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If you deliver video, audio, tapes or CDs you need MMK Secure Stream right now.
MMK Secure Stream provides protection for media and can provide you with secure streaming points for live broadcasts and/or video or audio conferencing.
Pay Per Play how long can it survive I’ve heard about pay per play a service similar to adsense but on an audio based advertising. You place a code unto your site and your site will then display an audio ads to be played per unique visitor to your page. According to Wall Street Journal article quotedStarting Feb. 1, San Diego-based V2P Communications [...] read more:
Audio: Filching Design
At SxSW 2008, I had the pleasure of speaking on the Filching Design: When the Shoe Fits panel with Lindsey Simon (Google), and Skip Baney (Apple). We discussed the motivations, benefits, and drawbacks of reusing code or design elements (interactions, layouts, colors, etc.) found online.
San Andreas audio deal announced Rockstar sign new music read more:
Audio: Why Logos are Irrelevant
I had the opportunity to join Brian Zmijewski's Why Logos are Irrelevant panel at SxSW 2008 along with Christina Wodtke (LinkedIn), and Jeremy Britton (Zurb Inc.). While the panel title might suggest we advocated the death of all logos, the heart of the conversation was about the shifting value of logos in a world of infinite shelf space, digital identity, and the rapid iteration online products and services are afforded by low barriers to entry.
Audio: Content page design best practices Boxes & Arrows has published audio from my Content Page Design Best Practices talk at IA Summit 2008, where I presented a framework for thinking about how to optimize content pages for the dynamic ecosystem of the Web instead of the structured hierarchy of a Web site.
Official Description: In today’s social, distributed, search-driven Web, customers are finding their way to Web content through an increasing number of distinct experiences. Yet when people arrive at most Web pages, the experience they get isn’t optimized for this context. Instead, the vast majority of content pages online remain more concerned with their own context than the context of their users: where did a user arrive from and where are they likely to go next? These pages remain designed as if they were primarily accessed from a Web site’s home page or a carefully thought-out selection from the site’s information architecture.
To address these issues and more, this talk outlines a set of best practices for Web content page design that focuses on appropriate presentations of content, context, and calls to action. Specifically: how can content be optimized to meet user expectations as they arrive from a diverse number of access points; what is the minimum amount of context required to frame content appropriately; how can the most relevant calls to action be presented to maximize user engagement? Applying these considerations enables information architects to deliver content experiences that take full advantage of emerging opportunities online and the existing assets within their Web sites.
Audio: Luke Wroblewski on Form Design I recently had the pleasure of talking with Tom Crawford, CEO of VizThink, about my Web Form Design book and its relevance for the visual thinking community.
If form design is everywhere, why are there so many bad forms?
What are some of the common mistakes web form designers make?
What are the Top 3 tips for improving web forms?
Why do good designers create bad forms?
What is the disappearing form?
How does web form design relate to visual thinking?
For more on Form Design... Check out Luke's book about Web form usability, visual design, and interaction design considerations: Web Form Design: Filling in the Blanks.
Quicksilver is a Mac OS X application that allows you to find what you need quickly and easily, while keeping your hands on the keyboard. For example, if you want to launch an application hidden in the depths of your file system, simply activate Quicksilver with a keystroke, type a few letters of the application's name, then hit Return or Enter to launch it. - posted by sryo
Clickonic.dll is a LiteStep Desktop module, that provides the ability to view folders on the desktop. Unlike the IconDesk, it is less customizable, but it completely supports drag-and-drop operations, so you can place your icons like YOU want... - posted by sryo
Foobar2000 is an advanced audio player for the Windows platform. Some of the basic features include ReplayGain support, low memory footprint and native support for several popular audio formats. - posted by sryo
Microsoft media does not play on Microsoft's device DRM/DMCA checkmate: 'Microsoft's Zune will not play protected Windows Media Audio and Videopurchased or 'rented' from Napster 2.0, Rhapsody, Yahoo! Unlimited,Movielink, Cinemanow, or any other online media service. That's right - themedia that Microsoft promised would Play For Sure doesn't even play onMicrosoft's own device.' read more:
Whitepages.com Acquiring Snapvine, Focuses On Community Development WhitePages.com is acquiring Snapvine, a service that allows people to associate audio files with various resources like social networks, photos, text, and blogs. Snapvine enables facilitates voice blogs, similar to podcasting, but perhaps with a little greater ease.WhitePages states on their blog that they’ll use Snapvine’s technology to provide their users with free, private voicemail [...] read more:
Interview: Paul Colton, founder of Aptana Here’s a PlaybackTime interview (:30-ish) with Paul Colton, the founder of Aptana.[See post to listen to audio]Listen to learn about:Paul’s pionneering pre-Apatana historyHis work with Xamalon, and how Ajax trumps Flash as a runtime philosophyWhat Aptana shares and doesn’t share with EclipseAn emerging JavaScript standard called ScriptDoc, and how it helps Aptana support so many [...] read more:
How to be a better blogger -- and still keep your day job
I have known David Strom for a dozen years or so. He is one of the best writers out there. Whether it is hardware, software, audio, or how to do things, David digs deep, analyzes what's out there and writes comprehensive stories. His latest is about blogging, and I was happy to provide some input. If you are looking for tips about blogging, David's story is an excellent reference. His cardinal rule is to "tell the truth". He explains why it is important to find your voice and stick to it. Above all, he says, "be professional at all times". Many organizations are not capitalizing on the power of blogging, but it is not too late. David says "Craft your corporate blogging policy now, understand the mechanics and know your tools". As in all of his stories, this one offers really solid advice.
