Adobe is now playing around with DRM in Flash. What are the possible implications? Well, sites like YouTube will not have as much content because people possibly may not be able to download Flash Video (FLV) files.
It’s entirely possible to read too much into this to claim Adobe is trying to be like Microsoft. It’s not like they’ve done anything suspicious in the past that couldn’t be explained.
Now Adobe, which controls Flash and Flash Video, is trying to change that with the introduction of DRM restrictions in version 9 of its Flash Player and version 3 of its Flash Media Server software. Instead of an ordinary web download, these programs can use a proprietary, secret Adobe protocol to talk to each other, encrypting the communication and locking out non-Adobe software players and video tools. We imagine that Adobe has no illusions that this will stop copyright infringement — any more than dozens of other DRM systems have done so — but the introduction of encryption does give Adobe and its customers a powerful new legal weapon against competitors and ordinary users through the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
It’s a competitive move to go up against Microsoft Silverlight and it’s entirely possible that this DRM, like others, will be circumvented in some way. All I care about is that pretty soon it could mean when the next Chocolate Rain hits the tubes we’ll be stuck with that and NO remixes like this. And if I can’t have a YouTube with Chocolate Rain/Souljaboy Remixes, well, I don’t want any YouTube at all.
Read More
Not being American I don’t really follow the politics, but I am a fan of internet. American politicians are really upping the campaign ante now, getting more and more involved in the online arena. While I’m sure you’re already friends with your favourite politician on Myspace or even Facebook, there’s an interesting trend of the internet as a viable and noteworthy campaign tool.
YouTube
This isn’t terribly new, but politicians know about the YouTube. Why YouTube has become the political success it is, really is beyond me, but those wacky Republicans and Democrats have their own YouTube profiles now.
I’m thinking the word “Tube” is the real reason for its popularity, because the internet is not, in fact, a dump-truck, but a series of tubes.
Political tech-savvy varies. We all know for a fact that Al Gore invented the internet, while others think the internet fills up.
It’s funny because they’re supposed to be serious.
Even more than just putting up YouTube profiles, politicians need to realize that people use the internet for fun. If you want to teach children inside a Chuck E. Cheese, you should dress in something other than a suit. That probably makes no sense, but what does make sense is playing on what’s popular. It’s no secret that people get their news solely from places such as The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Some people may be surprised and even concerned about this, but it’s the reality, so you’ve got to roll with the punches. I personally get all my news from The Onion, but that’s a different story.
I could care less about The Sopranos, but quite a few people watch it. When they ended the series with an abrupt cut at the end of the final episode, people were talking and the Clintons knew when to strike.
While it’s not comedy, the entertainment value is there, you know, chuckling over them actually doing something like that.
Then came Mike Huckabee, playing on the popular Chuck Norris facts. Chuck Norris facts is a meme which consists of “facts” with questionable merit about the manly man, such as:
Some kids piss their name in the snow. Chuck Norris can piss his name into concrete.
Is there a potential problem doing something like this and being taken seriously? For the target demographic, probably not. Then again, why not have fun when nobody is going to vote for you? (I kid!)
Putting the You in YouTube
Aside from having an online presence, people like to get in on the action too. They want to give their opinions on the things they care about, as will be illustrated by the friendly comments on this post saying this has nothing to do with UNEASYsilence.
CNN will be having debates where you, the viewer get the upload questions to YouTube that will be “answered” or craftily worked around, if you will.
It’s a big, big world out there
Apparently politicians travel. A lot. America is a big place and they have to connect with all you people. But how ever will you know when your politician of choice is in the area when you’re always inside refreshing this site for a new update? By checking them out on eventful, of course. Hillary Clinton is like a rock star, so she has to have a site giving your her tour dates, right? Knowing when Barack is nearby is a search away.
Pics or it never happened
What’s traveling if you don’t have pictures to cherish the memories? Follow Barack and Hillary on Flickr. Now you can criticize politicians for their health policy and the the fact that they’re using the Nikon D40 and not the D40x which has more MP, thought it doesn’t matter since they’re use a better lens. Or whatever photogs go on about.
Witty Comment About Digg
Politicians are in the news, in fact they are news, so why not be their friend on the largest social networking website out there? Digg’s elections page allows you to be friends with any politicians savvy enough to have a profile. Maybe you’ll rethink voting for Chris Dodd after that hilarious comment he made on the “Don’t Taze Me Bro” video. You never know. Get your friend connection on digg here.
It’s interesting to see this approach to the new media, though it’s really no surprise politicians will do anything to get votes. Maybe now democrats and republicans alike will have closer connections with the people, fostering a better sense of caring for people and the issues that support them, thanks to the interactivity of the internet. Or maybe they’ll stop updating everything after they drop out or lose at the polls on election day. That seems more likely.
