Floppyhead – Digital Media and Streaming | Archive

Why my audio server does not run Linux

31. October 2006

My goal is to get rid of Windows XP on my audio server and manage all of my digital media using Linux, most likely Ubuntu. Linux is appealing to me because I can run my server without having to purchase another version of Windows XP. There is also a certain level of “coolness” in having […]

Is Microsoft’s Vista gambling too much on CableCARD?

26. October 2006

4 Comments

Lack of cable and satellite HDTV support is the biggest flaw in Windows MCE 2005. Hopefully, Vista will change that as CableCARD support is the major feature upgrade offered in the next version of Media Center.

3 ways for Emusic to gain market share

26. October 2006

2 Comments

iTunes dominates the digital music arena. The number 2 service is Emusic, which I believe has a lot of untapped potential. I like the site and I love that the songs do not have any digital rights management (DRM). The catalog of music is impressive, but the site is about 90% where it needs to […]

Barenaked Ladies successfully stick it to the recording industry

24. October 2006

121 Comments

The Barenaked Ladies are offering their latest album, “Barenaked Ladies Are Me,” as a download from their website without digital rights managment. All audio downloads are available in the popular MP3 format, encoded at 196kbps. Some audio has also been made available in FLAC file format, which is a lossless format. The files are not […]

Washington Post: Cheers and Jeers for iPod’s 5th Anniversary

22. October 2006

3 Comments

The Washington Post is running a a series of articles today on the iPod to celebrate its 5 year anniversary. Most of the articles praise the iPod but a couple highlight some problems with the omnipresent device. Overall, I think it is a good read though nothing too groundbreaking. In some ways, I think the […]

Why is the Sonos Digital Music System not more popular?

21. October 2006

6 Comments

By all accounts, the Sonos Zone Player is a great piece of hardware for digital audio. Why is it not more popular? I recently came across a review of the Sonos whole house audio system done by the Wall Street Journal. From the article: Both Sonos and Rhapsody were originally designed to work with PCs. […]

Update: Floppyhead.com is two weeks old

19. October 2006

4 Comments

Floppyhead.com is 2 weeks old (since my first real post). In those 2 weeks, the site has had 620 visits and over 1500 page views. We are on target for over 1000 visitors in one month, which would be a good start. The main traffic drivers are Digg.com and Reddit.com, which is a bit of […]

5 tips on watching broadcast HDTV on your laptop

19. October 2006

5 Comments

Most widescreen laptops are perfect for watching high definition video. Watching HDTV on a laptop does have advantages, mainly being portable. ATSC, a digital broadcast standard, is available in many areas of the United States, especially in most major cities. Her are some quick tips:

Advertising-based downloads to fight digital piracy?

18. October 2006

5 Comments

The dilemma facing any owner of copyrighted works continues to be how to compete with online piracy, mainly torrent sites that offer online versions of books, music, and videos. The usual response is some sort of digital rights managment, which is frustrating for the user and actually provides little protection against piracy. Fairplay implemented by […]

Will you upgrade to Microsoft’s Vista media center?

17. October 2006

2 Comments

This is the question asked by Chris Lanier on his blog. The responses were all over the place. I am thinking about it when Vista comes out. I think the real reason to upgrade is CableCard support, and I am curious to see how well Microsoft implements that support. How will I be able to […]

Archive | October, 2006