Archive for August, 2007

Google announced, soon after its buying of YouTube, that it wouold add some advertisment on the amateur video web site. This is now what they did. But it did not leave the software developers insensitive: TubeStop is a FireFox plug-in that hides or closes that ads in YouTube to keep the same pleasure without the ads…

The race for larger hard drives does nto slow down. Today, it is quite easy to find 500GB disks at a very reasonable cost (and remember that this is no less than half a tera-byte of data!)

I recently observed several interesting comparisons about this issue:

• In English: Tom’s Hardware (external disks)
• In French: Hardware.fr (internal SATA disks)

The recent launch of the Nikon D300 and Nikon D3 was made long with the announcement of new pro telephoto lenses. Very noticeable for lovers of nature photography (with a deep pocket): the super telephoto lenses. They open at f/2.8 and f/4, they are all stabiliszed (VR) :

• 400mm f/2.8G ED VR AF-S NIKKOR
• 500mm f/4G ED VR AF-S NIKKOR
• 600mm f/4G ED VR AF-S NIKKOR

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Those servers are central to validate the “Microsoft Genuine Advantage” service. In plain words, they provide the verification that you are really a registered user authorized by Microsoft. But these servers are currently down (some kind of network failure?) and Microsoft forecast about two days before going back to a normal situation. This simply means plenty of problems for the clients willing to authentify themselves, either because they just installed a Microsoft software, or because they upgrade one.

This is a new example of why I am against copy protection and DRM. Pirates will obviously not notice the event and won’t even be annoyed. But legal customers of Microsoft are stuck waiting for the repair of these servers in order to come back to normal use of their software. Clearly, copy protection is not a customer service, only a mean to a sales end.

Do you love watches? Are you a geek? You should love these surprising watches.

WebTime Series Elite is displaying time by the alignment of the colored polygons and the vertical scale:

Shinshoku prefers to use a colored light code:

Seiko’s e-Ink is more a prototype using flexible electronic ink or electronic paper to display time. There are two modes. One is rather clear and understandable; The other is more mysterious but very elegant.

The two first ones are available at the very surprising Tokyo Flash web site. But the last one is not available yet.

Last information: If you need to know the price, it’s that you can’t afford them. Anyway, they should sell as well as sodas during a hot Summer.

Complement: The INQUIRER Top 5 Tech Wristwatches.

Panasonic is about to bring a new Digital SLR to the market to fight with the Canon EOS 40D, the Nikon D300 and other Sony Alpha 200 or Alpha 300. We don’t know much about it, and it is still difficult to be sure that they will deliver, but an Italian magazine, Fotocomputer, provided some rough data and a few photos:

• 10 MP sensor, with LiveView capacity
• 11 AF points
• Double AF system (with and witout LiveView)
• Articulated LCD rear display
• Dust cleaning system, vibrating along the lens axis
• Face detection

We have been speaking a lot about Bioshock the newest First Person Shooter (FPS) PC video game from Second Take. We expected a very nice game in a complex environment with varied adversaries and game tactics. But we did not expected the most poweful adversary: The Digital Rights Management (DRM) protection against copy.

The game is using SecuROM protection. Unfortunately, on top of requiring an active Internet connection, it limits the number of installation or re-installations on a machine if you change the hardware. It started by allowing only two installations (if you have to upgrade your PC to run the game, you’re quickly out of legal installations; You must uninstall before upgrading your PC!).

Furthermore, AMD and nVidia had to publish last-minute patches and new versions of their drivers.

Finally, it seems that the management of wide-screen 16:10 displays is insufficient: You get black bands on the side of your lovely LCD display. 2K Games says that a patch/correction will come soon.

All that leads to two comments:

• Even if most video games run to the market with bugs in them, Bioshock is just not ready yet. It is probably better to just wait for it coming out of beta-stage.
• When I buy a $50 video game, I expect it to work onto my machine without having to call secuROM to explain that I am the rightful owner. This is not a $2 song for my Sony MP3 player (and I already consider that DRM on MP3 songs is a pain in the neck). This is just going to push legal players to downloading unprotected versions from BitTorrent or DirectConnect. When copyright-minded marketoids push users to illegality, things must have gone too far…

Update: If that was not enough, it seems that SecuROM is having trouble running when you use AVG antivirus (one of the vest free antivirus software programs for Windows, that I also happen to be using) or Mircosoft’s own Process Explorer (info from The Inquirer who suggests that you should avoid Bioshock like the plague for those problems - I am no longer decided to buy the game; Maybe later…).

The first National Punctuation Day was on September 24, 2006. OK. It seems that it was a hit in many different medias and among the US English teachers.

This is now time to prepare the next one: Only one month left to collect the examples of the worse punctuation and to find ways to improve the situation.

