Pocket PC eBooks Watch - eBook and beyond  
 http://cebooks.blogspot.com 

eLearning?
People still thick despite internet
The Register has a good article about a Cardiff University study looking into whether people use the Internet to advance themselves or just indulge in casual surfing - you can guess the conclusion from the title of the article. Why am I not surprised?

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Pocket PC TiVo (well, it's audio only)
How to record an Internet radio broadcast
Folks love a digital video recorder such as TiVo because it lets them easily record their favorite TV shows. But what are fans of radio shows to do? Well, so long as your favorite show is broadcast on the Web, you can set up your computer to capture it. Download the right software and fiddle a bit with some settings; your computer will automatically launch a browser and record your show each time it airs. You'll then have it as an MP3 that you can listen to at your leisure, transfer to your MP3 player, or burn to a CD.

posted by Jerry permanent link

The Story of Peanut Press (aka palm digital media aka ereader)
Fair Content Access for All: Technology Is Great Enabler of Digital Rights Management
The landscape of DRM is vast and the view changes radically based on one’s particular perspective. DRM covers such pivotal issues as buying and owning digital content (including music, movies, and ebooks), the evolving array of standards, copyright protection, user permission to print or share content, and how rights are communicated from the creator through the distributor to the customer.
At a recent Seybold Conference in San Francisco, executives from the media industries flocked to sessions that focused on content management and DRM. As one participant, and attendee, my views are not as a technology expert or authority on standards but come from the business point of view and how eReader.com has plotted its course through the DRM landscape.
...What’s Next?
DRM is not an obstacle but the proliferating standards and myriad approaches to implementing DRM are obstacles, especially for the consumer. There are far too many rules, standards and processes that still favor the technically adept user. Customers who unsuccessfully try to download an ebook or are confused by complicated, convoluted installation routines often don’t return for a second try. The technology must be friendlier at every step along the way. We are constantly innovating to improve the customer experience and simplify the process while respecting the copyright owners.
Publisher, agent and author reservation or non-participation in the digital world is the other major obstacle. By preventing access to bestselling content, publishers are actually fostering the illegal sharing they fear. Customers of eReader.com are always requesting titles by J.K. Rowling, John Grisham, Tom Clancy, and others which remain, by their choice, “not available in ebook form”.
While the technologists seek to create new and better DRM mousetraps and schemes to define rights languages and permissions someone, somewhere needs to interrupt with an important message. Keep the customer in mind! Even the best designed DRM technology, rights expression language, or the most finely crafted standards will fail if the customer experience of the content is disregarded. Technology must be the enabler, guiding all the explorers—publisher, etailer and customer in the journey—the quest for content and enjoyment of that content in all digital forms.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Trend Watch
'Podcasting' Brings Personalized Audio Programs To Your Media Player
"Podcasting" is a term that is probably unfamiliar to most people, but it represents a real potential change in the radio landscape. A small group of enthusiasts has begun cobbling together a way to easily share homemade radio shows, eventually allowing people to reach large numbers of listeners by completely bypassing the current structure of radio.
Here is the non-technical explanation:
Podcasting allows you to subscribe to feeds, which include links to audio programs. Every time one of your subscriptions posts a new program, it automatically downloads onto your computer. You then transfer those shows to a portable music device, listen to it throughout your house via a wireless connection or take it with you wherever you go. Think of it as a personalized radio station that you program and change whenever you want.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Play Hardball
How To Cost Microsoft Money.
"Microsoft has a form on their website that you can fill out to get a copy of Windows XP SP2 on CD at no charge (with free shipping by Purolator).
I ordered one.
Then, at the Order Confirmation screen, I clicked Back, then Refresh, then Retry (since the form had to be posted again). I did this 149 times. I got 150 order-confirmation emails."
Estimated cost to Microsoft: $1,050.

posted by Jerry permanent link

The Facts of Greedy Minds
3 Myths About the Recording Industry Debunked
MYTH NO. 1: The prevalence of file-trading services and free music on the Internet indicates that recorded music may no longer be an economically viable business.
MYTH NO. 2: Record sales are down. The situation is only growing worse.
MYTH NO. 3: Musicians no longer need the record industry. The Internet and other new technologies make this a new era of “do it yourself.”
What about the facts?

posted by Jerry permanent link

Time Out for Laugh!
Nigerian 419 Scam
The whole idea of this website is to turn online scammers into victims. It's just that simple.
If you aren't aware, a really popular scam right now is the Nigerian 419 scam, it goes a little something like this. The person that emails you usually has some really important title that commands respect and they have a sob story, rough life, war torn nation, blah, blah and how they have a huge amount of money that they need to move out of the country, usually Nigeria. This is where you come in, if you only provide them with your bank account numbers, etc they can wire it over to you. What a great deal! Once you provide them with the information, instead of depositing the money, they go ahead and steal all of yours. So you in fact, don't get the millions of dollars :(
To get these bastards back I began writing as different characters to see just how long they would put up with me and perhaps get to know them a little better. Anyway, I figure it's good for a laugh and while they are busy writing me they can't steal some poor dumbasses money. I swear that all of these letters are 100% real, I'm posting them exactly as I get them.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Killer Joe
Why Google News signals the death of the online exclusive
But for the growing number of purely online publications, the problem of trying to remember who was first has become completely irrelevant. Instead, the most popular news site on the Net - Google News - has created a system which is killing the value of the "exclusive" online.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Googled the RSS
Google News Blunder: the double standards
By relying on algorithms, Google News completely automated the news-gathering process. High-speed computers sift through some 7,000 sources of information -- 4,500 of them in English -- and determine which are the most relevant articles. They then grab the headline and first paragraph to post on Google's news page, with the headlines acting as external links.
It's hard to feel sorry for Google, though. In April, lawyers for the billion-dollar search engine company that Sergey Brin and Larry Page founded sent their own cease-and-desist letter to Julian Bond, a British programmer who had created customized RSS feeds from Google News.
Ironically, the letter informed Bond that Google does not permit "webmasters to display Google News headlines on their sites."

posted by Jerry permanent link

DRM Watch
MP3 Creator Warns on Format Wars
The dizzying array of file formats and anti-piracy options will hobble the burgeoning digital music business, says one of the developers behind the format that sparked the download revolution.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  9/29/2004

On the Net: Ebooks Again?
The well-known SciFi author James Patrick Kelly has written an article in Asimov Science Fiction magazine about ebooks, bringing comparisons with dead tree books.

I should say here that I have long been one of those saurians who disliked reading for pleasure from a computer screen. But a couple of months ago, for reasons too boring to mention, I popped for a personal digital assistant (PDA) , mostly to keep track of appointments and addresses when I was away from my desk. As it happened, shortly after I made the buy, I went to Florida to attend the International Conference on the Fantastic and to soak up some rays. On a whim, I loaded some ebooks into my new gadget. By the time I got off the plane in Fort Lauderdale I’d fallen in love with my PDA as a reading device. Yes, the screen is smallish but I can change the font at will. Maybe it isn’t exactly ideal for the beach because direct light washes out the backlit screen, but my days of sunbathing are over and this thing is made in the shade. Often as not it’s my book of choice for bedtime reading. And if my wife wants to turn in, we can douse all the lights and I can read from that cheerily lit screen.

[Found via boingboing.net]

posted by Jorgen permanent link

External iPod battery
BTI iPod Battery ii
iPodLounge reviews a strap-on 1600mAh battery that extends the iPod functionality an extra 40-50 hours. Recharge time: 90 minutes. Smaller than the earlier (but longer-lasting) version. Read the full review.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

  9/28/2004

iPod to Car Stereo
Review: Alpine KCA-420i iPod Interface
The system lets you play and control your iPod through your car stereo via a compatible Alpine head unit. You can access all of your playlists and, via its onscreen display, search for songs, albums, and artists. It should work on just about any car but your iPod must have the iPod Update 2004-04-28 or later.
[Source: Engadget]

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Education in the developing world
Rural Kids Print, Bind and Read

Kids in rural areas of Africa have few resources on hand to bolster their education, but in several areas of the continent, one of the foundations of education -- books -- is coming to them.
Anywhere Books has piloted a digital bookmobile -- a van outfitted with a laptop, laser printer, bookbinding machine and cutter -- in remote areas of Uganda to print free books for children since November 2003. Now the project has plans to expand to Ghana and Macedonia.
...
"The impact of giving away books is limited until you address the issues of the culture of reading, integration of reading into the school curriculum and training of teachers," he said. "They wanted to read their books, but they didn't necessarily have the reading skills to get through it."

A project worthy of support!

posted by Jorgen permanent link

  9/27/2004

iPod 201 tutorial
Copying iPod music back to a computer

This week, we build on this theme of file transfer as we explore how to conduct the transfer of music in the opposite direction: from the iPod to your PC or Mac.

(iPodLounge)

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Ugh!
HP iPod stickers - Don't use!
An iPod user put a tatoo (sticker) on her iPod with disastrous results. Take a deep breath before looking at the pictures. :(
[Source: Engadget]

posted by Jorgen permanent link

What do you want?
The Perfect Online Music Store?
The interesting discussion runs at SlashDot

"With the proliferation of online music sales, more and more companies are jumping onto the bandwagon and trying to sell you downloadable music. Some of them do a good job, some of them are just bad at it. The question I have for Slashdot readers is essentially 'What would the perfect online music store offer you?' Should it have OGG and FLAC tracks, as well as MP3? Would you rather pay per-song or per-month? Would you want the option to purchase hard-copy as well (like the actual album, or even band merchandise)? Should the song samples be 30 second downloads or full-song streams fed on-demand? Is a radio station important for an online music store?"

Go and give your input!

posted by Jorgen permanent link

No Debate Here: 50% Micropay Rebates on all Political eBooks!
The US Presidential race is in full swing with the first debate airing this week. Fictionwise has over 400 eBooks in our Politics/Government category, and now you can get a 50% Micropay rebate on any of them when paying by credit transaction! Whether you're on the left, the right, the middle -- or just plain confused -- we've got analysis, viewpionts, insights, biographies (both authorized and unauthorized) and more to satisfy any political junkie.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Hardware Watch
New ActiveMemory System
At the center of the ActiveMemory System are ActiveMemory-enabled Professional CompactFlash cards that can store user preferences and host device settings in a protected area on the card. These settings can only be modified by the host application that created them and can be used to auto-configure multiple ActiveMemory-enabled products within the system. These settings are preserved even when the card is formatted or other data files on the card are deleted, because the ActiveMemory data is stored outside the standard DOS file structure on the card.
“Imagine a card that contains its owner’s name and image preferences,” said John Omvik, director of professional product marketing, Lexar. “Images downloaded from the card can be automatically appended with the photographer’s copyright information, search keywords and caption information. In the future, photographers can also have confidence knowing that the camera is configured the way they expect, because their preferred settings are automatically loaded when the card is inserted in an ActiveMemory-enabled camera.”
The Future of ActiveMemory:
ActiveMemory technology will have other applications beyond professional digital photography. Any software or host application that uses flash memory and can benefit from automating or configuring tasks, based on reading software settings or user preferences that reside in a protected area on a memory card, could benefit from this technology.

posted by Jerry permanent link

iVirgin?
Virgin launches online music service
The well-known UK company Virgin will shortly open an online music service, becoming the first retailer to do so.

The store sells downloads in a high-quality, copy-protected Windows Media format. The "Virgin Music Club" service offers unlimited streams and "tethered" downloads that are locked to the computer for a price of $7.99 a month--$2 cheaper than the parallel subscription offers from RealNetworks and Napster.
The company has spent considerable time building artist information, reviews, biographies and discographies into the system, all of which are linked to one another so that a listener might browse through related artists and genres as though flipping through stacks at a real music store, Zalon said.
Analysts said Virgin would not have an easy task ahead of it in gaining market share but that the financial and brand backing of the Megastores would help.

Ah, more competition!

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Are you under-educated?
Why people aren’t buying Tablet PCs
Engadget is trying to explain why consumers are not buying tablet-PC's and concludes

It’s not that the tablet concept doesn’t resonate with consumers, or the higher price. It’s about devices that don’t live up to consumer expectations in many cases and an under-educated consumer marketplace.

So now you know why you don't have a tablet-PC!

posted by Jorgen permanent link

  9/26/2004

Free eBook
48 Hours in America
by Mark Hollingsworth
This is a chronological account of the events that changed the United States on Tuesday September 11, 2001.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  9/25/2004

Copy Controlled CD to iPod
I just bought the latest recording of Ray Charles CD: "genius loves company." Alas the CD is using Copy Controlled technology that make honest buyers can't copy their own cd to MP3 or iTunes.
Thanks to CloneCD, it will create the copy of the CD without the Copy Protection tech.
CloneCD is the ideal tool to make backup copies of your music- or data CDs, regardless if they are copy protected or not! CloneCD's award-winning user interface copies almost any CD in just a few mouse clicks!
Since release 5.0 CloneCD is able to copy not only CDs but as well all formats of DVD like DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD+R Dual Layer und DVD-RAM. Copy protected movie DVDs can only be copied with AnyDVD. The movies will not be modified (compressed), but one-to-one copied. CloneCD works as well with other formats like .iso and .udf and copies CDs/DVDs with the new SafeDisc 3 Copy Protection System.
CloneCD allows you to create excellent 1:1 copies of your valuable original discs. E.g., should your copy protected music cd not play in your car audio, the backup created with CloneCD will! And it will allow iTunes to import the songs into your iPod

posted by Jerry permanent link

Griffin iBeam
Laser Pointer and Flashlight
for your iPod or iPod mini

Introducing the Griffin iBeam set, ready for your dock-connector iPod or iPod mini. The snap-on flashlight is great for finding keys in the dark. The other half of the package is a class IIIA laser pointer, handy for iPod-friendly presentations and other, less professional pursuits. Both units come with a snap-on protective cap that can be attached to any keychain for convenient portability and accessibility.

