Hasn't worked since Apple shut down the second site for PlayFair, the one located in another country. They made some slight changes to their DRM so any files purchased recently would not be decrypted with PlayFair. Would give the generic "Cannot find key for user" error. M4P's purchased before that date will decrypt fine.
I hate Joe-Blow users who disable System Restore, and then when their system gets seriously f-ed from spyware/etc. (like your DVD drive not recognizing DVDs anymore) they can't use System Restore to go back to older drivers/configurations. Then they bitch to me because I can't fix the problem. Pfft.
If you're really getting hassled like that, then don't bother explaining to the low level support person. Tell them you'd like to speak with their supervisor, or someone higher up who will elevate your problem. Start a support ticket, that sort of thing, etc..
Also, the reason you provide (hardware testing) is a bit lacking. Windows XP will operate fully for 30 (or maybe 15? I don't remember right now..) days without being activated. If that's not enough time for you to perform your "testing", I would look into Microsoft's corporate licensing, or a subscription to MSDN, which would provide you with a copy of Windows XP that does not require activation.
but I am offended that I have to explain/excuse my way through a phone call everytime I change harddrives
Pure BS. I've had to reinstall my legitimate copy of XP three times in the past 2 years. The first two times worked fine (and I was able to use the online registration, no questions asked.) Third one failed. I called the 1-800 number, and it asked me to read off (speak) my product ID. I did so, and then it responded with my registration code. Typed that in and clicked next, and I was registered yet again.
Here at work, we've used the 1-800 number a few times as well, and only once have I been transferred to an actual person. She simply asked for my product ID, and then gave me my registration code. No explanation or inquisition necessary.
If you ask me, this is how product activation/protection should work. Microsoft did it fairly right the first time around. If xx number of months/days/years has passed since the last install, the product should be allowed to be reactivated without a problem.
Every road I've seen which expects snow-plow usage has it's cat eyes sunken below the road level (about half an inch) with little bevels on each side, to prevent the snow plow from tearing them up every time it clears the road.
I don't understand why you'd need to boot from a RAID'd drive disconnected from the RAID itself; if the RAID is in RAID5 format or something, this would be impossible anyhow! Unless you're just RAID1-ing everything??
Even then, why can't you just plug into a 3ware again and get the data off the drive?
The Adaptec you linked to is another one of those software-driven RAID cards, and offers no real value.
You're going to have to spend $200-$300+ to get a decent RAID hardware card, and then make sure you have a server (read: 64-bit/66MHz PCI bus) motherboard to handle it.
Purchasing a CD from the store would negate the iTunes arguement entirely.
There are reasons why people (and myself) do purchase songs from iTunes, and just a few of those off the top of my head:
- Don't have to purchase ENTIRE cd; lots of albums have one or two decent songs, the rest is crap.
- Cheaper to buy a song for $.99, and with most full albums being $9.99; it's cheaper than buying a real CD.
- Digital format that won't degrade or "break" over time. Even a CD will lose it's signal over time, and become scratched with repeated usage (not to mention taking it in/out of a holder.)
- Quick/easy delivery; I don't have to go to a physical store location, browse racks, wait in line and pay for the CD. I click "buy" and it's downloaded instantly. Much faster and less hassle.
Your example is a flawed one; just because _you_ didn't have the means to play back that media doesn't mean someone else didn't.
And they are treating me like a pirate when they "protect" me from using something I purchased in whatever legal way I want.
I just want to be able to play my songs whereever I want, whenever I want.
All of my iTunes (around 200+ now) are on a portable hard drive. I should be able to take that drive anywhere, plug into my laptop.. my friend's PC.. my work PC.. etc. and play the songs without having to "authorize" a machine.
Nor do I want to have to deal with installing an application (read: iTunes) that has a horrible/resource-inefficient UI (brings my 1GHz laptop to a crawl) when there are much better designed and implemented players out there that can run standalone, and do not need Quicktime or iTunes installed.
I'm not a pirate, and I wish companies would learn not treat their customer base like they are.
VideoLan actually does this; if you want to use VideoLan in Linux to play your iTunes files, you first have to generate the client/user keys by playing back your M4P's on the Windows version of VideoLan. This generates a folder on your hard drive that contains all the user keys (I believe it's \Documents and Settings\Application Data\drms\) -- You then map/copy that folder to your Linux OS, and point VideoLan towards them. It can then decode/play back M4P's without writing new unencrypted files.
