A lot of stuff has gone down since I last blogged, my friends. I am now running Linux, there is two iPods in my household, and neither of them is the one I originally had, and, I am a plant for Apple? What? More coming, in future blog entires.
I've changed the title of my Vox blog from "A Midatumn Tech Blog Classic," a play on the Baseball All-Star Game, to "1,827 Miles From The Golden Gates." The Golden Gates are of course, the Golden Gate Bridge, in San Francisco, and of course, the center of the technology world, and almost everything I write about. I find it fitting. I think I'll change my title once a quarter.
Just a note, in Wisconsin today, it was 6 degrees, with wind chill, it was -12, while, in San Francisco, it was a sunny 64 degrees. Hmmm, seems like Jamaica to me.
Hmmm, I knew there was a lot of socialist-types in Europe that believe that all human information should be free, but not like this...
Has you may know from my previous blog entries, in my US History class, we had to make a powerpoint with music in it. (See my struggles below with mine and DRM, which, according to a keen reader, apperantly aren't due to the DRM) Today, we presented these powerpoints, and the best one was done by a foreign exchange student.
I won't name him, but his powerpoint was good, and his piece of music was "Over The Rainbow". You know, not the Judy Garland one, but that other one sung by a man. The one that everybody knows, but can't recall it. They play in TV shows during funerals, but no one really knows. When everybody questioned the student about who did it, he said "Louis Armstrong". Everybody was pretty excited. A few kids yelled out getting it off Limewire. Even I, was enchanted about the song, and I planned to get it on iTunes. I look on the student's folder, and sure enough, the .mp3 is labeled "Over The Rainbow - Louis Armstrong.mp3".
So, I get home, and do a quick search on iTunes. "Over The Rainbow". Nothing by ol' Louie Armstrong. "Louis Armstrong". No Rainbow here. I'm confused, but then, it hits me. I boot up Frostwire, the open-source version of Limewire, and do a search for "over the rainbow louis armstrong" and sure enough, there it is. Lots of copies.
I go back to iTunes and put in a search for Over The Rainbow again. The most popular version is by a Hawaiian singer named Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. I use the preview feature and guess what... apparently, some years after his death, Louis Armstrong renamed himself Israel, and moved to Hawaii, gained 750 pounds (I.K. has he's known by his fans, was morbidly obese. He, himself died in '97, heart attack). </sarcasm>
This is not uncommon. When Napster was everywhere, and before we knew P2P sharing was a crime, I downloaded "Closing Time" by Green Day, only to find later that song was produced by Semisonic, not Green Day. There has been a few other songs like this, where on P2P sites are mislabeled.
So, I've caught the student in a crime. What do I do? Nothing. I won't even tell the teacher. Not only will this make me look like a super nerd and narc, the .mp3 was used for education purposes, which is under Fair Use. Not to mention, I think 95% of my US History class used pirated .mp3's for their presentations. Some, had the songs stream off of internet radio sites. Others, like me, brought in legal .mp3's.
So, I guess I'm left with a smug smile. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to listen to my legally purchased iTunes .mp4 verison of Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's "Over The Rainbow"....
I won't to pretend to be the one breaking the news that James Kim didn't make it. You probably read it else where. I'm saddened by it, since I really was praying that he would make it.
I actually don't remember seeing James Kim on TechTV when it was on, but then again, I didn't remember Robert Heron either. I was first introduced to him when I downloaded CNET's MP3 Insider podcast. Honestly, I didn't like the style of podcast, and I unsubscribed.
A month ago, when I was shopping for a MP3 player, I read James' review of the iPod G5. Fast forward to last week, in a "webisode" of CNET's Buzz Out Loud, Tom Merritt commented about how he had to fill into James Kim's usual post with Veronica Belmont on their MP3 Insider. I shrugged it off, and enjoyed the daily dose of BOL.
Then, I decided to come back to Vox by chance, actually, and saw that Leo updated his blog, and saw the entry about James, only 20 minutes after he posted it. Of course, James' name rang a bell, since Tom Merritt mentioned it only a few days prior. I ran to CNET.com, and have been following the case via CNET.com, and the blogs of various tech journalists.
