Installed Google's toolbar plugin and page rank feature on my browser. I've gotta admit, I'm underwhelmed. The rankings don't make much sense. I'm seeing at least one brand new site that yields a rank of 4, when other sites with many more links and more history ranking at 1-2. Strange.
Sony's announcement of a new broadband-ready PVR is pretty exciting, given my current project. And the specs - 320 GB disk, Linux on a MIPS chip, and a user interface that apologizes if you don't like its program choices. Wow!
Had to make a gut-wrenching quick decision today. Lost my trusty Motorola Startac somehow, and needed a new mobile phone, quick. After way too little research, ended up with a Moto v60i. First impressions - pretty nice. The video poker feature alone may be worth the switch.
One of the best things I get to do today is some paid brainstorming on the future of content-on-demand and PVR systems. The question is how to construct an evolvable combination of online services and home-resident devices, balancing the wants of users with the need to protect the IP of content providers (and make the box/service provider profitable). Should be fun.
My initial thinking involves metadata tagging of all content passing through the system. If we can keep track of every read/write done for a user, we can do something about it - get payment, create a summary report, even destroy the content from a distance. This intersects big time with the RIAA and DCMA debates, debates in which I come down mostly on the users' side, so getting the scheme right is fundamental. Cryptography also has a place here. The author's content (content for a price) should be kept secret until some assurance of identity and payment are given.
The argument against most of these tagging/management schemes for IP protection is that they can be hacked. I've got news - almost anything, perhaps exactly anything, can be hacked. The trick is to set the bar so high, and keep resetting it, that it's just not worth anyone's time. So what if a dozen ubergeeks get some free movies in version 1.6 of the system - we can reset the protection for version 1.7, and said ubergeeks will have to try again. Meanwhile, 99.999% of the world just wants something that works and isn't too onerous or overt in its protection schemes.
Watched the final competition (thank God) of American Idol last night. I have to admit, it's the slickest bit of programming and marketing I've ever seen - the champion reality show, bar none. While it has a very high cheese factor, it's also got a bit of the car wreck in it - you're repelled, but you just can't look away. My vote (which I withheld, because they don't allow online voting) goes to Kelli (Kelly?). And I agree with this review of last night's custom songs - aaacck, they were bad.