Expected to ship by the end of October.
[Source: Engadget]

posted by Jorgen permanent link

You thought you had seen it all!
Oakley Thump digital music eyewear

Spectacles - sorry, "eyewear sculpture" - with built-in 128 or 256 Mb digital music player.

Your ears are on your head, so why should your music system hang on your waist?

Yeah, dump them clumsy iPods! The price? If you have to ask, you can't afford it! [Source: SlashDot]

posted by Jorgen permanent link

eBooks Turn Over New Leaf
EBOOKS could be set to replace conventional paperbacks, with a rise in the sale of the electronic hand-held reading devices.
Between April and May this year, worldwide sales of ebooks rose by five per cent.
And revenue from sales leapt to around £2million.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Rent-a-song
Napster Analysis: value of a subscription rather than a download model
Napster must "deliver compelling marketing messages to educate consumers about the value of a subscription rather than a download model," said Mike McGuire, analyst with Gartner G2 market research firm. "The consumer has to see that it's a better way, not just a different way, to get their music."
Napster's key strategy is to ramp up its subscription service, which costs users $10 a month for unlimited access on their computers to more than 750,000 songs. With the debut of a "Napster to Go" premium service this fall -- initially set to cost an additional $5 a month -- subscribers soon will also be able to transfer the tunes to compatible portable music players.
The relatively easy concept behind the pay-per-download model will make it the more dominant of the two for at least the next couple of years, McGuire said.
Most music download services allow users to buy a song for about $1, burn it to a CD an unlimited number of times and transfer it to some kind of portable device. You buy it; you own it. With a subscription, songs are essentially leased. Once a customer stops paying, access to the music catalog disappears.
Napster offers both options, as does RealNetworks' Rhapsody and America Online's MusicNetAtAOL. But Gorog and other subscription proponents say their model gives listeners more freedom to explore music and listen to thousands of tracks without having to invest a buck apiece.
By all accounts, the online subscription model has substantially higher profit margins than a la carte download sales.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Book series
New feature on the Mobipocket eBookStore: browse eBooks by Series
Mobipocket reports via MobileRead that you can now browse eBooks by Series on the Mobipocket eBookStore. It will add an icon to the ebook description with a link to the series.

Some examples:
Star Trek, The Next Generation (106 titles)
Star Trek, The Original Series (119 titles)
Star Trek, Deep Space Nine (56 titles)...

I hope this means that one can group books manually, eg. make groups such as "history", "crime", "SciFi" etc.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

  9/24/2004

Spotty iPod
Bling bling comes to the iPod mini

As if the iPod mini isn’t status symbol enough for you, the Crystalmini takes it to a whole new level.
An actual iPod mini, in the color of your choice, adorned with “One Crystal per song to represent every song you love” is sure to be the hottest thing to hit the digital music and and fashion scenes since, well, since the original iPod mini!

And they cost some US$700 (iPod included) - auch!

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Time Out!
Rumours surround Google browser
The net is buzzing with rumours that Google is working on a web browser.
Online journals, or weblogs, have put together a series of developments which suggest that the search engine is developing new web tools.
A US newspaper has also reported that Google has poached former Microsoft workers who created early versions of the Internet Explorer browser.
Google declined to comment on the online reports and said it had announced no plans in this area.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Zooooooom
The Zoom
Do you sometimes struggle with the small text and graphics on Pocket PC displays?, then Zoom is the tool for you. This small utility lets you instantly see a high quality bi-cubic zoomed area of any part of the display. Zoom will work within any of your Pocket PC applications and with a quick press of a button and a tap on the screen a clear easily readable, fully scrollable zoomed in view is displayed. The application will also work in landscape mode and on the new high resolution Windows Mobile 2003 SE devices.
Zoom''s features include:
Will work within any application.
Assigning a hardware button on your PPC enables quick zoom function.
Zoomed screen can be scrolled around by dragging the stylus.
Superb high quality bi-cubic zoomed area.
New.. Choice of 3 ways to display the zoomed image, full screen, top/bottom screen section or under stylus.
Will work on the new high resolution screen Pocket PC''s.

posted by Jerry permanent link

New vision of the music industry
How the music biz can live forever, get even richer, and be loved
Andrew Orlowski from The Register gave a speech in the UK to the music industry, telling them to forget about DRM and gave his interesting vision of the future.

Why will the current Apple/Napster model fail?
...
It costs £10,000 to fill an iPod today. Some of us might have spent something like that over the years on music, you're thinking. But if you're 25, and most of your music has been free, then the psychology is very different: an iPod is an empty beer glass waiting to be filled. Why else can it hold so much music?
In five years' time, iPods will fill themselves, like a TiVO, 24 hours a day. Apple might not build an iPod that does, but someone else will. Compared to the self-filling iPod, the Peer to Peer problems you have today will look trivial. We've already got the Bug - a digital radio with record and rewind facilities that transfers CD-quality MP3 files to another digital device. It doesn't have a hard disk, but next year it will. There's no reason why I wouldn't leave that on day and night, flick through for "Britney" songs and delete the rest, say. That's three clicks.

He then gave a model for how to realise the idea.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

iThreatYouAll
Music boss can't wait to sue British file sharers

In the past the record industry had lobbied governments, only be told that it needed to deal with the problem through civil legislation. The lawsuits gave it new credibility, he said. Kennedy spoke repeatedly about "stealing", but didn't use the occasion to offer any new ideas on monetizing file sharing. He also vowed to fight hard to extend European copyright past the 50 year limit, "to bring it into line with the rest of the world," he said.
The UMG boss had little sympathy for the twelve-year-old girl in a New York housing project who had harbored an MP3 of the theme tune to her favorite show on her computer, and had been sued by the RIAA. Her family paid out thousands of dollars in a settlement. She was a "serious file sharer", insisted Kennedy.

It does not sound like the recording industry has got the message yet!

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Ebooks in schools
Handhelds Used for Learning, Not Games
PDAStreet has an article about schools taking up offers on Palm PDA's from for example PalmOne and PowerByHand (the owner of among other companies: PalmGear, PocketGear and eReader).

Olathe Unified School District of Kansas, MO deployed eBook software and eBooks from eReader.com over the past year. According to the district, its pilot deployment of Palm handhelds and 500 eBook titles from eReader.com's free Classic Collection, as well as some purchased eBooks, reduced overall expenditures on printed books and other materials by about $20 per student. That's for the 3,000 students who took part in the program.
In addition to eBooks, Olathe used eReader.com's eBook Studio to create electronic school calendars, student and teacher handbooks, faculty phone books and style manuals for writing classes. In years past, it printed many of these materials so far in advance that they were outdated before the school year even started. School administrators can now make additions to the documents up to the last minute.

Olathe now plans to expand the scheme to cover the entire school district of 23,500 students!

posted by Jorgen permanent link

  9/23/2004

Where is our money going?
Apple earns less than a nickel per iTunes track

"Figures from the US show that Apple Computer, the dominant legal download business in Europe and the US, retains just 4 cents from each 99-cent (55p) track sale while 'mechanical copyright' holders - generally the record labels, who own copyright in the song's recording - take 62 cents or more. Music publishers take the rest - about 8 cents," The Independent says.
...
The Independent also notes that Apple has somewhat of an advantage, as tracks sold from its iTunes Music Store play only on its profitable iPod digital music player
iTunes Music Store sales accounted for about half of the 500,000 digital music tracks sold online in the UK last month. In the United States, sources say that Apple is selling around 15 million songs per month, at a rate just shy of 200 million tracks a year.

Surprising!
[Source: DigitalMediaThoughts]

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Wheeling
The secret of iPod's scroll wheel
C-Net has an interesting article about how the scroll wheel came about.

The iPod's scroll wheel has been through three iterations. The first one actually rotated; then there was the touch-sensitive one; and finally there's the clickable one found on the iPod Mini and fourth-generation iPod. I'd always assumed that this bit of design genius sprang from Apple Computer's labs. But in fact, I discovered that a company called Synaptics, which primarily makes touchpads for laptops, actually perfected this little piece of navigational heaven, in accordance with Apple's stringent design requirements.

Read the whole article.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

USB Fashion
From Storage, a New Fashion
In recent months, these slender solid-state memory chips - known by many names, but officially U.S.B. flash drives - have increasingly been seen blinking from the ports of computers in classrooms and libraries, conference rooms and offices, coffee shops and airport lounges.
And when the devices, which can cost less than a music CD, are not being used to store or retrieve data, they often dangle from key chains and backpacks - or even from the necks of users - as if pendants signifying a cult of convenient computing. Some are built discreetly into pens or wristwatches; a maker in the Far East is now marketing them in the form of lipstick tubes.

posted by Jerry permanent link

iHack
iPod and iTunes Hacks
See the sample PDFs

posted by Jerry permanent link

Imagine
Apple vs. Apple: Perfect harmony?
Speculation is once again rising that Apple Computer is in talks with Apple Corps to resolve a trademark dispute. One report quotes a legal source predicting the "biggest settlement anywhere in legal history."
...Steve Jobs is an avid Beatles fan, and some say that an alliance between the two companies would give iTunes needed differentiation in the online-music market. But others say rumors of an impending settlement are unfounded and question whether a big payout would make good business sense for Jobs' company.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Trials and tribulations
IPod Promoters Feel the Heat

FreeiPods.com is one of several "customer acquisition" websites run by Gratis Internet of Washington, D.C. To get a free iPod, subscribers must sign up for various online promotions and persuade five other people to join up as well.
Subscribers are given a choice of about 10 different offers, including trials of The New York Times, America Online or Boca Java's coffee club. The offers are typically free and easily canceled, the site claims.
Once the trials are over -- for both the main subscriber and their referrals -- the free iPod is dispatched.
However, Wired News has been inundated with complaints about spam, mishandled accounts and shipping delays.

The company explains that they are a victim of their success: "between 100,000 and 150,000 people have signed up for FreeiPods.com since August. To date, they have dispatched more than 4,000 free iPods, and another 1,000 are pending, they said."

posted by Jorgen permanent link

OPQR$
Do-it-yourself book publishing takes off on the Web
When Ross Yockey and his daughter, Beth, wanted to write a book parodying the national No Child Left Behind educational standards, they had no time or interest in the traditional book publishing route.
Instead, the Seattle residents — who wanted their book in readers' hands before the November presidential vote — uploaded their completed manuscript to a North Carolina-based Internet company called Lulu.com.
Within minutes, the book was available for sale online. Each time a purchase is made, a printer in Rochester, N.Y., makes an individual copy that is shipped to the buyer, typically in 24 hours or less. The royalties are split automatically among the Yockeys, Lulu and the printer, ColorCentric.

posted by Jerry permanent link

e-paper
BASF makes electronic signs colorful
TeleRead mentions briefly that BASF has gone into partnership with SiPix (see also our links from August here and here) to develop coloured e-paper applications. I found the original press release which states:

“We estimate that e-paper applications will reach a market potential of around €500 million in the next 10 years,” said Markus Kropp, Business Manager at BASF Future Business. “We see e-signs as a way of entering the promising market of e-paper applications such as electronic newspapers and magazines, e-books and smart cards, in other words chip cards with additional electronic functions. By cooperating with SiPix we are also strengthening our activities in the fast growing electronics sector.”

This kind of development is vital for e-books, e-papers and e-zines, not to mention PDAs. It will be interesting to see whether eInk/Phillips, Sipix/BASF or a third party wins in the end. Sony has already a product on the market and if they follow the lead from their music player department and take all the proprietary stuff away so their reader can read e-books in some or all of the de facto formats (eReader, iSilo, MS Reader, Mobi), they have a winner.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

  9/22/2004

eMusic
Emusic Relaunches - Cheap, DRM-Free Downloads
As we mentioned earlier this month, eMusic opens today. A user reports at SlashDot:

An anonymous reader writes "Emusic.com has relaunched today. This is important for several reasons. 1) They sell MP3s. No DRM. I can play them on my Linux box or wherever. 2) They are encoding at 192Kbit/s VBR. That's near CD quality (and how I rip my own CDs). They are focusing on lesser known independent music and providing some editorial content to separate the good from the bad. I see lots of great jazz, classical, and folk/country stuff in their library. 4) Subscription rate is 9.99/month for 40 tracks. That is $0.25 a track. Much cheaper than everywhere else. It's near my pricepoint. This is the first online music store that I will seriously consider. (And actually the first that I _can_ consider since I'm a linux user.)"