This is surprising. It seems a recent story that made the rounds among the popular tech blogs may not have been anything to write about in the first place.
As I tried to search for where the story originated, I stumbled into the blogging equivalent of a childhood game of telephone. How exactly did this rumor spread in 3 days from a small energy news site to some of the highest trafficked auto & technology blogs on the web? Could Wired, GizModo, Engadget, Jalopnik, etc. really have been part of such a badly spun web of news?
Someone actually went to the source to get the facts for a story and discovered all the blogs were going on and on about nothing. Crazy, I know. It’s an interesting read, but it begs the question: do you treat blogs as a legitimate news source? Do you take what you read on UNEASY, or Engadget or Gizmodo as gospel, or do you accept that you should take things with a grain, nay, big old bag of salt?
The Apple mobile phone has done nothing less then stir controversy – this time in germany.
The German unit of Vodafone Group PLC has obtained a restraining order against Deutsche Telekom AG’s (DT) T-Mobile unit prohibiting the German telecommunications giant from selling Apple Inc.’s iPhone in Germany.
Vodafone is questioning Deutsche Telekom’s iPhone sales practices, the spokesman said. Deutsche Telekom is marketing the iPhone exclusively in Germany.
Specifically, Vodafone is questioning the iPhone’s exclusive use in T-Mobile’s network and the use of the device being limited to certain fees within T- Mobile’s subscription offerings.
November 19, 2007 by Dan in
News,Tech with
Comments Off
In a time where BitTorrent trackers are being shut down faster then they go up, Mininova has reached it’s millionth uploaded torrent.
Torrent number 1,000,000 was uploaded yesterday by an anonymous user. Unfortunately, the memorable torrent has no seeds, which makes it likely that it wont be around much longer.
One million uploaded torrents is a great accomplishment, especially if you consider that Mininova only allows user uploads. Contrary to what most people assume, Mininova doesn’t scrape any torrents from other websites, all the torrents hosted on the website are uploaded by its users.
With that being said, how long do you think Mininova will operate considering the increasing pressure on governments and ISP’s hosting BitTorrent trackers.
Roh, Roh. Vonage is in a small bit of trouble. A US appeals court has refused to revalue their patent dispute against Verizon and agreed that previously decided penalties of $120 million should stand.
Vonage settled the infringement suit on Oct. 25 after Verizon won both a jury verdict and an appeal in the case. The accord left open the amount to be paid until the appeals court decided whether to grant Vonage’s request for reconsideration.
Legal costs have eaten into Vonage’s cash flow and may increase its risk of bankruptcy. The Holmdel, New Jersey-based company said yesterday that it may not have enough money to pay $253.5 million in debt due as early as December 2008. Vonage, which generated cash of $22.5 million in the third quarter, will try to restructure the debt.
Seems like Vonage just can’t get any luck. Thankfully the $120 million settlement ends all patent disputes and should allow the company to proceed without fear of further litigation.
Well, here it is. Hulu, the site that will be make available full shows from FOX and NBC is rolling out, and the initial reviews are pretty good. The site will offer users full shows such as Family Guy (woot!), American Dad! (woot!) Journeyman (woot!), 24 (bleh) and Battlestar Galactica (yuck). Interestingly enough, the shows will be available on outside sources, such as AOL, Yahoo! and MSN. At the end of the day, don’t people still want the small clips? Will Hulu make more popular clips like ‘Lazy Sunday’ available? Perhaps. I’ll save my own judgment when Hulu launches to the public. Oh wait…not being in the US means I can’t see any of the videos. Anyone with info on bypassing, do let me know. And proxies really don’t seem to work.
Read More
A man who urinated on a dying woman saying it was “YouTube material” has been jailed for 3 years. Anthony Anderson, who was a former Soldier, had smoked some cannabis and was drinking when he and some friends spotted the woman. They threw a bucket of water on her before urinating on her and covering her in shaving cream. The woman died at the scene from pancreatic failure.
Universal Music will begin selling singles on USB drives later this year at £4.99 in the UK while CD singles go for £2.99. The angle here is that they’re offering this because consumers don’t think of CDs as “cool” anymore and will opt to go for the digital version of the songs. Being on USB drives, the extra space means extra content could be available, such as ringtones and music videos. The plan should transition into full albums being available as well while acts to be available include Kanye West and Any Winehouse.
So, what do we think? Personally, this is great, they’re trying something new, but I don’t really care to have a bunch of USB drives. I think people just want to download, period. Who knows where this may lead?
