Slashback: GSM, Buffy, Wobble

Slashback tonight brings you updates on the future of Iraq's cellular infrastructure, the real reason Buffy is departing, Intuit and Macrovision, and more. Read on below for the details.

Macrovision, everyone's favorite killjoy. byteCoder writes "Apparently Macrovision marketing is trying to put a good spin on Intuit's plan to eliminate the use of Macrovision's DRM software for pre-paid copies of TurboTax (as discussed last week here). This reminds me of the classic Monty Python line: "I'm not dead yet!""

That's got to be some spin -- An anonymous reader points to Eric Hellweg's Tech Investor on CNN, which suggests that the backlash which triggered Intuit's copy-protection reversal may have cost the company $100 million.

Can I use my Go Phone there? An anonymous reader writes ""In a follow-up to the Slashdot article 'CDMA vs GSM in Post-war Iraq,' The Reg has a story about how MCI has won the contract to rebuild the mobile phone system with GSM. This is a good thing for the people of Iraq that GSM is being used, GSM is the world standard and several U.S. companies (AT&T for one) are switching to GSM."

Adding Money to Insult. Neophytus writes "Remember the 'Star Wars Kid' that waxy.org found a couple of weeks ago? Well after over a million downloads the guy has been found. His name is Ghyslain, a 15-year-old tenth grader living in Quebec. Jish contacted him and got a brief, but interesting, interview."

No unlimited copy privileges in jail. the-dude-man writes "As reported here A 19-year-old pleaded guilty to costing DirectTV for leaking information about the secrets of DirectTV's most advanced anti-piracy technology to hacker websites. As part of the plea deal, Serebryany admitted to copying and distributing 800 megabytes of scanned documents from DirecTV, costing the company $68,000 in investigatory costs. Both sides stipulated to sentencing factors that carry six months to a year in prison under federal guidelines -- assuming no prior convictions. The sentencing court can depart from the guidelines only if the judge finds that the proposed sentence doesn't adequately reflect the facts of the case. According to court records affidavit, Serebryany's adventures began when he found himself with access to some of DirecTV's most coveted technological secrets while working for his uncle at a document imaging company at the office of a Los Angeles law firm, Jones, Day, Reavis and Pogue. The firm was representing the satellite TV company in a lawsuit against NDS, the makers of the smart cards DirecTV uses to control access to its signal."

For every 11 discontented customers, there's one of these happy oddballs! RedWingsSuck writes "A few weeks ago, I asked /. users what they thought about the wobble my 12" Power Book has developed. Last week Apple Care told me that I could send my laptop off for repairs. I decided to drive to the local Apple Store, about 15 minutes away, and drop it off. They had my laptop for less than 3 days. When I went in to pick it up, they told me that it was sent in and the BC (bottom cover) was repaired. It doesn't wobble anymore, so I am happy. I was really surprised with how fast it was fixed. I didn't mean to sound like I regretted my AiBook purchase in the last post, and now I even happier."

Relax, it's a television show. HardcoreGamer writes "Buffy creator Joss Whedon responds to questions from New York Times readers on Buffy the Vampire Slayer as it comes to the end of its 7 season run. He also discusses the now-canceled Firefly and concludes with one of the key reasons why the show is ending: 'I'm simply too tired.'"

Comments

I'm sure the fact

[Anonymous Coward]

That Sarah Michelle Gellar wants out, that the ratings are declining, and that no one wants Dawn the Vampire Slayer all contributed to Buffy leaving the air, too.

Re:I'm sure the fact

[Chasing Amy]

As for the ratings, I have to say that I'm in the happy minority who *LOVED* Season 6. I think it was great for Joss and co. to put Buffy through that very dark and disillusioning period that many early twentysomethings fall into for a while after school is over and real life sets in. I think so many long-time fans were just too dedicated to the more lighthearted highschoolish years to really approve of the direction of Season 6, so the show's ratings dipped too far for comfort.

