Well, I'm mildly surprised it took a whole month... after the FCC put forth new restrictions on Internet providers, Verizon has gone to the courts seeking to have the FCC slapped down again (link). I'm sure Comcast would have been happy to jump in again, but they had that whole merger with NBC in front of the FCC already.
Oh well, no great skin off my back... I don't use Verizon, and had no plans of jumping to them with the disgruntled AT&T iPhone lemmings. I'll just sit back and watch the fun for now.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Time for a new toy: Kobo e-reader
When I was younger, I used to, almost literally, devour books. I was an avid enough reader, especially of fantasy and science fiction, that I routinely read while walking from place to place, during church services, and so forth. That changed a fair deal when I was able to afford my first computer, and my more obsessive qualities transferred to that medium, but I still read with great regularity. In recent years, though, I have definitely lost the drive to read... there are too many games, cartoons, movies, etc. to take up large chunks of time. The most "reading" I've done of late has been manga, usually in snippets here and there, occasionally getting sucked into a volume long enough to finish it at one reading... and even then, that takes about an hour, tops.
Over the weekend, Borders held a sale on their Kobo e-reader, bringing the price down to about $100 from its regular $140, which was enough to trigger some thought on my part... what kept me from reading at home? Paperbacks of the sort I tend to like have a fair degree of heft to them, and, while bookmarkable, require some manipulation to get back to where you left off... and, if you have a short reading window, remembering exactly where you left off in a couple of pages of text can take a bit as well. An e-reader takes care of most of those issues for you, plus you don't accumulate physical books all over the house... and the Kobo is a bare-bones device (which warms my engineer heart), supports standard publishing formats (so you're not locked into one store's goods), and comes pre-loaded with 100 books.
So, yeah, I bit... and so far, I'm not sad I did. Those pre-loaded books are "classics", of course, which works for me. I tried out the intended store mechanism to download another free book, which was straightforward enough... but, especially at first, I'm likely to take full advantage of some of the legal, free sources for books online. For example, Project Gutenberg, for some older titles like The Devil's Dictionary... or the Baen Free Library, when I'm looking for a new sci-fi series to get lured into. It may take me a bit longer to get through some of these titles than when I was younger, but even 5 or 10 minutes at a shot should get me some good entertainment value for the money.
Over the weekend, Borders held a sale on their Kobo e-reader, bringing the price down to about $100 from its regular $140, which was enough to trigger some thought on my part... what kept me from reading at home? Paperbacks of the sort I tend to like have a fair degree of heft to them, and, while bookmarkable, require some manipulation to get back to where you left off... and, if you have a short reading window, remembering exactly where you left off in a couple of pages of text can take a bit as well. An e-reader takes care of most of those issues for you, plus you don't accumulate physical books all over the house... and the Kobo is a bare-bones device (which warms my engineer heart), supports standard publishing formats (so you're not locked into one store's goods), and comes pre-loaded with 100 books.
So, yeah, I bit... and so far, I'm not sad I did. Those pre-loaded books are "classics", of course, which works for me. I tried out the intended store mechanism to download another free book, which was straightforward enough... but, especially at first, I'm likely to take full advantage of some of the legal, free sources for books online. For example, Project Gutenberg, for some older titles like The Devil's Dictionary... or the Baen Free Library, when I'm looking for a new sci-fi series to get lured into. It may take me a bit longer to get through some of these titles than when I was younger, but even 5 or 10 minutes at a shot should get me some good entertainment value for the money.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Sony, digging their hole deeper
I haven't posted much about my ongoing displeasure with Sony's PS3 shenanigans, and nothing since August of last year... mostly because developments I've seen have had that icky "pirate aftertaste" about them, and I held out some sliver of hope, however small, that Sony might see (or be forced to see, thanks to the class-action lawsuit against them) the error of their ways. That hope is pretty well gone, since they seem to have lost even the basic concept of how the Internet works, now that they're trying to sue a group of hackers, including foreign nationals, in a California court... not for monetary damages, but just to get them to stop posting how to jailbreak your PS3 (link).
