Practical Technology

for practical people.

January 22, 2008
by sjvn01
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Brit TV with Apple TV?

One of the reasons why I’m a fan of the Apple TV is that it lets me watch my favorite BBC shows such as Dr. Who, Life on Mars, and Torchwood. Well, eventually I can watch them on my Apple TV, because first I had to find them on the Web, then translate them into an Apple TV-friendly format and then I can finally watch them.

In short, it’s a pain. Yes, there is BBC America, but it’s always at least a year behind the UK schedule.

Now, it looks like the BBC may, just may, be enabling us to watch BBC shows on demand on our Apple TV using its iPlayer service.

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January 19, 2008
by sjvn01
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Microsoft Wants to Be Your Big Brother

It’s not science-fiction. It’s a real technology and it cannot be allowed to happen or privacy will vanish.

Today, I have a temperature of 99 degrees Fahrenheit, a headache, my blood pressure is 100 over 71, and my heart-heat is around 90 beats per minute. I have felt better. Now, if Microsoft’s plan goes the way it wants, my Windows computer will soon be reporting all of that, and more, to my boss.

This isn’t science fiction. This isn’t a remake of George Orwell’s “1984.” This is the future, according to a recently filed Microsoft patent. Let’s call the product that might come from this patent Windows You. It is, as you’ll see, an apt name.

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January 17, 2008
by sjvn01
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Apple Goes Enterprise

Has the day finally come when you might seriously consider using Macs in your server room? Yes, and here’s why.

If you listen to some people—Microsoft—Apple has about as much business being in the office as the New York Yankees would have playing in the National Football League championship. Which is to say: none at all.

These folks will tell you that Apple is all about the sizzle, and not about the steak. Or, to put it another way, they might concede that Apple knows how to out-design everyone, but underneath the pretty exteriors, you’ll find old, shopworn ideas.

To all these people may I say: Get a Clue.

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January 15, 2008
by sjvn01
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Apple TV 2.0

Renting movies, from all the major studios, will soon be a click away on the Apple TV.

We knew that Fox was going to co-operate with Apple to rent movies, what we didn’t know was that, despite all the yammer about how the studios hated Apple, was that all the rest of them–Warner Bros., Miramax, Paramount, Sony, and Universal, and their subsidiaries—would be offering movie rentals on iTunes and Apple TV as well. Walt Disney, of course, had always been on board.

Jobs said at his keynote speech in San Francisco that by the end of February, there will be 1,000 movies available for rent. Older titles will cost $2.99, while newer ones will cost you $3.99 or $4.99 for the HD versions. Once you download a movie, either to your computer or directly to the Apple TV, you’ll have 30-days to watch it, and 24 hours, once you’ve started watching it, to finish viewing your film. The newest of the new movies will be released 30-days after they make their appearance on DVD.

Yes, I did say directly to your Apple TV. Apple will be updating your Apple TV’s firmware, within the next two weeks, so that you rent or buy videos from the iTunes stores from your Apple TV with just your clicker. You’ll still be able to pull video down from your PC or Mac, which is where I keep the bulk of my movie and TV library, but now you won’t need to deal with a computer at all. You can do everything from your couch with a remote like a proper coach-potato should.

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January 15, 2008
by sjvn01
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Network Solutions Defends New Domain Policies

Some users may not like Network Solutions’ new domain name registration policy, but Network Solutions says it’s all about protecting users from “front-runners.”

Many people are angry at Network Solutions’ new domain name registration policy, but in an eWEEK interview, Network Solutions Senior Public Relations Representative Susan Wade said the company’s goal was simply to “defend our customers against front-runners.”

Wade explained, “We believe that some of our customers are having .com domain names taken from them because we’ve received a lot of customer complaints. They believe that they have come up with unique names, but after searching for them, they now find that the name has been taken.”

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January 12, 2008
by sjvn01
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Bye-Bye HD-DVD

The arguments over which HD format was better started the moment they rolled off the factory floor. Now, they no longer matter. Blu-Ray has won, HD-DVD has lost and now there’s little more than waiting for the HD-DVD house of cards to finish falling down.

What finally determined HD-DVD fate wasn’t which one was technically better. Although, as far as I was concerned it was always Blu-Ray, which can hold 25-GBs—5.5 to 8.5 hours of HD video—as compared to HD-DVD’s maximum of 15GBs or 3.5 to just over 5 hours.

No, two things killed HD-DVD. The first lead directly to the other. From the start, more movie studios offered videos in Blu-Ray. This meant that there were more movie choices. So it was that even though HD-DVD players were cheaper, in the beginning much cheaper, than Blu-Ray players people slowly surely started buying more Blu-Ray discs

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