The Minimalist Blog

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17th May 2008: Games With A Purpose, Nintendo Sued For Game Controller, HP And Microsoft Beg Customers Not To Install SP3, More People Download Illegally Than Legally Shocker


Welcome to today's edition of The Minimalist Blog, a blog and podcast offering you the opinions and insights on the day's technology news.  The Minimalist Blog is brought to you today by Amasin.  Want to sin?  Too busy to sin yourself?  Amasin stocks a massive range of sins, way more than the original 7 deadly sins!  Free shipping on orders over £15.  Amasin.  Your one stop shop for sins.

There is a new game out there, and for once, parents will encourage their kids to play!  GWAP.com (short for Games With A Purpose) is designed to help computers figure stuff out.  Now, as with everything, there is a downside to all this.  It was designed by the guy that invented Captcha.  You know, the annoying letters and numbers combination over a pattern that is sometimes damned near impossible to read?  Yeah.  Him.  From someone who made something I go out of my way to avoid, as my eyesight isn't what it was, this stuff actually sounds pretty interesting.  Tag a tune matches two players and gets them to tag a noise or a song over the duration of said noise or song.  Every time you match what your opponent wrote, you get a point.  Another game called Matchin lets players judge which two pictures of the same thing is better.  Verbosity amasses facts for use by AI.  Squigl gets players to trace around an object so that computers will be better at recognising objects.  I really like the sound of Matchin and Verbosity.  I kind of like the sound of Tag a tune, but I think after a while it would bore me.  Also, I think it would frustrate me if someone got more tags than I did on a song I loved.  And Squigl just sounds horrible unless you have a Wacom tablet.  Let's be honest here, we all know that mice aren't good for drawing with, hence Wacom tablets existing.

Nintendo are having to pay out $21,000,000 to a company in Texas after losing a patent court case.  Anascape have won their case that they hold the patents to technology which powers the Gamecube controllers and the Wii Classic Controller.  Nintendo are planning to appeal, if only to reduce the damages they will have to pay.  Now this interests me, because apparently the guts of the argument is that Anascape own the patent on analogue pressure sensors on a stick shaped controller and a Gamecube shaped controller.  But I am certain that I remember playing games on the PS2 which required you to vary the pressure you put on buttons.  And the sticks on the PS2 controller were referred to as analogue sticks.  And you could push them down.  So, surely this means that Sony were the original violators of this patent, not Nintendo.  My other point is, what about the third party manufacturers?  Do they just get away with being able to do this too?  Perhaps I should create a company where all I do is sit in an office and think, ok, this would be a great idea, I'll patent it!  And then patent it, and when someone violates my patent, I will sue the pants off them.  I mean, seriously, we are talking about one company sueing another company over controller designs.  So are Nintendo now going to sue Sony for putting an accelerometer in a controller?  Maybe Sony are going to sue Microsoft for having a box shaped console?  And Atari could sue Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony for creating a video game console.  And then retrospectively sue Sega too.  Ridiculous lawsuit, and ridiculous that it actually got to the point where The Big N have to pay money out.

Microsoft and HP are begging customers not to install the new SP3 patch for Windows XP.  The problem occurs when an AMD powered PC installs SP3, which contains an Intel specific power management driver.  The driver isn't supported on the AMD chipset and causes a constant reboot problem for AMD customers.  It eventually causes a Blue Screen Of Death.  I was actually discussing this exact issue last week.  At the Linux User's Group I attend most months.  Even by Microsoft's standards, this is a pretty big balls up.  Come on, how can Microsoft not have tested this patch on AMD and Intel machines not to make sure?  I will give you an example of testing processes I personally use.  For this blog and podcast, I write it in Seamonkey Composer.  Not the most advanced web design tool, but it works.  I then view it in Seamonkey (a Mozilla based browser), Firefox, and Opera.  The idea behind testing it in Opera is that Opera claim if it works in Opera, it will work on anything, which takes care of Safari and IE.  And this is just a blog.  I test my code on three different platforms, and it's just a blog.  It's not like if I mess up the HTML someone's computer is going to die and they are going to lose all their work and data.  But this is what has happened at Microsoft.  Someone has said "Works on Intel, let's roll".  Stupid.  And as we said at the Linux group last week, someone in Quality Control at Microsoft has been fired, and you know it.  The thing that made me laugh about this report is that customers have been complaining that Dell, Gateway, Lenovo and some Asus chipsets have been failing under SP3.  No they haven't.  AMD processors have.  Gateway, Lenovo, Dell and Asus don't make chipsets, they make desktops and laptops.  There is another huge argument within that one, but, let's just leave it at this; Linux users are really happy this week.