At any rate, I checked CNET at school and saw the headline on the CNET landing page, "James Kim found, status unknown." I assumed he was ok, but when I got home and told my mom, she informed me that CNN was reporting that "that internet guy didn't make it."
And thats where we are now. Its a very sad story. Both CNET, and the tech news industry, not to mention his family, have faced a serious lost today.
Rest in peace, James.
Short interlude from my opinions on tech...
It just snowed 10" here, and they've canceled the school day. My poor mom still has to go to work. For me, a day of laying around, playing my Xbox and listening to podcasts. Not a bad day at all.
In a much sadder and serious note, CNET (formerly of TechTV) personality James Kim and his family are missing after a trip to Oregon. They had some real nasty weather there this week, so hopefully his family and him are in a hotel somewhere, and his cell phone is drained and he forgot his charger or something. Real sad story. Here's the CNET link. CNET editor James Kim, family missing
Well, once again, DRM proved to stop digital technology....
For a US History project, I needed to do a Power Point, and set some music to it that was representive of the idea of "Fearlessness". I picked out "Duel of the Fates" by John Williams (bit of Star Wars). I had recently gotten the song legally off of iTunes, and tried to pop it into Power Point, but guess what, Power Point wouldn't recongize the protected Mp4 format.
Well, now, I don't know what I'll do. I tried burning the song to CD, and then copy it back to iTunes, so it would come in Mp3, but iTunes 7 was janked, and I couldn't figure out how to do it. I like to fancy myself a technical-adept person (since I've used a computer since I was 3 year old, you know, but maybe I'm kidding myself).
I wanted to use a purchased song in a simple, legal, Fair Use way. I wasn't going to give a copy to every one of my friends, or put it on the internet, I just simply wanted to use it for my power point, and I couldn't because of the stupid lawyers and their DRM.
On the Zune, I believe that technically, its better that the iPod. Bigger screen, better UI, awesome Wi-Fi sharing feature, but its crippled by DRM features. I've seen a Zune at school, and its a very impressive device, but, the lawyers got their hands on it and ruined it. Microsoft's engineers shouldn't be blamed for the Zune, Microsoft's legal team should. Remember, DRM (or Digital Rights Management) isn't protecting our rights, its protecting the rights of the RIAA. What do you have when you have a RIAA lawyer burried up to his neck in sand?
Not enough sand.
Two of my friends, Jake and Bryan, stood in line for PS3's. Stupid? Maybe. We report, you decide. Anyway, I talked with both of them about their experience, and they both told similar stories.
Both of them stood inline for the Xbox 360 last year, and had good things to say about it. They said it was friendly, people playing DS, playing football, joking around, talking about what games to get, and letting people freely leave line for bathroom breaks and getting food from parents and friends in the parking lot.
Fast foward one year, and they said the PS3 line was less friendly. No joking, no football, no DS (or PSP) and arguments if you leave the line and come back ("Hey! That guy was behind me! Get back there you bastard!"). My friend Bryan said a big argument broke out between two groups of people, those people selling it to eBay, and the group who were buying it to play it.
Why is this? Well, my first thought, probably due to my anti-Sony slant the past few months, was that Playstation fans are jagged, and (pardon my French) assholes, compared to Xbox fans, but, maybe there is another angle to this.
Sony has made the PS3 out to be rarer than gold. News stories of people fetching $3000+ on eBay and this being hailed the console to end all consoles have all created a frenzy about this new console. Add in the Wii and this massive Holiday '06, and its kind of a general anxiety.
For now, I'm happy with my PC and Xbox 1. I plan to upgrade both to a faster PC and a Xbox 360, but for now, thats good. (I recently ordered the game Oblivion. Has a fan of its prequel, Morrowind, I'm really excited. Because I had $25 to burn, and I'm impatient, I got Amazon.com next-day shipping. Coming tomorrow, ordered on Sunday. Heh heh.)
I've even got more thoughts on the Wii, where I think its going, and just thoughts. Stay tuned, same Vox time, same Vox channel.
What's on your Top 5 video games list?
Submitted by mileena.
Easy... well, not so.
