Coming Soon: A Horror Show for TV Ads
Business Week Online : TiVo Recorders Indicate the Truth About TV Advertising
TiVo’s digital recorders indicate that viewers don’t necessarily watch the ads, even on hit shows. Agencies and networks are still in denial
They are in fact tracking quite a bit of usage data on viewing behavior… time to face the music.
How Apple’s DRM works
The author of the excellent PodWorks iPod utility is working on reverse-engineering the DRM in Apple’s iTunes Store AAC files, documenting the ways in whcih the DRM restricts your use of the file, and how those restrictions may be defeated.Link [via Boing Boing]
Yahoo Spam Filter Thwarts FTC
While hundreds of thousands of Americans rush to sign up for the Federal Trade Commission’s new do-not-call service, many Yahoo users are left wondering why they haven’t received their registration confirmation. The reason? Yahoo’s spam filter doesn’t like the FTC’s onslaught of e-mail. By Amit Asaravala. [Wired News]
PCMag looks at the Treo 600
PCMagazine has posted a preliminary review of a preproduction Handspring Treo 600. PCMag says the Treo 600 improves on the original in almost every way. [PalmInfocenter]
FCC official: No need to regulate ISPs
There’s no reason to introduce rules to make sure that broadband access providers don’t favor one Web site over another, says an FCC official, rebuffing calls from Microsoft and others. [CNET News.com]
Verizon Wireless sues Nextel
The company claims Nextel Communications “improperly obtained” prototypes of some new Verizon cell phones with walkie-talkie features. [CNET News.com]
The heat is on… guess things are getting much more sensitive now that Verizon is just about ready to launch their service…
Kung-Log 1.5 and… WebKit!
Kung-Log version 1.5 is out and it uses WebKit! [chaotic intransient prose bursts]
Just posted this with it – seems to be quite a nice update.
Do Not Call…
FCC: “Consumers can register on-line for the national do-not-call registry beginning June 27, 2003.” [Werblog]
Will Ferrell: Class Day speech
But I do know this. You’re about to enter into a world filled with hypocrisy and doublespeak, a world in which your limo to the airport is often a half-hour late. In addition to not even being a limo at all; often times it’s a Lincoln Towncar. You’re about to enter a world where you ask your new assistant, Jamie, to bring you a tall, non-fat latte. And he comes back with a short soy cappuccino. Guess what, Jamie? You’re fired. Not too hard to get right, my friend.
Sun To Acquire Pixo
Pixo makes the OS for the iPod…
Sun executives said the acquisition will help Sun gain a toehold in digital rights management, or DRM. Pixo’s server-based software lets IT staff manage content, customize user interfaces and enable fast downloads of digital content, including Java applications. Sun expects to offer the Pixo technology to those in its Sun Developer Network Mobility Program and other initiatives.
[CRN]
Will SupperBuddy squeeze the Butterfly?
America Online plans to start an online campaign on Friday to build buzz among its current subscribers for the next version of its Internet service. [CNET News.com]
Microsoft urged to fry its own spam
The software giant recently launched an antispam campaign, but critics say the company should be more introspective if it is serious about reducing the scourge of unwanted e-mail. [CNET News.com]
Deficiencies in Microsoft’s spam behavior range across a number of its divisions that offer e-mail services, according to Atkins and others. These include the company’s small-business-oriented bCentral portal; MSN, which has its own e-mail service; and Hotmail, a separate, Web-based e-mail service that uses many of the same systems as MSN but operates under different rules.
Perhaps the loudest hew and cry against Microsoft emanates from some network administrators tracking the spam problem, who claim that a sizable chunk of the spam now clogging the Internet’s arteries emanates from Microsoft’s own servers.
These spam watchers complain that while Microsoft has implemented badly needed controls on Hotmail, such as technology designed to identify software robots and prevent them from registering for accounts, Microsoft has left loopholes large enough to run rivers of spam through the related MSN e-mail service.
No Such Thing as Broadband
One way to describe Bob Frankston’s latest must-read essay is that he is saying that there is no such thing as broadband. That is, it is misleading to think about “broadband” as a defined service.
[Corante: Bottom Line]P800, we hardly knew ya
This almost too meta for us: sneaked photos of the P810, Sony Ericsson’s successor to the P800, taken, appropriately enough, with the digital camera of a P800. No details available, except that the P810 should have a 1.3 megapixel digital camera built-in and a thin metal body like the T610.
Read [Gizmodo]
NewsHour on the Spam Wars
I had missed this PBS NewsHour report on spam — caught the program Friday (with the wonderful James Gleick being interviewed on the subject), but overlooked the online transcript…. [JD’s New Media Musings]
High level (it was on the radio…) but good.
Palm’s Web site not Palm friendly…
I find it interesting that browsing the Palm website via my Palm Tungsten C I am greeted by the regular desktop version. It attempts to shoot a pop-up window open, but the Palm browser tells me that pop-up windows are not supported.
Why would Palm NOT create a version specific to their devices?? Seems like a lost opportunity considering the site is linked from the default home page on their handhelds.
Companies need to better address the potential needs and desires of customers — especially with an interactive product. Another idea would certainly have been to have created a Palm-friendly home page with links to other Palm-friendly sites.
Pioneer adds TiVo to DVD recorders
The electronics maker is combining digital video recording capabilities to its line of DVD recorders in its latest attempt to jumpstart the DVR market. [CNET News.com]
Pioneer’s new DVR-810H DVD recorder comes with an 80GB drive and costs $1,199, while the DVR-57H has a 120GB drive and is priced at $1,800. Both will include the TiVo basic service, which does not require a monthly fee for the DVR service but does allow consumers to upgrade to the full TiVo service so they can access a 14-day program guide among other features. The devices come with a 181-channel cable TV tuner, and consumers will be able to transfer content on VCR tapes to DVD-R or DVD-RW discs by connecting a VCR via analog inputs to the recorder.
“At these prices, they aren’t making a play for the mass market,” said Greg Ireland, an analyst with research firm IDC. “However, this is an indication of a trend where DVR can be added to other products to distinguish one company’s product from another’s.”
Pioneer rivals Toshiba and Sony Electronics also have licensed TiVo’s service and technology and have been developing products that use the DVR service.
Palm Releases Update for the Tungsten C
Palm has released an update for the Tungsten C handheld on its support website. The software update addresses issues involving a MAC address bug, clicking noises and various WiFi related compatibility issues. [PalmInfocenter]
Palm gives you a simple way to test if this is necessary / recommended (it was for me) and a PRC file to download. The process DELETES EVERYTHING as part of the deal… Be prepared to re-build. Not the end of the world, but certainly important to consider.
Top bulk e-mailers
Ronnie Scelson, who sends 60 million to 70 million spam e-mails a day, is among the USA’s best known. Among the others:
Avg. daily spam
Type of spam
Eddy Marin, 41
250 million
Viagra, mail-order brides, loans, computer software.
Brendan Battles, 31
50 million
CDs of e-mail addresses.
Alan Ralsky, 58
30 million
Vacation giveaways, mortgages, work-at-home opportunities.
[USA Today] (thanks, Dad!)