What’s the value of a bit? It seems that going after folks who have traded songs or movies online is a huge expenditure of effort and money. Is DRM-protected content the way to go? If you don’t agree, propose another method for the distribution of digital multimedia so that content creators can still be compensated.
A bit can be implemented in many different forms. Targeting those who trade music & movies is a large task to take on because it is so frequent and very easy for people to do. However, there is ambiguity on our freedom of use when it comes to music/movies that we have gathered legally. The DRM-protected content can make it difficult for those consumers to re-use the multimedia that they own.
However, I think it may be the only solution right now to protect artists from losing money due to illegal copying & distribution. The makers of these movies & music deserve protection for their art. So, although it does threaten the freedom of use we have with media we own, I think the industry & the citizens need to meet at a common ground which may just be DRM-protected content.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Copy Protection
The copy protection originally designed to protect content on DVDs has been overcome some years ago. What other methods can you find today that movie studios are using to protect their content on DVDs or other optical media?
RipGuard was introduced in 2005 to prevent and/or reduce digital DVD copying by altering the format of the DVD to disrupt the ripping software. Macrovision, who created RipGuard, claims that majority of the population lacks the determination/knowledge to copy a DVD protected with RipGuard.
ARccOS (Advanced Regional Copy Control Operating Solution)is made by Sony & used to protect some DVDs. This protection sets up corrupted sectors on the DVD which cause copying software to produce errors.
Protect Software was altered in 2004 from it's 1996 introduction to focus on copy protection. ProtectDISC Video protects mass replicated DVDs. The software prevents analyzation of the DVD structure, which then prevents copying. It is used by Universal Studios & Sony Pictures Entertainment.
ProtectBURN Video protects DVD copying by stopping ripping software from analyzing the structure of the DVD, also. This process can be performed by the publisher & is used by movie studios to prevent copying.
RipGuard was introduced in 2005 to prevent and/or reduce digital DVD copying by altering the format of the DVD to disrupt the ripping software. Macrovision, who created RipGuard, claims that majority of the population lacks the determination/knowledge to copy a DVD protected with RipGuard.
ARccOS (Advanced Regional Copy Control Operating Solution)is made by Sony & used to protect some DVDs. This protection sets up corrupted sectors on the DVD which cause copying software to produce errors.
Protect Software was altered in 2004 from it's 1996 introduction to focus on copy protection. ProtectDISC Video protects mass replicated DVDs. The software prevents analyzation of the DVD structure, which then prevents copying. It is used by Universal Studios & Sony Pictures Entertainment.
ProtectBURN Video protects DVD copying by stopping ripping software from analyzing the structure of the DVD, also. This process can be performed by the publisher & is used by movie studios to prevent copying.
WEP & WPA
If your mother uses wifi at home to send you e-mail, and your home network is not protected by WEP or WPA, what reasons would you suggest to her for enabling one of these two protocols at home if the liability of reading those e-mails still exists once her message leaves your home, on it’s way to school?
Since the network is wireless & not as secure as the traditional wired network, her e-mails are vulnerable to confidentiality & tampering. In order to secure the transmission of her messages to me, she would need to enable either WEP or WPA. By enabling one of these two protocols, she is further protecting her message from an unprotected transmission. The content of the message is less likely to be untentionally used if she enables a WEP or WPA. I would suggest it to her to back-up the security of the wireless network itself.
If she was sending personal information, credit card information, academic information, etc. in the e-mail, it is critical that there is some form of protection for that message. Without any protection, the e-mail has been transmitted through an unsecure network and is not only vulnerable to deliberate use but unintentional use.
Since the network is wireless & not as secure as the traditional wired network, her e-mails are vulnerable to confidentiality & tampering. In order to secure the transmission of her messages to me, she would need to enable either WEP or WPA. By enabling one of these two protocols, she is further protecting her message from an unprotected transmission. The content of the message is less likely to be untentionally used if she enables a WEP or WPA. I would suggest it to her to back-up the security of the wireless network itself.
