I’ve been recording some shows from This American Life. Why? Well, I seem to always forget to tune in on a Sunday, and streaming is just a pain in the ass. When I’m not using the audio on my computer, I play a show stream (RealAudio, but I use MPC with the Real Alternative 1.41 plug-in. I can not stand RealOne Player or whatever piece of shit/bloat/spyware Real are putting out these days) and record the output using OpD2D – Direct to disk audio recorder. I use the mp3 plug-in and find that the max record time of 54 mb at 128k is just the right length for a show. Start the show, start recording, and leave it alone for an hour. Streaming isn’t the best quality, and the solution is not exactly elegant, but it gets the job done.
MakeZine reviews the Super Tangent (shuffle clone, but with recording, radio, and cheap). Ipodlounge has a reader give it bad marks on a review, but I suspect it is tainted with a bit of fanboyitis. I’m tempted to buy one. 1 GB, drag and drop USB, FM, and decent recording for 100 bucks.
HOW-TO: Add an auxiliary jack to your car. I am quite surprised a jack hasn’t been standard on car decks for many years. It seems like it would be such a simple thing to add, but really distinguish your product from others.
HOW-TO: Run homebrew apps on your PSP. If they can get this to work with v1.51-1.53, and get a keyboard working with it all, I’m sold.
Running with the homebrew PSP theme, we move onto DRM news:
Intel quietly adds DRM to new chips. “Microsoft and the entertainment industry’s holy grail of controlling copyright through the motherboard has moved a step closer with Intel Corp. now embedding digital rights management within in its latest dual-core processor Pentium D and accompanying 945 chipset”. As if I needed another reason to use AMD.
BMG Cracks Piracy Whip. Supposedly DRM on CDs. I expect it to be hacked soon.
Anand takes a look at HDMI. “The weakest link narrows down to the user’s ability to transcode on demand media on the PC into something more portable, or the user’s ability to digitally rip the signal off the DVI interface! With Intel’s HDCP tied into the HDMI specification so tightly, manufacturers and content providers would be insane not to push HDMI out the door to replace DVI. The additional perks for HDMI are still there: it’s a smaller cable, can run longer distances without issues, and obviously, the integrated ability to transfer audio too. However, when a tier 1 OEM decides to build their next HTPC, they will certainly come under considerable scrutiny to provide a secure platform if they expect backing from the content providers. The fact that HDMI protects video and audio signaling is enough for content providers to lean on PC manufacturers to adopt the standard over DVI”.
Hollywood foots bill for LAPD spy cams in Santee Alley. More here, and here.