18 Apr 2007
Judges reject appeals from webcasters

Well, I gotta wonder how much moola and payola the RIAA funneled into this - but I'm afraid that no matter how much cash (if any) was actually spent, they've only succeeded in killing the goose before she laid any golden eggs. With this ruling, Internet radio is essentially dead.

AP - Internet radio broadcasters were dealt a setback Monday when a panel of copyright judges threw out requests to reconsider a ruling that hiked the royalties they must pay to record companies and artists.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

21:39 /Copywrongs | 1 comment | permanent link

Iran Exonerates Six Who Killed in Islam’s Name

More news from the Religion of Peace™...

Members of a prestigious state militia killed five people they considered “morally corrupt.”

(link) [New York Times]

21:37 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

I Spoke Too Soon

on mom's condition - she was back in the Indiana Heart Hospital yesterday, and had a rather urgent (without being an "emergency") heart cath. They found nothing, and are beginning to suspect that there's something else amiss. Which I think is a pretty safe bet, given the symptoms she's had and the utter lack of effectiveness that standard heart treatments have had in relieving them.

21:31 /Home | 2 comments | permanent link

Updates

Well, I'm still alive. And Mom is much better - she's actually moved back to her apartment, at least for the time being. But we're maintaining her room out here, so the office is still in the dining room. And that's been a large part of my problem with making new blog posts...

You see, there's no wired network to the dining room, so I've had to make my Windows box wireless. I moved the SuSE server to the router cabinet, no problem. I got a small Linksys access point - no problem. My Mac connects to the wireless net, no problem. My daughters Dell laptop (running XP) connects with a few problems - it seems to drop the network every once in a while, but it mostly works for her.

Trying to get my desktop Medion XP box to connect - big problem.

I got a Netgear WG111 USB wireless network adapter first - if you ever want to see how not to write software, I'd suggest taking a gander at the so-called "Smart Wizard" that Netgear ships - I've taken to referring to it as the "Dumb Klutz". The 'Connect' button doesn't, and the 'Apply' button won't. The only thing worse is the WZC - Windows Zero Configuration utility in XP, which I've come to regard as the Windows Zero Connections application.

My Mac can be set right next to the Windows box and show a signal strength of 80%+ - the Windoze machine can barely get over 40%. The only time my Mac drops the connection is when I shut the lid and put it to sleep - the most time Windows has maintained a connection is about 6 hours at a stretch.

Frustrated with the Netgear dongle, I bought a D-Link "Range-Booster" internal PCI card. This one even has a little "rubber duckie" antenna - and gets even less signal! It'll be taking a return trip to Best Buy this week, and I'll be running a CAT5 line to the dining room.

Maybe it's just a particular combination of bad equipment and bad luck, but I'm starting to think "Windows Wireless" is an oxymoron.

21:27 /Home | 4 comments | permanent link