IIRC installing MP3 support in Ubuntu meant editing a config file (to enable some extra repositories) and then 2 or 3 lines of commands in the console to download and install the required componenets. Don't really see what would be the difference between doing it manually or adding an icon that does the same thing automatically (with the proper "this might be illegal depending on the laws of your country" disclaimer).
That's one thing I've been saying... I know why Linux distros can't include the nvidia or ati drivers, DVD and MP3 playback and the like right off the bat... but I can't see why they can include a simple way to install/activate them.
I don't know, maybe an "if you have an ATI or NVIDIA video card, click here to attempt to detect it and download and install the proper drivers" icon, or a system that if you click an unknown media file (an MP3 for example), make a box pop up saying "Unknown media type. Want to try to find the proper codecs?". Both WMP and Quicktime do it if you try to play a media file and don't have the codecs (or at least they try to), don't really see why linux distros can't have that added for the most common files (mov, mpg, mp3 and the like).
I think it has some to do with the subjectivity in the artists side. Or at least that's how it seems to me (3D animator with basically no coding skills other than the ocassional script in maya).
Coding is a very creative process, however, most of the times the results can be masured objectively. If you're making a 3D engine, you can measure how many polygons per second it moves. If someone makes a change, you can measure if it's faster and/or slower, and exactly by how much.
The same doesn't happen that often in the art side. Let's just say I create the animation of a character swinging a sword. Then someone else comes and changes the animation and makes it completely different. Suposedly both are within the parameters of the game (how long it is, the starting and ending poses), how do you define which is better?. Maybe for the other guy his animation is a lot better than mine, but for me maybe mine was better and his hurts my work (to put it in a way). Most of the times there's just not a real measurement of quality when it comes to the art side.
This is one reason (IMHO) that the artists tend to be less of a group workers than coders. Usually in 3D animated series and movies, for example, you can have hundreds of animators working at the same time, but in most of the cases each scene is animated by a single animator, and if there are several, they don't overlap (one animator does one single character on the scene, or in the case where two animators work on the same character one will do the main animation and the other the secondary movement).
In the coding side it just seems to be "ok, here's what I did, let's fix it, or try to fix it"... in the art side it seems to be more of a "ok, here's what I did, tell me what's wrong but DON'T fix it, I'll fix it myself".
Or at least that's how it look from this side of the monitor.
hmmmm... I can picture a game of duck hunt where you use pee instead of a lightgun to shoot the ducks... but then again, it would be kinda creepy to pee over that dog while he's smiling like that..:)
I've noticed that, but can't say I found a way to disable that behavior. Instead I just set it to update daily at an hour I'm mostly sure I'm asleep (4 am in my case), and then it does a full system scan half an hour later, just in case..:)
I tried Avast before going to AVG, but uninstalled it because it seemed to me to take too many system resources when doing something. At least I noticed a half a second delay or something like that when I was gaming anytime the little blue ball spinned on the traybar, so I uninstalled it.
Polar Express still used the actor, just added a coat of CG over its performance. Even then, though, my main gripe about Polar Express is that the CGI characters just felt too stiff, I just couldn't get over the "talking mannequins (sp?)" vibe I got from it (kinda like Spirits Within). Most pixar/dreamworks characters, while they were far more cartoony, I just felt they were alive, I really start to "empathize" (is that a real word) with the characters. That did not happen to me with Polar Express
Now, if you want an example of a CGI character that really felt alive and real, I'd say Gollum from Lord of the Rings is the best example for the time being.
Only if you count only actors... but if you count everyone in the IMDB:
Linux Torvalds was in Revolution OS, written and directed by J.T.S. Moore. J.T.S. Moore was firearms master in Recon, starring Valarie Trapp Valarie Trapp was in No Mercy (1986) with Mike Bacarella Mike Bacarella was in Stir of Echoes (1999) with Kevin Bacon
and for the record, yes, I have nothing else to do, I'm waiting for this computer to finish rendering...:)
Problem with MP3 is that it's already so ingrained not only in computers but on all sorts of hardware out there. I know ogg is a better format than MP3, even without the patents thing it's smaller while keeping simmilar sound quality. Yet all of my music collection is in MP3 (and any new CD I buy gets ripped to MP3), mainly because I have two MP3 players (cheap MP3 diskman and cheap flash based one), my DVD player already plays MP3s too, and the big stereo in the living room also plays MP3s. None plays oggs. There are ogg players out there, but I've never seen one here in Venezuela, so I keep everything in MP3 so I don't have to go converting whenever I want it on a different format.
