Recent Posts

4526

General Software Discussion / Re: A question about DRM

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 11, 2007, 03:24 AM »

Felix56 - congrats on your first post ...

There are three things to consider when burning CDs from DRMed files:

1) It may or may not be possible depending on the license issued (sometimes burning the track is excluded)
2) If you can burn there is usually a limit to the number of times you can burn it
3) If you burn to CD and then rip it back in MP3 format technically your are breaking the license in most cases, but also the process of encoding to CD and then recoding to rip it back reduces the quality of the audio file.

One fourth thing is that the post that started this thread was about a video file and most DRMed video cannot be burnt to a playable disc format.

4527

Living Room / Re: OWNING "hacker tools" illegal in Germany as of TODAY (jail & fines for everyone)

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 10, 2007, 07:56 PM »

I'd guess in the UK that if a person is somewhere they shouldn't be - but not in the process of doing something illegal (such as removing property) then it would come under the law of trespass - which is a civil offense, not criminal.

The property owner has the right to request a trespasser to leave by the shortest route - and only if they refuse does it become a matter for the police (aggravated trespass) at which point 'reasonable force' can be used to remove them.

A prosecution can only be brought for trespass if the trespasser actually causes criminal damage to property.

All the signs you see "Trespassers will be prosecuted" are simply not true and if a prosecution was attempted it would fail.

I think if someone is caught somewhere with tools or weapons the presumption of innoncent trespass is lost.

Sorry - I'm half asleep (at 2am UK time) and just realised that all of this is extremely boring - so I'll shut up and go to bed!

4528

General Software Discussion / Re: "XPLinux" Running Windows XP and Kubuntu on one joint desktop

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 10, 2007, 12:49 PM »

Looks like a really interesting setup.

Could you help the ignorant among us and tell us how you set up running Linux and Windows on the same desktop.

4529

General Software Discussion / Re: Pink Floyd - Painted Ladies: Wow!

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 10, 2007, 11:32 AM »

Did you notice on the right there is a video to the whole "Dark Side of the Moon" album - not sure the distributors/Gilmore and Co. would be too impressed with the entire album posted!

4530

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Serial Dealers - a new discount software site

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 08, 2007, 03:06 PM »

Re one year licenses ... I already own IsoBuster Pro but they offer this with the following conditions:

Limitations and conditions
- 1 Year License with minimum support
- Software will revert to ISOBuster Basic after 1 year - Non transferable
- Non refundable
- Not re-sellable
- Only for personal, not business use
- 1 license per person maximum

Note the second line ... it seems they are selling a one year license to use at least some of the software - not a limited license for upgrades etc.

4531

General Software Discussion / Re: deleting files from DVD/CD?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 06, 2007, 05:47 AM »

Hammers ... fair point ...

Not for the microwave potentially!

4532

General Software Discussion / Re: Multisession burning

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 06, 2007, 05:44 AM »

The problem with DVD-RAM is the cost of the media. I don't know about in the US but in the UK DVD-RAM blanks cost almost the same as a DVD movie!

If anyone in the UK wants a DVD-RAM compatible drive (it reads/rights all CD/R/RW, DVD+/-R/RW/DL and DVD-RAM formats at fast speeds, DVDs up to x18) then pop over to www.overclockers.co.uk as they have a good looking Samsung SATA drive for about £16 - and that includes Nero's OEM suite (OK you don't have to install anything other than the BuringROM application).

Only that I recently bought Pioneer drives I would be buying a handful!

4533

General Software Discussion / Re: deleting files from DVD/CD?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 06, 2007, 05:40 AM »

I have a cheap electric gizzmo that you feed DVDs/CDs through and it destroys the writing surface by stamping pits all over the disk. I usually run them through half a dozen times. To recover the disc would require polishing out all the pits but that would be very difficult without specialist equipment and would probably make the protective plastic layer so thin that the recording surface would be damaged in the process. I bought it from Maplins (in the UK), I'd guess Tandy or similar in the US would have something similar. It is certainly much quicker than trying to cut up discs by hand.

I suppose you could get much the same effect with a hammer (save it for when you are really frustrated with something and let yiourself go).

4534

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Adobe Photoshop CS 2 Upgrade Discount?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 06, 2007, 05:15 AM »

Strange - maybe it was just a glitch. Try clearing your browser cache and cookies before you try again - I find some webshops have strange behaviour and it seems to be down to cache/cookie problems (DigtalRiver is on that always gives me problems - but not any of their subsidiaries such as element5. If I want to buy a product and the DigitalRiver shopfront is used I have use a different computer otherwise the last step fails every time ... and this problem has survived multiple reinstalls and even multiple machines. I do keep a number of cookies permanently on my system, amazon etc., and they are the only things that I can put down the problem to).

4535

General Software Discussion / Re: A question about DRM

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 06, 2007, 05:11 AM »

HOWEVER D2D has since updated the page to include information about the included DRM. when I purchased the files, this part of their site and business was still "under development". I am usually VERY careful about these things.