If she was sending personal information, credit card information, academic information, etc. in the e-mail, it is critical that there is some form of protection for that message. Without any protection, the e-mail has been transmitted through an unsecure network and is not only vulnerable to deliberate use but unintentional use.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Google's text-based ads
In general, do you pay attention to Google’s text-based ads? If you do follow them, tell us why. If you don’t, tell us why. Should Google keep these “sponsored ads”? Tell us why or why not.
I never use Google's ads. To me, they appear to be similiar to ads that pop up on your screen when you absolute don't want them there and they are annoying. I don't mind the Google text-ads as much because they are just placed on the side of the webpage and don't interfere with what I'm doing, but I just don't see a need to use them. To be honest, I barely even pay attention to them. Maybe it is because there is no image that I'm not drawn to the ad as much as I would be to an image. A lot of the time the ads are just so short that they don't even make sense as to what they are trying to advertise.
I don't think Google should keep these "sponsored ads". I guess because I find no need for them they seem useless to me. If they work and are popular among other people, then they don't interfere with my use of Google or any Google functions. I don't find them helpful and I've never utilized the "sponsored ads" but at the same time they are much better than a pop up ad or a really flashy ad on the side of my webpage.
I never use Google's ads. To me, they appear to be similiar to ads that pop up on your screen when you absolute don't want them there and they are annoying. I don't mind the Google text-ads as much because they are just placed on the side of the webpage and don't interfere with what I'm doing, but I just don't see a need to use them. To be honest, I barely even pay attention to them. Maybe it is because there is no image that I'm not drawn to the ad as much as I would be to an image. A lot of the time the ads are just so short that they don't even make sense as to what they are trying to advertise.
I don't think Google should keep these "sponsored ads". I guess because I find no need for them they seem useless to me. If they work and are popular among other people, then they don't interfere with my use of Google or any Google functions. I don't find them helpful and I've never utilized the "sponsored ads" but at the same time they are much better than a pop up ad or a really flashy ad on the side of my webpage.
World Biggest Freeze
Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GfrfDmXDb0 What would you write to get people to do this? Where would you put it? How would you distribute the message? How would you get buy-in for partcipation?
This is a cool question because I've always been intrigued with these things that pop up on YouTube (YouTube.com). If I was going to try to coordinate something like this, I would try to create a Blog about it. I would set up a new blog dedicated to just this purpose of organizing people together. I would send out this blog link to as many people as I know and ask them to forward on the blog link to all their friends. I would link clips of the previous videos to get people excited! I think that people would be excited to participate after seeing how well it previously worked out. I would explain what exactly I wanted them to do in the message on the blog and allow feedback on the blog. I think if I it became a joint effort to make it successful then more people would be excited about participating. I would include the blog link on my facebook page, send it out via email, and try to create a buzz. By allowing everybody to have a say I think that would get buy-in to make it more a group project. Also, adding incentive (i.e doing a better job than this city, place) would encourage people to participate. This video is titled "world biggest freeze", but I think trying to get people to be part of the world biggest project.
This is a cool question because I've always been intrigued with these things that pop up on YouTube (YouTube.com). If I was going to try to coordinate something like this, I would try to create a Blog about it. I would set up a new blog dedicated to just this purpose of organizing people together. I would send out this blog link to as many people as I know and ask them to forward on the blog link to all their friends. I would link clips of the previous videos to get people excited! I think that people would be excited to participate after seeing how well it previously worked out. I would explain what exactly I wanted them to do in the message on the blog and allow feedback on the blog. I think if I it became a joint effort to make it successful then more people would be excited about participating. I would include the blog link on my facebook page, send it out via email, and try to create a buzz. By allowing everybody to have a say I think that would get buy-in to make it more a group project. Also, adding incentive (i.e doing a better job than this city, place) would encourage people to participate. This video is titled "world biggest freeze", but I think trying to get people to be part of the world biggest project.
Drug side effects
Abelson: The official website for the drug Olanzapine probably didn’t mention the fact it might cause diabetic symptoms in patients. Another website obviously did. Commercials on TV now are required to mention possible side effects. Should drug companies be required to come clean about situations like the one with Eli Lilly’s Olanzapine in their commercial websites? Why or why not?
