Technology

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24
Mar 11

Netflix is Losing Californication and Dexter

Well this definitely can’t be good news for Netflix. Even though they’ve just signed a new deal with Showtime, they’re losing two of the biggest shows. Definitely makes it even more clear that we won’t be seeing good options for watching premium content from channels like HBO, Showtime or even AMC anytime soon.

Kind of a bummer, since those are the only reasons I can think of to keep any sort of cable subscription. In fact, the only two reasons I haven’t canceled my Dish service completely (in favor of Netflix & Hulu Plus) is so that it’s easy for me to have HBO turned on when True Blood starts up again, and Showtime when Dexter returns. Otherwise, I’d love to cut the cable completely.

While the new deal between the two companies will include streaming rights to shows like ‘The Tudors’ and ‘Sleeper Cell,’ two of Showtime’s biggest shows are being pulled. Both ‘Dexter’ and ‘Californication’ are being removed from the service.

via Netflix is Losing Californication and Dexter in New Deal with Showtime | High-Def Digest.

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23
Mar 11

Samsung Just Killed My Xoom Lust

Well, well… it looks like waiting for a bit and not buying Motorola’s Xoom was good for a few reasons (now including that they’re stopping production on them).

A month ago I swapped out my Palm Pre for the HTC Evo 4G and so far have been surprisingly pleased with Android. I’ve had an iPad since launch, but even though it’s a very nice device, I still can’t get over the walled garden of Apple. It’s part of why I’ve never been an Apple fan, I guess (I used to love customizing the components on my PCs – something Macs never let you do).

So, all of this, along with the fact that I’ve loved every Samsung device I’ve had (TVs, Blu-Ray and even my old Instinct phone) gets me very excited to see that they’re finally learning from the mistakes they made with the first Galaxy tab (in particular, price and size) and are coming out with some very tasty looking updates.

The numbers are all there for the specmeisters, with this reworked Galaxy Tab rocking a slightly larger touchscreen over the iPad 2, higher resolution, a 1GHz dual core processor and lighter 595g weight compared to the 601g of the iPad 2 Wi-Fi. But the most important number of all is its price. Unlike Samsung’s overpriced predecessor, the 16GB Wi-Fi Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 will cost exactly the same as the iPad 2 Wi-Fi 16GB: $499. Bam!

via New Tablet: Is the Revised Galaxy Tab 10.1 an iPad 2 Killer? [GALLERY].

Looks like a Galaxy 10.1 is in my future. Now I just need June to get here (unless Samsung wants to send me one early … wink, wink).

Oh yeah… I forgot to mention that I picked up a Xoom a few weeks back for the office so we had a good-sized Honeycomb Android tablet to use for app development. I really dug it and the new WiFi only version was at the top of my “to-purchase” list. Samsung squashed that idea.

Technology / Web — No Comments
29
Jun 10

Amazon.com Is Down

It appears that the web site for Amazon.com is down. Reports have been coming in through Twitter and elsewhere. From what I’m seeing, it is very likely a database issue, as the site loads but no products seem to be working.

Seeing as how both links for Starving the Artist here go to Amazon, and Amazon.com is down, I should point out you can also buy it at Barnes and Noble (plus it’s on sale there!).

I wonder how much money Amazon’s losing.  I’m guessing it’s a lot.

BTW, If you’re ever looking for a good way to see if a site is down for just you or for everyone, use http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com

Intellectual Property / Technology / Web — No Comments
14
May 10

Hollywood’s Injunction to Disconnect The Pirate Bay (This Time in Germany)

Today I was discussing the recent LimeWire copyright infringement decision with a colleague of mine, when he remarked “I want the Pirate Bay shut down too.” Then I realized that some of you may have missed the latest news. According to an article on TorrentFreak, a group of major Hollywood studios have obtained a preliminary injunction from the Hamburg District Court in Germany against The Pirate Bay’s web host, CB3ROB, prohibiting them from connecting the Pirate Bay’s web servers to the Internet.

