d00dism

There was quite a stir when Real announced that they would make songs for their new online music service available for use on iPods. What made this so provocative was that their music service uses Digital Rights Management (DRM) to prevent copying, exactly as Apple does with FairPlay and Microsoft does with their own scheme. However, Apple didn’t license FairPlay to Real.

That was the rub. Real was maintaining DRM without a license to use FairPlay. In order to accomplish this feat, they reverse engineered FairPlay. They got to use software that Apple supplied without paying for it in some way. The fact that Apple didn’t want to license at any price is a moot point. They are the legal owners and it is their decision whether to sell licenses or not. Just because I’m not willing to sell my car to you doesn’t give you the right to jack it.

Well, it should come as no surprise that Apple has intentionally broken compatability with Real’s Harmony service with both changes in the iPod Photo’s firmware and the latest round of firmware updates to click-wheel iPods. Real itself knew this was coming, as did any well read user. However, many of Real’s customers may not have known this and may now be irrate that their music that previously played is now useless (at least until Real figures out how to remedy the situation). First they’ll blame Apple for breaking their iPod (even though it’s not broken at all) and then they’ll come to loathe Real as they find out iTunes songs and MP3’s play fine. The true loser in this situation is going to be Real, having committed themselves to a goal that is not only underhanded but nearly impossible to ever achieve over the long run.

I was sorry to read about his loss. What happens following a tragedy can make things even worse. My best wishes to him and his family. I (and his other readers I trust) can wait while he takes the time he needs.

I’m sure you’ve all heard of Netflix, the online movie rental service. In case you haven’t, I’ll explain how it works. You pick a number of movies that you’d like to see. Netflix sends you 3 of those movies at a time (this is the default plan). They mail them to you along with return envelopes (with prepaid postage). You send those movies back whenever you feel like it (no late fees) and when they receive one of your movies back, they send another from your list (queue). To top it off, it costs only $17.99 per month regardless how many movies you get.

This model is so popular and successful that Blockbuster introduced their own similar plan. It’s worth checking out because the main differences between the two services is that Blockbuster offers two free in-store rentals per month (including games). It also costs 50 cents less at $17.49.

Up until recently, I brushed off the service. Offhand, I couldn’t think of even a couple movies that I wanted to see. How could I possibly get my money’s worth? Even if I could find enough movies to make it worthwhile, how can I effectively browse for movies? I can’t walk down the aisles after all.

A single feature of Netflix (and I assume of Blockbuster, maybe someone can confirm) makes those non-issues. That is its excellent recommendation feature. These recommendations aren’t made based upon what you rent. It’s based upon how you rate movies. As you browse the site, you mark movies on a one to five star scale. You can also mark them “No opinion” or “Not interested”. Based upon these ratings, it will start to recommend movies, which is indicated by a little star. If you are curious as to why a movie was recommended, it will reference which movie ratings you set that suggest that you will enjoy that movie. Within minutes, you will have recommendations tailored to you. My recommendations reminded me of movies I wanted to watch and had simply forgotten about.

You can also manipulate your queue, reordering the movies that you want. It naturally pulls the next available movie should one of your top three be out or not released yet. Just to give some perspective, I had only one or two movies that I could think of to rent. By the time I finished playing with the website for the first time, my queue had 20 movies in it. They even feature TV series DVDs, which are an easy way to pad your queue.

There are two other things that Netflix a winner for me. Their website is fast and friendly. It’s not overly ornate (as Blockbuster’s site is). I like a nice, simple design. The other thing is their complete use of RSS. They have personalized member feeds for:

• Your Queue
• Your Activity
• Your Recommendations

All of which make it easy to monitor your account. You can also subscribe to an Overall Top 100 list, as well as category top 25 lists, new releases, and their resident reviewer’s list. If you need even more ways to pick, they offers (non-RSS) lists by a variety of reviewers and awards winners.

I’m sold already, and I haven’t even gotten my first shipment. Imagine how happy I’ll be when I actually start getting my movies.

And again:

• Oakland vs. Atlanta
• NY Giants vs. Baltimore
• Cleveland vs. Buffalo
• New Orleans vs. Dallas
• Indianapolis vs. Houston
• Chicago vs. Jacksonville
• Seattle vs. Minnesota
• Cincinnati vs. New England
• Miami vs. Denver
• NY Jets vs. Pittsburgh
• Detroit vs. Green Bay
• San Fransisco vs. Arizona
• St. Louis vs. Carolina
• Tampa Bay vs. San Diego
• Philadelphia vs. Washington
• Kansas City vs. Tennessee

The blog editing software I’ve been using for a while now, MarsEdit, has finally gone 1.0. I consider it the second most essential software I use on my site (right after WordPress). It works with a variety of blogging packages, so if you use a Mac and blog, you need to check it out.

Congratulations Brent. I look forward to future development of this software.