I think its important for drug companies to address issues about side effects & medical conditions to their patients as much as possible. Many patients don't take the time to research a drug or its effects or take the time to read through all of the information, and while that is the responsibility of the patient, it is important to keep their patients safe by highlighting some of the more serious issues. I think it makes a drug and the drug company more credible when they address mistakes formally on their website. When companies just ignore the issues it seems as if they are covering something up or not as worried about their patients. For example, the birth control Yaz had some problems with their side effects and they cleared up the information on their commercial. This made people aware of the issues and it makes the drug safer for everybody using it.
I think its important for drug companies to address issues about side effects & medical conditions to their patients as much as possible. Many patients don't take the time to research a drug or its effects or take the time to read through all of the information, and while that is the responsibility of the patient, it is important to keep their patients safe by highlighting some of the more serious issues. I think it makes a drug and the drug company more credible when they address mistakes formally on their website. When companies just ignore the issues it seems as if they are covering something up or not as worried about their patients. For example, the birth control Yaz had some problems with their side effects and they cleared up the information on their commercial. This made people aware of the issues and it makes the drug safer for everybody using it.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Internet Policy
The Miller test states that whether or not the average person with community standards would find the work appealing to the prurient interest. I think I would better define what the community standards are. I think it varies for different age groups and different companies. For example, if you are working with a law firm, the company is going to be much more conservative and restricted in their community standards. If you are working in a fashion company or a modeling agency, the chances are the community standard is much different (more open, liberal). I think it is important to define the community standard as either the work place community or the overall community in which the employees live in. Even if the community of an organization is in a conservative city, town, etc., I would want to define the community as the company community. By doing this, you could explicitly eliminate any ambiguity to which particular beliefs/morals/behaviors you are bringing into the work place. Sometimes, I think it can be ambiguous to balance company policy with your own policies.
Zeran
Since many websites have privacy policies or terms & conditions that protect them from content on their webpage that may not be posted them, it is hard to determine who is at fault in cases such as these. There is not much precedent when it comes to the internet and I think the internet is definitely altering our freedom of speech and what that actually means. People are starting to realize the impact of using the internet can have on a person because it reaches so many people so quickly. Since the posting was anonymous, it is hard to take action. Typically, I would think I would contact the internet provider immediately and try to find records of who/how that information was posted. I think I would ask the internet provider to not only take the message down but post a message explaining the circumstances and post a personal message from me. While it is unfortunate things like this happen, they do happen. When the person responsible for this sort of behavior cannot be found and held accountable, I think one of the only things you can do is publicly give your side of the story and hope that people are understanding.
MP3 vs. AAC
MP3 format is used to reduce the amount of data necessary to represent the audio file. It tricks the listener's ear so it sounds like the original file being played although it has been compressed. This audio data compression changes the frequency of audio files so the listener cannot detect the file has been changed/compressed. There is a trade-off when using an MP3 between size of file and sound quality. The larger the file, the better the sound quality.
AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) is the "newer" form of MP3 that is said to have better sound quality with smaller bit rates. Apple uses AAC as their default format for audio files. This is probably because AAC has significant improvements from the MP3 format. AAC has better handling of larger audio frequencies as well as more flexibility to design codes than MP3. AAC supports up to 48 channels while MP3 supports up to only 2. AAC has a more efficient filtering technique (filterbank) and a higher coding efficiency. Overall, AAC is viewed as a successor of the MP3 format. Apple is always using the fastest technology available, so it makes sense Apple would use the newest version of audio file format.
AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) is the "newer" form of MP3 that is said to have better sound quality with smaller bit rates. Apple uses AAC as their default format for audio files. This is probably because AAC has significant improvements from the MP3 format. AAC has better handling of larger audio frequencies as well as more flexibility to design codes than MP3. AAC supports up to 48 channels while MP3 supports up to only 2. AAC has a more efficient filtering technique (filterbank) and a higher coding efficiency. Overall, AAC is viewed as a successor of the MP3 format. Apple is always using the fastest technology available, so it makes sense Apple would use the newest version of audio file format.
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