Mark Fleischmann

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Diablog: Pray for DRM
Mark Fleischmann  |  Feb 23, 2007  |  0 comments
My birthday's coming!
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Video Games Steady Surgeon's Knife
Mark Fleischmann  |  Feb 22, 2007  |  0 comments
Sawbones who play video games regularly are 37 percent less likely to make a mistake when doing something in your gut with a pointed object, according to a survey of surgeons at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York. Of 33 surgeons who participated in the study, nine had played video games for at least three hours in the preceding week, and 15 had never played them at all. Those nine were golden: Not only did they make fewer errors, they also performed 27 percent faster, and scored 42 percent higher in a surgical-skills test. The technique in question is laparoscopic surgery, in which a video camera on a stick is inserted into the patient's body, allowing for smaller incisions for the other sharp objects and less invasive procedures overall. "It's like tying your shoelaces with three-foot-long chopsticks," says the author of the study, Dr. James "Butch" Rosser. Yup, he's a gamer: "I use the same hand-eye coordination to play video games as I use for surgery." Maybe we shouldn't worry so much about video-game violence. This guy's itchy trigger finger is saving lives.
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FCC Says Congress Can Stem TV Violence
Mark Fleischmann  |  Feb 21, 2007  |  0 comments
A draft report circulating at the Federal Communications Commission claims Congress can regulate violent television content without violating the First Amendment. Interesting fact: Under the Constitution, it is the Supreme Court, not the FCC, that makes such judgments. According to chairperson Kevin Martin, "there is strong evidence that shows violent media can have an impact on children's behavior and there are some things that can be done about it." Sitting alongside Martin, a Republican, was ranking Democrat Michael Copps: "This is not a red state or a blue state issue," he said. Of the remaining three commissioners, one sides with Martin and Copps, and the other two haven't officially taken a position, giving the pro-censorship bloc a potential 3-2 majority. Even Tony Soprano may not be safe from these guys. Martin wants to exert influence on the cable and satellite networks as well. On the bright side, he wants to do it by giving consumers a chance to buy channels "a la carte," an idea the cable industry has long opposed.
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Satellite Radio Monopoly Proposed
Mark Fleischmann  |  Feb 20, 2007  |  0 comments
What's interesting about the proposed merger of the XM and Sirius satellite radio operations is that their licenses, issued by the Federal Communications Commission, specifically prohibit one company from owning both networks. A press release lists benefits of the monopoly as more program choices, advanced tech innovation, enhanced hardware offerings for OEM and retail partners, better financial performance, and more competitiveness. Some of these claims are more credible than others. Will combining the two result in more choices for listeners--or will overlapping programs eventually be cut? How exactly will the removal of competition spur technology? And the big question, of course: Will the FCC provide conclusive proof of incompetence and/or corruption by saying yes to a monopoly and destroying competition in satellite radio?
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Logitech Wireless DJ Music System
Mark Fleischmann  |  Feb 16, 2007  |  0 comments
From Sonos to Apple's AirPort Express, there are lots of ways to get music from a PC hard drive to a home theater system. One of them is Logitech's Wireless DJ Music System. It does not have all the features of Logitech's recently acquired Slim Devices line, including the latter's versatile connectivity and support for lossless formats. But it is simpler and a little less costly. It's also more functional than Logitech's step-down move, the Wireless Music System for PC, and has a far more functional remote control.
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1080p Drives HDTV Sales Hike
Mark Fleischmann  |  Feb 15, 2007  |  1 comments
By now it should be no surprise that HDTV unit sales doubled in the fourth quarter of 2006 compared to 4Q 2005. What might lift an eyebrow is that a third of those bright shiny new HDTVs were 1080p models, according to Pacific Media Associates. Just six months earlier, 1080p had accounted for only five percent of HDTV sales. What a change half a year of hype can make. For the alphanumerically disinclined, "1080p" refers to displays that show 1920 by 1080 pixels with the entire picture drawn one full frame at a time. Back when guys delivered chunks of ice to cool cordless refrigerators, analog television began using an interlacing process that scanned each frame in two passes, and this process still survives, sort of like the coccyx. However, some experts point out that paying a premium for 1080p may not be a wise decision. Notes our video editor Geoff Morrison: "From where most people sit, you don't need 1080p in a 37-42 inch TV. It's arguable that you do in a 50-inch set." Deal of the month: Buy one Pioneer Elite PRO-FHD1 50-inch plasma, get one free. Next big thing: the 120Hz refresh rate.