However, Season 6 contains some of the best writing and dialogue, and while not everyone likes the plot arcs used (too dark for so many tastes) they actually touched on some really interesting stuff that's true to life. You could really see Joss and Marti's early-20's angst just pouring onto the screen, darker and more disturbing than *Buffy* had been before. The lighthearted edge that fans loved through the highschool and early college show really *couldn't* be there as much when Buffy herself was to disillusioned and depressed. The writing and dialogue was as good as ever, but with the harder edge and lack of as much softening lighthearted stuff too many longtime fans were put off.

But think of all the great things that happened in Season 6. The finale episodes, with the death of Tara and Willow's evilification, were some of the most riveting of the series--even if Tara's death *was* hard for a lot of fans, particularly in the lesbian community. The musical episode, obviously, stands on its own and is so highly acclaimed by critics and most fans that it's high on the list of Best Episodes Ever. Even if the Doublemeat Palace episode was mindnumbing on many levels, it accurately captured the awful experience of being an underling at the menial jobs so many people work. Buffy and Spike had one of the most intense and incredible love scenes in the whole series, and we got to watch their relationship decline into the degradation that really does happen in abusive or unhealthy relationships. There was so much great stuff there--great, but often too dark for most *Buffy* fans.

As for "Dawn the Vampire Slayer"--God, I was so hoping that the big "show you the world" speech Buffy gave Dawn at the end of Season 6's finale would turn into more screentime with the maturing Dawn, but it really didn't go very far. The Potentials ended up with the instruction that Dawn was seemingly going to get, based on Buffy's remarks at the end of the past season. Mmmm, little Dawnie really butters my toast! Hey, Michelle Trachtenberg *does* turn 18 and legal this year. ;-) Yummy. I was tempted to go to BuffyAuction.com and bid on the outfit she wore when she was seducing that jock in Season 7, but that would just be too creepy--plus my girlfriend wouldn't quite fit into it anyway. :-o

Re:I'm sure the fact

[cquark]

I don't think that season 6 was much darker than its predecessors, though it did hurt that they tried to carry off the humor element of the season with the season antagonist, the Trio, who could have worked well as a monster of the week but who were grating rather than amusing when their antics were repeated week after week.

Continuity with prior seasons was abandoned, both in terms of character and in setting. The most egregrious example was magic becoming addictive. Wouldn't Tara or Giles have ever mentioned that magic is the equivalent of crack to Willow, especially since there are "dealers" and magic crack houses? The magic addiction arc is especially frustrating as it not only hijacked the promising power corrupts arc for Willow, but it was completely useless as part of the dark Willow arc since it was Tara's death, not magic crack, that made Willow the nemesis in the final episodes.

The writing has many other flaws such as Buffy coming to an epiphany every week about her depression then ignoring it the following week and Spike going to get his chip out (which not only the dialog implies but the actor was told was to happen) but ends up with a soul. Let's take a quick look at the dialog. Some of the worst dialog ever on the show again comes from the addiction arc, especially in the final episodes when Willow's saying things like "I'm so juiced," and at the very end, Xander saving the world with his yellow crayon speech was just embarrassing.

There were many ideas with great potential in season six like the dark Willow arc we almost saw, but the execution was so poor that it's almost impossible to enjoy them. It's not the issues they brought up, such as depression, bad boyfriends, or even addiction that were the problem, but how they handled them compared to earlier seasons.

Look at how they handled the deaths of Joyce or Miss Calendar compared to Tara. Both of the prior deaths carried so much more meaning and emotion for the characters. The ending also lacks originality. We just saw Willow go off for revenge after Tara was hurt at the end of last season, and we saw Giles do the same when Miss Calendar died before that. The "dead lesbian/evil lesbian (saved by the good man)" ending has been done dozens of time in other books and movies, with Alyson Hannigan not only playing that ending in Buffy that year, but she also played that in the movie Rip It Off just before that. And of course, Willow has to destroy the world; we're not quite sure how that comes out of her character, but Buffy villains do that so she has to do that too. Why couldn't they have done something remotely original?

Slain

[Scoria]

'I'm simply too tired.'

Yes, seasons six and seven are certainly evidence that somebody was "asleep at the wheel." In fact, they were quite reminiscient of an enormous vehicular accident...

the real reason Buffy is departing.....

[PS-SCUD]

She wants to devote full time to being a pr0n star? *looks hopefull*

Re:the real reason Buffy is departing.....

