This guy has broken my heart too many times this season.
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This guy has broken my heart too many times this season.
]]>. . . Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats. In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat. If the big four music companies would license Apple their music without the requirement that it be protected with a DRM, we would switch to selling only DRM-free music on our iTunes store. Every iPod ever made will play this DRM-free music.
Why would the big four music companies agree to let Apple and others distribute their music without using DRM systems to protect it? The simplest answer is because DRMs haven’t worked, and may never work, to halt music piracy. Though the big four music companies require that all their music sold online be protected with DRMs, these same music companies continue to sell billions of CDs a year which contain completely unprotected music. That’s right! No DRM system was ever developed for the CD, so all the music distributed on CDs can be easily uploaded to the Internet, then (illegally) downloaded and played on any computer or player.
I knew I liked this guy.
It seems that Macrovision's CEO, Fred Amoroso, has formally responded to Steve's "Thoughts on Music". Luckily, John Gruber of Daring Fireball has translated the letter from PR-speak to plain English. Worth a read.
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SPOILER WARNING: If you haven't been keeping up with the current season of Battlestar Galactica, you may want to skip this post.
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Saturday evening, Sophia and I dined at one of the finest restaurants in the world—the French Laundry. The experience was simply spectacular. While it was by far the most expensive meal I have ever eaten, it was also the most satisfying.
]]>Read all about it here!
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I'll be attending Comic Con this year! The last time I was at Comic Con I was an exhibitor, so it may be a little depressing this time around. If you will be attending ComicCon this year and want to show your moral support by buying me a drink (or just saying hello), feel free to drop me a line. Sophia and I will be there Friday and Saturday, in sunny San Diego.
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We arrived at the Las Vegas Airport on July 2nd at around 10am. The aircraft made a slightly harder-than-normal landing which seems to be the norm for Southwest Airlines these days. We waited for our bags to arrive at the carousel for half an hour. Once we had our luggage, we were ready to go.
Because it was so early in the day, we couldn't go to the hotel immediately---checkin wasn't until 3pm. So, we headed over to the strip to eat at Le Village buffet at the Paris.
]]>We will be there thru the 4th, and returning early enough on the 5th to get to work on time.
So yeah. Fun times.
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This was the event I was saving that champagne for. 
To celebrate, we went to Marché (
2) in Menlo Park, which was a wonderful experience. The food was excellent and the service was superb---I highly recommend it if you are looking for a restaurant in the three star category.
Busy weekend. Saturday, Sophia and I went to BFD, and saw Yellowcard, Franz Ferdinand, H.I.M., as well as a bunch of other bands. We danced and ate overpriced junkfood. Overall, an enjoyable experience. Slight sunburn, but nothing too bad.
]]>Have a nice day.
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Sophia and I went to go see the movie Good Night, and Good Luck on Friday night. and it was brilliant.
It is a historical film directed by George Clooney about Broadcast journalist Edward Murrow going up against Senator Joseph McCarthy. This is a truly timeless piece that has many themes which resonate today as loudly as ever.
I highly recommend it.
]]>Unfortunately, the episodes appear to have a 4:3 aspect ratio rather than the original 16:9. 
I never really got into the animated series called Æon Flux. However, the movie seemed vaguely interesting, so yesterday I went to go see it---not really expecting to be very impressed. However, I found it to be throughly enjoyable.
The most distracting part of the movie for me was actually shown in the preview, the whole sharp grass thing. The rest of the movie makes up for it in my opinion. It is certainly not a movie that everyone will enjoy, but nonetheless I recommend it. Plus Charlize Theron is hot. Rawr.
From XBox Live, to media-center integration, to HDTV support, the XBox seems to have gotten it all right. My only gripe is that the media center stuff only works with a windows PC. Bummer. I guess that means my MythTV box still has some use. 
However someone must have been inspired, because last year a complete remake of the series started to air on the Sci-Fi channel. It is hands down the best science fiction I have ever seen on television. The setting and plot are brilliant, the ship designs and special effects are stunning, and the acting is superb. Even if you are not much of a fan of science-fiction, you must watch this series. It has now become my favorite show on television, and is the only redeeming factor of the channel since those bastards canceled Farscape.
]]>And, not that I'm gay or anything, but Christian Bale is one sexy SOB in that movie. If I were into that kind of thing...I'd hit it.
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