I don't know, maybe one solution on the linux side (the patent side is something different) would be to try to hide from new users all the work needed to get all those working. If you can't include MP3 playing by default, maybe set up a system that the first time you try to play MP3 (or some other media file), it automatically checks on a database about what codec/whatever is needed to play it, and ask if you want to install it automatically. Both quicktime and windows media player do this, so I doubt it should be too hard to add it to some linux distributions (if some don't have it already, that is... I know Ubuntu didn't, that's the one I've tried).
I personally like quicktime (even on PC) for two things. One is movie trailers. My net connection is kinda "fast" (for venezuelan standards), but it's not very constant, so I always get buffering stops on streamed media. I much prefer quicktime's way to present them (at least on the trailers in quicktime.com) where I can select the highest quality trailer, leave it leading in a tab in the background while I do something else, and then come back once it's fully loaded and watch it without interruption.
The other thing is when I'm doing 3D animations. So far no other video codec allows natively so easily to go frame by frame (left and right arrow), so I like to render quick previews in quicktime format, see it at normal speed until something pops up as wrong and then go frame by frame to see what it is..:)
Was wondering something like that, considering that we ship CDs and DVDs very frequently from where I work...
Anytime we make a video and we need materials from other city (like a client that wants a specific voice narrating their videos) we receive a lower quality version trough email (MP3 in my example above) and then a high quality version on CD or DVD depending on what material it is, and then we send the finished version of the video on DVD. (either as a final format, or as a preview version to be aproved before sending it in a more professional and expensive format).
Most of the times we're very pressed for time and need the stuff to be here or there the very next day, tops... so any post service that did something like this, possibly causing a delay while they get sure the content is legal, would loose lots of business from us.
In my experience at least (which is limited to about 2 or 3 weeks of ubuntu...:) ), it about the same difficulty than installing windows, but you get a much more complete system right off the bat (I was pleasantly surprised about how I could even surf the net without configuring anything).
However, it is still a long way to, specially when it comes to installing programs. If the program you want is on the repositories, it's a breeze (and I'd like windowd to have something like that)... if it isn't, well, I still haven't been able to install anything without reading a guide on how to do it, and even then, I couldn't install most of the things I tried (actually, the only two things I tried that I could install were the X2 demo, and Houdini Apprentice), and always command line was needed.
I don't really know how linspire works, but I'll probably give it a try once they release freespire (and I get back my second computer, that is...:) ), but from what I've read, I do believe they're filling a niche trying to make linux more friendly, specially in the installing part, were at least from my (limited) experience with Ubuntu, suposedly the most user friendly free distro out there, it's not possible (or at least it's hidden) to install something that's not on synaptic without going into the command line.
I understand why some people might not like linspire, since it's not as "free" as other distros... but I do believe that a part of freedom is the actual freedom to choose to use or not those freedoms (did that make any sense?... not native english speaker here..:) ). Personally I choose windows for my home PC because it's what's more practical for what I use it for (internet, games and 3D animation) and I don't feel any less free because of that. At work we choose windows and OSX because they're the best for what we do (video editing), and I'm using linux on a spare computer because it just isn't ready to be my main OS (yet, at least). What works for me doesn't work for everyone, but as long as everyone can choose what's best for them, be it completely "free", partially "free" or not "free" at all, don't see what's the problem with distros like linspire. What gets me is that sometimes it feels lots of zealots (to use the common word) are always saying "freedom is more important, but only as long as you choose the same thing we do"... or at least that's how it feels from this side of the monitor..:)
Hope that all made sense, wrote it in little pieces here and therewhile waiting for different stuff to render in final cut pro...:)
if it was just matching languages, it would say "go to google in spanish" and not "go to google Venezuela". Also, it goes to www.google.com.ve here, and went to google.es when I visited Spain. I use the browser in english, anyway..:)
I accidebtally hit submit over there, in the middle it was supposed to say "mostly because I don't get most of the google doodles and new features in the localized pages"...:)
Google definitively uses geolocation. If I go to google from any computer here (Venezuela) it's automatically redirected to google.com.ve. Even if I go to the options and tell it to use the homepage in english and the like (which I usually do, mostly because , I still get the regular google website, but with a "visit google Venezuela" link in the bottom
Here in Venezuela we do have ID cards, but they are no needed to get a job. The only times I actually use mine is when I really have to show I am who I sayI am (like when paying with a debit card or cashing check in the bank)
The Chevy Nova indeed sold here in Venezuela, and while it does mean "Doesn't Go", the first time I made that connection was when reading about it on a site in english..:)
Now if you want to talk about cars that did change their names, look for the Mitsubishi Pajero.. that would be the same than if the car was called in the US "The Mitsubishi Wanker"..:)... it was sold here in Venezuela as the Mitsubishi Montero (Monte = bushes, woods).
