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During the immediate aftermath of the new anti piracy laws in Sweden, a ray of hope shines forth. One ISP has seen that this law is highly immoral, as it allows industry giants to waltz all over your right to privacy, and therefore they have stated that they will not keep any logs that they can possibly trash. This is pretty much equal to siding with the pirates. They have admitted that there will be cases where they won’t be able to oppose any direct orders from a court of law, but they will make an effort not to keep information any longer than they absolutely have to.
As far as marketing goes, this is a brilliant move. There is nothing illegal about switching to this Internet Service Provider, and it’s currently the only one on the market to offer such a promise, and it pretty much protects all but the most hard core pirates from juridical issues. See what happens is – and this is for all you normal people out there, so geeks can fast forward – whenever you access anything through the internet, your computer makes a call to your Internet Service Provider, ISP for short, going through whichever routers or modems you have, and the ISP fetches your data for you, and send it back. In order to do this it needs to know your IP address, which is used as an identifier for every device connected to the internet, and it needs to temporarily store the data on a server. This is all that is needed to know exactly which files are going where. While ISPs have the right to delete this confidential data, most ISPs keep logs. This means that the ISP in question, Bahnhof,
is offering a sense of security that no other ISP in Sweden is, and any smalltime pirate wanting to be safe will simply need to switch to Bahnhof, while paying the same price as anywhere else.
is offering a sense of security that no other ISP in Sweden is, and any smalltime pirate wanting to be safe will simply need to switch to Bahnhof, while paying the same price as anywhere else.See what I said about a brilliant strategy? We are all pirates! You know you’ve downloaded too, don’t try to hide it. Whether you used a torrent client, limewire, or kazaa, you’ve all done it, and the industry is after you for it. I’m sure you’ve paid for a lot of it, I’m not saying we’re horrible people here, I use iTunes Store too often, but some songs just can’t be found elsewhere, am I right? And then there was the whole DRM thing, and all of a sudden that Pirate Bay looked mighty inviting. I hope ISPs everywhere will dare to make this step. It will surely earn them a lot of money, and it’ll force the industry to come up with something besides laws to compete.
As usual, a norwegian article on the matter: ITavisen.no
Song of the Blog: He’s a Pirate
Sincerely
Bjørn
Alrighty, I’m back, and to kick things off after the vacation I’m doing something I’ve been wanting to do for a while now. I’m doing a blog entry on the Windows OS and Mac OS, and I’ll branch out a little into ethics and foundations and stuff.
So we should just jump right in, and then we’ll take it from there, starting at the bottom. Get ready for the epic battle!
vs
What lies beneath
So, as promised, we start at the foundations. And I promise on my honor as a nerd that I shall keep this fair and clean. The people at Apple have gone one way, and the people at Microsoft haven’t gone anywhere as far as this point is concerned. Microsoft Operating Systems are all based on the good old ms-dos command prompt, which in turn relies on the BIOS. Naturally there are some issues with this, because both of these were outdated in the 90s. Microsoft has done a fantastic job of patching and fixing, and the computer manufacturers have been great at developing BIOS, but the problem still remains that these were made during pre-internet times! The MS-DOS was Microsoft’s first real OS, and no matter how much you try to patch it it still wasn’t initially made for this age. With the conception of Windows Seven we’re hoping to see some improvement in this area, having been promised a redesigned core, but Microsoft so loves its archaic software that they refuse to let anything whither and die. They have been praised for being backwards compatible, but have taken it to an extreme where it is inhibiting innovation.
What Apple has done is, in my opinion, a better thing, but only barely. Where Microsoft is overly nostalgic, Apple is overly ambitious. It has paid off, because their computers needed to be changed, but they care very little for being backwards compatible at all, and nowadays they just throw it all on the UNIX platform’s overstrained back. When someone points to backwards compatibility, Apple points to UNIX and says “We gave you UNIX, now you figure it out.”
Apple saw that BIOS was old and outdated, so instead they made another ambitious move. They went with EFI. EFI is an interesting, and rather new, platform. It is made for modern operating systems to communicate directly with the firmware, where Windows OSs have to tell the MS-DOS underneath to talk to the BIOS, which in turn communicates with the firmware. This means the processor has to do less calculations with EFI, and there are fewer steps that can screw up. However there are some drawbacks, as is always the case when innovating. EFI is new, and thus somewhat lacking. BIOS can be likened to a sturdy old workhorse. It’s old and slow, but its been around a while and knows everyone. EFI has some social issues. First off it isn’t very good with the whole partition thing. If you want to go beyond four partitions you’re going to have to get pretty involved with the technical stuff, and a lot of people are not prepared to do that. However these people won’t need more than four partitions most of the time. EFI also means that you have to use a new partition table format, GUID, that doesn’t work well with the old MBR, meaning a BIOS has to be emulated for Widows to run with it. These are minor issues which will probably be dealt with.
