2012

2012 Reading List

Transformers: Armada Volume 1

Transformers: Armada Volume 1

Chris Sarracini

Published: 2003 | Pages:144

My Rating: 2/5
Ugn, really?The art is kind of mediocre, the story is fairly gibberish with the whole Minicons thing. the kids look like they are like 5 which is just rediculous.Basically, don’t bother and stick to the main line IDW Transformers comics.

Description: The Decepticons, feeding off the energy of captured Mini-Cons, are about to begin a hostile takeover of the Transformers home planet, Cybertron. Do Optimus Prime and the heroic Autobots stand a chance of defending the planet against these super-powered villains? And will the Mini-Cons ever get their freedom back? The action is so explosive that the shock waves will shake not only Cybertron but even planet Earth right down to the core!

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Oz, #1)

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Oz, )

L. Frank Baum

Published: 1900 | Pages:154

My Rating: 3/5

Description: Come along, Toto, she said. We will go to the Emerald City and ask the Great Oz how to get back to Kansas again. Swept away from her home in Kansas by a tornado, Dorothy and her dog Toto find themselves stranded in the fantastical Land of Oz. As instructed by the Good Witch of the North and the Munchkins, Dorothy sets off on the yellow brick road to try and find her way to the Emerald City and the Wizard of Oz, who can help her get home. With her companions the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion, Dorothy experiences an adventure full of friendship, magic and danger. A much-loved children’s classic, The Wizard of Oz continues to delight readers young and old with its enchanting tale of witches, flying monkeys and silver shoes.

Shortpacked!, Vol. 1: Brings Back The Eighties

Shortpacked!, Vol. 1: Brings Back The Eighties

David Willis

Published: 2005 | Pages:135

My Rating: 4/5

Description:

Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip-Confessions of a Cynical Waiter

Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip-Confessions of a Cynical Waiter

The Waiter

Published: 2008 | Pages:302

My Rating: 3/5

Description: Waiter Rant offers the server’s unique point of view, replete with tales of customer stupidity, arrogant misbehavior, and unseen bits of human grace transpiring in the most unlikely places. Through outrageous stories, The Waiter reveals the secrets to getting good service, proper tipping etiquette, and how to keep him from spitting in your food. The Waiter also shares his ongoing struggle, at age thirty-eight, to figure out if he can finally leave the first job at which he’s truly thrived.

AFK

AFK

Huckleberry Hax

Published: 2008 | Pages:206

Description: A Second Life® detective reflects on cases and confessions, on love, on anger, on understanding Second Life as perhaps the greatest liberator there has ever been, and on falling for the oldest trick in the book, just the same…

The Ralph S. Mouse Audio Collection (Ralph #1-3)

The Ralph S. Mouse Audio Collection (Ralph -3)

Beverly Cleary

Published: 1980 | Pages:7

My Rating: 5/5
These were my favorite books when I was a kid and I found them just as enjoyable today. My only real complaint was thatbthe collection from Audible puts them out of order with what should be the last book in the second position.

Description: Mouse and the MotorcycleRalph S. MouseRunaway Ralph

Kill Decision

Kill Decision

Daniel Suarez

Published: 2012 | Pages:400

My Rating: 3/5
I absolitely love Daemon and FreedomTM, probably my favorite books ever. Kill Decision is not part of that series but has some vaguely similar themes. It’s an interesting concept of Drones gone ary and is a decent read but not nearly as good as Daniel Suarez’s previous two novels. It starts off strong but seems to kind of wander off later in the story without a clear direction. We jump from single airplane like drones to insectile swarms with little real explanation.

Description: Unmanned weaponized drones already exist—they’re widely used by America in our war efforts in the Middle East. In Kill Decision, bestselling author Daniel Suarez takes that fact and the real science behind it one step further, with frightening results. Linda McKinney is a myrmecologist, a scientist who studies the social structure of ants. Her academic career has left her entirely unprepared for the day her sophisticated research is conscripted by unknown forces to help run an unmanned—and thanks to her research, automated—drone army. Odin is the secretive Special Ops soldier with a unique insight into the faceless enemy who has begun to attack the American homeland with drones programmed to seek, identify, and execute targets without human intervention. Together, McKinney and Odin must slow this advance long enough for the world to recognize its destructive power, because for thousands of years the “kill decision” during battle has remained in the hands of humans—and off-loading that responsibility to machines will bring unintended, possibly irreversible, consequences. But as forces even McKinney and Odin don’t understand begin to gather, and death rains down from above, it may already be too late to save humankind from destruction at the hands of our own technology.

Lucifer's Hammer

Lucifer’s Hammer

Larry Niven

Published: 1977 | Pages:629

My Rating: 3/5

Description: THE LUCKY ONES WENT FIRST…The gigantic comet has slammed into Earth, forging earthquakes a thousand times too powerful to measure on the Richter scale, tidal waves thousands of feet high. Cities were turned into oceans; oceans turned into steam. It was the beginning of a new Ice Age and the end of civilizationBut for the terrified men and women chance had saved, it was also the dawn of a new struggle for survival—a struggle more dangerous and challenging than any they had ever known….