Here it comes! Nikon follows in Canon’s footsteps and announced its new digital single lens reflex camera, the Nikon D300 improving on the foundation of the D200 whose commercial life was quite nice. The job is a tough one: making even better sales than a successful camera and countering the attempts of Canon, Sony, Pentax, Panasonic that are planned for the coming months.

Some technical characteristics:

• CMOS APS-C sensor of 12.3 million pixels (x1,5 crop factor) at 200-3200 ISO (ext. 100-6400 ISO)
  14-bit digital conversion
  Sensor dust clean-up integrated into the camera body
• Sequences of 6 images per second
  Shooting speed of 1/8000s (1/250s and 1/320s flash synch)
• Autofocus with 51 zones, widely configurable
• 3″ LCD monitor (assuredly the new standard size for high-end reflex cameras) with 922,000 pixels (we are nearing a full mega-pixel!)
  LiveView mode to visualize a photo scene on the rear LCD, as on point-and-shoot compact digital cameras
• Body hardened against water and dust like the D200 (internal magnesium-allow structure)
• Compatibility with EL-EN3e batteries, HDNI video to connect to HD video peripherals, USB2, CompactFlash cards and WiFi WT-4 optional base
• Price: 1749€

It looks like an impressive camera. But the price is quite surprising. If we compare with the other products on this market, I think that Nikon will have to lower the price quickly in order to keep it running (even if most of the targeted customers probably already have Nikon lenses that will limit their choice when buying a new camera body). And, the Nikon D300 will not be available before November 2007, which leaves time for Nikon to think it over.

Sources: Site Nikon, Nikon D300.

Additional date: Nikon also announces a Nikon D3 in the higher part of the product line with a full-frame (24×36) sensor in 12 million pixels, that is opening 2008 (next year is expected to really be the year of the full frame).

Some advice provided by Donncha for those who would like to move from PHP4 to PHP5 on a server supporting WordPress exploitation. Nothing big, but it is always good to check the items she points at:

• Location of PHP.INI
• Update to mysql and gd libraries
• Compatibility with WP-cache

It may not be the easiest way to produce the solution to a magazine maze test, but you can do it with Photoshop, using the magic wand.

1. Increase contrast.
2. Select the right wall of the maze using the magic wand.
3. Menu Select > Modify > Expand 4 pixels.
4. Create new layer.
5. Fill with Red.
6. Menu Select > Modify > Contract 2 pixels.
7. Delete. Here’s the solution.
8. Manually clean up the outer edge, and connect the dots.

seen at Taint.org

It has been quite some time that I did not write about the P2P news. They start popping up everywhere and it is time to talk about the wonderful things happening right under our eyes.

First, the Internet users start to find again -in Europe- some protection since a decision from the European Justice Court: the ISPs will not be obligated to deliver the name of Internet users associated to an IP address when merely requested by copyright owners like we see in the US of A (the case was opened when Telefonica denied this right to deliver the name and address of some of its subscribers accused by a Spanish copyright owner of using Kazaa to exchange MP3 files). It means that the legal actions to attack indelicate Internet users copying songs, music or videos will be limited far below the level reached in North America where tens of thousands of such actions have been started. There will be the need to open not only a civil case, but a criminal action.

Furthermore, BitTorrent, the most easily recognized software program running on the BitTorrent network, will no longer be free. This is most probably a consequence of the intent of its developers to entter a new phase where they want to reap benefits from more commercial activities (including less risks of legal actions, too). Nothing new under the sun, since many Internet users already prefered BitComet, Azureus or uTorrent.

You may also remember that AllOfMp3, a Russian web site distributing MP3 files without any trace of DRM protection, had to stop its activities a few months ago after police action and the beginnning of legal procedure. It appears that Denis Kvasov, founder of AllOfMp3, has been cleared by the Russian justice (he was insisting on the fact that his sales were including author’s right compensation even if some Euopean and American companies were after him for selling at low prices and without DRM).

In the spotlight: Sony Alpha 900 Canon EOS 5D Mk II Nikon D700 FX Download Nero for free

Add to it that PirateBay (BitTorrent files search site) have been authorized a few months ago by the Sweedish justice to restart their activity and that they now want to give a new life to the SuperNova web site that closed a couple of years ago, I would try to say that the pendulum is swinging back toward the side most favorable to the Internet users. During months, it seemed that the media producers would be able to force anything they wanted into our throats under the pretense of protecting artists rights. Now, they start experimenting with low-cost without-DRM legal alternatives for music download (even in always-easily-scared France, Neuf-Cegetel intends to start an ISP offer including that kind of possibility: unlimited music and triple-play (Internet+TV+telephone) for 29.90€). Even better, the development of Video on Demand should help film producers and distributors to think in a parallel line.

There is only to find a way to balance the ease of use (requested by Internet users) and artist earnings (naturally expected by the authors). We should find this middle way for the best of consumers and artists, even if it measn suffering for some producers and distributors.