Music Ally have been studying people's music downloading habits and have found that the same number of people who download music legally also download music illegally.  28% of people have illegally downloaded music.  14% of people regularly use the licenced services, but 22% of people regularly use filesharing services.  The biggest complaint about paid downloads is the price.  50p a track for an MP3 download, and 34p a track for a mobile download.  The figures speak for themselves.  Roughly 3 tracks are downloaded from services likle iTunes, but 12 tracks are downloaded from services like Isohunt or The Pirate Bay.  Maybe it's because The Pirate Bay works on any computer and is really easy to use.  Just saying is all.  However, The Register point out that 86% of users aren't downloading music from filesharing sites.  And The Value Recognition Strategy in the UK said that illegal downloads weren't the main cause of the music industry failing.  My take on it is as thus; I don't download music at all.  I used to pay for it, but then I discovered streaming and stopped downloading at all.  If I want to listen to a specific song, I just find it on Youtube and listen.  The rest of the time I listen to a station on Last.FM.  Or I listen to online radio.  The thing is, a lot of people aren't downloading not because it's expensive (50p a track isn't a lot, it makes it £6 for an album) but because they don't understand the technology.  And they probably visit a friend who does understand the technology and they give them the music, or rip CDs for them.  I know that's what my friend Mike does.  He just bought an iPod and brought a huge stack of CDs over, I ripped them using Windows Media Player, and then transfered them using iTunes.  With drinking and listening to music from the CDs, it took us an evening, and 1 gigabyte of his iPod's 8 gigabytes.

So, the observant of you will have noticed that yesterday's podcast didn't appear.  It should have, we thought we had done everything that we needed to do to make sure that the podcast would be able to be downloaded.  This didn't happen and by the time we figured out what was wrong with the RSS file (an unclosed item tag for those who know about these things) we didn't have a chance to fix it.  This is now fixed as you can see, and we are planning to make the podcasts available a few hours after we post.  This is because we need to give Odiogo time to process our latest post and convert it to speech.  However, we're not planning to stop there.  We actually have a lot of really great ideas that we will be rolling out over the next few months.  Those who know the history of The Minimalist Blog know that we have been on a difficult road to this incarnation.  We've had so many launches and relaunched, mostly due to a lack of interest in what we've been doing.  What we are doing now is an idea that we've been planning and playing around with for a long time over many meetings.  This is just stage one.  More and more will be rolled out over the next few days and weeks.  Expect big things.  And if we get enough interest from you guys, the readers, and the listeners, we are planning something massive. 

It's interesting to read a guide about linkbaiting.  The art of putting up a story or article for shock value more than anything, with the aim of getting people to link to your blog or site.  Personally, I'm not hugely in favour of this.  I believe if you need to do something like that to get your blog across then it's not particularly good for you.  My theory is this; if your content is good, and consistently good, then people will come.  That's the idea behind this site, hopefully you find our content really interesting, and you keep coming back, or you keep downloading the podcast.  Whether or not this actually works, I have no idea. 

And now, it's time for today's top five list.  Today's top five is our top five 80s artists.  Unlike most days, I really cannot put these in any order, because I think they are all really good, if a little cheesy.

