With a great piece of investigative reporting, BBspot has released the RIAA Decision Flow Chart:

I think I need help/opinions. Recently I’ve been thinking of giving W0W a second chance. It might be because I feel the need to reassert my geeky tenancies. Maybe all this b-school stuff is spurring this on.  Of course, stories like this remind me why I left a lot of the gaming scene behind. Weird people.

Thoughts? Support? Server suggestions?

Come on? Sounds more like yuppysexual. These “techonosexuals” don’t deserve the term—they’ve never really dealt with tech. Having a big screen T.V. and an iPod doesn’t make you a geek.

Yes I’m annoyed that they’re diluting the idea of a geek to a yuppy. First compile your own kernel, then call yourself a geek. This is just another lame way of trying to sell people shit they don’t need.

There are three (1, 2, 3) myspace profiles which are hotlinking directly to a picture on my domain for use as their background. This seems to be the result of Google returning a 3D render from my site as the first result for “tropicalsunset.” I don’t know why but the hotlinking bothers me… It shouldn’t since I have so much bandwidth, but it does.

I’m debating replacing the image with the Goatse.cx picture and plastering the following text over top of it: Don’t hotlink, and have a nice day. It might be a little much though.

3.1415926535897932384626433832795…

Your programmer personality type is:

DHSB

You’re a Doer.
You are very quick at getting tasks done. You believe the outcome is the most important part of a task and the faster you can reach that outcome the better. After all, time is money.

You like coding at a High level.
The world is made up of objects and components, you should create your programs in the same way.

You work best in a Solo situation.
The best way to program is by yourself. There’s no communication problems, you know every part of the code allowing you to write the best programs possible.

You are a liBeral programmer.
Programming is a complex task and you should use white space and comments as freely as possible to help simplify the task. We’re not writing on paper anymore so we can take up as much room as we need.

Yes, I’m a massive geek. I really do love star-trek TNG though. I was brought up watching Picard and the crew exploring the galaxy. The funny thing is that I still watch TNG a fair amount and it’s scary how contemporary and relevant the stories are even today, almost 13 years after the finale.

For example, I just watched “The Drumhead,” a great story and very relevant today. Quotes ripped off from the memory alpha wiki:

“Sir, the Federation does have enemies! We must seek them out!”
“Oh, yes. That’s how it starts! But the road from legitimate suspicion to rampant paranoia is very much shorter than we think. Something is wrong here, Mr. Worf. I don’t like what we have become!”

– Worf and Picard

“ ‘ With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably.’ Those words were uttered by Judge Aaron Satie as wisdom and warning… The first time any man’s freedom is trodden on we’re all damaged.”

– Picard quoting Judge Aaron Satie

“We think we’ve come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, it’s all ancient history. Then! Before you can blink an eye, suddenly it threatens to start all over again.”

– Picard, to Worf

“Mr. Worf, villains who twirl their mustaches are easy to spot. Those who clothe themselves in good deeds are well-camouflaged.”

– Picard

“[...] she, or someone like her will always be with us – waiting for the right climate in which to flourish. Spreading fear in the name of righteousness. Vigilance, Mr. Worf: That is the price we have to continually pay. ”

– Picard, to Worf

Very relevant for today.

All I have to say is w00t w00t! Check it out. Here are the most important parts:

…DRM system employs secrets. There is no theory of protecting content other than keeping secrets. In other words, even if one uses the most sophisticated cryptographic locks to protect the actual music, one must still “hide” the keys which unlock the music on the user’s computer or portable music player. No one has ever implemented a DRM system that does not depend on such secrets for its operation.

The problem, of course, is that there are many smart people in the world, some with a lot of time on their hands, who love to discover such secrets and publish a way for everyone to get free (and stolen) music.

…

Why would the big four music companies agree to let Apple and others distribute their music without using DRM systems to protect it? The simplest answer is because DRMs haven’t worked, and may never work, to halt music piracy. Though the big four music companies require that all their music sold online be protected with DRMs, these same music companies continue to sell billions of CDs a year which contain completely unprotected music. That’s right!

… 

Much of the concern over DRM systems has arisen in European countries.  Perhaps those unhappy with the current situation should redirect their energies towards persuading the music companies to sell their music DRM-free.  For Europeans, two and a half of the big four music companies are located right in their backyard.  The largest, Universal, is 100% owned by Vivendi, a French company.  EMI is a British company, and Sony BMG is 50% owned by Bertelsmann, a German company.  Convincing them to license their music to Apple and others DRM-free will create a truly interoperable music marketplace.  Apple will embrace this wholeheartedly.

In conclusion, w00t. Now the big-4 have to get on board.

Note: here are some of my past posts on this topic in chronological order: France 1, France 2, Graphical representation of DRM, Examples, Great picture, and  Apple.

Cheers to Tim for sending this too me.

I just came across this podcast with Peter Fader, a marketing proff at Wharton. He’s reitterating a lot of my concerns about the iPhone. He also talks about the appleTV and subscriptions for digital content.