You can read more about this at Torrentfreak. However, for more information I recommend checking out this article over at The Register in the UK, where representatives from the web host say they know nothing of this injunction, and even go so far as to refer to The Pirate Bay as “fully legit.”

The sad part is, that if the Pirate Bay gets disconnected, it’s almost certain we’ll see it pop right back up in some other country on another web service. I hate to say it, but perhaps it’s time we consider actually putting together laws that require ISPs to block access to sites that are known to be operating illegally. Otherwise, it’s just going to continue to be a game of whack-a-mole.

Intellectual Property / Music / Technology / Web — 3 Comments
13
May 10

LimeWire Has Officially Been Deemed Illegal (It’s About Time)

LimeLimeWire has finally been found illegal, liable for copyright infringement, a bunch of thieves, etc.

The news of this has been all over the web (WSJ has one of the best pieces of coverage), but I think Patrick Ross of the Copyright Alliance has one of the best responses to it on their blog.

I left my thoughts on the Copyright Alliance’s site, but thought it was worth sharing here as well. So, consider this my official response to the news.

“This is one of the best pieces of news I’ve seen reported in a long time. It’s about time this happened. I remember a few years ago, I was talking to some people I knew and found out that they don’t ever buy music – instead they only download from Limewire (or did at the time). The thing is, when I told them that what they were doing was illegal, they had no idea. Their response was “but I bought some pro version and a plan.” It was only after explaining to them that it still was unlicensed and nothing went to any of the artists or creators that they saw just how misled they had been.

Limewire’s entire business plan was built around the theft of copyrighted materials, and as you said, they were just fine with that. It’s good to see that the Judicial System has stepped up and given them the smack they so deserve.”

It’s about time.

Intellectual Property / Music / Publishing / Technology / Web / Writing — No Comments
5
May 10

My New Book: “Starving the Artist” Is Now Available

If you’ve been following my updates here or on Twitter, you are likely aware that over the last nine months or so I’ve been working on a new, nonfiction book, discussing the value of creative works.  The book, Starving the Artist, focuses on how in today’s Internet age where information can be transferred for a negligible amount of money (basically for free), the underlying creation that makes up the music, movies, books, art and other types of media that we enjoy, is being viewed as something that should be free as well.  A lot of this comes from the thought process that the actual cost of a product should be determined in great part to the physical cost of the packaged good, as well as the general philosophy of those that argue “Information should be free.”

The full title of the book is Starving the Artist: How the Internet Culture of “Free” Threatens to Exterminate the Creative Class and What Can Be Done to Save It.  It’s not a book about copyright law or an argument that “free is evil” – instead it’s a discussion of our current state of how we value other people’s work and creations, and how it should not be up to us as consumers to decide whether or not we want to pay what the creator is asking (if they are asking for anything at all). In some ways it’s a response to Chris Anderson’s Free: The Future of a Radical Price and tangential to Andrew Keen’s The Cult of the Amateur.

Continue reading →

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15
Feb 10

You Need a Robot to Do Your Dirty Work

I’m addicted to my Roomba. In fact, I’m so addicted that I’m addicted to three Roombas (and one Scooba).  They all have names.  There’s Bob 2, Bob 3 and Sir Roberto the Fourth.  (Bob 1 died, unfortunately).  The Scooba is named Norbert.

If you don’t know what a Roomba is, the basic idea is this: it’s a robot that vacuums for you.  (Scoobas mop). Yeah, it doesn’t take too much work to vacuum.  But what a Roomba does is quite a bit more than that – it’s the things you don’t really think about when you think of vacuuming.  Of course the actual “work” part of vacuuming is gone – but the additional benefits are where these little robots really shine.

Roombas are small in height, which means they go under all your furniture – no more moving the couch to clean up the cat hair that’s accumulated.  They’ll go pretty much everywhere you need them to go, and they’ll do it for you pretty much as often as you want. Continue reading →

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