Reuters reports that the civil suit settlement proposed by Microsoft has been rejected. Thank goodness… you’ll recall that the settlement MS proposed was that they would donate software to schools (thereby helping them improve their foothold in schools, where Apple has a traditional lead, which doesn’t sound like much of a settlement for wrongdoing).
Philips, the holder of many of the patents on CDs, reportedly said that copy protected CDs do not adhere to the CD-DA standard and therefore cannot bear the CD logo. They also plan for their coming CD recorder devices to include features to correct errors in CDs (essentially making the copy protection useless). If Philips owned a record company (which I don’t think they do at this point), they might think differently. But, I’m glad that they’re on the side of consumers on this one.
Here is an article lamenting the loss of the Freedom of Information Act. I agree with what’s said here. The Constitution is the foundation for a nation that does not trust the government. Our government has purposefully limited powers, and things like the FOIA allow us to ensure that people are not abusing the powers they have been granted.
Sightseeing pilot survives two crashes - PURGATORY, Colorado (CNN) –A sightseeing plane pilot survived two crashes in the snowy Colorado … [CNN US] This is remarkable. The guy’s sightseeing plane crashes, and then the rescue helicopter he was in crashed. All this in a place called Purgatory.
I only watched snippets of the AMAs. There weren’t any runaway winners. Alicia Keys, Destiny’s Child, Aaliyah and Tim McGraw each won two awards. The AMAs are voted on by a survey of 20,000 record buyers, so it’s not surprising that they match up well with sales. The Grammys, which are picked by industry people, can vary considerably from sales (take Steely Dan’s win last year, for example). The Grammys are Feb 27.
The NY Times has a summary of this year’s Future of Music Policy conference. There are still many issues to be weighed, and no one has yet figured out a viable model. I recently finished reading the book Hit Men, which covers the music industry through 1990. The comment that Congress is looking into payola yet again shows that things have not changed.
Read more…
ZDNet UK reports that Microsoft has rigged an online poll. Actually, what it’s really saying is that Microsoft sent an internal email urging people to vote, and some people tried to vote many times. The poll was asking what technology people would use to implement web services. Most people had been saying Java, until the microsoft.com domain weighed in.
BBC News | SCI/TECH | Hawking celebrates own brief history - n/a [Daypop] We just bought the Universe in a Nutshell, and it looks like a great book. Hawking has a great writing style.
At the Detroit Auto Show, GM has announced their new Autonomy chassis which uses hydrogen fuel cells, has a 20 year lifespan and can accept different bodies on top. Fuel cell technology would be great, because it burns clean and would eliminate the need for oil.
