MacTheRipper defeats ARcoSS

Last month I mentioned the new ARcoSS protection scheme appearing on some DVDs in Europe. At the time I said there were no Mac DVD rippers which could defeat ARcoSS, but that the MacTheRipper team were working on it. Well, they've done it . MacTheRipper version 2.6 includes, among other things, the ability to rip ARcoSS discs.

QuickImageCM updated

QuickImageCM has been updated to version 2.4 This is a significant new release - it is about 3x faster, has improved quality, adds a progress bar (and a cancel button! woohoo!), support for labels, and other goodies. I discussed QuickImageCM and DropIcon back in October.

The solution to Blog spamming?

ThreadWatch.org have posted a discussion on the possible solutions to blog spamming. Unsurprisingly, they've concluded that a installing a captcha system is probably the best single solution. There's a mention of the bBlog system which has implemented captchas right out of the box - possibly worth looking into.

3G networks? Pffft - 4G is coming

Unwired reported on DoCoMo's 4G tests today. The plan is for 1 Gbps mobile transfer rates. Apparently field trials will begin in early 2005, but given how much money the European mobile carriers have already spent on largely unused 3G bandwidth I'm not confident we'll be seeing 4G in Europe anytime soon. This C|Net report predicts commercial 4G services by 2010.

BitTorrent, analysed

The Register today published a very interesting scientific paper analysing BitTorrent as used via Suprnova.

More Limited Edition iPods

CultOfMac today mentioned a funny take on the recent U2 Limited Edition iPods.

Safari interface annoyances

One of Safari's more annoying user-interface decisions is the "Safari can't find server" error message.

If you open a link in a new page or a new tab and encounter this error, when you switch to the page or tab in question, you cannot close or refresh the page or tab until you dismiss the error message. This is simply terrible interface design, and not worthy of Apple. Whoever is responsible for Safari's UI, please do something about this! The error message should appear in the title bar, or address bar, or simply as a webpage saying "Server not found", not as a drop-down sheet that has to be dismissed.

Windows evangelist twists truth

The amusing rantings of rabid anti-Apple evangelist Paul Thurrott at his tabloid-style site occasionally make the news, but today he's managed to exceed his usual level of selective truth-telling.

The article in question is entitled MSN Toolbar Suite Preview and starts by laying this groundwork:

At the Professional Developers Conference 2003 in Los Angeles last year (see my exhaustive coverage of that show), Microsoft chairman Bill Gates touted the searching innovations that would go into Longhorn, the next generation Windows version that's now due in mid-2006. In a way, by detailing the new desktop search features Microsoft was working on so early, Gates had thrown down the gauntlet. In today's PC world, desktop search is a miserable, slow affair, and as Microsoft executives are fond of pointing out, it shouldn't take longer to find a file you know is on your hard drive than it takes to perform a Web search.

At least he's got the "miserable, slow affair" part correct. Anyone who's ever tried a simple search to locate a specific file on both Mac and Windows systems will know that one platform is vastly superior. I'll give you a hint, it isn't Windows.

But wait, Thurrott has more to say. This is the bombshell:

However, Gates was also giving his competitors a leg up on Microsoft. And since announcing its Longhorn desktop search intentions, Microsoft's worst fears were realized. Other companies began copying the Microsoft desktop search strategy, knowing that the never-ending Longhorn delays would help them get to market sooner and appear to be nimbler and even more innovative, though it's sort of astonishing how transparent that latter claim is. Chief among these competitors are Apple and Google.

I'm not even going to attempt to analyze this. Apple and Google stole the idea of indexed searching from Microsoft. You read it here first! :) It is so patently false that anyone with the slightest amount of computer experience should realise it. One more time, in case you missed it ... he's accusing Apple and Google (Google!!!) of stealing search technology from Microsoft!

PS You may be interested to know that LaunchBar 3 was released in August 2001. Draw your own conclusions.

Max Headroom

Anyone who grew up in the 80s and was interested in science fiction might remember a visionary TV show called Max Headroom. However, if you do remember it, don't bother trying to order it on DVD - it doesn't exist. Warner Brothers, who own the copyright, have decided in their infinite wisdom that it's not worth the effort. There is an online submission form here where you can petition for a DVD release (Warner Brothers titles only). Don't wait - do it now!

Cheaper-than-normal iPod

Gizmodo are reporting on a David Hasslehoff-signed 20GB iPod on eBay (click through for a little movie from the man himself). The current eBay price after 6 bids is £102.01. A brand new 20GB iPod from Apple costs £212. Go figure - evidently the Hoff's signature immediately strips £100 off the iPod's value. I wonder if the signature can be buffed off?

