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About this site

For six years, the Internet Nexus served as my technology blog, but I've since started blogging at the SuperSite Blog instead. If you're looking for the blog, please head there. --Paul

Coming soon: Everything Must Go

The next edition of "Everything Must Go" will be appearing here soon. --Paul

Friday, November 28, 2003

Mac users attack iTunes hack creator
DVD Jon, the guy who wrote DeCSS and, this week, the hack for iTunes, has apparently been assailed by Mac advocates, who aren't used to their cute little world being overrun by hackers. Heads up, guys: This is what happens when you're popular. "Sorry to say this but, unlike with DeCSS where you were allowing Linux users to view DVDs, this time you've gone too far," one clueless reader wrote to DVD Jon, who notes how "completely clueless [these people are] about copyright law ... Did they suddenly realize that it's the RIAA, and not Apple, which determines the rules for the iTMS DRM? When they complain about Microsoft's DRM used by other music stores, why do they think that it's Microsoft, and not the RIAA, which determines the DRM rules?" Sorry to tell you this, Jon, but yeah, they did believe this, and yeah, they do think Microsoft's DRM is evil, while Apple is out of the good of the world. Welcome to my playground. Here's another story about the hack, which includes a note about how Apple is "not making money" on the iTunes service, as I've been saying. "Most of the money goes to the music companies," Steve Jobs told a financial analyst conference call. "We would like to break even/make a little bit of money, but it's not a money maker," he said.

[ Posted at 11:41 AM | Permalink ]

Mozilla CuteMenus
Here's a nice little add-on for Mozilla or Firebird: CuteMenus, which adds icons to most of the menu items in your browser's popus and menus. It's free, visually appealing, and fun.

[ Posted at 11:36 AM | Permalink ]

Test post
Just testing the NewsGator Blogger plug-in for Outlook. I really need to get real titles going on this site.

[ Posted at 10:47 AM | Permalink ]

Thanksgiving
...was yesterday. Is there anything more sickening than reading what other people are thankful for? Geeps.

[ Posted at 10:41 AM | Permalink ]

Microsoft screws Office 2003 beta testers
Wow. Neowin is reporting that all but the 60 top beta testers for Office 2003 received this lowly radio clip for their efforts testing Microsoft's latest office productivity suite. What this means is rather astonishing: Office 2003 was Microsoft's most heavily tested product in the company's history, according to Microsoft press releases, and yet only 60 people got the final code, which, naturally costs Microsoft next to nothing to distribute. Yikes.

[ Posted at 10:31 AM | Permalink ]

Wednesday, November 26, 2003

Eolas vs. Microsoft: An expert speaks
Perry Pei-Yuan Wei, the author of the Viola Web browser--created in 1991, incidentally--explains why he believes Eolas' Web browser patent is invalid. Specifically, Wei says that he implemented embedded objects in Viola by late 1992, or about a decade before Eolas was granted the sole licensor or what is clearly a bogus patent for embedded objects in Web browsers. In short, the Eolas case against Microsoft should be thrown out, and Eolas' patent claim (technically it's the University of California's) should be rejected by the US Patent Office. Read this article, it's amazing.

[ Posted at 12:43 PM | Permalink ]

PowerBook-12 review
Computerworld looks at the Apple notebook I'm most likely to buy, the recently updated 12-inch version, which now sports a 1 GHz processor. And right off the bat, the review raises a bunch of issues that plagued the first version--it tended to run hot, and had a trackpad button that sometimes stuck, an uneven bottom and a latch mechanism that was flaky--raises some red flags here. Good news, however: The new version is much improved, according to the review, with slightly fewer heat problems, an integrated DVI out port, faster processor, and seemingly excellent battery life. It still runs hot, which I suppose is understandable given its size, and it's a bit cramped for everyday use, which isn't a problem for me because it wouldn't be my primary machine. Hmm...

[ Posted at 12:03 PM | Permalink ]

Apple Store woes
In yet another indication that Apple doesn't perform so well when it ventures outside of its tight-knit insular community, over one-third of all visitors to the company's online store have "experienced problems ... with 9 percent saying their experience was so bad they'll never use it again," according to a MacWorld poll. One reader says the experience was "ghastly", and for another the store was "utterly useless". I'm guessing those guys weren't Mac users, but the serious issue here, of course, is that a lost customer is typically lost forever. The folks that already think Apple can do no wrong won't be of much help with any perception that Apple can't meet shipment dates or perform any of the other basic online store tasks that people expect.

[ Posted at 11:58 AM | Permalink ]

iPhoto for Windows?
Business Week Online's Alex Salkever is petitioning Apple to release iPhoto for Windows. Though I don't agree with him that iPhoto is better than all Windows-based photo management software except for Adobe Photoshop Album, I do agree that getting iPhoto on Windows is a great idea. It does raise an interesting issue, however: How much Apple software on Windows is too much? If you port all the stuff Windows users want from Apple, why would they switch?

[ Posted at 11:55 AM | Permalink ]

Tuesday, November 25, 2003

XPlay 1.1.4 released
I've been a big fan (and user) of MediaFour's XPlay, which lets Windows users access Mac-based iPods using the XP shell or Windows Media Player. Today, MediaFour released a new update, version 1.1.4, which adds support for the Windows version of iTunes. Highly recommended!

[ Posted at 9:37 PM | Permalink ]

Linux handheld, take two. Is this thing on?
Is anyone in the world really clamoring for a Linux-based PDA? Even popular devices, like those based on Windows Mobile (Pocket PC) and the Palm OS are moving, increasingly, to smartphone form factors. It's unclear what Linux brings to the table.