Other stories about blogging at patrickWeb are here.
Microsoft's Zune Won't Play Protected Windows Media
In yesterday's announcement of the new Zune media player and Zune Marketplace, Microsoft (and many press reports) glossed over a remarkable misfeature that should demonstrate once and for all how DRM and the DMCA harm legitimate customers.
Microsoft's Zune will not play protected Windows Media Audio and Video purchased or 'rented' from Napster 2.0, Rhapsody, Yahoo! Unlimited, Movielink, Cinemanow, or any other online media service. That's right -- the media that Microsoft promised would Play For Sure doesn't even play on Microsoft's own device. Buried in footnote 4 of its press release, Microsoft clearly states that 'Zune software can import audio files in unprotected WMA, MP3, AAC; photos in JPEG; and videos in WMV, MPEG-4, H.264' -- protected WMA and WMV (not to mention iTunes DRMed AAC) are conspicuouslyabsent.
This is a stark example of DRM under the DMCA giving customers a raw deal. Buying DRMed media means you're locked into the limited array of devices that vendors say you can use. You have to rebuy your preexisting DRMed media collection if you want to use it on the Zune. And you'll have to do that over and over again whenever a new, incompatible device with innovative features blows existing players out of the water. Access to MP3s and non-DRMed formats creates the only bridge between these isolated islands of limited devices.
The real culprit here is the DMCA -- but for that bad law, customers could legally convert DRMed files into whatever format they want, and tech creators would be free to reverse engineer the DRM to create compatible devices. Even though those acts have traditionally been and still are non-infringing, the DMCA makes them illegal and stifles fair use, innovation, and competition.
May this be a lesson to those who mistakenly laud certain DRM as 'open' and offering customers 'freedom of choice' simply because it is widely-licensed. With DRM under the DMCA, nothing truly plays for sure, regardless of whether you're purchasing from Apple, Microsoft, or anyone else.
[Postscript: In an interview with Engadget, Microsoft Zune architect J Allard pointed out that Zune has sufficient video format support, in part because there's 'Lots of DVD ripping software out there that encodes to those formats, so the most popular formats out there, whether it's MPEG-4 or H.264, we'll support those.' Gee, he isn't suggesting that his business model benefits from customers using tools like DeCSS or Handbrake to evade the DRM on DVDs, right? Especially since Microsoft is furiously trying to squash the FairUse4WM tool, that would seem rather hypocritical.]
Speculation - Why Did Microsoft Design Zune So Protected WM Doesn't Play? Below I've talked about the what, now for the why. Microsoft's J Allard can do a lot of hand-waving about Plays For Sure and Zune being two complementary solutions. Or perhaps you think that Microsoft is trying to run competitors out of the market and take Apple head-on with a similar integrated, vertical DRMed platform; perhaps they want the sort of anti-competitive power people ascribe to Apple's iPod-iTunes tie; perhaps Microsoft was tired of its Plays For Sure licensees failing to attract many customers and wanted to take the wheel. Or maybe some mix of those.