Men at work.  Ok, so they only had one huge hit, but man, what a hit.  Everyone knows Land Down Under.  It has to be one of the catchiest songs ever written.  Whenever I hear it on the radio, I just have to sing along to it, even the parts of the song I don't understand. 

Wham.  The great thing about Wham is that they launched one of the biggest stars in the world, George Micheal.  But before he went solo, they launched hit after hit.  Club Tropicana.  Young Guns.  Wake Me Up.  Last Christmas.  Everybody knows these songs, everyone can sing along to them if you're under the age of 25, and it's just really fun, really innocent music, which everyone can get into and it sounds great, if a touch camp in the warm summer sun.

A Ha.  Now these were a really innovative band.  Who can forget seeing the video for Take On Me for the first time?  They're making a come back, which I don't think is a bad thing whatsoever.  Some of my favourite songs are Take On Me, The Living Daylights and The Sun Always Shines On TV.    Also, in the 80s, sad as it is now, Morten Harket was one of the coolest guys in the world.

Paul Young hasn't ever really gone away, but I think anyone under 25 has heard Wherever I Lay My Hat.  I really like that song and I actually have quite a few of his albums. 

Bros weren't exactly huge on the hits front, apart from When Will I Be Famous, but, that one hit was really great.  Again, these guys looked the coolest in the world in the 80s with their spikey blonde hair, and their leather jackets and attitude.  Of course, now one of the Bros guys has now gone into acting and was in Blade 2.

Lastly, you cannot review the 80s without putting Chesney Hawks.  Cheesey, cringeworthy and annoying.  And that was in the 80s, but now he tours universities in the UK belting out The One And Only. 

Finally for this slightly shorter edition of The Minimalist Blog is our TV guide.  As I said yesterday, we are going to review things from BBC iPlayer, as anyone in the world who can operate a Geolocation cheater can watch the BBC iPlayer.

First up is Dr Who.  I know I plugged this yesterday as well, but, come on, Dr Who is great!  Tonight he is visiting Agatha Christie, who has mysteriously disappeared.  This episode I have looked forward to for such a long time.  It's going to be a comedy episode, which is the first since the Children In Need episode.

Secondly tonight is Casualty.  I know most people are going to say that it's boring, and it's an old series which doesn't move with the times, but I think they have dealt with some dark storylines, and I can see the whole John's Family storyline coming to an explosive head soon.  Same with the Jessica and Adam storyline.  Plus, Jessica and Alice are both absolutely gorgeous.  There are another 10 episodes before the end of the series, and I cannot wait to see what else the BBC has to offer in this series and the inevitable next series.

Tonight is also the end of Love Soup.  I have to admit, this wasn't my favourite when I began watching it, I found it a little too surreal, but once you get into the humour and realise every loose end is tied up by the end of the episode.  Plus, Tamsin Greig is just the right age to play the neurotic single (loved seeing her in her underwear a few episodes ago) and Sheridan Smith is another actress who I love seeing.  James Cordon, you are an idiot for leaving her.

Lastly is Click.  Ok, so they may not have the most up to date news, and the presenters acting and presenting skills leave a lot to be desired, but their best of the web section more than lives up to the name.  Worth trudging through the sometimes boring show just to see their best of the web section.
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16th May 2008: The Future Of Music, The Future Of Computing, The Future eee PC, The Future Of BT Employees,

Welcome to today's edition of The Minimalist Blog, a blog and podcast offering opinions and insights on the day's technology news.

The Barenaked Ladies manager has been outlining his vision of the future of music.  And it's Doritos flavour.  Terry McBride has said that he thinks that the future of music isn't in CDs so much, but advertising sponsored deals.  His vision is that in the future there will be paid subscription services as we have now, but rival advertising sponsored services as well.  The idea is that the services you pay for will be viewed as "chic" and cool.  He also says that free and paid will become relative to the person's point of view.  Personally I don't get this as free is free and paid is the precise opposite.  Unless of course he is thinking of the Open Source definition of free...  

