Put the knife down and take a green herb, dude. (c) Ruffin Bailey 2001-2021

Those awaiting a clever connection between the two topics might as well hit BACK now.

Another move showing Apple's comfortable without DRM:

Bloomberg reports that customers who purchased the iPhone in Germany after November 19th may have their iPhone unlocked for free. Existing German iPhone customers can reportedly also receive the unlock for a fee.
...
This introduces legitimate unlocked iPhones into the marketplace that will presumably withstand future iPhone software updates.

Interesting. I don't know enough about cell phones, so perhaps unlocking phones is pretty trivial on any cell platform, but at the very least this quick swap suggests to me Apple planned to have an unlocked iPhone, at least as a plan B, essentially from the start. Of course, what does Apple care? (Apparently about $900 a unit.)

Also had someone show me that the first season of WKRP in Cincinnati has, in spite of its inherent trouble of containing loads of music that must be licensed, been released on DVD. Two things of note. First, the music has, in large degree, been changed. I wonder if the changes don't favor tunes for which FOX owns the licenses. Second, the collection contains the syndicated (and therefore apparently slightly shorter) versions of the shows. I wonder if the two together don't mean that we can finally expect to see the show on broadcast (or cable) again soon.

I kinda like this user review from Amazon:

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Fox Corporate marketing ruins an experience, September 14, 2007
By commonman "tampadad3" (Tampa, Florida USA) -

Thanks for NOTHING FOX! Years I've waited for the chance to see the WKRP show again, and what happens - Fox decides we gotta sell it for $ 19.95 cause, well, gee, that's a magic number isn't it? And so to ensure to sticker price meets some marketing guru's vision, they make a DVD with elevator music and cut out not only the original songs, but too much of the dialog and scenes that occurred during the songs.

If my wild guess is right, Mr. tampadad3 is simply thinking too small. It's one thing to buy the rights for a few hundred (ha) thousand DVD sets, and another to get a package ready for rebroadcast.

I don't see anyone complaining about the quality of the DVD either. Perhaps it really did get a good cleanup on its way back to the [video] air?

So there we go... As I always say, copyright weirds language or loves David Hasselhoff or something.

I've been envious of folk with digital SLRs for years, and think, on the death of our main point & shoot camera, that I might finally take the plunge. I've been studying up on Nikon's options, as I've been using their camera bodies for about a quarter-century now. In Popular Photography's intro to the newest models, I found the following particularly interesting:

Both the Canon and Nikon models can accept an accessory wireless device for Wi-Fi transmission of images or to link to a GPS system or external storage drive.

That's a neat idea... no longer are you stuck with local flash cards, you can now take a picture and immediately stick it, well, if done right, anywhere on the web. Your "film" is limited only by your connectivity and server space, making the camera a much thinner client than it's been in the recent past.

(I also like the D3's ability to use two flash cards for either overflow, when you're taking pictures like crazy, or for instant redundancy. Seems like a no-brainer to have a second memory card slot on cameras, but nothing short of the insanely priced pro model has it. Perhaps that's just the database admin in me.)

I'm not sure the fight between thin and thick clients will ever end. There are some beautiful things you can do with a full-fledged, local email client, but Gmail's interface is something to behold, usable on most any Internet capable computer you can put your hands on. I'm often reminded of how much nicer a local app is when I'm doing online banking or shopping at, say, eBay or Amazon. There will always be a place for the local app, it would appear, if only because there are so many fewer barriers to innovation for your programmer pool, but there will always be places where thin is in, and naturally so, as I feel is the case with cameras.

