Entries in "Random and Pointless"
Dead badgers, music, and computers
A new technique for resuscitating animals that have been dead up to three hours -- sensationally blogged there as "zombie dogs" -- brings new meaning to a guide a friend recently sent me: Linux on a dead badger.
My brother, a burgeoning composer, might be interested in Video Games Live, a live concert of video game music, including more advanced recent efforts such as Halo. It's in Cleveland on August 24th -- tickets from $20 up via Ticketmaster.
Speaking of music in the tech industry, Microsoft has patented a system for training people to objectively rate the fundamental, subjective aspects of a piece of popular music according to three fundamental properties: Rhythm, Zing, and Mood. The patent pretty much states that it's not designed to cover classical music -- Microsoft apparently thinks we've got objective ratings nailed down there, which is fine by me since it presumably means they won't be trying to fix it -- but it is kind of funny to picture Beethoven posting a poll at ludwigv.com to ask fans if they think the 6th Symphony should have a "throbbing" vibe, or if he should go for "groovy." If you want to read more about how Microsoft thinks music can be rated without any of that loosy-goosy subjective judgmentalism stuff, the patent is here. They've designed this system, apparently, because they think that they can objectively score a certain kind of music against certain scales, thus coming up with a better system for recommendations than Amazon.com's statistical algorithms based on user ratings and purchasing tendencies. And they may be right, though given the music I suspect they're really going to market with this thing, their system looks a little too complex, with remnants of subjective judgment, to me. They might have stuck to a simple one-dimensional scale with "Gwen Stefani" at one end and "Britney Spears" at the other. I won't say what the dimension should be labeled. (Bonus cheap shot: Imagine Bill Gates trying to demonstrate the difference between a throbbing vibe and a groovy one.)
Insanity in computing, chapter 00xDA4
...So it turns out that the EU is almost as clueless on software antitrust as the USA.
Now, the point here (as in, "within this post") is not whether Microsoft unfairly abuses its position of market superiority to promote its own products over competitors. Of course it does. Internet Explorer, MSN, MSN search, Microsoft Office products... No, the point here is what governments choose to spend their taxpayers' hard-earned cash on when they decide to chase down Bill Gates and thwap him with a rolled-up newspaper. This case is a less-than-stellar example of how to fix the problem.
Firstly: The media player? I mean, okay, granted, Windows MP comes preloaded on Windows, and you could theoretically have them remove it. But the latest version of WMP is always offered as a download at Windows Update, which arrives preinstalled on Windows in the form of large prominent icons to which users are directed by help files and tutorials.
Secondly (and more importantly): Congratulations! You're the EU and you've won a decisive antitrust case against a major software monopoly! They've been forced to rebuild and repackage their product to make it more consumer-friendly, less confusing for the average home user. What do you call it -- "Windows without Windows Media Player" or "N?"
Here's a fun psychological experiment. Find an average home computer user and take him on a computer-shopping trip. Go to the store and start talking about AMD and Intel, ATI and nVidia. DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD+RW, CD-ROM, CD-RW. USB 2.0 and Firewire. Pentium versus Celeron versus AthlonXP OurNumberingSchemeDoesNotReflectOurClockSpeed, which is a good time to bring in the concepts of megahertz and gigahertz. That's a natural segue to gigabytes, megabytes, kilobytes, terabytes, and petabytes. Explain the storage capacity of optical drives, jump drives, external drives, hard drives, and zip drives. Give him the Compleat Historie of Microsoft Operating Systems, starting with at least Windows 95 and working your way up to Windows 98, NT, ME, 2000, and finally XP. XP Home. XP Pro.
XP "N."
Now watch him try to make an "informed decision." No, really, go on and watch. It's fun.