For those of you less-obsessed than I, here's a brief rundown of how we've gotten to where we are today: Sony's first-generation "fat" PS3 consoles came with an "Other OS" option, useful for hobbyists (such as myself) who wanted to play with things like Linux on their consoles... in part, at least, this option was likely included to help dodge tariffs on importing dedicated videogame consoles. Years down the road, Sony releases redesigned "slim" PS3 consoles that lack this feature. All fine and well, until April of last year, when Sony retroactively removes Other OS from the fat consoles, in response to a hacker working out how to access some hardware Sony didn't intend Other OS to have access to, alleging security concerns.
In removing Other OS, Sony managed to annoy some of the most technically-savvy customers they had, including people who don't like being told there are arbitrary limits on what they can do with hardware they purchased. First, somebody came up with a USB dongle that used, if I recall properly, a Sony-provided "service mode" to let you install programs on your PS3, bypassing their security checks that way... Sony made relatively quick work of that problem by getting the dongles seized by customs through court order. More recently, hackers have discovered a "master key" Sony uses to verify software as valid for install, posting video proof and key details on the Internet... details that Sony apparently can't fix without breaking their own systems.
So, for those of you so inclined, with PS3 systems of any age... the details are now out there to install whatever you want or can find on your PS3, and I don't expect that to change, no matter what legal tactics Sony employs, because the details are "in the wild" on the Internet. Myself, I'm a bit paranoid when it comes to large corporations in US courts... since Sony started the legal ball rolling today, I'm willing to wait for a bit and verify that this does, in fact, fall under the jailbreaking exception of the DMCA. If it does, by that time, I'm sure the tools will be available to back up my current firmware and programs (just to be on the safe side), then wipe my PS3 clean and see what fun I can find in the way of operating systems, media center software, and the like. This should be fun to watch, from here on out.
For those of you less-obsessed than I, here's a brief rundown of how we've gotten to where we are today: Sony's first-generation "fat" PS3 consoles came with an "Other OS" option, useful for hobbyists (such as myself) who wanted to play with things like Linux on their consoles... in part, at least, this option was likely included to help dodge tariffs on importing dedicated videogame consoles. Years down the road, Sony releases redesigned "slim" PS3 consoles that lack this feature. All fine and well, until April of last year, when Sony retroactively removes Other OS from the fat consoles, in response to a hacker working out how to access some hardware Sony didn't intend Other OS to have access to, alleging security concerns.
In removing Other OS, Sony managed to annoy some of the most technically-savvy customers they had, including people who don't like being told there are arbitrary limits on what they can do with hardware they purchased. First, somebody came up with a USB dongle that used, if I recall properly, a Sony-provided "service mode" to let you install programs on your PS3, bypassing their security checks that way... Sony made relatively quick work of that problem by getting the dongles seized by customs through court order. More recently, hackers have discovered a "master key" Sony uses to verify software as valid for install, posting video proof and key details on the Internet... details that Sony apparently can't fix without breaking their own systems.
So, for those of you so inclined, with PS3 systems of any age... the details are now out there to install whatever you want or can find on your PS3, and I don't expect that to change, no matter what legal tactics Sony employs, because the details are "in the wild" on the Internet. Myself, I'm a bit paranoid when it comes to large corporations in US courts... since Sony started the legal ball rolling today, I'm willing to wait for a bit and verify that this does, in fact, fall under the jailbreaking exception of the DMCA. If it does, by that time, I'm sure the tools will be available to back up my current firmware and programs (just to be on the safe side), then wipe my PS3 clean and see what fun I can find in the way of operating systems, media center software, and the like. This should be fun to watch, from here on out.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Miner Dig Deep
If you own an Xbox360, and have a spare 80 points lying around your account, you could do much worse than to spend it on Miner Dig Deep. Yes, for $1, you can get a dirt-simple mining game, with graphics, sound, and gameplay much better than you might expect for that measly sum. Just be warned... it's an addictive little toy. For all you can do a trip down into the mine in 5-10 minutes, I've got one game I've been playing for about 5 hours or so, with no end in sight... it's got that nebulous "one more round" quality that only the best games bring up. I'd write more, but... I've got some digging to get back to... ;)
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Internet Neutrality is a reality... sort of
Well, it's been a long time coming... the FCC finally roused itself enough to put something resembling basic protections of the way the Internet has historically worked into the form of an enforceable rule (in theory, anyways). I have yet to see a link to the raw text of the rule, so I can't pick too many holes in it personally yet, but the gist I get from reading multiple stories is that landline-based consumer Internet providers can't block or artificially slow legal content from reaching their customers, and they have to be transparent with their customers on how they're managing network traffic on their networks. All fine and well, I suppose, but I don't think that will keep Comcast and the rest from improving their in-house networks to support their own services, while letting their connection to the 'net at large get clogged naturally by increased demand for services, or charging different amounts for different tiers of data usage or transfer speeds... time will tell on that, I suppose.
