If you put Microsoft at the center of your home entertainment system, be prepared to hand them the remote control, literally.
Following reports that digital television viewers were blocked from recording the new season of NBC's "Gladiators", Microsoft confirmed that it is preventing users from recording the show. They claim they were acting on behalf of NBC, and are in line with regulations set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in disrupting computer usage based upon the so-called "broadcast flag" that was transmitted alongside the show.
A Microsoft spokesperson told CNET News, "...Windows Media Center fully adheres to the flags used by broadcasters and content owners to determine how their content is distributed and consumed."
What is the broadcast flag?
The broadcast flag is a sequence of information transmitted alongside television programs as a kind of digital order telling viewers to not do certain things, such as record the show or share it with a friend.
Many of the large media companies and the FCC tried to make obeying the broadcast flag a law. However, the Electronic Frontier Foundation took the FCC to court, and US Court of Appeals ruled that the FCC had exceeded its authority, and that no such law could exist. Despite this ruling, it appears that Microsoft has decided to work directly with media companies to implement these rules anyway, restricting how and when you watch television.
Building such a system is no trivial task. To do this, Microsoft has gone to great lengths to restrict users from saving a television program to their computers, we call this kind of functionality an "antifeature," because it takes more work for Microsoft to prevent the user from saving the program, than if they were to leave just the default behavior alone. So instead of letting you record programs as you normally would, it locks you out and deletes the show before you can save it.
However, Microsoft hasn't just made a little tweak to their software to do this -- they have compiled an entire system built upon antifeatures. This antifeature platform is integrated into their Windows Media software and forms the basis of their Windows Vista operating system, and they are working hard to convince companies like NBC, that Microsoft can be in control of how and when you get to watch television. As creepy and as ridiculous as it may sound, this is their business strategy, and by getting this control, both the television and movie industry and computer users will be tied to Microsoft software.
Don't be fooled into their claims that they are following regulations by the FCC -- the court ruled that the FCC has no power to make such regulations. This is also claimed as a measure just to stop unauthorized file sharing, yet what Microsoft is doing is trying to make sure that they are on every end of the market, from how it is delivered, to how you watch it. As Ars Technica reporter Jacqui Cheng puts it, this is not about Microsoft preventing people from sharing files without permission, "[i]t's about the ability to strictly control how we consume content"[2].
Microsoft wants to have that control, and this software is the way they are trying to get it. Software that is designed in this way is known as 'DRM', which stands for 'Digital Rights Management', and yet it is really just another way to restriction how consumers interact with things on their own computers and devices. Because of this restriction, we refer to DRM as 'Digital Restrictions Management'.
The alternative to DRM: free software
By far the best way to avoid DRM, is to refuse to use software that is infected with it. Better yet, you should choose software that tries to do the opposite of DRM -- software that gives you complete control. This kind of software is called "free software," and it is based upon the idea that software carries certain freedoms to you:
*
The freedom to use the software for any reason you wish -- including to the ability to hit the save button when you* wish.
*
The freedom to examine how the software works and make changes, similar to a car engine -- you can remove the bugs or soup it up.
*
The freedom to share the software with your neighbor, like photocopying a newspaper article or sharing class notes with a classmate.
*
The freedom to share your modified software with other people, similar to how mathematics and science have worked for centuries.
Now you may not be a computer programmer, or know how to understand or change computer programs, but there are plenty of people out there who do, and they are likely already making the kinds of fixes and changes you'd like to see, or are often part of a community willing to make those changes for you.
There are thousands of free software programmers, and many thousands of free software programs, and even complete free software operating systems. You usually won't find annoying antifeatures in a program, and if there were one, you can rest assured that other programmers will have removed it by the time you get to use it.
Conversely, software that doesn't give you these freedoms is software you cannot control, and we think that kind of software doesn't belong on your computer. We say, 'free software, free society' -- with free software, if we are each in control of our machines, then we are all in control of how we use them and what we use them for.
