A new manifesto for life.
My only concern is what is point 3 please add your own.
posted by M at 11:36 PM
1 comments
Friday, April 27, 2007
My only concern is what is point 3 please add your own.
Harriet Harman Question and Answer at Southampton
[Below are the Questions and Answers transcript, pretty much as I was able to type it. With only the merest of post production before I published.]
The rankles old-media get their grubby paws on her first. I'm new media dammit.
This is a very low turnout meeting, even counting the labour society who invited the woman there must be only 20 people here. Compared with when Rt. Hon. Hain visited some months back whereby the entire staff club was brimming with people wanting to hear his bid for the deputy leadership.
HH is here to extol the virtues of the labour party. 80% of the room is registered to vote here in Soton. She notes that only half of that 80% raise their hands are going to vote. Then amusingly asks who everyone is voting for - 5L, 1T, 1LD
She asks if "You" were Gordon Brown what are the challenges for the next 10 years ? She believes one of the challenges is peoples thinking of politicians and politics. The right to vote is the power to remove government and make change. Politicians like her cast herself in front of the electorate and that is the best system, we all think, yet that system and the people in it are so low regarded. Such low voter registration and low turn out. There is cynicism and a downward trend in those registered to vote.
"If you are a white middle aged person owning your own home living in a none metro area there is a 98% to be on the register. If you are young, black etc. there is only 70% chance of being on the reg. If you look at actual voting and those stats are the same, meaning that the people from these areas, renters, black people, poor etc. You are unlikely to vote. We have this creeping institutionalisation that we care about white, well off home owners and is is them who are making the decisions. Like in the US who don't care about New Orleans. Our democracy shouldn't be the exclusive domain of white middle class home owners." (Author's note... It was a Conservative Leader, BD, who actually instituted that change)
"What should we do to make young people get the voting habit ?"
"A huge issue is and what makes a society peaceful and at ease with itself is questions about equality, the gap between the top and the bottom is a big issue."
We've been good a tackling absolute poverty and moving the bottom up, but what about this gap between top and bottom ?
Uses a holiday as an example. Travelling through poor areas on the way to your opulent hotel should make an upstanding person feel less good.. Says the huge bonus in the City financial sector against a background of people actually struggling to buy food is a concern. The success of the super rich (What about David Beckham she asks is that any more OK than the City fat cats). Thatcher abolished the Royal commission of distribution on wealth. Should we bring it back ? Is the only issue where "You" are in society ?
HH is very concerned about these issues. Inequality of women or those of ethnic divides.
Q & A
Q: One of the ways of solving participation is mandated voting what do you think of that ?
A: Are we on the record ? Because of what I've said about what's happening in voluntary voting, the compulsory voting systems has a lot to recommend them. In AUS it is compulsory. If you are a government brining this in, its difficult because people won't like being made to do things. It's about getting to B, but getting from A to B is hard. Make the rights and responsibilities argument. Right to decent income, healthcare, schools etc. protection. Your responsibility is to VOTE. And it would be nice if would could force them.
Q: Question about investigation of SFO into BAE... Stopped in Saudi, but not stopped in SA... Why is that so ? Are there different standards between western against third world.
A: When it come SFO deciding whether to mount an investigation, run and prosecute. That is an independent decision, made by the agency responsible. Decision has two elements to it, 1) Is there enough evidence 2) Whether it is in the public interest
What I understand, there is a thing a procedure whereby when the decision is being made about whether its in the public interest. Ministers will be asked their views. They give the views back, they don't make the decision but the views are taken into account. That is appropriate procedure. Prime wrote back its not in the public interest. Because it will have national security implications.
In relation to SA then the same process would apply and you've got to look at the uses on a case by case basis. SFO made the decision.
Governments don't decide.
Q: Alan Johnson expressed a concern that Labour is losing women's votes ?
A: Having a women deputy is a good start (me) When I joined in 1982 there were 10 women now we're at 82 ? The Tories don't care about equality. In 1982 Tories had 13 now they have 17. We would be daft if we masked what we believed in behind an all male leadership team. All the things we've done that effect women, sure start, domestic violence is masked behind an al male leadership. Women want to be feet under that cabinet table. Women see that and feel that the labour women deputy alongside Gordon is one way to do that.
Q: One of the 13 was the prime minister. My Question is about Lords reform. I believe in a wholly appointed second chamber... what do you think. Will is cause deadlock ?
A: What is important is legitimacy. Legitimacy comes from the votes of the people. WHy should we say, you the people can't appoint a second chamber. We are beyond that age of deference. We must have an elected second chamber. The relationship makes an issue. the first chamber has primacy. The second chamber would be elected. Would is cause deadlock ? When electing it, we must carefully define the role and make it understood the role is different. you must have primacy in the first chamber. As for Thatcher. I have to say she argued that it was fine for her to be PM despite being a women and was as good as any-man. We believe we should be in power not despite, but because we are women. Women's voices must be heard alongside men's. It is about being a women who believe in equal representation.
Q: Is it in the national interest to have an immediate election after becoming leader ?
A: Its up to Gordon...
Q: Hear your view in need to change general elections ?
A: The power commission had a great deal of important and relevant information in it. If the suggestion is that if you change the voting system, with PR, that will increase turn out. There is no evidence for that. We have PR in x, y z and that hasn't' increased turn out. The downside of PR, it might produce a fairer result, its more complex. Play acting about EU resign.. list system.
Q: An awesome amount of energy has been expended in reform. Can you gimme an example where this has effected normal people.
A: Human rights act is important. FOIA. Devolution is hugely important. Stopped Lord Chancellor appointing high court judges. What about you ?
Q: Its is difficult to see a quantifiable one. Do you have an example where you'd do things differently ?
A: errrrrrrrrr.........
Q: In 2005 for the first time EVER a European election monitoring mission monitored a UK election. This May we are again set to have more external election monitoring for fraud and tampering. I posted my ballot yesterday and I could see with my own eyes how woefully inadequate the security of my "confidential" vote was. Given that your government has failed woefully in nearly every large scale IT project, the CRB, Libra, the Patient records, now ensuring scandal over the junior doctors IT system how will your government ever garner trust in an IT project again especially if you roll out nation-wide the trailed online voting system ?
A: it is important that if people think that the vote is rigged its a disincentive to vote. There is a trade off in security and turn out. To gain 100% security you'd crush the turn out. With absolute access you risk fraud. You must get the balance write. There isn't that big a problem with electoral fraud,
Q: Three of your councilors went to court about it.
A: Well local people are elected by people crossing the ballot
Q: WE HOPE
A: Small episodes of vote rigging. Its hard to rig a vote in a national. The numbers are big to rig. Fraud is important but not work ourselves up into a panic. The IT its all piloted - it might cause a delay in counts from Thursday to Friday, well just wait and that is no cause for hysteria.
Q: There has been a trend, in indiscipline, immorality. the govt does recognise this. What is the really root. What are you gonna do about it.. What are your thoughts.
A: Gang culture is wide spread. The age of participation is lower. The community must have confidence in the police. Intelligence based policing is important. Uses football violence is big example. Get hold on disaffectedness. and young people with not enough to do at holidays, evenings and weekends. A bigger youth service in inner cities. How many of you do think you have problems like this in your areas ?
Q2: There seems to be a collation of young black people involved in this what do you think
A: This is those people who feel like the bottom of the pile. They feel they're not represented in the police and don't feel confident using those services. We've got to ensure these people feel represented. Who else
Q:: Swansea
A: If you're concerned about inequality then, join the Labour party. Speak to Hannah.
