Anyone who attended NAB 2006 in Las Vegas last month would have seen the tons of signage, brochures and other promotional material from Microsoft showing off WMP11.
I find it interesting that every single reply in this thread is a knee-jerk reaction lamenting about the evils of DRM and content protection simply due to the fact that the product name of this system is misleading.
"The system uses AES encryption, requires a constantly open two way IP connection and it sends encrypted keys to the content along with the content, and these have to be decrypted by an existing public key. Entitlement messages are delivered out of band in a separate communication using the Mother May I protocols. More D-CAS applications will generate the entitlement messages, and a Java smart card will be used for authentication, which will store and manage viewers rights and viewing history."
This is clearly a pipe protection CAS mechanism and not a rights management and persistence mechanism (DRM).
Oh, and as for the 15 months to market... if that is the case, other open source CAS products have already beaten these guys to market *cough* http://www.logici.com/content/prod/lines/encry/ *cough*
We ( http://www.logici.com/ ) use it for our STBs, edge video router, VOD server, STB management system... pretty much everything in the chain that delivers IPTV video from the headend to the viewer. We use XML and XUL wrappered by plain HTML and javascript, so clients have the ability to customize the UI, and the UI itself is (for all intent purposes) 'Video/EPG AJAX'. I've worked on a lot of systems in the last 10 years that deliver IPTV video. The nimbleness of this particular approach blows all the others out of the water. Where 'legacy' systems required a team of developers and months of time to get a new 'version' out for a customer, this can be done by one person adept at gimp/photoshop and javascript/html.
I find this interesting, as I submitted two such stories at the start of this year:
2004-03-03 18:48:15 US House members to offer anti-offshore jobs bill (Index,United States) (rejected)
And another regarding the proposed H1 changes under way.
At this point in time the subject seems worthy. Why is that? Talk amongst yourselves...
I've been through a lot of backpacks, and the Booq line finally fits the bill. When they say the interior measures x.y.z, it measures it spot on. Fits my S150 like a glove, and doesn't let it slide around inside the pack. The mp3 pouch is a neat trick too. If you can afford the extra $ and you need to be mobile, this is the one to get.
We did the first motion picture distribution using Loral Cyberstar in 1998. Here's the IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0122143/news. Get your facts straight!
I can't believe no-one pointed this out yet - LCOS in current implementations is critically flawed. Part of the chip used for image display deforms over time and cannot be 'undone'. No amount of screensavers or screenblanking will keep this from happening. I'm not sure what Philips is doing, but all the others pulled their sets because of this problem.
You've got it wrong. The point of selling a settopbox or dvr is not to sell the settopbox or dvr for profit from the hardware. In most cases that is already a loss since it may be subsidized. The point is to sell the services that go with it like PPV and channel subs. Thats what makes the profit back, and thats why letting you hack your box makes no sense.
If you mean the H.264 codec, then you can find the MPEGLA licensing terms in PDF format here - http://www.mpegla.com/
Apple is covering licensing costs for OSX (AFAIK), but I have no idea how this codec would permeate to OSS or such flavored development.
I would say you can lose your life equally in all three if you make the wrong turn or go around ignorantly. But thats the difference between these and Iraq. In Iraq you can just as equally get capped in a 'westerner suburb'.
Your friend would probably be referring to places like downtown Johannesburg or other such areas. I wouldn't go so far as to say never stop at traffic lights but I would say never drive around anywhere without your doors locked and scope out the intersection and the cars around it when you come up on it. Be aware of your surroundings. If you do that and keep out of certain areas you should be fine.
Sorry bud, Johannesburg does not count as a dangerous working environment. Its the same like working in LA - the burbs are much removed from the ghetto.
I say this having been born in south africa, living in Johannesburg, working in malaysia, and living now in LA.
Seems like just the ticket - but it may empty out your wallet considerably. I've used the U101 a lot when travelling for everything to photo editing, dv editing, notes, watching movies on 10 hour plane flights, or wifi net connectivity -- but the U70 (although the 800x600 screen seems too small for my liking) seems more flexible / portable.
How about a mini-generator? One that would sit outside your window and power your A/C, or perhaps some servers in your garage? You could power it with dog manure (I have enough to run a city block).
This could be extended to low-power POE devices, mesh networks, you name it.
Such devices could be even labeled EPA PP complaint (Poop Power).
Cablecos are notorious for being cheapskates. They brought us the $50 throw-away box, are unwilling to change, and charge an arm and a leg for any minor improvement.
You can be sure that if they are to surrender their pipeline, that they will do the bare minimum to support any 3rd party. Sure, it may be good to have the ability to pick and choose between vendors, but ultimately someone is going to have to do maintenance on the pipe if it breaks.
Hidden infrastructure and support charges will quickly kill any small service provider. They don't have the domain over the pipe, and they don't have the expertees.
We tried this years back with ADSL. It was a total failure. How many of those companies are still around? None except Earthlink and a few others. The rest are.. you guessed it.. the telcos.