There is a whole walkthrough for doing this on the VideoLan website. See here and here.
I had written a program to batch-call VLC through the command line and demux and strip out the iTunes DRM (M4P-> M4A), but now I have playfair working correctly so I don't need it anymore.
This just adds to the list of reasons why this game is going to fail.
When you release a half-finished, bug-filled game, promise you're going to fix it, and then do nothing about the issues (re: Enter the Matrix) you're going to piss off a lot of fans.
The trailer for Jurassic Park 1 had something like this, as well. Ellie grabbed a fern or huge leaf while the jeeps were driving, but in the movie it just sort of appeared. Not pivotal, but the same example of strange cuts.
Reminds me of the Stuka dive bombers of WWII, where the wheel/gear coverings had wind-powered sirens in them.. when they were making a pass, you'd hear it! I don't recall where I read it, but I believe Hitler was the one to come up with the idea, and actually required all Stukas to have this feature.
Somewhat off-topic, but that game is very underrated. The graphics are amazing, and the gameplay just feels so intuitive. I was able to pick up on a lot of the tricky moves pretty quickly.
I think the problem with Uru is that it was rushed. I was in the beta test for a short while, and problems persisted without ever being fixed, such as people falling through maps, locking up between map changes, and complaints about how the community was structured.. they all went unanswered.
I love Myst and the whole storyline behind it (and have read all the books/played all the games/etc.) -- but Uru just lacked. If they had taken more time to polish it, it might have been more successful.
VideoLan can already decode/play back M4P iTunes-purchased files. It stores the system's key in the \Documents and Settings\\Application Data\drms\ folder -- you can copy that folder to other computers that aren't authorized via iTunes, and still play the M4P's with VideoLan. And since VideoLan supports streaming, you can set it to output the raw AAC into a new MP4 container. The only downside is that it's realtime, and that you have to do each file one at a time. But I wrote a Visual Basic app to loop through a directory recursively and call VideoLAN to convert each M4P file.
Hopefully someone takes this new code and makes a windows version, that can do process large amounts of files at a time...
MS Access is used like crazy here, much to my dismay. We'd been given a year to convert the entire Access app to ASP.Net -- while adding new functionality and redesigning completely how certain sections work. That was 3 years ago. The project is still going on, along with other projects being piled on top of it and being pushed to the top of the queue.
Nevermind the fact that the guys using MS Access don't understand triggers, transactions, normalized databases, ADO/DAO... the entire app uses a mix of LINKED tables and Access tables. ADO is never used once. No stored procedures are called. Fields are tacked on to tables. We have a table with over 200 columns, with lengths that add up way past 8000 characters (the SQL server non-blob limit.) -- When an update/insert gets a SQL length error for being too long, it's ignored by the development staff. There's even ON ERROR type handling to hide errors completely and even RETRY failing functions over and over until they work properly.
Came home around midnight to find my DSL router's lights flashing like a Christmas tree. My server's hard drive light flickering like mad.. CPU usage at 100%, Netlimiter freaking out. I disconnected from the net, and still had problems. Tried to reboot.. and yay! Blue screen. After doing some analysis, both my system and data drives were toast (CHKDSK started to recover the entire drive's folder/file structure into random filenames.. that's when you throw in the towel.) My backup drive was surprisingly not affected in any way.
ISS claims they released a security patch 2 weeks before this worm hit. That's a bunch of crap. My BlackIce was configured for Auto Update checking, every day, and I was not notified of an update to the software. Talking to other ISS users, it would appear ISS actually released the patch only 24 hours before the worm hit.
I sent ISS a little criticism via e-mail, about their handling of the issue, and how they are going to compensate their userbase. I got a standard reply back "We're sorry you've been inconvienienced. Thanks." -- Pfft.
I hope someone organizes a lawsuit against them. And don't tell me their EULA protects them from things like this.
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Mutant X was just lame to begin with. Ripping off X-Men is not cool.
Hasn't worked since Apple shut down the second site for PlayFair, the one located in another country. They made some slight changes to their DRM so any files purchased recently would not be decrypted with PlayFair. Would give the generic "Cannot find key for user" error. M4P's purchased before that date will decrypt fine.
Funnily enough, DeDRMS still works.
I hate Joe-Blow users who disable System Restore, and then when their system gets seriously f-ed from spyware/etc. (like your DVD drive not recognizing DVDs anymore) they can't use System Restore to go back to older drivers/configurations. Then they bitch to me because I can't fix the problem. Pfft.