Here in Venezuela we've had ID cards since forever too and I don't really see how it has impacted freedom in any way either. You can't be arrested for not having it on you (heck, with the latest reforms on the ID law you can't even get arrested for having a fake ID card). You can even get one as a foreigner living in Venezuela, the only real difference is that it uses a separate numbering and the paper is yellow instead of white. I don't see it too different from the way it is now (from what I've seen in movies and TV) in the US now, that for lots of things you'd need to provide a form of ID anyway (driver's license and the like).
Isn't exactly what this law does? (at least according to TFSummary, haven't read TFA)... if a parent determine something isn't "too violent" for his/her kids, he/she just buys them the game. The only thing this bill would ban is to sell that game to the minor directly.
I have to say I agree with that of a good first step... at least I know I would have liked for this one to be available a week ago after spending the last 4 days trying to get the nvidia drivers working on ubuntu (just got them working about an hour ago.. but I won't claim full victory until it keeps working tomorrow night, wouldn't be the first time I get them working only to die the next day...:) ). This is my first post from within linux, anyway...:)
it's making inroads but it still needs some more work done, IMHO. I'm trying linux for the first time now on a second computer I have around (Ubuntu, to be more specific), and while I was pleasantly surprised at how usable was right off the bat (even the internet worked), it has dissapointed me so far at how many times I have had to resort to command line from the beggining (to get MP3 working), and how hard it was to get something I would have though would be simple as installing a video driver to get decent 3D.
At least in my experience trying to install them, following the instructions on wiki.ubuntu.com got my a BSOD (well, it was a screen telling me X couldn't be loaded... but it was blue..:) ) and sent me to command line only, managed to find some more instructions to uninstall them from there too and could get back on the GUI, then downloaded the drivers from nvidia.com and tried to install them... and failing because it didn't have what I needed for them. After 2 HOWTO's (about 10 pages worth of instructions) I finally managed to install them after 7 failed attempts (it wanted gcc.. then it wanted the RIGHT version of GCC, then it wanted some system variables, plus several other stuff I did from the HOWTO's that I have no idea what they did).
At least that was my first experience with linux. My computer doesn't have any weird stuff, and the video card is a nvidia 5500, which I would consider fairly mainstream, yet it took me 2 nights dicking around to make it work (in 3D, at least). And that comes from someone that's fairly computer literate and not foreign to command lines (I grew up in the time when DOS was king and we had to edit autoexec.bat and config.sys files all day to make our games work).
I completely agree it's getting better, but at least in that area it needs some more work... 3D and MP3 playback at least (I haven't been using linux much yet and those are the only roadblocks that I've found so far) are things that are very mainstream by now and it should be a lot easier to get working... I understand they can't be included working by default because they're not "free", but maybe include a wizard to make it work without having to resort to searching for HOWTO's and command lines.
That said, though, I'm still pleasantly surprised with it, and while I probably wouldn't use it myself on my main work computer (I'm a video editor and graphic designer, all the better tools for that are windows or OSX only) given more time with it, once MP3 playback is working, that is, I'd probably recommend it to someone that only needs a computer for simple browsing and email.
They though about that too... IIRC (can't find the actual patent link right now) the patent includes the technology to force the recorders to record the ads too, and disables fast forward when they're on.
I remember those (lots of games also used that copy protection.. which meant that back there people just photocopied the manuals too), but this isn't the case this patent covers. The idea here is that the password or key needed to run the program is generated based on each computer, and is unique to that computer (like windows's activation and autodesk's license system for 3D Studio Max and now Maya works). Not saying that there wasn't prior art or that this patent isn't too generic (which I believe it is), but that particular case isn't prior art.
