DRM – Definite Rip-off Machine

Truth about – Digital Rights Management

Long ago Digital content was sold in digital media, then came the Internet. And then came “the piracy”! Digital content was distributed illegally, which is BTW totally different from “Sharing”. And then came DRM with an intention to whoop piracy’s ass, but eventually got carried away.

 

In a vague description DRM is a technique used by the sellers, dealing with digital content to control / limit the content even after the customer has paid hard earned cash for it. It mainly puts a sense that customers are taken for helpless goofy ducks!

It’s implemented both software and hardware perspective. For eg music, ebooks, movies, set top boxes, media centers preciously everywhere.

DRM uses high level cryptographic algorithms which usually uses public key cryptography. Each company has it’s own way of generating the “master key” which is corresponded to the customer through servers. The numbers generated are random in nature and thus hard to tweak. On top of that the algorithms are combination of different math based, usually the numeric based algorithms. Some of the examples are

–        Symmetric Key cryptography

–        Elliptic Curve Cryptography

–        Digital signature Algorithm

–        One Key Message Authentication code

–        Encrypt Control word etc

These algorithms are so called hack-proof ones.( Exceptional to a few hack-creed, but then these people are either ethical or work for the company, unlike the infamous “ANONYMOUS”.)

The implementation in the hardware goes another level higher. The components like the set top box card slot, the receiver or the media player have inbuilt DRM which ask for the signatures. This DRM is implemented onto their firmwares as well.

COMCAST one of the leading broadcast service comes with a DRM card slot.

Intel, the leading PC maker desperate to get in Media center has come up with Intel Insider, which’s totally DRM. On  leaking of it’s master keys, it has now chickened out to impose a law on to penalize such an individual. How Brave!

Microsoft came with all the Windows 8 certified hardware to be secure-boot. An approach to make it impossible to install Linux/GNU. You can never stop Linux Gates!  It also holds proprietary for Play-Ready which’s a DRM deployment.

Sony PSP with official firmware works only with expensive PSP CDs. However thanks for Homebrew game community making it possible to play so many games.

 

Some of you chumps might be thinking “oh, this is fair enough”.

Here’s few butt-stinging DRM virtues for you boys and girls.

–        Folks are restricted to listen to music for a limited number of times even when you’ve purchased the track. Fair-play comes up with this stupid idea.

–        Movies or music can’t be stored or copied or shared. You can’t store copies of Harlod and kumar anymore. Disney, Sony etc support this mental cause.

–        Ebooks can’t be ported to devices, even when you’ve paid for it. Amazon’s DRM holds credit for this lame concept.

–        VIDEO GAMES COME WITH LIMITED NUMBER OF INSTALLATIONS. YA HAVE TO STOP THIS, MAN! Kickass game developers like Blizzard are moving to this strategy. That day is not far where you gottu pay for every COD mission. 😦

Currently there’re many Laws protecting the DRM. But sane folks are protesting against it from being implemented everywhere. Organization like Defective by Design (DBD), Electronic Frontier Foundation etc  across the world are fighting to stop this mean machine.

DRM are kinda Corkblockers. There’re other ways to fight piracy.

However since DRM is not widespread and fully implemented everywhere folks around are still breathing free.

Plus it’s not that they’re impossible to hack. Game CD’s have been cracked within 2 hours of release, but it’s just that there’s just too many over-complications for the legit user. Hence he thinks “Why pay for some shit, when you can get it for free”.

Myself having worked on DRM, I think the technology should benefit the humanity in lieu get commercialize. There’re serious problems to be solved. Let’s not solve problems, which actually aren’t.

BasementWorks.tk  believes “Technology is meant for all”! How about you?

apple’s loss = google gain

 

apple’s loss = google’s gain

 

Google maps are now back with a bang on IOS after several attempts by apple to implement it’s own maps without a glitch. Apple failed miserably after its maps didn’t perform as well as expected which was like a half-baked cake.

Many of you would have already heard about this but not the whole story behind the scene. We will cover the whole story here.

 

It is believed that apple wanted google to extend support for few features like voice navigation and 3D maps for ios devices but google wanted to confine it to android. So , apple removed google maps silently while pushing the latest IOS 6 update to most of its devices. However, the actual reason for this is still unknown.

check this

10 possible reasons which would have forced apple to replace google maps :

http://www.siliconindia.com/news/technology/10-Reasons-Why-Apple-Bans-Google-from-iOS-6-nid-125773-cid-2.html

 

Many navigators & wanderers were shocked for a while with this sudden change but later realized that ios maps were there to rescue them. Unfortunately, they failed miserably. In fact , ios maps have led to lots of complications.