Blatherific Wednesday, I guess.

title: Put the knife down and take a green herb, dude.	descrip: One feller's views on the state of everyday computer science & its application (and now, OTHER STUFF) who isn't rich enough to shell out for www.myfreakinfirst-andlast-name.com Using 89% of the same design the blog had in 2001.
FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY!!! Back-up your data and, when you bike, always wear white. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Affiliate links in green.
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Thursday, November 29, 2007
Vista: It's a whole new Windows Was thinking yesterday Microsoft should've gone the route the anti-trust folk were floating for a while: Release several different, competing versions of the OS. We've essentially got that going on now with Vista vs. XP, though one's purposefully end of lifed. Seriously, though, Vista does many things that don't follow the years of training people have gotten while using 3.1-XP. DLL Hell is not just a programmer's nightmare, it's also shaped the way installers work and apps behave and created work-arounds that are now part of the OS's culture. Not restarting after you install a new app is nice, but how many of us wonder if we shouldn't anyway? Vista is good at security, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate it telling me when a background app is trying to phone home. XP is best at providing a standard Windows experience. The first needs a name change. My suggestion after seconds of thought is Microsoft SecurityOS. Here's another recent example of what's going on in Vista that makes me think MS should've called it a new OS, and popped up when I asked a recent app to give me its "introductory tour". Why can't I get Help from this program? The Help for this program was created in Windows Help format, which was used in previous versions of Windows and it is not supported in Windows Vista. For more information, see Windows Help program (WinHlp32.exe) is no longer included with Windows on the Microsoft support website. Nice. Reminds me of the wacky Aero error and DVD incompatibilities I received earlier. If I'm supposed to think this is Windows, I have to wonder, is this OS really done? posted by ruffin at 11/29/2007 05:58:00 PM

Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Verizon continues the war on the meaning of "Open" The title of this article from CNN.com is a little misleading, "Verizon Wireless To Open Network To Apps, Devices," but it's still exciting news. Verizon Wireless said Tuesday that it would allow any device or software to run on its wireless network as it heeds the industry call for more openness. This isn't Free as in Beer "Open", mind you; you still have to pay to play on the network. Verizon's doing nothing particularly altruistic here. You won't be using "unlocked" devices from Verizon due to whatever's behind this announcement. As a developer, however, rejoice. This is all about the removal of barriers to entry in the wireless market, and it allows you to go well beyond 802.11 hotspots with your garage creations. I'm excited, but cautiously so until the pricing rears its proverbially nasty head. posted by ruffin at 11/27/2007 07:28:00 PM

Saturday, November 24, 2007
(C) = WKRP && iPhone Those awaiting a clever connection between the two topics might as well hit BACK now. Another move showing Apple's comfortable without DRM: Bloomberg reports that customers who purchased the iPhone in Germany after November 19th may have their iPhone unlocked for free. Existing German iPhone customers can reportedly also receive the unlock for a fee. ... This introduces legitimate unlocked iPhones into the marketplace that will presumably withstand future iPhone software updates. Interesting. I don't know enough about cell phones, so perhaps unlocking phones is pretty trivial on any cell platform, but at the very least this quick swap suggests to me Apple planned to have an unlocked iPhone, at least as a plan B, essentially from the start. Of course, what does Apple care? (Apparently about $900 a unit.) Also had someone show me that the first season of WKRP in Cincinnati has, in spite of its inherent trouble of containing loads of music that must be licensed, been released on DVD. Two things of note. First, the music has, in large degree, been changed. I wonder if the changes don't favor tunes for which FOX owns the licenses. Second, the collection contains the syndicated (and therefore apparently slightly shorter) versions of the shows. I wonder if the two together don't mean that we can finally expect to see the show on broadcast (or cable) again soon. I kinda like this user review from Amazon: 12 of 13 people found the following review helpful: 1.0 out of 5 stars Fox Corporate marketing ruins an experience, September 14, 2007 By commonman "tampadad3" (Tampa, Florida USA) - Thanks for NOTHING FOX! Years I've waited for the chance to see the WKRP show again, and what happens - Fox decides we gotta sell it for $ 19.95 cause, well, gee, that's a magic number isn't it? And so to ensure to sticker price meets some marketing guru's vision, they make a DVD with elevator music and cut out not only the original songs, but too much of the dialog and scenes that occurred during the songs. If my wild guess is right, Mr. tampadad3 is simply thinking too small. It's one thing to buy the rights for a few hundred (ha) thousand DVD sets, and another to get a package ready for rebroadcast. I don't see anyone complaining about the quality of the DVD either. Perhaps it really did get a good cleanup on its way back to the [video] air? So there we go... As I always say, copyright weirds language or loves David Hasselhoff or something. posted by ruffin at 11/24/2007 06:43:00 PM

Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Gruber on Kindle Gruber agrees with mfn on Amazon's Kindle. Always nice to see. So the Kindle proposition is this: You pay for downloadable books that can’t be printed, can’t be shared, and can’t be displayed on any device other than Amazon’s own $400 reader — and whether they’re readable at all in the future is solely at Amazon’s discretion. That’s no way to build a library. Would be nice to have a blog that pulls down enough dough to quit the day job. Then maybe mfn would have the same quality writing instead of lots of first-run drafts. ;^) Kindle 0, Codex, well, Codex probably has millions of points by now. posted by ruffin at 11/21/2007 06:48:00 AM

Monday, November 19, 2007
Amazon's New eBook: Give it up already Remember how calendar software used to show you months like they were off of real calendars? That is, if you were at November 28th, you couldn't see what you had in store on Dec 1st without "ripping off" November? Even though they were right next to each other and there was no reason the computer couldn't display both on the same screen, many programmers used an old style interface in a digital box for no good reason other than a lack of creativity. I think the Amazon Kindle is the same deal. We've already seen how you do text in a digital interface, and it doesn't look like a book. If you want a book, use one. They're cheap, allow nearly limitless opportunity for marginalia, and handle the elements fairly well, all things considered. Flipping from page to dogeared page won't ever be replicated, I doubt. They're like having as many monitors as you have pairs of pages, with each display waiting for you to flip it open again, however you like. This was a poor ode to a codex, but I think the point is pretty clear. You can't better a legacy design by sticking to it unnecessarily, which is why eBook hardware hasn't and won't replace our book obsession any time soon. If you want to read something like a book, buy a book. If you want to read digital text, buy an ultraportable -- for the same price as Amazon's much more closed, overly specialized hardware. People read text on digital devices already. People read books on digital devices already. These devices are called personal computers, and they don't try to do what books do. (Don't even get me started about the inability to slap useful DRM on books. Do you really need another reason to keep shelling out for pulp? I am a little upset about book prices these days ($8 for a paperback and $28 for a hardback?!!), but I'll save that one too.) posted by ruffin at 11/19/2007 08:06:00 PM

Saturday, November 17, 2007
Public Domain Meets Amazon Unbox Amazon has some familiar free movies at Unbox: Free Movie Comedies Charade \| Chaplin Mutuals: Behind the Screen \| His Girl Friday \| Laurel and Hardy: Lost Films \| My Man Godfrey Free Movie Dramas The Snows of Kilimanjaro \| Battleship Potemkin \| House on Haunted Hill \| Love Affair \| Man With the Golden Arm Sometimes I think it's dishonest to DRM public domain or, even if this is unDRM'd, which I doubt, package this up in a fairly closed fashion. Archive.org, for example, has tons of these ready for download. That's a much better source for grabbing free movies, rather than use them as enticements to learn how to use Unbox. But that's just neurotic me. posted by ruffin at 11/17/2007 08:32:00 PM

Friday, November 16, 2007
External Laptop Video Cards & Universal Docks Here's another note to self of something I keep forgetting... External video cards for Windows laptops with ExpressCard slots are ... the Asus XG Station ... and the MSI Luxium. Neither have been released yet, dang it, though at least the Asus is well past it's initial release date. Really are neat pieces of hardware. Speaking of, my Vostro doesn't have a dock interface, so I'm looking to use one from another neat set of hardware, the universal laptop dock. These things use a single USB port (talking about heavenly; I take this thing out a good deal, and hate it when I forget to reattach one of [select one or more] my external drive, scanner, and/or printer.) The universal docks also do video to a limited degree straight through USB 2.0. Cute. Contenders are... Kensington's options -- With parallel port, no video -- with video, no parallel port (vista driver here) Targus -- with video The downside of 'em seems to be cruddy video, but, well, duh, it's through the USB port. I wonder how much performance suffers when you're pulling ethernet, video, and whatever disc I/O you need through a single port (guess I could do some mathes), but that seems awfully k3wl. End notes to self for today. Labels: noteToSelf posted by ruffin at 11/16/2007 05:40:00 PM

