More Music Now Sold In MP3 Format

Warner Music has joined EMI and Universal by allowing Amazon to sell its entire catalog in MP3 format. (EMI and Universal, I believe, only offer some of their catalog.) What's more, Warner music does not watermark their MP3's. While I don't care so much about the watermarking, some consider it a privacy concern. Sony/BMG is now the only one of the four major music labels not selling their music in MP3 format.

Update 1: My bad, it's all of their digitized catalog. Oh well, that's still something.

Death and Medicine

I have been fortunate to not lose too many people close to me to death (two of my four grandparents died before I was born). An article on Wired talks about preliminary research into drugs that could stop age related diseases. The downside? In the lab animal tests the animal still died around the age they would have. The difference is that there is no cause of death that they can pinpoint it too. The question posed by the author is, how would this change our life knowing that there would be no signs of coming death? I'm somewhat torn on this... on the one hand, it would be nice to not have people suffer. On the other hand, in my limited experience with dealing with the death of loved ones, I would think that having some warning is easier than no warning at all. One commenter brings up another issue... if there are no signs of death, we couldn't allow those past a certain age to do anything dangerous such as driving. What do other Mod-Bloggers think... if available (and side-effects were minimal to none), would you take the drugs? Would you want your loved ones taking the drugs?

Warning: I have not watched the videos with the article. They appear to be clips of movies, but I do not know if they are family friendly or not.

Music: Free and Legal Downloads

I heard about this from Wired, but today was the first time I went to RCRD LBL. What is RCRD LBL? To quote their about page, "RCRD LBL is a network of ad-supported online record labels and blogs offering completely free music streams and downloads from emerging and established artists." The good? They offer music that you can stream or download for free. You don't even have to create an account. It seems that they might get that giving away music is a cheap form of advertising. The bad? The site design needs some help. It took a while to figure out how to download a song. The trick is to "Jump to an artist" from the main recrdlbl.com page (don't go to one of the sub-pages or you'll have to make sure the band you want is part of that sub-label), click on tracks, and then click the download icon that looks like a down arrow above a line. Not easy or user friendly, but it is free. You won't find the big, popular bands here, but I did find a song by a group called Cold War Kids that I saw on an episode of The Tonight Show With Jay Leno so they're not completely obscure bands either.

Update 1: Looks like some songs, such as tracks by the aforementioned Cold War Kids, are available for streaming only.

Greenpeace Co-Founder Advocates Nuclear Power

Although Patrick Moore left Greenpeace in the 80's, he was one of the co-founders of the organization. Now, he is working on the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition and is advocating switching the nation to as much as 50% nuclear power by the end of the century. Instead of banking on high cost alternatives, he feels that we should work on better disposal of the nuclear waste.

The Gettysburg Address Revised

I find this pretty funny. Then again, I've been sick for almost a week, so your mileage may vary. Wired has put up the Gettysburg Address, as presented by Abraham Lincoln as a CEO using PowerPoint.

Using Virii to Kill Cancer

There's an interesting article about studies that are attempting to use modified cold, smallpox, or herpes virii to kill cancer cells. The one attempts to use a 1-2 punch to knock out the cancer. First, the modified virus kills most of the cancer cells. After that, the immune system is boosted to mop up the rest. Interesting idea, though it sounds like one of those "crazy enough it might work" ideas. Then again inoculations are based off of weakened virii, so maybe it's not so crazy.

Google Maps At a Gas Station Near You

Wired has up an article about being able to get driving directions from Google Maps at gas stations. While I have Google Maps on my phone, this could be handy for those that don't have GPS or Google Maps on their phone.

HD Resolutions Explained

I don't have an HD TV, so I haven't really looked into what the different resolutions mean before. I found this article over at Wired interesting and informative.

Carry your hard drive in your pocket... and then some

Researchers at Arizona State University have figured out a low cost, low energy way to store data. They claim they could store 1 terabyte (between 931.3 and 1,099.5 gigabytes depending on if they're using the computer science or marketing version of the terms for both terabyte and gigabyte). With this you could literally carry around multiple computer hard drives in your pocket. Granted, computer storage will grow in size as well and the first one won't be made for 18 months. Still, if this isn't just vaporware, it will be very cool.

iPhone's Old Security Model

An article on Wired has compared the iPhone's security model to Windows 95. The reason is that all applications run at the "root" level which has permission to do anything and everything to the phone. With the announcement that an SDK is coming for the phone so that others can write applications for the iPhone, iPhone users are at risk for their data getting misused or even calls and text messages being sent from their phone without them knowing. Shame on Apple for not having a tighter security model.

Terrorists and Wile E. Coyote

Although this article was posted some time ago, I wanted to pass it on. In some ways, the fear of terrorism is even worse than terrorism itself. Our enemies want us to have our freedoms restricted and to live in fear. When we let our fear of terrorism overwhelm us, we "gladly" give up our liberties in exchange for "protection". Security is something we need to work on, but we need to have the security measures be things that actually protect us and not just give the government more power.

