Great news from Radiohead regarding their "choose your price" offer

A while ago I've got this very pleasing e-mail from waste.uk.com:
THANK YOU FOR ORDERING IN RAINBOWS. THIS IS AN UPDATE.

YOUR UNIQUE ACTIVATION CODE(S) WILL BE SENT OUT TOMORROW MORNING (UK TIME). THIS WILL TAKE YOU STRAIGHT TO THE DOWNLOAD AREA.

HERE IS SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE DOWNLOAD:

THE ALBUM WILL COME AS A 48.4MB ZIP FILE CONTAINING 10 X 160KBPS DRM FREE MP3s.

MOST COMPUTERS NOW HAVE ZIP SOFTWARE AS PART OF THE OPERATING SYSTEM; IF YOUR COMPUTER DOES NOT, YOU NEED TO GET WINZIP OR ZIPIT INSTALLED PRIOR.

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THEM HERE:

PC: http://www.winzip.com/
MAC: http://www.maczipit.com/

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR PROBLEMS DOWNLOADING YOUR FILE, PLEASE CONTACT OUR DOWNLOAD CUSTOMER SERVICE TEAM AT
downloadinrainbows@waste.uk.com


Another nail in the coffin of all the parasites (RIAA, OSA, record labels such as Sony BMG, you name them) and also another minor, but memorable victory for us, that are simply fed up by the annoying, restrictive and obsolete music industry scheme and still haven't lost the will to support bands the right and the most [possible] direct way.

Thank you for this, guys. Can't wait for the release...along with Valve's Portal :)

Note:
I know, it's gonna take a lot of "nails" like this to actually change something, but hey..One must start somewhere, you can't argue with that.

Digg it, please

MyHeritage face recognition - similar face to V. Nabokov

It seems that this face recognition technology works quite good, take a look at this:

I feel honored...and guilty that I haven't read Lolita yet, but now I will do it very soon.

The RIAA will come to regret its court win

I'm back with interesting article about the RIAA's first win (see here or below, if applicable), more specifically what successful writer and consultant Gerd Leonhard think about it.
Here are some examples:

"If [the industry tries to] keep up the strategy of 'you need us badly and therefore we make the rules' you will lose the artists, their managers... and the audience. Another 12 months for this Radiohead experiment (see here, if you don't know anything about it) to become the default approach. Get engaged or get outmoded. And do it soon."

"The real money is not in the CDs. It's in the gigs, the merchandising, the sponsorships. To make that money, you have to let people further down the highway before they arrive at the tollbooth."

Interesting reading, thumbs up.
read more | digg story

RIAA hits paydirt: wins first music-sharing jury trial

A federal jury fined Jammie Thomas, 30, of Minnesota $220,000 in damages to the six record labels suing her for copyright violation. Thomas will pay $9,250 for each of the 24 songs the prosecution focused on for the case. The RIAA alleges she shared over 1,702 songs in all over the Kazaa peer-to-peer network. What a sad moment for the most of us...

read more | digg story

Quote of the day :)

Yesterday, 03:56 PM

SoulThief Registered User Registered: Jul 2006 Posts: 255

Quote: Originally Posted by zatamos i have several reasons to stay in pc gaming : - i can download games i don't want to pay - games are less expensive - i don't have to pay to have additionnal maps, nor to play online Buy a PSP, or a PS3, there are no additional maps available on them so buying them is impossible, it doesn't have games, so you pay nothing, and hell MP is free, it's the perfect console for you .

Source: Maxconsole.net's forums

Uber-hacker Max Vision misses the killswitch {El Reg}

An interesting story, how hacker with multiple identities came to his end.

"Having already done time in prison, Max Butler - aka Max Vision - went to great extremes to cloak his new and allegedly-illegal activities from prying eyes."

(...)