But let me throw one more possible rationale out there: because Microsoft's 'Plays For Sure' WM DRM does not accomodate the Zune sharing feature (and that's just my speculation), they ditched it. In other words, WM DRM failed to accomodate new, emerging, and potentially unforeseen lawful uses. The end result is that Microsoft decided to force customers to rebuy their preexisting WM DRMed collections in order to make use of Zune's novel features.
Microsoft wants Zune to be just like iPod-iTunes. They want customers to know exactly where to go to buy music, what software to use to manage their collection, and what the device will do. It's a fully integrated platform. Having customers buy Napster 2.0 music, load it onto the Zune, and then find out that the Zune would play but not wirelessly stream it would have been a disaster.It's exactly the frustration they're trying to avoid.
And that's to say nothing of the fact that many users were already having a lot of problems with WM DRM. Janus DRM licenses would expire randomly and it wouldn't sync with devices right for many users. By starting fresh with Zune, they also avoid that frustration.
However, just like Apple, Microsoft is discounting the frustration of people who want to use an alternative music vendor. Those customers who have bought PlaysForSure WMA files will certainly be confused when their Microsoft player is incompatible. Microsoft is also discounting that many customers will simply opt out of thelicensed services altogether, because they can't trust their investmentin DRMed media. At the same time, it's betting that the integrated platform will be worthwhile given the fact that most people's collections are MP3s anyway. Most people don't own a lot of PlaysForSure files, and, just like with the iPod and iTunes, most Zune songs won't come from the Zune Marketplace.
I still think this won't be a winning business strategy, at least not in the short run; it's not going to turn people away from the iPod (not this incarnation). But, so long as they're using DRM at all, one can make the argument that it's a better business strategy for Microsoft than Plays for Sure. Both may be losing strategies, but Zune might be less of a loser.
Regardless, I think these DRMed services under the DMCA are a raw deal for users. These are the sorts of bizarre business decisions made in the DMCA+DRM world. But for the DMCA, this wouldn't even be an issue.
[Updated a few times today for clarification and additions]
Thanks for all the nice feedback on the stories about the Business Leadership Forum in Rome. There are two final links that may be of interest. Chris Barger at IBM has posted the audio for the podcast about the demos, Internet technology, and healthcare. You can play it from here. Also, if you like the printed word, there is a single pdf that contains all the stories in one 23 page printable document. You can find it here.
David Burnett talks to the New York Times on what cameras he uses and why he mainly shoots digital now - he's another Canon 20D user. The article is interesting, but the audio slideshow is much more interesting. He explains that he uses a number of different cameras depending on the type of photo he's going for and on the slideshow there's a few examples.
I love my 20D, but it's not a camera that I can use all the time, it's just too big, so I also have a Canon SD500 which I've mentioned before. I'll get different types of photos from each camera; I can't do the same things with the SD500 that I can do with the 20D, but I can take it places a 20D just isn't appropriate. It's hard to be inconspicuous with a large SLR camera and buy the time I've tweaked the settings the moment is lost. The SD500 I use for more spontaneous photos, I don't mess with the settings, just accept the defaults and let the camera deal with the situation and most of the time it does a great job, probably better than I could have done manually. Take this as an example - that was shot at dawn directly into the rising sun with the SD500 and captured the scene exactly as I wanted it. The 20D on the otherhand lets me get photos like this, which the SD500 wasn't able to manage (subjects lit entirely by candle light on a moving boat). The SD500 also shoots video, a feature I never thought I'd use as I've always prefered still shots, but I found a few instances when video captured a scene much better than a still image could. The 20D as you'd expect from an SLR doesn't capture video. Different tools for different jobs.
The New York Times also has some tips on digital photography, nothing really new to me there, but it might be off interested to any just getting into digital.
Technology writer, Peter Svensson, wrote an interesting story called "Will video break the Internet?". From a technical point of view there are many factors to consider. If a large number of web "surfers" were using the Internet as their primary way to watch TV, there would be a problem. More capacity is clearly needed, especially as HD-TV becomes more prevalent. The pessimists -- and some telecommunications operators -- see rising fees to pay for the bandwidth expansion. Optimists know that various technologies such as multicasting, caching, digital video recorders, etc. are dramatically improving the Net's ability to deliver video content and in parallel the cost per unit of technology continues to decline. History would suggest the optimistic view is the right one.
