Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...

[vansmack]

Originally posted by vansmack:
   

Originally posted by sweetcell:
  makes me question your "tech predictions", smacks, if you don't even know what browsers are being used     :p  

Why anybody would use a Microsoft product that is no longer being updated for security patches is beyond me... [/b]

Sweetcell, this one's only for you....
 
 IE 7 Coming at you (whether you want it or not)

[kosmo vinyl]

Originally posted by Julian, good manners AFICIONADO:
   

Originally posted by vansmack:
 
 I hooked my computer up to my HDTV the day I bought the TV (sometime back in April 2006).  With a wireless mouse and keyboard, I sit on my couch and web browse, stream TV shows off of network web sites, etc.  Did I mention it's just an ugly old PC that has never been graced by Steve Jobs?

I've had my laptop hooked up to my TV for 3 years. That article is the most ridiculous techno-ejaculation I've ever read. [/b]

Yeah being able to view Flickr on an HDTV is so revolutionary....
 
 Bottom line is that I doubt we'll ever see a product that isn't heavily tied into iTMS for content.  Because heaven forbid someone install Bootcamp on a mac and watch Netflix's streaming content.

[vansmack]

Originally posted by kosmo:
   Because heaven forbid someone install Bootcamp on a mac and watch Netflix's streaming content.

[sarcasm]Come on, you mean you're not enamored enough with AppleTV to give up your Netflix subscription Kosmo?[/sarcasm]
 
 Par for the (Apple) course.  Advancing technology through consumer choice has never been as important as advancing Apple Technology by limiting consumer choice.
 
 Now that the iPod market appears to be fully saturated, everybody who wanted an iPhone bought an iPhone, the DRM-free music market is ready to be a viable competitor and the 2008 products introduced at MacWorld were far from overwhelming, a tough year is ahead for Apple.

[vansmack]

And I know some folks were betatesting this, but it's ready for public release:
 
 01.23.2008   LAST.FM LAUNCHES LARGEST GLOBAL FREE-ON-DEMAND MUSIC PLATFORM
 
 Free streaming music from all the majors, 3 listen limit per track, per user.

[ratioci nation]

Originally posted by vansmack:
  Strange, but I have never heard of him, actually (and surprisingly don't even remember the Economist article cited on his wiki page).  I bet he is the sole author of his wiki page too.

I am surprised you have not heard of him, he is really famous in tech circles for no particular reason.  He does post his cell number on his blog and probably lives near you if you would like to tell him how non revolutionary mac minis and hdtvs are.

[ratioci nation]

Originally posted by kosmo:
  Because heaven forbid someone install Bootcamp on a mac and watch Netflix's streaming content.

I think I am missing your point here, Netflix should be making their movies available to Mac users without having to use bootcamp, parallels, VMWare, etc.

[ratioci nation]

Originally posted by vansmack:
  everybody who wanted an iPhone bought an iPhone

I highly doubt that, I know plenty of people waiting out their contracts and waiting for further features

[kosmo vinyl]

Originally posted by pdx pollard:
   

Originally posted by kosmo:
  Because heaven forbid someone install Bootcamp on a mac and watch Netflix's streaming content.

I think I am missing your point here, Netflix should be making their movies available to Mac users without having to use bootcamp, parallels, VMWare, etc. [/b]

and isn't part of the reason why netflix can't offer  movies is that apple has their own propriety drm?
 
 my point was instead of upgrading a closed setbox in order to provide fabulous yet dumb downed HD content, they could have upgraded the mini mac with a Blu-Ray drive, HDMI output, etc.  or offered a headless pc with an open slot so that people can add their own graphics card.  i keep holding off on buying a replacement for the six year old G4 tower, which still a perfectly good machine for most of what i use it for, it does however pause when loading the increasing complex websites out there.

[ratioci nation]

Originally posted by kosmo:
 and isn't part of the reason why netflix can't offer  movies is that apple has their own propriety drm?

right you are, I am officially pwned, I had assumed it was a choice of technology issue
 
 

In the meantime, here's a little more regarding Mac and Firefox. While Boot Camp and virtualization programs work great for watching movies instantly on an Intel Mac, I know that's not the solution we all want (ps - I've been a Mac user since the days of the 128K Mac, and many of us at Netflix use them at work and at home.) So here's the deal:
 
 A key issue for delivering movies online is that the studios require use of DRM (Digital Rights Management) to protect titles. And that's our holdup for the Mac - there's not yet a studio-sanctioned, publicly-available Mac DRM solution (Apple doesn't license theirs). I can promise you that, when an approved solution becomes available for the Mac, we'll be there. I'll also say that Silverlight 1.1 looks like a promising candidate - but that its DRM isn't likely to be fully available until 2008.

http://blog.netflix.com/2007/08/instant-watching-on-mac-firefox-and.html

[vansmack]

Originally posted by vansmack:
  And I know some folks were betatesting this, but it's ready for public release:
 
 01.23.2008   LAST.FM LAUNCHES LARGEST GLOBAL FREE-ON-DEMAND MUSIC PLATFORM
 
 Free streaming music from all the majors, 3 listen limit per track, per user.

Here's a pretty good take on this:
 
 Is Last.FM the copyright compromise we seek?
 
 This might need it's own thread, in case some folks have given up on seeing what Smackie thinks you need to know.

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

Hey Vansmack, what was that website you posted awhile ago that had a vast collection of live shows you could watch? I have no idea what thread you posted it in, or what the website was.

[vansmack]

Originally posted by Charlie Nakatestes,Japanese Golfer:
  Hey Vansmack, what was that website you posted awhile ago that had a vast collection of live shows you could watch?

http://www.fabchannel.com

[vansmack]

I love an election year.
 
 What are you going to spend your ~$300 on?
 
 Since Seth isn't going to get a rebate (although now would be a good time for him to make capital improvements to his venues), I think you should all spend more money on shows at the 9:30 Club.
 
 Except those with kids.  Don't spend your kids $300 at the 9:30 Club.  Put it away for college.

[godsshoeshine]

money market account

[ratioci nation]

meth