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Why would it be illegal? (just curious here)
IIRC installing MP3 support in Ubuntu meant editing a config file (to enable some extra repositories) and then 2 or 3 lines of commands in the console to download and install the required componenets. Don't really see what would be the difference between doing it manually or adding an icon that does the same thing automatically (with the proper "this might be illegal depending on the laws of your country" disclaimer).
That's one thing I've been saying... I know why Linux distros can't include the nvidia or ati drivers, DVD and MP3 playback and the like right off the bat... but I can't see why they can include a simple way to install/activate them. I don't know, maybe an "if you have an ATI or NVIDIA video card, click here to attempt to detect it and download and install the proper drivers" icon, or a system that if you click an unknown media file (an MP3 for example), make a box pop up saying "Unknown media type. Want to try to find the proper codecs?". Both WMP and Quicktime do it if you try to play a media file and don't have the codecs (or at least they try to), don't really see why linux distros can't have that added for the most common files (mov, mpg, mp3 and the like).
I think it has some to do with the subjectivity in the artists side. Or at least that's how it seems to me (3D animator with basically no coding skills other than the ocassional script in maya).
Coding is a very creative process, however, most of the times the results can be masured objectively. If you're making a 3D engine, you can measure how many polygons per second it moves. If someone makes a change, you can measure if it's faster and/or slower, and exactly by how much.
The same doesn't happen that often in the art side. Let's just say I create the animation of a character swinging a sword. Then someone else comes and changes the animation and makes it completely different. Suposedly both are within the parameters of the game (how long it is, the starting and ending poses), how do you define which is better?. Maybe for the other guy his animation is a lot better than mine, but for me maybe mine was better and his hurts my work (to put it in a way). Most of the times there's just not a real measurement of quality when it comes to the art side.
This is one reason (IMHO) that the artists tend to be less of a group workers than coders. Usually in 3D animated series and movies, for example, you can have hundreds of animators working at the same time, but in most of the cases each scene is animated by a single animator, and if there are several, they don't overlap (one animator does one single character on the scene, or in the case where two animators work on the same character one will do the main animation and the other the secondary movement).
In the coding side it just seems to be "ok, here's what I did, let's fix it, or try to fix it"... in the art side it seems to be more of a "ok, here's what I did, tell me what's wrong but DON'T fix it, I'll fix it myself".
Or at least that's how it look from this side of the monitor.
hmmmm... I can picture a game of duck hunt where you use pee instead of a lightgun to shoot the ducks... but then again, it would be kinda creepy to pee over that dog while he's smiling like that.. :)
Maybe they could bundle it with the demos they were showing off when they unveiled the controller (like the tennis game they used at E3).. :)
I've noticed that, but can't say I found a way to disable that behavior. Instead I just set it to update daily at an hour I'm mostly sure I'm asleep (4 am in my case), and then it does a full system scan half an hour later, just in case.. :)
I tried Avast before going to AVG, but uninstalled it because it seemed to me to take too many system resources when doing something. At least I noticed a half a second delay or something like that when I was gaming anytime the little blue ball spinned on the traybar, so I uninstalled it.
Polar Express still used the actor, just added a coat of CG over its performance. Even then, though, my main gripe about Polar Express is that the CGI characters just felt too stiff, I just couldn't get over the "talking mannequins (sp?)" vibe I got from it (kinda like Spirits Within). Most pixar/dreamworks characters, while they were far more cartoony, I just felt they were alive, I really start to "empathize" (is that a real word) with the characters. That did not happen to me with Polar Express
Now, if you want an example of a CGI character that really felt alive and real, I'd say Gollum from Lord of the Rings is the best example for the time being.
Only if you count only actors... but if you count everyone in the IMDB:
:)
Linux Torvalds was in Revolution OS, written and directed by J.T.S. Moore.
J.T.S. Moore was firearms master in Recon, starring Valarie Trapp
Valarie Trapp was in No Mercy (1986) with Mike Bacarella
Mike Bacarella was in Stir of Echoes (1999) with Kevin Bacon
and for the record, yes, I have nothing else to do, I'm waiting for this computer to finish rendering...
Problem with MP3 is that it's already so ingrained not only in computers but on all sorts of hardware out there. I know ogg is a better format than MP3, even without the patents thing it's smaller while keeping simmilar sound quality. Yet all of my music collection is in MP3 (and any new CD I buy gets ripped to MP3), mainly because I have two MP3 players (cheap MP3 diskman and cheap flash based one), my DVD player already plays MP3s too, and the big stereo in the living room also plays MP3s. None plays oggs. There are ogg players out there, but I've never seen one here in Venezuela, so I keep everything in MP3 so I don't have to go converting whenever I want it on a different format.