Bill Gates has been touting a "new" technology.  The Microsoft Touch Wall looks like a large version of the iPhone or iPod touch, and is being hailed as the next big thing along with Surface by Bill Gates.  The touch controlled computer works using infra red and lasers.  But here is my problem with this "new" technology.  I've seen it before.  Not in a technology show.  Not at an expo.  And it wasn't a prototype model.  My ex's son's school used this exact same technology using projector screens and a projector.  This isn't so much innovation, more "How can we make an existing technology look cooler?"

Asus are promoting the hell out of the new eee PC 900, but some customers are waiting on the 901, and they may have a point.  Blogee.net have showen pictures of the new eee 901 which looks curvier, thinner and a lot slicker than the previous eee models.  I have a problem with the new eee PCs.  My eee PC 701 cost £150, but the new models are now becoming as expensive as a regular laptop.  Example - my new Toshiba A210 cost £338 including delivery and a £50 rebate, but the new eee PCs are going to cost about the same as that, except my Toshiba is far more capable than the eee PCs.  The new eee PC will also feature an Intel Atom processor.

BT is facing strike action from the union Connect who are rejecting the pay deal BT are offering.  Connect have said that they hope BT will come back to talk with them, because they are unhappy with the distribution of pay rises, not the actual pot on offer.  One issue is that there are managers who are going to be paid less than the people who they manage.  They also have issues over the fact that men are still going to be paid more than women.  Connect has 14,000 members inside BT, and have told their members not to travel to work, and not to be contactable outside their contracted hours.  Possibly more difficult than normal when you work for a major telecoms provider... 

Phones4u are being investigated over strange business practises.  Allegedly.  Their staff are given a commission for every mobile phone they sell.  These commissions vary depending on the contract, phone, and network they sell.  So the investigation is finding out whether their staff are selling the phones based on the size of the commission, or whether the phone suits the customer.  One other problem that has been highlighted is that people haven't been told about the financial commitments in a contract.  Naughty boys. 

Now, in this part of the blog, we are planning to discuss e-mails and comments people have left for us.  As this is our first post, we can't, so, please feel free to e-mail or leave a comment.  Our e-mail address is hyde21k@gmail.com.

A truck has been developed that will run on coffee grounds.  The idea is that it uses a wood gas generator to create a combustible fuel for the truck.  To be honest, this could be used to turn anything into a fuel for a truck, or any other kind of modified vehicle.  I think this is a great idea, with great potential, but I am not sure whether or not it's going to be ready for the mainstream.  I mean, how many coffee grounds or trash or anything else are you going to need to power the truck.  However, I work in the retail environment, and I know that we throw away a LOT of food, and our coffee machine creates a LOT of coffee grounds.  We also don't do home delivery because of the cost of fuel outweighs the takeup for the service.  But if we had this kind of technology in our vehicles, we would actually be able to run the vehicles for free.  And that has to be an interesting concept for anyone who is looking into doing this kind of thing...

We also plan to run a daily top 5.  It's just a fun thing we like the idea of, and I'd like to think that you, the reading and listening public can contribute to our lists in the way of commenting or suggesting a top 5 theme for us!  To start with - Top 5 80s kids tv shows.

1: Dogtanian.  Not sure if this ever made it to the US, but it was huge in Europe.  The retelling of D'agtanian with DOGS.  Genius!  And one of the evilest villans ever?  A rat.  He looked like Splinter about 3 years before Splinter from TMNT became a TV show character.  And the lifetime sexiest evil female in a cartoon award goes to M'Lady.  I know it is wrong on many levels (she's a cat, she's evil, she's a cartoon) but damnit, she was hot.  And guys my age agree.

2: The A Team.  Despite the fact that it was based around 4 guys travelling around in a van together, being macho, it was still a great show.  Especially the episode where they were locked in a hangar with NOTHING and drove out in a tank.