Good points.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

One less proprietary format?
Sony to support MP3

Sony confirmed on Wednesday that it is working to add native MP3 support to its portable music players--a major strategy reversal that could help it compete more effectively with rivals such as Apple Computer
...
Kevorkian noted that Sony does not rank among the top five companies in market share for digital audio players. She also wondered if support for Microsoft's Windows Media Audio (WMA) format, which is gaining industry support, can be far behind.
The change could help Sony to significantly raise its position in the portable audio device market where, after becoming the pioneer with its Walkman tape players, it has been overtaken by the Apple and its iPod devices.

Good move!

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Pocket TV Guide
Karpen's Review on TV Listing Software
A couple of years ago we covered two applications for putting TV schedules on your device. When TV Guide stopped making its listings available to these applications, problems ensued. But then the developers found an alternate source of data.
A recent posting in the Pocket PC Newsgroup by Shawn Hale recommends both the free Pocket TV Listings and Pocket TV Browser, which costs $10 per year (free trial available)...

posted by Jerry permanent link

3D Gaming is Coming
Nvidia GoForce 3D 4500 Wireless Media Processor
Nvidia today announced what they claim to be world’s first 3D wireless media processor (WMP), the GoForce 3D 4500 WMP, but earlier this week Samsung announced the 667MHz mobile application processor also capable of 3D gaming on smart phones and handheld PDAs. Which one is the world’s first? It doesn’t matter, what really matters is which one will be in an actual device first.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Caution
Media View Kitty Kelley's Bush Book With Caution

The book did not pass muster at Newsweek, however. Editor Mark Whitaker said his magazine was given an advance copy for a possible story "and we passed. We weren't comfortable with a lot of the reporting.
...
Kelley has written extensively researched, gossip-filled books on the British royal family -- which are packed with disputed details about their sexual practices -- Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. But none generated a bigger furor than her 1991 biography of Nancy Reagan.
...
White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett said yesterday: "Kitty Kelley's allegations make Michael Moore look like a factual documentarian. We're not going to let this garbage she's historically known for spreading go unanswered." He said it would "violate journalistic standards" for news executives to "put this type of trash in their newspapers and on their airwaves." White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan added that the drug allegations were "discredited, dismissed and disavowed years ago."

Sounds like she is in for the same treatment as CBS's Dan Rather's 60 minutes!

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Best Seller

The Family: The Real Story Behind the Bush Dynasty
by Kitty Kelley
The book leads us through Prescott Bush's first entree into government at the state level in 1950s' Connecticut, to George Herbert Walker Bush's long and winding road to the White House, to his son's quick sweep into the same office. Along the way, we see the complex relationships the Bushes have had with the giants of the century--Eisenhower, Nixon, Joseph McCarthy, Kissinger, Reagan, Clinton--as well as the often ruthless methods used to realize their goals. Perhaps most impressive--and surprising--is the way the book delves behind the obsessively protected public image into the family's intimate private lives: the matriarchs, the mistresses, the marriages, the divorces, the jealousies, the hypocrisies, the golden children, and the black sheep. At a crucial point in American history, Kitty Kelley is the one person to finally tell all about the family that has, perhaps more than any other, defined our role in the modern world. This is the book the Bushes don't want you to read. This is The Family.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  9/21/2004

iCompetition!
Fortune.com Compares iTunes vs. MSN Music

"It's just a bit bland and initially limited in range, which isn't too surprising given Microsoft's track record of releasing software that doesn't show its full potential until version 3.0. The surprising thing is that even with nearly a year and a half to scrutinize Apple's popular, market-leading iTunes Music Store and come up with a challenger, Microsoft's MSN Music arrives with a minimalist—some would say boring—interface and, in the test version I've been using, fewer choices of artists and downloadable 99-cent songs than Apple offers. Microsoft asserts that more than a million songs have been licensed, including some from the Dave Matthews Band and (yes!) Radiohead, which don't show up in the iTunes store. "We're stocking the shelves," a Microsoft spokesman said. But there are no audio books, no Billboard charts, no celebrity playlists, and no gift cards or other goodies of the sort that make other online music services more fun to use."

posted by Jorgen permanent link

iPhone?
Justin Blanton: "Obviously, the iPod is Dead"
Via DigitalMediaThoughts:

"So, here’s the deal Apple, if you’d like to keep your competition down and sales of the iPod up, add a GSM or CDMA antenna to the music player and let it ride. I would be the first in line for such a device (shocking, I know) and I imagine that there would be a lot of people behind me. As soon as smartphones start adding 1” and .85” drive bays, it’s not going to take long for end-users to realize that their two or three devices can be made into one, and there is no turning back when that happens. As good as the iPod interface is, and as pretty as the design can get, it’s not going to be able to compete with mass storage on a mobile phone..."

And it should make coffee too!

posted by Jorgen permanent link

WSJ Avantgone
From Avantgo's Wall Street Journal Channel:
"We are sorry to inform you that effective October 31, 2004, The Wall Street Journal Online's channel on AvantGo will no longer be available.
We appreciate your interest in our services, and would like to offer you a special subscription rate to the Online Journal's website, at WSJ.com. We'd also like to keep you informed of new mobile services we'll be offering in the near future."

posted by Jerry permanent link

MP3 Explotion
Study: MP3 player market to explode
IDC says there's tough competition ahead for the iPod as manufacturers launch rival portable jukeboxes.

posted by Jerry permanent link

AvantGo Mobile Lifestyle Survey Reveals
The Top Twelve 'Dream' Features of an All-In-One Handheld Device'
The AvantGo survey revealed the following "top 12" must-have features of an all-in-one dream device:
1. Calendar/contact list
2. Easily syncs with PC
3. Great battery life
4. E-mail/messaging
5. Wi-Fi/Bluetooth
6. Compact size
7. MP3 player
8. Phone
9. Large screen
10. GPS locator
11. 20+ gigabyte memory
12. Camera
The calendar/contact list ranked highest among survey respondents, with 94% citing this as a must-have feature. Surprisingly, MP3 players (77%) ranked slightly higher than phones (76%) and GPS locators (65%), while more hard drive memory (64%) edged out cameras (63%) in popularity.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Desperado
Call to legalise file-sharing with taxes
Instead the music industry should embrace file-sharers, said technology journalist and author Andrew Orlowski in a keynote speech at the Interactive In The City conference being held in Manchester.
Mr Orlowski said the record labels should look to novel ways to generate cash to support new artists.
One way could be the addition of a small surcharge to net subscription fees which could be shared among artists whose music is being downloaded.

posted by Jerry permanent link

The future of information
Semantic Technologies at IBM
The Future Now web-site has a short article with links to an introductory article about semantic technologies:

Semantics is the study of meanings, and it has its root in philosophy, psychology, and linguistics. In the context of computing and technology, semantics means the use of domain knowledge to make software more intelligent, adaptive, and efficient. By using knowledge specific to applications, one can enhance their functionalities and optimize the performance. Often combined with some reasoning capabilities, the use of domain knowledge enables software to do useful tricks such as finding hidden relationships in a complicated web of objects.

The IBM project is aimed at business use, but the technology will probably at the same time lead to a semantic web, i.e. a web that as Wikipedia expresses it: "The machine-readable descriptions allow content managers to add meaning to the content, thereby facilitating automated information gathering and research by computers."
Hmmm ... no need for blogs like ours any more? :(

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Free ebooks
This time courtesy of Fictionwise
Fictionwise gave away a large number of e-books last week (on top of their existing list of free e-books elsewhere). This week they repeat the act, giving away 17 e-books in unencrypted multiformat covering nearly any taste: SciFi, mystery, fantasy, horror, erotica, alternate history and mainstream. The idea is of course to introduce you to books of a type you otherwise may never read, thus expanding your reading habits. Seen in a wider perspective, this is good for Fictionwise - in other words, a win-win situation.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Illegal filesharing
Textbook File-Sharers causing Grief for Publishers?
MobileRead has a link to an article in canada.com discussing the problems of students downloading textbooks illegally from the Internet.

A growing number of students are skirting the high cost of textbooks by illegally downloading pirated copies from the web, according to publishers who want stiffer copyright laws to curb a practice some say is pilfering revenues.
While the volume of books being swapped in chat rooms and on peer-to-peer networks such as Kazaa doesn't compare with the amount of music and movies being trafficked, it is nonetheless a growing problem, says Colleen O'Neill of the Canadian Publishers Council.

It is difficult to say if the alleged filesharing does much more that lighten the burden a little on the libraries. Most textbooks are very expensive and for that reason alone out of reach of many students (and libraries too).

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Free Sell
Free Content Still Sells
Look at Jorgen's post on the topic
(JSJ: Funny things: that Palm eReader sells the report for $4.95 while Fictionwise offers the report for Free)

posted by Jerry permanent link

E-ink
Taking Stock Of E-paper
ComputerWorld brings a comprehensive article about electronic paper and ink.
See also out earlier coverage of e-ink: Gumstix and eInk - A glimpse of future plans?, Sony Librie Clone based on E-Ink! and eInk and Philips.
UPDATE: This reminds me about ZD-Net's article from November 2000: E-Paper Here Sooner Than You Think. This article ends with the question: "Are you ready for electronic paper?"
UPDATE: MobileRead links to the article in ComputerWorld asking why Sony is the only one so far to market eInk.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

No free lunch
RSS Comes with Bandwidth Price Tag

According to feed publishers, as the use of Really Simple Syndication news feeds grows so too does the bandwidth they consume and the demands they put on Web servers. Some Weblogs and technology Web sites are rethinking the way they publish their RSS feeds as they find that frequent requests from newsreaders, the applications that aggregate feeds, can strain their resources.

See also my article here.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

New uses of RSS
RSS Makes Enterprise Headlines

Following in the footsteps of bloggers, IT managers have begun to utilize RSS—in categories ranging from calendars to CRM—as a powerful tool to deliver information from multiple sources at once.
RSS (Resource Description Framework Site Summary) is a lightweight XML format for syndicating Web content that is commonly used to distribute news, headlines and other timely information. RSS feeds deliver content that can be read in news readers, which can be stand-alone applications or plug-ins to e-mail clients.

The article goes on with examples using the RSS format: content and knowledge management systems, dissemination of information to customers, syndication of application, database and object data and corporate calendring. Very interesting!
[Source: C-Net].

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Like selling sand in Sahara?
Free Content Still Sells

Even after seven consecutive weeks at the top of the nonfiction bestseller list, publishers are still puzzled about the success of the 9/11 Commission Report.
A word-for-word reprint of a government panel report -- the 516-page paperback -- is not the kind of item that usually tops off the nation's reading list. Moreover, like most government documents, it's available online for free.
Nonetheless, rather than turn solely to the commission's website to download the report, more than 600,000 people have instead paid $10 or so for a printed copy. For the report's official publisher, W.W. Norton & Co., it's been an unexpected windfall.

Unexpected indeed!

posted by Jorgen permanent link

  9/20/2004

iPod 201
iPod Synchronization and Using your iPod as a Hard Drive
Well written illustrated article in iPodLounge taking you from the 101 to the next stage of "podding", the 201.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

New ebook
Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill
by Jessica Stern
For four years, Jessica Stern interviewed extremist members of three religions around the world: Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Traveling extensively--to refugee camps in Lebanon, to religious schools in Pakistan, to prisons in Amman, Asqelon, andPensacola--she discovered that the Islamic jihadi in the mountains of Pakistan and the Christian fundamentalist bomber in Oklahoma have much in common. Stern's extensive interactions with the faces behind the terror provide unprecedented insight into acts of inexplicable horror, and enable her to suggest how terrorism might most effectively be countered. A crucial book on terror, Terror in the Name of God is a brilliant and thought-provoking work.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Help!
New CHM eBook Reader for Pocket PC released
CHM eBook Reader for Pocket PC is a program that allows you to view files in the most common Windows help format (*.CHM, also known as "compiled HTML"), on the Pocket PC platform.
CHM eBook Reader for Pocket PC key features:
Opening CHM files of any size not longer than in 2 seconds, even huge Microsoft Press CHM eBooks;
Full-Text Search in a whole CHM file;
Table of Contents;
Index view

posted by Jerry permanent link

Custom Wikipedia and IMDB
What would you pay for custom e-book conversions

I've been fielding a LOT of requests lately for custom works in eBook format. Many of you have seen my 9/11 Commission Report. That work apparently gained the attention of several very large companies who want their material converted in a similarly-professional manner. In fact, so many are interested, that I've started another company to handle it (can't say anything more on that right now).
But two of the largest works we've been asked to do, are the Wikipedia and IMDB, in a standalone mobile format.
Wikipedia required a LOT of rehandling of the upstream MediaWiki source, which I updated to fix quite a few problems. The approach taken by EVERY other attempt to get this Wikipedia content into a manageable format for the Palm size/memory, is wrong. I've seen several Perl scripts that try to take the SQL dump and translate that back into HTML. Bzzt.