MovieGate joins the DVD transcoding crowd

The French app MovieGate has quietly included DVD transcoding options in their latest release (English translation here). Given that it uses the same open source tools, I would expect the results to be similar to ffmpegX's DVD9>DVD5 tool.

RSS on UIQ

Total Wireless Solutions have released NewsFlash, an RSS reader for the UIQ platform. I've been trying to estimate the total size of my 170 or so regular RSS feeds. On average each feed seems to be anywhere from 3 to 15 K of data when it refreshes each hour or so - except for blogs like BoingBoing which include images in their RSS feed as well as blogs like EnGadget and Gizmodo which put out a very high number of articles. If we call the average 5K and we have 170 feeds, the total is about 850K downloaded for each hourly refresh. That's 5 or 10 minutes by GPRS, not great but acceptable. On the other hand it would be half a minute or so on 3G - perhaps I should be investigating 3G options when I upgrade my P800.

20GB Digital Mind

One of my preferred Mac news sources, MacMinute, today reported on Digital Mind's DMC 8270 20GB audio jukebox.

I'm not too sure why this particular digital music player gets featured on a Mac news site in preference to countless other players, but let's just say the name caught my eye .

But wait ... just take a look at that thing! Is it just me or is that possibly the ugliest digital music player you've ever seen? There are enlarged images here and here. The specifications sound okay - the ogg support is noteworthy, and the voice recording and decent battery life might attract some people. The price is also pretty good. But ... please! Take another look at that thing! Perhaps it's just a really bad mock-up, but this thing looks suspiciously like it was made in someone's garage. The screen isn't even in line with the its body!

Archiving with Medical-Grade DVDs

MacInTouch had an interesting reader submission recommending Verbatim's MediDisc DVDs. Supposedly these are used for medical imaging and are certified for longevity.

I'm reproducing the entire entry here since by tomorrow MacInTouch's link will have broken:

I work in a small post-production studio and we use DVD media for archival purposes every day. Our brand of choice for Data archive is Verbatim's little known "MediDisc" line of DVD media. This media is DICOM certified for use in long-term medical records storage (including medical imaging) for compliance with HIPPA requirements.
Yes, the media is significantly more expensive than the consumer-grade 100pk DVD-R/+R spindles typically available at retailers such as WalMart & Best Buy, but is saving a buck really worth it when it comes to long-term data integrity?
Furthermore, we store the DVD discs in Tyvek disc envelopes (the same that Apple is now using for software distribution in packages such as Final Cut Pro HD) and place them upright in a light-tight storage container. Tyvek envelopes are currently regarded as the best storage option for protection of CD/DVD recordable media. Information Packaging is a good source for these envelopes.

Note that these DVDs aren't actually all that much expensive. I've seen them listed at a few places for as little as US$70 for 50 packs. Granted, a lot of those shops have been out of stock...

Smilies in Movable Type

Using Brad Choate's MTMacro plugin I've enabled smilies on this site

All I did was install the plugin as per the instructions, and then put a bunch of smilies inside a smilies folder (inside my icons folder).

Then I inserted this code into the head of each template (and repeated it with modifications for each different smiley):

<MTMacroDefine name="smiley1" string=" ">
<img src="<$MTBlogURL$>icons/smilies/biggrin.gif"
alt=" " />
</MTMacroDefine>

Related Entries in MT

I installed Adam Kalsey's Improved Related Entries System today. It's working great, except I'm having to go back and add keywords to some badly titled previous entries. Apologies if I accidentally re-pinged anyone - I forgot to turn off notifications in Ecto for the first entries I added keywords to.

MT-Captcha report card

It has now been exactly 30 days since MT-Captcha was installed on this site. In that time this site has not seen a single spam comment. The previous month saw spam figures pass the 600 mark, so it would seem reasonable to call that a glorious debut! Thank you James!

DVDRemaster 2

DVDRemaster 2 was released today. The authors have posted an intriguing speed comparison here.

Treo 650? P910? Something else?

The recent arrival of the Sony-Ericsson P910 has made me think about upgrading my P800, but I've been reading more and more intriguing things about the Treo 650. However today's Gizmodo review of the Treo has tilted the balance back towards the Sony-Ericsson side of the fence. There are still things I don't like about the P910 though, notably reliance on Sony's MemorySticks. Perhaps I'll wait for the P1000.

MGS MadMacs UIQ

Noumena have released their latest Magic Game Station (MGS) game. It's a 3D turn-based tank game named MadMacs which apparently includes the capability for 8-player online games. There is a downloadable demo, as well as a Series 60 version. If you haven't tried any MGS games, you are strongly urged to. Every one of their MGS games easily makes my list of great games available for the UIQ platform, while some, such as MGS Karting or MGS Virtual Pool 2, would both make the top five.