[To be fair she had a decent exit on that last note]
The rankles old-media get their grubby paws on her first. I'm new media dammit.
This is a very low turnout meeting, even counting the labour society who invited the woman there must be only 20 people here. Compared with when Rt. Hon. Hain visited some months back whereby the entire staff club was brimming with people wanting to hear his bid for the deputy leadership.HH is here to extol the virtues of the labour party. 80% of the room is registered to vote here in Soton. She notes that only half of that 80% raise their hands are going to vote. Then amusingly asks who everyone is voting for - 5L, 1T, 1LD
She asks if "You" were Gordon Brown what are the challenges for the next 10 years ? She believes one of the challenges is peoples thinking of politicians and politics. The right to vote is the power to remove government and make change. Politicians like her cast herself in front of the electorate and that is the best system, we all think, yet that system and the people in it are so low regarded. Such low voter registration and low turn out. There is cynicism and a downward trend in those registered to vote.
"If you are a white middle aged person owning your own home living in a none metro area there is a 98% to be on the register. If you are young, black etc. there is only 70% chance of being on the reg. If you look at actual voting and those stats are the same, meaning that the people from these areas, renters, black people, poor etc. You are unlikely to vote. We have this creeping institutionalisation that we care about white, well off home owners and is is them who are making the decisions. Like in the US who don't care about New Orleans. Our democracy shouldn't be the exclusive domain of white middle class home owners." (Author's note... It was a Conservative Leader, BD, who actually instituted that change)
"What should we do to make young people get the voting habit ?"
"A huge issue is and what makes a society peaceful and at ease with itself is questions about equality, the gap between the top and the bottom is a big issue."
We've been good a tackling absolute poverty and moving the bottom up, but what about this gap between top and bottom ?
Uses a holiday as an example. Travelling through poor areas on the way to your opulent hotel should make an upstanding person feel less good.. Says the huge bonus in the City financial sector against a background of people actually struggling to buy food is a concern. The success of the super rich (What about David Beckham she asks is that any more OK than the City fat cats). Thatcher abolished the Royal commission of distribution on wealth. Should we bring it back ? Is the only issue where "You" are in society ?
HH is very concerned about these issues. Inequality of women or those of ethnic divides.
Q & A
Q: One of the ways of solving participation is mandated voting what do you think of that ?
A: Are we on the record ? Because of what I've said about what's happening in voluntary voting, the compulsory voting systems has a lot to recommend them. In AUS it is compulsory. If you are a government brining this in, its difficult because people won't like being made to do things. It's about getting to B, but getting from A to B is hard. Make the rights and responsibilities argument. Right to decent income, healthcare, schools etc. protection. Your responsibility is to VOTE. And it would be nice if would could force them.
Q: Question about investigation of SFO into BAE... Stopped in Saudi, but not stopped in SA... Why is that so ? Are there different standards between western against third world.
A: When it come SFO deciding whether to mount an investigation, run and prosecute. That is an independent decision, made by the agency responsible. Decision has two elements to it, 1) Is there enough evidence 2) Whether it is in the public interest
What I understand, there is a thing a procedure whereby when the decision is being made about whether its in the public interest. Ministers will be asked their views. They give the views back, they don't make the decision but the views are taken into account. That is appropriate procedure. Prime wrote back its not in the public interest. Because it will have national security implications.
In relation to SA then the same process would apply and you've got to look at the uses on a case by case basis. SFO made the decision.
Governments don't decide.
Q: Alan Johnson expressed a concern that Labour is losing women's votes ?
A: Having a women deputy is a good start (me) When I joined in 1982 there were 10 women now we're at 82 ? The Tories don't care about equality. In 1982 Tories had 13 now they have 17. We would be daft if we masked what we believed in behind an all male leadership team. All the things we've done that effect women, sure start, domestic violence is masked behind an al male leadership. Women want to be feet under that cabinet table. Women see that and feel that the labour women deputy alongside Gordon is one way to do that.
Q: One of the 13 was the prime minister. My Question is about Lords reform. I believe in a wholly appointed second chamber... what do you think. Will is cause deadlock ?
A: What is important is legitimacy. Legitimacy comes from the votes of the people. WHy should we say, you the people can't appoint a second chamber. We are beyond that age of deference. We must have an elected second chamber. The relationship makes an issue. the first chamber has primacy. The second chamber would be elected. Would is cause deadlock ? When electing it, we must carefully define the role and make it understood the role is different. you must have primacy in the first chamber. As for Thatcher. I have to say she argued that it was fine for her to be PM despite being a women and was as good as any-man. We believe we should be in power not despite, but because we are women. Women's voices must be heard alongside men's. It is about being a women who believe in equal representation.
Q: Is it in the national interest to have an immediate election after becoming leader ?
A: Its up to Gordon...
Q: Hear your view in need to change general elections ?
A: The power commission had a great deal of important and relevant information in it. If the suggestion is that if you change the voting system, with PR, that will increase turn out. There is no evidence for that. We have PR in x, y z and that hasn't' increased turn out. The downside of PR, it might produce a fairer result, its more complex. Play acting about EU resign.. list system.
Q: An awesome amount of energy has been expended in reform. Can you gimme an example where this has effected normal people.
A: Human rights act is important. FOIA. Devolution is hugely important. Stopped Lord Chancellor appointing high court judges. What about you ?
Q: Its is difficult to see a quantifiable one. Do you have an example where you'd do things differently ?
A: errrrrrrrrr.........
Q: In 2005 for the first time EVER a European election monitoring mission monitored a UK election. This May we are again set to have more external election monitoring for fraud and tampering. I posted my ballot yesterday and I could see with my own eyes how woefully inadequate the security of my "confidential" vote was. Given that your government has failed woefully in nearly every large scale IT project, the CRB, Libra, the Patient records, now ensuring scandal over the junior doctors IT system how will your government ever garner trust in an IT project again especially if you roll out nation-wide the trailed online voting system ?
A: it is important that if people think that the vote is rigged its a disincentive to vote. There is a trade off in security and turn out. To gain 100% security you'd crush the turn out. With absolute access you risk fraud. You must get the balance write. There isn't that big a problem with electoral fraud,
Q: Three of your councilors went to court about it.
A: Well local people are elected by people crossing the ballot
Q: WE HOPE
A: Small episodes of vote rigging. Its hard to rig a vote in a national. The numbers are big to rig. Fraud is important but not work ourselves up into a panic. The IT its all piloted - it might cause a delay in counts from Thursday to Friday, well just wait and that is no cause for hysteria.
Q: There has been a trend, in indiscipline, immorality. the govt does recognise this. What is the really root. What are you gonna do about it.. What are your thoughts.
A: Gang culture is wide spread. The age of participation is lower. The community must have confidence in the police. Intelligence based policing is important. Uses football violence is big example. Get hold on disaffectedness. and young people with not enough to do at holidays, evenings and weekends. A bigger youth service in inner cities. How many of you do think you have problems like this in your areas ?
Q2: There seems to be a collation of young black people involved in this what do you think
A: This is those people who feel like the bottom of the pile. They feel they're not represented in the police and don't feel confident using those services. We've got to ensure these people feel represented. Who else
Q:: Swansea
A: If you're concerned about inequality then, join the Labour party. Speak to Hannah.