I don't know, maybe one solution on the linux side (the patent side is something different) would be to try to hide from new users all the work needed to get all those working. If you can't include MP3 playing by default, maybe set up a system that the first time you try to play MP3 (or some other media file), it automatically checks on a database about what codec/whatever is needed to play it, and ask if you want to install it automatically. Both quicktime and windows media player do this, so I doubt it should be too hard to add it to some linux distributions (if some don't have it already, that is... I know Ubuntu didn't, that's the one I've tried).
I personally like quicktime (even on PC) for two things. One is movie trailers. My net connection is kinda "fast" (for venezuelan standards), but it's not very constant, so I always get buffering stops on streamed media. I much prefer quicktime's way to present them (at least on the trailers in quicktime.com) where I can select the highest quality trailer, leave it leading in a tab in the background while I do something else, and then come back once it's fully loaded and watch it without interruption.
:)
The other thing is when I'm doing 3D animations. So far no other video codec allows natively so easily to go frame by frame (left and right arrow), so I like to render quick previews in quicktime format, see it at normal speed until something pops up as wrong and then go frame by frame to see what it is..
Was wondering something like that, considering that we ship CDs and DVDs very frequently from where I work... Anytime we make a video and we need materials from other city (like a client that wants a specific voice narrating their videos) we receive a lower quality version trough email (MP3 in my example above) and then a high quality version on CD or DVD depending on what material it is, and then we send the finished version of the video on DVD. (either as a final format, or as a preview version to be aproved before sending it in a more professional and expensive format). Most of the times we're very pressed for time and need the stuff to be here or there the very next day, tops... so any post service that did something like this, possibly causing a delay while they get sure the content is legal, would loose lots of business from us.
In my experience at least (which is limited to about 2 or 3 weeks of ubuntu... :) ), it about the same difficulty than installing windows, but you get a much more complete system right off the bat (I was pleasantly surprised about how I could even surf the net without configuring anything).
:) ), but from what I've read, I do believe they're filling a niche trying to make linux more friendly, specially in the installing part, were at least from my (limited) experience with Ubuntu, suposedly the most user friendly free distro out there, it's not possible (or at least it's hidden) to install something that's not on synaptic without going into the command line.
:) ). Personally I choose windows for my home PC because it's what's more practical for what I use it for (internet, games and 3D animation) and I don't feel any less free because of that. At work we choose windows and OSX because they're the best for what we do (video editing), and I'm using linux on a spare computer because it just isn't ready to be my main OS (yet, at least). What works for me doesn't work for everyone, but as long as everyone can choose what's best for them, be it completely "free", partially "free" or not "free" at all, don't see what's the problem with distros like linspire. What gets me is that sometimes it feels lots of zealots (to use the common word) are always saying "freedom is more important, but only as long as you choose the same thing we do"... or at least that's how it feels from this side of the monitor.. :)
:)
However, it is still a long way to, specially when it comes to installing programs. If the program you want is on the repositories, it's a breeze (and I'd like windowd to have something like that)... if it isn't, well, I still haven't been able to install anything without reading a guide on how to do it, and even then, I couldn't install most of the things I tried (actually, the only two things I tried that I could install were the X2 demo, and Houdini Apprentice), and always command line was needed.
I don't really know how linspire works, but I'll probably give it a try once they release freespire (and I get back my second computer, that is...
I understand why some people might not like linspire, since it's not as "free" as other distros... but I do believe that a part of freedom is the actual freedom to choose to use or not those freedoms (did that make any sense?... not native english speaker here..
Hope that all made sense, wrote it in little pieces here and therewhile waiting for different stuff to render in final cut pro...
if it was just matching languages, it would say "go to google in spanish" and not "go to google Venezuela". Also, it goes to www.google.com.ve here, and went to google.es when I visited Spain. I use the browser in english, anyway.. :)
I accidebtally hit submit over there, in the middle it was supposed to say "mostly because I don't get most of the google doodles and new features in the localized pages"... :)
Google definitively uses geolocation. If I go to google from any computer here (Venezuela) it's automatically redirected to google.com.ve. Even if I go to the options and tell it to use the homepage in english and the like (which I usually do, mostly because , I still get the regular google website, but with a "visit google Venezuela" link in the bottom
Well, may not be a diaper, but at least it does half the job.. :)
http://www.mcphee.com/items/10727.html
Here in Venezuela we do have ID cards, but they are no needed to get a job. The only times I actually use mine is when I really have to show I am who I sayI am (like when paying with a debit card or cashing check in the bank)
The Chevy Nova indeed sold here in Venezuela, and while it does mean "Doesn't Go", the first time I made that connection was when reading about it on a site in english.. :)
:)... it was sold here in Venezuela as the Mitsubishi Montero (Monte = bushes, woods).