Processors
This used to be the major difference between the two. Mac OS ran on the PowerPC architecture, while Microsoft ran on the x86 architecture. On the whole PowerPC processors were faster at executing tasks for a while, due to the operating systems way of doing things, and the design of the processor focusing on all over speed, and not only clock speeds. However as the multi-core processors became commonplace, Apple made the move to x86. This
again resulted in a major transition, causing quite some damage. It was a necessary transition, and for once Apple has provided so
me, albeit very flawed, backwards compatibility. Someone always gets hurt in these things.
As the world moves towards 64 bit computers, Apple is being very slow at adapting. Although all new Macs come with 64 bit processors, the operating system remains at 32 bit. Microsoft has done well on this point, and all kudos to them. They are having some software compatibility issues, but they are rather few and obscure, and on the whole they have beat Apple on this point. Apple promised a 64 bit Leopard, and have now promised a fully 64 bit Snow Leopard. We are still waiting for that.
The Actual Operating Systems
This is the really interesting stuff, and what is really the deciding factor. What do the two deliver, what is different, and what is better where?
The most striking difference is the GUI, the Guided User Interface. It is what you see when you are interacting with your computer, and the medium through which you do the actual interacting. The people at Apple have gone for a really sleek, intuitive, and simplistic design. The menu bar is always in the same place, on the top, the buttons are all where you expect them to be, and do what you expect them to do. There is always a feeling that the applications are designed to work together, and thus you find the same menu bars and the same shortcuts in most apps.
The people at Microsoft have also put a lot of work into the GUI, and the Windows 7 one looks promising, but there are many things that are fundamentally wrong. There is no conformity, every time you use a new application you have to learn where your menu bars are at, which shortcuts do what, etc. Your buttons don’t necessarily do the same thing from application to application, and different applications behave differently to the same commands. It looks sleek when you start using it, but before long it clutters up, and just becomes really messy.Securitywise Mac OS wins hands down, simply because it is UNIX based. UNIX is a very secure system, and Mac OS is paranoid about applications that have been downloaded, and denies them if they try to run, asking you if it’s all ok. However it does so without the UAC rubbish that Windows does, which always pesters you for the smallest change. Mac OS asks you the first time you run a downloaded app, and after that it remembers the app and lets it do what it wants. Another great thing about UNIX is that more people are using Microsoft systems at the moment. Ironic as it may seem, this means that most malicious code is written with MS in mind, and therefore is completely harmless to UNIX systems. Mac OS also has a user friendly firewall programmed into the system preferences.
And once we’re on the subject of apps, you reach the killer feature. Mac OS uses a drag and drop system. There is no installation of applications, and no rebooting, except for software designed by Microsoft, and some by Adobe. You simply drag the application to wherever you want it, usually the applications folder, and run it from there. This is really what makes Mac OS X superior when it comes to user friendliness, and makes the operating system so appealing.
The ultimate conclusion
Make one for yourself! Go to the nearest Apple Store and try a mac, then go to a different store and try out Windows, keeping what I’ve said in mind. If you want a gamer computer and nothing else, Windows will always be better, but for everything else the Mac is usually superior. If you want games, you should be on a console anyways.
Song of the Blog: Eple
I’m Bjørn Snoen, and I wrote this on a macbook pretending to be a stationary computer.
Think Different.
My lovely, beautiful readers, I am regretfully signing off for easter. I was hoping that I would be able to keep updating daily, as I have promised, even throughout this holiday, but ironically I cannot because of technical difficulties. My cellphone, which I was planning on using as a gateway device to the internet while away from society, has decided on waging war with me, and so though I will be quite able to write, I won’t be 
able to update myself on the world, nor update you. Alas! I have not yet been crowned emperor of the universe, so there is really nothing I can do in this matter, so for three full days you shall have to do without my guidance. I sincerely hope that you can withstand the torment of uncertainty.
So before I take my leave, I will share one technological tidbit with you, though some of you might already have heard word of this marvel of modern science; the first ion based computer. Isn’t it interesting that the great innovators of the technological world always rip of
f others when it comes to names? The ion is a motherboard that Nvidia created, so at first I was very sceptical – I thought Nvidia should have kept doing what they do best,
make graphics processors – but they convinced me after a while, and now the first computer is about to arrive. The greatest strength of the ion board is that it’s small. Most of us thought the netbooks were pretty neat, but Nvidia was not pleased at all, the netbooks were hardly good for anything but very simple tasks, so they decided that they could do better, and they have.
Cooperating with Acer they have made this beauty. My guess is that we will see better variations pretty soon, but this first one is very interesting. I like the idea of it as a bookshelf computer, hooked up to a TV, preferably wirelessly, but that is asking a bit much. In any case it is supposed to be able to handle direct X 10, something the netbooks were never even near capable of, and games like Call of Duty 4 don’t even make this thing break a sweat. Still, gaming is not what this computer seems to be made for. It looks like a box that, although it’s pretty, is hidden away somewhere, and that you control by remote while your friends stand amazed as music starts playing, and movies pop on screen instantly. So basically I think it’s a late PC version of the Apple TV. Bravo Nvidia, not only did you skimp off of Intel for the name, but Apple for the area of appliance. This has got to be good.