If you're really getting hassled like that, then don't bother explaining to the low level support person. Tell them you'd like to speak with their supervisor, or someone higher up who will elevate your problem. Start a support ticket, that sort of thing, etc..
Also, the reason you provide (hardware testing) is a bit lacking. Windows XP will operate fully for 30 (or maybe 15? I don't remember right now..) days without being activated. If that's not enough time for you to perform your "testing", I would look into Microsoft's corporate licensing, or a subscription to MSDN, which would provide you with a copy of Windows XP that does not require activation.
but I am offended that I have to explain/excuse my way through a phone call everytime I change harddrives
Pure BS. I've had to reinstall my legitimate copy of XP three times in the past 2 years. The first two times worked fine (and I was able to use the online registration, no questions asked.) Third one failed. I called the 1-800 number, and it asked me to read off (speak) my product ID. I did so, and then it responded with my registration code. Typed that in and clicked next, and I was registered yet again.
Here at work, we've used the 1-800 number a few times as well, and only once have I been transferred to an actual person. She simply asked for my product ID, and then gave me my registration code. No explanation or inquisition necessary.
If you ask me, this is how product activation/protection should work. Microsoft did it fairly right the first time around. If xx number of months/days/years has passed since the last install, the product should be allowed to be reactivated without a problem.
Every road I've seen which expects snow-plow usage has it's cat eyes sunken below the road level (about half an inch) with little bevels on each side, to prevent the snow plow from tearing them up every time it clears the road.
I don't understand why you'd need to boot from a RAID'd drive disconnected from the RAID itself; if the RAID is in RAID5 format or something, this would be impossible anyhow! Unless you're just RAID1-ing everything??
Even then, why can't you just plug into a 3ware again and get the data off the drive?
The Adaptec you linked to is another one of those software-driven RAID cards, and offers no real value.
You're going to have to spend $200-$300+ to get a decent RAID hardware card, and then make sure you have a server (read: 64-bit/66MHz PCI bus) motherboard to handle it.
Purchasing a CD from the store would negate the iTunes arguement entirely.
There are reasons why people (and myself) do purchase songs from iTunes, and just a few of those off the top of my head:
- Don't have to purchase ENTIRE cd; lots of albums have one or two decent songs, the rest is crap.
- Cheaper to buy a song for $.99, and with most full albums being $9.99; it's cheaper than buying a real CD.
- Digital format that won't degrade or "break" over time. Even a CD will lose it's signal over time, and become scratched with repeated usage (not to mention taking it in/out of a holder.)
- Quick/easy delivery; I don't have to go to a physical store location, browse racks, wait in line and pay for the CD. I click "buy" and it's downloaded instantly. Much faster and less hassle.
Your example is a flawed one; just because _you_ didn't have the means to play back that media doesn't mean someone else didn't.
And they are treating me like a pirate when they "protect" me from using something I purchased in whatever legal way I want.
I just want to be able to play my songs whereever I want, whenever I want.
All of my iTunes (around 200+ now) are on a portable hard drive. I should be able to take that drive anywhere, plug into my laptop.. my friend's PC.. my work PC.. etc. and play the songs without having to "authorize" a machine.
Nor do I want to have to deal with installing an application (read: iTunes) that has a horrible/resource-inefficient UI (brings my 1GHz laptop to a crawl) when there are much better designed and implemented players out there that can run standalone, and do not need Quicktime or iTunes installed.
I'm not a pirate, and I wish companies would learn not treat their customer base like they are.
VideoLan actually does this; if you want to use VideoLan in Linux to play your iTunes files, you first have to generate the client/user keys by playing back your M4P's on the Windows version of VideoLan. This generates a folder on your hard drive that contains all the user keys (I believe it's \Documents and Settings\Application Data\drms\) -- You then map/copy that folder to your Linux OS, and point VideoLan towards them. It can then decode/play back M4P's without writing new unencrypted files.
There is a whole walkthrough for doing this on the VideoLan website. See here and here.
I had written a program to batch-call VLC through the command line and demux and strip out the iTunes DRM (M4P-> M4A), but now I have playfair working correctly so I don't need it anymore.
This just adds to the list of reasons why this game is going to fail.
When you release a half-finished, bug-filled game, promise you're going to fix it, and then do nothing about the issues (re: Enter the Matrix) you're going to piss off a lot of fans.