Judging from the comments to the article at MobileRead, it sounds like he is aiming at two high quality products. If you are interested, go tell him what you would expect from the product and what you would be willing to pay.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Free movies for your Pocket-PC
Portable Media Center Movies
In the unlikely case you would like to see The Three Stoogies, Sherlock Holmes and many other B/W movies: The movies are optimised for 320x240 resolution to suit Pocket-PC's. They are currently in WMV format but DivX portable movies can be expected.
Source: PocketPCThoughts.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

  9/19/2004

New Mook
O'reilly Make: Technology on your time

Make brings the do-it-yourself mindset to all the technology in your life. Make is loaded with exciting projects that help you make the most of your technology at home and away from home. This is a magazine that celebrates your right to tweak, hack, and bend any technology to your own will.
Coming early in 2005, Make is a hybrid magazine/book (known as a mook in Japan). Make comes from O'Reilly, the Publisher of Record for geeks and tech enthusiasts everywhere. It follows in line with the Hacks books and Hardware Hacking Projects, but it takes a highly visual and personal approach.
...
Make is not another one of those "gadget" magazines that feature products on every page. While we like gadgets as much as the next person, we chose to focus on cool things you can do with technology, not just what to buy.

Source: SlashDot.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

No copyprotection is music to my ears!
eMusic to relaunch MP3 subscription service

eMusic, one of the oldest names in digital music, will relaunch its music subscription service on Wednesday with an independent appeal dramatically different than its bigger rivals'.
As in its previous incarnation, the service will offer unprotected MP3 files from independent labels, a sharp contrast from services such as Apple Computer's iTunes or Microsoft's new MSN Music store, all of which wrap their songs in copy protection.
...
"Our notion is to go after the 30 percent or so of customers who buy things other than major-label music," David Pakman said.
That's not to say the site carries nothing but garage bands. The company has work from big-name artists, including Ray Charles, Big Star, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Moby and Beck, along with its thousands of lesser-known musicians.

As always - Read the whole thing.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Blogs
Microsoft flip-flop may signal blog clog

As Web logs gain in popularity, critics warn that they are increasingly becoming the Internet's new bandwidth hog.

The issue has been in the spotlight for much of this month, following a decision by Microsoft to abbreviate developer blogs both on its Web site and in syndication, citing a bandwidth crunch. The Redmond, Wash., software giant stopped delivering the full text of postings on the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) to blog subscribers, requiring them instead to follow a link to read the postings in their entirety. Facing a clamor of criticism from its own developers, Microsoft on Tuesday backtracked on that decision.

The article also discusses the impact of RSS feeds calling them non-scalable. Very interesting article.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Recommended reading (free)
Winn Schwartau: Terminal Compromise
The link is to a copyrighted e-book from 1991 published by Project Gutenberg. Winn Schwartau is a computer security expert and well-known speaker. The book is a fictional account of an information war by cyber terrorists on USA. This kind of war could very well happen tomorrow. Very good and highly recommended!

posted by Jorgen permanent link

  9/18/2004

Add-ons
Pimp my iPod
Article in ComputerUser on items that makes your iPod sound better.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

iPod case review
Pacific Rim Technologies 4G iShield
iPodLounge brings a review with plenty of photos of a metal case for the 4G.

The Good: Solid metal protection for the 4G iPod with hard plastic screen protection and a detachable belt clip option. Unlikely to scratch the iPod inside, and likely to withstand most damage outside.
The Bad: Wheel hole seems to be improperly sized and is rough on the fingers that move around it; relatively large hole in back to permit iPod removal. Minor issue - no wheel protection may put off some metal case users looking for Matias-style full frontal protection.

As usual - read the whole thing.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Firefox on the hunt
Microsoft may be losing ground in the Internet browser battle.

W3Schools.com, a Web development tutorial site, found that 18 percent of its visitors in September used Mozilla-based browsers, compared with 8 percent in January. Internet Explorer use dropped to 75 percent from 84 percent in the same period.
Among CNET News.com readers, site visitors using Mozilla and Firefox jumped to 18 percent for the first two weeks of September, from 8 percent in January.
In the hours since Tuesday's preview release of version 1.0 of Firefox, the Mozilla Foundation was already well on its way to reaching a stated goal of 1 million downloads in 10 days. In the first five hours that the new Firefox was available, it was downloaded more than 100,000 times.
...
The latest releases of Mozilla and Firefox, along with the related Thunderbird e-mail software, also fix 10 security issues.

If you have switched or are thinking about switching, read this article at Mozilla about why you should switch and how to switch. Look also at the portable version Jerry wrote about here.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Free Henry James ebooks
An International Episode
Italian Hours
The Point of View

posted by Jerry permanent link

  9/17/2004

yTunes?
Yahoo to launch its own music player

Since late last year, Yahoo has been developing its own music player software, which will be underpinned by a subscription and download service provided by MusicNet, sources familiar with the plan said.

Yahoo still plans to launch that home-built package by the fourth quarter of this year, despite its recent purchase of Musicmatch, those sources said. The Web giant is likely to run the two services side by side for some time before ultimately drawing on Musicmatch's technology and moving Musicmatch's subscribers into the Yahoo fold, sources said.

As consumers, we love competition.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

TiPod
The End of Television as We Know It
By Bryce Zabel, Bryce Zabel served as chairman and CEO of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences from 2001 to 2003, "The best model to replace what's on the way out may be TiVo meets iTunes."
...Today my youngest child probably has as much control over his viewing options as CBS patriarch William Paley did. Everywhere Jared turns, he makes choices: what he wants to watch, when he wants to watch it, which set he wants it on and so forth. There's a lot more than good old-fashioned TV competing for his interest. In our technology-crazed house, his attention can get hijacked by an iPod (maxi and mini versions), cellphones that take photos or download music or send instant messages, GameCube, the CD stacker, Xbox, broadband network, wireless this and that, PlayStation 2, TiVo, DirecTV, Netflix, the big screen, TVs in five rooms, five desktop computers, one laptop, cable, satellite music and all the piled-up screening tapes sent out by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
...Broadcast pundits try to get us to call these new choices by the important-sounding term "convergence." Around our house, the only thing converging is kids with outstretched palms looking for cash to buy DVDs, CDs, PCs, music downloads, cellphones and every other new piece of hardware needed to play all of the software. For me, it's not a state of convergence that we are entering in this digital age but something a little more metaphysical. All of the information overload is ganging up on our senses and coming together into something else.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Wanna Bet?
Las Vegas System Uses OverDrive for Ebooks
The Las Vegas-Clark County Library District (LVCCLD) is now offering ebook downloads using software from OverDrive Inc. To access the ebooks, patrons use a LVCCLD library card to check out and download the texts and other digital media. Ebooks can be read on PDAs, Pocket PCs, and Smartphones, in addition to PCs, laptops, or Macs. At the end of the loan period, access to the title is blocked.

posted by Jerry permanent link

iPod Derivative
A Computer With the IPod's Bloodlines
For 100 points: It's a compact rectangular slab that plays great-sounding music from a built-in hard drive. The front is shiny white acrylic with a screen at the top. The corners and edges of the back panel are gently rounded. Over all, the simplicity and purity of its design give this machine a calm, elegant beauty. Name that Apple!

Bzzzzzt! No, I'm sorry, "iPod" is not the answer we were looking for. The correct answer is: "the new iMac G5."

posted by Jerry permanent link

Eeech, Am I Sucks?
Labels, Microsoft in talks on CD copying
The music labels, in large part led by top executives at EMI Group and coordinated through their U.S. and international trade associations, are creating a "wish list" of CD rights protection features they want to see provided or supported by Longhorn. Microsoft, in turn, has provided its own set of guidelines for the labels, without yet promising anything, sources familiar with the situation said.
The labels are far from unanimous on their thoughts about how to use, or even whether to use, copy protection technology on CDs. But sources said most are eager to avoid being locked into Microsoft technology and want to ensure that Longhorn provides a platform for copy protection that is at least as consumer-friendly as Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Radical Freedom Fighter
Don't Mess With Librarians
Jessamyn West is a 36-year-old librarian living in central Vermont. But she's not your stereotypical bespectacled research maven toiling behind a reference desk and offering expert advice on microfiche.
She's a "radical librarian" who has embraced the hacker credo that "information wants to be free."
"In a democracy, citizens can access information they view as important," West said, "and traditionally we as librarians have kept it private. We are in favor of free speech and against censorship, and believe in the right to research material without the government looking over your shoulder."

posted by Jerry permanent link

Streaming
Attack of the Radio Clones
Microsoft new internet streaming service attempts to replicate terrestrial stations, without all the annoying chatter -- and without permission.

posted by Jerry permanent link

P-books - remember those?
Shakespeare in Quarto
The British Library has uploaded scanned versions of their 93 copies of 21 plays, which were printed in quarto before the theatres were closed in 1642. You can view and compare the different versions, find information about how the plays changed to fit new theatres and audiences, in the following centuries. There are of course also links to background information. Well made and very interesting.
Should you want to read more about Shakespeare, read also this article in The New Yorker and Shakespeare Web
UPDATE 19/9: New York Times: Shakespeare's Leap

posted by Jorgen permanent link

CD versus download
People Still Like CDs

From ITFacts.biz, we learn that 92% of people surveyed still prefer their music on a CD. In fact, most say that when they download it's usually to get songs they can't get on CD or to sample music before buying the CD. Other reasons given are if they want a song immediately or if they really only want one or two songs from an album and don't want to shell out for the entire album. Notice that all four of these reasons show that music downloading is not a substitute for CDs.

So, now you know!

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Review
Altec Lansing inMotion iM3
Not long ago, iPodLounge made a mini-reviewed the mini version. Now they have reviewed the iM3 version, this time in detail.

The iM3s are without question Altec’s first true spiritual successor to the original inMotions. Unlike Altec’s iMmini speaker system ($129.99), which is only iPod mini-compatible and noticeably smaller, and the company’s blue-colored, device-agnostic, two-driver-only iM2 speaker system ($129.95, but frequently available for as little as $39.99), the iM3s offer legitimate design and functionality improvements upon the first inMotion concept.

Follow the link to the full review with pictures.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Browser to go
Portable Firefox
Firefox supports running from removable drives with minimal reconfiguration.
It writes your profile onto a folder on your USB stick so that no
profile information is stored on the harddrive + you can take your
bookmarks, themes and extensions with you wherever you go.
Thanks to Wim Mulder for the information

posted by Jerry permanent link

Nosy?
Inventor Develops Nose-Steered Web Surfing System

The inventor expects the nose-steered mouse, or "nouse," will make using a computer easier for people with disabilities or for video game enthusiasts who would like to slay bad guys with the bob of the head and blink of an eye.
The magazine said the technology works in conjunction with a single Webcam plugged into a computer's USB port. From the onset of a session, the nouse's Webcam takes a snapshot of the user's face, focusing in on the tip of the nose as the guide point.

As always read the whole article at Yahoo.[Source: TeleRead]
[UPDATE: Full article on nouse]
[UPDATE: A letter to The Register - probably rightfully - pointed out: The problem with the nose-driven mouse is that if you sneeze, it erases your hard disc.]

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Book searches.
Amazon Unleashes A9 Search Portal

I tried Amazon's new search engine A9 with a number of searches I use as my personal set of benchmarks. Did well. More like a search portal really, using Google under the surface. Also utilizes the Alexa acquisition. Identifies you via your Amazon cookie. Allows you to manage the form of the search, use of history, form of target and gather site statistics in interesting ways. I like the interface. Now accessible via Amazon and could drive traffic that way.

Follow the link at FutureNow to a more detailed article in New York Times.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

  9/16/2004

The joys of DRM
DRM-protected e-books: Which format is right?
Alexander at MobileRead discusses the problems of buying encrypted e-books in eReader, MobiPocket and MS Reader formats and concludes that the latter is best for the consumer considering it easily can be decrypted. Alexander is not alone in this opinion - You ahve probably seen many similar posts in forums on other sites.
     I wonder what the authors and publishers think of that! However, he is right: thinking about how many platforms I have been through, I am likely to one day lose my e-books in eReader format.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

For Mobi fans
Mobipocket Creator Home Edition
MobiPocket has published the Home Edition: it can convert Word and HTML documents and it has an emulator showing what the final result looks like.
I have not tested it - the price looks quite steep (US$29.95), also considering that iSiloX comes for free (though only a reader with limited functionality is free).
[Source: MobileRead brings a short article describing more features.]