[dghcasp]

Buffy the Vampire Layer?

It's not like it'd be so far off where the show is now...

Buffy: I'm going out to hunt vampires. I need a big stake.

Dawn: Don't let Spike rape you again!

Willow: Oh, and while you're gone, I'm going to have a lesbian tryst!

Faith: Ever notice how slaying makes you hungry and horny?

Anya: Everyone's having sex but me! I need to get laid!

Wait a minute... Did I just think that, or did I post it to slashdot? D'oh!

Dawn the Vampire Slayer

[Scoria]

Dawn the Vampire Slayer

Witness vampires and miscellaneous other creatures of the night defeated as Dawn petulantly screams. For instance: "Get out, get out, get out!"

Firefly

[Ignorant Aardvark]

Perhaps Buffy was getting tired, but Firefly was just starting to shine! I hope Joss Whedon doesn't mean that he was tired in general, just tired in regards to BTVS. I'm still hopeful that Firefly will make a comeback someday. In any event, two of its actors have played villains on Joss Whedon's other shows, Angel and BTVS. I thought that was nice of him, helping the actors of his cancelled show by giving them parts on his still-running shows.

Father O'day -- Give us a break

[Squidgee]

Since this article contains an Apple refrence (Which, btw, I've had good luck with Apple's repair services, even though my iBook had to go out of the country), inevitably we'll have to see the Father O'day troll. So, in order to route this, and give the mods the power to mod down based upon "redundant" (Muhahaha), here we go:

I'm gay. Blah blah blah.
--Some Priest

Good for you!
--Mister Apple-Impersonator.

And there ya have it! Go back under the bridge trolls.

This should silence Iraqi reconstruction critics

[George Walker Bush]

Guess what -- our beloved USA-homegrown CDMA didn't win out in Iraq after all. So you all can take your allegations of US self-bias and shove it.

The real reason they quit

[Qinopio]

They tried to use illusions on Trogdor, but he burninated [spoilers] them all!

ANDREW: Illusions? Against a burninator? (chuckles)

GSM/GPRS

[yet another coward]

How much sooner than the United States will Iraq get a GSM/GPRS network? AT&T, T-Mobile and Cingular are taking their time. Maybe the Iraqi people will get affordable data plans, too.

The sad thing about the geek kid

[Anonymous Coward]

Is that so many other geeks find him pitiful. If his self-esteem wasn't low already...

Re:The sad thing about the geek kid

[cjackson0]

I consider myself somewhat an average geek and don't find him pitiful. Who hasn't grabbed a stick and pretended they were Darth Maul or any other Jedi badass? I laugh when I saw this because I was laughing at myself. I could have done the exact same thing and looked just as stupid. If it weren't for some kid at school who found the tape and posted it online this would be just another idiotic teenage fantasy that we've all lived in some form or another. I think the kid should be proud that he is now world renown and maybe gave a little chuckle to a bunch of nerds JUST LIKE HIM.

A good thing for GSM?

[z4ce]

No,
It's not a good thing for Iraq for GSM to be implemented. GSM is really aging. The only way to get even moderately high-speeds is using the piggy-back GPRS. Reconstructing GSM to be 3G is very difficult transition path. If it weren't for Quallcom's patents on CDMA, nobody would be using GSM which is based on TDMA.

I really like some of the stuff GSM has done with respect to the phones themselves, such as the use SIMM card for storing the phones information. But CDMA is by far the technically superior solution, however patent incumbered. Building an infrastructure from the ground up on TDMA technology is just brain-dead politics.

Re:A good thing for GSM?

[GlassHeart]

If it weren't for Quallcom's patents on CDMA, nobody would be using GSM which is based on TDMA.

This is not wholly accurate. TDMA is old, obvious, and proven technology, requiring nothing more complicated than a uniform source of timing, and is possibly less demanding on the handset hardware than CDMA. Telecommunications carriers tend to be conservative, because the upfront investments are astronomical.

Secondly, according to Qualcomm's own information, CDMA by 1995 offered only 10x improvement (over analog cellular) of the bandwidth utilization. By contrast, TDMA offers somewhere from 3x to 8x, so the case for ripping out all your expensive network hardware is not as compelling back then.