 

As we all know that Apple always wanted to stand out in the crowd and here it is… This time it tried to give a 3D experience in its maps for buildings and navigation but it ended up much worse than expected. Eventually many users ended up being mis-guided in the wrong directions with unnecessary info. But still, it was a good attempt by apple in such a short span of time.

 

Recently there has been a serious case in australia while navigating where users ended up in an isolate part of a national park, some 70 KMs away from their actual destination which was wrongly mapped. Police were concerned as there is no water supply within the Park and temperatures sore to as high as 46 degrees . The police have now warned users about the use of these ios maps. Many such similar complications have come up in various places.

 

After all the unexpected adventures apple users have experienced, apple should have surely been awarded or atleast been nominated for the best event organizer of hunger games.

Apple fired Scott Forstall, its longtime chief of mobile software for its troubled maps app. Atleast it realizes that God made time, but man made haste. Some things cannot be built overnight to excel.

 

Finally a good move by apple by allowing google maps back again.

And google maps makes it’s grand entry to IOS 6 on wednesday (12 / 12 / 12) !

 

New features added to google maps:           

1. Turn by Turn Navigation

2. voice navigation

3. 3D outlines for buildings

4. gesture input

5. etc, etc, etc…

 

 

6 things google maps wins over apple ios maps

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2409944,00.asp

 

Sources have confirmed that there were 10 million downloads of google maps in the first 48 hours available.

 

If u own an ios 6 device , then its time to dump your old buggy ios maps and switch to google maps soon. 

Try your hands on them and do come back with your experiences to share them with us.

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Moore’s Law Can now Kiss Good Bye

Single atom Transistor

Ever since the era of vacuum tubes came to end due to the invention of transistors, there’s been whooping growth in the computer technology.

As ya’ll know Transistors are the semiconductor devices that are incorporated in the processors that are mainly for the purpose of gate switching, in order to process lotta computations.

For the games you play, music to listen, movies you watch or anything you do there’re millions of transistors working on to get ya the best result. Preciously they’re the workers and you’re the big boss.

For the initial processor like for e.g. the famous Intel 8086 the number of transistor was around 29,000. Seven years before that the first Intel 4004 had around 2,000 transistors.

So in 7 years it was increased 15 times!!! And all the 2000’s kids are well aware of Pentium 4, playing all kickass games like Halo, Max Payne, half life, Diablo 2 etc. This processor the count is around 42 million. More than a 1000 times in 20 years.

NOW, the all new Core i7 (sandy-bridge) has around 2 billion transistor!!

Now that’s a big difference. Don’t you think the number of transistor can’t just play not bothering to anything? Well yeah…there’s a LIMIT to everything.

Moore’s law defines this limit. According to this  “the number of transistors that can be incorporated on an integrated circuit doubles every 18 months to two years”.

With this the threshold limit to reach with existing technology to shrink transistors will be reached by 2020.

So that’s it? 2020 and the highest peak is achieved and we can just play with only those many games possible? Nah science is not that bad at all!

Recently there’s been a successful implementation of what is called as “Single atom Transistor”!

Say what?

In the experiment a phosphorus atom (P) was etched with tiny silicon. The voltage then applied to the terminals makes it behave as transistor in it’s quantum state.

The fig a shows the etched silicon at the sides of P atom. Fig b shows the transistor behavior exhibited.

Courtesy—nature nanotechnology

This fig shows the readings taken between the terminals D,S,G1,G2 to display the transistor properties.

This preciously states that a new dimension to a quantum computing is discovered. And the future seems good.

So yay, alright we did it again! No more limitations…. but woa this new finding got limit as well

Damn it!….The atom has to be maintained in a temperature of -391 deg. This is because to make the atoms stay in it’s channel and not migrate! Also here the SEPARATION of atoms is of crucial importance.  This is in order to make thin atomic WIRES.

With this the future seems bright. But how successful will this be implemented on a large scale is still the question. It loves us, loves us not?

What do ya’ll think? Think about!

galaxy note ??? now what the hell is that ?

There came smartphones eating the computer’s space , then there were tablets crunching the laptop’s space too. Now what the hell is a NOTE ?

Now this thing from samsung looks like an integration of a smartphone and a tablet. If you think it’s a smartphone , then its 5.3 inches on hand and is quiet large. And if you feel its a tablet , then at the same 5.3 inches its too small to imagine. May be this is made to bridge the gap between both the phone and a tablet.

(( Something like a dashhound and doberman crossbreed. I wouldn’t consider Great Dane ))

 

This device reminds me of those days when touchcreens had to be operated using a stylus. This galaxy note has a good capacitive touch , though there is a stylus for it. The company wants to target the busy business crowd who are usually at the management level who keep giving presentations and reports even when there are at different places and hence making the shitty presentations good.

