Tech | NikGomez.com

Creative Zen Stone proves the Shuffle is crap

Posted on May 11, 2007 by mygoodgomez

Take a good look at that image. Now realize that this 1GB flash media player costs only $40. Seeing the word Zen branded on these little devices tells you that they are part of the Creative Zen line of a wide variety of media players. And like many of Creative’s products, it does what Apple’s products do at a drastically reduced price. Apple’s Shuffle, which does the exact same functions (play music files randomly w/o an LCD screen), costs $80 (double the Zen Stone).

The Zen Stone exemplifies my main problems with Apple’s products and their pricing schemes. Apple is able to charge ridiculous prices for ordinary products employing technology that has been available for years. There is no use trying to deny that their marketing and PR departments are probably the best in the world, but I still don’t think that their products justify their prices. Paying more for an inferior product isn’t cool, though it might be fashionable.

Digg’s one mistake might take it’s life

Posted on May 1, 2007 by mygoodgomez

In case you don’t use digg.com, it’s a social news site where users can “digg” the articles/webpages/anything they like to push it to the front page of digg.com. It’s every website’s dream to hit the front page of digg because it means thousands upon thousands of page views within moments. Digg has over 1 million users now, and they have turned on the digg management faster than anything I’ve ever seen.

What sent the diggers up in arms? The removal of a story submitted that had hit the front page about the 32 digit hexadecimal code that is used to unlock the encryption on HD-DVDs. This code is similar to the “illegal prime”number that was used to crack DVDs. The number is illegal to publish and copy because it can circumvent all of the copy-protection put on HD-DVDs, which means that HD-DVDs can now be pirated. Digg removed this story immediately because its moderators said that it was a legal matter for digg, and that it could not be responsible for such content on the site.

Diggers are viewing this as a persecution of their right to free speech, and rightfully so. Another little fact that enraged diggers is that reddit and other large social news sites didn’t immediately take down the posted links to the code. It has become an issue of standing up to the MPAA and RIAA (two groups which the digg crowd would lynch, burn and the stake, and mutilate if they had the chance); this is something that digg did not do. Rather than trying to put up a fight to battle DRM, digg bent over and acted like a little baby.

Finally, it has come to surface that Diggnation, a podcast done by digg owner Kevin Rose and his friend Alex Albrect, have been sponsored by HD-DVD in the past. Conflict of interests? I think so… Continue reading “Digg’s one mistake might take it’s life” →

Joost getting serious content w/ CBS

Posted on April 12, 2007 by mygoodgomez

It seems that the Joost lot has seen a very nice turn of events as of late. Before now, the programing that Joost has offered its beta testers has been both random and irrelevant to their wants. The program is nice, but a pretty interface cannot cover up horrid content. It looks like CBS is coming to Joost’s rescue.

It has been announced that CBS is taking a shotgun approach to webcasting their TV programming, and Joost happens to be caught in the shot spray. This announcement is a buffer to the recent addition of Viacom programs such as MTV, VH1, and BET (all music channels). As to the programming being offered by CBS, already aired shows such as CSI, NCIS, and CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. It is unfortunate that Joost is getting more old content, but at least these shows have been viewed and praised by millions. This is quite unlike the other programming on channels such as LXTV and The Diddy Channel.

Being a part of the beta testing program, I am glad to see the recent increase in content which was released no less than a week ago. As the versions of Joost approach v1.0 (they are currently at v0.9.2), more exciting news is sure to rise pertaining to the program. While strides still need to be made relating to how users will be able to manage hundreds of channels at once and other usability issues, the ability to watch free TV programming is exciting for anyone involved.

If you want to participate in beta testing, I have a few invites left!

YouChoose brings politics to the YouTube age

Posted on April 11, 2007 by mygoodgomez

The YouChoose section of YouTube has started to allow presidential candidates one week each in the Spotlight on the News & Politics page of the massive video site. During their time in the Spotlight, they will be able to pose questions to the YouTube community. In response, people everywhere can upload their own “RE:” videos answering the questions asked.

This is your chance to engage the leaders who are competing for the most powerful position in the country. Let them know what you think and keep an eye on their replies. This is a great chance to get to know the candidates better by speaking across the level platform that is politics on YouTube.

This is a very interesting idea that YouTube is trying out. They are taking advantage of their massive active user population to possibly influence the ’08 elections. So what does this mean? I think that the number of 18-24 age voters will go up. If this does nothing else, it will put good amounts of information right at the fingertips of millions of YouTubers. Giving people information where they already are (in this case, YouTube) is a very important aspect of informing potential voters. People are lazy, and putting political information in a place that doesn’t make people go out of their way is great.The Spotlight pages that the candidate pages are nice because they aren’t just places to post videos. They let you see both critical and fun facts about the candidates. This adds to the concept of putting information where people already are.

The downside? You are allowing the millions of pre-teens ample space to start more flame wars. As nearly every web forum has proved, it only takes one idiot to post something like “i will pwn u all! u suxors!” to have an entire thread to go astray. Hopefully the users of YouTube will keep their heads on while talking about politics so that we can see some actual intellectual debating go on.

Right now, we have Dennis Kucinich, Duncan Hunter, Rudy Giuliani, Barack Obama, Ron Paul, Bill Richardson, John Edwards, Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Tom Tancredo, and Mitt Romney up on the page.

EMI takes first steps for DRM-free music on iTunes

Posted on April 2, 2007 by mygoodgomez

It is official: EMI is going to offer its library of music on iTunes without DRM. For those who don’t know, DRM is what prevents you from doing whatever you like with your music (ie. using something other than an iPod). DRM stands for Digital Rights Managements. DRM is applied to every file you buy in iTunes, every song you download in Rhapsody, basically it’s everywhere. It’s also crippling your free usage of what you pay for.

After Steve Jobs’ blaming the record industry for DRM saying that he’s all for DRM-free music, but not taking any personal responsibility for the problem, the major record label EMI has published a press release stating that it will be offering higher quality, DRM-free music on the iTunes Music Store. Here is a great summary of the points made today (by Gizmodo): Continue reading “EMI takes first steps for DRM-free music on iTunes” →