Today in Iraq, starting from scratch, the equation is obviously different. When GSM's time comes, however, it should be remembered as a reliable workhorse, not something that was always inferior to CDMA except for patents. GSM was the first mobile phone system that offered global roaming, a feature taken for granted today, but causing so many problems back then that several horribly expensive satellite based solutions were built.

SIMM card

Only one "M". It stands for "Subscriber Identity Module".

GSM vs CDMA

[jbf]

Yes, GSM is more widely supported than CDMA, but note that the GSM folks are having a heck of a time providing 3G support, whereas the two big CDMA providers in the states (Verizon and Sprint) have both rolled out huge 3G networks. The reason for this is that 1xRTT is a better standard for data. By contrast, DoCoMo is losing money hand over fist deploying WCDMA.

GSM is everywhere largely because of European licensing agencies requiring GSM, and those same restrictions are built into the licenses for 3G spectrum (with UMTS). NOT because GSM is a better technology. CDMA gets better efficiency (more users per channel per cell) than GSM, especially in lightly loaded areas.

I don't see why GSM-everywhere is so desirable. The conveinences everyone claims that GSM has (eg SIM cards) are already being standardized in cdma2000, and will be here soon. GSM is a beast from the past, pushed only by government regulations. For those who say AT&T's switch shows that GSM is the future, remember that AT&T is switching from a TDMA network that's technologically equivalent to GSM (and hence inferior to CDMA), and that AT&T is having all sorts of network problems as a result, since they have to hard-block their frequencies, effectively creating a huge fragmentation problem.

Re:GSM vs CDMA

[rasteri]

You're forgetting one thing (and it's possibly the most important)... implementing CDMA in Iraq would effectively kill roaming between it and nearby countries. I think that's a significant enough reason to warrant a GSM mobile network. Besides, the so called "advantages" of CDMA are useless to Iraqis (High data rates? Most people in Iraq don't even have a computer, let alone a portable one). GSM offers some unique features (such as SIM cards) which almost certainly would be useful. Just because a technology is technically better in the US doesn't neccesarily mean it's well suited for a completely different country.

I think I'll release...

[MoThugz]

a video of myself doing some Neo-esque bullet-dodging kunf-fu moves... maybe I'll get an iPod too.

All joking aside, from the interview, Ghyslain (the starwars kid) acted quite mature for someone his age... aware that his not-meant-for-public-viewing is now world famous he chose not to be bitter or overly proud of this. He seems to just let it pass as a page in his life story.

Anyway, he did make me laugh, and what a way to start what is anticipated to be a loooong busy day.

Thanks Ghyslain!

Re:I think I'll release...

[tbmaddux]

He seems to just let it pass as a page in his life story.

Exactly. He's got much more embarassing/humiliating things to go through when he gets shoved into a cubicle. For now, his reaction was much the same as Ellen Feiss: "Oh, whatever, I think it's kind of funny. These people don't have lives..." They're kids. The fact that they get this flash-in-the-pan fame says more about us than them.

Completely detached....

[tcc]

Am I the only one who was completely detached of that last buffy episode? well actually from the last 2 seasons? She could have died and I don't think it would have cared less... I was almost worried that she would die and Faith replace her for another stagnating 5 seasons....

I'm sure I am not the only one who was continuing to watch it because he "invested time into watching the 5 previous seasons that were really cool and I need to know how it will all end"... the ending of season 5 when she closes the portal by jumping into it was like...at least 10x better than yesterday's serie ending.... Its a good thing that this show finally ends eventho I was a big fan the 5 first seasons. When I see shows like family guy, B5 crusade and firefly being cancelled and see crap like this season's of buffy still on, it makes me wonder.

Now I just hope the Angel show doesn't go the same way.

One show that I really enjoyed this year was John Doe, is there a second season of this? this is probably one of the good findings this year, new actors good story, just enough "fiction" to keep it "real", I like the balance and the general concept.

Re:DirecTV security through obscurity?