But I still wonder why this note is created when there are already so many smartphones and tablets. Is samsung crazy? Lets have a look at all the key features and decide it.

model name: Samsung Galaxy Note aka Samsung GT-N7000, Samsung I9220

Bold and elegant

This has almost all the features of a smatphone and also goes till supporting the 4G LTE network. But 4G ? How many of the countries have rolled out 4G? May be let us consider it for the future.

Other key features includes Bluetooth 3.0 which supports faster data transfer, an 8mp camera with 1080px HD video for amazingly clear pics and HD videos is like watching on a HDTV. The best part is the super-AMOLED screen which is till date the best display ever used. Super-AMOLED techonlogy was created by Samsung which shows very sharp images and brilliant colors. Its my personal experience , and the super-AMOLED screens are rich in colors. No other kind of display can be better.

It is one of those latest breed of phones with dual core processors clocking upto 1.4GHz
Some websites still claim that NFC is available with the device but still not sure it works.

With 1GB of RAM (as much as my desktop’s) , i think it should run any kind of app smoothly without any glitchess.

And obviously it runs on the Android Operating giving you access to millions of free apps. Right now it runs on Gingerbread 2.3.5 and is doubtfull of getting an ICS update just like other as you know samsung guys are little lazy.

Having a 2500mAh battery , it surely gives you better battery back up for hours and hours of heavy use.

My hands on experience was great as it was fast and smooth. It really worked upto my expectations. 
But at 5.3 inches this large peice and 178g is pretty big and heavy on hands. Best suited for those large hands.

Reasons to go for it:
1. If you have lots of presentations and office work to be completed(and if your boss is a dick).
2. To use it with 4G network for faster internet access (may be in future if 4G rolls out in INDIA)
3. NFC – Near Feild Communication for paper less transactions
4. Better battery life, RAM and memory
5. Need for a good display that works well even under bright sunlight.
6. 8MP camera with 1080 HD video playback. If you are one of those hobby photographers who like clicking all the time.(yea even if you are a facebook poser to simply upload pics like a professional photographer)

Networks support: 2G, 3G, 4G

Dimensions: 146.9 x 83 x 9.7 mm
Weight: 178 g

DISPLAY: Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size: 800 x 1280 pixels, 5.3 inches (~285 ppi pixel density)

Internal 16GB/32GB storage, 1 GB RAM
DATA GPRS , EDGE , HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps; LTE
WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot
Bluetooth: Yes, v3.0 with A2DP, EDR
NFC: YES

Primary CAMERA 8 MP, 3264×2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
Secondary CAMERA – 2 MP
Video: 1080p@24~30fps
Android OS, v2.3.5 (Gingerbread)

CPU Dual-core 1.4 GHz ARM Cortex-A9
GPU Mali-400MP

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official site www.samsung.com/in/galaxynote
check the unboxing video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhovjaqEIrU

Protect OUR Internet

SOPA – Stop Online Piracy Act 

PIPA – PROTECT IP Act

You must have heard about the buzz made in the internet about SOPA and PIPA  from few days. Many of you would be wondering what it is and why people are  creating such a scene out of it. It’s time you know it and pour in your support.

What does SOPA and PIPA mean to common people like us?

We all know that internet is such a valuable resource that we cant imagine  our live without it. It is the best thing that has ever happened to mankind.

We can’t start our day without google. We can’t learn anything or do homework without wikipedia. We cant meet our friends without facebook. They have become a part and parcel of our daily life. Its really hard  to imagine ourselves without these even for a day. Just one day without internet in like putting you inside a prison wihtout any access to  light,water, or air.

Internet is the backbone supporting eveything. Without the backbone its really hard to withstand. Every human has the right to access whatever information he/she needs. The internet needs to free and open. I didnt mean internet for free  of cost, it just means that it should be free from all bullshitting laws and rules. We don’t like when someone gets into our private space. Internet is never biased to anyone. It always served the purpose when in need.

But there is always an enemy for the good.

Here the enemies are SOPA & PIPA.

Both SOPA and PIPA are US government’s HOUSE BILLs.

Since US is the main country governing the internet, it has almost  all the power to take control over it. And moreover US got this habit to poke their long white nose in every issue.

Let me throw some light on these two enemies

SOPA – Stop Online Piracy Act – This act intends to stop piracy so  that it wont effect the intellectual property of its respective owners. There are many websites hosting free and pirated stuff online like  the mediafire.com , megaupload.com , thepiratebay.com , etc.   They usually never restrict you about the content you upload or download. That is the reason why many people use for pirated stuff. If SOPA bill is passed , then such websites will be immediately banned and completely  removed from the internet. Thus , resulting in heavy losses to many  companies and businesses. SOPA is a threat to freedom of speech. It is restricting you from expressing and sharing whatever you want.