"And he maintained at least four online identities, including Iceman, Aphex, Digits and Darkest."

read more | digg story

Lawyerless eBayer sues Autodesk over garage-sale miracle {El Reg}

In much the same way the light-sabred Jedi Knight stood up to the DMCA-waving lawyers at Viacom, defending the rights of YouTubers everywhere, Happy Hour Vernor is leading the charge for eBayers, intent on curbing the DMCA doings of software maker Autodesk. And he's asking for 10m USD as a "loss" while his account has been disabled. And has no lawyer.

read more | digg story

Totalitarianism in Bioshock Case: 2K has lack of FAIR USE

Games.tiscali.cz linked to 2K forums' interesting post by user Jester (here).

It's really interesting, in the eyes of 2K, you should be the only person allowed to play Bioshock, because installing it under different accounts counts as another activation. So in fact you are buying the game only for yourself, not the household/family... What's next? Providing fingerprint before we can start GTA IV and monitoring by web cam, if the right person is playing?

Looks like the World War is nearer again, publisher versus users this time. I simply think 2K has just crossed the line, where ethics are beaten up by abusing of law for maximum profit.
Even Microsoft allows more accounts under their OEM licencesed Windows!

Here is mirrored post, just in case of any censorship:

Thread: Talk about SecuROM and activation issues here only please!

09-04-2007, 02:53 PM

Jakester Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 35

So...here are a few posts from a thread that was deleted in the tech support forum. I find it a bit telling: Quote: Nemesisdesignz wrote: I installed Bioshock on my laptop under one admin user, Everything works fine, but I then tried to switch users on my computer and whenever I launch Bioshock it is asking me to enter my serial again for the game.... IS THIS GONNA CHARGE ME TWO OF MY 5 Activations???? IF SO THAT IS GAY.... I need to know this ASAP before I attempt to play this on my pc under the other user... THis is a bug if the case be....so get yo stuff fixed! Now, I agree that the poster was being a bit of a tool, but it's a good question. Here's the response from moderator 2k Tech JT: Quote: 2k Tech JT writes: The other way to view this, is one USER has purchased the game. Not the whole family. So why should your brother play for free? My response: Quote: Jakester writes: If your spouse buys a book, do you go out and buy another copy if you want to read it, or do you read it when she's not or when she's done? If you purchase a DVD, do you buy one copy for each of your friends and family who are going to watch the movie with you? Do you ever lend or borrow movies? Why should my brother play for free? Because it's FAIR USE of a product I have purchased. I have been holding off on purchasing BioShock because of the DRM (and if you think it's necessary, check out this GalCiv2 thread). However, this mentality of blatant disrespect of people who purchased your game, and the no-longer-veiled attempts to deny basic fair use rights of legitimate purchasers is reprehensible. I'm sorry, Ken Levine -- based on the demo, you made a kick-ass game, but it's one I wont' be buying (nor will it be one I'm playing). Further, I'll not be buying any 2k/Take-two games on any platform. IF it means no GTA, so be it. If it means no Manhunt 2 (I was going to support them because I don't appreciate censorship, either, even though I only marginally enjoyed the first game), then so be it. We can talk on these forums until our fingers bleed, but what will make a difference is when we speak with our purchasing dollars and do not support a company that "permits" its customers to use their software at the publisher's whim. Now, I know 2k publishes good and popular games, but, really, if you don't like the taste of crap, stop eating filet mignon wrapped in crap!

10 Years of Literary Genius: Maddox's Jubilee

Just checked his web (maddox.xmission.com, if you don't know) and discovered this brand new header. It's really interesting, is it really that long? 10 years of honest confessions, brutal and ruthless humor, hateful, but meaningful and fitting articles, tons of entertaining stuff (if you are not so easily offended, know what the irony and sarcasm is and don't have hypocrite tendencies, that's it)... = 10 years of The Best Page in the Universe !

According to this snapshot of his website from 97', yes, it has been or will be very soon.

Impressive, he's my unstoppable, rock steady pirate hero!

Thank you, Maddox, for all the years and MB's of text and pictures!

This one is golden:

By maddox

Yay for meat eaters, yay!*

Getting offended? Well, that's just what I have been writing about, don't visit his website then :)

Bye for now, Titan Quest: Immortal Throne is awaiting me..