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Waporware?
New Acrobat seen this year

Adobe Systems is expected to release a new version of its Acrobat software by the end of 2004, according to analysts and authors familiar with the company's plans.
Acrobat is Adobe's family of tools for creating content based on the company's portable document format, or PDF, the cornerstone of Adobe's "intelligent document" push to make PDF documents the foundation for exchanging business data.
The current version of Acrobat was released in April 2003, with Adobe adding a light-duty version for ordinary office workers and later a server version

Hmm, sounds like the the title should be "to be seen this year, maybe". :(

posted by Jorgen permanent link

iOldBattery
2100mAh battery for first and second generation iPods!
You can now exchange your battery to a Li-Polymer battery with 70% more capacity for US$ 39.95! The battery comes with non-scratching tools and a detailed installation guide.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Forrest Gumstix
Gumstix and eInk - A glimpse of future plans?
I like reading.
...So yes. I have a PDA, a solution most people have decided to embrace. Those who've stepped into the e-Book world that is. Its a nice Compaq iPaq from a bit more then a year ago. Oneof those without replacable battery unfortunately so its time for something new.
The iPaq was great for the time but with the advent of new technologies such as eInk there ought to be something better suited to reading. It should have, as one of its primary selling points, a well readable screen. Here comes Electronic Ink. Dor those who do not know it, is a display technique (and company) which looks very much like paper. It's extremely low power which causes any device using it to be very energy efficient. In fact, while the display doesn't change, something that happens often while you read a page, it will use no power at all.Not a bit (The screen that is).
...Like more people, I like the ability to use a device I've bought for what I want. Open source is very nice indeed and XML along with the Open e-Book format and similar technologies is (or will be) a good solution for those seeking it.
Gumstix. Something that has been on my radar for some time now. Its a small company that produces small but very interesting (not to mention cool) Linux embedded boards.
It's open enough, people could change the kernel. Build new reading formats. Upgrade it. Run XWindows on it for all I care. (Freedom; open-source; sounds familiar anyone?). It's a device where a simple RSS daemon would fetch your feeds automatically. Bluetooth could keep it synched using your phone. Read the latest news on your 300 gram new e-book reader.
All that said, it would be a nice future. But it has its share of downsides. For one, I frequently buy electronic books. Many of those are not available in multiple formats. In fact, about half of them are only available in Microsoft’s proprietary DRM5 LIT files. No open source solution would be likely allowed to read these and as such, it would never be a widespread adoption. There are more of these/such obstacles. But projects like the open reader consortium and the open e-Book format are trying to change these things.
Yet, a three hundred gram Linux capable e-Reader with Bluetooth and an eInk screen? If it were available today, for a reasonable price, I'd not hesitate ordering one where it powered like I just portrayed.

posted by Jerry permanent link

iPod Fetish

Bose's SoundDock
Bose(R) has introduced the SoundDock(TM) digital music system, designed to deliver a new standard of audio performance for Apple's iPod(R) and iPod mini. No headphones, cables or adaptors required -- the new speaker system lets iPod owners access, control and listen to their stored music with the ease of dock and play.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Giant eBook
The Signs They Are A-Changin'
Startup Magink's "digital ink" may change everything from billboards to laptops.
A slim new Mitsubishi sign, however, is neither an LED screen nor a king-size liquid-crystal display [LCD] panel. It has a paperlike surface sporting a breakthrough "digital ink" from Magink Display Technologies Inc., an Israeli startup now based in New York.
What's the big deal? Magink's digital ink is the first to offer a full spectrum of colors. It's a pasty concoction that, smeared on a thin sheet of plastic or glass, can replace LEDs in monster displays or small LCDs in electronic products.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Nice Intro
All about e-books
Still reading those old paperbacks? Dip into the huge online world of electronic books and discover the benefits of digital text.
Now that e-books are becoming increasingly popular, there are more texts (books and magazines) than ever available to download from the internet, and more and more writers and publishers are experimenting with the format.
...While there are few restrictions on passing on a well-thumbed printed paperback to a similarly minded literature lover in the real world, the restrictions on sharing e-books you have purchased online differ greatly.
Often, you simply won't be able to share a paid-for digital text with others, and the e-book software reader needed to view a text may prevent an e-book from being viewed on another computer.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Free Fall
Fantastic Free Fall eBooks from Fictionwise!
Fictionwise has arranged with some publishers to give you free eBooks for fall! From Science Fiction and Fantasy to Romance and Mystery, you'll find something free to leaf through this autumn at Fictionwise. But don't wait -- these titles are free only for a limited time.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  9/15/2004

Stephen King's Dark Tower Epic

The Dark Tower is the backbone of Stephen King's legendary career. Inspired more than thirty years ago by works as diverse as J. R. R. Tolkien's epics, Robert Browning's poetry, and Sergio Leone's Westerns, this is the tale that Stephen King has never abandoned. When he typed the first sentence in 1970, King feared the telling might take several lifetimes, but two thousand pages and four books later, the end is in sight.
The Gunslinger [The Dark Tower 1]
The Drawing of the Three [The Dark Tower 2]
The Waste Lands [The Dark Tower 3]
Wizards and Glass [The Dark Tower 4]
Wolves of the Calla [The Dark Tower 5]
Song of Susannah [The Dark Tower 6]
The Dark Tower [The Dark Tower 7, The End] [PRE-ORDER ONLY: Available: Sep 21, 2004]100% Rebate (credit card only)
Guides to Dark Tower:
Stephen King's The Dark Tower: A Concordance [The Dark Towers Series Books 1-4]
Road Map to Dark Tower (MUST READ)



for more Stephen King's eBooks

posted by Jerry permanent link

Rothman's No Dead End
Why OpenReader matters: Of trains and e-book formats
Will we really benefit from dead-end proprietary systems in the Comstock vein? Most readers, writers and publishers will prefer ease and fairness and an open approach, and that's what OpenReader will give them. Let the content, not narrow-gauge, format-related alliances, dictate which books succeed in the marketplace.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Permanent Link is On
Thanks to Jørgen Dybdahl for helping me creating Permanent Link in this blog.

posted by Jerry permanent link

iPodder
On-demand audio coming to iPod

In what may prove to be the next big thing for the iPod, weblogger Adam Curry has released the source code to an application which allows users to automatically download MP3 audio files from weblogs and other web sites to their iPod.

The project, called iPodder, utilizes the ability of RSS feeds to syndicate content, including files, combined with a small application which takes this content and puts it on your iPod. Both Mac and Windows versions are available, although it's stressed that both are early versions. The Mac version utilizes AppleScript, while other versions are available in Perl and Python.

The iPodder site also includes a list of current web sites distributing content in this way.

Amazing!

posted by Jorgen permanent link

iPayTooMuch
English beat: Consumer group raps iTunes pricing

The London-based Consumers' Association has a beef with Apple because of the company's pricing structure in Europe. To download one track costs a U.K. consumer 79 pence ($1.40). In France and Germany, it's 99 eurocents ($1.20). This means that a shopper in the United Kingdom pays more for every track.

Read the whole article.
UPDATE: Daily Telegraph has more.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

iAdd-ons
ExtremeiPod
If you are looking for a present for your iPod:
• A Sassy Bag for Your Ipod
• Waterproof Your iPod With LiliPod
• Best iPod Case for a Workout
• Wrap Your iPod in Armor
• Monster iCase Travel Pack

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Financing Music Industry
Paying for Music in the Internet Age
NPR discusses three possible businness models:
Part 1: Searching for a Patron
Looking for someone with deep pockets to finance an artist's creative impulses is a time-honored tradition
Part 2: Online Micropayments
But some emerging artists are discovering that many on the Internet are willing to pay small amounts
Part 3: Taxing the Internet
Some big record firms and their allies say the downturn in retail sales is the result of people downloading music from the Internet without paying for it.
(Source: TechDirt)

posted by Jorgen permanent link

MiniReview from iPodLounge
Altec Lansing inMotion iMmini

Altec's inMotion series excels across the board at portability. Like the earlier inMotions, both the iMmini and iM3 are ideally portable speaker solutions, folding up to fit in any briefcase or backpack without a problem. However, despite their similar names, the new products are actually noticeably different offerings from an audio standpoint - in ways we didn't expect. And the iMmini is considerably smaller than the iM3, which in turn has superior ancillary features to partially justify its higher price. If you're interested in purchasing portable iPod speakers with some audio compromises, you'll want to read on to see which of these new alternatives might be right for you.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

  9/14/2004

Pocket Life
The future of affection
The shiny, wipe-clean future we are headed for may seem like a cold and uninviting place, but if existing technology is any guide then feelings and emotions are going to play a big part in this hi-tech world.
...Smarter systems at work could notice when people are stressed and have a lot to do and manage the amount of interruptions they get via e-mails or phone to let them get on with their work.
Another system could spot whether customers ringing a call centre are angry to ensure the difficult calls are spread among staff rather than just routed to one person.
Who knows, one day your phone could be calling your friends on your behalf, telling them to line up the drinks at the bar because you've had such a bad day.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Terror Alert
U.S. Exports DMCA Down Under
But the agreement has some Australian civil liberties advocates and lawyers crying foul. They say it's nothing more than a money-grab by the powerful U.S. copyright owners lobby, and claim the Australian government has sold consumers' rights to media conglomerates in the United States for dubious trade concessions in other industries.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Yo Ho
Yahoo's long and winding music road
With Tuesday's $160 million purchase of Musicmatch, Yahoo sent a clear message that it is determined to be a major player in the fast-growing digital music business, despite its relatively late start.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Kinda like Printing the eBook
Aural Heaven: IPod and Analog
The store's owner, 50-year-old Takeyuki Ishii, recommends plugging an iPod into an FM transmitter, such as Griffin Technology's iTrip, and listening to music through the speaker of an antique radio.
"Listening to their sounds, I can recall scenes from my childhood," he said.
Ishii also argues that the quality of CDs and today's speakers are so good, they simply reveal the limitations of poor recordings, especially older music.

posted by Jerry permanent link

So Mine
Sony Close to Acquiring MGM
The planned $3 billion deal would give Sony a library of more than 4,100 titles.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Falling Up
FictionWise's MP3 Book and more
"Fantastic Free Fall eBooks" special, plus the pre-order of the new Stephen King Dark Tower novel (100% Micropay Rebate), and we're launching MP3 Audio Books! Then add 185 new eBooks, which puts us over 22,000 titles online, and you have the biggest week this year.

posted by Jerry permanent link

iEarbuds
iPod earbuds
Another good The-Gadgeteer hands-on review

Griffin's EarJams are ingenious little plastic caps that snap onto the ends of the earbuds and claim to do three things:
- Raise volume levels by 10 decibels
- Deliver massive bass and improved sound
- Enhance comfort and fit

As always, read the whole article.
[UPDATE 16/9 Review at iPodLounge]

posted by Jorgen permanent link

iLoophole
Non-iPods get 'legal' iTunes solution
RapidSolution Software claims its Windows only software, Tunebite, "legally provides the user with new music files without restrictions".
The company claims that Apple's FairPlay and Microsoft's WMA digital rights management formats "limit users", and that "the music industry is disadvantaging consumers."
The Tunebite software re-records tracks purchased from the iTunes Music Store. According to the company this does not damage the quality of the track. "Depending on the PC’s soundcard, Tunebite can re-record it at up to 256 kbit/s, thus rendering any potential quality loss virtually inaudible for the consumer," it claims.
RapidSolution claims Tunebite exploits a legal loophole.
Source: iPodlounge

posted by Jerry permanent link

Tunebearer
TunesTracker
Free e-mail notification for iTunes Music Store addicts.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  9/13/2004

Contour Design Showcase 4G
iPodLounge reviews a showcase for 4G iPods - they like it.

The concept is still simple: Contour locks your iPod inside a hard rubber colored frame that includes two pieces of transparent plastic and a smart articulating latch. This frame – black or white in current models – surrounds the iPod with soft parallel curves, exposing the unit’s headphone port, Hold switch, and Dock Connector port to the elements. Each has enough space to permit users to easily attach their choice of accessories without incident.

The 3G showcase is reviewed here.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

iPod docking system
Sonance announces iPort
Engadget found

Sonance, specialist in in-wall audio systems, speakers, and home distributed audio, has very quietly announced the iPort, what is apparently an in-wall docking station for the iPod, compatible with Sonance’s line of equipment.

UPDATE: DigitalMediaThoughts brings some nice pictures of the unit.
UPDATE: Engadget now also brings pictures.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Pocket Kosher
How to Keep Kosher: A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding Jewish Dietary Laws
eBook by LisË Stern
What does it mean to keep kosher? Many may be familiar with the basics: no bacon, no shrimp, no cheeseburgers. But the Jewish dietary laws go deeper than that, and How to Keep Kosher explores the ins and outs. Why are some foods deemed kosher while others are not? Why can't you mix meat and dairy dishes? How do you turn a nonkosher kitchen into a kosher one?... Traditional recipes include Chicken Soup with My Mother's Ethereal Matzo Balls, Sliced Potato--Onion Kugel, and Hamantashen; new classics are Chilled Cucumber--Yogurt Soup, Rosemary Sweet Potato Kugel, Enchilada Lasagna, and Chocolate-Flecked Meringues. Stern's How to Keep Kosher is an inclusive, user-friendly handbook filled with answers to the fundamental who, what, where, when, why, and how questions surrounding the Jewish dietary laws--making these laws both accessible and appealing.

posted by Jerry permanent link

eLibrary
Free Service Offers Library Books Online

The Evanston Public Library now offers a new online service that lets Evanston residents with valid library cards read books online or download them temporarily in their full-text versions.
Any resident with a valid card may register for the service on the eBooks homepage, using their card's barcode number. They can then log in, search hundreds of fiction and nonfiction book titles, "preview" a book by reading it for 15 minutes, or "check out" a book and read it online or download it for reading with a time allotment of seven days.
To use the eBooks service, a user needs a computer with an Internet connection, a Web browser and Adobe SVG Viewer 3.0 and Adobe Reader 6.0 software, which may be downloaded free of charge.
...
After seven days, however, the book is no longer available for reading, although the file remains on one's computer until it is deleted.

