MeyerBros

Peter Gutmann has done a cost analysis of Windows Vista’s “premium content protection.” A sad/scary/ridiculous/amusing overview of the tangled webs Microsoft and its content-industry buddies are trying to weave in order to perform the impossible task of “protecting” content from the same person who’s legitimately viewing it. Worth reading. Some choice items: If Vista doesn’t think your shiny new HD monitor / high-end sound card is secure enough (few HD monitors sold today have the required security features) any “premium content” sent to that device (and any other content being played on the system at the same time as “premium content”) gets intentionally fuzzied by the OS, or blacked out completely. And if a “security” problem is discovered in a previously-approved piece of hardware, Microsoft can at any time revoke the key for that piece of hardware, disabling its ability to function with Vista at all. After you bought and paid for it.

Anyway, read it. Definitely read it if you’re even thinking about buying Vista, or a computer with Vista installed. And this is good too.

For those of you interested, download this (Windows) program to remind you of upcoming birthdays and anniversaries of your friends and family. Developed by David Glick with a requested $5/computer fee. Click the link below to download:

reminder.exe

i’ve been thinking. why should software users (me) always have to alternate between online and offline apps, importing this and exporting that - switching apps and learning new systems. why can’t i have the advantages of webmail and desktop mail without figuring it out for myself? i want a web calendar that i can look at and adjust off or on line. i want my backpack and writeboards available even when i don’t have web access. why not?

it doesn’t seem like too much to ask, does it? and think of the advantages of all your data being backedup by default within the application.

the more i don’t have to think about when i just want to write a note or check my mail, the better.

37 signals want’s a monopoly on my life. bastards.

I’m already paying $5 per month for backpack which i am completely adicted to. i already use it for lists and links and writeboards, and now they go and add a iCal friendly calendar for no extra cost.

i’m a sucker, but they’re competing with google on this one. I have an online calendar that I am fairly happy with. It seems what they can offer me is backpack intigration and a new level of simplicity - but is it too simple? google calendar can do a lot of nice things…

it comes on the heels of my own idea for a new web calendar system. i would like to see a calendar program stores your calendar locally and online. one program - potentially run within a browser. no more importing and exporting from master calendars and subscribed calendars in various applications with different interfaces and specs. why should i have to think about which calendar is more up-to-date and whether I’m online or off. that’s what computers are for. i simply want a calendar i can access from anywhere at any time without having to worry about it.