Transformers: The IDW Collection, Volume 4

Transformers: The IDW Collection, Volume 4

Simon Furman

Published: 2011 | Pages:352

My Rating: 4/5

Description:

One for the Money (Stephanie Plum, #1)

One for the Money (Stephanie Plum, )

Janet Evanovich

Published: 1994 | Pages:320

My Rating: 4/5

Description: She’s a product of the “burg,” a blue-collar pocket of Trenton where houses are attached and narrow, cars are American, windows are clean, and (God forbid you should be late) dinner is served at six.Out of work and out of money, Stephanie blackmails her bail-bondsman cousin Vinnie into giving her a try as an apprehension agent. Stephanie knows zilch about the job requirements, but she figures her new pal, el-primo bounty hunter Ranger, can teach her what it takes to catch a crook. Her first nail Joe Morelli, a former vice cop on the run from a charge of murder one. Morelli’s the inamorato who charmed Stephanie out of her virginity at age sixteen. There’s still powerful chemistry between them, so the chase should be interesting…and could also be extremely dangerous.

Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)

Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, )

Suzanne Collins

Published: 2010 | Pages:390

My Rating: 3/5

Description: My name is Katniss Everdeen.Why am I not dead?I should be dead.Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss’s family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans—except Katniss.The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss’s willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels’ Mockingjay—no matter what the personal cost.

Lullaby

Lullaby

Chuck Palahniuk

Published: 2002 | Pages:260

My Rating: 3/5
An interesting idea with the whole killing poem. Unfortunately like a lot of Palahniuk’s books it kind of falls apart into meaningless randomness and repetition of the same concepts during the middle half of the book.I found it enjoyable though, better than Survivor.

Description: Lullaby is a comedy/drama/tragedy. In that order. It may also be Chuck Palahniuk’s best book yet.

11/22/63

11/22/63

Stephen King

Published: 2011 | Pages:849

My Rating: 4/5

Description: In 2011, Jake Epping, an English teacher from Lisbon Falls, Maine, sets out on an insane — and insanely possible — mission to prevent the Kennedy assassination.Leaving behind a world of computers and mobile phones, he goes back to a time of big American cars and diners, of Lindy Hopping, the sound of Elvis, and the taste of root beer.In this haunting world, Jake falls in love with Sadie, a beautiful high school librarian. And, as the ominous date of 11/22/63 approaches, he encounters a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald…

Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1)

Ready Player One (Ready Player One, )

Ernest Cline

Published: 2011 | Pages:374

My Rating: 3/5
This books kind of comes off to me as a Daemon Lite. Or maybe a better comparison is Snow Crash Lite. It has it’s moments at times but other parts are really sappy and kind of meh.Then there are the awkward segments, mostly in the first third of the book, where the author just starts rambling off bullet point lists of 80s pop culture. “Here are a list of John Hughes films”, “Here’s a list of Rush songs”, “Here’s a list of popular Atari titles.”All the pop culture references are neat but it makes things feel pandering and unoriginal.Not to mention the wholely annoying aspect of this book being set in 2045 yet somehow NOTHING of significance has happened since like 2010 and everyone is obsessed with the 80s. It’s like the friendly Steve Jobs Mary Sue who is running the contest was somehow managed to just roll back original thinking the day he Oasis world.It is an ok read with it’s moments but the obsession witg the 80s actually kibd of ruins it.

Description: Librarian’s note: An alternate cover edition can be found hereIN THE YEAR 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade’s devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world’s digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator’s obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade’s going to survive, he’ll have to win—and confront the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.

The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)

The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, )

Suzanne Collins

Published: 2008 | Pages:374

My Rating: 2/5
The books starts off a little slow and repedetive with its “I am going to dump on myself but why does everyone think I am so great?” schtick. It picks up a bit when the game itself starts and oddly this plot point of Katniss not getting why people like her mysteriously just seems to vanish. There is a point where the characters are frustrated because they can’t really figure out what Katniss’ real personality is, unfortunately, this holds true in the story as well. She just is what she needs to be for the story. She can Hunt, and … well, hunt… otherwise she mostly just acts confused and lost.Things move along for a bit before the rather forced romance subplot tries to push it’s way to the front making things a little confused on what we are supposed to focus on and really care about. By the end, we don’t get the twist we hope for (though I suspect it may show up in the sequels) and what we are left with is a rather predictable torn romance story about a couple of kids trying to kill one another.Also, the level of class disparity between the Districts and the City seems a little too far fetched, not to mention that it is hard to tell just how many people are in this world. There is little real history on the world at large other than it exists in the remains of North America. Are there others still living in the world on other continents? If District 12 has somethibg 8000 people (the only population given by the book), how avout the other districts? even if they have twice as many people, that still is well under a million people not counting the Capital, which couldn’t be too large given it is supported by the backs of what are essentially slaves from the districts. Basically, the story is ok, but there are aome holes in the world which leave questions.