During the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta there was a bomb blast. Native Atlanta ex-patriots living in Japan and Germany and other parts of the world wanted to get as much news coverage as possible about the status but had few choices (there were no blogs then). The Internet Technology team at IBM in Southbury, Connecticut was running a large web infrastructure for the Games at the time and one of the engineers, Andy Stanford-Clark, got the idea to "stream" a local Atlanta radio station over the Internet using an IBM technology called Bamba. It was a very successful project but only a handful of people could listen simultaneously due to the limitations of the technology and the Internet. Some people thought that if there were large numbers of listeners "audio would break the Internet". Today millions of people consider audio over the Net as commonplace. (Listening to crystal clear classical music from KUSC-FM in Los Angeles through my Sqeezebox as I write this). Based on the tens of millions of daily visitors to YouTube, it is clear that video has also become commonplace. Another leading indicator is what is happening on campus. A number of universities have decided to use the Internet to deliver cable TV to their dormitories.
One of the issues Mr. Svensson raised in his story is "net neutrality", a term that means different things to different people. The fear is that the really large telecommunications companies that provide parts of the "backbone" of the Internet may decide to not only raise fees but also to be discriminatory. In the extreme it would mean that Verizon would block access to Google because they made a deal with Yahoo! or visa versa. The telcos have never been successful in getting into the content business so a new angle for them might be to make deals with content providers that would make their video move through the Internet backbone at a higher priority in return for fees. These fears have gotten the attention of lawmakers who are now talking about legislation to insure net neutrality. Legislation is the worst possible way to address the issue.
What is really needed is more competition. In Japan, the Internet service available to consumers is significantly faster than in the U.S. and significantly less expensive. For example, Yahoo! Broadband offers 8 million bits per second for about $20 per month. Up to 100 million bits per second is available. What technical breakthrough have they had? None. The breakthrough was to separate the various infrastructure elements of Internet service and allow "Adam Smith's invisible hand" to go to work. More competition means higher speeds and lower prices. In the U.S. we have legions of lawyers and lobbyists at work doing their best to gain protections for themselves and to slow the spread of innovation such as municipal wireless and voice over IP. Will video break the Internet? No. The biggest threat to freedom of choice for content at competitive prices is a lack of competition.
Misguided or overly-prescriptive legislation can have unintended consequences. It can often fix one problem and create two new ones or add yet another layer of protectionism. Mike Nelson, former Director for Technology Policy at the Federal Communications Commission (and former colleague at IBM), says "a lack of competition which lets companies exert monopoly or duopoly power is probably the biggest damper on innovation". Not all legislation is bad. It is possible to use it to increase competition and decrease regulation, to fund e-government pilot projects, "connect the unconnected," or fund university education and research.
Many questions - MSAS, playing WAV files and what to develop Media Center apps with
I've had lots of questions recently and no time to really get answers and post them up here. If I haven't answered you question it's because I don't know the answer and haven't had enough time to get to the bottom of it yet.
First of all I had a couple of questions on MSAS which I don't know that much about.
Can I tell which tuner is being used when a recording takes place using MSAS? No, you can not. What you can do, which may or may not help is use OnTVRecordStateChange from a background add-in which will give you a GUID and you could track which was in use - this won't help if a tuner is being used for live TV though. Here's a code snippet on how to use OnTVRecordStateChange:
void IAddInEntryPoint.Launch(AddInHost host) {
host.Television.OnTVRecordStateChange += new Microsoft.MediaCenter.AddIn.TVRecordStateChangeDelegate(TvRecordStateChangedHandler);
...
}
public void TvRecordStateChangedHandler(object obj, Microsoft.MediaCenter.AddIn.TVRecordStateChangeArgs TVArgs) {
if (TVArgs.Started)
mcHost.HostControl.Dialog('Recording started on tuner ' + TVArgs.Tuner, 'TV Recording',1,10,false);
else if (TVArgs.Stopped)
mcHost.HostControl.Dialog('Recording stopped on tuner ' + TVArgs.Tuner, 'TV Recording',1,10,false);
}
Can I use remote desktop to connect to a Media Center PC? Yes. You can even use Media Center, but it won't play video over a RDP connection
Can I use animated backgrounds in an HTML page? Not really a media center question, but I don't see why not, use an animated gif.
Could I create an add-in that played a selection of WAV files with a gap between them? Yes, using Playmedia and Playrate you could contstruct an addin to do this - waiting until the playrate was stopped, then wating however long you want before playing the next file. You could also use More With This to make this work with any folder of audio files.
