Media
Microsoft have just given the somewhat badly named WPF/E the shiny new label of 'Silverlight'. What's more, they've actually made it interesting.
WPF/E was a flash competitor built around XAML, Microsoft's XML format for UI specification. Interesting, yet not really adding much more than you can already get in Flash or Apollo. Along with the new nomenclature, they've now added an embedded version of the CLR, the VM behind .NET. What this means is you should get a lot more power, support for more languages and a lot more speed.
The downsides? Cross-platform means Windows, Mac OS X and Windows Mobile (you can download beta releases of the first two). There's no Linux support, no Symbian support, no Palm support - indeed, cross-platform is provided purely by Mac support. And development tools are Windows only. Also, those who remember Internet Explorer for the Mac, HP/UX and Solaris will remember Microsoft's old habit of professing interoperability until they've won the market, then dropping it. Only time will tell if they've left this behind for the good of all involved.
On the upside, certain parts have been released under BSD-style licences, so one can only hope that the good people of Mono will fill the gap. One can even dream and imagine Microsoft may fill it - although history does not offer much hope on this score.
One can't help but think back to the days of Netscape and Constellation - make the desktop obsolete in favour of the web. We know have the raw power and enough bandwidth to make this a reality for many users, so the technology used to do this is an extremely important area in which to make one's mark. Cue the reprise of the 'browser wars', Microsoft vs. Adobe this time. May you live in interesting times indeed...
Oh my. Someone went and leaked a HD-DVD key on Digg (far from the first place it ha appeared). The world's worst piece of legislation is invoked (DMCA) and they get a take down notice. They try to implement, only to surrender to an overwhelming flood. Indeed, you can read about nothing else on Digg at present.
What continues to amaze is that the MPAA and the RIAA and the like continue to believe that they can make DRM impenetrable. HD-DVD is still a niche product and yet it has been subverted. It's somewhat concerning that they think they have a right to a string of hexadecimal digits. It's even more concerning that the US government is behind them all the way. And it's just plain daft to believe they can put this genie back in the bottle with a few cease-and-desist notices.
Anyway, just to get in the game: 09-f9-11-02-9d-74-e3-5b-d8-41-56-c5-63-56-88-c0. Hurray for the UK - surveillance society, but not ruled by the media companies (yet, anyway, although the EU Copyright Directive is bad enough).
EyeTV 2.4 was release today. Among its release notes were many things, but one big one was unmentioned - it now supports H.264 decoding, including that of BBC HD.
It doesn't seem quite so tolerant as some of the Windows codecs, but it works, and fairly fast as well - as long as the signal is strong. Hurrah!
Early last year the BBC and the other major free-to-air broadcasters started a trial of terrestrial HDTV broadcasts in south London. While the others have packed up, the BBC is still broadcasting in 1080i and has many of its headline programmes on there - such as Planet Earth - along with a lot of previews and fillers.
I've been keen to get it for a while, as Planet Earth in particular really benefits from the added resolution. However, it is encoded as MPEG-4/H.264, whereas the SDTV channels (and hence the majority of set-top boxes) are sent in MPEG-2. Further, neither EyeTV for the Mac or Windows Media Centre support HDTV in H.264, quite possibly because the US uses MPEG-2 for HD broadcasts. However, with a little hacking I've managed to get it, under Windows at least.
The solution:
H.264 codecs are a little tricky - while CoreAVC is widely recommended, the buggers won't let you buy it at present, effectively making it unavailable. Hence I've fallen back on the trial version of PowerDVD, which is apparently slightly slower but does work.
And so, we can now watch BBC HD. The resolution is superb - 1080i is above the size of most PC screens - and my MacBook Pro CoreDuo 2.0Ghz almost manages to keep up. Hopefully CoreAVC will add that last bit of speed, as it's almost there.
Oddly enough, though, I can't use my external digital receiver/speakers - the DVB stream stops dead when I plug them in. I'm blaming this on the BootCamp drivers at present, but it's odd.
Now, if only Microsoft and Elgato would pull finger...
EMI have just announced that the iTunes store will have DRM-free tracks from their catalogue. And they're upping the quality.
There's a mix here though. Single tracks will cost £0.99, with DRM encumbered alternatives remaining available for the standard £0.79. However, albums will be sold at the current price (£7.99 for the most part) and you'll be able to upgrade for £0.20.
All in all, quite a coup for both EMI and Apple, and a most pleasant surprise. The iTunes store may now even be worth using (but for the fact that older CDs are generally cheaper from Amazon, anyway).
After all the kerfuffle about the BBC using Windows only DRM, the BBC has apparently explained. It's not much (basically: we couldn't find anything open that did what was needed) but it helps. After all, the Trust is demanding a cross-platform service within 24 months - and surely Mac & Linux users won't miss that much telly in that time?
Not that I'm really too worried, given they have committed to doing it. The BBC broadcasts in open 576i widescreen MPEG-2, and between my PVR (which lets me copy recorded content off over an USB cable) and my DVB-T USB adapter I can already access any current content I want. The archive is the main source of information, and I can survive a brief stint of having to reboot into Windows.
As the tits at Sony release firmware 3 for the PSP (with PS1 emulation support, if you're daft enough to own a PS3 and live in the US/Japan), I noticed my PSP has a old (pre TA-082) motherboard. And so it got the flash treatment - to Dark Alex's 2.71SE firmware.
This is very neat - no hacking around, just launch third party software from the games menu. Well worth the [minor] risk of a flash. There are, of course, two prerequisites - firstly, you need a TA-081 or prior motherboard. Secondly, firmware 2.71 or below.
For those who can't flash, however, at least Sid Meier's Pirates! is coming to the PSP in the new year.
On another note, what is with the inclusion of trailers on [non-rental] DVDs? We bought the 2nd Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and not only does it have 2 trailers before the menu, but all the booklets included are just full of marketing rubbish. Is it any wonder people just pirate these things when companies try to screw all possible marketing revenue from you?
The Guardian presents "The Digested Read" - for those without time to read all the crap about.
Particulary apt is the blurb for "State of Fear" -
Author's note: I'm very, very clever and have read a lot and you're all stupid wishy-washy liberals.
Steve Jobs has finally made a device which is going to increase Mac market share. The Mac mini (I shall call it ... 'mini-Mac'!) is out and is gorgeous. Best of all, I've already tempted someone into desperately lusting after one. Not the greatest powerhouse but oh so cute.
If only I could convince Polly she needs one ;-)
But I've no time for such things any way - one week and I'm on holiday. Two weeks and I'm a chained and married man. And then a week to recover, hopefully with some diving. Or, even better, some decent weather. We've had three days of sunshine (and high winds, but that's normal around here) and now a heavy rain warning for tomorrow has appeared. So much for summer...