1. Half-Life (PC, Valve)
2. Halo (Xbox, Bungie)
3. Hitman: Contracts (PC, IO Interactive)
4. Madden NFL 2004 (Xbox, EA Sports) (The last good madden)
5. The Sims 2 (PC, Maxis)
After a lengthy conversation with my friend about the OPM "closing" and me blaming Sony, he brought up an issue I never thought of. Blu-ray.
Has I speculated, OPM probably was doing horribly, and they have those demo disks. Honestly, I don't like demo disks. I've got a few from PC Gamer, OXM and some other magazines, and they aren't that great. They seem so... PS1-era. I don't know, its hard to explain my dislike of demo disks.
Anyway, we all know that Sony's online plan for the PS3 is junk. It supposed to be like Xbox Live... but better... and free. Yeah, right. Anyway, they couldn't finish it before launch, and now, Resistance is shipping with its own game-only online system, a lot like the PS2's online that everybody hated. If the PS3 had a real online system, they could offer download able demos, like XBL, which I would say is better that those damn demo disks.
I'm wayyy off topic. Back ON topic now, my friend thinks the cost of a Blu-ray is too much for a demo disk, and since all the Sony fanboys love their OPM demo disks, Uncle Ziff is worried that they won't buy it. Oh hum.
I'm not positive, but didn't something like this arise when the PS2 and Xbox came out, then the DVD was the format of choice? I mean, I think somebody told me that demo disks for the 7th Generation of Consoles wouldn't happen because DVD's were so darned expensive.
Well, Blu-rays will either fail or become the next big format, and the price will go down. So, despite my hatred of the Blu-ray format, I can't blame that on OPM's demise.
My friends also brought up another point. I have become very anti-Sony in the past few months. I mean, I ripped their throats out on the battery recall, on the PS3's overall design, on the PS3's price, on the rumored price of the PS3 games, on just about everything, including Blu-ray? I thought OPM was the weakest of the 1UP Group's print offerings (yes, even GCW, which I ignored for a rival PC gaming magazine), and when I suspect Sony shutting them down, I suddenly defend them. How did I come such an anti-Sony guy? Who knows. I think its just a reaction, since everybody thinks the PS3 will be teh rock, and I naturally think it'll be the worst of the "big three", so I'm going into defensive mode. Oh well, I think I'll be proven right on PS3, Sony and Blu-ray. I doubt the general public will ever know.
Oddly enough, I didn't like OPM, but I subscribed to their podcast feed so I can hear their thoughts on the closing, but thats the only reason. I don't own a PS2 (my suffered a terrible accident after 2 weeks) and I don't plan on getting a PS3, but I want to hear the staff's comments.
This is what THEY should do. Go the shock jock route and totally bitch out everybody who canceled OPM and name names and give reasons. Well, they probably don't want to burn bridges with Ziff, but honestly, I think that would be going out in a blaze of glory.
Then again, that would be a hell of a bad job reference when they try to go get a job at some other magazine.
Today, Ziff-Davis Media (magazine publisher, former owner of TechTV, well, ZDTV), announced they were closing the doors on OPM, the Official Playstation Magazine. I'm going to assume on why.
Despite popular belief, ZD pays Sony a regular annual fee to use the "Official Playstation" name and logos, and thats where it ends. They might get one or two stories a day or two early, but they are very.. unofficial, less so than people think. If I wanted to start an unofficial Atari 2600 magazine, I could, as long has I just said it was being made without permission of Codemasters or whoever owns Atari now.
I'm going to guess that Sony raised the price of the Official Playstation for the PS3. Why? Because, they're retarded. Sony is honestly, one of the stupidest companies right now. That whole battery crap, their design choices in the PS3, that overpriced and overpowered Cell Processor, and I could go on and on.
Now, I haven't spent my time crawling the Ziff Davis stock reports, but I would bargain that OPM was the lowest magazine on their subscription, but still, it looked good for Ziff and got the Playstation name. ZD's game magazine group in way in the hole, they've spent like over a million their budget, I believe., and Sony raising their price was too much.
If the PS3 looks bad this holiday season, look to rumors of Mitsubishi or some other big Japanese Conglomerate buying Sony. Personally, I hope they do. Sony needs the good press.