Good initiative. We need more of these, but, please, not in Adobe Reader format! E-books should be read on a PDA.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

  9/12/2004

eMotion
CNET's editor Picks: On-demand movies finally a reality?
Rumors that Netflix and TiVo executives are close to shaking hands on a deal to deliver films over the Internet may be premature, but they've once again galvanized a seemingly irresistible dream of instant entertainment gratification. That idea was summed up years ago in a Qwest Communications International commercial that featured a beleaguered motel clerk deadpanning: "We have every movie ever made, in every language, any time, night or day." Movie studios and distributors have a lot to gain if they can solve the considerable technical and business issues that stand in the way of Internet video-on-demand services. Is their evolution inevitable--or just another digital El Dorado?

posted by Jerry permanent link

Trend Watch
Is Portable Video Ready for Its Close-Up?
A FEW years ago, when MP3 players were establishing themselves as the hot cool thing, the next question seemed clear: What if you could take along not only music but movies, television programs, home video and still pictures in a high-tech box svelte enough to slip into a briefcase, backpack or purse, or perhaps a pocket?
An answer is beginning to emerge, however tentatively
"Digital music players took advantage of the Napster free-for-all," he said of the not-so-long-ago era of rampant file-sharing. "Lots of consumers acquired digital music on their PC's. There's been nothing like that for video, even though there are video files available on networks like Kazaa."
The scarcity of video content for devices like the Portable Media Center is magnified by the very way video - constituting much larger files than music - is consumed, Mr. Rubin said. While people are happy to listen to the same songs repeatedly, "video is more disposable," he said. "In many ways, people have a more voracious appetite for new video than for music."
Microsoft is taking steps to expand the video offerings for the Portable Media Center, striking agreements with Major League Baseball and CinemaNow, an online film store and rental service.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Armagedon
Beware of the End of the World (Wide Web), Says Intel
It's a vision apparently shared by Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) and AT&T Corp. (NYSE: T), all of whom are working feverishly, either together or apart to save the World Wide Web, which Intel and others see as becoming so overloaded it will eventually break.
At Intel's technical conference, CTO Patrick Gelsinger said the Internet will begin to collapse as millions of new computer users from developing nations begin to sign on.
"We're running up on some architectural limitations," Gelsinger was quoted as saying.

posted by Jerry permanent link

No More Gap
Online Petition: Gapless Playback for Apple iPod
To: Apple Computer, Inc.
We, the undersigned, are requesting that gapless playback be integrated into the iPod via a firmware upgrade in the near future.
We want to show you, Apple, that there exists a large amount of iPod owners and possible future iPod owners, who desperately want this to be supported in iPod.
Perhaps you don't realize how important this is to iPod owners, but by this petition we hope to show you how essential this feature is to any digital audio player.
(Click Here to Sign Petition)

posted by Jerry permanent link

Since I will sometimes be scating on thin ice: the articles I contribute to jerry's blog reflect my personal opinion and not necessarily his. And vice versa.
This said, he is of course as blog owner responsible for my actions, so sue him, not me. :)

posted by Jorgen permanent link

  9/11/2004

Microsoft and e-book standards: The 1998 line
TeleRead reminds Microsoft about their aspirations in 1998:

For Electronic Books to succeed, tens of thousands of titles must be available immediately upon release of the Electronic Book devices. Publishers are willing to provide content if a standard file format and content structure exists into which they can write their content as well as a digital rights management system that can protect their content. Companies that understand this will work quickly and aggressively to correct this by developing electronic book standards with the correct content structure as well as content protection features."

TeleRead then complain that there still isn't a consumer e-book standard. The question to me is how far such standards should go.
A standard is a law and just like the laws of the society, too detailed rules makes life difficult to live. We seldom see committees produce good standards - more often committees kill the spirit of good ideas by adding suffocating rules. Good ideas usually come from single outstanding individuals, not committees. Apologies to the many who do their best to improve our lives in committees - I do appreciate your effort, but often the best thing to do is to stop regulating and go home. (And that applies to governments as well!)
Generally the KISS ("Keep It Simple Stupid") principle works best and produces the cheapest products!

posted by Jorgen permanent link

View Free
Librarian in Black: Free Cliff's Notes! Noooooo!
All Cliff's Notes are now available for free online. Wow. You can download them for $5.99, but hey--just print of copy/paste the online full text into a Word doc. This would be a good resource to point students to when all the library's copies are checked out (as always seems to happen)....

posted by Jerry permanent link

Time to Remember! We Won't Forget
Project Rebirth
Discover the complexities inherent in a massive undertaking like this one – from building a skyscraper to planning electrical systems for the twenty-first century to understanding the needs of local businesses and victims’ families.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Mmmm Sorry, ...can your repeat that?
SAMSUNG Electronics Unveils the First Mobile Phone with Hard Drive
The V5400 is equipped with a 1-inch diagonal, 1.5GB hard disc drive that greatly expands the memory capacity of mobile phones from the conventional 100MB maximum capacity. In addition, the phone boasts a high-resolution (QVGA) 2.2-inch liquid crystal display and includes features, such as MP3 player, electronic book and Korean-English/English-Korean dictionaries. A powerful microphone enhances the camcorder function, while dual speakers provide a 3D sound effect.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Too Greedy
Copyright Proposal Induces Worry
U.S. copyright officials say legislators should amend the law so firms that profit from others' infringement of copyright materials can be held liable for their actions. Tech companies and digital-rights activists say proposed changes go too far.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Free history e-books (WW2).
David Irving: Works of Real History.

David Irving is one of the leading historians on World War II. He was convicted in a UK court as being an anti-semite, a holocaust-denier and a Hitler-apologiser after which his publishers stopped publishing his books. He is therefore giving away e-books free of charge at http://www.fpp.co.uk/books/index.html and you can buy the p-books through his web-site.

A search in Google will show that he has some very angry enemies. Read for balance Dr. Nick Herbert's article.

Since you would not want to read biased nonsense, I will add that – among others – the historian Sir John Keegan has expressed that "Hitler's War" was one of two outstanding books on World War II and that the anti-semitism and the "holocaust denial" (most European countries have outlawed discussions about the holocaust) as far as I can see of the judgement does not refer to his books - indeed, the subject is not covered in "Hitler's War". The Judge was very positive about his abilities as a historian (judgement 13.7). The judgement then discusses from 13.9 various specific bits from the books. The whole court case can be found at Irvings web-site and is also very interesting: a lone man fighting one of the best law-teams in the UK.

I am currently reading the 1977 version of "Hitler's war" (the only ebook in HTML format, which I converted to iSilo format). I know that the PDF version has been updated, but PDF is made for printing, not reading!). This book is very interesting, very well written and gives the impression of very thorough research! I recommend it fully.

You will find a number of books on the site – I will undoubtedly read them but since they are in PDF it may take a while. Still, beggars can't be choosers. :(

posted by Jorgen permanent link

  9/10/2004

Napster
My Napster Trial - Not So Impressed Any More...
Jason Dunn is not happy

"I've been using Napster for a couple of weeks now and while I like several aspects of it, the more I use it the more frustrated I am with it."

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Man bites dog
The RIAA Gets Sued
DigitalMediaThoughts has a link to the article

"The litigious Recording Industry Association of America is involved in another legal dispute with a P-to-P technology maker, but this time, the RIAA is on defense. Altnet filed a lawsuit this week accusing the RIAA and several of its partners of infringing an Altnet patent covering technology for identifying requested files on a P-to-P network. The lawsuit is the next step in a campaign Altnet launched in November 2003, when it sent cease-and-desist letters to a number of companies, including those it is now suing. Joining Altnet, based in Woodland Hills, California, as plaintiffs in the suit are Brilliant Digital Entertainment, Altnet's parent company; and Kinetech, a patent holding company that developed the technology in question and exclusively licenses it to Brilliant and Altnet."

posted by Jorgen permanent link

* FREE The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States: This independent, bipartisan panel was directed to examine the facts and circumstances surrounding the September 11 attacks, identify lessons learned, and provide recommendations to safeguard against future acts of terrorism.
* Afterwords: Stories and Reports from 9/11 and Beyond by The Editors of Salon.com & David Talbot
* 9-11 by Noam Chomsky
* The Cell: Inside the 9/11 Plot, And Why the FBI and CIA Failed to Stop It. by John Miller & Michael Stone & Chris Mitchell
* Why America Slept: The Failure to Prevent 9/11 by Gerald Posner
* See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War Against Terrorism by Robert Baer
* The Quotable Giuliani: The Mayor of America in His Own Words by Bill Adler
* American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us by by Steven Emerson
* The Mind of a Terrorist Fundamentalist by Steven J. Morgan
* Usama bin Laden's al-Qaida: Profile of a Terrorist Network by Yonah Alexander & Michael Swetnam
* Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden by Peter L. Bergen
* Longitudes and Attitudes: Exploring the World After September 11 by Thomas L. Friedman
* Bin Laden: Behind the Mask of the Terrorist by Adam Robinson
* Sent by Earth: A Message from the Grandmother Spirit after the Attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon by Alice Walker
* Inside 9-11 by Editors Of Der Spiegel Magazine
* Christmas at Ground Zero by Linda J. Dunn
* September 11: An Oral History by Dean E, Murphy
* Beyond Stone And Steel: A Memorial to the September 11, 2001 Victims by Brian Vaszily
* After: How America Confronted the September 12 Era by Steven Brill
* The Deeper Wound: Recovering the Soul from Fear and Suffering by Deepak Chopra
* Silencing Political Dissent: How Post-September 11 Anti-Terrorism Measures Threaten Our Civil Liberties by Nancy Chang
* Love, Greg & Lauren by Greg Manning
* Middletown, America: One Town's Passage from Trauma to Hope by Gail Sheehy
* The September 11 Syndrome: Seven Steps to Getting a Grip in Uncertain Times by Harriet Braiker
* Triumph Over Tragedy: September 11 and the Rebirth of a Business by John Duffy & Mary S. Schaeffer
* Because We Are Americans: What We Discovered on September 11, 2001 by Jesse Kornbluth & Jessica Papin
* The Coming Anarchy: Shattering the Dreams of the Post Cold War by Robert D. Kaplan

posted by Jerry permanent link

Heavy-duty hardware
$800 Linux PepperPad: Yet another e-book platform.

The Pepper Pad has an invisible embedded operating system based on MontaVista® Linux® and Java, which have both been enhanced and optimized for the Intel® XScale® processor. It also has an 8.4-inch SVGA TFT LCD touchscreen with an 800 x 600 resolution so it can display a true Web page or movie. The lighted, split thumb QWERTY keypad makes text entry easy.
The 2 lb. Pepper Pad features a 20 GB hard drive, 256 MB of SDRAM, 32MB video RAM and 32 MB of flash memory so it can store hours of music and videos plus pages of photos and web clippings. It has a rechargeable lithium polymer battery with power management, plus an AC power supply. Bluetooth, IR and a USB 1.1 port complement the 802.11b+g Wi-Fi. It also features built-in stereo speakers, microphone, and headphone jacks, external mike, plus a five-way game D-pad. The entire package is ruggedized and splash-resistant for the rigors of daily use.

[Can it make coffee too?]

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Looking good
The “brushed metal” iPod
"We’ve been hearing reports about people doing this; literally brushing the metal on the back of their iPod with some Scotchbrite for that brushed-aluminum effect."

posted by Jorgen permanent link

  9/09/2004

Free world map for PDAs
Aranpura has published a world map at MobileRead free of charge. Looks very good!

"Note that there are over 300 maps in this atlas -- without image compression I think this would require around 70 Mb of space. iSiloX allows me to compress all images down to 25% of their original size, giving me an atlas that weighs in around 10 Mb."

Go get it!

posted by Jorgen permanent link

All good things come to an end.
RealNetworks ends its half-off online music sale
Engadget notes:

They didn’t make this announcement with quite as much fanfare as when they cut their price per download at their online music store to just 49 cents, but RealNetworks is ending that half-price “Freedom of Choice” promotion they’ve been running for the past three weeks (the move was part of their ongoing battle with Apple to try open up the iPod to music downloads sold by other online stores). They were losing money with each purchase, but they must have made it all up in volume since apparently they manage to sell over 3 million songs during that time.

DigitalMediaThoughts adds that the company

"claims to have sold more than 3 million downloaded songs since the service first launched. That number still trails Apple's iTunes sales which total 4 million downloads per week, or 16 million per month."

They also has a link to the full story in Yahoo.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Library e-books
U.S. bias in e-book content knocked by U.K. report
TeleRead has found a comprehensive UK report on the topic of e-books in public libraries. The report discusses apart from the US bias, the advantages and disadvantages of e-books and arrive at some surprising conclusions that Teleread rightfully refutes.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

E-books in .PDB format 101.

If you have been reading e-books for (nearly) any length of time, you will undoubtedly have met the file extension “.PDB”. You may have tried to read such a file in your e-book reader and experienced an error message or what looked as a corrupt display. You may or may not know that this is a so-called "Palm e-book format", meaning that the format originally were made to be used on a Palm PDA.

