JHymn: Free you iTMS Purchases from DRM

"Let me start with what JHymn is not meant to do. JHymn is not meant to aid music piracy. I personally love shopping for music at the iTunes Music Store (I have nearly 900 legally-purchased songs so far, at the time of this writing), I'm happy to pay for the music I get, and I wish Apple all the success in the world at making legal music downloads a viable, profitable business.

"I don't much care, however, for Digital Rights Management (DRM). I understand why it's there, and I know Apple never would have gotten the music industry to cooperate without it, but that doesn't mean I have to like DRM or having my fair-use rights restricted."

GMail Signature

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New iPods

and even more reasons for me to want more dispossible income...

Error10

A collection of amusing Mac OS X error messages.

The Baby Name Wizard: NameVoyager

"Explore the sea of names, letter by letter...watch trends rise and fall, and dive in deeper to see your favorite name's place in the historical tides."

The software-development industry @ Economist.com

"Most software projects fail to meet their goals. Can this be fixed by giving developers better tools?"

TiVo Deathwatch @ Engadget.com

"Let’s get one thing straight: we love TiVo. We’ve been rooting for them for them since we got our first box (an original 14 hour Series 1 box that we still use to this day) and it’s not that we don’t want them to stick around, but we think it’s time to face facts and admit that this company is in some serious trouble. Nah, their demise is not a foregone conclusion, but given events of the past few months (and as much as it tears us up inside to do this), we’re launching a TiVo deathwatch."

RockRage: Music Band Fonts

"Great collection of free fonts inspired by rock and roll band logos." -- BoingBoing

flickr graph - marcos weskamp

"Flickr Graph is an application that explores the social relationships inside flickr.com. It makes use of the classic attraction-repulsion algorithm for graphs. Start exploring your contacts by entering your flickr username or the email address you used to register there."

How-To: Make a cheap portable espresso machine (Engadget )

"I spent the weekend trying to design a small espresso machine that you can make from readily available parts. What has a homemade espresso machine got that an $800 Williams Sonoma special doesn’t? $770 dollars in your bank account, high-design PVC tubing, and a caulk gun. You probably have a caulk gun anyway, so let’s just make that $785 in your pocket and a fine piece of caffeinated gagetry that you can impress your friends with.

A caulk gun? Hey, if it’s good enough for Taco Bell guacamole and sour cream, it’s good enough for a fine and delicate espresso, right?" -- www.engadget.com

The Cavalier Daily

Administrative gaffes

"I'm a senior at the University of Maryland, College Park. Having read President C.D. Mote's comments in The Diamondback and the responses to these comments in your paper ('De-Moted,' Oct. 28), I have to ask your student body to forgive U.Md. Over the past ten years, the incoming freshman GPA has risen from 3.0 to 3.87. We have gone from having zero top-25 programs to 68. Having been here for four years and seen the improvements that have occurred, I believe U.Md. is a very strong school that can compete with the very best schools. Yet, time and time again President Mote makes comments and initiates policies that seem backwards and confusing. I hope that we can all agree that U.Va. and U.Md. are both very good, if not great, schools. I also think rankings are fairly arbitrary and that is it ultimately impossible to say that one school is better than another. So say what you want about President Mote, but please don't think poorly of U.Md. just because of his comments. After all, we think he's an idiot too.

Kevin Conroy
College Park, Maryland"

Burning through Napster's collection, free

"Three computers, one fast networked drive, and a few dedicated people: Turning Napster's 14 day free trial into 252 full 80 minute CDs of free music."

ReadyMade: Feature - Past Perfect Pillow

"Nostalgia comes in strange packages: the Slayer T-shirt, the Dukes of Hazzard sleeping bag, the Care Bears beach towel. Can't bring yourself to deposit the past at the local Goodwill? Do something useful with it. Even the most embarrassing relic can be torn apart, stuffed with cotton, and sewn into a pillow."
-- ReadyMade: Feature - Past Perfect Pillow

TRN: Software ties marks to digital text

Technology Research News has written about my research project, ProofRite in their latest issue. The article is called Software ties marks to digital text.

TiVo To Go MPEG2 Decrypting

TiVo To Go MPEG2 Decrypting can convert .tivo to .mpg. Of course, I'd only be doing this to remove DRM restrictions so that I could compress the file and store it on CD/DVD which can be played back on my DVD players, thus making it easier to watch old TV shows.

CES 2005 Speaker Curse

Seems that if you were a speaker at CES 2005, your coorporate future is doomed!

Carly Fiorina steps down as HP CEO and Chairman

Mike Ramsey steps down as TiVo CEO

Mike Powell steps down as FCC Chairman

Look out Bill Gates!