What's Hot In The Tech Spot

First on the plate today is news of the Apple's offering of new "+" songs that come free of DRM and at a higher quality than the previous tracks from the itunes music store, but at a $0.30 increase in price. Videos that are DRM free will still be $2.00. The new tracks run at a 26Kbps rate while the old tracks were 128 Kbps. Although I congratulate Apple for trying come up with viable solution to the strong hand of the RIAA attempting to control how we interact with the information we are paying for, I still think that it's not enough. An article here does a double blind study as to whether you can even here the difference between 128 and 256 (and they even test the default Apple earbuds against a higher quality after market set to see if that makes any difference). Personally I think being able to burn a CD of your bought tracks which can then be ripped back onto your comp as a DRM-less copy ruins any hope of this really working. What companies need to do is make it so easy and cheap to get music that you can freely share that it's worth it to pony up the cash instead of jumping through digital hoops to make copies and share with friends. Think eMusic. I think the Microsoft Zune had a great idea with their wi-fi music share capability. But like many things that they do, the implementation was so terrible that it actually became a con of the player itself. In a somewhat related article, The Consumerist points out 50 politicians who took contributions from the RIAA. Shame on you.

Next up, close up your shades peeps because a little privacy issue from none other than Google could have the entire internet seeing what kind of cereal you like to eat. The company that promised to "do no evil" has added a new feature to it's popular maps app called "Street View" that will give you a ground level view of the street. It's currently only for certain locations but it's enough to get people worrying about the privacy of their homes. A woman who claims her cat can be seen in one of the photos has requested that Google remove the picture from the street-level database. I actually can understand peoples concerns here if this was a naked lady or at least some girls sunbathing, but your cat? Really? The first person that is going to make a stink about this is a chick afraid for the privacy of her cat? This is why when you raise privacy concerns about something valid you might get laughed at by not only the people pushing the products but your own peers as well.

Apparently the new thing in questioning social norms and pop culture is breaking them down into equations using a bevy of variables. First the Voice did it with the infamous "This is Why I'm Hot"track. Now I have found a serious piece of reading concerning the game of leaving the toilet seat down or up. This won't apply to most of us since we are swinging bachelors, but for some that have been subjected to the irritation of living with the opposite sex, this might prove useful or funny or neither.

Now for some Sad news. It seems that after a statement then a counter statement then a final statement, the series Battlestar Galactica will be ending after their fourth season. Contrary to the title of the article it seems that the shows creators are the initiators of the curtain call on the immensely popular albeit looked over series. Apparently the show, unlike other sci-fi series, had a beginning, middle and end envisioned although exactly how long each would be was not known. As a fan of the show I can say that it was one of the best sci-fi series I have watched including every incarnation of Star Trek. I feel that if it wasn't linked in people minds to the hoaky show of the 70's and attached to a network that a large segment of viewers do not tune into it did not get the praise it really deserved. I guess there is alway syndication.


You know we bitch so much about privacy in the states that we rarely look at how other westernized civilizations are handling privacy in this new world of technology and terror. Maybe they have some advice to offer? Or maybe they have got it all wrong. One need only to look to the UK of what it means not to bitch everytime the government introduces a new way of "keeping you safe". In response to the obscene gestures taken by the UK government a new film called "Taking Liberties" will be airing in theatres in various cities within the UK this weekend. I can only hope that this makes it to the States so that more people will be wary when new measures are introduced that are supposedly meant to "keep the terrorists from attacking" by somehow tracking all the inquiries you make on these here internets.