[To be fair she had a decent exit on that last note]
posted by M at 7:07 PM
0 comments
Joost Adverts
You might remember from my Joost review that I was bored to tears by the lack of variety in the adverts on the Joost Beta service. Here CNET reports from Reuters that Joost has managed to sign up a whole bunch of new advertisers. Apparently the new advertisers include "Coca-Cola, HP, Intel and Nike", I look forward to some variety in my Joost media stream.
posted by M at 12:33 PM
0 comments
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Joost Cache
I tried to find this for my original review but couldn't then I did.
On my mac there is a ~2GB "anthill_cache" in ~/Library/Application Support/Joost...
I wonder if the anthill reference is the caching mechanism ? There is this link to the Joost forum that asks if its safe to delete the file. A search for Anthill caching throws up a few interesting papers on Agents (Suited to Storage Management and Caching (that could just be a company name though)), that I haven't read, but will do if I get some time.
The forum post alludes to deleting the file if your short on space, the consensus seems to be delete away, it is just a cache used for faster seeking and providing content to your neighbors.
On my mac there is a ~2GB "anthill_cache" in ~/Library/Application Support/Joost...
I wonder if the anthill reference is the caching mechanism ? There is this link to the Joost forum that asks if its safe to delete the file. A search for Anthill caching throws up a few interesting papers on Agents (Suited to Storage Management and Caching (that could just be a company name though)), that I haven't read, but will do if I get some time.
The forum post alludes to deleting the file if your short on space, the consensus seems to be delete away, it is just a cache used for faster seeking and providing content to your neighbors.
posted by M at 11:46 PM
0 comments
Rex Remote or Sony Ericsson K800i
I saw this online some time ago, I've finally got around to blogging about it.
Available from Sik.com the benefit is obvious for me it slots into the tiny little express card slot which is where Apple missed a trick with the universal remote.
I face a conundrum at the moment since I left my remote at home on a recent visit, and I'll soon be needing it to demo my research, annoying. I've always rather loved this portable remote we have a work for our roadshows.
Logitech Cordless 2.4 GHz Presenter
What I think is cute about this particular remote is the way the dongle hides in the back, less likely to lose it than when it's floating around your bag,
Finally I do like that I can present direct from my Sony Ericsson K880i using Bluetooth, meaning no dongle. OK So the K800i doesn't fit seamlessly with my Mac OS X install, I can randomly hit an Exposé by accident. It can function as a basic forwards and backwards remote.
Available from Sik.com the benefit is obvious for me it slots into the tiny little express card slot which is where Apple missed a trick with the universal remote.
I face a conundrum at the moment since I left my remote at home on a recent visit, and I'll soon be needing it to demo my research, annoying. I've always rather loved this portable remote we have a work for our roadshows.
Logitech Cordless 2.4 GHz Presenter
What I think is cute about this particular remote is the way the dongle hides in the back, less likely to lose it than when it's floating around your bag,
Finally I do like that I can present direct from my Sony Ericsson K880i using Bluetooth, meaning no dongle. OK So the K800i doesn't fit seamlessly with my Mac OS X install, I can randomly hit an Exposé by accident. It can function as a basic forwards and backwards remote.
posted by M at 10:39 PM
0 comments
My new books...
A Man Without a Country
Of Mice and Men
After Bliar: David Cameron and the Conservative Tradition (This was written by a Southampton University Professor)
The Catcher in the Rye
Yes I decided to re read a bunch of my high school tomes to engage in some nostalgia.
posted by M at 7:14 PM
0 comments
Joost Beta
As you can see from my sidebar, I am an official Joost beta reviewer.
Firstly thank you to Joost for letting me try out their marvelous service. Yes marvelous.
After downloading and setting up the easy Joost (Apparently pronounced as in juiced) client, which given I'm on a mac was a matter of dragging and dropping.
The client launches and you get to pick your channel off a simple menu and then chose a program. Yup that's it. It is TV on demand on the internet.
After a few seconds the program begins to play. Firstly you get a sponsorship message, or advert. This during my test was primarily for Vodafone. The caching and delivery of the episode is mostly fine. I spent my testing time watching most of a series called "Total Recall 2070" which was produced some time ago by Canada TV. It is Sci-Fi based obviously around the main threads of Rekall, memory implants and a bunch of other future dystopian technology. However the content isn't important, until later.
The quality of the program, the actual resolution, was very good, even at full screen the episodes were completely watchable as much as many of the DVDs I have of popular TV programs.
Whilst watching the controls are invisible and are invoked by moving the mouse to the areas occupied by the controls when visible they appear. You can skip about a program pretty well, if you want to jump significantly in the future you usually have to wait why some buffer of cache or other mechanism is filled up.
On the subject of space, I thought all this caching would be eating into my hard disk, after some searching I found a couple of gigs occupied by
Occasionally programs are interrupted by advertisements that you can't skip through. Actually just the one, advert breaks are everything they should be on broadcast TVs - short and thus more likely to keep you sat in place and viewing, unlike the near ten minutes advert breaks I sometimes get bored of and click away on TV or get up and make a coffee, thus not seeing the expensive well researched advert content. Where it was lacking, was the mixture of adverts... if I see one more advert for the one button virus recovery on the new Thinkpad, I'll scream.
However clearly the repetition worked because before trying Joost I didn't know that the Lenovo Thinkpad offered one touch virus recovery.
A reoccurring error I found in many episodes was all of a sudden the Joost client would report that a program was suddenly unavailable.
However that wasn't entirely accurate, I soon found that if I restarted the program and skipped to a point just after the last failure I could happily continue watching the same episode, I estimate that clearly those pieces of the puzzle weren't accessible by my client in some kind of peer to peer fashion, which seems likely given the history of the developers (But I would like to check how the client distributes).
Anecdotally these errors have increased wince rolling out the invite beta program so some patience is required whilst they figure out how to scale I suppose.
Currently some content isn't appropriate for all ages, when you select content like this you are asked to verify that it is acceptable.
A pin for this verification can be set in the Client Settings.
There are quite a number of Channels, sport, lifestyle and Sci-Fi. What I did find personally annoying was the fact that I got most of the way through the series I had chosen to watch then found missing episodes and the final few were absent leaving me feeling somewhat wanting. I am looking forward to reviewing the poker channels though.
Finally when I exit Joost I'm engaged in a wonderful element of nostalgia:
Just like as a child I used to turn off my combined TV, Radio and Tape deck as the tube cooled I'd concentrate on watching the little white dot from the ray gun vanish.
Overall I look forward the playing about with Joost a bit more there are some social features promised, like "Watch with friends" a kind of chat room feature for programs you're watching. A news aggregation feature built in etc.
There is currently both a windows and a mac client, it'd be nice to see this playing on a mini (Or a hacked Apple TV) connected to a TV with a remote, maybe a hack to work with the Apple remote. This may already exists but I've lost my Apple remote so I can't test it. Clearly there is a chicken and egg problem right now, content won't come without media deals and advertising revenue, which won't come without decent content, I think Joost is certainly one to watch.
If anyone wants invites, let me know - I'll see if I have any I can throw your way. There is scant official information about Joost, other than.
Joost.com
and an interview in Business week about what was then known as the Venice project. here
Firstly thank you to Joost for letting me try out their marvelous service. Yes marvelous.
After downloading and setting up the easy Joost (Apparently pronounced as in juiced) client, which given I'm on a mac was a matter of dragging and dropping.
The client launches and you get to pick your channel off a simple menu and then chose a program. Yup that's it. It is TV on demand on the internet.