And, don't let Apple fool you into thinking that they are the alternative to DRM and Microsoft, they, too have their own DRM schemes, and seek to control the world in their own way, from branding their DRM music player, to entrenching the world in their proprietary formats and DRM music purchasing programs.
The alternative to Windows and Apple is software that you control, software that is guaranteed to give you all of the freedoms you need to be in control. Free software.
There is a good chance you are already using free software, directly, such as using the Firefox web browser, or indirectly, by visiting a Web site that is sending you web pages with the Apache web-server. However, there are also entire, user-friendly operating systems that you can install on almost any laptop or desktop computer. So, if you are running Windows or Mac OS, consider replacing these with a free software based GNU/Linux operating system, such as gNewSense[3].
Using free software will take the control out of Microsoft's hands. With free software, you are in control.
[1]: You can read Mako Hill's article on antifeatures, here: http://www.fsf.org/bulletin/2007/fall/antifeatures/
[2]: It should be noted that this writer refers to a person that shares files as a "pirate," we think this is a bit of an extreme description that should be avoided.http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080514-nbc-vista-copy-protection-snafu-reminds-us-why-drm-stinks.html
[3]: gNewSense, a free software distribution of GNU/Linux http://www.gnewsense.org/
badvista.fsf.org
June 8, 2008
Don't give Microsoft the remote control
What's wrong with Microsoft Windows Vista?
Microsoft's new Windows Vista operating system is a giant step backward for your freedoms.
Usually, new software enables you to do more with your computer. Vista, though, is designed to restrict what you can do.
Vista enforces new forms of “Digital Rights Management (DRM)”. DRM is more accurately called Digital Restrictions Management, because it is a technology that Big Media and computer companies try to impose on us all, in order to have control over how our computers are used.
Technology security expert Bruce Schneier explains it most concisely:
Windows Vista includes an array of “features” that you don't want. These features will make your computer less reliable and less secure. They'll make your computer less stable and run slower. They will cause technical support problems. They may even require you to upgrade some of your peripheral hardware and existing software. And these features won't do anything useful. In fact, they're working against you. They're digital rights management (DRM) features built into Vista at the behest of the entertainment industry—And you don't get to refuse them.
DRM gives power to Microsoft and Big Media.
* They decide which programs you can and can't use on your computer
* They decide which features of your computer or software you can use at any given moment
* They force you to install new programs even when you don't want to (and, of course, pay for the privilege)
* They restrict your access to certain programs and even to your own data files
DRM is enforced by technological barriers. You try to do something, and your computer tells you that you can't. To make this effective, your computer has to be constantly monitoring what you are doing. This constant monitoring uses computing power and memory, and is a large part of the reason why Microsoft is telling you that you have to buy new and more powerful hardware in order to run Vista. They want you to buy new hardware not because you need it, but because your computer needs it in order to be more effective at restricting what you do.
Microsoft and other computer companies sometimes refer to these restrictions as “Trusted Computing.” Given that they are designed to make it so that your computer stops trusting you and starts trusting Microsoft, these restrictions are more appropriately called “Treacherous Computing”.
Even when you legally buy Vista, you don't own it.
Windows Vista, like previous versions of Windows, is proprietary software: leased to you under a license that severely restricts how you can use it, and without source code, so nobody but Microsoft can change it or even verify what it really does.
Microsoft says it best:
The software is licensed, not sold. This agreement only gives you some rights to use the software. Microsoft reserves all other rights. Unless applicable law gives you more rights despite this limitation, you may use the software only as expressly permitted in this agreement. In doing so, you must comply with any technical limitations in the software that only allow you to use it in certain ways.
To make it even more confusing, different versions of Vista have different licensing restrictions. You can read all of the licenses at
http://www.microsoft.com/about/legal/useterms/default.aspx.