Security SNAFU exposes email logins for 100 foreign embassies {El Reg}

That's interesting..and alarming:

Underscoring a major susceptibility threatening thousands of high-profile computer users across the world, a Swedish security consultant has published login credentials belonging to some 100 embassies.

The consultant, Dan Egerstad, says the list is only part of a much bigger problem that allowed him to gain credentials for more than 1,000 email accounts around the world, including at least one belonging to an employee of a company that generates more than $10bn in annual revenue. He declined to offer specific details for fear they would be misused by criminals.

Summary: many weak passwords (1234, cities where embassies are etc.), login credentials are exposed by "a common security application" and so on. A bit depressing, how (Very) Important People can and are dumb.
Link to the Egerstad's list of login credentials included in the article, try one or two if you dare :)

read more | digg story

BioShockers delivered from DRM hell {El Reg}

After howls of pain from gaming addicts everywhere, 2K Games has eased the draconian DRM restrictions on its much ballyhooed new title BioShock.

That's just add-on to previous post regarding the mention of BioShock and restrictive Securom, see below. Sadly BioShock is one of the very few games, that has copy protection even in STEAM version on top of the STEAM's protection, d'oh.
read more | digg story

My views on..COPY PROTECTION (edited post from Steam Powered Forums)

Sera29 wrote @ Steampowered.com Forums (thread "tax and vat, realworld vs. online pricing")
Yes, it is the pirates fault. Thats why we have copy protection. Companies are entitled to payment for their goods, but some pple prefer to get those goods for free without paying for it. Companys are in the business to make money, they have a right to protect their investments. Yes, copy proetection sucks, but if pirates didnt steal goods and actually bought them letimately we wouldnt have to put up with it.

I lol'd. You miss one MAJOR point - there are always some people that are not going to buy -insert item- (e.g. money or morale issues), even if it would be un-reachable to get it for free, so any POTENTIAL "loss" should have been divided by 2 or 3.

Today's copy protection is all about money:
There's always some workaround, it's only matter of time, so the winner are the copy protections' developers in the end, 'coz they will come up with some new version again and earn more money. And I'm pretty sure they charge a lot!

I think companies should invest more money in development of the software itself, make sure it's good and the success will be imminent. I'm very annoyed by restrictive and aggresive copy protections like StarForce or Securom (read the 2K forums about 2 possible installs of BioShock RETAIL without contacting support for new serial key (AWFUL!) here., there will be some extending in future, but still way way too restrictive), that's why I use Steam and am really unhappy to see a game with additional protection.

I understand, that crack-proof copy protection might boost sales in the very first weeks/months, but it should stay that way and the protection should be disabled after certain time, because after the main wave, there is no big reason for it and it would make regular "paying" users happier. Why there is no reason, you ask?

Two basic figures:
1)The software isn't that good and there is only little attention from "the Scene", so people might get something more "supported".

2)It's actually good and crack/workaround is here and folks that really don't want to buy, won't buy it.

I found STEAM as a good platform for it (being member for a long long time), Nadeo has understood and did similar thing: there was SF in the recent Trackmania release, but they removed it after some time, just only with the basic STEAM system protection, which is the, I think, lesser evil of copy protections like StarForce or Securom. I'll probably support them for this action and buy my first Trackmania through Steam, I was enjoying Trackmania: Nations only until I figured out, that it uses SF.

I don't think my thoughts about copy protection are 100% right, I may went too far in few points and left out some, but they aren't that B&W like yours. Do you still think, it's that easy to judge it all in few sentences? Not speaking about other things than c. pr., that can help boost the sales like protection-free Galactic Civilization II's free upgrades for legal owners. Read interesting article about StarForce's fairness and jealousy called

Games CEO finds himself reluctant warez hero

Some bits:

Wardell said it was WalMart's best-selling game last week. Stardock's protection allows users to make copies of the CD, but unless they can provide a serial as proof of purchase, they won't be entitled to upgrades.

This was apparently too much for some supporters of copy protection. One example is StarForce, which sells a range of DRM software. In the forums section of its website, a StarForce employee posted a link to a Bittorrent seed of a pirate copy of GCII - to "prove" that Stardock was making a terrible mistake.