After a few seconds the program begins to play. Firstly you get a sponsorship message, or advert. This during my test was primarily for Vodafone. The caching and delivery of the episode is mostly fine. I spent my testing time watching most of a series called "Total Recall 2070" which was produced some time ago by Canada TV. It is Sci-Fi based obviously around the main threads of Rekall, memory implants and a bunch of other future dystopian technology. However the content isn't important, until later.
The quality of the program, the actual resolution, was very good, even at full screen the episodes were completely watchable as much as many of the DVDs I have of popular TV programs.
Whilst watching the controls are invisible and are invoked by moving the mouse to the areas occupied by the controls when visible they appear. You can skip about a program pretty well, if you want to jump significantly in the future you usually have to wait why some buffer of cache or other mechanism is filled up.
On the subject of space, I thought all this caching would be eating into my hard disk, after some searching I found a couple of gigs occupied by
Occasionally programs are interrupted by advertisements that you can't skip through. Actually just the one, advert breaks are everything they should be on broadcast TVs - short and thus more likely to keep you sat in place and viewing, unlike the near ten minutes advert breaks I sometimes get bored of and click away on TV or get up and make a coffee, thus not seeing the expensive well researched advert content. Where it was lacking, was the mixture of adverts... if I see one more advert for the one button virus recovery on the new Thinkpad, I'll scream.
However clearly the repetition worked because before trying Joost I didn't know that the Lenovo Thinkpad offered one touch virus recovery.
A reoccurring error I found in many episodes was all of a sudden the Joost client would report that a program was suddenly unavailable.
However that wasn't entirely accurate, I soon found that if I restarted the program and skipped to a point just after the last failure I could happily continue watching the same episode, I estimate that clearly those pieces of the puzzle weren't accessible by my client in some kind of peer to peer fashion, which seems likely given the history of the developers (But I would like to check how the client distributes).
Anecdotally these errors have increased wince rolling out the invite beta program so some patience is required whilst they figure out how to scale I suppose.
Currently some content isn't appropriate for all ages, when you select content like this you are asked to verify that it is acceptable.
A pin for this verification can be set in the Client Settings.
There are quite a number of Channels, sport, lifestyle and Sci-Fi. What I did find personally annoying was the fact that I got most of the way through the series I had chosen to watch then found missing episodes and the final few were absent leaving me feeling somewhat wanting. I am looking forward to reviewing the poker channels though.
Finally when I exit Joost I'm engaged in a wonderful element of nostalgia:
Just like as a child I used to turn off my combined TV, Radio and Tape deck as the tube cooled I'd concentrate on watching the little white dot from the ray gun vanish.
Overall I look forward the playing about with Joost a bit more there are some social features promised, like "Watch with friends" a kind of chat room feature for programs you're watching. A news aggregation feature built in etc.
There is currently both a windows and a mac client, it'd be nice to see this playing on a mini (Or a hacked Apple TV) connected to a TV with a remote, maybe a hack to work with the Apple remote. This may already exists but I've lost my Apple remote so I can't test it. Clearly there is a chicken and egg problem right now, content won't come without media deals and advertising revenue, which won't come without decent content, I think Joost is certainly one to watch.
If anyone wants invites, let me know - I'll see if I have any I can throw your way. There is scant official information about Joost, other than.
Joost.com
and an interview in Business week about what was then known as the Venice project. here
posted by M at 9:00 AM
6 comments
Google Maps advice from New York to London
I was alerted to this by a co-worker recently;
Head over to Google Maps, ask for directions. Enter New York for source and London as destination. Firstly it plans a route, with a fantastic map.
More interesting are the directions, especially number 24.
Enjoy
Head over to Google Maps, ask for directions. Enter New York for source and London as destination. Firstly it plans a route, with a fantastic map.
More interesting are the directions, especially number 24.
Enjoy
posted by M at 8:57 AM
1 comments
Portable BBQ, my kind of gadget
This is simply marvelous, being the big BBQ geek that I am, regional champion and all. This would be just a wonderful addition to my arsenal. Quite whether you could just pitch up on the common and set the thing alight I don't know.
I know you're not permitted to use the tinfoil bbq packs at events such as the Tatton Park Halle Fireworks Concert:
"Sorry, no barbecues, garden flares or fireworks are allowed in the park." so I doubt this would be permitted either.
posted by M at 8:46 AM
0 comments
New ECS Building
It is with annoyance I repost these pictures, I posted them originally from my cell phone when I took them, however despite reporting a successful post, and I'm quite sure charging me for data transfer, they didn't appear on this blog.
Firstly was a picture of the great line of cement trucks waiting to poor the new floor out.
The large pumping tube spewing the concrete into the floor template with worker ants immediately smoothing and leveling out the start of the material foundations for the sound proof floor
Finally late on that evening, were these amazing cement smoothing machines with controllers sitting atop them like giant industrial bumper cars.
Then today I took this which looks like real progress a structure.
Firstly was a picture of the great line of cement trucks waiting to poor the new floor out.
The large pumping tube spewing the concrete into the floor template with worker ants immediately smoothing and leveling out the start of the material foundations for the sound proof floor
Finally late on that evening, were these amazing cement smoothing machines with controllers sitting atop them like giant industrial bumper cars.
Then today I took this which looks like real progress a structure.
posted by M at 8:33 AM
0 comments
RIP Alan Ball
It is with a great sadness that I heard of the death of former england world cup winner Alan Ball.
I remember Ball's first game as Manager of Manchester City, Oasis's Liam and Noel came on to the centre spot to thank the new manager. To be fair he wasn't that successful overall seeing City relegated to the first division at the end of his first full season.
None the less to die of a heart attack at only 61 is somewhat of a shock. The bigger shock was when only minutes after me hearing the news, I wondered over to Wikipedia to check his age for this blog, and found already someone had updated the date of death. The speed of these things still astounds me.
I remember Ball's first game as Manager of Manchester City, Oasis's Liam and Noel came on to the centre spot to thank the new manager. To be fair he wasn't that successful overall seeing City relegated to the first division at the end of his first full season.
None the less to die of a heart attack at only 61 is somewhat of a shock. The bigger shock was when only minutes after me hearing the news, I wondered over to Wikipedia to check his age for this blog, and found already someone had updated the date of death. The speed of these things still astounds me.
posted by M at 8:26 AM
0 comments
Sunday, April 22, 2007
The morning after the night before
5 items. Egg beans hash sausage bacon.
posted by M at 11:37 AM
1 comments
Friday, April 20, 2007
Tooty frooties
At 2.5 pence there pate at the most expensive sweets in Britain
posted by M at 11:46 PM
0 comments
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Fire alarm
For some a rather rude awakening. It was just a false alarm. Sorted in 10 minutes probably hair spray. Took another 10 minutes for the internal alarm to be turned off.
posted by M at 8:37 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Dishonestly obtaining electronic communications services with intent to avoid payment
This is one of the first cases of this kind on this side of the Atlantic. Whilst a little bit of borrowing is indeed theft, I doubt anyone would begrudge a quick flirt with e-mail when around at your mates house, or indeed a quick dabble in an online help forum if your own Internet is down at the liberty of your local open WiFi.
Clearly what the dude in the car was up to is trés dodge, putting card board in your windows isn't a quick online check of Google maps because you're lost, there is blatantly something more sinister going on.
On the subject of open WiFi, I myself have blogged about the voluminous open WiFi APs near my house in the past. To do this I rode around in my car with some open source wireless discovery tools running. Was I attempting to deprive someone of their internet, that is my definition of a theft... no I wasn't.