It's painful to read the licenses, and this is often why people don't object to them. But if we don't start objecting, we will lose valuable freedoms. Here are some of the ridiculous restrictions you will find in your reading:
* If your copy of Vista came with the purchase of a new computer, that copy of Vista may only be legally used on that machine, forever.
* If you bought Vista in a retail store and installed it on a machine you already owned, you have to completely delete it on that machine before you can install it on another machine.
* You give Microsoft the right, through programs like Windows Defender, to delete programs from your system that it decides are spyware.
* You consent to being spied upon by Microsoft, through the “Windows Genuine Advantage” system. This system tries to identify instances of copying that Microsoft thinks are illegitimate. Unfortunately, a recent study indicated that this system has already screwed up in over 500,000 cases.
Free software like GNU/Linux does not require you to consent to these absurd licensing terms. It is called free software because you are free to make as many copies as you want, and to share it with as many friends as you want. Nobody will be monitoring your actions or falsely calling you a thief.
What you can do to help protect your freedom
There is a battle underway between those who value freedom, and corporations such as Microsoft who wish to profit by taking that freedom away. DRM and absurd licenses are at the heart of that battle. Please join us on the side of freedom by saying NO not just to Windows Vista and other DRM-enabled products, but to proprietary software in general. Instead, use non-DRM, “free” software such as the GNU/Linux operating system. You can get your work done while ensuring that your rights and freedoms will not be restricted now and into the future.
badvista.fsf.org
Fedora Project leader on Fedora 9
Find out about the new features in Fedora 9 straight from the source–Paul Frields, the new Fedora project leader. He talks with us about the massive changes in KDE4, the new (and improved) LiveUSB features, and the many, many people that helped get Sulphur off to a running start.
What Windows V.I.S.T.A Means
Wallpaper featuring a quote by Steve Ballmer.
June 7, 2008
Favicon for your webpage
A "favorite icon" or favicon (pronounced fav-eye-con) is a 16x16 pixels icon that appears next to a website's URL in the address bar of a web browser. If you are using a browser that supports tabbed browsing, the favicon will also appear next to the page's title in a tabbed document interface. If you look at the top of this page, at the left hand corner of the address bar,
That is the favicon for this blog. If you are using Firefox or Opera, you will also see that icon in the tab. If yours is a personal blog, a good icon will be your personal photo.
Adding a favicon to your blog is a good way to distinguish your blog from the millions of other blogs. To add a favicon, you need to generate a .ico format file, a place to host the file and add 2 link elements in the section of your template. To generate the .ico file here and to host it, you can go to multiply, blogger and google webpages. You need to have ready a roughly square graphic saved to your hard disk.
Copy and paste the favicon link after the tag
replace the YOUR LINK with your Favicon URL like this --> http://i25.tinypic.com/2elgq5d.jpg so it becomes:
My Name Means
| What Mark Anthony Diaz Means |
 |
You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want.
You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way!
You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection.
You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive.
You have the classic "Type A" personality.
You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something.
You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense.
You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun.
You are a seeker of knowledge, and you have learned many things in your life.
You are also a keeper of knowledge - meaning you don't spill secrets or spread gossip.
People sometimes think you're snobby or aloof, but you're just too deep in thought to pay attention to them.
You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people.
You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts.
You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.
You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life.
You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home.
You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble.
You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out.
Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia.
Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person.
You are well rounded, with a complete perspective on life.
You are solid and dependable. You are loyal, and people can count on you.
At times, you can be a bit too serious. You tend to put too much pressure on yourself.
You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in.
You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising.
You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care.
You are balanced, orderly, and organized. You like your ducks in a row.
You are powerful and competent, especially in the workplace.
People can see you as stubborn and headstrong. You definitely have a dominant personality.
You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing.
You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.
You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.
You are incredibly wise and perceptive. You have a lot of life experience.
You are a natural peacemaker, and you are especially good at helping others get along.
But keeping the peace in your own life is not easy. You see things very differently, and it's hard to get you to budge.
Click here to continue ->
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