Happy Thanksgiving

For those who prefer fish to turkey, here is a holiday meal just for you. Just don't share it with your Disney-loving children.

Now, I have a serious question for anyone who can answer it. Why do electrical engineers have to learn about the spherical coordinate system? I have never seen such a confusing group of greek letters, and I can honestly ask, "when will I ever use this?"

By the way, I still hate Sony. You should check out their crazy ass-EULA, ass posted on www.eff.org:

1. If your house gets burgled, you have to delete all your music from your laptop when you get home. That's because the EULA says that your rights to any copies terminate as soon as you no longer possess the original CD.
2. You can't keep your music on any computers at work. The EULA only gives you the right to put copies on a "personal home computer system owned by you."
3. If you move out of the country, you have to delete all your music. The EULA specifically forbids "export" outside the country where you reside.
4. You must install any and all updates, or else lose the music on your computer. The EULA immediately terminates if you fail to install any update. No more holding out on those hobble-ware downgrades masquerading as updates.
5. Sony-BMG can install and use backdoors in the copy protection software or media player to "enforce their rights" against you, at any time, without notice. And Sony-BMG disclaims any liability if this "self help" crashes your computer, exposes you to security risks, or any other harm.
6. The EULA says Sony-BMG will never be liable to you for more than $5.00. That's right, no matter what happens, you can't even get back what you paid for the CD.
7. If you file for bankruptcy, you have to delete all the music on your computer. Seriously.
8. You have no right to transfer the music on your computer, even along with the original CD.
9. Forget about using the music as a soundtrack for your latest family photo slideshow, or mash-ups, or sampling. The EULA forbids changing, altering, or make derivative works from the music on your computer.

All the buzz is about First4Internet's XCP, but no Sony is saying nothing about its discs with MediaMax DRM from SunnComm, which installs files on your computer even if you decline the EULA. The following is from www.freedom-to-timker.com:

MediaMax installs without meaningful consent or notification

When a MediaMax-protected CD is inserted into a computer running Windows, the Windows Autorun feature launches a program from the CD called PlayDisc.exe. Like most installers, this program displays a license agreement, which you may accept or decline. But before the agreement appears, MediaMax installs around a dozen files that consume more than 12 MB on the hard disk. Most are copied to the folder c:\Program Files\Common Files\SunnComm Shared\, shown below:

These files remain installed even if you decline the agreement. One of them, a kernel-level driver with the cryptic name “sbcphid”, is both installed and launched. This component is the heart of the copy protection system. When it is running, it attempts to block CD ripping and copying applications from reading the audio tracks on SunnComm-protected discs. MediaMax refrains from making one final change until after you accept the license—it doesn’t set the driver to automatically run again every time Windows starts. Nevertheless, the code keeps running until the computer is restarted and remains on the hard disk indefinitely, even if the agreement is declined.

Sony will likely get away with only a few scrapes because most people are unaware of everything they have been up to. Only the tech community is savvy to their activities, and unfortunately, that means most mainstream media are not making people aware of the problem.

Okay, I've railed against Sony enough for the day. I hope everyone had a great holiday with their friends. family, roommates, or whoever they spent the day with. I get to work in the morning so I will go for now.