Wireless is less of a concern to me (what can I say, that's "last resort" territory for me getting data)... so, I guess it's no surprise that I'm not particularly perturbed that wireless 'net access doesn't get the same protections as wired. Providers still have to tell us how they're messing with the connection, but I gather they get to at least slow content from the world at large. Considering the physical limitations of open-air transmission, it makes sense enough to me.
Still, this game isn't over yet, I'm sure... intentionally or no, some provider (or group thereof) is going to get in a legal argument with the FCC, and it'll be at least a couple of years before this round of fun is settled. That is, supposing Congress doesn't find a way to cause grief first... oh well, at least we've finally gotten on to this stage of the play, rather than still be waiting for somebody to rein in the ISPs.
Wireless is less of a concern to me (what can I say, that's "last resort" territory for me getting data)... so, I guess it's no surprise that I'm not particularly perturbed that wireless 'net access doesn't get the same protections as wired. Providers still have to tell us how they're messing with the connection, but I gather they get to at least slow content from the world at large. Considering the physical limitations of open-air transmission, it makes sense enough to me.
Still, this game isn't over yet, I'm sure... intentionally or no, some provider (or group thereof) is going to get in a legal argument with the FCC, and it'll be at least a couple of years before this round of fun is settled. That is, supposing Congress doesn't find a way to cause grief first... oh well, at least we've finally gotten on to this stage of the play, rather than still be waiting for somebody to rein in the ISPs.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
One reason I love the Internet... Competition
As you might have read from my last post, I'm less than impressed with Hulu Plus on my Roku, between $8/month to access, commercials in videos, and a selection of limited interest to me. Yesterday, a new channel came out for the Roku, from a site called Crunchyroll... with it, you can watch most of their vast anime library for free, commercial-free... including two of the three anime series I intended to slog through on Hulu's system. As an added bonus, Crunchyroll even has more episodes for those two series than Hulu Plus does... so, I'll be burning through that third series on Hulu Plus before ditching it.
Of course, I did say most of Crunchyroll's anime library was available for free... they do have a paid plan, if I want the absolute latest episodes for some animes, or one of a few series reserved for paying members. Even so, that would be about $7/month, and still without commercials. Yes, "numbered" is a good description of Hulu's days on my box.
Of course, I did say most of Crunchyroll's anime library was available for free... they do have a paid plan, if I want the absolute latest episodes for some animes, or one of a few series reserved for paying members. Even so, that would be about $7/month, and still without commercials. Yes, "numbered" is a good description of Hulu's days on my box.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
First impressions... Hulu Plus on Roku
So, the free trial period for Hulu Plus is over, and I'm now (for the time being at least) a paying customer... so, obviously, I'm not entirely dissatisfied with it. However, I'm still thinking of this as a short-term subscription for the purpose of catching up on some longish anime series, rather than a long-term viewing source... let me tell you a few reasons why.
First and foremost has to be the ads. Yes, even though you're paying Hulu for the stream, you still get ads. In and of itself, that's a nuisance... but the volume of ads is really a bit much. Here's a brief example of what watching an episode of anime is like:
Apart from that... well, there are a number of smaller issues, but I can't say with certainty whether they are Hulu Plus specific, Roku specific, or something to do with Comcast, but they're still worthy of note. I have run into a number of occasions where the stream "lost sync", dropping the audio and advancing the video in short bursts. On one occasion, the video locked up on return from commercials, and had to be restarted to continue. Even so, it's generally rare enough that these glitches occur that they are (so far) endurable.
