Archives for November 2005

Sony BMG’s Costly Silence

Sony BMG’s Costly Silence

> The label was alerted to the secret, virus-vulnerable software on its CDs long before the scandal broke. Trouble is, it didn’t act immediately to alert consumers

They got the message on Oct. 4, and on Oct 31. it blew up in their face. Sony BMG keep insisting they acted as fast as [...]

K-Lite Codec releases

KL Codec Resource Site * K-Lite Mega Codec Pack * QuickTime and Real Alternative

> * K-Lite Mega Codec Pack 1.44
* K-Lite Codec Pack 2.64 Full/Standard/Basic

Contains just about all the codecs you’ll ever need to play back just about everything on the Windows platform.

The End Of Copyright

Gamasutra – Designer’s Notebook – “The End Of Copyright”

> I think we are witnessing the beginning of the end of a major era in world history. It may take fifty years, it may take a hundred, but the age of copyright is drawing to a close. I don’t know if this is a good thing [...]

A Torrent or a Trickle?

Wired News: A Torrent or a Trickle?

> Hollywood’s copyright police and the maker of the most potent movie piracy software of all time took the stage here Tuesday and solemnly declared détente.

> It’s all but certain the deal between the Motion Picture Association of America and BitTorrent creator Bram Cohen won’t dent the file-swapping epidemic, [...]

Fatal1ty wins CPL Wold Tour

The Adrenaline Vault | News | Fatal1ty Wins The World Tour Finals

> The Grand Finals of the CPL World Tour 2005 have finished and Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel goes home with $150,000 – the largest prize ever seen in gaming history.

Makes me wish I’d stayed at home and played Quake and friends a bit more. Although [...]

VLC 0.8.4 released

Changelog, Download

Core support:

Internal strings handling is now UTF-8 based
New OSD system

Video output:

Fixed problems with OpenGL output
New –monitor-par (pixel aspect ratio) option
Fixed display problems with HDTV-1080 format

Input:

Improved DVB support for satellite bands other than Ku-band
IPv6 and Extended passive mode support for FTP
IPv6 Source Specific Multicast support
GnomeVFS [...]

Nokia holds fire on mobile gaming

Nokia holds fire on mobile gaming – vnunet.com

> Nokia is holding off on mobile gaming for a few years and will not be building new versions of the N-Gage gaming phone.

Not really a big surprise. If I want to play games, I’ll use a GameBoy or a PSP, and if I want to make calls, [...]

iTunes outsells CD stores as digital revolution gathers pace

Guardian Unlimited | Arts special reports | iTunes outsells CD stores as digital revolution gathers pace

> Lovers of the old-fashioned record shop should think about going into mourning – an online music store has outsold two of its high street rivals for the first time.

Way to go Apple. Personally, I haven’t bought a physical CD [...]

The effect of P2P file-sharing depends on popularity

The Long Tail: The effect of P2P file-sharing depends on popularity

> A fascinating paper from David Blackburn, a Harvard PhD student, on the economics of P2P file-sharing concludes that it does indeed depress music sales overall. But the effect is not felt evenly. The hits at the top of the charts lose sales, but the [...]

Dutch Court Orders Lycos To Reveal Client’s Identity

InformationWeek > Privacy & Security > Dutch Court Orders Lycos To Reveal Client’s Identity

> In what some observers see as a legal precedent on Internet privacy, the court order could make it easier to prosecute those who swap music and movies illegally.

Good thing Norway is tiny and slow when it comes to these things.