Wardell told us that the site hosting the Torrent took down the link as soon as it was informed - but StarForce didn't delete the links to the pirate software for 24 hours.

Maybe some companies should re-think their policy and some people should tune up the saturation from black and white to something more colourful...

I bumped into that Alan Sugar on memory lane...{El Reg}

Both business and personal story about Alan Sugar and Felix Dennis, two pretty much wealthy businessmen. The article is mainly about Alan Sugar, founder and owner of Amstrad, who had made fortune on his two-deck cassette recorders invention, then successfully infiltrated market with his computers and finally semi-retire providing TV boxes to SKY and got almost bought over by Murdoch.

Amstrad means a lot to me, Amstrad CPC 6128 has been my very first computer (see picture), imported and donated by family friend from Norway. I had spent A LOT of time in front of its colour monitor while playing classics like Freddy Hardest I&II, Cerberus, ICP Returns (something like that) or Crazy Cars, those were golden times. It's been pleasure to read this story about Alan Sugar, the one who brought me to get interested in computers in many ways..Without him I would be today somewhere completely else with it.

Picture source: machina.amigahellas.gr
Here's the full story:
read more | digg story

View Cameras from all over the world- through your browser!

From digg.com:
Ever wanted to be Big Brother yourself? Send this query into Google to gain access to network cameras all over the world! Personal Webcams, Private corporations, etc.

Simply something if ya bored...It's called "Google hacking", you can do much more with Google, but this counts to the funnier "exploits".

Just click "read more" and enjoy!

read more | digg story

UPDATE 31. 7.
Funny, if you keep browsing and checking the cams, you might soon get message like this:

GOOGLE | Error

We're sorry...

... but your query looks similar
to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware
application. To protect our users, we can't process your request
right now.

We'll restore your access as quickly as possible, so try again soon. In the meantime, if you suspect that your computer or network has been infected,
you might want to run a virus checker or spyware remover to make sure that your systems are free of viruses and other spurious software.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and hope we'll see you again on Google.

Haha, oh well...Behold, I'm da Big Bad Mutha Fuka virus!

*UPDATED*Stupid HOAX!

Really, I hate HOAX mail, I have recently received this e-mail (rough translation from Czech):
Subject: Fwd: Fwd: Fwd: PLEASE HELP A SMALL CHILD!! AND SEND IT TO A LOT PEOPLE!! (yeah, more exclamations=bigger insistence, ah noes...)
Please read this!! This is no annoying chain e-mail (hey, I have believed you for a second, I'm becoming senile..)!!
And send it to a plenty but really plenty people (aw, I don't even know the point of this e-mail, but sure I'm already preparing my BIG, REALLY BIG forward list, geez)!!
Small girl on the picture (it's got no EXIF, dull) has brain cancer .(boom, your brain should be toasted by empathy by now, I know, it seems sad, but..read on)
AOL company will donate 5 cents on her surgery for every sent e-mail. (c'mon, you CAN'T expect, that I will fancy it so easily, oh, I forgot, my brain should be toasted..)
Please, help. (NO.)
Tereza Stýblová (not the actual person that sent it to me)
moderator and editor of radio "Čro Region", Jihlava
[cellphone number] (hum?)
[work e-mail] (I don't know how strong their spam filters are)
[personal e-mail]

After reading it, I simply did some google work and the truth came up within TEN seconds, I found out that it's been a classic example of HOAX (reference:
http://www2.tu-berlin.de/www/software/hoax/natalie.shtml -German
http://www.hoax.cz/cze/index.php?action=hoax_detail&id=527 - Czech)

I replied both to sender and apparently original sender (Tereza S.) and tried to explain, what's wrong about that e-mail and situation, I hope they will understand and pay a closer attention next time.
I think it's pretty obvious WHY IT CAN'T BE TRUTH what's stated in this e-mail, the money issue (do the math and how it would AOL helped, if we would send some e-mail?) and technology issue (it's just a plain e-mail, there is no tracking), ain't it?