Then there are the Roku-specific issues with Hulu Plus. I'm guessing that the "channel" was created by folks at Hulu with little or no experience in actually using a Roku... how else can I explain some of the baffling exclusions from the interface? For example, you can "subscribe" to a series, which gives you access to all the shows in that series Hulu carries, thankfully broken out into seasons... but, from what I've seen, it doesn't remember what the last episode you watched was. There is a "star rating" displayed for each episode, and you can rate episodes yourself... but it always displays the aggregate rating (or, at least, doesn't visually differentiate between your ratings and overall ratings), so you can't even use that as a workaround. Better still, the standard "use the fast forward/reverse buttons to jump a page of selections" feature isn't available... so if, for example, you want to see episode 25 in a 50-episode season, you get to mash the right arrow button 24 times, waiting for the Roku to respond to each press, before you can get started on your show. Thankfully, you can "wrap around" from the first to the last episode by going backwards, so it's not as bad as it could be... but it's plenty bad as is.
But enough negativism... what about the good stuff? Well, you do get original-language shows with English subtitles, which I count as a plus, although not everyone will. It is faster than waiting on Netflix discs with four episodes apiece to work their way to your door... and it's certainly less expensive than going out and buying disc sets of these animes. And... that's about it, really. So, yeah, I'll burn through the series I really want to see, and, barring something exceptional cropping up on Hulu in the meantime, I'll drop Hulu Plus like a hot rock once I'm done.
First and foremost has to be the ads. Yes, even though you're paying Hulu for the stream, you still get ads. In and of itself, that's a nuisance... but the volume of ads is really a bit much. Here's a brief example of what watching an episode of anime is like:
- Start with a "this program is brought to you with limited commercial interruption by" message, usually followed by an ad.
- Anime title animation
- 1-2 ads (15-30 seconds each)
- First half of anime episode
- 1-2 ads
- Second half of anime episode
- 1-2 ads
- Anime credits/preview of next episode
Apart from that... well, there are a number of smaller issues, but I can't say with certainty whether they are Hulu Plus specific, Roku specific, or something to do with Comcast, but they're still worthy of note. I have run into a number of occasions where the stream "lost sync", dropping the audio and advancing the video in short bursts. On one occasion, the video locked up on return from commercials, and had to be restarted to continue. Even so, it's generally rare enough that these glitches occur that they are (so far) endurable.
Then there are the Roku-specific issues with Hulu Plus. I'm guessing that the "channel" was created by folks at Hulu with little or no experience in actually using a Roku... how else can I explain some of the baffling exclusions from the interface? For example, you can "subscribe" to a series, which gives you access to all the shows in that series Hulu carries, thankfully broken out into seasons... but, from what I've seen, it doesn't remember what the last episode you watched was. There is a "star rating" displayed for each episode, and you can rate episodes yourself... but it always displays the aggregate rating (or, at least, doesn't visually differentiate between your ratings and overall ratings), so you can't even use that as a workaround. Better still, the standard "use the fast forward/reverse buttons to jump a page of selections" feature isn't available... so if, for example, you want to see episode 25 in a 50-episode season, you get to mash the right arrow button 24 times, waiting for the Roku to respond to each press, before you can get started on your show. Thankfully, you can "wrap around" from the first to the last episode by going backwards, so it's not as bad as it could be... but it's plenty bad as is.
But enough negativism... what about the good stuff? Well, you do get original-language shows with English subtitles, which I count as a plus, although not everyone will. It is faster than waiting on Netflix discs with four episodes apiece to work their way to your door... and it's certainly less expensive than going out and buying disc sets of these animes. And... that's about it, really. So, yeah, I'll burn through the series I really want to see, and, barring something exceptional cropping up on Hulu in the meantime, I'll drop Hulu Plus like a hot rock once I'm done.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)