I predict a DRM riot

The Advanced Access Control System (AACS) that provides copy protection for HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs has been cracked. That is not news, or at least it is not new news as the crack happened some time back and the 16-digit cryptographic key has been available in the dark corners of the web that security researchers inhabit for anyone who cared enough to dig deep enough. What is news, however, is the furore that is fermenting following the issue of cease and desist letters from AACS lawyers to sites publishing the key and warning of them violating the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and there is no denying it does just that.

Vista adding to global warming problem

Yeah, yeah, yeah – how can an operating system be environmentally unfriendly I hear you ask? User friendly, security friendly, productivity friendly even, but environmentally unfriendly? Well that is exactly the claim that I am prepared to make considering reports from the likes of ZDNet regarding the sorry state of battery life on mobiles running the Microsoft flagship Windows OS. I rather like the comment of Rob Bushway, a blogger at Gottabemobile who says “And don't even get me started on battery life with Vista - certainly not a mobile friendly experience there at all. When a consumer has to buy an extended battery to get what they use to get out of a standard battery, something is really wrong.”

Will Dell Ubuntu deal hurt Microsoft, Novell or Red Hat the hardest

As DaniWeb reported back in February, the trouble with asking what your customers want is that they have a habit of letting you know in no uncertain terms. When Dell did that at their IdeaStorm site, the masses yelled ‘what we want is Linux pre-installed’ and the Michael Dell yelled back ‘we are listening’ and then it all went very quiet indeed.