[shird]

In theory. However, similar to DVDs, the decoder needs to be able to decode the signal. This means there must be a 'key' (be it an RSA key, secret algorithm, or whatever) in the device somewhere. Basically they are trying to achieve client-side security, which is just a myth. The only way to partially achieve this is to hide the key in silicon and hope the attackers don't find it, and when/if they do, change it. So as far as security is concerned, DirecTV is relying on secrecy - which is the only security possible in their situation. So it is fair enough they wouldnt want the details out in public.

Will Joss Slay Again?

[fm6]

I'm forced to agree. Except that Whedon's basic problem isn't fatigue -- that's just a symptom. It's that he keeps overreaching himself.

Consider the "First Evil" arc. They started that one over four years ago!!! Yeah, I know we you like the way he plants clues and goes for a slow buildup. So do I. But that buildup looks like the workers were drunk and AWOL half the time!

The whole series is full of stuff like that. My favorite villain in all of genre fiction is Glorificus, The Fashion Queen from Another Dimension. But I was only able to enjoy her arc by nodding at the plot inconsistencies you could drive a truck through. A willing fan can do that for a while (hence Star Trek), but Buffy fans have less patience.

I think if Joss Whedon is going to remain a major player (and I do hope he manages to revive Firefly) he's gonna have to rethink his working style. TV and movies are collaborative media, yet he insists that all the big insights be his and his alone. That prevents people from hijacking his vehicles (as happened with the Buffy movie) but also prevents people from telling him when his clothes are no invisible, but missing. No wonder Buffy got so far off track.

Anyone notice reference to Trogdor in Buffy?

[Rheingold]

Did anyone notice the reference to Trogdor the Burninator in Buffy? It was rad!

BTVS Finale: Reader's Digest Version

[dghcasp]

Angel to Buffy: Here's a magic amulet. The writers didn't bother to come up with a backstory for it. And now that I've spoken, union rules say I have to be paid for the whole episode. (Angel Leaves.)

Buffy to Spike: Here's a magic amulet. Let's shag.

Buffy to Willow: I need a spell.
Willow: I'm scared.
Buffy: Don't worry. The writers didn't bother to look up the latin. All you have to do is sit and look constipated.
Willow: I can do that; I had bran today!

Wood to Faith: I'm better looking than you, skank.

Andrew: I'm a geek. Wheeeee!

(Inside the Hellmouth)

Kennedy: Look at all the vampires.
Buffy: Don't worry. Willow's spell made you all slayers.
Kennedy: Why didn't we do this in episode 3 this season? Then we could have had time for some good episodes.
Buffy: Shut up ho, and kill uber-vamps.

Kennedy: Hey, how come one of these uber-vamps kicked Buffy's arse six ways to sunday for two episodes, yet now we're killing thousands of them.
Faith. Shut up and kill uber-vamps.

The First: Neener neener neener
Buffy: Beat it, bitch.

Spike: Woo hoo, me necklace is killing all the uber-vamps.
Kennedy: Shame angel couldn't have brought it in episode 3, then we could have...
Spike: stuff it, wanker.

Anya: Hey, how come I have to be the only one to die?

(Above ground)

Dawn: Hey look, the whole town's gone, fallen into a pit.
Cordelia: I always said Sunnydale was a pit.
Xander: Beat it, slut, you're not in this show anymore.
Cordelia: oops.

Willow: So, what do we do now?
Buffy: fuckifiknow.

(Fade to black)

Can't agree

[Dusabre]

GSM is cheap because its old. Cheap GSM stations and cheap GSM phones. I might be able to pay $1000 for a PDA CDMA phone but an Iraqi might only have $50 for his basic GSM (I'm sure he'd love to have the phone I threw away 4 years ago because it was getting tacky)

GSM is implemented throughout the Middle East - allowing roaming and phone exports/transfers over the border.

GSM is well known to technicians.

GSM works well in environments like Iraq. You might live in some isolated part of the huge US of A where GSM sucks but Iraq is an urban and concentrated country. Most people live near the cities or the river valleys.

GSM does not suck. It allows clear voice transmissions and gives an acceptable data transfer rate (not for internet browsing but for email okay).

Iraq does not need an expensive data network with bells on it. It needs one that works. And GSM works excellently - as Europe can testify.

GSM is not the future. But its the working present.