The Lame encoded MP3 is very luring. I for one accepted the lack of quality so that I may enjoy music more often and with easier access and mobility. I understood the words and caught the beat and I was happy with that, but after listening to the difference between Lame encoded music and that of AAC or just MP3 files alone, I don’t know how long it would be until I appreciated the quality of the older versions if ever.

The gaming world has gone a long way as far as graphics and authenticity are concerned. The game “Brothers in Arms” was so realistic and showed off authentic battle scenes from World War II.

Old Rips: May They Rest in Peace - Members of the Napster generation, who blissfully piled up free tunes while they could, are realizing that the quality of low-bitrate MP3s sucks. Part one of a three-part series. By Dan Goodin. Plus: The Digital Audiophile's Toolbox [Movies & Music]

Finally a breakthrough with mp3s has come about us. An expert team of programmers of computer science and mathematics has been rigorously working on a new compression method called "lame."

The Rembrandt Code - Identifying true old masters - and spotting the fakes - is a rarefied art. By Bijal P. Trivedi. [Wired]

I came across this article on Wired discussing a new high-technology method for identifying paintings which are the authentic works of Rembrandt van Rijn and which are products of his students or even outright reproductions. Though this technology is being applied to a low-tech medium, I think this quest for authenticity has bearing on many issues facing digital media products.

Film fans can expect more advertising on big screen - Ad forecasters at ZenithOptimedia said on Monday that spending on in-theater ads, usually shown before the trailers, rose by 18% this year to $400 million — and likely will go up by about 15% each year through 2008. By Laura Petrecca and David Lieberman. [Movies & Music]

The three biggest movie theatre companies in the US, Regal, AMC, and Cinemark, have all decided to use cineMedia as their primary outlet for advertising during movies.

Thinking Outside the Box Office - Director Steven Soderbergh talks about the copyright cops, the remixing underground, and why he'll debut his new movie on DVD, cable, and in theaters all at once. By Xeni Jardin. [Movies & Music]

In a recent interview with film director Steven Soderbergh, Wired collected his thoughts on piracy, copyrights and the release plan for his new film. Sodebergh shared a common frustration with restrictive copyright laws when asked whether manufacturers should be forced to build copy protection mechanisms into their devices (DRM). Soderbergh replied, "It's a tricky question. I don't think somebody who creates something should have their rights violated. Yet we have a culture in which creating something like [Danger Mouse's] The Grey Album can get you thrown in jail. That's sad. It's an astonishing, amazing piece of work that should be heard."

DVD Jon Lands Dream Job Stateside - Michael Robertson, the bold but oft-sued genius behind MP3.com and Linspire, brings the iconic and frequently prosecuted Norwegian media hacker to California for his latest venture. This should be interesting. By Annalee Newitz. [Movies & Music]

Though more than a month old now, I came across this interesting story about Jon Lech Johansen, a Norweigan hacker, or reverse engineer as he usually calls himself. Jon's stock in trade is producing hacks or programs to disable DRM (Digital Rights Management) components included with much of today's commercial media. Like myself, Jon is leary of overzealous copyright protection but he has taken up the fight in a slightly different way. Not only are Jon's actions illegal under US law (and recently, Norway's), but he continues his work flagrantly out in the open.

Christopher Null is very excited about this film. The first three Potter movies were hits themselves but for Null to show appreciation for only this fourth one says a lot for the film.

Oklahoma Woman Fights Back Against RIAA - We have just learned of another case, this one in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where a defendant is fighting back against the RIAA. The name of the case is Capitol Records v. Foster. There the defendant has filed counterclaims for a declaratory judgment of non-infringement, and for "prima facie tort" under Oklahoma law. The judge dismissed the counterclaim for "prima facie tort" but has left standing the counterclaim for a declaratory judgment. During the period Ms. Foster was accused of being a copyright infringer she did not even have a working computer. [Movies & Music]

According to Chris K. the Xbox 360 was not as impressive as he would have hoped. It is hard to change revolutionize the gaming world like the PS2 did.

Music labels losing sales over DRM - It's not news that consumers hate DRM, especially the kind that keeps Little Johnny from ripping that Velvet Revolver disc to his iPod on Christmas morning. What is interesting, though, is how little the major record labels care. By Nate Anderson. [Movies & Music]

Even though DRM is completely legal and doesn't actually do any harm to someone’s computer, consumers hate it and it is causing music companies to lose money. The problem is that music companies thought that DRM was great since no one knew about it when it first came out.

Virtual Vets Flesh Out D-Day - Little footage exists of the bloody action behind enemy lines during the D-Day invasion. So what's a modern documentary maker to do? By John Gaudiosi. [Movies & Music]

I just came across this story on Wired about a History channel special supplementing a World War II documentary with vivid, full color footage from the game Brothers in Arms. In light of the comparative lack of D-Day footage and the overuse of the material that is available, the History Channel opted to use this game as a way to recreate those fateful days.

iMesh is entering the game a little late. They may be a few steps behind other, already established file-sharing networks such as Napster, Grokster and Kazaa, but they also have these predecessors to learn from.