I think as always the rule is, or should be in my opinion. Don't take the piss. Sure check your e-mail on the go. If your lost cruise around so you can get on Google Maps. Don't try and download the latest blockbuster films on someone else's connection. Don't be weird and sit in your car at a ridiculous time in the morning with blocked out windows on n your laptop. Hey unless you're a government agent... then you're probably OK.
ps The cretin trying to masquerade the "ad-hoc" network as an open WiFi near me has changed the SSID to "Free Public WiFi" and given it a nice Logo, quite where that shows up in normal use I don't know, I didn't know Windows supported that.
Clearly what the dude in the car was up to is trés dodge, putting card board in your windows isn't a quick online check of Google maps because you're lost, there is blatantly something more sinister going on.
On the subject of open WiFi, I myself have blogged about the voluminous open WiFi APs near my house in the past. To do this I rode around in my car with some open source wireless discovery tools running. Was I attempting to deprive someone of their internet, that is my definition of a theft... no I wasn't.
I think as always the rule is, or should be in my opinion. Don't take the piss. Sure check your e-mail on the go. If your lost cruise around so you can get on Google Maps. Don't try and download the latest blockbuster films on someone else's connection. Don't be weird and sit in your car at a ridiculous time in the morning with blocked out windows on n your laptop. Hey unless you're a government agent... then you're probably OK.
ps The cretin trying to masquerade the "ad-hoc" network as an open WiFi near me has changed the SSID to "Free Public WiFi" and given it a nice Logo, quite where that shows up in normal use I don't know, I didn't know Windows supported that.
posted by M at 10:52 PM
0 comments
Oh christ not again
Its alright it was just a refuse shed. All the ecs kids paniced just a bit though.
posted by M at 5:57 PM
0 comments
I really am rather stressed
Truly it is such a hard lot i have. It is all getting to be quite the burden. Seriously i rather deserved these few minutes.
posted by M at 3:43 PM
0 comments
Internet Watch Foundation content quadroupled
The BBC cover the increase in websites containing images of child abuse. We had a discussion some weeks ago, amusingly it was allegedly reported to TBL. We were asked what if we were redesigning the internet we would do differently. A bunch of kids said "Standard enforcement" some discussed protection from "telco control". My contribution was the proper mechanisms to prevent inappropriate content. I wasn't talking about online gambling, I didn't know if I applied my idea to all porn (However you could easily). One of the prime restrictions, yes I said it restrictions, would be on abusive content involving minors. Whether this is through a .xxx domain thus hemming in that material making it easier to monitor, I'm not entirely sure. I have been a long time propronant of a .xxx top level domain. The idea that it will encourage explicit content is a farcical head in the sand approach... it is already there.
I refer you here to Dr. Cox of Scrubs fame.
posted by M at 8:26 AM
0 comments
Rise of the Teachers blog.
Hat tip. This is the interesting story about how teachers are blogging like crazy, I should let some of my blogging colleagues know about this.
In other news, I'm sure everyones thoughts and payers are with the victims today at VT. However we've already got the gun lobby being recalcitrant, it's not their fault. We've got Jack Thompson blaming the video games. The Anti gun lobby is, pardon the pun, up on arms about whether tighter gun controls would have helped ? People demanding inquiries as to how come the campus is so unprotected... why there are no metal detectors at the gates. People seem to be forgetting these styles of campus are far harder to guard than a school with maybe one of two central choke points. I can't imagine Southampton which is a pretty small laid out campus attempting to protect itself with those kind of measures. Guess I'm relying on it being overall pretty difficult to get a gun in the UK.
Extremists on both sides are picking through the analysis in an effort to vilify the oppositions, this is all whilst the "Police investigation is still on going" - peeps the head of Campus police.
This is still a developing situation with some next of kin not notified at 0035 GMT.
Update The gun was store bought, last week. So that puts pay to the argument that tighter gun controls wouldn't have had an impact. Well maybe the kid would still have gotten one off e-bay, but it would have been more difficult than dropping by the general store to pick one up claiming you were "gonna shoot river rats".
In other news, I'm sure everyones thoughts and payers are with the victims today at VT. However we've already got the gun lobby being recalcitrant, it's not their fault. We've got Jack Thompson blaming the video games. The Anti gun lobby is, pardon the pun, up on arms about whether tighter gun controls would have helped ? People demanding inquiries as to how come the campus is so unprotected... why there are no metal detectors at the gates. People seem to be forgetting these styles of campus are far harder to guard than a school with maybe one of two central choke points. I can't imagine Southampton which is a pretty small laid out campus attempting to protect itself with those kind of measures. Guess I'm relying on it being overall pretty difficult to get a gun in the UK.
Extremists on both sides are picking through the analysis in an effort to vilify the oppositions, this is all whilst the "Police investigation is still on going" - peeps the head of Campus police.
This is still a developing situation with some next of kin not notified at 0035 GMT.
Update The gun was store bought, last week. So that puts pay to the argument that tighter gun controls wouldn't have had an impact. Well maybe the kid would still have gotten one off e-bay, but it would have been more difficult than dropping by the general store to pick one up claiming you were "gonna shoot river rats".
posted by M at 1:23 AM
0 comments
Monday, April 16, 2007
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Friday, April 13, 2007
Who likes all the little duckies in the pond ?
So I wonder into one of the labs this evening and what do I find no less than
Some appear to conspiring for World domination, others are working on a group project, bless. These three are arguing over a presentation, I moved on before it got vicious.
Looking for reference material.
Printing a cover sheet.
posted by M at 7:55 PM
0 comments
Leopard delayed... Mac how the mighty have fallen
March saw this
April Thursday the 12th at 1300 hours saw this on AppleInsider
"Despite the outstanding issues with Leopard, the growing consensus amongst insiders and industry analysts is that Apple anticipates a release of the software around the time its World Wide Developers Conference rolls around in mid-June.
For its part, Apple has maintained that it will not delay the release of the next-generation OS, but at the same time has yet to reveal or broadly test a number of "top secret" features said to be lingering in builds of the software held down closely at its Cupertino-based headquarters."
Then it all came tumbling down, the bravado, the mocking Vista delays, the predicted June Developers conference release (Which as a prediction would have been on the money) until this direct from the horses mouth...
"We will not be able to release Leopard at our Worldwide Developers Conference in early June as planned."
Could this be a horribly late April 1st joke ? An evil Friday 13th prank ? Doubt it.
Picture from Here
Some calls have been made that since it is an openly admitted delay Apple should offer all edu institutions buying their stock of macs for the Summer a free upgrade to leopard when it is released because they would have had the new OS in time if it hadn't have been for the iPhone induced delays.
Some fan bois... not me... have suddenly clamored for "Well it means that Apple cares about quality" but when it was M$ that made the, admitidly 18+ month, delay they couldn't contain their glee. Vista delays began as merely a Q2-Q3 delay. Further more this puts pay to the argument that Apple can take ground from Windows by grabbing the "Well I'm gonna have to learn a new OS anyway if I get Vista, so I could try Apple who have a new OS too." market.
Developer seeds whilst more stable than predecessors still have a litany of bugs.
April Thursday the 12th at 1300 hours saw this on AppleInsider
"Despite the outstanding issues with Leopard, the growing consensus amongst insiders and industry analysts is that Apple anticipates a release of the software around the time its World Wide Developers Conference rolls around in mid-June.
