Episode 607: Little purple spies
Is Prince having the Pirate Bay administrators followed? Also, is Sony finally starting to figure out this PS3 thing?
Molly Wood Former Executive Editor
Molly Wood was an executive editor at CNET, author of the Molly Rants blog, and host of the tech show, Always On. When she's not enraging fanboys of all stripes, she can be found offering tech opinions on CBS and elsewhere, and offering opinions on everything else to anyone who will listen.
4 min read
Is Prince having the Pirate Bay administrators followed? Maybe chasing them around himself in a funny purple cloak? Also, is Sony finally starting to figure out this PS3 thing? Will Kindle rekindle our interest in e-book readers? Will anyone care about a Napster phone, or the Beatles on iTunes, for that matter? Answers within.
--Molly
Listen now: Download today's podcast
--Molly
Listen now: Download today's podcast
 | EPISODE 607 |
TODAY'S LINKS:
TODAY'S VOICE MAIL:
Ben from Minnesota
Refresh your sound effects. Proving how slow the news is.
Refresh your sound effects. Proving how slow the news is.
Thomas from Sacramento
Pirates drive innovation.
Pirates drive innovation.
Kyle from Indianapolis
Squash the Beatles.
Squash the Beatles.
Anonymous
Another Beatle hater.
Another Beatle hater.
TODAY'S E-MAIL:
'Ghostbusters' video game
I hate to burst Jason's bubble, but the Ghostbusters videogame will serve as Ghostbusters III:
Stephen
I hate to burst Jason's bubble, but the Ghostbusters videogame will serve as Ghostbusters III:
Dan Aykroyd said the computer game was essentially the third Ghostbusters film, adding: 'And it's better than the third movie because it lasts longer, there's more development of the characters.'I know that Bill Murray, for one, has said he's not interested in doing another live action Ghostbusters film, so it doesn't look like there will ever be another film sequel.
Stephen
Total HD is dead
Looks like the TotalHD dual-format disc (hybrid Blu-ray and HD DVD) is not happening. High-Def Digest has reported that Warner has shelved their plans for this already-delayed format.
Richard Gunther
Looks like the TotalHD dual-format disc (hybrid Blu-ray and HD DVD) is not happening. High-Def Digest has reported that Warner has shelved their plans for this already-delayed format.
Richard Gunther
BitTorrent legit!
Hi Molly and the lads,
What figures are being quoted as stating that the majority of BitTorrent is illegal?
BitTorrent for legit usage has exploded over the last 6 months.
The obvious ones being things like Blizzard which distributes all its patches via BitTorrent. World of Warcraft being a prime example every few weeks you have a new patch coming out with 9 million people who have to download it (source: http://www.blizzard.co.uk/press/070724.shtml).
You can't tell me that's not a dent in the figures, especially when some of those patches go up to around 700MB.
Ubuntu has around 4 million people that get the ISO's when a new distribution comes out a large chunk of which are via BitTorrent just for the reliability of the hashing, not to mention all the other distros.
I could create a long list of programs like some Adobe products, and a ton of small vendors that are using it too now for the massive bandwidth savings over using something like cachefly to host their content but in the end all I am trying to point out that as has hinted at already the days of illegal BitTorrent traffic are numbered even without a reduction in piracy, and that end is way sooner then most people think.
Good luck with that whole shaping thing. Comcast I am sure it won't be a nightmare for you. :)
Love the show,
Murray
Sydney, Australia
Hi Molly and the lads,
What figures are being quoted as stating that the majority of BitTorrent is illegal?
BitTorrent for legit usage has exploded over the last 6 months.
The obvious ones being things like Blizzard which distributes all its patches via BitTorrent. World of Warcraft being a prime example every few weeks you have a new patch coming out with 9 million people who have to download it (source: http://www.blizzard.co.uk/press/070724.shtml).
You can't tell me that's not a dent in the figures, especially when some of those patches go up to around 700MB.
Ubuntu has around 4 million people that get the ISO's when a new distribution comes out a large chunk of which are via BitTorrent just for the reliability of the hashing, not to mention all the other distros.
I could create a long list of programs like some Adobe products, and a ton of small vendors that are using it too now for the massive bandwidth savings over using something like cachefly to host their content but in the end all I am trying to point out that as has hinted at already the days of illegal BitTorrent traffic are numbered even without a reduction in piracy, and that end is way sooner then most people think.
Good luck with that whole shaping thing. Comcast I am sure it won't be a nightmare for you. :)
Love the show,
Murray
Sydney, Australia
Ep 606
We ran an article in my student newspaper about the pending P2P legislation (we're in the middle of transitioning to a new Web site, so I can't link to it directly, but the .pdf is here. It's the story on the top right of the front page) and our reporter asked our CIO specifically about forcing universities to sign up for services like Napster. I thought his response was pretty well thought out, and likely to be the one most universities take:
Justin Sink
We ran an article in my student newspaper about the pending P2P legislation (we're in the middle of transitioning to a new Web site, so I can't link to it directly, but the .pdf is here. It's the story on the top right of the front page) and our reporter asked our CIO specifically about forcing universities to sign up for services like Napster. I thought his response was pretty well thought out, and likely to be the one most universities take:
"As for the legal alternatives section, Jackson doesn't see a problem. 'I would say ?we will give everyone access to Ruckus.? In fact, they already have access to Ruckus,' he said, referring to the free access anyone with a .edu e-mail has to Ruckus' content."Of course, the legislation is still absolutely ridiculous, but it sounds like the issue will be more with how the universities try to prevent P2P traffic, rather than forcing universities to sign up for subscription services that would add to tuition. Thanks, always enjoy the podcast.
Justin Sink
DirecTV in space
DirecTV offers to install service on International Space Station...
Along with service, they'll toss in a 42-inch TV and an HD DVR. Hmmm...as cool as that could be (see image). How about they take care of their customers with adequate programming first!? Besides...they're gonna have to pay a lot of money for a special autopositioning mount to ensure dish has a good signal.
Wait...I detect a mild Molly rant coming on...yes, there is definitely a disturbance in this DirecTV proposed farce...
http://www.nasawatch.com/archives/2007/11/i_want_my_disht.html http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=24044
Shalin
DirecTV offers to install service on International Space Station...
Along with service, they'll toss in a 42-inch TV and an HD DVR. Hmmm...as cool as that could be (see image). How about they take care of their customers with adequate programming first!? Besides...they're gonna have to pay a lot of money for a special autopositioning mount to ensure dish has a good signal.
Wait...I detect a mild Molly rant coming on...yes, there is definitely a disturbance in this DirecTV proposed farce...
http://www.nasawatch.com/archives/2007/11/i_want_my_disht.html http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=24044
Shalin