24 Nov 2006
Trusted or Treacherous Computing?

Apparently, we shan't ever be allowed to own media - it's all going to be licensed, and what few rights we have left under current copyright law will go the way of the dodo.

Just because Richard Stallman is paranoid doesn't mean Microsoft's not out to get you. For a hint about the possible end-game of Microsoft's Trusted Computing Initiative, check out the patent application published Thanksgiving Day for Trusted License Removal, in which Microsoft describes how to revoke rights to render based on 'who the user is, where the user is located, what type of computing device or other playback device the user is using, what rendering application is calling the copy protection system, the date, the time, etc.' So much for Microsoft's you-should-have-control assurances.

(link) [Slashdot]

21:51 /Copywrongs | 0 comments | permanent link

Whew!

Today was the first day up at the Dull's Tree Farm this year - and I unloaded nearly 4 tons of hay before I left for the gig. I'm bushed. But it was a good day - the petting "Zoo Crew" we've put together is really a pretty special bunch, all gentle and friendly, and all with personalty plus. Annie and Pig made the cute cut, as did the goats (of course) and the inscrutable llama. We took Link, too, but Cory just doesn't have the right disposition for a festival crowd. Which is essentially what this is.

Things were slow today - the weather was exceptional, and it was thought that most folk believed it too warm to cut a Yule tree. There were folks running around in shorts! In Indiana, in November! Last year the temperature was below zero and we had snow already. Go figure.

One new addition this year is a gumball machine that we purchased to dispense sweet feed by the handful. For a quarter. Kids love to feed the critters, and this gives me a way to ration the amount they get fed, not to mention what they get fed. And it keeps on collecting the cash even when I can't be there - which is sweet. It's earned a permanent place in our lineup already!

I'll try to get some pix up in the next few weeks of the setup and the crew. But for right now it's a hot shower and a warm bed for me.

21:44 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link