The first thing I do is uninstall all of the stuff and then enjoy the new computer. But, if I have to use the recovery disc, there they are again.

Why can’t the manufacturers throw in a CD with the sample programs on it? You could install the ones you want and not worry about the rest. If and when you have to use the recovery disc, it will recover your operating system and not expose you to all of that stuff again.

There, I feel better, thanks for listening.

[tags]new computer,installed software,lockergnome,miiikeee[/tags]

A search on the topic will provide hours of reading. The recording industry realizes the financial potential of internet radio and wants their share of the pie. The big issue is “what is their fair share?” In the case of my station, their fair share would be zero. We generate no income from the operation of the station nor do we have any advertising on the related web pages. They fail to realize that it is “Hobby” radio. We pay a provider for the bandwidth to stream. We buy the music we play. Not to mention the cost of the equipment to make it all happen. Maybe I should be sending a bill to the recording industry for promoting their music!

Many Internet Radio Stations do have revenue coming in and do generate profits. They should and are willing to pay a reasonable royalty to the recording industry. The amount they have to pay remains to be seen. When and if it happens, we can only hope that “hobby” broadcasters such as me will either be exempt from such royalties or be charged a rate reasonable enough to allow it to be a hobby.

A number of “Hobby” stations have opted to stream on offshore servers to avoid this issue. The legal issues to this are still in question. If we have to do this, so be it. However I would prefer spending my “hobby” money on an American company.

[tags]internet radio,crb,savenetradio,sound exchange,miiikeee[/tags]

The average consumer doesn’t care about all the technical aspects of their system. They just want it to work! Until an operating can do that without flaw, the great debate will go on.

Ultimately we will see a minimalist box that connects to the internet and uses an operating system there. I don’t think we will see the ultimate operating system until that happens. Gone will be the massive hard drives, expensive software, pc maintenance requirements, and all the associated headaches of keeping it all running properly. Sitting on our desk will be what we called in the 80’s “a dumb terminal”.

WebTV was and is a start in that direction. Unfortunately the advancement of WebTV is minimal at best right now.

The future will be changing rapidly and this concept is not far off. What are we going to blog about then?

[tags]windows,OS10,linux,Ubuntu,chris pirillo,miiikeee[/tags]

From a Seattle Times editorial: “The transformative effect of the Internet on the music industry has opened up new avenues for musicians and listeners. Independent musicians and labels can now reach audiences in their own way. Fans can use the Internet to discover new acts not found on corporate radio, and interact with bands as never before.

All this musical freedom has put the entrenched entities of the music industry — conglomerate record labels, corporate radio and network providers — on the offensive. Their fight against the Internet now incorporates a conquest of control.

“The attack is multifaceted. Internet radio is in danger because of a proposed new royalty scheme that would wipe out the budgets of many Internet stations. The elimination of Internet radio would allow for the big record labels and corporate radio to continue their cozy relationship without any competition…

Go to the RAIN Newsletter to learn more.

[tags]internet radio,RAIN,Chris Pirillo,Lockergnome,Miiikeee[/tags]

I was quite surprised to see the moratorium extended. Many states are writing their budgets in red ink and looking for ways to generate more revenue. I question why after 9 years of playing with a moratorium they didn’t just pass a law making it illegal for states to tax internet service. But, in typical political fashion, they want to leave a back door open.

I’m sure with this in the news the world will be flooded with e-mails about email taxes again.

[tags]internet tax,chris pirillo,lockergnome,miiikeee[/tags]

This brings up some questions.

1. Should the port be open if it isn’t available to the general public?

2. Should there be some type of warning or coding specifying who is authorized to use the port?

3. Should the provider of the port have it secured and give their customers an access key?

Unfortunately we don’t see a lot of mainstream press coverage of such laws. I’m quite sure the average consumer running around with a laptop has no idea of the legal issues in using open ports.

I’ve piggybacked on open wireless ports on occasion and thought nothing of it. Makes a person have second thoughts now.

[tags]Wi-Fi,wireless hacking,lockergnome, chris pirillo,miiikeee[/tags]

Expressing yourself in your hardware is even more interesting. I have a friend that has a computer in his work shop built on a piece of plywood hung on the wall. I’ve also seen computers built in the drawer of a filing cabinet. I’ve seen custom built cases as well as custom painted cases. While the computer in them doesn’t perform any better, it’s just one more way to express ourselves.

While browsing wired.com this morning I came across this interesting computer. http://www.wired.com/gadgets/pcs/multime…

Does anyone else have any creative hardware to share?

[tags]computer cases,computer hardware,lockergnome,chris pirillo,miiikeee[/tags]

Recently I had a family member remark that she didn’t get a family related email. I suggested she check her spam folder. She did and it was there! Having a large extended family, things like this happen quite often. Especially if the email is addressed to a multitude of people. We resolved this issue by setting up a private family Yahoo Group where an email addressed to one address reaches everyone in the family.

As a matter of practice, I don’t delete a bulk mail folder without giving it a quick browse to make sure something important didn’t end up there. I’ve had correspondence related to eBay transactions, credit card billing information etc all end up there.

The filtering system isn’t perfect, but it’s far better than trying to pick a few important e-mails out of a couple hundred spam messages. I’d love to hear from others on this topic. I’m sure we all can fine tune our systems to make it better. Any good e-mail tricks out there?

[tags]spam filtering,email tricks, lockergnome,Chris Pirillo,Miiikeee[/tags]

Yesterday Verizon reached a settlement agreement with the New York Attorney Generals Office. Verizon admitted their unlimited plans were actually limited. It cost Verizon one million dollars to reimburse terminated users as well as $150,000 penalties and costs to the New York Attorney General. Additionally Verizon no longer prohibits common internet usage. (how ever that is defined)

Read more about this at http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2007/oc…

This might be catch the attention of some of the other ISP’s and make them reconsider some of their practices. Time will tell.

[tags]verizon,wireless internet,broadband access,Miiikeee[/tags]

They make the practice sound good because they are “giving” it all to you for free. What makes them think the customer wants it in the first place?

The pathetic part of this scenario is the customers computer is bogged down and running slow. They think the problem is their “old computer” that is not so old and fully capable of browsing the web efficiently.

If the ISP wants to offer these things, fine offer them, don’t push them down the consumer’s throat. Make it clear on the installation exactly what is being installed. If it requires the customer to do a few extra clicks authorizing this or that so be it! I think a better approach would be to offer the services via email, billing inserts etc. Let it be a choice.

[tags] ISP,internet access, broadband, Miiikeee[/tags]