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HDTV Expert Parties
Mark Fleischmann  |  Feb 14, 2007  |  0 comments
There are ordinary mortals who throw Super Bowl parties. And then there is Pete Putman, occasional Home Theater contributor and the HDTV expert of hdtvexpert.com. He put the big game on nine different screens scattered throughout the house (and one outside it). So whose display chugged away in sub-freezing weather? Which had pride of place in Pete's workshop theater? How did the portable pocket projector do? And whose screen was featured in the bathroom, "positioned at an angle to viewers at the door, the sink, and on the throne"? Check out the fully illustrated story for yourself.
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Amazon, TiVo Form Download Team
Mark Fleischmann  |  Feb 13, 2007  |  0 comments
Hot on the heels of Wal-Mart Video Downloads, Amazon is looking to attract more customers to its Unbox service by teaming up with TiVo. Currently in beta, "Amazon Unbox on TiVo" would allow owners of Series2 or -3 TiVos to download and play Unbox videos. Sorry, Series1 and DirecTV TiVo owners can't participate. Besides the TiVo, you'll also need an Amazon account, and you'll need to link it to your TiVo account. A movie download will take anywhere from an hour (with broadband) to five hours (with dial-up). Your downloads will appear on the TiVo's now-playing list. They will not work with the TiVoToGo or multi-room features, but you can download to other devices using Unbox RemoteLoad. More details from Amazon or TiVo.
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Jobs Speaks, EMI Rethinks
Mark Fleischmann  |  Feb 12, 2007  |  2 comments
Just in case you've been living in a cave for the past week--or perhaps just live a normal healthy life, in which case I envy you--then you've heard about the Steve Jobs DRM manifesto. Jobs wants to have his DRM and denounce it too. His adroit repositioning of himself in the public eye bodes well for the continued vigor of iPod sales. The first and most amusing reaction came from the Recording Industry Antichrist of America, which enthused: "Apple's offer to license FairPlay to other technology companies is a welcome breakthrough and would be a real victory for fans, artists and labels." It would also mollify various European regulators who object to the binding of iTunes downloads to iPods. Only problem is, Apple offered to do no such thing. The emailed missive has not appeared on the RIAA site. More relevant, perhaps, was EMI's announcement that a large percentage of its catalogue would become available via no-DRM MP3 downloads. Apparently the Norah Jones experiment was a success. Warning: While MP3 is immune to DRM, it is not immune to watermarking that would embed purchase information in the track metadata. If a download with your name on it ends up in the P2P moshpit, you could be in big trouble.
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Goliath Nixes Church Super Bowl Party
Mark Fleischmann  |  Feb 09, 2007  |  1 comments
Following threats from the National Football League, the Fall Creek Baptist Church of Indianapolis was forced to cancel its Super Bowl Bash, triggering a wave of cancellations in churches across the country. The Indianapolis church party would have involved a 12-foot projection system. No more than 55 inches are permissible, said the NFL, and you can't charge admission. However, the NFL admitted making exceptions for sports bars, leading to an interesting situation: If you're serving jello shots to the demimonde, you're an honored member of the NFL audience, but if you're serving tuna casseroles to raise money for new altar decorations, you're a copyright criminal. The initial news report from the Indianapolis Star brought the newspaper more than 1000 emails and 100 phone calls. Fall Creek's senior pastor, Dr. John Newland, thanked his church's supporters and offered "heartfelt congratulations" to both the Colts and the Bears. Meanwhile columnist Dan Carpenter had a field day: "Forgive us, Football, for we have sinned, and we beseech Thee to show mercy and not visit a pestilence of lawyers upon us. Nor forsake us when we seek to prepare our house for your XLV Coming.... Yea, verily, a state that prides itself on praying in public and legislating chastity got a revelatory taste last week of what America's true religion is.... The bald presumption! To raise a craven [sic] image on the big screen of the holiest occasion on the nation's calendar without a dispensation from on high?! Who do these people think they are, Hooters?" Unfortunately, few of the many commentaries noted that the jaw-droppingly lucrative telecast, festooned with multi-million-dollar ads, occurred over the public airwaves, which are owned by the public and regulated in the public interest. Since when has the NFL usurped the function of the FCC?
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