3: Knight Rider.  This is only not number one because it made The Hoff famous.  That is simply unforgivable.  But still, the coolest car ever made, and it still looks good today.  Great premise for a show, and one of the hottest redheads to ever grace our screens.  And it had comedy too...Hoff's perm!

4: Thunder thunder thundercats.  HO!  Sorry, couldn't resist it.   Worrying thing is, I have seen people in the papers who look like Liono now.  Y'know, one fake tan too many?

5: He-Man.  Ok, so, looking back, gay as all hell.  BUT, as a kid, just awesome.  I was always secretly rooting for Skeletor to win just once, but he never did.  And I always loved that green guy with the metal jaw.  Kinda like a cartoon version of jaws, but way less sinister.  Shame.  And for those who argue that He-Man wasn't gay, all I will say is Ram Man and Man At Arms.  Also, how camp was Orko?  And for those without a sense of humour, the gay references are as schoolboy as the TV shows...

Now, lastly, I am going to give you my TV picks of the day.  I have decided that our TV picks will be picked from the BBC's fantastic iPlayer.  Namely because anyone in the world can watch it.  Especially if you follow this link.  Now, on with the viewing guide!  Since it's the BBC iPlayer, times don't matter.  I find normally it's best to go check an hour or so after the show has aired.  First up is Have I Got News For You, possibly one of the funniest, sharpest comedy panel shows in the world.  For those who have yet to see it, an example from last week was:

(A picture of Boris Johnson and David Cameron appears)
Ian Hislop: "There's a picture of the next Prime Minister.  And David Cameron as well."
Paul Merton: "You're not seriously suggesting Boris might become PM!"
Ian Hislop: "Well, if he does a decent job as London Mayor, why not?"
Paul Merton: "It's like a joke that never ends isn't it?  You're just waiting for the punchline!"

Next up is QI.  Easily the second funniest comedy panel show.  The talent speaks for itself - Alan Davies as the only permanent member of the panel, Stephen Fry as the QImaster, and any range of comedy talent filling the rest of the panels.  The idea is really simple.  Sort of.  The questions are all really obvious.  Like "what is man made object is visible from space?"  Here's a hint, the answer ISN'T The Great Wall Of China.  Or "what should you avoid whilst dehydrated?"  The answer isn't coffee.  Or alcohol.  Or even diuretics.  If the contestants give an interesting answer (QI stands for Quite Interesting) but fewer points for just the correct answer, and minus ten points for the obvious but wrong answer.

Next is Later With Jools Holland.  This is just a great show.  The idea is that the latest and greatest bands perform completely live with some classic or unknown bands.  Jools Holland, he of The Boogie Woogie Orchestra and Squeeze hosts the whole thing and interviews the bands and various celebrities who visit in the audience.  If you have never seen this show before, you simply HAVE to watch it at least once.

Then there is Top Gear.  I don't really think I have to explain this show, but for those who have been living in a cave under Loch Ness for the last 5 years, the concept is simple.  3 middle aged motor journalists who have a need for speed, fun, and sarcasm review fast cars, challange celebrities to drive a regular car as fast as possible around their private test track, and have The Stig (a tame racing driver) drive fast cars to give an absolute time for said cars.  Oh, and sometimes they have challanges.  Like driving "classic" sports cars which cost less than £1000 from London to Birmingham.  Or racing each other from London to Sweden.  Or driving across the Sahara Desert in cars which cost less than £1000.  From the 70s.

Lastly, there is the excellent Dr Who.  Now, I do feel tonight's episode is a touch silly.  If only because the aliens in it basically blow bubbles into green water to communicate, and the ending is touching, but overcooked.  Can we please stop getting The Doctor in situations he would NEVER take part in.  Examples - blowing up a space ship or the end of tonight's episode.

So, that is the end of our first episode.  We know this is quite a lot to read in one go, but why not download the podcasts when they become available?  We're planning to make the podcasts available a few hours after we post the articles.
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