[ Posted at 9:35 PM | Permalink ]

A few words on the iTunes DRM exploit
I wrote up the Apple iTunes DRM exploit today in WinInfo and am already dreading the email responses. I'm not sure what it is about Mac fanatics, but they have a hard time dealing with imperfections in their favorite company's software. But I've said before that Apple isn't proven in the wider world: They have a hard enough time securing the closed Mac system; I suspect they'll find their welcome from Windows users to be more than a bit harsher. On a similar vein, reaction to the Debian attack was equally painful.

[ Posted at 9:33 PM | Permalink ]

Monday, November 24, 2003

iPod follow-ups
Earlier today, I posted a QuickTime video link about the problems someone has with Apple's iPod battery replacement policy. As I thought, Apple does indeed offer a $99 replacement option, or you can just opt for the AppleCare premium warranty service, priced at US$59 for two years of protection. And it turns out you can also purchase a battery yourself for just $49, assuming you don't mind doing the deed yourself. Not bad.

[ Posted at 9:12 PM | Permalink ]

Duke Nukem 3D for Windows
A new port of the Duke Nukem 3D source code (along with executables) is now available for Windows, though you'll need some of the files from the shareware or retail version of the original game to play it. Duke was one of my favorite online games, and the first, I believe, that I played on the Internet with others (previously, we had played DOOM, DOOM II, Heretic, and other games via a LAN at the school I was working at in the mid-1990's). It featured a cool-looking psuedo-3D environment, a good story line, a smack-talking lead character, and more alien scumbags that you could shake a stick at. I'm busy finding my original Duke 3D software so I can play it again on Windows (yeah, I keep almost everything), but it looks like a faithful port.

[ Posted at 2:29 PM | Permalink ]

Timeline: Could it happen?
I'm a huge fan of Michael Crighton, and Timeline was his best book in a long time (and a nice apology for Airframe, which, like Prey, wasn't that good). Now that a movie version of the book is approaching, Scientific American discusses the science behind Timeline and wonders whether time travel is possible.

[ Posted at 11:19 AM | Permalink ]

Dave Winer slips further into hatred-laden insanity
Would someone who loves this guy please explain to him how crazy he sounds? In a bizarre Boston Globe article, over which I almost inadvertantly upchucked coffee this morning, Radioland create Dave Winer expresses his absolute hatred of Google which, like any company that becomes super popular, is starting to come under fire from jealous competitors and users. "[Does Google] have a right to [draw users to its Blogger service via the popular Google toolbar for Internet Explorer]? Absolutely," Winer admits. "But I also have a right to hate them." The reason Winer really hates Google, of course, is that Blogger is free, while Winer charges an arm and a leg for his very similar software. In other words, Winer is on the wrong side of the free software debate, and it's hitting him right where it counts.

[ Posted at 11:15 AM | Permalink ]

Next two XP Media Center releases revealed
Mary Jo Foley does her usual bang-up job (that is, regurgitating information from public sources and then attributing a nonsensical quote to a supposed insider) of revealing the next two XP Media Center Edition releases, code-named Symphony and Slalom. Symphony will enter beta early next year and be released in late 2004; Slalom will be the Longhorn version of Media Center, and is due in late 2005. At the PDC, eHome technical evangelist John Canning talked about some of the features Microsoft is planning on making part of Slalom:

* Slalom will expose eHome metadata through WinFS;

* Recorded TV playback will be available, via the Longhorn Media Player. In fact, TV will be part of the "Longhorn Media Experiences" by the time Slalom ships. ("Experiences" seem to be synonymous with the Microsoft concept of "scenarios." Among the evolving Media Center experiences are the photo experience; the shopping experience; and the music experience.) ;

* Via the Avalon presentation system, greater "extensibility" will be possible. What kinds of extensibility? Notifications (such as trigger alerts, expiration notices, etc.);

* There will be more application programming interfaces added to the platform, especially for TV and remote-control capabilities.

[ Posted at 11:11 AM | Permalink ]

Apple's dirty secret
In this QuickTime video, we learn about some of the problems one iPod user has had trying to get his dead battery replaced by Apple. The cost? $255 plus a mailing fee. Weird, I had heard that Apple was replacing iPod batteries for $99, which seems reasonable.

[ Posted at 11:07 AM | Permalink ]

New Mac OS X blogging tool
A new version of the OS X blogging tool, Frequency, is now available. I'll be testing it this week, but I'm told the new version supports better post-editing features, better and wider support for the Blogger APIs, support for titles and categories, improved HTML previewing, and many other new features. Check it out.

[ Posted at 11:01 AM | Permalink ]

Getting your Hotmail email from Mozilla
Yes, it's possible. Yes, it probably violates the Hotmail EULA. Still, lots of people are going to want to know how to do this.

[ Posted at 9:12 AM | Permalink ]

Sunday, November 23, 2003

Berke Breathed returns
Imagine my surprise, on opening the first holiday season Boston Sunday Globe, when I spied "Opus" in the center of the Sunday Comics. Opus is Berke Breathed's third cartoon, following the amazing "Bloom County" and so-so "Outland." Opus appears to be more Outland than Bloom County, but we can pray. More info: An interview with the man.

[ Posted at 9:39 PM | Permalink ]

Best 404 ever?
LOL. Again, good stuff.

[ Posted at 9:37 PM | Permalink ]