The brainiacs over at ArsTechnica have rolled up an excellent article describing CableCARD. What is CableCARD you ask? I’m glad you asked! CableCARD is a technology that will do away with those butt ugly set-top boxes for those of us that dig digital cable, especially HD digital cable. Read on intrepid geeks…
Monthly Archives: February 2006
Multicast on the public ‘Net!?!? WoooHoooooo!
Ok, so it’s just on a few ISPs in the UK, but with the BBC behind it might, and it’s a might big ‘might’, get some traction. Of course, one must bear in mind that this is the same network that brought us Benny Hill. Let’s hope that this project doesn’t involve chasing a bald octogenarian around and patting him on the head.
The Jeff Pulver Blog: Multicast Finally is Happening! (At least in the UK):
Google’s PageRank to get a new challenger?
Thomas Hawk points to one Dave Zatz who has sniffed out a new trademark application from MS for ‘relerank’. It is described as “computer software for organzing, displaying and managing search results from computer search engine software.”
Recording Industry vs. The People
‘A blog devoted to the RIAA’s lawsuits of intimidation brought against ordinary working people.’
It’s not often that I find lawyers (that I’m not paying) with whom I agree. These guys are the exception.
More on HDCP, DRM and HD playback within WIndows Vista
It seems that ATI and nVidia have been using ‘marketing speak’ (read: lying) about HDCP support in their current line of cards/chipsets. It seems that none of the shipping cards support HDCP despite indications on the manuf. web sites, and on the retail boxes that they do. <sigh>
What is HDCP you ask? HDPC, or High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection, is a specificiation to control digital audio and video content as it is sent accross DVI or HDMI connections. Basically, it’s DRM at the physical layer. You will need an HDCP complaint video card to view HD, Blu-Ray or HD-DVD content on your shiny new Vista PC. Oh, and your display device (monitor, Plasma TV, LCD TV, projector) will need to be HDCP compliant as well.
When will it end? Will I have to provide a retina scan to view my time-shifted recordings of Battlestar Galactica? DNA samples to prove that I am ‘worthy’ to watch Sopranos? Hollywood truely does hate me.
Oh, and don’t think the folks in the music industry like me either. The RIAA has recently stated that I can not resell legally purchased digital tracks, nor can I rip my legally purchased CDs to a portable player. Let’s just watch them try to stop me.
A good intro to VCs
I’ve been a part of several startups and I’ve been on the venture capital (VC) roller-coaster. This post provides a good background on the various types of VCs and some insight on what motivates them. A good read.
Fractals of Change: VC Primer from an Entrepreneur.s POV . Source of Funds