For its part, Apple has maintained that it will not delay the release of the next-generation OS, but at the same time has yet to reveal or broadly test a number of "top secret" features said to be lingering in builds of the software held down closely at its Cupertino-based headquarters."
Then it all came tumbling down, the bravado, the mocking Vista delays, the predicted June Developers conference release (Which as a prediction would have been on the money) until this direct from the horses mouth...
"We will not be able to release Leopard at our Worldwide Developers Conference in early June as planned."
Could this be a horribly late April 1st joke ? An evil Friday 13th prank ? Doubt it.
Picture from Here
Some calls have been made that since it is an openly admitted delay Apple should offer all edu institutions buying their stock of macs for the Summer a free upgrade to leopard when it is released because they would have had the new OS in time if it hadn't have been for the iPhone induced delays.
Some fan bois... not me... have suddenly clamored for "Well it means that Apple cares about quality" but when it was M$ that made the, admitidly 18+ month, delay they couldn't contain their glee. Vista delays began as merely a Q2-Q3 delay. Further more this puts pay to the argument that Apple can take ground from Windows by grabbing the "Well I'm gonna have to learn a new OS anyway if I get Vista, so I could try Apple who have a new OS too." market.
Developer seeds whilst more stable than predecessors still have a litany of bugs.
posted by M at 2:23 PM
0 comments
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Quicksilver buzz.
I'm a massive fan here of Quicksilver from blacktree. Today I found a decent round up of quicksilver functions. Most of which I'd seen before or indeed use on a daily basis. Some of them I even included in my own QuickSilver round up a while back.
The advantage of article at lifehacker.com is the addition of decent quality video demos. enjoy.
The advantage of article at lifehacker.com is the addition of decent quality video demos. enjoy.
posted by M at 9:44 AM
0 comments
Firefox Bank / Credit Card
This article from Digg
Looks exceedingly cool, what images would you have on your ATM card if given the choice ? Fantasy, Sc-Fi ? A level three magi with dragon invisibility ? Star Trek Enterprise ? Tardis ? Intel Core 2 Duo dye design ? I once printed out in full colour a chip design from a design class, that'd look pretty cool too.
Or I might get some Paul Smith styling and have signature stripes on the card. I wonder how bothered the bank are about copyright infringements ?
Looks exceedingly cool, what images would you have on your ATM card if given the choice ? Fantasy, Sc-Fi ? A level three magi with dragon invisibility ? Star Trek Enterprise ? Tardis ? Intel Core 2 Duo dye design ? I once printed out in full colour a chip design from a design class, that'd look pretty cool too.
Or I might get some Paul Smith styling and have signature stripes on the card. I wonder how bothered the bank are about copyright infringements ?
posted by M at 9:22 AM
0 comments
So it goes. RIP Kurt Vonnegut.
Gruber has ordered a new copy of slaughterhouse five.
Personally I'll probably pick up a copy of "A Man Without A Country" next time I'm in Waterstones or Cat's Cradle. Vonnegut, a man who was sometimes both a science fiction writer and often a satirist. I feel somewhat less inspired this morning.
Personally I'll probably pick up a copy of "A Man Without A Country" next time I'm in Waterstones or Cat's Cradle. Vonnegut, a man who was sometimes both a science fiction writer and often a satirist. I feel somewhat less inspired this morning.
posted by M at 8:49 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Idiocracy
I added this movie to my del.icio.us account so I will remember to pick it up. Everyone was raving about it on TWiT about a month ago claiming it was some dreadful studio based conspiracy to make it fail because it was on a downer about modern society and especially fox and a bunch of other key capitalist institutions, Starbucks amongst them.
Then I was amused to receive this in my twitter feed from Gruber,
ps on the same day and also because of TWiT I also added Office Space.
Then I was amused to receive this in my twitter feed from Gruber,
ps on the same day and also because of TWiT I also added Office Space.
posted by M at 11:04 PM
0 comments
New Facebook interface
Well that didn't take long, less that 24 hours after a rejig of the facebook layout and functionality
I have no opinion as yet about the redo but on the whole I like it. I have found one bug when viewing your entire list of friends and you click "Next" for page two but then can't get back to page one without browser support, hitting the back button.
Harks back to the keruffle about the Mini News feed when that was introduced. Interesting article about Mark here
I have no opinion as yet about the redo but on the whole I like it. I have found one bug when viewing your entire list of friends and you click "Next" for page two but then can't get back to page one without browser support, hitting the back button.
Harks back to the keruffle about the Mini News feed when that was introduced. Interesting article about Mark here
posted by M at 11:02 PM
0 comments
New Skype interface on mac.
Launched only today, Skype 2.6.0.72 Beta.
Alongside better call quality there is some nice aditions to the interface.
Is one I noticed when someone called me, the third and alternate Chat button keeps the call ringing but also opens a chat window. It' insteresting new hooks into Growl with some new notifications like "x is typing a message" I can see me turning that off very quickly as it's annoying.
The other main feature is call transfer on the mac.
When I tried this it didn't actually work, but that could feasibly be because the other party wasn't answering.
I recently bought a skype in number, well actually a political contact who is abusing me for free design advice is going to be paying for it. I get free caller ID and an answering services. I got to choose what city I wanted the number to be in. For the UK there was an option of about 10 cities.
The call hits skype pretty quickly maybe a one ring lag. Call quality is more than acceptable, with only the occasional "Pardon can you say that again" required, and that is no more than you get on a normal mobile.
The idea is pretty good and cheap, it could be useful for short term contacts for event organisation, much like some people use freely available Pay as You Go cell sim cards.
Alongside better call quality there is some nice aditions to the interface.
Is one I noticed when someone called me, the third and alternate Chat button keeps the call ringing but also opens a chat window. It' insteresting new hooks into Growl with some new notifications like "x is typing a message" I can see me turning that off very quickly as it's annoying.
The other main feature is call transfer on the mac.
When I tried this it didn't actually work, but that could feasibly be because the other party wasn't answering.
I recently bought a skype in number, well actually a political contact who is abusing me for free design advice is going to be paying for it. I get free caller ID and an answering services. I got to choose what city I wanted the number to be in. For the UK there was an option of about 10 cities.
The call hits skype pretty quickly maybe a one ring lag. Call quality is more than acceptable, with only the occasional "Pardon can you say that again" required, and that is no more than you get on a normal mobile.
The idea is pretty good and cheap, it could be useful for short term contacts for event organisation, much like some people use freely available Pay as You Go cell sim cards.
posted by M at 10:00 PM
0 comments
New ECS Building update
For those who are interested, there are now two mahusive cranes and what appears to be hard core for the foundations down.
ps This was orrginally blogged from my phone and it failed to appear.
ps This was orrginally blogged from my phone and it failed to appear.
posted by M at 9:52 PM
0 comments
MSN on my phone.
I have had these two pictures on my desktop for AGES.
I decided to try MSN on my Sony Ericson. Install is easy there is a .jar file (79K) to copy accross. You have to grant permission for it to go online each time you start the app. I wish you could grant always, because my gmail checker has the same problem.
It works well enough to have a conversation, however it completely rinsed my data allowence. Which without paying more is a measly 100K on O2. I can buy a bolt on for more, but since I really only blog photos from my phone I still can't decide if it is worth it.
Typing is a pain, but it's OK if you're waiting for someone to let you know something in a meeting or a lecture style environment, without resorting to a crude text.
I decided to try MSN on my Sony Ericson. Install is easy there is a .jar file (79K) to copy accross. You have to grant permission for it to go online each time you start the app. I wish you could grant always, because my gmail checker has the same problem.