Underhanded business practices too...
on
Real's Reality
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
I'm sure many readers will find this gem interesting:
About 3 years ago I made mention in a closed streaming media group discussion of Real's flaws in their DRM 'solution'. This was widely published, and I was not the starter of the thread. However, I did drop the line (or something like it) of the solution being 'amateur hour'. Real's at-that-time marketing manager was on the list, and proceeded to track down my particulars and call up management at my company accusing me of 'hacking' their DRM product. I understand he was quite miffed. Ofcourse I posted this back to the list and didn't hear a peep.
The long and short of this story - not only does Real make a shitty spamware/adware/annoyanceware product and try to get developers for free with their 'community source' claptrap, but they also go to interesting lengths to stir up bullshit to protect their interests.
These days I am still at the same company, and architect my own product line. Whenever a customer asks about support for RealMedia, I laugh. Then I tell them this story. And thats the last we hear of the request. Oddly enough, I have never had anyone doubt me - gee I wonder why!
A tip for Real - listen to your customers. And if you have bugs and/or shitty software, fix them.
The only problem is that it *doesnt* stay quiet. I have one of these on top of my TV. The fan on the CPU is a POS, and the two little fans are the same brand. After about 3-4 weeks of being on continuously they are all whining at 100 decibels. I've pulled the plug on the two case fans, but the CPU fan continues to whine and rattle. Cheap-ass POS.
The Antec case is too big, it falls off the back of your other home theater components. And why use a Radeon? Who wants to *only* upscale DVDs to HD resolution? Isn't the point of watching HD being able to receive HD broadcasts too?
Alternative configuration:
Mini-ITX system (the case will fit on top of the TV) like those from casetronic.com, with a VIA 800 or better.
MyHD HD Tunerboard (will upscale DVDs and tune HD/SD broadcasts).
VGA to component breakout cable connected from the MyHD's output directly to your set.
Install XP or 2K, put the MyHD IR control app in the winblows startup folder, and never look at the windows desktop again, since the MyHD has an OSD on the HD output.
With this config you can tune HD broadcasts and upscale DVDs for less.
... the same goes for almost every other IRC channel. I wouldn't call one linux channel like #debian the exception to the rule. Most IRC channels are havens for brats who need attitude adjustments and have only one place to play god (i.e. online), or act like an asshole.
Slashdot Mirror
... is this really a laptop, or a 'mobile desktop'.
Anyone who attended NAB 2006 in Las Vegas last month would have seen the tons of signage, brochures and other promotional material from Microsoft showing off WMP11.
I find it interesting that every single reply in this thread is a knee-jerk reaction lamenting about the evils of DRM and content protection simply due to the fact that the product name of this system is misleading.
"The system uses AES encryption, requires a constantly open two way IP connection and it sends encrypted keys to the content along with the content, and these have to be decrypted by an existing public key. Entitlement messages are delivered out of band in a separate communication using the Mother May I protocols. More D-CAS applications will generate the entitlement messages, and a Java smart card will be used for authentication, which will store and manage viewers rights and viewing history."
This is clearly a pipe protection CAS mechanism and not a rights management and persistence mechanism (DRM).
Oh, and as for the 15 months to market... if that is the case, other open source CAS products have already beaten these guys to market *cough* http://www.logici.com/content/prod/lines/encry/ *cough*
No. Add large-block erasure correction. RS will not save lost packets, only bits.
We ( http://www.logici.com/ ) use it for our STBs, edge video router, VOD server, STB management system... pretty much everything in the chain that delivers IPTV video from the headend to the viewer. We use XML and XUL wrappered by plain HTML and javascript, so clients have the ability to customize the UI, and the UI itself is (for all intent purposes) 'Video/EPG AJAX'. I've worked on a lot of systems in the last 10 years that deliver IPTV video. The nimbleness of this particular approach blows all the others out of the water. Where 'legacy' systems required a team of developers and months of time to get a new 'version' out for a customer, this can be done by one person adept at gimp/photoshop and javascript/html.
If you had said 1995 I would say you have been in the business for a decent amount of time. 2004, not really.
As usual Slashdot gets it wrong. Cinea (who brought us DIVX) are the makers of these players.
I find this interesting, as I submitted two such stories at the start of this year:
2004-03-03 18:48:15 US House members to offer anti-offshore jobs bill (Index,United States) (rejected)
And another regarding the proposed H1 changes under way.
At this point in time the subject seems worthy. Why is that? Talk amongst yourselves...
I've been through a lot of backpacks, and the Booq line finally fits the bill. When they say the interior measures x.y.z, it measures it spot on. Fits my S150 like a glove, and doesn't let it slide around inside the pack. The mp3 pouch is a neat trick too. If you can afford the extra $ and you need to be mobile, this is the one to get.
http://www.booqbags.com
We did the first motion picture distribution using Loral Cyberstar in 1998. Here's the IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0122143/news. Get your facts straight!
I can't believe no-one pointed this out yet - LCOS in current implementations is critically flawed. Part of the chip used for image display deforms over time and cannot be 'undone'. No amount of screensavers or screenblanking will keep this from happening. I'm not sure what Philips is doing, but all the others pulled their sets because of this problem.