The PDB extension refers to a Palm database format (all Palm files are called "database" files - also program files). The Palm operating system supports only two file extensions in main memory: .PDB and .PRC [the newer Palm PDAs can read other file types from memory cards, most notably MP3 and OGG music files (but not from main memory)]. PDB files are always data files, whereas PRC files can be either program or data files (MobiPocket e-books use this extension, as do some Palm readers, eg. TealDoc reader). While there are only two file extensions to worry about, there are hundreds (if not thousands) of incompatible file types using the PDB extension. In other words, PDB can mean anything: ebooks in MobiPocket, eReader, iSilo, TomeRaider, Weasel, TealDoc, Plucker to mention a few of the most well-known formats – and, you guessed it, none of these readers can read e-books made for any of the others. And to make the confusion complete, the PDB extension also cover a variety of Palm database data files, configuration files, converted Adobe PDF files, photos, sound and whatnot.

Palm applications never get confused: starting with byte number 60, they simply read four bytes telling the file type and four bytes giving a unique application code - I mention this as this is also the only way (apart from the time-tested "trial and error" method) you can determine what kind of file you "hold in your hand", eg. Palm DOC format "TEXtREAd", iSilo "ToGoToGo" (the original name of the reader was ToGo in case you wondered) and "SDocSilX", eReader "PNRdPPRs", Mobi "BOOKMOBI"…

There is a common format: The original so-called “Palm DOC format” (PDB) is a simple format with little compression that can be read by all e-book readers, except Plucker (a Palm-only reader). The files are unencrypted and you can easily (and legally) find free utilities that can create Palm DOC files from ASCII text files and de-convert them back to text (whether the de-conversion in itself is legal depends on the copyright notice of the e-book); I use a DOS program called makedoc8 (http://makedoc.tripod.com/) or one of my own programs (you can find it on the Internet if you realy want it, but it is made to be tiny (410 bytes) and is not userfriendly at all: prc2txt). The palm DOC format does not in itself support HTML - well, MobiPocket ingeniously cheats by supporting embedded HTML codes, meaning that it is really up to the application to provide the support. FictionWise is the only large publisher to sell books in Palm DOC format. You can find readers that can read Palm DOC files for many Sharp and Psion PDAs.

Wouldn't it be easier if they all used the same format and the readers just competed on functionality? You have undoubtedly guessed the answer: Each individual format has its own advantages and disadvantages: Some offer a protected format (DRM) and some don’t – if the author insists on DRM, that’s it. Some compresses the books more than others (I like carrying a large library on an SD card). Most e-book creator programs are free, but some charge you for the easy-to-use version. Some allows you to compile an e-book of web-sites a la AvantGo (most notably iSilo and Plucker – visit http://www.mobileread.com if you use either of these). Some deliver a desktop reader as well (nice for checking out a book before transferring it to the PDA). Some support HTML, some RTF and some use their own formatting language. Some are better at reference material than others (TomeRaider). Don't ask which one is best – they are of course all good, so try a number of them yourself to find out what is good for you: check everything from filesize to functionality of bothreaders and creator programs (if you want to make your own e-books from books, reference material, web-sites …).

Here you probably wonder how many e-book formats there are out there in use today in total (not just Palm formats): to get an idea (and to get a free e-book), visit http://craphound.com/down/download.php delivering an e-book in 24 formats (including ASCII and HTML)! (Note that there are two more free e-books at that site).

Readers who want to try the readers mentioned in this article on their Palm or Pocket-PC should visit:
http://www.isilo.com
http://www.ereader.com
http://www.mobipocket.com
http://www.tomeraider.com/

If you have a Palm PDA, also look at:
http://www.tealpoint.com/
http://gutenpalm.sourceforge.net/ (Weasel)
http://www.plkr.org/ (Plucker)

MemoWare has a very useful table here http://www.memoware.com/mw.cgi/?screen=help_create.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Help Windows
CHM eBook Reader
CHM eBook Reader for Pocket PC is a program, that allows you to view files in the most common Windows help format (*.CHM, also known as "compiled HTML"), on the Pocket PC platform.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Empire Strikes Back
P2P company sues RIAA over patent
Altnet, a company that sells music and other digital goods through file-swapping services, sued the Recording Industry Association of America on Wednesday for alleged patent infringement.
Altnet and Brilliant Digital Entertainment are joint venture partners with Sharman Networks, the Australian company that owns the Kazaa software. The company has been trying for several years to persuade record labels and music studios to allow Altnet to sell authorized versions of their products through the Kazaa file-swapping network.
The big entertainment companies have unanimously said no, however. They've lost recent court battles that aimed to put companies like Sharman out of business, but are now seeking legislation that would revive their claims against file-swapping ventures.

posted by Jerry permanent link

TimeOut! iBlog
No Friendster of mine
Blogging has been slapped with many labels since its debut on the Internet - democratic, revolutionary, informative, ego-centric, a waste of time – now, social networking company Friendster has given it a new description – grounds for termination.
Last week, Friendster fired Joyce Park, a Friendster engineer since December, without warning. Her offense: blogging about company info that was publicly available.
On her blog, she is more likely to discuss her piano skills or books she’s read than her job at Friendster. She says that the company knew she wrote a well-known blog before she got the job.

posted by Jerry permanent link

iLoop
Facing the Copyright Rap
A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that rap artists should pay for every musical sample included in their work — even minor, unrecognizable snippets of music.

posted by Jerry permanent link

MyStory
iStory
The iStory Creator is an application made to allow people the oppurtunity to create their very own iPod Text Games. It allows people with absolutely no html or coding experience the chance to be able to contribute games for the iPod that are engaging and rich with fun. "iStories" are text games for the iPod that have a block of text like a book and then when certain things happen in the story, the user is able to make choices that affect how the story ultimately progresses. This can lead to games that are similar to RPG's, Quiz-type Games, Tutorials, Demos, References and basically anything you can think of doing with a linked text files. The iStories can be very similar to a "Choose your own ending" type of novel or can be anything else you put your mind to authoring. These games make for some great entertainment. So, be sure download the creator, start thinking of a fun idea for an iStory and get cracking on making a great text game!

posted by Jerry permanent link

  9/08/2004

Yeah, let's empty the streets!
Congress Decides To Criminalize The Average College Student
TechDirt reports: However, a new bill moving rapidly through Congress will quickly criminalize many college students and threaten them with five years in jail. According to this report, The House Judiciary Committee has approved (by voice vote) a bill that would make it a criminal act, punishable with up to five years in prison, to share 1,000 or more "copyrighted works."

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Can't get enough DRM.
iTunes Japan hits 'inadequate DRM' hurdle
The Register reports: "Apple's plan to open a Japanese version of its iTunes Music Store could be scuppered on local music companies' fears that its DRM technology, FairPlay, simply isn't restrictive enough.
Pricing is also an issue, it seems, with labels fearing the cannibalisation of CD sales."

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Holiday 101 for workaholics.
Do You Check Email From The Closet In Your Hotel Room?
Ed Hansbury at PocketPCThoughts has a link to this wonderful article:
"The attitude of family and friends forces Mrs. Burack to do what any self-respecting nonrelaxer must do: deceive, beguile and swindle. Last March in Hawaii, for example, her husband expressed shock that she hadn't brought her BlackBerry. But "I had it," she admits. "I was hiding it." She used it when everyone else was asleep, and if they weren't, she would sneak into the bathroom or the closet. The closet? "Oh, yeah, that's nothing," she says."

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Good initiative!
iPod battery swap surprisingly easy
Well-written article with good pictures by Mark Frauenfelder from Boingboing.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

  9/07/2004

XLLL
XML: Too much of a good thing?
XML is most often lauded as a foundation for delivering Web services and is the base for plans from Microsoft and other software makers to ease the development and maintenance of business programs. Web services and XML are also major components of Indigo, a new communications subsystem that's slated to be part of Longhorn, the next major release of Windows. Microsoft recently revised its plans for Longhorn and said it will make Indigo available for Windows XP and other current versions of Windows, meaning that it should soon become even easier to exchange XML data between computers.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Very fragmented ebook reader devices
codeMantra offers publishers PDF e-book conversion service
"Digital content distribution has been a very fragmented market, given the varied file specifications in the marketplace," says codeMantra Senior Director of Business Development James Burnett. "Our goal with this offering is to remove the financial hurdle of multiple conversions for a single piece of content, thereby allowing publishers to participate in the wealth of opportunity in the marketplace simply and efficiently."

posted by Jerry permanent link

iPod Mini review.
Brighthand Reviews the Apple iPod mini
Very good review comparing the mini iPod to the "grown-up" iPod and discussing the PDA features within. And, yeah, Brighthand likes it!

posted by Jorgen permanent link

The-Gadgeteer Review
Speck Products SkinTight iPod Mini Armband
"The Speck Products SkinTight Armband is a decent product that functions especially well. Although the design might not be eye catching, it functions superbly and does a good job of protecting the mini during active use. This product will be a good alternative to Apple’s offering simply because you get 2 products for the price of one; The skin and the armband. Even if you are not using the armband, you can still use the supplied case to protect your mini during daily use. Furthermore, if you subtract the actual cost of the skin ($19.95) you are only paying $10 for the armband which is a very good value.
Overall, I believe the SkinTight Armband is a good product simply because it provides protection for the mini in addition to performing its function as an armband. Brushing aside some minor design shortcomings, I believe it offers excellent value for the mini. I recommend it to any user who wants to use their mini actively and or wants a decent case for everyday use"

posted by Jorgen permanent link

  9/06/2004

'Smart' Sex Sells
NY Times' article: Sex, Sex, Sex: Up Front In Bookstores Near You
Porn stars may not keep many things hidden, but whatever secrets they had are now on the shelf at the local bookstore. ... A wave of confessionals and self-help guides written by current or former stars of pornographic films is flooding bookstores this year, accompanied by erotic novels, racy sexual-instruction...

For Adults Only:
Non Fictions Selection:
Diary of a Viagra Fiend: Announcing a major new comic talent--from dancing in S+M clubs to snorting Viagra, a brilliant, unflinching, and uproaurious set of stories from the edge of sex.
Sex with Kings: 500 Years of Adultery, Power, Rivalry, and Revenge: From Madame de Pompadour, the famous mistress of Louis XV, who kept her position for nineteen years despite her frigidity, to modern-day Camilla Parker-Bowles, who usurped none other than the glamorous Diana, Princess of Wales. The successful royal mistress made herself irreplaceable. She was ready to converse gaily with him when she was tired, make love until all hours when she was ill, and cater to his every whim.
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Amazing Sex: An acclaimed sex educator explains how to enjoy your sex life like never before. Topics include the pleasure of touch, sexual positions, sexual fantasy, sex online, sex toys, Tantric sex.
100 Ways to Keep Your Lover: We make everything you need to live the good life-a sensual sexy romantic life-only a simple click away with this proactive and interactive eBook.
The Multi-Orgasmic Man: Sexual Secrets Every Man Should Know: Drawing on the principles of Chinese medicine.
She Comes First: The Thinking Man's Guide to Pleasuring a Woman: a virtual encyclopedia of female pleasure, detailing dozens of tried-and-true techniques for consistently satisfying a woman and illustrated step-by-step instructions to ensure success.

Fictions Selection:
Zane: Zane's erotic short stories have captivated the minds of both sexes and all races. The Sex Chronicles: Shattering the Myth did exactly what its title implies -- exploded the myth that men are more sexual in nature than women, and that African-American women in particular are inhibited compared to their female counterparts of other cultures.
Reed Manning: Reed Manning is a winner of the Henry Miller Award for erotic fiction. Author of more than seventy erotic short stories, his work has appeared in magazines such as Penthouse Forum, Club International, Mayfair, Club, Penthouse Hot Talk, Lui, and Penthouse Letters. "Reed Manning has this way of getting inside the minds of his female characters. You just know they're having fun, and why, and how. It's never in doubt. His males are exuberant, deserving, ready to please and worthy of their rewards. After all the sex fiction I've read over the years, his stuff still makes me hot every time." --from the introduction to Treats.
More Erotica Fictions

posted by Jerry permanent link

TimeOut! Slave to Love
The More Popular Your Blog Becomes, the More You Become a Slave to the Never-ending Need to Post
Whether writing about politics, personal matters or porn, anyone who writes a web log has invariably described their site as a personal online journal, especially when their trying to explain what a “blog” is to the unchristened. Blogs, however, are anything but personal, and the pressure of maintaining one often leads to the dreaded feeling that your hobby has turned into work.
Jorgen found this article, and the article is absolutely right.

posted by Jerry permanent link

DRM Twist and Shout
An Open-and-Shut Copyright Case
The case is closed — and now your garage door can be, too.
A federal appeals court in Washington has ruled that it's OK for Skylink Group to sell its universal garage door openers, thwarting an effort by rival Chamberlain Group.
In this case, Skylink was accused of improperly using digital security software code created by Chamberlain.
"I think the court was saying that companies can't hide under the DMCA to prevent competition," asserted Kenneth DeGraff, a policy analyst for Consumers Union, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief opposing Chamberlain.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Bribes vs. introduction to modern technology?
Big tech on campus
C-Net has an interesting article discussing the difference between "giving students access to cutting-edge technology and making them marketing guinea pigs, some critics warn." The article also mentions the iPods Duke University gave to their students. Personally, I think they should have given the students a PDA with Wi-Fi as this would have been a better introduction to modern technology. PDA's are perfect for reading ebooks and PowerPoint slides. The article does not mention PDA's at all!

posted by Jorgen permanent link

  9/05/2004

WMA and iPod.
Importing Windows Media Audio into iTunes
"Just purchased a new iPod? Upset because you just discovered that your multi-thousand song library of music encoded in Microsoft's Windows Media Audio (WMA) format from your Windows Media Player past won't easily load into your new multi-hundred dollar digital audio jukebox? Many before you have been, but you don't need to be: Apple has made dealing with WMA audio very easy with the latest iTunes release, and iPodlounge is here to help!"

posted by Jorgen permanent link

iPod cradle
Griffin's PodPod Auto Cradle review
"Sometimes doing things the "simple" way turns out to be the smarter way after all. Case in point is Griffin Technology's new in-car iPod cradle, the PodPod. While some might think it to be the simplest iPod accessory ever released, we'd beg to differ. Unlike iPod screen protectors and case stickers - ahem, HP Printable Tattoos - there's more to the PodPod ($9.99) than first meets the eye. Remove it from its box and you'll see an oddly-shaped iPod cradle made from foam rubber, nothing more, nothing less. And if you're like us, your first thought will likely be, "this thing probably costs around $2 to make and package." And then you'll take the PodPod to your car. Following the scant directions, you'll put it into your car's cup holder. And it will fit. Almost no matter what size the car's cup holder is - oversized, small, or whatever, your cup holder will become a safely padded iPod cradle. Seriously. The PodPod worked even in the oversized multipurpose cup holder of our Lexus test vehicle, which has previously proved impossible to use with other iPod cup holders. And it also worked in the car's other cup holders, which are more "normally" sized, but not as conveniently located."