Typically, people who write articles about this come at it from an angle of how the "security measures" really do nothing, but Bruce Schneier over at Wired takes a different angle. Our security response needs to be proportional to the threat and many "terrorists" plans are so riddled with impossibilities that we needn't worry about them especially when traditional means are working fine.

Anti-Clinton People Outnumber Pro-Obama People On Facebook

This article isn't substantial news as how many "friends" you have on Facebook is hardly more than a straw poll. Still, I found it interesting that more people have joined an anti-Clinton group than pro-Obama group on Facebook. Some Republicans and conservatives have worried that a Clinton/Obama ticket could be the death knoll for the Republican party this election. The two have seen each other as the "enemy" that I'm not sure the groups would merge other than as a "marriage of convenience".

Anatomy of a Cyber Attack

On April 27 a cyber attack was launched against Estonia that lasted approximately two weeks. The attack targeted government, banks, and newspapers. Wired has up an excellent, though long, article about what went on and how Estonia defended itself. With the heavy reliance on internet for global commerce and communication, we need to figure out how to both defend from such an attack as well as what that means in our current alliances. Does a cyber attack on one of our allies mean we need to go to war electronically? What about with traditional military?

"Don't Tase Me, Bro"

The recent tasing of a University of Florida student at a town hall style meeting with John Kerry has been making headlines around the world. Tonight I decided to check out YouTube to see what I could make of the situation. Some are saying that it was police brutality and a suspension of the student's first amendment rights. Others were saying that he was warned and resisted arrest. This video (according to a Wired article) appears to be the number one viral video, but I think this other video gives a much better angle and has much better sound. From the videos, my conclusion is that the student was warned many times and the police had to keep escalating their level of force. By the time he was saying that he would walk, it was too late. Even after he laid on the ground, he still continued to resist arrest. What reactions did others have?

Warning: Both videos do have the tasing and the student does use one very non-Family safe word once.

Warning for Facebook Users

Facebook has changed its policy and will allow non-users to search profiles unless you opt out. The search results will bring up your profile name and picture. Instructions for protecting your privacy can be found at the link above.

A Better Battery

One of the problems with an electric car is a battery that will work for more than a 60 mile commute. According to Wired, EEStor believes they have solved this problem with patent number 7,033,406.

Why You Should Get Rid of Your Cell Phone

I got a cell phone in 1999 or 2000. It was simple. It was about the size of a cordless phone handset, it had an address book, and it called people. I could operated it easily without looking at it. It may have done a few more things, but it was nothing special. Most importantly, the phone worked well.

I now have a Cingular 8125 Windows Mobile smartphone. It plays music and videos, it surfs the internet, it can connect over WiFi, I can even remote control our Windows servers. Oh, yeah, I can also call people on it.

Back in 1999, my phone was for "emergencies", short "where are you?" conversations, and the occasional call to order take out while traveling home from school. If I left my cell phone at home, it wouldn't be the end of the world. Now, my cell phone is apart from me. If I forget it at home, I worry about what I'm missing. (To be fair to myself, I have gotten a little better recently.) I've sometimes wondered, "What would my life look like if I didn't have a cell phone?" Then my mind starts racing with all of the reasons I can't give up my cell phone. "What if someone needs to get in touch with me?" "A cell phone is so convenient when I need to make calls." "It has games on it for while you're waiting for something."

Wired has up a post entitled "Ten Reasons To Throw Away Your Cellphone". I know I have to agree with "It makes you perpetually available" and "It must constantly be recharged".

Viewing Changes to a Digital Image

At DefCon, a conference for computer hackers that takes place in Las Vegas, Neal Krawetz presented a tool that allows the user to see what parts of an image have been edited in later. With this tool, he was able to show that some of the Al-Qaeda videos have been doctored. Not surprising, but interesting.

Please note that despite what the media and pop-culture says, the word "hacker" is not a negative word. A hacker is merely one who tinkers with things. As with similar skills, they can be used for good or bad. A good example would be lock-picking. A locksmith can help you get into your car when you've locked yourself out the same way a thief can break into your car.

A Discussion on Chipping

Wired has up an AP article that talks about putting up RFID chips in humans. I doubt that any of our regular Mod-Bloggers like the idea of an RFID chip in their body, but the article brings up some interested cases where RFID is already being used.

Video Games and Child Neglect

Wired News has up a sad story of a Nevada couple who have neglected their two children (11 months old and 22 months old) because they were too busy playing video games. Like most things in life, moderation is the key. Having had to stop playing some games (or at least take a break) because I got too involved, I understand how addictive games can be. Still, we are responsible to have the self-control to stop when they get to be too much.