-PaladinMJ (July 06, 2007, 03:21 AM)

Sounds like you have a good case for a full refund if the terms and conditions were not available when you made the purchase. In that case they can't even claim that you agreed to any changes in terms either.

They can't argue that they can't give a refund because the whole point of DRM is that they can revoke your license and make the download file useless.

They can't have it both ways.

If I were you I would contact your credit card company too as they are also party to the purchase and should enforce consumer rights.

4536

General Software Discussion / Re: A question about DRM

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 05, 2007, 04:41 PM »

I thought Vista DRM was applied to all DRM material played on Vista - so that eg. you can't record the sound produced by DRMed audio tracks.

Have I got this wrong?

4537

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Adobe Photoshop CS 2 Upgrade Discount?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 05, 2007, 05:13 AM »

Adobe does not take orders from Singapore.

-ethan (July 04, 2007, 09:44 PM)

Yes it does - the link I gave goes directly to the Singapore shop ... don't know if they sell academic versions there though.

If you don't get Singapore in your shop list click "Other Shops" at the bottom and it gives a fullscreen list of all Adobe online stores.

4538

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Anti-spam utility generating complaint, running whois to generate dat

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 04, 2007, 07:02 PM »

Isn't this what SPAMCOP.NET does, and you can sort of automate by using MAILWASHER

I have used this in the past and the way it works is that you can filter incoming mail according to rules and already known spam (and also heuristics). You can then visually check that what you see listed as spam is actually spam and when you click process you can set up an option to automatically send all the spam to spamcop. You may be able to write (or get someone to write) a script to automatically process these emails - but you probably won't be popular at spamcop as there will be a lot of false reporting.

They don't have an automated system at spamcop (and you need to register there to use their service - there is a free version and a more flexible paid for version) and so you get an email with the details of each spam message. Click the link in the message and then follow the links on the webpage.

Spamcop then do all the work of processing headers and extracting suitable people to report abuse to, but it can't be automated as a lot of spam is well disgused or spoofed so that the spammers identity and source is hidden (there are a lot of emails sent out via bots on other people computers and also a lot of spammers run their own mail servers so that they aren't easily traced or reported). This means that before you report you have verify that the abuse trace has actually identified the real culprit and not just some poor shmuk who has had their email address spoofed.

Just to give you an idea - I (and I'd guess anyone with their own domain names) get innundated with spam which is formatted to appear that it comes from my domain - I even get a lot of complaints. This is nothing to do with me and there is nothing I can do about it. All the header details in the emails are spoofed so that the origin of the emails are obscured so I can't take action, and complaints mostly get checked at me which just increases the amount of junk mail I receive.

4539

Living Room / Re: AllOfMP3 closes ...

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 04, 2007, 06:21 PM »

Well AllTunes is working now (I just added $10 from the internal link on my system).

Are you running any software that may be blocking AllTunes access to the internet (firewall etc.)?

MP3Sparks.com seems to be down at the moment but it was working the other day fine. Server problems seem to be a common issue so maybe it would be worth checking back in a few days.

4540

Living Room / Re: AllOfMP3 closes ...

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 04, 2007, 04:21 PM »

You can add music via MP3Spark and then use the AllTunes app, just use the same login.

Actually AllTunes funding worked for me recently.

4541

General Software Discussion / Re: A question about DRM

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 04, 2007, 09:59 AM »

Don't know - but ISO buster might get you into trouble - even though it was designed to help recover data from damaged discs.

4542

General Software Discussion / Re: A question about DRM

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 04, 2007, 04:11 AM »

It is fair and legal to copy video to other media, audio too. Don't let "them" tell you otherwise. Breaking DRM is however illegal. I don't know all the details, but there's a provision in the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) that makes circumventing digital protection schemes illegal, no matter how much of a right you have to do so.

-Hirudin (July 04, 2007, 03:36 AM)

Laws vary from country to country - in the land of the free just talking about breaking copyright restrictions can cause instant imprisonment without charge, trial, sentence, representation etc. and if you live in florida you will never be allowed to vote again (not that it means much when they fiddle the voting system anyway).

Here in the UK we are less draconian - having software on your system that could potentially be used to circumvent copyright is illegal (whether it is used for that purpose or not) and telling others how to do it is also illegal. Such 'crimes' are punishable by large fines and imprisonment and in extreme circumstances (like ripping a Simpsons episode) you can be extradited to the US (with holiday stops in Turkey and Cuba on private jets) to join their US friends.

Apology

Sorry if anyone is offended but does anybody really believe that individuals sharing copyright material REALLY finances organised crime and international terror - or are the multibillionaires running the 'entertainment' companies really that cynical

4543

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Adobe Photoshop CS 2 Upgrade Discount?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 03, 2007, 03:01 PM »

The Singapore Adobe webshop is at https://store2.adobe...tore=OLS-AP&nr=0

Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be an Education link - as on the UK and US site.