Missing AIM account, further information

A few days ago I wrote about AOL suspending my AIM account after one day of use. It seems that I wasn't the only one - AOL have now admitted to accidentally removing some active AIM accounts during a routine removal of dormant accounts.

iSilo for UIQ goes beta

The popular Palm and PocketPC ebook reader iSilo has been released as a beta for UIQ! This is noteworthy since they already have an OS X converter.

YA iPod Killer

Yet another iPod Killer - Gizmodo had an insightful report on Archos' new G-Mini XS 200 digital music player. I particularly liked the comparison of the relationship between Apple and Archos with the relationship between OS X and Linux. The Gizmodo article linked to a more complete review. Engadget also covered it, but went with C|Net's review instead.

iPod killer

John Dvorak reports on X2's MEGA View 561. This device sounds great, think of it as the fusion of the iPod photo with TiVo. It looks good too - and all for US$399, although versions with larger hard drives would be welcome. Oddly enough, this device is smaller in every dimension than the Archos Gmini 400 but it has a 3.5" screen as opposed to the Gmini's 2.2". It's also quite a porker - it weighs in at about 50% more than the larger Gmini.

Automatic downloading with BitTorrent

I missed this when it came out three weeks ago, but there was an interesting article on Engadget about setting up automatic downloads of TV episodes via BitTorrent and RSS. They are doing it on a PC, but the BitTorrent client they are using is Azureus, a java client which also works on OS X.

CrystalPlayer Mobile for UIQ

An updated version of the CrystalPlayer video player was announced today. No horizontal playback, and another proprietary video format - no thanks. See my earlier take on the advantages of SmartMovie over VICS Video Player.

AOL suspends AIM account for no reason at all

My AIM account, which I have used for a grand total of one day, has been suspended by AIM. There was no explanation, no email, no nothing. To date, I have sent about 20 IMs with the AIM service, and I have attempted but failed to have a video conference using iChat. Perhaps they've suspended me for that, I don't know.

What I do know is that attempting to log on produces this error message:

Unknown Authorization error when connecting to AIM, error = 17 More information | OK

Clicking on 'More information' leads me to this generic webpage:

Your Screen Name is blocked from signing in to the AIM service.   Your Screen Name is blocked from signing in to the AIM service. There are several reasons why you may have received this message: 1. Screen Names that were previously used on AOL but have been cancelled or suspended, can no longer be used on AIM. This includes both master accounts and sub-accounts. In order to continue using this Screen Name on AIM, please reactivate the account on AOL.

2. AOL Screen Names that have one or more of the following Parental Controls set will no longer able to use AIM, even if they have previously been able to do so:
- Instant Messages are Blocked.
- Kid's Only age category.

To access AIM, the Master Screen Name on the AOL account must go to AOL Keyword: Parental Controls and change the above settings for this Screen Name. In addition, your Screen Name must also be set to one of the following age categories: Young Teen, Mature Teen, or General (18+).

3. Users who identify themselves as a child under the age of 13 may not use this service at this time. If you are an adult and have entered your birth date incorrectly, you may use a credit card to complete our age verification process now, or anytime within 30 days of the date when you identified yourself as a child. You will not be charged for this credit card verification.

Click here to sign in to our age verification form to reactivate your Screen Name.

4. An account may be terminated for violations of the terms of service.

Pretty useless huh? I don't know why I expected more from AOL after the iChat-AIM team-up, but I shouldn't have. Evidently their level of competence is pretty much what it's always been. I've heard horror stories about their UK broadband service too.

I wouldn't even mind so much if there was some way of contacting AOL. But they deliberate make it impossible to do so. The only help you get is the inscrutable page shown above, or a ridiculous FAQ page with one entry. :mad:

iTunes 'Album Artwork Not Modifiable'

I encountered this message displayed in the album art window of iTunes today. After some googling I found that it might be the result of trying to add album art to songs on ejected disks, or songs on a CD, but neither applied to me. After some investigation I discovered it was because that particular album was in the ogg format!

Forward Delete on a Powerbook

Back when I first got this PowerBook (667MHz DVI Titanium), it took me a few months to figure this out. You can forward delete by pressing function-delete. A dedicated key would still have been nice...

A glance at SheerVideo

I recently read a reference to lossless video codec named SheerVideo. I've never used a lossless codec before and I know nothing about them. SheerVideo has a 20 day free trial available, so I thought I'd have a look. The first thing I noticed was that the installer didn't work! This must be a common problem, since there is an included document titled "Manually Installing SheerVideo". The instructions consist of where to put the codec files.

Update 8/12/04: Andreas Wittenstein of BitJazz contacted me about the installer problem and directed me to an updated v2.0.2.1 version on BitJazz's website. The new version installs without a hitch! How's that for great service?!

