Proof that filters are dumb

Just out of a lark, I tried accessing Ms. XX's blog from the office.

Guess what? I got through.

And they block me from my own blog...
Harrumph!

Doodz! your Rights are Mine! (DRM)

While I am not really a huge consumer of paid media, it does irk me that more and more companies are trying to tell their customers that they do not really own the thing that they have purchased. The customers are merely "borrowing" the product via a license. Some have even tried to push their licensing scheme to unbelievable lengths. I read somewhere that merely opening the wrap on a Windows Vista box would be equivalent to agreeing to all the licensing terms that can only be read after the
software is actually installed. On top of that, you have also further agreed to any amendments that they might make to the license in the future, with no time limit. (So if they say you can't install firefox, for example, you have no other recourse.)

If I buy a media, I expect to have full control of it. Copying it for a friend might be iffy, but giving it away to a friend, and have it not work just because she's using a different device to play it is just plain silly. From the look of how this is going, the media companies might even be tying to make it against the law to even give the product away (because it is licensed to you and it is non-transferable!).

Then you have things like this:

"Universal Music CEO: iPod owners are thieves"

It is probably true that a lot of music in the 60GB iPods might not have been purchased off the net. The thing is, this is not really about the music. Not to mention that they have made it illegal to convert tracks from CD's that I already *own* (very few) into digital media.

Apparently it is not enough that the record labels get royalties on the digital music that they sell, now they want royalties for each sale of the music player device too! It is like bread companies demanding royalties from companies that make bread toasters. While Apple has not budged, Microsoft (maker of Zune) has agreed! Maybe they will go after Sony next - you know, for all the walkmans. (I did not realize this earlier, but I recently found out why blank medias can be purchased. Part of their sale goes to the record companies.)

And this:

"BestBuy: our prices are copyrighted"

Uh... so, if you're selling an apple for $1.00, I can't list it for the same price?
(You can't copyright a price list. Duh.)

I am just glad that there are still people out there who are opposing all these DRM (Digital Rights Management) and copyright abuse. I am already doing my part (by not purchasing any cripple-ware products). I just hope that the trend will improve.

Data mining...

What a coincidence...

Goldmine!

Instead, the company is filtering a lot of blogs and forums, that has
been classified under Internet Communications by the filtering company
(a totally separate entity) classifies them under Internet
Communications. The company have been trying to improve customer service recently,
and although most people who complain about the copier machines in their
office may not state the brand name, or the company they work for, it
could still prove to be a good vein for mining general complaints about
the type of machines and services the company is providing, and
anticipate it. Their loss.

(You can tell how I feel about the filtering don't ya :P)

Even I had one instance when an eatery (or a person who is more
familiar about the operation) left me a well thought out comment about what I
wrote quite some time ago. With the extra info, I was able to present a
more accurate picture (and I really should go down to try that place
again, because I was complaining that it was closed.) That is good
feedback.

Unfortunately, I do not get to try out many new things with my "weird"
lifestyle. I can give some negative view about the Upperdeck
distribution of chase cards in their latest WoW CCG, or about how the price of
virtual items in FFXI Online has plummeted, or why Caylus is my current
favorite boardgame, but I might as well be talking rocket science where
the general readers are concerned. Needless to mention that I do not
think I have enough readership to matter :P

However, as I have noted that I would require more "nodes" in future
(even they are just coordinates) I think I shall try to contribute more
nodes of my own.

My space

No, not that jungle where pixelated denizen frolic through the jungle
of html codes. It is about people, and the places they tend to spend
most of their time in.

I have observed this pattern about the spaces I occupy as time goes by.
In a typical weekday, I would be in my bedroom, my desk in the office,
the canteen(s), the hawker center(s), and the library. During the
weekends, there would be other libraries, the dance studio, and some shops -
mainly game related, and some eateries. Let's call these "spaces where
a person tends to spend more time at" as "nodes". Essentially, we
commute from nodes to nodes in our daily lifes.

It was the same even when I was in Japan. Initially, I started
with 4 nodes - my "apartment", my classroom, the 牛丼 (Beef-bowl) eatery,
and the convenience store. Learning from my classmates who had been
there longer than I did, 3-4 more eateries were added. After I moved to a
new abode, the supermarket node got added. Then there is the park
nearby my school, activity room in Waseda university, plus 3-4 Izakayas. For
weekends, there were 2 English language cafes. All in all, there were
about 15+ nodes.

Hence I have been wondering if this phenomenon applies to most people,
and what are the factors that contribute the equilibrium number of
nodes per individual. Granted that the number of different spaces that an
individual tend to gravitate towards would be different (mine is about
12+ now), I believe that the average person would not have more than 30.
Among the hawker centres, for example, I tend to gravitate towards only
one or two stalls. I will, however, start searching for another node if
the quality of a current node is no longer able to meet my expectation
(like hawkers who scowl all the time.)

Then there are a group of people that keeps on looking for new spaces.
That would be one of the defining characteristic of an "expert". Even
then, I could still argue that that person is just orbiting a supernode
. Example: a person who knows all the bakeries in Singapore - "the
supernode", and knows where to find the best bakery - "the nodes" for a
particular type of bread. This person may be clueless about prawn noodles
(another supernode).

Personal conclusion: I tend to have fewer nodes, and I am presently
content with just these few selections. However, I think it will be good
for me to increase my nodes. Whenever my parents are here, I would be
quite clueless on where to take them to eat (because they like to say "up
to you", but will start to hem and haw when I say "Ok, Burger King
then"). I guess I just need to know more people of the "expert" breed, with
supernodes that I can tap into :P.

Blank

I find that I can write better when I am in the office.

I wonder if it is a factor of time, or a need to write and read anything other than technical literature that drives this phenomenon...

Anyway, I found a way to write stuff still at the office.
But it seemed that the e-mail server ate up my mail.
(Or don't tell me I can't even write out to a web-based e-mail anymore? Gotta experiment...)

Update:
Mail got through! Phew...