It works well enough to have a conversation, however it completely rinsed my data allowence. Which without paying more is a measly 100K on O2. I can buy a bolt on for more, but since I really only blog photos from my phone I still can't decide if it is worth it.
Typing is a pain, but it's OK if you're waiting for someone to let you know something in a meeting or a lecture style environment, without resorting to a crude text.
posted by M at 9:19 PM
0 comments
Desktop Tower Defense
After getting unusually sucked into this litte gem over at HandDrawnGames.com I'm happy to find I'm not alone in my carbon based destruction adiction.
Yes I'm playing on easy and I still lost.
This joins the many flash adictions I've recovered from over the years, the bouncing ball one, the laser and mirror one... I had a house mate who played the laser game for hours. He had far more patience than me, he was one of probably only six people who bought the entire Myst triology. I'm with the reviewer who called myst the ScreenSaver you can click on. He was truly adicted though. That and the space ship game inspired by Douglas Adams
posted by M at 2:48 AM
1 comments
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
In an apple store near you
I was demo'ing / trying to convince another unwilling victim to join the cult of Apple by showing off some of the cool mac like things OS X can do. Dashboard invariably makes it into a demo, merely for the "ooo ahhh" factor. I spotted this new dashboard widget for instore appointments. What PT or BC means I can't rightly say, but there was none of them and they were both green.
posted by M at 11:12 PM
1 comments
Pearls Before breakfast segway to TikiBar TV
I picked this up of Matt's blog. I read it before bed last night and it nearly made me cry. I tried to consider what I'd do. I'm a bit of a schill when it comes to classical music, yes I've got many CDs worth and I can name the odd piece, but I know nothing about it.
If I walked past during the Ave Marie, I'd like to think I'd stop and listen as I do love that piece. Not as much as my favourite Vaughan Williams but pretty damned close.
However if I was rushing by on the way to a meeting, and it was a piece I didn't know I don't know if I'd be overcome enough to stop.
Along the same lines as the "IF A GREAT MUSICIAN PLAYS GREAT MUSIC BUT NO ONE HEARS . . . WAS HE REALLY ANY GOOD?" the recent Tiki Bar episode is a must see for anyone who is a fan of drinking games. I don't often tune in to Tiki Bar but I was ordered to by an old drinking buddy. They discuss and demonstrate the Commonwealth game of bunnies. Genius, and a definate blast from my First Year Undergraduate days.
If I walked past during the Ave Marie, I'd like to think I'd stop and listen as I do love that piece. Not as much as my favourite Vaughan Williams but pretty damned close.
However if I was rushing by on the way to a meeting, and it was a piece I didn't know I don't know if I'd be overcome enough to stop.
Along the same lines as the "IF A GREAT MUSICIAN PLAYS GREAT MUSIC BUT NO ONE HEARS . . . WAS HE REALLY ANY GOOD?" the recent Tiki Bar episode is a must see for anyone who is a fan of drinking games. I don't often tune in to Tiki Bar but I was ordered to by an old drinking buddy. They discuss and demonstrate the Commonwealth game of bunnies. Genius, and a definate blast from my First Year Undergraduate days.
posted by M at 3:52 PM
0 comments
Online isn't always better. Mozilla Thunderbird trumps WebMail
With me loving any online solution for the platform agnosticism this article does a decent job of reminidng me of the benefits of decent desktop client based solution.
As well as wetting my apitite for the new Thunderbird. I tried the current release some months ago and wasn't really taken with it. I occasionally consider moving all my accounts to GMail with a massive forwarding session. This is what my oldman does and he swears by it, even above using mail.app on his mac.
As well as wetting my apitite for the new Thunderbird. I tried the current release some months ago and wasn't really taken with it. I occasionally consider moving all my accounts to GMail with a massive forwarding session. This is what my oldman does and he swears by it, even above using mail.app on his mac.
posted by M at 3:47 PM
0 comments
Homeless beatings on the rise
This is getting like a scene from American Psycho.
posted by M at 3:31 PM
0 comments
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Home cooking
You have gotta love the home cooking beef easter sunday dinner
posted by M at 6:03 PM
0 comments
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Very cool new restaurant called giraffe
Very new age food and a menu that includes brunch
posted by M at 8:18 PM
0 comments
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Guess what we got
Stock mac book with iWork then some training at starbucks. I believe it is called the fifth column.
posted by M at 7:06 PM
0 comments
Seamen Released
After meeting the president in new suits, provided for them. In a "Gift to the British State" on the Birthday of the Prophit of Islam. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared at the end of a Birthday Press Conference that the servicemen would be set free.
Following the press conference the servicemen were Handed over to the British Embassy in Tehran. They were all presented to Ahmadinejad in new suits, Ahmadinejad looked magnanimous in his "victory". This preso was certainly more to do with the internal politics in Iran than international staging.
Following the press conference the servicemen were Handed over to the British Embassy in Tehran. They were all presented to Ahmadinejad in new suits, Ahmadinejad looked magnanimous in his "victory". This preso was certainly more to do with the internal politics in Iran than international staging.
posted by M at 3:36 PM
0 comments
Monday, April 02, 2007
EMI slides and Q & A
Slides Available here
Interesting slide 6. With a picture of a Zune, an iPod and phones. Under the heading "Interoperability"
Ground breaking... truly ground breaking.
It will be interesting to see how the ITMS handles the new interface options for DRM free tracks.
Q & A
Q:When are the Beatles coming ? (Sky News)
A:Soon we hope.
Q:The current 0.79p tracks will still be DRM ? (Sky News)
A:Yes.
Q:Doesn't having a split system make things more competative (Guardian)
A:Jobs: People will have a choice, people can set iTunes to have a default. We don't wanna take away anything, they can still buy exactly what they have been buying, we're adding a choice. In our survey the majority of people will choose the HQ version
Q:Will it not just be EMI DRM free by the end of the year ?(BBC)
A:Hopefully more labels, that is our estimate.
What effect on the iPod relationship to iTunes (BBC)
We compete based on haivng the best music store and the best players. If customers agree we'll do well if not we will get a message back.
Q:How does this effect the Nordic consumer groups ?
A:We're not offering anything online that they can't get on a CD already
Q:Will eastern markets get DRM free tracks ?
A:DRM Free will be available to all retailers around the world.
Q:Are you giving the green light to sharers to copy more music ? (Times)
A:We have to trust consumers, some will still dissapoint us and steal the music. We want to trust consumers and give them the best experience. We will grow sales not diminish them.
Q:Will this effect your target for digital sales ? (Independant)
A:This will grow our sales. It will make music more accessible and promote sales.
Q:Are you talking with other labels about this ? (Music week)
A:Jobs: I can't talk for others. EMI is doing something very popular. I don't know if the others will do that. CDs don't ship with DRM, Sony tried that... it didn't work out very well.
Q:That sounds like a plea to the majors are some being more difficult can you tell us who ? (Music week)
A:Jobs: I'd rather not discuss that. Customers get what they want. This way music companies get more money for offering better quality.
Q:What about video ?
A:Jobs: The video industry is different, the current distribution isn't DRM free they are not parallel.
Q:What made you do this ? (WSJ)
A:EMI: We've always known Steve's views, even before the letter. We are interested in offering consumers the best possible service. It was clear that some consumers care about sound quality. We expect increased sales. We remain optimistic that digital growth will outstrip physical decline. Digital is still in its infancy. This opportunity is massive.
