Technobabble

Another one bytes the dust
Sony, one of the developers of Blu-ray, the victorious combatant in the hi-def optical-format war (over HD DVD), said its anti-piracy efforts would not be cracked for 10 years. I’m not saying I’m smarter than the well-paid software developers at Sony, but … OK, I guess I’m smarter. One of my mantras is anything can be hacked in a matter or days or weeks, months maybe in extreme cases.

A company called Slysoft is now proving me right. They were able to hack the Digital Rights Management (DRM) copy protection of Blu-ray in less than a year! Two other non-Slysoft hackers claimed to have done it within weeks of the Blu-ray release, although I wasn’t able to confirm it.

Hey software CEOs, instead of spending millions and delaying the release of products while developing DRM, why don’t you accept that, if there is a will to hack, there is a (quick) way and use your money and efforts elsewhere?

A sharper ‘tooth
I’m a geek, but there is one line in the geek sand I have not crossed yet: the Bluetooth headset line. You might catch me playing Wisest Wizard, an adult-beverage consumption game channeling Dungeons and Dragons, but you won’t find me using one of those little android-like devices that embed in your ear so you can walk around acting like a psychotic homeless person talking to yourself.

That said, San Francisco-based company Aliph is selling a Bluetooth headset called the Jawbone that drowns out loud ambient sound that would obscure your conversation. Pretty cool. If the demo on their Web site (http://jawbone.com) showing the device drowning out leaf blowers, weed wackers and loud music is true, this geek is impressed. Plus, it doesn’t have one of those annoying blinking blue lights.

A real green machine
George W. “the decider” Bush informed all Americans, in his State of the Union Address last year, that we are addicted to oil. Can’t say he’s not quick! Wonder if Dubya knows about the 1973 Oil Crisis? Anyway, doesn’t seem that invading Iraq, bombing them back to the Stone Age and killing close to a million of their citizens will help feed our addiction, but new consumer electronics are taking a positive step in that direction.

I found this one on New York Times tech columnist David Pogue’s Web site. Not only do the built-in solar panels of the personal “eco-media player,” called the eMotion Solar, power the device itself, they also power other small electronic devices!

“For a piece of crap, this thing is pretty awesome,” says Gizmodo.com of this 2GB handheld that plays music, videos, Nintendo/Game Boy/Sega ROMs, displays e-books, photos and more. With a retail price of about $170, I want one of these Media Street devices.

Wacky Web site of the Week
This one should be called the “Whack” Web site of the Week! Think you’re all PC and Earth-loving by spending more than half your paycheck on organic food? Go to www.goodmagazine.com, click on “Features” and scroll down to “Buying Organic.” If you are what you eat, than you should know which multideath corporation now owns you.