First Post....yah
Ok, this will be my place to publish my thoughts, beliefs, and ramblings for no one and everyone to read. It may seem sane... but then again you may dismiss me as a total nut job from time to time. Thats okay, because in the infamous words of Jimmy Buffett "...if we weren't all a little crazy we would all go insane..."
I don't have a cool name IMO, some of my friends have Cbot.blog(this) and The Porter Method so i'm just using "Wright Stuff" for now, I'm not a bot nor do I consider myself that smart. Now, with no further rambling...
I was reading slashdot.org about the havoc that may be experienced due to the new Energy Bill, which should be signed into law today by our President Bush. You ask 'whats the big deal about the energy bill?' Well, as with almost all bills, our wonderful congress people (see political correctness) attach other things to these bills. Many don't make it, a lot do. In this particular bill we have the extension of daylight savings time (which is quite confusing to people anyway).
Well, as Americans we are a bit spoiled. What do we do when something doesn't work anymore (and may or may not be in warranty or we can't find our receipt to Walmart)? Well, we go buy a new one. Okay, just keep reading and following my breadcrums here. In 2008 or 2009 (not sure when exactly) all television broadcasts must be in digital format. In 2007, this extension of the daylight savings time will begin. People with VCR's will not notice it until the time changes and the VCR doesn't.
Ok, so we set the VCR with the new time, no biggie. Now three weeks later, the vcr has reset it self for the 'old' daylight savings time, stubborn things. Again, we set the time on the vcr and also means for some people they haven't recorded one of their favorites shows on television yet again.
All is well and good during the summer months.
Fall rolls around again and the vcr, being a stubborn little thing it is, sets the time with the 'old' daylight savings time. Then one week later the time changes but the vcr didn't, what a stubborn little device these things are. So, once again after missing two more things on television you reset the time. (I didn't take into account being late for work or school or none of that crap, sorry)
So, being as lazy and spoiled as many Americans are, one day we are walking in walmart/best buy/[insert store here] and we see a nice new vcr with these nice features which most importantly has the new DST code. So, why not just buy it and never have to set the time on it again unless something unexpected happens (like a hurricane knocks the power out, tree trimmers break the power pole and the power goes out.... yes these have happened to me within the last year and no i'm not kidding) .
But guess what, that new vcr, dvr or whatever has the new Broadcast Flag compliant code in it too. Assuming that the Broadcast Flag is passed, because the media companies are lobbying congress heavily and doing all the other stuff that helps get things that benefits business to pass congress. With that new dvr or vcr your not able to record your favorite show anymore because that would just be evil or something.
So, if you have read through all of this and are still with me how do we compare? Yes my mind works in a complicated way and no i'm not insane. I just think... maybe I think too much but then again if I didn't I would be wasting the 10% of my brain that wasn't already wasted.
Now, this is where I will wrap up my first post. If your the one people who read this on the first day I post, fantastic your here from the beginning. On the other hand, if your not one of the people reading it on my first posting day, shame on you. Todays lessons are: 1) First Posts are cool 2) DST is stupid 3) why would congress make something stupid already worse 4) I forget, its congress 5) Get motivated, if you don't like whats happening get involved. With numbers we can make a difference.
[Rant] So you say, 'its politics, I can't make a difference, they are too corrupt...' or 'I don't want to be like the politicians' or 'Its all about money'. You can make a difference, it may not be something big if your working alone but if people work together with resolve you can make a huge difference. You don't have to sit back and take it. Be active. If congress starts talking about taking away your rights *cough* patriot act *cough* DO SOMETHING!! eff.org is a place to start, expecially for us techies. Through them you can send emails to senators and representatives in your area. [/Rant]
Check back often, on some days I may post multiple times or I may take a day off.
I don't have a cool name IMO, some of my friends have Cbot.blog(this) and The Porter Method so i'm just using "Wright Stuff" for now, I'm not a bot nor do I consider myself that smart. Now, with no further rambling...