Thursday, November 15, 2007
Google Blogger API: Keywords Note to self... HowToAddALabel - google-gdata - Google Code: Details Use this to add a label: AtomCategory category = new AtomCategory(); category.Term = 'labelToDisplay'; category.Scheme = 'http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#'; entry.Categories.Add(category); A label is, therefore, just another category. Hope that's right -- that that's a keyword. We'll see after I get 300 megs of VS Express downloaded. Labels: api, Google posted by ruffin at 11/15/2007 08:50:00 PM

Monday, November 12, 2007
Apple Java Devvers: Get Real Personally, I think this post by Daring Fireball author, Mr. Gruber, sums up the lack of Java 6 on OS X 10.5 fairly well. Daring Fireball: Shipping Means Prioritizing: The only way to ship software is to prioritize, and prioritizing means dropping things that are less essential in exchange for things that are more essential. Obviously, for Apple, Java 6 is not a priority. And, judging by reports that even Java 5 support is worse on Leopard than it was on Tiger, Java as a whole is not a priority for Apple. Poor Java support on Apple is nothing new. Java 2 never made its way to OS 9 and earlier, though let me tell you, the members of Apple's java-dev list were clammering for it like mad. (And once they got it, the complaint was, "Where's my Java3D NOW?!!!") What people seem to miss is that, unlike Windows and Linux, Apple is fielding Java in-house. Sun isn't creating Apple's VM; Apple is. Ask Microsoft what priority Java is for them. They'll tell you it isn't on the map. Linux? Better, and the Blackdown Java port was awfully impressive. You could get Java 2 on Mac hardware more quickly by installing Linux on your PowerPC than waiting for Apple's Java 2 in OS X. Still, I'd imagine most Linux-ites hacking Java use Sun's now. That Apple does Java at all is impressive. That every OS X box has Java 1.3+ out of the box is great news. That Apple has given Java all sorts of platform-specific extensions and then broken them with reckless abandon is a bit of a pain, but taken together just make another reason that any Java developer should have seen 10.5's poor support coming. Look, if you've got Apple hardware and still want to look k3wl at JavaOne, create a partition and dual-boot Linux. Whining over. posted by ruffin at 11/12/2007 10:38:00 AM

Wednesday, November 07, 2007
SLR Cameras go Thin Client I've been envious of folk with digital SLRs for years, and think, on the death of our main point & shoot camera, that I might finally take the plunge. I've been studying up on Nikon's options, as I've been using their camera bodies for about a quarter-century now. In Popular Photography's intro to the newest models, I found the following particularly interesting: Both the Canon and Nikon models can accept an accessory wireless device for Wi-Fi transmission of images or to link to a GPS system or external storage drive. That's a neat idea... no longer are you stuck with local flash cards, you can now take a picture and immediately stick it, well, if done right, anywhere on the web. Your "film" is limited only by your connectivity and server space, making the camera a much thinner client than it's been in the recent past. (I also like the D3's ability to use two flash cards for either overflow, when you're taking pictures like crazy, or for instant redundancy. Seems like a no-brainer to have a second memory card slot on cameras, but nothing short of the insanely priced pro model has it. Perhaps that's just the database admin in me.) I'm not sure the fight between thin and thick clients will ever end. There are some beautiful things you can do with a full-fledged, local email client, but Gmail's interface is something to behold, usable on most any Internet capable computer you can put your hands on. I'm often reminded of how much nicer a local app is when I'm doing online banking or shopping at, say, eBay or Amazon. There will always be a place for the local app, it would appear, if only because there are so many fewer barriers to innovation for your programmer pool, but there will always be places where thin is in, and naturally so, as I feel is the case with cameras. Blatherific Wednesday, I guess. posted by ruffin at 11/07/2007 10:18:00 AM

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