Brandon

A sweet IM from today. Names have been omitted to protect the guilty!

Person: just did rm -f /var/log/*
Person: the log directory is clean now

error: stat of /var/log/messages failed: No such file or directory
error: stat of /var/log/secure failed: No such file or directory
error: stat of /var/log/maillog failed: No such file or directory
error: stat of /var/log/spooler failed: No such file or directory
error: stat of /var/log/boot.log failed: No such file or directory
error: stat of /var/log/cron failed: No such file or directory
error: stat of /var/log/wtmp failed: No such file or directory

Person: i should reboot

May 4th is approaching and I wanted to make everyone aware of the International day against DRM. DRM stands for Digital Rights Management. It’s purpose is to stifle piracy. However, it’s not really effective at all. In fact, consumers are the ones who pay the price when DRM fails. Those who choose not to pay for their media are rewarded by not having DRM at all. I think the record labels and movie industry need to realize that they’re pissing off the people paying their bills.

You might ask yourself, “Why is DRM bad? Apple uses it, Microsoft (used) it, it’s in my Blu Ray Disc.” The answer is quite simple, it makes those who pay for stuff have a harder time playing their media than those who choose not to pay for their media.

DRM in media such as music and movies require activation. What happens when Microsoft decides to shut down it’s Music Service, or when Microsoft’s own Zune isn’t compatible with their own music store DRM? The simple answer is, you have to re-purchase your media collection again. See this link for additional details.

By not supporting DRM, you’re free to use your media as you see fit and are not tied to a specific player, operating system or company.

As popular as iTunes is, I’m afraid for all the folks who purchase movies and other DRM’d media there. Early adopters of iTunes music had Apple’s FairPlay, while later, iTunes Plus music did not. Users who no longer wanted DRM had to pay an additional 30 to 50 cents per song to be rid of the DRM and “upgrade” their music. What a deal! The good news is that music purchased on the iTunes store is now DRM free. The bad news is, all their other media is not.

The take-away from all this is to help people understand what DRM is and how it will effect them. Everyone loves their Kindle, iPod and other technology devices. However, be aware that these devices are DRM encumbered and rely on the company providing them stay in business. If Amazon, Apple or Microsoft choose to stop supporting a specific device, you’re out of luck and will be purchasing any media you want again. I don’t suggest you steal anything, but now you might see why piracy is so rampant.

So I simply ask, on May 4th, that you take a moment to think about DRM and how it might effect you in the future. You don’t have to give up your kindle, but just think about where your books will go when Amazon is gone or your movies when Apple decides to retire the iTunes store.

Please visit Defective By Design for more info.

I’d like to wish everyone a happy first of May. Jonathan Coulton style!

For those who understand, no explanation is needed.

For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

This is why I don’t talk politics with Liberals.

The title says it all. Comcast decides I need this digital converter box that I really don’t need. Regardless, they ship it to me with a letter saying it’s free-of-charge and I can get the full benefit of my services. I declined having this box shipped when I started service with them.

The bottom line is, I don’t need more equipment in my entertainment center. I have a blu-ray, Apple TV and Wii console. That’s enough. I really don’t need Comcast spying on my limited TV viewing experiences.

I contacted Comcast support, and they suggested I go wait in line with a bunch of smelly people at the local service center or pay myself to return the equipment I didn’t order.

However, it gets even better. In addition to this free-of-charge box, they decided to charge ME $15 for the pleasure of installing their device, that I didn’t order.

I need to be wined and dined a little before you decide to F me in the A. –Eric Cartman

A very Precise Pangolin!

Server is now running Precise Pangolin. I <3 dist-upgrade. Since this is a LTS release, I shouldn’t have to upgrade for awhile! Wonder what sort of uptime I can keep?

I think the reason I was put on this earth was to make liberals cry.

Tonight I upgraded this blog and subsonic music server to a dedicated i7-2600. Plenty of quick hard disk space, ram and processing power for the future. 3TB ought to hold me over for a little while.

Just paid the latter; hope the former doesn’t come anytime soon! Thanks Mr. Obama for rewarding me for being successful. I really appreciate this opportunity to see you waste my money.

Yours Truly,

Brandon

P.S. I’m throwing a you HUGE party when you get fired.

I just fed my face some Jimmy Johns. The last time I ate there was in Columbia, MO, back in college. Like 2000 ish. I’m pretty sure getting one here just made me very happy.

If you’re interested, my favorite is the #14 Bootlegger Club.
Your mom definitely wants you to eat at Jimmy John’s.