Probably the best way to proceed is to ask a friend (if you have one) in the US to buy it for you and give them the money. It would almost certainly be cheaper that way too (anywhere outside the US seems to have prices hiked up to much higher levels - even at education prices).

4544

General Software Discussion / Re: A question about DRM

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 03, 2007, 02:48 PM »

cmpm you have missed the point - he wants to burn DRM protected WMP files to DVD.

The only way is to remove DRM first.

The only methods that have been developed to do that are:

1) Find an illegal copy that doesn't have DRM
2) Find an illegal utility that will remove DRM

If you achieve either of these you will probably then need some software to recode the video into DVD format so that you can burn it. There is plenty of software that will do this part - some free, some paid for.

The only utility I know that has acheived the removal of DRM is "FairUse4WM" do a google search if you want to find a copy. This has been a running battle with MS - various versions have been produced and then MS has produced a DRM update to counter the utility. I don't know whether the latest version works with the current version of MS DRM. It certainly used to work with audio and video files. Quality was not degraded as it simply removed the DRM rather than recoding the source. The reults were output to a new file so it didn't damage your original.

See http://www.afterdawn...ews/archive/7875.cfm for an overview of the story and http://www.afterdawn...ews/archive/7972.cfm. There have been later version produced since those articles but I don't know who is ahead of the game at the moment.

4545

General Software Discussion / Three freebies from AShampoo

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 03, 2007, 12:56 PM »

No endorsements but here they are:

******************************************************************
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  * Optimise your DSL via LAN cable, cable modem or wireless LAN
  * Better configuration of other LAN connections

Get full verison for FREE - Click HERE:

******************************************************************
Ashampoo StartUp Tuner 2 - Immediate Shut Down of Annoying Auto-starters.

Useful system maintenance functions:
  * Start menu: delete or deactivate unnecessary entries
  * Services: either activate or deactivate available services
  * Software: targeted uninstalling of software which is no longer
needed
  * BHO: delete internet explorer plugins

Get full verison for FREE - Click HERE:


******************************************************************
Ashampoo ClipFinder - The search engine for the most important video portals

Highlights:
  * Finds online videos which fit a search word
  * Supports the popular video portals YouTube, VideU, MyVideo,
ClipFish,
    Google Video, sevenload, Dailymotion, MySpace, Metacafe and IFILM
  * Preview of all hit videos directly in the program window
  * Shows the length, assessment and name of the videos
  * Playing the videos directly in the Ashampoo ClipFinder
  * Download of the videos in the FLV format on your own hard drive
  * Your own favorite videos will be taken over in a separate file
  * Skins change the looks of the Ashampoo ClipFinders

Get full verison for FREE - Click HERE:

4546

General Software Discussion / Re: Editing RM Audio files - anyone know any good software?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 03, 2007, 10:45 AM »

There is also an app called "Easy RealMedia Producer" at http://forum.doom9.o...=&threadid=73228

I haven't tried it (the download webpage is in Chinese and the download is currently running at 4.5K/sec over 4 streams!) but it may be worth a look.

Followup - I tried installing this under Altiris Virtualisation (hey it worked - wow, my first attempt at that) ...

Personally I won't be installing it for real. It's fine if you want a GUI to set parameters numerically for command line tools, but not if you want to see what you are doing.

I may be wrong - but since the app is in English but all the documentation is in Chinese ...

If anyone is interested in batch processing the production of Real Media files you can use the link I posted earlier and it is also available at http://www.softpedia...Media-Producer.shtml

I should say it is free for non-commercial use.

4547

Word Processor Roundup / Re: Has anyone tried Scribus?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 03, 2007, 10:41 AM »

I don't think there are huge numbers of Mac users about on this forum. Shoot me if I am wrong 

4548

General Software Discussion / Re: Editing RM Audio files - anyone know any good software?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 03, 2007, 09:53 AM »

I have dBpoweramp (though not installed at the moment).

Actually the RealMedia editor does a neat quick job - which is what I wanted. The advantage is that I can easily build a playlist in RealMedia Player and it automatically converts them to burn for CD - which is much quicker and means that I don't have to be dealing with 650Mb audio files!

What I am trying to do is to quickly archive odd radio programmes I download. Being web programmes they are not great quality so I don't want to force them to deteriorate further. I do find dbPowerAmp is a good app but it is really quite slow - I can download the RM file, clip it and burn it in less time than dbPA takes just to convert the file to WAV.

4549

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Adobe Photoshop CS 2 Upgrade Discount?

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 03, 2007, 09:49 AM »

Which country are you in?

4550

General Software Discussion / Re: A question about DRM

« Last post by Carol Haynes on July 03, 2007, 09:49 AM »

DVD Fab won't work - that just decodes DVDs and recodes stuff for portable devices.

The problem with video is that you have to play it in WMP. For DRMed audio files it is simple - burn it to CD and rip it back as MP3.