Buzz Out Loud 721: Copy an MP3, lose your house

EPISODE 721

House overwhelmingly passes controversial PRO-IP Act
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/ 20080508-house-overwhelmingly-passes-controversial-pro-ip-act.html

Infringement ‘detrimental to the public health, safety’
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/09/0029224

Windows XP SP3 sows havoc, users complain
http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/ operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207600950

New bill ties net neutrality to antitrust law
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/ 20080508-new-bill-ties-net-neutrality-to-antitrust-law.html

Apple to provide refunds for power adapters
http://www.latimes.com/technology/ la-fi-apple9-2008may09,1,7640101.story

Nokia aiming to reinvent itself as an “Internet company”
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/ 20080509-nokia-aiming-to-reinvent-itself-as-an-internet-company.html

Interactive Liberty City map help guide
http://grandtheftauto.ign.com/articles/features/373/ Interactive-Liberty-City-Map-Help-Guide

R2D2 DVD projector
http://www.nikkor2d2.com/

Get out and play
http://www.get-out-and-play.com/index.php

Using a record-cutter to turn old CDs into 45rpm singles
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/05/09/using-a-recordcutter.html

This Week in Buzz Tech Out Loud Geek Brief - EP1
http://www.archive.org/details/ ThisWeekInBuzzTechOutLoudGeekBrief-Ep1

VOICE MAIL

Javier Puerto Rico
Some research into gaming data usage.

E-MAIL

The new SecuROM

My group of friends and I have an annual vacation / LAN party where we don’t have Internet access for the week. This trend of games developers assuming we all have Internet access at all times makes it even more unlikely we will be able play their games at our get together. First it was Steam and not being able to install new games when we got there from a boxed copy. Then it was not having matching versions and giving us no way to patch without connecting to some far off server (I’m looking at you, Team Fortress 2). Now with this new SecuROM idea, we will might be able to play for the first few days but then the game disables itself because it can’t call home? Madness! Can we please just go back to the days were we could install and play an offline game while being offline.

Great show,
--Jack
Toledo, Ohio

Well actually (ISP backups)

Tom, Molly and Jason,
I’m just listening to episode 720 here while selling drugs to people I don’t know and I could swear I just heard Tom say the “ISPs have better backup systems than you do….” (32:43) What??? Do I have to remind you that my current provider, Charter, accidentally deleted e-mail accounts of thousands of subscribers earlier this year and basically said, “Whoops, we don’t have a backup. Our subscribers should take responsibility for this.” This is just one reason they are on the way out the door as my provider.
Keep up the great work, you bring sunshine to my nights.
Love the show,

--Kyle, the night pharmacist in Minnesota

Best Buy employees are liars (or just uninformed!)

I recently sold my Wii and went to Best Buy to get grab a Xbox 360. I know all about the Red Ring of Death and how Microsoft extended their warranty to 3 years because of this problem. Not to mention since they got the new Falcon chipsets those problems have been reduced. So the Bust Buy employee tried to sell me the service plan, no problem. I said no thanks and he came back at me and said Microsoft only has a 1 year warranty and it does not cover the red ring of death. WTF???? Not the mention he told me that rock band has no warranty at all!!!!!! I have no problem with employees selling service plans but don’t lie. If it was some mom buying a 360 for their 12-year-old son I’m sure see would have bought it hook line and sinker.

http://www.xbox.com/en-us/support/systemsetup/xbox360/ resources/warrantyupdate.htm

http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20273

--Andrew

A detail of the Eee PC story

In episode 720 you missed one detail about the Eee PC with Linux costing more than the Eee PC with Windows. The Linux version comes with 20GB of flash storage, while the Windows version only comes with 12GB. I looked into how this would effect the price difference between the Linux and Windows versions based on the price of USB flash drives. The conclusion that the Linux version costs too much is still true, however, it is worth noting that some of the price difference (around $50) can be accounted for by this difference.

I wrote out my conclusion and my explanation for how I got to that conclusion here if you are interested:

http://www.linuxloop.com/news/2008/05/08/ analyzing-the-eee-pc-windows-linux-price-issue/

Keep up the great work!
Thanks!
--Anonymous

Comcast 250GB limit

Say you try and replace Comcast TV with watching videos on XBox 360 or Apple TV. The average American watches 4 hours and 35 minutes a day (2006). Assuming HD, at 6Mbps this uses 346GB in a 28 day month, more than the cap.

--GW