Welcome back folks! It's been a while since I last posted about anything of importance. Today, I have two articles to talk about.
First, let's look at this article from the Telegraph. While our going to war is bad enough, now the Bad Guys have created effective anti–tank weapons. These tank–killers will permanently disable an Abrams tank with DU (Depleted Uranium) armour. They will completely destroy the Humvees and other vehicles used by our forces. Terrifying. The question is: what can we do to fix this whole mess?
Just pulling out of Iraq won't do. We commited to being there, so we have to see it through. What we should do is demand a schedule from our leadership, showing us how much this will cost, what we'll gain for our lives and our money, and what we've done to and for the people of Iraq and the Middle East. It is very obvious that there are certain people in Iraq who would see us all dead. The article above supports this notion. The question is: are they the majority?
It is long past time for Iraq to take responsibility for itself. Perhaps we should remember that come November.
Now for something a little closer to home. Those who have heard of the TCM (Trusted Computing Module) almost universally decry it. They claim that it can make it possible for an OS to completely lock out the competition. Machines would be unable to boot GNU/Linux. People would not easily be able to rip their DvDs. That's all true. This article from Daring Fireball raises an interesting counterpoint: no one who is sane will actually do that to their hardware. Even if a TCM chip is installed, no one who claims to be open will actually use it.
The real question is: what about DvDs and other sorts of encrypted "content?" In short, TCM provides a very secure way to prevent you from playing movies that are encrypted with its technology. Should you be mad at the TCM system in your computer? No. It doesn't just screw your movie files up. It also has a lighter side. You can use it to protect your own information. TCM is a general service, just like the hardware clock, or the system scheduler. Who you allow to use it is entirely in your hands. You could use TCM to protect your address book, preventing viruses from being able to use it to spread themselves.
So if TCM is not so evil, then what do you do about the people who want to use it against you? I'm going to shift gears from the TCM issue to one that is much more abstract and more dangerous. Movie studios (and others who want control over your mind) survive on one thing alone: your money. Any of this stuff about them smashing your rights is utter nonsense. They can restrict your freedoms only because you pay them to!
Every time you buy a DvD, CD, Blu–Ray, or HD–DvD product from them, you are supporting their ideas and policies. Movies, like music, anime, comics, and most other forms of information are highly addicitve. Once you are hooked, it is very hard to quit "cold turkey." So, how do you send these people a message, telling them not to screw with you? Don't buy their shit!
Ok, that's all nice and idealistic, you're saying to yourself, but it's not that easy. Even if I stopped buying movies and DvDs and stuff, no one else will. The studios will keep messing with me, and I'll just get left behind while all of my friends get the latest new hawtness from Hollywood. True. If you stopped buying anything outright, and never mentioned it to anyone, chances are that the above scenario would result.
Having said that, there is something that we can all do that will work and will send a message. Don't buy into the new techology. Don't buy a PS3, Blu–Ray, or HD–DvD player or disk. Stick to plain old–fashioned DvDs and even—dare I say it—tapes. Most of your already have a DvD player, a DvD–ripping machine of some sort, or a VHS deck in your living room. These devices all work well, play a wide variety of movies, and will continue to work for a long time. The movie companies cannot phase out DvD until they saturate the market with HD/CRAP tech. This means that they will try every single trick in the book to get you to buy in. They will sell players at cost. They will sell movies at cost. Almost anything goes.
What they will never do is allow you to copy those movies and music to other places. They will continue to propagandize against the idea of information freedom until it ceases to exist as any sort of meme. Once they manage to saturate the market, they will stop making DvDs. Then everyone will be forced to "buy the White album again." Don't let them. Just say NO to Blu–ray and HD!