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Time Out!
Fans Keep Newton in Motion
Six years after Apple Computer terminated the Newton, the Worldwide Newton Association is holding its first conference to determine the future of the platform.Indeed, the Newton may be getting a new lease on life.
The first Newton hardware emulator will be unveiled at the show, which may allow the Newton operating system to run on other hardware, including full-color handhelds or Tablet PCs.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  9/04/2004

MSN Music on Pocket-PC and Smartphone.
MSN Music Beta purchases on Pocket PCs work
"A bit of the controversy regarding the recent claims that MSN Music store files won’t play on PocketPC and Smartphone devicse might be cleared up, just for now anyway. We were able to purchase a song on the MSN Music store, download it, sync to the Pocket PC through the Windows Media Player, and then play the protected song in both internal memory as well as SD card.
From what we heard (and tested) all content purchased from the MSN Music Beta will run on the internal storage of Pocket PCs and SmartPhones. But, not all devices can play content off the storage cards yet. It all depends on the OEMs drivers and if they properly implemented IOCTL_DISK_GET_STORAGEID."
[Follow link to see screenshots and read the rest.]

UPDATE 5/9: Wired News points out that only US customers are served currently, plus
"With MSN Music, downloaded songs can be played on five computers, a playlist of songs can be burned to CD up to seven times, and users are granted unlimited capability to transfer songs to a current list of roughly 70 portable audio devices.
Songs purchased on iTunes can be burned to CD, transferred to other computers, or played "as is" on Apple's iPod -- but customers must take steps to make them play on other mobile music players, such as burning them to CD.
Devices supported by the MSN Music beta release include inexpensive, $50-range music gadgets that use flash memory, as well as an array of pricier iPod imposter devices such as introduced by companies like Samsung and Creative Technology."
...
"Open-format activists like Jason Schultz, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, ask why the company doesn't simply strip DRM altogether, and lament the fact that Microsoft's service launch makes it all the more likely that two opposing proprietary systems -- Microsoft's and Apple's -- will now dominate a marketplace some feel would be better served by open standards such as MP3."

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Interesting Site
Album Arts for iTunesTo get album covers for your iTunes songs:
1. Export song list as plain text from iTunes (File > Export Song List...then select 'Save as type: Plain Text files')
2. Upload song list below
3. Album covers and track listings will be displayed for your iTunes mucic collection!
4. Drag and drop the album covers onto the image box in iTunes

posted by Jerry permanent link

  9/03/2004

Soundstation for iPod
JBL ONSTAGE
"Harman Multimedia today debuted JBL On Stage, a desktop speaker station specifically designed for both the iPod and iPod mini. Shown at Macworld Boston in July, On Stage is "the sleekest and highest quality docking spot for iPod, allowing for crisp-sounding tunes, synchronization and charging in one unit. Combined with iPod, On Stage is lightweight, compact and provides rich sound for at-home or at-the-office environments. On Stage also provides power to charge iPod when the system is in 'off' mode." Comprising four Odyssey transducers, On Stage delivers 12 watts of total power and is also equipped with easy-to-use touch volume controls, and additional cables for connecting it with other digital music player devices, CD players and laptop and desktop computers. It is available for $200 through Apple (both retail and online Apple stores) through December."

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Buy beer, not iPods!
Another Thing To Blame On The iPod: Less Guinness
"It's amazing the sorts of things they blame on technology these days. Guinness is having a bit of a sales slump these days, and wouldn't you know it, it's because those darn Irish kids are putting all their money into buying iPods rather than heading down to the pub. Next thing you know, we're going to be seeing commercials talking about the poor, poor Guinness plant worker who you are putting out of business by stealing from them by not going to the pub, but rather choosing to spend your money in a way that it does not go into their pockets. The shame of it all."

posted by Jorgen permanent link

RIAA and iPod.
Record labels' man in Washington
Interview with Mitch Glazier, the lobbyist behind RIAA's law suits. The iPod was mentioned:

"There has been speculation that the original Induce Act could make Apple Computer liable for selling like the iPod. Could it?
No.

Why not?
The original Induce Act focused on the totality of the circumstances. There's no way that a company that produces great digital rights management for a licensed product is ever going to be shown to want to profit from piracy.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation drafted a faux complaint that said the iPod could be at risk.
They forgot the word "intent." It's a key element. State of mind is the key element of the Induce Act. Overt acts that show state of mind for purposes of proof are key elements of the Induce Act. That said, we understand that in this atmosphere, corporations would like assurances that they're able to continue the legitimate activities that they're in the business of conducting."

Read the whole thing: he wants to sue more people!

posted by Jorgen permanent link

So..yes?
Apple asked Sony for iTunes partnership?
"Apple Computer Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs offered Nobuyuki Idei, chairman and group CEO of Sony, the chance for Sony to come aboard Apple's ITunes Music Store service, the Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun newspaper reports in its September 2 edition.
The offer would have allowed for joint operation of the service, the newspaper says."

posted by Jerry permanent link

Error
"Microsoft Reader is no longer able to access the book".
Well, the new upgrade version of MS Reader might not fix it. It could be your CF card...

posted by Jerry permanent link

There went the neighbourhood!
iPod iBoom boombox

"iBoom is a 20 watts per channel, four-speaker boombox system
with built-in digital FM radio."
(from everythingipod)

posted by Jorgen permanent link

iPod at the chip level.
A glimps into the future iPod
"Thanks to these documents we get a little more insight in what the future may hold for the iPod. Portal Player had to deliver a list that sums up all functionality of their current chips and it's that list that revealed some interesting unknown facts. For starters Portal Player can produce chips that support Ethernet and Bluetooth. Another cool sounding functionality is the possibility to create a slide show which can be synchronized on the music's tempo.
The most advanced chip (PP5020) that Portal Player produces has support for color LCD displays and TV viewing. This chip also has the technology to drive a printer directly and another is the connection to a digital camera. One striking missing feature is the possibility to play movies but we all know that Apple's CEO doesn't see any life in a video iPod and personally I think he's right because I don't see myself watching a movie on such a tiny screen. Video is totally a different beast then music. A good read about that is on Yellow Lane. Remember also that we are talking about Portal Players' current chip line and not the ones that are secretly being developed. So who knows, maybe we're just scratching the surface here."

posted by Jorgen permanent link

  9/02/2004

Out of tune?
MSN Music is off-key, Apple says
"Its biggest problem may be that its downloaded songs can not play on the iPod," said Eddie Cue, Apple's vice president of applications."
But MS has advantages:
"Where Apple has concentrated on music, Microsoft is giving nearly equal weight to video. The Redmond, Wash., software giant is pushing a new category of devices, dubbed Portable Media Centers, that play TV shows and video in addition to songs. The products, which use Microsoft technology, are sold by consumer electronics firms such as Samsung and Creative Technology.
And while Apple has taken an exclusively sales-oriented approach, Microsoft has also developed technology that allows people to "rent" music through a subscription service. However, the MSN Music store, which opened Wednesday, only matches Apple on the typical price per song, at 99 cents."

UPDATE: Read also Mossberg's comparison at Microsoft Challenges Apple's iTunes Store, But It Isn't There Yet

posted by Jorgen permanent link

  9/01/2004

My Thoughts:
After seeing several years of the advancement of DRM methods, the winners for the honest consumers are always the most fair of usage, not so strict DRM.
Example:
1. Peanutpress eBook (ereader/palm digital media), which the unlock system is as simple as by putting our name and credit card number at the time we firstly open the ebook. We can copy the ebook to other system (you name it) without having to authorized the hardware.
2. MS Reader. Surprise? Yes, I love this expensive complicated DRM, as long as I have convertlit.com, a free <50K file utility to unlock the ebook ;-P
3. iTunes. You can burn it into CD for the unprotected copy, you can copy it to any number of iPods connected to your computer.

posted by Jerry permanent link

So-no way
Prose and Cons: Sony's New E-Book
...All in all, the device itself is a marvel, but unfortunately it's crippled by an unclever proprietary copyright protection scheme—let's call it "copywrong." (Sony calls it Open MG.) The scheme basically puts the rights of the publisher ahead of the convenience of the user. Only 1,139 titles are available for downloading from the electronic library, mostly books in Japanese, with a few hoary tomes in English like Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth. Currently there are no newspapers or magazines on the virtual shelves.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Ninety-Nine woh woh woh (sing it toto's song)
$0.99 iWords eBookstore inspired by iTunes' incredible success
Newmedia Publishing is opening its iWords(tm) eBook store, inspired by Apple Computer's incredibly successful iTunes download store. The site features free eDigests, 99 cent eBooks, and subscription to web-books in an easy, and very affordable way.
Readers can also visit the authors' pages and peruse sample chapters at their leisure, or purchase the books online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and Borders.
(Sadly iwords.com domain at this point in time is available for sale)

posted by Jerry permanent link

iLock
Pod Secret v1.0
Pod Secret allows one to store encrypted notes, medical vaccinations, credit cards, bank numbers, traveler's check, serial numbers, passport, driver's licenses, or any other data that you wish on removable media such as an iPod or a thumb drive for convenient portable access!

posted by Jerry permanent link

Real Cheesy
Business 2.0 Asks "Is RealNetworks Just Stinky Cheese?"
"Real doesn't understand it's fighting a brand battle," says Bradley Peacock, president of Chicago-based marketing consultancy Peacock Nine. RealNetworks, with its complicated downloads and annoying pop-ups, has never been adored, and it is going up against an aspirational brand that is. (That's why people wear the pocket-size device outside their clothing and use the distinctive white earphones even though other earbuds offer better sound quality.)" (read more)

posted by Jerry permanent link

Good excuse for buying a BMW!
BMW puts iPod in driver's seat
"BMW and Apple Computer have announced new iPod-compatible cars that will let drivers flick between songs without taking their hands from their steering wheels.
The cars will connect to the iPod, with drivers able to charge up their music players or listen to songs on their iPod through the car stereo, with the iPods designed to sit in the BMW's glove box."
[As usual - read the whole article.]

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Websites for small screens.
Taking Your Website to the Small Screen
MobileRead has a link to an informative article "Co-written by Jorunn D. Newth from Opera Software, the article first examines the constaints of a handheld device (small screen, limited input, slow downloading, slow processor, limited memory) and then explains how a webdesigner can scale-down his page to take these constaints into account (mainly through HTML optimization and special CSS markup)."

posted by Jorgen permanent link

Yet another digital music store!
Betting it all on Napster
C-Net brings an interview with the man who sold his software company and bought Napster in order to compete with - among others - Apple, Microsoft and Sony.

posted by Jorgen permanent link

So, how do you backup your e-books? Burn them onto CD's?
Time To Back Up Your Back Ups
Wasn't Jack Valenti just telling us that DVDs last forever? Maybe not. As many people are now learning, digital media has a pretty rapid decay rate. The latest to discover this was a reporter who, five years ago or so, had fallen for that old (har har) "paperless office" gag that has been pulled before. He bought a CD-RW and scanned in all sorts of stuff (including photos and old articles he'd written) -- and then made the fatal mistake: he tossed out the original copies. Glad to have the filing space back, he proceeded to shove the CDs on a shelf somewhere and forget about them for years... until now. Partly out of curiosity, he pulled out these backup CDs, put them in his CD drive and discovered the wonders of Windows error messages. He begins to wonder (uh oh) what will this mean for all the CDs and DVDs he's been paying good money for over the years. It would be nice if he could back them all up, perhaps multiple times to various different storage media, but the entertainment industry isn't real keen on that idea, seeing as they're actively stomping out those who try to help you save your own digital files.
[Follow the link at Engadget for the full article.]

posted by Jorgen permanent link