MaemoMapper Update for Nokia IT

MaemoMapper, by far my favorite app on my N800 has just gotten an update that overlays Google Traffic data on maps. Often when I have to go somewhere I check the google traffic to see if the GWB is backed up or the GCP. But that required either starting up the browser or using the Garnet VM for the google maps app in the Palm emulation. Now I can just fire up my mapper program and be done with it.

Now if I could get a bluetooth DUN profile having phone to tether too.

Follow the discussion here:

http://www.internettablettalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22704&goto=newpost

Older Athletes kicking tail

Count me in the contingent of "older" people who are not allowing our relatively advanced age slow us down. We have the 40 year old mother, Dara Torres who beats most swimmers half her age. We have yesterday that victory of the 32 year old swimmer, Lezak, who overcame a deficit to win gold in the 400 relay. What's the secret?

I'll tell you. We eat well. We understand that technique will help us overcome what we may be losing in sheer muscle power. We are more mature and therefore we can keep those emotions in check so that we don't break form. It's about understanding and working with your limits.

Scared by Cyclists

So the NY Times has an article on the rise of Cycling and the mental problems that have arisen. Here's one paragraph that defies logic:

“Mention the noon riders to anyone in town and you’ll see the blood pressure go up,” said Susan George, Woodside’s town manager. One day, she said, she rounded a bend and came upon them: “I slammed on the brakes and they swarmed around me, screaming and yelling obscenities. My heart was pounding. It was very scary.”

Scared by cyclists? Is she serious? Exactly WHAT threat did the bikes pose to her? No, seriously. She and her 2 ton vehicle was the threat.

Edwards

I'm just going to say that Edwards is lying about the baby not being his. Seriously folks, why was he at a hotel at 2 AM?

Farewell iTunes Store

And so after a few years I bid the iTunes store farewell. Well not really. I've just backburnered iTunes for the Amazon Store or anywhere else that I can get non-DRM'd music. Yes I'm late to the rabid anti-DRM party, but hey at least I'm here. When the iTunes store came out I was happy I could get high quality music for a decent price without theft or the possibility of downloading trojans. I didn't mind the DRM because at the time I was a full Apple home. iPod and Mac. I didn't feel that I needed to have other formats and I could still play my mp3's.

The one huge gripe I had with the iPod was that it would not cross-fade music. Apparently most people could care less about that feature but I like my music mixed. No gaps. Not stop and start. I want continuous music and when two songs meld together, all is good with the universe. I didn't care about video, super capacity, color screens or phones. I simply wanted to have my portable music player mix my music.

iTunes mixed music so when I was at the computer that particular need was met. Then I got a Nokia N800. It has a music player. Well actually quite a few music players. I installed XMMS on it. It's a pretty powerful music player which reminded me of MacAmp/WinAmp. I figured I could use it for music, since I take it everywhere my iPod goes. Well the problem was that the AAC files from the iTunes store don't play on that program. Not a big problem. I still have my iPod(s) and besides XMMS is somewhat of a CPU hog, especially if the EQ and sound processors were being used. I prefer for my N800 to have juice for GPS or other tasks.

Then in June I was planning a trip to Philly for the Odunde Festival. I wanted a mix. So I went online and settled on FutureDecks lite. It's a decent program that unfortunately does not allow you to pick a secondary output for monitoring so cueing up music can be hard. Anyway, this program, and others, will allow you to record your mixes live. Perfect. So I load up the music library and notice that It's a bit light. It was then that I discovered that I cannot use DRM'd iTunes files.

Say what?

SO let me get this straight. I paid for the music. I'm going to mix it so I can listen to it the way I want to but some record company has decided that I can't. because of this little problem I had to plan out what music I wanted to include in the mix, make a playlist, burn the playlist to CD(s). and then copy back the huge AIFF files to the system. Oh and since the names of the tracks on the second CD turned into "Track 1", etc. I had to rename them. Oh that was fun. So about 3 hours after setting about to make the mix, I was starting the mix. Subsequent mixes didn't take as long to set up but I had been soured on the experience.

