Oregon Republican Sen. Gordon Smith deserves a beating. Subsequently, U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., introduced legislation that would allow companies to send unsolicited faxes as long as there is an established business relationship with the recipient. "This bill is balanced policy that rids consumers of nuisance and small business of expensive regulation," Smith said in […]
Various Web sites are claiming that the new Xbox 360 will cost $375 to manufacture and will sell for $299. The news sites then turn this into a $76 loss per console to Microsoft -- not unusual, because the money is made on the video games. But I'm thinking the loss is going to be […]
I first used PGP -- Pretty Good Privacy -- back in the '90s when I was living in Washington State. I was getting a hand with my taxes from Hoystory the Elder (who had worked as a tax preparer in a previous life) and didn't feel at all comfortable e-mailing many of the things that […]
Wired News reported earlier this week that a UCLA professor is working on what it accurately calls "an extremely restrictive form of digital rights management to protect DVD movies." I've criticized the Federal Communications Commission and the movie industry before for their efforts to curtail the principle of "fair use" by promoting the over-the-top, restrictive […]
For the past couple of weeks I've taken to having a late lunch at Panera Bread with my laptop computer and taking advantage of their free wi-fi service. Having said that, I guess I shouldn't be too amused at the two guys sitting across from me having lunch together -- both talking on cell phones […]
So, I needed to do a fresh install of Quicktime on my computer. If you go to Apple's Web site and want to install Quicktime for Windows XP or 2000, then the only option that is given to you is to install Quicktime with iTunes. Of course, you can immediately go back and uninstall only […]
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit slapped down the Federal Communications Commission along with the Motion Picture Association of America and the broadcast networks over efforts to institute the "broadcast flag." The broadcast flag could be used to for everything from preventing you from taping your favorite television show so you can […]
Beware of reporters doing math -- or stories on technology. Environmentally minded British motorcycle engineers have produced a zero-emission bike that ticks all the right boxes except one -- it's too quiet. So quiet in fact that its designers are looking to introduce artificial vroom to keep potential customers happy. Powered by a high pressure […]
The Federal Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C., has decided the FCC's "broadcast flag" rule -- a code which would tell televisions, VCRs and DVD players what they could and could not play -- overstepped the commission's authority. The FCC argued that its ancillary powers authorize it to regulate the reception of broadcasts, not just […]