You've got it wrong. The point of selling a settopbox or dvr is not to sell the settopbox or dvr for profit from the hardware. In most cases that is already a loss since it may be subsidized. The point is to sell the services that go with it like PPV and channel subs. Thats what makes the profit back, and thats why letting you hack your box makes no sense.
If you mean the H.264 codec, then you can find the MPEGLA licensing terms in PDF format here - http://www.mpegla.com/ Apple is covering licensing costs for OSX (AFAIK), but I have no idea how this codec would permeate to OSS or such flavored development.
Don't say it, show it. What statistics if any are available for this event?
Already been done (3 years ago). Unfortunately it never made it to market.
I would say you can lose your life equally in all three if you make the wrong turn or go around ignorantly. But thats the difference between these and Iraq. In Iraq you can just as equally get capped in a 'westerner suburb'. Your friend would probably be referring to places like downtown Johannesburg or other such areas. I wouldn't go so far as to say never stop at traffic lights but I would say never drive around anywhere without your doors locked and scope out the intersection and the cars around it when you come up on it. Be aware of your surroundings. If you do that and keep out of certain areas you should be fine.
Sorry bud, Johannesburg does not count as a dangerous working environment. Its the same like working in LA - the burbs are much removed from the ghetto.
I say this having been born in south africa, living in Johannesburg, working in malaysia, and living now in LA.
instead of upconverting 480i to letterboxed HDTV resolution like they are currently doing in major markets.
http://www.dynamism.com/u70/
Seems like just the ticket - but it may empty out your wallet considerably. I've used the U101 a lot when travelling for everything to photo editing, dv editing, notes, watching movies on 10 hour plane flights, or wifi net connectivity -- but the U70 (although the 800x600 screen seems too small for my liking) seems more flexible / portable.
How about a mini-generator? One that would sit outside your window and power your A/C, or perhaps some servers in your garage? You could power it with dog manure (I have enough to run a city block).
This could be extended to low-power POE devices, mesh networks, you name it.
Such devices could be even labeled EPA PP complaint (Poop Power).
Cablecos are notorious for being cheapskates. They brought us the $50 throw-away box, are unwilling to change, and charge an arm and a leg for any minor improvement. You can be sure that if they are to surrender their pipeline, that they will do the bare minimum to support any 3rd party. Sure, it may be good to have the ability to pick and choose between vendors, but ultimately someone is going to have to do maintenance on the pipe if it breaks. Hidden infrastructure and support charges will quickly kill any small service provider. They don't have the domain over the pipe, and they don't have the expertees. We tried this years back with ADSL. It was a total failure. How many of those companies are still around? None except Earthlink and a few others. The rest are.. you guessed it.. the telcos.
I'm sure many readers will find this gem interesting:
About 3 years ago I made mention in a closed streaming media group discussion of Real's flaws in their DRM 'solution'. This was widely published, and I was not the starter of the thread. However, I did drop the line (or something like it) of the solution being 'amateur hour'. Real's at-that-time marketing manager was on the list, and proceeded to track down my particulars and call up management at my company accusing me of 'hacking' their DRM product. I understand he was quite miffed. Ofcourse I posted this back to the list and didn't hear a peep.
The long and short of this story - not only does Real make a shitty spamware/adware/annoyanceware product and try to get developers for free with their 'community source' claptrap, but they also go to interesting lengths to stir up bullshit to protect their interests.
These days I am still at the same company, and architect my own product line. Whenever a customer asks about support for RealMedia, I laugh. Then I tell them this story. And thats the last we hear of the request. Oddly enough, I have never had anyone doubt me - gee I wonder why!
A tip for Real - listen to your customers. And if you have bugs and/or shitty software, fix them.
The only problem is that it *doesnt* stay quiet. I have one of these on top of my TV. The fan on the CPU is a POS, and the two little fans are the same brand. After about 3-4 weeks of being on continuously they are all whining at 100 decibels. I've pulled the plug on the two case fans, but the CPU fan continues to whine and rattle. Cheap-ass POS.
The Antec case is too big, it falls off the back of your other home theater components. And why use a Radeon? Who wants to *only* upscale DVDs to HD resolution? Isn't the point of watching HD being able to receive HD broadcasts too?
Alternative configuration:
Mini-ITX system (the case will fit on top of the TV) like those from casetronic.com, with a VIA 800 or better.
MyHD HD Tunerboard (will upscale DVDs and tune HD/SD broadcasts).
VGA to component breakout cable connected from the MyHD's output directly to your set.
Install XP or 2K, put the MyHD IR control app in the winblows startup folder, and never look at the windows desktop again, since the MyHD has an OSD on the HD output.
With this config you can tune HD broadcasts and upscale DVDs for less.
... the same goes for almost every other IRC channel. I wouldn't call one linux channel like #debian the exception to the rule. Most IRC channels are havens for brats who need attitude adjustments and have only one place to play god (i.e. online), or act like an asshole.