The last straw for me though was when I downloaded "Must Be the Music" a Hip Hop classic. At some point in the download iTunes got stuck processing the file. I'm not sure what that entails but I had to force quit iTunes which resulted in a file that refused to play in iTunes. I managed to get it to play in QT and captured the audio with Audio Hijack. I had had enough. The funniest thing about this is that the news of the Yahoo music store going away came out soon after this debacle. It was a sick joke that people who had purchased music from Yahoo were being told that they wouldn't be able to listen to said music on any new systems they might get, cause you know, computers never die. They were told to burn the music to CD, which clearly causes a loss in quality.

So enough of the DRM. Enough of the artificial lock in. Enough of the "you purchased the right to listen to music, the file doesn't belong to you" attitude that these businesses have managed to foist on society. If I paid for it, and it wasn't a rental, then it's mine. So it's off to the Amazon store from now on for my music purchases. Oh, I'll look it up in iTunes. I'll play it in iTunes, but Apple won't be getting my money. And it's sad, because the record company that allegedly forced Apples hand on the DRM front will still get my cash.

Technorati Tags: DRM, N800, iTunes

Nanostray 2

Got Nanostray 2 for my DS. Haven't had this much fun since Raiden II !! I hate when I get time killing games.

Looking at the rankings, I suck.

Your Personal e-mail is Personal

I work in IT. I tell people all the time that IT can, though it does not currently, intercept your "private" communications. A private corporation is not the government and therefore you have no expectation of privacy other than that which the company gives you. Personally, I keep a laptop and an N800 for most of my personal correspondence. The reason for this is perfectly illustrated in the following case:

According to the suit, Sidell has concluded that, when hustled out of his office after his termination, he left his work computer logged into his personal Yahoo account. The login credentials are typically retained for two weeks, and Siedel claims that, during that time, his former employees accessed his account repeatedly. Their access netted them over 10,000 e-mails archived in the account, as well as providing privileged communications between Sidell and his attorneys regarding his plans to pursue legal action regarding his firing. Those actions prompted the suit, which was filed in May and alleges various violations of the Stored Communications Act, Electronic Communications Protection Act, and a Connecticut wiretapping law.

According to a story about the case in The New York Times, however, the situation may not be that straightforward. His former employers allege that Sidell did not log into his Yahoo account from his own computer, but instead accessed it from a different employee's machine, and left the window open when he departed. An examination of that window suggested that Sidell used this access to send confidential company documents to his Yahoo account, justifying the company's full investigation of the account's contents.

The company will lose this case. Why? Lets look at some interesting developments in IT law. We have a case of a man who would daily, sit outside a store and use the free wifi. He was charged with WIFI theft because he did not have permission to use the WIFI. Permission would have been gained by actually purchasing something in the store or getting the store owner's permission. Lesson: If the account/network is not yours you are not entitled to use it.

Siedell's employer had every right to look on the computer for any stored files on their property (computer). Any mail left on the employers servers or in the disk cache, is also fair game. What the employer, or any other legal person cannot do is misrepresent themselves as the rightful owner of an account.

For example we have the HP fiasco where they were seeking a leak and misrepresented themselves to a phone company in order to gain access to phone records. Illegal.

Another nice example is if I were to get access to your debit card and pin. That does not mean that I can go to the bank and access your account unless you gave me permission to do so. If I have not then you have committed a crime.

Therefore I fully expect Siedel's employers to be on the losing end of this lawsuit, just as the telcos who went along with Bush and co. ought to have been.

The fact that the account was accessed on another employees machine means nothing at all. The allegation that Siedel was forwarding company info to his personal account is one that a warrant is needed to discover. Or the company should have checked the logs of their network security appliances for transfers of files.

Anyway going back to the personal computer thing. Clearly Siedel wouldn't be in this boat had he used his own personal laptop.