Peer-to-Peer Goes Legit - IMesh becomes the first file-sharing service to offer legal access to more than 2 million tracks from major labels and independents. by Niall McKay. [Movies & Music]

While I would be happy to see music and other media available to the consumer at no cost, this recent development for iMesh is a good blend of easy consumer access and commercial viability. Using a true peer-to-peer architecture, differing from iTunes' server-to-client model, iMesh offers a libary of "up to 2 million tracks" for 99 cents each or $6.95 per month. This subscription plan, not offered by iTunes, is an offering that I believe brings true value to the consumer. If a user downloads as few as 8 songs per month, he is already experiencing a savings in the form of a unit price below 99 cents. Most music fans could find many more songs than 8 per month and the value of this option becomes even greater. I don't mean to run on like an iMesh marketer, but in the interests of seeing media brought cheaply to the consumer I thought I'd share some of its merits.

Film file-Sharer sent to Prison - A Hong Kong man has been jailed for three months for film piracy after he shared movie files over the internet. [Movies & Music]

For the first time in the world ever, someone has been arrested for uploading illegal material onto the internet through the popular file-sharing client BitTorrent. Chan Nai-Ming, an unemployed internet user in Hong Kong, was arrested and sent to jail for three months for distributing the films Daredevil, Red Planet and Miss Congeniality. This may sound familiar to those who remember the days way back when Napster had to be shut down for the illegal file-sharing of music in mp3 format.

In this age of electronic enlightenment, it is all too common for the roaming cyber-surfer to obtain music in a way the music industry disapproves of. It would behoove a company with serious interests in CD sales to find a way to sell CDs. One popular suggestion is to include something extra with the purchase of a legitimate CD. Leave it to the electronics giant Sony to do just that. Unfortunately Sony's strategy was not met with good favor. This is entirely understandable, considering Sony's little promotional bowtie, "XCP", was actually spyware encoded into its music CD's that made the user's computer vulnerable to hackers. Is this how the modern corporation gains our trust? Spyware are the diseased vermin of Cyberspace. Created to infect and transmit information, they are let loose to lie dormant while transmitting your data throughout the globe. Sony thinks an attack on your personal computer is acceptable if it saves them the projected revenue that would be lost if you were to commit your music to your computer. You need not share the music; the threat is enough justification for Sony to assault your security. Now I do not support downloading music through peer to peer sharing programs, but I do support a person's right to use a CD he purchases and listen to it on his computer. Sony has admitted no wrongdoing. To further aggravate customers, Sony has not vowed to abandon the practice! There is a movement right now to boycott Sony until they agree to abandon this cloak and dagger assault on the security of our homes. As more of Sony's corruption is brought to light, the movement grows stronger.

It has caught my attention through this article that not just anyone can host a piracy of products on the net. You have to be some what competent as it turns out.

Machinima Marches Toward Amusing - A film festival hits New York City this weekend, but do you really want to go? Machinima -- making movies from games -- has been long on hype and short on watchability, but that's starting to change. By Jason Silverman. [Movies & Music]

In the past few years a new festival and type of film making has begun to make itself popular, even though it’s been around since the early 90's. This film style is known as machinima. This style is developed through tools where the source of a video game is molded to create different actions, settings, and backgrounds so that a story can be told. One of the best known films of this genre would be the Red vs. Blue series, which is a collection of shorts adapted from the popular Halo video game engine.

Sony to Suspend Antipiracy CDs - In the face of mounting criticism, Sony promises to stop making CDs with XCP antipiracy technology that can leave computers vulnerable to hackers. Security researchers have described Sony's technology as 'spyware.' [Movies & Music]

This article discusses Sony's recent attempt to curtail piracy of their products by including what amounts to spyware in their CDs. Though I don't suggest any cosmic intervention, I believe Sony certainly got what was coming to them when this technology backfired.

The software's antipiracy capabilities are described as such, "The antipiracy technology, which works only on Windows computers, prevents customers from making more than a few copies of the CD and prevents them from loading the CD's songs onto Apple Computer's popular iPod portable music players." The most significant problem with that functionality is the inability to load songs onto iPods. I was near incredulous when I read this. Today iPods consitute a vital part of most music consumption. For Sony to engineer its product in a way that says "You can't use your iPod," seems like marketing suicide.

Hello, my name is John Schwartz. I am a bit under your average height. I am 5’7 and weigh about 155 lbs. I have brown eyes which I wear thin circle framed eye glasses over. My hair is dark brown, and I am in the process of losing it. i have a bit of a comb over but it doesn’t look too obvious yet. My face is pretty standard. My jaw may appear to be fragile which can be seen since I shave everyday. No scars can be seen on my face because I was sheltered through out most of my life. I adjust my eye glasses often by pinching the fold on the outside of the right lens. When i'm not adjusting or cleaning my glasses I use my hands as I speak. You will almost never find himme with my hands in my pockets. You would almost swear I sleep in my business attire; usually a blue or white button up, with a mostly solid tie. My sleeves are always button down except when I'm writing for long periods of time. I usually carry a brown briefcase with an attached shoulder-strap over my left shoulder. I am always ready to jot notes down since my goal in my career is to try in a vein effort to keep up with the changing science Itechnology in the world today. I like coffee in the mourning and again an hour after lunch. I hate being late to work but due to traffic I sometimes can’t control it. It is these mornings that my mind is set that the day will not be one to remember. I am usually very punctual though and take pride in that fact. I credit my productivity to the extra time I give himself to get motivated before finally reaching a prolific zone. I am very knowledgeable and am aware of it. This is my greatest strength but also my greatest weakness because I often come off as arrogant. Granted I am usually right but have yet to realize that sometimes there is no reward in being right. You will usually find me,John Schwartz reading or writing alone at the local coffee shop for hours at a time. It is here that I find tranquility and peace of mind.