Think, people, THINK. Please.

UPDATE 31.7.
I have just got reply from Tereza S., her contact details were misused for "authenticity", she is not the original sender.
Nah, too bad previous sender deleted everything except body of the original e-mail, I really would like to know, who was the starter of this row (three FWD's can mean a lot of people).

Watchmen Again!

I have just finished reading through all the 12 volumes. I was a bit afraid of the ending at first because of the all "not compromising" stuff and all but surprising you or not (you decide) I have simply commenced with rich and honest laughter when I reached the very end.

Now I quite know how The Comedian felt. Got the joke. It's better to be laughing...

Picture source: Chronicles Network Forum

*UPDATED* Poster un-friendly "honor" list

OK, I'm starting my list of Poster un-friendly websites, because I've got recently pissed off.
The first and I believe not last is...*fanfare*

customPC.co.uk

for deleting my comment, that was just a bit criticizing their article The 10 Hardest PC Games. I mentioned, that Maupiti Island [en.wikipedia.org] is pretty hard game with all the time dependant actions to do (=I miss it on the list). As I wrote there:

No love for an adventure game with soul? Too bad.

I have just written another comment, let's see what'll happen...
Feel much better.

UPDATE (31. 7.):

This message popped up in the article's comment section:

Comment by Grotmonkey at 1:26am 23rd July 2007

Comment Title: Probably a bug

"Hi Patrician odds are some part of the site ate your comment, rather than it being censored. Things are not quite perfect yet. "

Well, uh, great, everything is obvious now.. *ironic smile*

Nighty post feat. Johnny Cash - Hurt

I have came across a true mover just by now. Music that makes my body vibrate and feel emotions with every chord, note or word is simply something unique and unrepeatable.. I bow before you, Johnny, I hope you can see me from Heaven.
Scroll down for the video that is so moving...Probably best cover I have ever heard.

Smugmug.com

I paid my one year membership at Smugmug.com, 54.95 USD for Power account (usually 59.95, but I got discount for including friend's smugmug.com profile email (do you want this discount? Just include my personal coupon number: LbUcTRJBt004o)).

I had taken the 14-day free trial offer back in February and have almost forgotten about it until yesterday, when I was for unknown reason browsing my trial and not yet deleted profile. I was reading through the advantages of Power account and I have decided to go for it. It's neat really, you get, what's stated. Only thing I don't like is, that videos can be published ONLY in MPEG-1 format and have size of 8 MB with Power and 16 MB with Professional account, that's less than 1 minute (Power) or less than 2 minutes (Pro) in full quality. But again, it was stated, so I don't complain, they haven't been hiding that fact.

So I have been spending a lot of time with smugmug.com lately (adding, editing, captioning, personalizing...), it's real time eater and it doesn't look like it will change in near future.

So check out my galleries like My 21. B-day Celebration or Prague at
Frankie's Tavern@Smugmug.com [tavernsu.smugmug.com]
and drop me a comment there while you are on it, I really would like some feedback.

Silent Night

I'm just starting this blog, some introduction is still yet to come...

Anyway, it's silent night and I'm really enjoying the late hours that slowly , gently, are turning into early hours. Those are quite a magical moments, lovely moments.

I have been reading the first two Watchmen volumes while listening to the Pulp's Hits almost until now and I feel really refreshed, I wouldn't have thought, that Watchmen are that damn good; so philosophical; so believable; so damn addictive! It have taken a lot of energy to not start the third volume... I still have a lot to learn about certain interesting areas, that goes without question.

And Pulp? I am fond of exploring various genres, artists and waves and adding them to my play list, so it's nothing surprising. But it's always kinda funny, when I come across something that reminds me of past knowledge of the group/singer/project/whatever (this time it have been video of song "This Is Hardcore", highly recommended) and I force myself to find out more about it. I had read about the Pulp's "This Is Hardcore" album way back in 1998, funny, funny world, I say, how I and (my/your/their/its) world have changed since then.

That's all for now, good night.

Yours,

Frankie

Picture: Taken by myself at Ládví, Prague (summer 2006)