are downloaded.

Check it out their content, I have heard good and bad; however, they are DRM free!

iron wil

LifeHacker’s 23 iTunes Add-ons

Iron Wil — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 13:39:35 +0000

In hitting the news and information sites I came across a post on LifeHacker that provides 23 different tools to use with iTunes. These enhancements are for Mac and PC and I will be testing some of them myself.

One that I am really interested in is YouControl which allows you to control iTunes from the Menu Bar. I really like this concept because it will mean not having to jump back and forth between different Spaces just to rate music. Having to switch application windows is a real pain when I am focused on a specific task.

Other applications include a DRM stripper, Cover Art displays that float on your desktop, AppleScripts, and several more.

go to LifeHacker’s post.

iron wil

New Free Software Magazine [#20] published!

Iron Wil — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 11:40:42 +0000

Issue 20 of Free Software Magazine has hit the virtual newsstand!

Mauro Bieg talks about DRM, while our tips&tricks hosts, Gary and Andrew, uncover more GNU/Linux secrets. Andrew Min then tells you how to have the best-looking desktop with Compiz Fusion. Scott Carpenter and Gary Richmond talk about Nautilus and Konqueror in their respective articles, Solveig Haugland comes back to FSM talking about OpenOffice.org… and these are just some of the articles in the User Space section!

The hackers can rejoice reading David Welton’s Hecl (yes, he created it!), how to install a UPS (Ken Leyba), live in command line (Andrew Min), MySQL management (Alan Berg), running a free software project (John Calcote) and much more. This issue is a real feast. Now it’s up to you to enjoy it: it’s free as in freedom.

Read it here.

iron wil