Q:Now the iPod iTunes link is broken. Will iPod sales drop.(FT)
A:Jobs: This is NO different to before, I don't see a link between the two. This "magical link that some people have postulated" has never really been there.
Q:Will some people feel cheated that they weren't offered this before ?
A:Jobs: I belive giving choices is better (See recent presentation zen) We think we can give people what they tell us they want.
Q:How is it gonna work with other dl stores will you force other stores to go with the 0.79 / 0.99?
A:EMI doesn't set the retail price, only the wholesale price. Our products and our prices are available to everyone.
Q:We heard Apple was gonna buy out EMI ?
A:We heard EMI could buy out Apple [Chuckles]
Q:Given Warner is opposed to DRM will this stop any merger. Will this turn EMI around ?(City AM)
A:You must ask Warner how they feel. We're not gonna discuss this under merger ideas. This is a major commercial step, there are not silver bullets in our business. digital growth is a very important part of our future strategy.
Q:How does this effect storage on iPods
A:Jobs: It's proportional [Chuckles].
Q:How can you account for 20p (20%) hike ?(Record of the day)
A:Jobs: It's not a price increase. You can still pay 79p. This is a new product. It is a choice for more features or not. It is a second product not an increase.
Thanks, Applause. (Sorry about errors and omissions I was typing as fast as I could)
Interesting slide 6. With a picture of a Zune, an iPod and phones. Under the heading "Interoperability"
Ground breaking... truly ground breaking.
It will be interesting to see how the ITMS handles the new interface options for DRM free tracks.
Q & A
Q:When are the Beatles coming ? (Sky News)
A:Soon we hope.
Q:The current 0.79p tracks will still be DRM ? (Sky News)
A:Yes.
Q:Doesn't having a split system make things more competative (Guardian)
A:Jobs: People will have a choice, people can set iTunes to have a default. We don't wanna take away anything, they can still buy exactly what they have been buying, we're adding a choice. In our survey the majority of people will choose the HQ version
Q:Will it not just be EMI DRM free by the end of the year ?(BBC)
A:Hopefully more labels, that is our estimate.
What effect on the iPod relationship to iTunes (BBC)
We compete based on haivng the best music store and the best players. If customers agree we'll do well if not we will get a message back.
Q:How does this effect the Nordic consumer groups ?
A:We're not offering anything online that they can't get on a CD already
Q:Will eastern markets get DRM free tracks ?
A:DRM Free will be available to all retailers around the world.
Q:Are you giving the green light to sharers to copy more music ? (Times)
A:We have to trust consumers, some will still dissapoint us and steal the music. We want to trust consumers and give them the best experience. We will grow sales not diminish them.
Q:Will this effect your target for digital sales ? (Independant)
A:This will grow our sales. It will make music more accessible and promote sales.
Q:Are you talking with other labels about this ? (Music week)
A:Jobs: I can't talk for others. EMI is doing something very popular. I don't know if the others will do that. CDs don't ship with DRM, Sony tried that... it didn't work out very well.
Q:That sounds like a plea to the majors are some being more difficult can you tell us who ? (Music week)
A:Jobs: I'd rather not discuss that. Customers get what they want. This way music companies get more money for offering better quality.
Q:What about video ?
A:Jobs: The video industry is different, the current distribution isn't DRM free they are not parallel.
Q:What made you do this ? (WSJ)
A:EMI: We've always known Steve's views, even before the letter. We are interested in offering consumers the best possible service. It was clear that some consumers care about sound quality. We expect increased sales. We remain optimistic that digital growth will outstrip physical decline. Digital is still in its infancy. This opportunity is massive.
Q:Now the iPod iTunes link is broken. Will iPod sales drop.(FT)
A:Jobs: This is NO different to before, I don't see a link between the two. This "magical link that some people have postulated" has never really been there.
Q:Will some people feel cheated that they weren't offered this before ?
A:Jobs: I belive giving choices is better (See recent presentation zen) We think we can give people what they tell us they want.
Q:How is it gonna work with other dl stores will you force other stores to go with the 0.79 / 0.99?
A:EMI doesn't set the retail price, only the wholesale price. Our products and our prices are available to everyone.
Q:We heard Apple was gonna buy out EMI ?
A:We heard EMI could buy out Apple [Chuckles]
Q:Given Warner is opposed to DRM will this stop any merger. Will this turn EMI around ?(City AM)
A:You must ask Warner how they feel. We're not gonna discuss this under merger ideas. This is a major commercial step, there are not silver bullets in our business. digital growth is a very important part of our future strategy.
Q:How does this effect storage on iPods
A:Jobs: It's proportional [Chuckles].
Q:How can you account for 20p (20%) hike ?(Record of the day)
A:Jobs: It's not a price increase. You can still pay 79p. This is a new product. It is a choice for more features or not. It is a second product not an increase.
Thanks, Applause. (Sorry about errors and omissions I was typing as fast as I could)
posted by M at 1:20 PM
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EMI debut DRM Free downloads.
Even during the musical part of the audio stream the EMI website was updated with this paragraph. Kind of spoils it really.
Enjoy. Press release here
"EMI Music today announced that it is launching new premium downloads for retail on a global basis, making all of its digital repertoire available at a much higher sound quality than existing downloads and free of digital rights management (DRM) restrictions."
"Consumers who have already purchased standard tracks or albums with DRM will be able to upgrade their digital music for $0.30/€0.30/£0.20 per track."
It appears they are gonna charge more for the singles but leave album prices the same, I assume to up the sales of albums, the maths behind "Complete my album" just got interesting.
"available from EMI artists at twice the sound quality of existing downloads, with their DRM removed, at a price of $1.29/€1.29/£0.99. iTunes will continue to offer consumers the ability to pay $0.99/€0.99/£0.79 for standard sound quality tracks with DRM still applied."
Update: Steve confirms ITMS DRM free EMI, higher fidelity from May. Steve also talks about the Analogue loop-hole.
Are you gonna spend the extra $0.30 so you can avoid re-ripping and removing DRM that way ?
Update:Apples press release here
Enjoy. Press release here
"EMI Music today announced that it is launching new premium downloads for retail on a global basis, making all of its digital repertoire available at a much higher sound quality than existing downloads and free of digital rights management (DRM) restrictions."
"Consumers who have already purchased standard tracks or albums with DRM will be able to upgrade their digital music for $0.30/€0.30/£0.20 per track."
It appears they are gonna charge more for the singles but leave album prices the same, I assume to up the sales of albums, the maths behind "Complete my album" just got interesting.
"available from EMI artists at twice the sound quality of existing downloads, with their DRM removed, at a price of $1.29/€1.29/£0.99. iTunes will continue to offer consumers the ability to pay $0.99/€0.99/£0.79 for standard sound quality tracks with DRM still applied."
Update: Steve confirms ITMS DRM free EMI, higher fidelity from May. Steve also talks about the Analogue loop-hole.
Are you gonna spend the extra $0.30 so you can avoid re-ripping and removing DRM that way ?
Update:Apples press release here
posted by M at 1:14 PM
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EMI Apple press conference
I've avoided commenting on all the rumours thus far, because they've stretched from DRM free, Beatles catalogue to Beatles iPods a la U2 signed devices with an article on the reg claiming Apple with endorse Microsoft DRM mechanisms.
The conference is being streamed online, at 1304 BST the stream is playing music... that isn't the Beatles.
The conference is being streamed online, at 1304 BST the stream is playing music... that isn't the Beatles.
posted by M at 1:03 PM
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