Now if you want to talk about cars that did change their names, look for the Mitsubishi Pajero.. that would be the same than if the car was called in the US "The Mitsubishi Wanker"..
Here in Venezuela we've had ID cards since forever too and I don't really see how it has impacted freedom in any way either. You can't be arrested for not having it on you (heck, with the latest reforms on the ID law you can't even get arrested for having a fake ID card). You can even get one as a foreigner living in Venezuela, the only real difference is that it uses a separate numbering and the paper is yellow instead of white. I don't see it too different from the way it is now (from what I've seen in movies and TV) in the US now, that for lots of things you'd need to provide a form of ID anyway (driver's license and the like).
Isn't exactly what this law does? (at least according to TFSummary, haven't read TFA)... if a parent determine something isn't "too violent" for his/her kids, he/she just buys them the game. The only thing this bill would ban is to sell that game to the minor directly.
I have to say I agree with that of a good first step... at least I know I would have liked for this one to be available a week ago after spending the last 4 days trying to get the nvidia drivers working on ubuntu (just got them working about an hour ago.. but I won't claim full victory until it keeps working tomorrow night, wouldn't be the first time I get them working only to die the next day... :) ). This is my first post from within linux, anyway... :)
it's making inroads but it still needs some more work done, IMHO. I'm trying linux for the first time now on a second computer I have around (Ubuntu, to be more specific), and while I was pleasantly surprised at how usable was right off the bat (even the internet worked), it has dissapointed me so far at how many times I have had to resort to command line from the beggining (to get MP3 working), and how hard it was to get something I would have though would be simple as installing a video driver to get decent 3D. At least in my experience trying to install them, following the instructions on wiki.ubuntu.com got my a BSOD (well, it was a screen telling me X couldn't be loaded... but it was blue.. :) ) and sent me to command line only, managed to find some more instructions to uninstall them from there too and could get back on the GUI, then downloaded the drivers from nvidia.com and tried to install them... and failing because it didn't have what I needed for them. After 2 HOWTO's (about 10 pages worth of instructions) I finally managed to install them after 7 failed attempts (it wanted gcc.. then it wanted the RIGHT version of GCC, then it wanted some system variables, plus several other stuff I did from the HOWTO's that I have no idea what they did).
At least that was my first experience with linux. My computer doesn't have any weird stuff, and the video card is a nvidia 5500, which I would consider fairly mainstream, yet it took me 2 nights dicking around to make it work (in 3D, at least). And that comes from someone that's fairly computer literate and not foreign to command lines (I grew up in the time when DOS was king and we had to edit autoexec.bat and config.sys files all day to make our games work).
I completely agree it's getting better, but at least in that area it needs some more work... 3D and MP3 playback at least (I haven't been using linux much yet and those are the only roadblocks that I've found so far) are things that are very mainstream by now and it should be a lot easier to get working... I understand they can't be included working by default because they're not "free", but maybe include a wizard to make it work without having to resort to searching for HOWTO's and command lines.
That said, though, I'm still pleasantly surprised with it, and while I probably wouldn't use it myself on my main work computer (I'm a video editor and graphic designer, all the better tools for that are windows or OSX only) given more time with it, once MP3 playback is working, that is, I'd probably recommend it to someone that only needs a computer for simple browsing and email.
They though about that too... IIRC (can't find the actual patent link right now) the patent includes the technology to force the recorders to record the ads too, and disables fast forward when they're on.
I remember those (lots of games also used that copy protection.. which meant that back there people just photocopied the manuals too), but this isn't the case this patent covers. The idea here is that the password or key needed to run the program is generated based on each computer, and is unique to that computer (like windows's activation and autodesk's license system for 3D Studio Max and now Maya works). Not saying that there wasn't prior art or that this patent isn't too generic (which I believe it is), but that particular case isn't prior art.
I found that specially funny considering that "sudo" is spanish for sweat... :)