What's the big deal?
There seems to be very little information about SheerVideo available online, but after reading what I could find, including this seemingly-incomplete review, it seems that uncompressed video is usually used in professional video post-production where video might be edited any number of times so a lossy codec cannot be used when saving the file between edits. Apparently uncompressed video suffers from huge file sizes which require extremely fast SCSI hard drives. We're talking hundreds of gigabytes for 2 hours of video here. By comparison, all codecs used in home video editing are compressed, including DV files which are probably the largest files (of any sort) most home users will ever experience. 2 hours of DV video is around 25 gigabytes. Apparently one of the things that makes SheerVideo stand out is that the files are small enough to be able to use (relatively) slower but inexpensive firewire hard disks instead of faster but expensive SCSI ones. A couple of months ago I wrote about DIY RAIDs for uncompressed (HD) video.

How large are we talking about?
I wanted to see how large SheerVideo files were in comparison to some high quality video I had lying around on my hard disk. I also wanted to see a lossless codec in action. This is what I found:

Source: 70.7MB - Photo-JPEG, 45 seconds, 720x486
Output: 173.2MB - SheerVideo
Output: 432.3MB - Uncompressed AVI
Export time: 45 seconds

Source: 49.8MB - MPEG2, 21 seconds, 720x480
Output: 233.4MB - SheerVideo
Output: 511.8MB - Uncompressed AVI
Export time: 45 seconds

Source: 13.9MB - DV, 4 seconds, 720x576
Output: 50.8MB - SheerVideo
Output: 118.8MB - Uncompressed AVI
Export time: 8 seconds

Just out of interest I also tried it with a low quality clip:

Source: 20.4MB - Sorenson 3, 47 seconds, 640x480
Output: 483.9MB - SheerVideo
Output: 1081.2MB - Uncompressed AVI
Export time: 60 seconds

In all cases the SheerVideo exported in the same amount of time as the Uncompressed AVI. Also the quality of both exported files were indistinguishable from the original (except for one thing, read on). What I did notice was that the SheerVideo files were slightly brighter than the original, but apparently this might be a QuickTime playback bug to do with gamma correction.

Will I ever use it?
Very rarely. On some occasions I've had problems converting partially corrupted mpeg1 files downloaded from the internet. A direct conversion from mpeg1 to (for example) divx will fail when it hits the corrupt data, but I've found that exporting the mpeg1 to Uncompressed AVI and from there to my desired format usually bypasses the problem. In the future I suppose I will use SheerVideo instead of Uncompressed AVI, but as the file is merely an intermediate file and gets deleted soon afterward the smaller size of the SheerVideo will be less significant.

iMac G5 voltage warning

BoingBoing had an interesting link today to an International Herald Tribune report. Apparently the new iMac G5s being sold in the US are 100-110 volt only (as opposed to being 100-240 volt). This is in contrast to every other Mac on the market except the eMac. Apparently this is to protect foreign sales since the US dollar is currently so weak - a British buyer could save £197 by buying one in the States.

Airport disconnecting when switching users

Since getting the Airport Express and going wireless, I've noticed that I get disconnected from the Airport network when I use Fast User Switching to switch over to my iTunes user (I used this MacOSXHints hint to set up a large second shared iTunes library on an external hard disk). After a bit of research I came across this mailing list post. Switching to my iTunes user showed that I could not make any changes to the Network settings. This was when I remembered that I had set the iTunes user to Simple Finder to see what was so simple about it. Switching back to my main user showed that I couldn't make changes to logged in users, so after a quick switch back and logout of the iTunes user, I set it to Full Finder, logged back in, opened up the Airport tab of Network preferences and entered the appropriate network name and password. Note: the password box only appears once you've chosen a network. Voila! No more disconnects when switching users.

Skulls and Cabir gangbang Series 60

The Register reported today that a new combined version of the Skulls trojan and the Cabir worm (covered earlier) has been discovered. It's been tagged as Skulls-B. Beware of an application called Extended Theme Manager for Series 60 phones.

5 megapixel compact cameras

My in-laws have asked me for buying advice regarding 5 megapixel compact cameras. Unfortunately other than very occasionally downloading images from a Minolta Dimage X at work (someone else takes the photos), I have next to no experience with them. A bit of googling turned up quite a lot of reviews of individual cameras, but the most recent multiple camera comparison I found was from June 2003. Not so useful. Write-ups of something called the 2004 DIMA Digital Camera Shootout were mildly useful but lacked comparisons. Luckily I noticed in NetNewsWire today that Janet Tokerud over at Tech Ronin had written up a short comparison. Just what I was looking for! A review by a regular user who's opinion I feel I can trust.