The fact that you linked to grc.com proves you have an IQ of around 5. Your arguement is now null and void!
NO SOUP FOR YOU! NEXT!
It was actually intended to be a scene in the movie. I don't have a link to back this up, but if you surf around you can find the info..
The trailer for Jurassic Park 1 had something like this, as well. Ellie grabbed a fern or huge leaf while the jeeps were driving, but in the movie it just sort of appeared. Not pivotal, but the same example of strange cuts.
Reminds me of the Stuka dive bombers of WWII, where the wheel/gear coverings had wind-powered sirens in them.. when they were making a pass, you'd hear it! I don't recall where I read it, but I believe Hitler was the one to come up with the idea, and actually required all Stukas to have this feature.
Name something that SP1 broke that either:
a) Affected you.
or
b) Hasn't been fixed via Hotfix already.
The score composed for the first film was awesome. Basil Poledouris rocks, and tends to be a bit under appreciated for his work.
With your logic, there are no well-designed operating systems yet?
So you're blaming Microsoft/Windows for ZoneAlert's problems?
Makes sense. No, really. It does!
And I still don't understand why everyone thinks ZoneAlarm is so great. It's shite. You're much better off with Sygate or something else.
Somewhat off-topic, but that game is very underrated. The graphics are amazing, and the gameplay just feels so intuitive. I was able to pick up on a lot of the tricky moves pretty quickly.
I think the problem with Uru is that it was rushed. I was in the beta test for a short while, and problems persisted without ever being fixed, such as people falling through maps, locking up between map changes, and complaints about how the community was structured.. they all went unanswered.
I love Myst and the whole storyline behind it (and have read all the books/played all the games/etc.) -- but Uru just lacked. If they had taken more time to polish it, it might have been more successful.
VideoLan can already decode/play back M4P iTunes-purchased files. It stores the system's key in the \Documents and Settings\\Application Data\drms\ folder -- you can copy that folder to other computers that aren't authorized via iTunes, and still play the M4P's with VideoLan. And since VideoLan supports streaming, you can set it to output the raw AAC into a new MP4 container. The only downside is that it's realtime, and that you have to do each file one at a time. But I wrote a Visual Basic app to loop through a directory recursively and call VideoLAN to convert each M4P file.
Hopefully someone takes this new code and makes a windows version, that can do process large amounts of files at a time...
Wow, do you work for the same company as me?
MS Access is used like crazy here, much to my dismay. We'd been given a year to convert the entire Access app to ASP.Net -- while adding new functionality and redesigning completely how certain sections work. That was 3 years ago. The project is still going on, along with other projects being piled on top of it and being pushed to the top of the queue.
Nevermind the fact that the guys using MS Access don't understand triggers, transactions, normalized databases, ADO/DAO... the entire app uses a mix of LINKED tables and Access tables. ADO is never used once. No stored procedures are called. Fields are tacked on to tables. We have a table with over 200 columns, with lengths that add up way past 8000 characters (the SQL server non-blob limit.) -- When an update/insert gets a SQL length error for being too long, it's ignored by the development staff. There's even ON ERROR type handling to hide errors completely and even RETRY failing functions over and over until they work properly.
Fun.
Came home around midnight to find my DSL router's lights flashing like a Christmas tree. My server's hard drive light flickering like mad.. CPU usage at 100%, Netlimiter freaking out. I disconnected from the net, and still had problems. Tried to reboot.. and yay! Blue screen. After doing some analysis, both my system and data drives were toast (CHKDSK started to recover the entire drive's folder/file structure into random filenames.. that's when you throw in the towel.) My backup drive was surprisingly not affected in any way.
ISS claims they released a security patch 2 weeks before this worm hit. That's a bunch of crap. My BlackIce was configured for Auto Update checking, every day, and I was not notified of an update to the software. Talking to other ISS users, it would appear ISS actually released the patch only 24 hours before the worm hit.
I sent ISS a little criticism via e-mail, about their handling of the issue, and how they are going to compensate their userbase. I got a standard reply back "We're sorry you've been inconvienienced. Thanks." -- Pfft.
I hope someone organizes a lawsuit against them. And don't tell me their EULA protects them from things like this.
http://www.streamsicle.com/
'Nuff said.
Or Nullsoft's own wwwinamp:
http://www.nullsoft.com/free/wwwinamp/
F-off! We're the people's front of Judea!