No Love for DRM

This is why some companies just don’t get it in this digital era we live in. Tonight, while watching the season finale of 24, which was insane by the way, I saw an ad about Burger King’s MySpace page where you could download a free episode of 24.

Cool…or so I thought. First of all, it was over 300 MB, and that was as a compressed file. After the file decompressed, I realized that it was a Windows Media Player file, to my horror. I got over the shock and attempted to open the file only to be alerted that I needed a newer version of Windows Media Player that supported the encryption in the file. When I clicked the link to download an updated Media Player, in true Microsoft fashion, the only thing I found was the version I currently have on my machine, which has been around for a while.

So, no luck for me on my 24 episode. I can download it from iTunes for $1.99, and I probably would, if I could burn that purchased episode onto a DVD, which I think I should be able to under my fair use rights, but apparently not. I don’t really blame Apple – I’m sure that they needed to do something like that in order for the media companies to get on board with their download service.

How about this? If you’re going to give something digital away for free, don’t put all sorts of weird encryption on it so that people plain can’t play it. Why do you need the encryption if you are giving the thing away for FREE?!?! And, if I’m going to buy something, then I OWN it. You’ve got your money, so let me do with it what I want. If I want to burn a copy for myself, then let me. Come on people, it’s not that hard. You’ll probably get even more sales if you don’t implement all these crazy restrictions on what your customer can and cannot do.

Just some thoughts from a slightly irritated nerd.

The Controversy

The controversy that is The Da Vinci Code hits theaters today. I haven’t read the book yet, but I did read The Da Vinci Code Deception, which proved to be quite an interesting read. It sounds to me (from what I’ve read) that Mr. Brown needed to get his facts straight.

People say, “Oh it’s just fiction.” And I guess, that is true. However, it’s what I would call Historical Fiction. It’s fiction that deals with real historical figures. And that’s where their excuse loses a little weight for me. If you state in your book that things are fact, and then it’s proven that they aren’t – that’s a problem. If you make claims that pretty much have no base in reality about the deity of Jesus, that’s a problem for me.
People should know why they believe what they believe and should have the faith to withstand these sorts of things, but not everyone does, and not everyone is at the same maturity level in their faith. I understand that you can say what you want, and all that 1st Ammendment goodness, but I’m not so sure I would want to be in Mr. Brown’s position.

Jesus spoke pretty sternly about people who cause others to sin. Mark 9:42 – “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe (in me) to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”

I will probably read the book and see the movie. Not to glorify its ideals, but to be able to have an intelligent conversation with people talking about it and to be able to point out the flaws contained in both.

The Da Vinci Code

I just read an interesting article over at Fox News regarding The Da Vinci code. One of the quotes I liked best was, “Dan Brown is capable of passing fiction for fact because Christians don’t know their faith — what and why they believe. That’s not Mr. Brown’s fault.”

I think that sums it up pretty well. I recently purchased a book entitled The Da Vinci Deception (at least that’s what I think it’s called) that points out a bunch of errors in the book, but also presents the truth to counter those errors. It was a really good read for me, and it helped explain a little bit more about the Catholic church and church history in general.

Know your faith. Don’t just pretend to know it. And then, movies like this, or slick talkers, or the next new thing to attack Christianity won’t be a problem. A little education never hurt anyone. Find out why you believe what you believe. Be able to share those reasons with other people.

I know I’m not there yet, but I hope I’m getting a little closer every day.

The RAZR is here

Last night Danielle and I drove to Williamsport to upgrade our cell phones. After waiting in line for what felt like an eternity, we finally got our phones and were on our way. We both got the RAZR V3c. Mine is gray and Danielle’s is pink. I haven’t had too much time to actually tinker with the phone, but from what I’ve seen so far, I love it.

As you may or may not know, Verizon purposefully cripples the Bluetooth (wireless transfer) technology on all its cell phones so that all you can use it for are for those crazy Bluetooth ear pieces. That stinks big time, because the RAZR can transfer MP3, pictures, etc. over the Bluetooth interface. Turning to Google, I found the information I needed.

Long story short. There are at least three versions of software for the RAZR – 02, 03, and the current 04. 02 had the Bluetooth in its uncrippled state. O3 does not. Depending on which version you upgraded from, 04 will either have it on or off. I found a tutorial on how to downgrade the phone to the 02. I guess it’s a little risky, but I figured I’d give it a try.

The process worked flawlessly, and in about 10 minutes or so I had a complete uncrippled RAZR at my fingertips. I connected with my G4 PowerBook with no problem, and in no time I was able to send an MP3 from my collection to the phone and then select that MP3 as a ringtone. No more downloading and paying for ringtones.

I don’t think I violated any Terms of Service or anything like that. Verizon took a feature standard on the phone, turned it off, and I simply turned it back on.

More updates to come.

Farewell, Mr. Woods

I just learned that Tiger Woods’ dad, Earl, passed away today after struggling with cancer for quite a while. It’s funny, I don’t even know the man, but it made me sad. This man raised one of the finest athletes the world has ever known. Not only is Woods an amazing athlete, but he seems like a pretty amazing person. He has his charity that he uses to give back to the community. It’s nice to see when people don’t forget where they’ve come from. I’ve always admired Woods since I started watching him play, and I truly believe that he has earned every good thing that has come his way thus far.

Today is a sad day for the golf world. Earl Woods was a big factor in his son Tiger becoming the golf star he is today. But more importantly he helped shape Tiger’s moral fiber – something far more important than any golf talent. I don’t agree with everything Tiger believes, but that’s ok. Today I hope that he knows the peace and comfort that ONLY God can bring.

360

I can’t remember if I’ve posted this here or not, but I bought an XBOX 360 a couple weeks ago. It’s been amazing so far. The graphics are incredible, and the machine itself has some really cool features. I’ve been playing a lot of Tiger Woods, and Fifa World Cup 2006 so far. I’ll have more to say about the system in a future entry.

Mexican Drugs

So apparently the Mexican government is going to enact a new law where the average person can have small amounts of all sorts of drugs (marijuana, cocaine, etc.) and not be arrested for any crime. That’s great. Let the whole country get drugged up and do all sorts of insane stuff. The funny thing is, supposedly the law says it’s still illegal to sell the drugs. I don’t know how everyone is supposed to get their drugs if its illegal, but that’s someone else’s problem.

We already have problems with illegal immigrants as it is without adding additional drugs to the mix. I know people say, “oh the poor illegal immigrants,” but they miss a key point – they’re here ILLEGALLY! That’s sort of like saying, “oh poor Bob the rapist,” or, “oh poor Bob the car thief.” I know it’s not exactly the same thing, but all of the above are illegal. I know that it’s hard to get in America legally and become a citizen, but that’s the way it works. That’s the way it HAS to work for society to function properly.

Companies who hire illegals should be punished, because right now it seems like everyone just looks the other way while this problem continues to grow.

The situation needs to be worked out, but I’m not exactly sure how. That’s one for the government to figure out, but hopefully a solution can be found that is beneficial to everyone involved. We can only hope.