Can I use ASP.NET for development? Yes. You can use any web technology that outputs HTML.
Can I use WinForms for development? Yes, but if you're running as a .exe you won't have access to Media Center APIs. If you're running as a .NET applet in a webpage you'll have access to the Media Center APIs from the HTML page and will have to communicate between the page and the .NET applet to use the Media Center APIs - non-trivial to do, but not hard.
One of the many innovations Sam Palmisano has spearheaded at IBM is the idea of reaching out to "alumni". The first initiative was a few years ago when he started a semi-annual reception for executives and former executives of the company. That was just the beginning and now the idea of reaching out has been opened up big time. The number of past and present IBMers is probably close to a million people. Establishing communications with such a huge base can be nothing but a good thing for the company.
When I left engineering school and joined IBM in 1967, it was common to look for a job at a company and expect to stay there your entire career. Nobody thinks that way anymore. If you tell someone you were with a company for decades, they might ask "what's the matter, couldn't you find any other jobs?". Another change is in the old days if someone left the company they were considered a traitor and barred from coming back. Today, there are many executives that left the company at some point, got some experience at one or more other companies, and then brought that experience back into IBM.
The Internet has enabled everything to be connected to everything, so setting up a blog to "connect" past, present, (and maybe future) IBMers to each other and with the company seems like a very good idea. The The first step was the Google Group, the logical step two is the new Greater IBM blog. Over time other forms of web technology such as wikis, audio and video podcasts, instant messaging, and various mobile technologies will likely enter the mix.
The possibilities are endless -- collaboration on projects, personal networking for jobs and deals, referrals to and from IBM, and social networking for the fun of it. I look forward to being part of this as it evolves. Upon e-tirement in 2001 with nearly four decades at IBM, I don't really feel like I left anyway! Feel free to visit patrickWeb. There are a number of categories that I have been writing about for more than ten years. Things related to IBM are at this site, I am sure I will be writing about and linking to the Greater IBM blog as will others. Cross linking will increase the overall "connectedness". That's what the web is all about. I am really proud that IBM is taking the blogosphere so seriously.
What is the context for registration? People want instant gratification. It’s fairly easy to switch providers –low barriers to entry for online services. People will lie to protect their identity. Remembering account details is difficult.
In order to establish an effective design, need to embrace user needs & leverage their natural behavior
Different structures for user registration. Pre: needs unique identifier. Post: encourages return transactions. Immersive: promotes usage. Part of the way you use the product.
Connecting with the user: build trust so can get factual data within the system
Error & help text: fun, approachable angle to ease people into it
Only ask necessary questions
Only need unique identifier for communication: aol, gmail, etc.
Banking & Finance: needs identifier for increased security
Commerce: no meaningful ID needed for commercial transactions
If going to use a unique identifier, make it easy for people. Use email or a common ID method for registration if you do not need a unique identifier
Respect your user’s locale: get message to international users that a localized version of site content is available.
Use CAPTCHA wisely: Provide audio version for the visually impaired, allow user to request a different image, Use CAPTCHA to protect commodities like usernames
Online circle of life: register, user, forget account information
Build a relationship prior to or with registration
Be personable: use humor if appropriate
Explain the value of questions if they may be seen as out of context
Use an immersive registration process when possible
Account recovery mechanisms
Email: quickest, assumes people have control over email
Challenge/response model: prone to repeated errors because people lie, works best when information is up to date
Forensic: confirms account activity and details in order to reset password: verifies actions only known by the account owner, safest method, most difficult to implement
Email recovery: put the user in the control. Need to ask for email address from user. Confirm where it is sending
Challenge/recovery questions change over time.
Users want to retain privacy and may be worried about ID theft
Put the user in control of account recovery
Remind users that their account may contain old information
I have known David Strom for a dozen years or so. He is one of the best writers out there. Whether it is hardware, software, audio, or how to do things, David digs deep, analyzes what's out there and writes comprehensive stories. His latest is about blogging, and I was happy to provide some input. If you are looking for tips about blogging, 
Thanks for all the nice feedback on the stories about the Business Leadership Forum in Rome. There are two final links that may be of interest. Chris Barger at IBM has posted the audio for the podcast about the demos, Internet technology, and healthcare. You can play it from 
Technology writer, Peter Svensson, wrote an interesting story called "