I was reading slashdot.org about the havoc that may be experienced due to the new Energy Bill, which should be signed into law today by our President Bush. You ask 'whats the big deal about the energy bill?' Well, as with almost all bills, our wonderful congress people (see political correctness) attach other things to these bills. Many don't make it, a lot do. In this particular bill we have the extension of daylight savings time (which is quite confusing to people anyway).
The bill would start daylight time three weeks earlier and end it a week later as an energy-saving measure.Now, what is your first thought about this? Lets now compare thoughts. First thing on my mind, "Oh great, another Windows patch to fix this..." Then cut to, "poor Win9x/ME/2000/NT4 users who will not get a patch." Then my mind rambles on uselessly from there. Then I think VCR's, DVR's, DVD players.... then it hits me. The Broadcast Flag (dun dun DUN!!!!!). What is the broadcast flag you say? Try wikipedia or Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Well, as Americans we are a bit spoiled. What do we do when something doesn't work anymore (and may or may not be in warranty or we can't find our receipt to Walmart)? Well, we go buy a new one. Okay, just keep reading and following my breadcrums here. In 2008 or 2009 (not sure when exactly) all television broadcasts must be in digital format. In 2007, this extension of the daylight savings time will begin. People with VCR's will not notice it until the time changes and the VCR doesn't.
Ok, so we set the VCR with the new time, no biggie. Now three weeks later, the vcr has reset it self for the 'old' daylight savings time, stubborn things. Again, we set the time on the vcr and also means for some people they haven't recorded one of their favorites shows on television yet again.
All is well and good during the summer months.
Fall rolls around again and the vcr, being a stubborn little thing it is, sets the time with the 'old' daylight savings time. Then one week later the time changes but the vcr didn't, what a stubborn little device these things are. So, once again after missing two more things on television you reset the time. (I didn't take into account being late for work or school or none of that crap, sorry)
So, being as lazy and spoiled as many Americans are, one day we are walking in walmart/best buy/[insert store here] and we see a nice new vcr with these nice features which most importantly has the new DST code. So, why not just buy it and never have to set the time on it again unless something unexpected happens (like a hurricane knocks the power out, tree trimmers break the power pole and the power goes out.... yes these have happened to me within the last year and no i'm not kidding) .
But guess what, that new vcr, dvr or whatever has the new Broadcast Flag compliant code in it too. Assuming that the Broadcast Flag is passed, because the media companies are lobbying congress heavily and doing all the other stuff that helps get things that benefits business to pass congress. With that new dvr or vcr your not able to record your favorite show anymore because that would just be evil or something.
So, if you have read through all of this and are still with me how do we compare? Yes my mind works in a complicated way and no i'm not insane. I just think... maybe I think too much but then again if I didn't I would be wasting the 10% of my brain that wasn't already wasted.
Now, this is where I will wrap up my first post. If your the one people who read this on the first day I post, fantastic your here from the beginning. On the other hand, if your not one of the people reading it on my first posting day, shame on you. Todays lessons are: 1) First Posts are cool 2) DST is stupid 3) why would congress make something stupid already worse 4) I forget, its congress 5) Get motivated, if you don't like whats happening get involved. With numbers we can make a difference.
[Rant] So you say, 'its politics, I can't make a difference, they are too corrupt...' or 'I don't want to be like the politicians' or 'Its all about money'. You can make a difference, it may not be something big if your working alone but if people work together with resolve you can make a huge difference. You don't have to sit back and take it. Be active. If congress starts talking about taking away your rights *cough* patriot act *cough* DO SOMETHING!! eff.org is a place to start, expecially for us techies. Through them you can send emails to senators and representatives in your area. [/Rant]
Check back often, on some days I may post multiple times or I may take a day off.
posted by Brian Wright at 4:12 PM
3 Comments:
Dude you know it be going to be passed. And then every brother nerd is going to be hacking VCR and TV and tivo and the Great PVR250 to get around this. People got to stand up and say hey you old fart I put you in office and now you trying to take away my life.
Its a lot of crap thats for sure. But "tech" people always prevail over all the carp that people do to stop us. And to echo lordpanzer, they are taking away our lives.
If hacking TVs is illegal... then I just don't want to be a good citizen.
Post a Comment
<< Home