So after, what, 2 months? I got my Neuros portable MP3 player working with Ogg files!
Using the latest beta firmware (1.40a), and the Neuros Database Manager, an open source Java interface for the Neuros, Ogg files seem to be working fine.
Pretty darn cool.
Now I just have to:
Still trying to get IcculusNews to work for the frontpage of Silwenae.net… Kelly helped take a look at it, but we need to look at it again so I can mail the email list to see if the problem with the daemon can be fixed.
I’m going to try to install IcculusFinger this weekend, it’s better documented, so we’ll see what happens.
If you use my music site, the new Quintessential 4.02 didn’t stream Ogg correctly. I worked with the developer, and the new Ogg input plugin fixes the bug for streaming Ogg. Get it here. Just a self-extracting exe file that will update Quintessential for you.
Set up a blog here for Alex (as you can see at the top of the page). Now I have to show him how to use it. It will be interesting to see how fast a 7 year old picks it up.
I was thinking about that, and when I got my first computer. (We had a Timex Sinclair – 2 of ’em eventually). I think I was about 7 or 8 when we first picked that up. I remember getting computer magazines and coding machine language by hand to play Breakout. (Which probably explains my addiction to lbreakout2 on Linux). 
I did purchase an original Timex Sinclair off Ebay last year along with an Apple //c and monitor. Gotta get that basement finished so I can set up my mini-museum of computers I used growing up. Just have to find a 286 at some point as well. And maybe a P100 at some point (had a Packard Bell once we could afford a computer, and that upgrade cycle with it started all of my learning…)
64 Bit WindowsXP seems to be missing some features according to MS’s TechNet page
Like what you ask?
Well, just to name some:
Windows Media Player
Digital video disc (DVD) video playback
The System Restore feature is not supported in Windows XP 64-Bit Edition.
Windows Messenger Service
File and Settings Transfer Wizard
If I were AMD, I’d be pissed.
Greplaw at Harvard has an interview up with Brad Templeton, Chairman of the EFF.
Good overview of what the EFF is, what they do, and what Brad personally believes in as well as where he came from.
Here’s a great quote:
# If you choose the three – and only three – most important issues for the EFF – what would they be?
Two of the EFF’s core issues — freedom of speech and surveillance — remain even more important today than they ever were. But the growing issue right now is certainly intellectual property and copyright — in particular when such areas of law start affecting freedom of speech, freedom to do research and to build software, freedom to publish and reverse engineer, all of which are happening under the DMCA.
Greplaw also has a rather tongue in cheek interview with Prof. Lawrence Lessig.
Apparently, Prof. Lessig’s personal blog was hosted by Gov. Howard Dean last week. What a great read! Dean mentions his thoughts on the DMCA, copyright and other issues. Dean’s campaign also has a blog up about the campaign.
Good stuff.
Scary. Secret courts. Warrants. Damn scary.
Read the invterview with Cindy Kohn, the EFF’s legal director.
This almost sums up why I want to sign up for . Vonage, the Voice-over-IP phone company (phone over your broadband connection).
Slashdot has linked to a story done by Forbes (click here to read the Forbes article) on how the phone companies are bilking us, normal consumers, out of billions.
After years of declining revenues, the Bell companies, working with the long distance carriers and the FCC, came up the with the “FCC line charge” item you see on your bill every month. But in 2000, when FCC auditors went to audit the equipment that makes up this charge on your phone bill, they found that the bell companies listed $5 billion in equipment that couldn’t be found, and another $5 billion in equipment that varied in prices – from $4 for the exact piece of equipment that the same phone company line listed for $133,000 elsewhere. Or $458 for a pair of gloves.
Instead of declining revenues, phone companies have posted an 18% growth in revenues — and how much of that is due to this line charge?
Read the article linked above and think for yourself.
I just installed Red Hat 9 on my old gaming rig, and I just can’t believe how great it is.
I thought Red Hat 8 was good, worthy of up a full number upgrade over 7.3, Bluecurve was a step in the right direction, but 9 is really that good. The fonts are the best I’ve seen – and that’s something I had always wanted to update previously on my RH and Debian boxes, but 9 is fantastic. The software is good and up to date without being scary new, apt-get works like a charm (thanks Freshrpms!), the menu issues were fixed, and the network browser works great.
Just having installed it again, it’s slick, installs easily, and just runs. I replaced my Debian box with it — running a version called “unstable” just never seemed right, though I love Debian, both from a technology standpoint and a belief standpoint. I think Red Hat is doing the right thing in taking a stance on copyright issues similar to Debian with MP3, NTFS, etc. And Red Hat is doing it without falling behind on the applications front.
I can’t recommend Red Hat enough – it was more than worth it to buy a Red Hat Network subscription.
I’m sometimes criticized for my liberal beliefs. That doesn’t bug me, especially in these times. Without getting into politics, one of the favorite ways to poke fun at me is for my technology views, especially when they’re viewed as paranoia. (See the links on right hand side of Silwenae.com.)
However, there is a story up at Kuro5hin discussing spyware, adware, and digital rights management. The article starts out with good definitions of each and then some editorial content. While the article tries to delicately avoid all-out Microsoft bashing, there is some, but the article describes very well the state of digital rights today, and some of the things being done to curtail our fair use rights.
So go ahead and make fun of me for using Linux. But at least read the article and understand some of the concerns. While parts of the article might be on the edge, some parts are right on, and these things paint a picture of what could come – if we don’t speak up.
I wrote my congressman, John Kline tonight in support of /temp/~c108QQUcWi::”>House Resolution 1066, The Balance Act, introduced by Rep Zoe Lofgren (D – CA). This resolution would repeal key aspects of the travesty that is the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA). The DMCA has been invoked for such silly things as suing ink-jet refillers. Tell me how they’re invalidating a copyright again? Especially when they’ve reversed engineer it on their own!
For more information on the DMCA, visit Anti-DMCA.org.
Write your congressman today!
