The shift-key thing stops auto-play on Windows machines, which is how he got past it. If he hadn't, it comes up with a message saying "an upgrade needs to be installed" (because it's illegal to install software automatically without the user knowing). Pressing cancel to this also bypasses the "protection".
The company in question has moved onto a slightly more complicated version, which requires a physical crack for consecutive reads, but it's still very simple to break.
I've not yet found a single CD which has been copy protected that cannot be bypassed easily. I wish they'd just learn that these systems which try trickery on the laser head (so that head bounces around the disc if you try to do a consecutive read) is simple to get past.
The last one I had that required "cracking" (although it hardly warrants the term) was bypassed using the sticky bit of a post-it note (I won't say exactly where it was stuck for fear that I'll have the legal eagles coming down on me, as it were).
I find it more of an inconvenience than a reason not to buy a particular artists CDs (although I've never heard of these chart-toppers).
The CD medium, as it stands now, just cannot support the kind of copy protection they want to put in place, simply because they have to cater for "dumb" machines, such as the typical CD player. It would be more frugal if they just didn't bother.
I wish I had the magical ability to mod, because that Von Neuman Machine comment made me laugh very loudly.
I'm guessing that ObjectPAL didn't make it onto the chart either...
First, I don't really believe that the thick-client is truly dead. Yeah, there's so many advantages to running apps via a browser (the automatic client upgrade perhaps being the most important), but there will also be an inherent requirement for thick-client apps. Games being the biggest example of this. And games will always require an OS specific API to interact with (yes, there's OpenGL, but what about sound etc etc?). For this reason, I doubt highly that the existing APIs will stop being supported.
Second point - if people with COM and C++ knowledge are getting $130000 dollars, then I am well and truly in the wrong job!
I don't actually agree, I'm afraid. Although I'm not a pop music fan by any means (preferring more alternative or indie-ish stuff), not all pop music is anodine sugar-coated filth. There are the occasional snippets of excellence out there, it's just rare. However, the majority of it should be burned over a basket of live cats, along with the "artists".
Well, if the NME had developed it (a music rag in the UK), it would simply go like this:
if (band_name == "The Strokes" || band_name == "The Libertines")
printf("10/10");
else
printf("%d/10", rand()%10);
On an honest note, it annoys me that there should be some generic formula for critically analysing music. It's this kind of thing that makes all music follow a generic pub-rock path like it did in the mid-late 90's (Oasis anyone?). Or generic R&B/Urban path like it does now...
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The shift-key thing stops auto-play on Windows machines, which is how he got past it. If he hadn't, it comes up with a message saying "an upgrade needs to be installed" (because it's illegal to install software automatically without the user knowing). Pressing cancel to this also bypasses the "protection".
The company in question has moved onto a slightly more complicated version, which requires a physical crack for consecutive reads, but it's still very simple to break.
I've not yet found a single CD which has been copy protected that cannot be bypassed easily. I wish they'd just learn that these systems which try trickery on the laser head (so that head bounces around the disc if you try to do a consecutive read) is simple to get past.
The last one I had that required "cracking" (although it hardly warrants the term) was bypassed using the sticky bit of a post-it note (I won't say exactly where it was stuck for fear that I'll have the legal eagles coming down on me, as it were).
I find it more of an inconvenience than a reason not to buy a particular artists CDs (although I've never heard of these chart-toppers).
The CD medium, as it stands now, just cannot support the kind of copy protection they want to put in place, simply because they have to cater for "dumb" machines, such as the typical CD player. It would be more frugal if they just didn't bother.
I wish I had the magical ability to mod, because that Von Neuman Machine comment made me laugh very loudly. I'm guessing that ObjectPAL didn't make it onto the chart either...
First, I don't really believe that the thick-client is truly dead. Yeah, there's so many advantages to running apps via a browser (the automatic client upgrade perhaps being the most important), but there will also be an inherent requirement for thick-client apps. Games being the biggest example of this. And games will always require an OS specific API to interact with (yes, there's OpenGL, but what about sound etc etc?). For this reason, I doubt highly that the existing APIs will stop being supported.
Second point - if people with COM and C++ knowledge are getting $130000 dollars, then I am well and truly in the wrong job!
Try flying the Dodo in Grand Theft Auto 3 to find out. Bloody difficult.
I don't actually agree, I'm afraid. Although I'm not a pop music fan by any means (preferring more alternative or indie-ish stuff), not all pop music is anodine sugar-coated filth. There are the occasional snippets of excellence out there, it's just rare. However, the majority of it should be burned over a basket of live cats, along with the "artists".
Well, if the NME had developed it (a music rag in the UK), it would simply go like this:
if (band_name == "The Strokes" || band_name == "The Libertines")
printf("10/10");
else
printf("%d/10", rand()%10);
On an honest note, it annoys me that there should be some generic formula for critically analysing music. It's this kind of thing that makes all music follow a generic pub-rock path like it did in the mid-late 90's (Oasis anyone?). Or generic R&B/Urban path like it does now...
According to freetranslation.com that translates to "The life no and attractive". Hmm...