Small World Podcast Interview
A while ago I was interviewed by Bazooka Joe from the Small World Podcast. That interview is now available for your listening enjoyment: listen here. Thanks to some clever editing, I actually sound like I am not an idiot some of the time. Thanks Joe for the airplay.
Sony Root Kit
I know this is old news, but it keeps getting better and better. As you may know by now, a couple of weeks ago Mark Russinovich discovered something called a Rootkit was installed on his Windows PC. A rootkit is something used to hide pieces of software from the operating system, often used by bad guys to hide the activities of viruses and such. Mark is the Chief Software Architect at Sysinternals, a company that makes a bunch of really useful under-the-hood Windows utilities – probably not a guy who can be easily tricked into installing this kind of spooky evil software. He tracked down its source, and discovered that it came from the copy protection on a music CD he had bought from Sony (this is one of those CDs that you can’t just play in your computer, you have to install the special “piracy-proof” player first). This top secret cloak of invisibility leaves a security hole that can be easily exploited, not to mention it’s kind of creepy to think about some hidden Sony software skulking around in the shadows doing who knows what on your computer. Mark posted about it, there was outrage, and Sony responded by offering an uninstaller, which apparently doesn’t work so well and may also cause other problems. Molly Wood from CNET wrote a nice piece about why this is bad, so instead of me recapping that here, you should just read it. There’s also some hilariously restrictive language in the Sony end user license agreement.
Now it comes to light that this anti-copyright-infringement software may actually infringe on someone’s copyright (original post via BoingBoing) . It looks like the Sony software uses the LAME music encoder, which is open-source software – anyone is allowed to use this code for free provided they indicate in the copyright notice that they are doing so, and publish the source code they used to implement it. Sony didn’t do this.
John McKay was quoted in the Times today saying “The consumer experience is our primary concern…” in reference to this whole cocked-up situation. I say bullshit. Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit you money-grubbing, hypocritical douchebags. I find this whole thing offensive for so many reasons, but most of all because it’s just so stupid. Stealing music is wrong, artists should be compensated, but once more, say it with me, DRM is not the answer. This has annoyed legitimate consumers who actually bought a CD, but it sure as hell hasn’t stopped any piracy – for crying out loud, the whole thing can be disabled by holding the Shift key down when you put the CD in your computer.
Sony, the biggest threat to your bottom line is not the people who buy your music and make copies of it for their friends, it’s the fucktards who told you this was a good idea. I’m sorry, but your industry does not deserve to survive this evolution, you are just too stupid. The rest of us will figure out how to get to the future without you.
Rob and Rob
Ah, airplanes. I was in the middle seat of the middle chunk-of-three. The worst. The seat mate to my right (Rob) announced his arrival by dropping a plastic-cupped strawberry daiquiri on the floor in front of my seat, where it miraculously did not splash open and ruin everything. He then apologized if he smelled like booze, but he had only gone to bed a couple of hours ago. Usually drunk people on planes are annoying, but he was quite charming and we had a lovely chat. The seat mate to my left (also Rob) arrived next with a Taylor guitar in a soft case. We all talked about music and traded iPods. Rob ToTheRight was a financial analyst, and Rob ToTheLeft was a psychoanalyst. Rob and Rob the analysts. I was telling this story to John by the bathroom when the stewardess overheard me and tuned in for the gossip. Then she asked winkingly if Rob ToTheRight was inconveniencing me, and if I would like a free drink for the trouble. Hells yes I would. Thanks American Airlines!
West Coast Trip
In a couple minutes I leave for the airport – San Francisco, LA and Seattle. Many John Hodgman engagements coming up, check Areas of My Expertise for details. Most notably, John will be appearing on the Daily Show (!) on Wednesday night. I will be cooling my heels in LA then, perhaps wandering around in the desert, or doing a speedball or two at the Viper Room. See you there!
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