As usual I shall supply you all with an article, from the motherland. Here, have a Link!
Song of the Blog: April Come She Will
Sincerely
Bjørn
What’s going on?
We all remember the Harold and Kumar movies, right? The classics about two more or less brilliant potheads that go on wonderful trips filled with action and excitement while constantly stoned, and have a knack for bumping into Neil Patrick Harris? They caused some controversy due to how lightly it portrayed drug abuse, and some groups called it immoral and evil.
The actor that played Kumar, Kalpen Suresh Modi, also known as Kal Penn, is going to be working for President Obama, as a sort of reward for having labored for him during the election campaign. As opposed to other known figures who simply talked on his behalf, Kal also did practical work at the events. Working for Obama he is going to “keep the president in contact with certain groups in Asia and the pacific, as well as certain art groups.” To me that sounds like a bogus job. Either it’s just as a symbolic reward, or it’s a sort of gateway into something else.
So why bother to write about it?
Naturally, anti prohibitionists such as myself are going to speculate, does this have something to do with prohibition? It’s a pretty far stretch, and probably belongs in my friend’s conspiracy blog, but the Stoners are already on the move, so what can you do. The reason why people think that a legalization act is on it’s way is that Obama already seemed to go out of his way to inform the public that he had smoked marijuana. I will not delve too deeply into the matter, but I feel that I must touch upon it in order to justify my opinion.
Why marijuana needs to be legalized
Before talking about why it should be legalized, one should analyze the arguments that were used in the first place i order to illegalize it. Claim: Marijuana is a dangerous drug, and works as a gateway drug. First off, it isn’t a drug, it’s a plant. Secondly, if you look at any serious study you will notice that the real gateway drugs are nicotine and alcohol. Stoners stick to marijuana. Thirdly, no one ever illegalized anything because it was dangerous. Bullets and alcohol anyone? Fact: No one has ever died from marijuana. Marijuana has medical uses, nicotine and bullets do not.
So why did they illegalize it? It’s a political reason. They didn’t want people trading with Mexicans or Cubans. It’s really a very new law, passed on state level around the 1920s, and it was a measure to keep the foreigners at bay, make no mistake, the laws against marijuana are racist laws, perpetrated by corrupt politicians and overzealous puritans. The arguments for illegalizing marijuana are few and terrible compared to those for illegalizing cigarettes, which do nothing but kill you, and by legalizing and regulating trade you not only kill a lot of crime, but you open up a brand new market for trade and taxing at the same time.
I’ll be quite honest, I have no idea what role Kal Penn could possibly play in all of this, but when the public thinks of him, they think of marijuana most of the time, and I am the public, and that is why I wrote this entry.
You can read a norwegian article about it here.
Song of the Blog: Because I Got High
Sincerely
Bjørn
Regarding the recent devastating earthquake in Italy, there are shocking facts that the governing bodies of the region would rather weren’t found out. I’m a little late here, as the news has been around for a couple of days, but I’m not really out to break news, just explain what makes this a typical capitalistic error. What the government didn’t want anyone to know, was that someone already knew.
Weeks before the earthquake the authorities were warned, by a scientist, that a large scale earthquake was likely to hit, and that the area should be evacuated. So the logical thing to do would be to listen to this man, who obviously knows his stuff, and evacuate the area, right? But this is a world driven by money, and evacuating the area would cost a lot of money, so instead of saving lives, the authorities reported this guy to the police, and effectively put a muzzle on him. How much sense does that make? You tell them that lives are at stake, and they tell you to shush?
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident, and there is precedence throughout modern history. Had they started an evacuation, the local happenings would have to be canceled, the stores and service providers would not be able to make money, stock-holders would sell, and the entire area would see an economical downturn, which is the thing that stirs up a most primal fear in right-wing politicians. So they figure what’s a couple of lives compared to money right? Besides, it can’t possibly be as bad as the scientist says, he must be exaggerating to make us listen. The problem with right-wing politics is that quite frankly it doesn’t look very far ahead. If they had started an evacuation then yes, there would be an economical downturn, which we can all agree is a bad thing, but are the events that are now taking place really that good for the economy? Does mass death and material destruction really earn enough money that it was worth refusing to evacuate?
Just remember that under socialist rule, things are different, and vote right next time, okay? In a socialist society, income is relative to the amount of working people, not the amount of shareholders, so keeping the laymen alive is actually a matter of importance. In a classless society it is way harder to look down on someone, like the authorities obviously did in this case. This must be classified as a serious breach of the trust of the people. Most of the damage done could have been prevented had the authorities been prepared to listen to science, not the capitalists.
Song of the Blog: Die Arbeiter von Wien
Sincerely
Bjørn