PIPA – Protect IP act – The bill defines infringement as distribution of illegal copies, counterfeit goods, or anti-digital rights management technology. Even PIPA is similar to SOPA. The Protect IP Act says that an “information location tool shall  take technically feasible and reasonable measures, as expeditiously as possible, to remove or disable access to the Internet site associated with the domain name set forth in the order”. In addition, it must delete all hyperlinks to the offending “Internet site”. Which means if the bill is passed , they can block whichever site they want and do whatever they want to do.

These stupid goofy people in the governmental organizations hardly know anything about internet and they want control over it for their benefits. These politicians are the same everywhere…

In China , the govt secretly funded the hackers to attack google.cn since it was displaying some content against their govt.(this is really stupid – fucking chinese – you criminal minded people will never change).

Again , in India , the politicians are indirectly pressurising many websites to filter content that is against the govt. If not , they may face a ban.

In the USA. Previously they attacked wikileaks and now they want the whole internet in their hands. . . . . .

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Do you really want such fools to take away your freedom? – No !

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They took our jobs..said nothing!

Took our gasoline..said nothing! 

Took out Osama…said nothing! 🙂 

Now they cannot take away our INTERNET!

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 Atleast internet is the only place you can actually express yourself freely. Its never biased or acts stupid.

Wikipedia has blacked out for a day (19-jan-2012) to spread awareness and fight back against SOPA & PIPA

Its time for us to fight back!

Lets support the cause and protect the internet.

Start sharing and spreading this page.

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If you live in US , then Visit http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/SOPA/Blackoutpage to pour in you support.

If you live outside the US , then please read this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Learn_more

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You can sign a petition through google here https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction

Please enter a valid US zip code. If you live outside US , then give some random US zipcode.

IT’S NOW OR NEVER!!!!

Experience the NEO XPERIA!

Finally Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo V   has made it to the Indian shores and it looks pretty promising. However it is quite similar to its Big Brother Xperia Neo… But this one comes with an extra V in its name . With the V resembling the roman number 5 for the 5th xperia phone from sony ericsson. And this phone is among the first phones to ship with the latest Delicious Android Gingerbread 2.3.4 , rest of the xperia phones to get an update very soon.

 

 

Both don’t have much of differences except that the camera is downgraded here and of course with a slighlty lesser price tag. Even the Neo V sports the same Kungfu styled 1Ghz Snapdragon Processor with a 512 MB RAM, 320MB ROM (not to worry , you can run your apps directly from your memory card). It just has a 5MP camera sensor (Non Exmor R) compared to the previous version’s 8MP (Exmor R) but the Neo V still shoots amazingly well. We beleive that there has been a shortage of supply for the 8MP sensors due to the earth quake effect in Japan. It still supports HD video recording of 720p.

Still has the front camera for video chatting but not for video calling. That’s a sad thing. Considering that video calling has not become so popular.

And for those nitwits who don’t know about Exmor R sensor, it’s a feature developed by sony corporation to enable low light and fast shooting of pics with your camera.

Its packed with a 3.7 inches (480 x 854 pixels) LED-backlit LCD screen which should be a good news for the big boys with big fingers who text a lot. The display is powered by Mobile Bravia Engine which is another technology developed by sony to display things very sharp and crystal clear.

The design derives from the playstation phone – xperia play but this one comes without a keypad.
The color and finish gives it a rich and premium look even though the body is fully plastic.

– On the front it has three buttons for back – home – options with a front camera, Proximity sensor.
– On the back the 5MP camera sensor sits perfectly inside the phone and of course the sony ericsson symbol.
– On the top it has a HDMI port (to connect to HDMI enbled devices) , pc sych port , 3.5mm audio jack.
– On the right you can spot the volume buttons, camera button, lock button.
  And finally on the left , there’s nothing. Its plane!

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Now coming to the main features about the phone…

You can take snaps in 3D panoramic view. Which when connected to a 3d ready tv , you can see them in real 3d.

Kickass!

Front cam – It is among the first android phones with full skype support.

Skype now supports video chatting on android. And even gtalk video chat works. The front cam is missing on most of the xperia phones.
But lets wish sony hears and sends a patch to enable video calling through 3g.

These days dual core processors are slowly conquering the market share, so this can be positioned in the mid range.

The power packed device just weighs amazingly 126g (including the battery). When i first held the phone i thought it was a dummy phone but , no… it real for sure!!!
It might look slightly bulky , but easily slides into your pocket.

And the best part comes here…, it is priced at around 15k in India. check out www.adexmart.com for the best price.
This is one of the best phones in the mid range from sony at this price.

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What do you guys have to say ? share yo opnions…