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HDRMerge and CC Extractor RPMs
A while back I created a copr repo for HDR Merge. I hadn’t kept up with it because there weren’t regular HDRMerge releases going on, but I noticed the git repo has been very active, so I decided to create a new RPM for Fedora 29. And recently I learned that for the newest version…
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Screwed over by DRM AGAIN!
I will not be having a Star Wars day today on May the Fourth and it’s thanks to Digital Restrictions Management (DRM). For people who wonder why I often blog about DRM – this is why we need to fight it. I bought LEGO Star Wars five or more years ago. It was OK, but…
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Microsoft and Sour Grapes with XBONE DRM
In a lot of ways I really don’t care what happens in the video game console world. In the last 2-3 years I have rediscovered computer gaming. Actually, to be more accurate, game publishers have rediscovered computer gaming. I remember in my youth when the best of the best games came out for computers and…
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Microsoft DRM Metldown Redux
As I mentioned here, Micro$oft has provided yet another example of why digital restrictions management does nothing but hurt legitimate consumers. To remind you, this is when Microsoft turned off the servers for its ironically named “playsforsure” DRM system. These songs, which consumers would told, would play for sure on any digital media player containing…
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Another example of DRM being hurtful
The Free Software Foundation’s Defective by Design is reporting that MSN Music is shutting down, leaving anyone who bought music legally left with music they can no longer listen to. This will have two outcomes and neither of which is what the music labels really want. Some people will decide they got left holding the…
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Another example of the perils of DRM
Time and again I’ve warned my readers of the perils of DRM. (Specifically here and here). That’s why I don’t buy music on iTunes and have given all of my digital music patronage to Amazon.com. Even my wife, who’s not as into FOSS and all that as I am, has become disgusted as she’s understood…
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HEY RIAA, all you needed to do was offer DRM-free music!
I’ve already spent around $11 on Amazon.com’s MP3 download store. Why? Because they are selling MP3s of my favorite artists without any digital restrictions management (DRM). This is what has been keeping both my wife and I away from iTunes. Oh yeah, and the songs are cheaper than iTunes! It appears that all of the…
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Video Blog Post: DRM
DRM and why it’s evil….. DRM on Vimeo
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Children’s Book to teach them about DRM
Paradigms are a battle of the mind that take place when we prepare our children with certain expectations about the world. Don’t let them grow up thinking there’s something right about Digital Restrictions Management! Have them read The Pig and the Box and let them learn about why software and culture need to be libre.…
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My First Pull Request to a project I don’t own!
When MakeMKV added a new requirement for ccextractor, allowing it to grab subtitles that are encoded on the DVD or Blueray as Closed Captioning instead of subtitles, there wasn’t a package available for Fedora. (There is now, but at the time where wasn’t) So I wanted to make an RPM that I could host on…
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Review: The Way of Kings
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson My rating: 4 of 5 stars I want to start off by thanking Tor.com for being DRM-free. It’s great to see a major publisher doing this. With that out of the way, this was a massive story. It’s quite a different pace from everything I’ve read so far…
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Review: Sex & Violence
Sex & Violence by Jimmy Palmiotti My rating: 3 of 5 stars A recent Humble Bundle featured a sampler for Jimmy Palmiotti’s Paperfilms indie publisher. I was intrigued and went to the site where one can buy DRM-free versions of the books. Pulp is a lot of fun and it has a long history with…
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eBook Metadata
Clarkesworld Magazine has wonderful metadata for their issues and anthologies that requires little work from me: Tor books had an awesome DRM-free policy that I love and that allows me to go to the ebook vendor of my choice. And they give away a free book every month as long as you agree to get…
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Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts 1 & 2
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts 1 & 2 by John Tiffany My rating: 4 of 5 stars I’d like to start off by addressing the big thing I’ve noticed with this story – while it has 3.5ish stars on Goodreads, a quick scroll through the reviews reveals that’s mostly the average of 1…