When solving “impossible” problems, ask yourself:
- Is there an easier way?
- Am I solving the right problem?
- *Why* is this a problem?
- What makes it hard?
- Do I have to do it this way?
- Does it have to be done at all?
I recently bought Dave Matthews latest CD, Stand Up, and was very disappointed to see that it came with a very sinister form of anti-copying protection. When I put the CD in my computer, it popped up a notice about some MediaMax installer. I figured it wanted to install some video player so that I could watch a behind-the-scenes-making-of video on my PC. I respectfully declined, clicking cancel - and the computer ejected my CD! What!! So I put it back in, left the little installer up without clicking cancel, but not clicking “I Agree” and tried to burn a copy.
Now I don’t make copies of CD’s and sell them on the black market, and I rarely copy a CD and give it away. But I do make a habit of copying just about every CD I buy to put in my CD-wallet in my truck. Why? Because invariably, the CD’s in my CD-wallet get beat up as they slide in and out of the slots. I’d hate to ruin an original CD, so I only put copies in my truck.
Additionally, my car insurance company only covers $200 worth of CD’s if my truck is ever broken into. Well, at any given time I’ve got an easy 100 CD’s in my truck at $14 bucks each - it makes sense that I keep the originals at home so they don’t get stolen. Generally, my originals sit in my Media Display rack untouched until the copy in my truck gets scratched. Then I toss the scratched version, pull my shiny original off of the rack, and make a new “play” disc that I can use in the truck.
Okay, so I take my fresh “copy” of a DMB CD to the truck, and drop it in my stereo on the way to an errand. The result? A completely heinous mix of pops, distortions, and a little DMB recognizable in the middle. So somehow this MediaMax thing was preventing me from making a “play” disc, even for what I consider very valid reasons.
Well, today I stumbled on the truth behind MediaMax. It turns out they installed some software on my computer even though I cancelled the install! I was furious. I protect this PC from spyware and everything else because I’m a fanatic for security. And what happens? I cancel an install and stuff still gets installed? Ridiculous!
Apparently there’s a fix for this, and I immediately gave it a try:
Click Start, Run, and type: command
Now type in the following:
net stop sbcphid
del %systemroot%\system32\drivers\sbcphid.sys
Basically, a driver is installed to use the CD - behind your back! I certainly hope the next version of Windows catches this and makes sure that you want the driver installed.
Well, it seems the fix has worked, I’m listening contently to my “play” disc of DMB’s Stand Up, and it’s a pretty good album, really. Now I can put my original back on the shelf, and not be worried if I scratch the “play” disc in my truck.
If you want the full details, they can be found here: Analysis of the MediaMax CD3 Copy-Prevention System
After almost a week of no Internet access, I’m finally back online as of Wednesday night. The funny thing is that just before Kristen and I left for dinner I checked, and there were no wireless connections to be found. Just before we left, the power went out at our house. Not to be deterred from devouring my spicy tuna roll, we left the house before power came back on. When we came home, power had been restored, and magically, my PC jumped online when it found a wireless connection!
The only thing I can figure is that the owner of this router didn’t realize that he had Internet problems. Or if he did, he had no idea that they could be related to the router. My best guess is that the router froze and the power outage forced it to reboot and cleared everything up.
Now I just need to get a PG&E outfit so I can “reboot” the condo’s around me when this happens again.
On the otherhand, a week without Internet access proved almost unbearable. So I’m in the process of ordering DSL so that I’ll have someone to yell at the next time things go haywire.
I guess the saying really holds, “You don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone.” I’ve been without Internet access now since late Friday, and I’m going nuts! It’s amazing what a necessity it has become for me.
As far as I can figure, the neighbor that was so graciously sharing their Internet with me wirelessly has moved on. Their signal is nowhere to be found. I’m in the process of ordering DSL, but I imagine it will be a couple of weeks at least before I’ll be online regularly again. Sigh.
I found this satellite imagery on a NASA web site recently. It’s a composite picture of what the world looks like at night. Amazing to see the areas that are so well lit compared to say the heart of the African continent which is almost pitch black.
Click on the image for a version that you could use for your computer background.
I don’t know about you, but I have several MP3’s that have missing artist, title, album tags. I’ve used MusicMatch and Windows Media Player in the past to try to edit these tags, but after a while I always give up due to boredom.
I just found a great program, ID3-Sync — ID3 because that’s the format used to store the descriptive information with the MP3 file — that makes this process much less painful. Based on the file name, or even the file structure, ID3-Sync can lookup the missing information and enter it into each MP3 file for you. All you have to do is walk through your list of MP3’s and verify that it got them right. Super easy. I’ve spent a few minutes this morning playing with it, and probably fixed 50 or more songs.
Check it out here: http://id3sync.meista.de/
Every once in a while I get the urge to do some programming. These days my programming seems to be limited to PHP/MySQL web pages, but once in a while I like to write a quick windows utility to keep my skills up.
I’m thinking of writing an XMLRPC Blog client that takes advantage of Blogging platforms which support the MovableType and Blogger APIs.
In either case, good programming fonts are a must when using a code editor. There’s nothing worse than confusing a 0 with an O. Or an l with a 1.
I’ve been partial to Andale Mono for some time now, but I’m going to try Bitstream Vera Sans Mono to see what all the fuss is about.
I decided to buy the Princeton monitor, and so far I’m pretty happy with it.
The screen is very bright, and easy to read, even in low-light situations. My main concern was that it would not be as bright as my CRT, but it actually seems brighter.
Windows XP’s ClearType rendering, and so far like it pretty well. The text is super crisp, so that has been very, very nice.
Once I’ve used it for a while I’ll have a better idea of how well I like it. So far, color me impressed!
JP
I ended up with a little mad money to spend this Christmas, and am considering buying a new LCD monitor. I’m looking at two right now:
19″ Sony Monitor (SDM-HS93/B) [ product details ]
at Circuit City for $349.99 after rebates.
Adjusted for tax, shipping, and rebates, the total out of pocket for me would be about $395.
19″ Princeton Monitor (VL1916) [ product details ]
at Costco for $379.99 after rebates.
Adjusted for tax, shipping, and rebates, the total out of pocket for me would be about $415.
They have almost identical specs:
700:1 contrast ratio
250 cd/m2 brightness
1280x1024 resolution
0.294 Dot Pitch
25 ms response time
170/170 viewing angle
The question is… do I go for Sony’s brand name or Costco’s return policy?
“Patience is the companion of wisdom.” — Saint Augustine
My friend Ben and his roommate Chris joined Kristen and I for dinner at Firestone Grill in San Luis Obispo tonight. They have awesome sandwiches, and we had a great time.
Tonight I’m trying to resolve the XML-RPC difficulties I’ve been fighting when posting to WordPress via an offline blogging client. I think that I’ve finally got it figured out.
JP