12.21.07
Posted in Life at 12:30 pm by wfrantz
By now there are a few million iPhone users compared to hundreds of million Windows Mobile phone users. Yet, in The Seven Biggest Mobile Content Stories of 2007, Fierce Mobile reported that iPhone Safari browser usage has dramatically exceeded Windows Mobile Pocket Internet Explorer.
I find this astonishing. Apple overcame a 100:1 disadvantage and a several year head start. Then again, I’m often taken aback when “average users” believe some feature is revolutionary when in fact it has been available for years. Now I realize that Apple’s skill is not simply making good products but actually promoting their use. There are no commercials on TV that show happy Windows Mobile users scrolling around web pages on a phone, so I guess nobody realizes its possible until Apple runs an iPhone ad. Suddenly everyone thinks only an iPhone can do this, that or the other thing.
For example, in Year of the iPhone Sue Marek says, Apple’s iPhone transformed wireless handsets with its innovative design and touch screen. I disagree. Hold an iPhone next to an iPaq from 1999. The design is sleeker and smaller but it doesn’t seem innovative considering 8 years have past.
Sue continues, the device finally showed consumers that mobile computing was not only possible but actually fun to do. Here I agree and this is where Apple made a difference. They showed consumers.
Consider iTunes and CD burners. Nobody realized they could make their own CD’s until the “Rip, Mix, Burn” commercials ran?
Go back to the first iPod. Handheld, digital music players had been around for a long time but people didn’t know they existed or didn’t understand what they did. Apple entered the market and taught everybody.
Go back to the first Mac. Other computers had mice and GUIs (including Apple’s own Lisa) but Apple had to show people that computers could be easy to use. I honestly don’t think Apple computers are any easier or harder to use than other computers but Apple does the best job at teaching people.
I’m not an Apple basher. To the contrary, I have an iPod, iMac and a Macbook. I love the products, however I didn’t pay retail for any of them and they don’t offer any feature I can’t replicate for less money. It seems, the “average user” doesn’t share my aptitude for cobbling together solutions or hunting down alternative products.
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12.14.07
Posted in Life at 9:18 am by wfrantz
In case you want to buy me something, here’s a few things I like:
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10.24.07
Posted in Life at 11:05 am by wfrantz
The KPBS Fire Map has been a great source of information during the San Diego fire. It’s a Google Map with icons and boundries drawn by a local San Diego PBS station.
There’s also a good KBSP News Feed on Twitter that gets updated regularly.
Here’s another Map at Live.com
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10.22.07
Posted in Life at 12:49 pm by wfrantz
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10.08.07
Posted in Life, Technology at 11:03 am by wfrantz
The RIAA won a $222,000 lawsuit against an individual woman in Minnesota who was using a peer-to-peer network. As absurd as that sounds, it didn’t alarm me much until I read more of the details. Apparently, the woman wasn’t found guilty of downloading copyright music. She was guilt of making copyright music available for download.
Apparently, copyright law also grants distribution rights to the copyright holder. For example, in this particular case, Virgin Records filed the following statement with the court…
A person also violates a copyright holder’s distribution right by making copyrighted works available to others without authorization from the copyright holder. Section 106(3) of the Copyright Act gives the owner of copyright “the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following: . . . (3) To distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending . . . . 17 U.S.C. 106(3).” This language makes it clear that it is an actionable infringement for one to violate a copyright owner’s exclusive right to authorize the distribution of copies or phonorecords of a copyrighted work.
I can only hope that Virgin Records somehow took 17 U.S.C. 106(3) completely out of context. If I interpret it as written above, it seems that I am legally required to keep every CD, DVD, LP and VHS tape that I’ve ever purchased. I can’t sell my old DVDs. I cannot give you a CD, even as a gift. Can I even toss a VHS tape in the trash? Why aren’t there massive raids going on at all the second hand book stores around the country? Are all libraries required to explicitly obtain distribution rights for every work in their collection?
Any of these acts are undeniably prohibited under the aforementioned copyright distribution clause. Technically, I must get permission from the copyright holder of my Air Supply record before I transfer ownership to the city landfill.
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07.04.07
Posted in Life at 10:37 pm by wfrantz
Recently, a friend asked how to convert video from his Sony camcorder to his Motorola Q phone. I wrote a short primer on MPEG video and figured I’d just post it here.
The first thing to realize is there is a difference between compression methods and file formats although most people don’t distinguish between the two. This has led to a lot of the confusion among consumers.
MPEG1 was used for laser discs (remember them?). MPEG2 is used for DVDs and broadcast HDTV. Blu-ray discs use MPEG4, more specifically MPEG4 AVC H.264. All discs store video in TS (Transport Stream) file containers.
Most consumer video cameras record in DV (Digital Video) which is a unique standard using DCT intraframe compression and not directly related to MPEG. Some HiDef cameras use HDV tapes which is like DV but it’s MPEG2. Few, but growing, cameras record in MPEG4. Some create DivX AVI files. Some create MP4 (aka. Quicktime MOV). Some create AVCHD TS files. Obviously, the MPEG4 market is much more fragmented than MPEG2.
If you have a DV camera, it probably came with software that converts those files to MPEG1. What you want is software that goes directly from DV to MPEG4. Ideally, you’d go directly from DV to MPEG4 SP in a 3GP file. Alternatively (and probably better) would be to go from DV to WMV. Either of those would play on on a Motorola Q. Let’s try Google… “dv to wmv”.
- Convert Video from DV(Digital Video Cassette) to WMV(Windows Media Video) with River Past Video Cleaner
- How to convert DV to WMV using Windows Media Encoder
- DV MPEG4 Maker is a software tool that helps you create MPEG4/DIVX/AVI/WMV video clip files from your digital camcorder
I’ve never used any of these. My camera records in AVCHD. That’s much harder to deal with. There are few applications that can read AVCHD files. However, I did manage to find some Mac OS X command line tools that can convert AVCHD to DivX.
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06.20.07
Posted in Life at 12:49 pm by wfrantz
The Associated Press reports on the iPhone quote Apple as saying, “The iPhone will be the first cell phone to use H.264.” That’s kind of a stretch since there are media players available for Palm Garnet OS, Windows Mobile and Symbian that can play H.264 videos. The OEM phones may not ship with the capability pre-installed, but for years it’s been a fairly easy addition.
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06.06.07
Posted in Life at 10:21 pm by wfrantz
After 4 rounds of playoff series, I was elated to see the Ducks hoist the Stanley Cup in celebration of winning the NHL championship. When I bought a 13 pack of tickets for the regular season, I never expected to also attend 12 playoff games that ultimately lead to the cup.
Read the rest of this entry »
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04.06.07
Posted in Life at 8:04 am by wfrantz
NY Senator Clinton proposes an inventive solution to the pothole problem.
From Engadget.com
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03.01.07
Posted in Life at 12:29 pm by wfrantz
For videos from Miz Mandy, go to The Miz Mandy channel on Stage6 To see the videos install the DivX Web Player.
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