Description: Could you survive on your own in the wild, with every one out to make sure you don’t live to see the morning?In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weight survival against humanity and life against love.

Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)

Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, )

Suzanne Collins

Published: 2009 | Pages:391

My Rating: 4/5
I really liked this a lot more than The Hunger Games, which I pretty much hated. Basically, this book feels like the book that The Hunger Games wanted to be but failed miserably at pulling off. Kind of predictable though actually.

Description: Sparks are igniting.Flames are spreading.And the Capitol wants revenge. Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol—a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create. Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest that she’s afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she’s not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol’s cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can’t prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.In Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before . . . and surprising readers at every turn.

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs

Walter Isaacson

Published: 2011 | Pages:630

My Rating: 3/5
Despite that I pretty much hate Apple, I already knew a surprisingly large portion of the history of Steve Jobs. That said, while the book was interesting, it didn’t really teach me anything new. If anything, it mostly just served to reaffirm the idea that Jobs’ is a pretty smart guy but he’s also pretty much a huge self entitled asshole.

Description:

Transformers: The IDW Collection, Volume 3

Transformers: The IDW Collection, Volume 3

Simon Furman

Published: 2011 | Pages:348

My Rating: 4/5

Description: Devastation, as well as Spotlights: Galvatron, Ramjet, Wheelie, Blaster, Arcee, Grimlock, and Mirage.

Survivor

Survivor

Chuck Palahniuk

Published: 1999 | Pages:289

My Rating: 3/5
I do enjoy a lot of aspects about this book, there are some interesting concepts and ideas, but there are also some kind of morbid points and a bit too much repetition on some other points that I dislike. It is a good read and has kind of a “What really happened?” sort of end, which I like.

Description: Fight Club comes this wickedly incisive second novel, a mesmerizing, unnerving, and hilarious vision of cult and post-cult life.Tender Branson—last surviving member of the so-called Creedish Death Cult—is dictating his life story into the flight recorder of Flight 2039, cruising on autopilot at 39,000 feet somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. He is all alone in the airplane, which will crash shortly into the vast Australian outback. Before it does, he will unfold the tale of his journey from an obedient Creedish child and humble domestic servant to an ultra-buffed, steroid- and collagen-packed media messiah, author of a best-selling autobiography, Saved from Salvation, and the even better selling Book of Very Common Prayer (The Prayer to Delay Orgasm, The Prayer to Prevent Hair Loss, The Prayer to Silence Car Alarms). He’ll reveal the truth of his tortured romance with the elusive and prescient Fertility Hollis, share his insight that “the only difference between suicide and martyrdom is press coverage,” and deny responsibility for the Tender Branson Sensitive Materials Sanitary Landfill, a 20,000-acre repository for the nation’s outdated pornography. Among other matters both bizarre and trenchant.Not since Kurt Vonnegut’s Mother Night and Jerzy Kosinski’s Being There has there been as dark and telling a satire on the wages of fame and the bedrock lunacy of the modern world. Unpredictable, compelling, and unforgettable, Survivor is Chuck Palahniuk at his deadpan peak; and it cements his place as one of the most original writers in fiction today.

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 2

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 2

Naoko Takeuchi

Published: 2003 | Pages:235

My Rating: 5/5
Consideraly better from a plot and structure standpoint then volume 1 which suffers horribly from it’s introduction heavy plots.

Description:

Girl Parts

Girl Parts

John M. Cusick

Published: 2010 | Pages:218

My Rating: 2/5
This is essentially what Short Circuit would be like if, instead of a Nuclear Warmachine, Johnny Five was a 17 year old girl.It starts out kind of interesting but ends up a little odd and kind of lame.

Description: From a debut author! What happens when a robot designed to be a boy’s ideal “companion” develops a will of her own? A compulsively readable novel from a new talent. (Ages 14 and up)David and Charlie are opposites. David has a million friends, online and off. Charlie is a soulful outsider, off the grid completely. But neither feels close to anybody. When David’s parents present him with a hot Companion bot designed to encourage healthy bonds and treat his “dissociative disorder,” he can’t get enough of luscious redheaded Rose –and he can’t get it soon. Companions come with strict intimacy protocols, and whenever he tries anything, David gets an electric shock. Parted from the boy she was built to love, Rose turns to Charlie, who finds he can open up, knowing Rose isn’t real. With Charlie’s help, the ideal “companion” is about to become her own best friend. In a stunning and hilarious debut, John Cusick takes rollicking aim at internet culture and our craving for meaningful connection in an uberconnected world.

Transformers: The IDW Collection, Volume 2

Transformers: The IDW Collection, Volume 2

Simon Furman

Published: 2010 | Pages:392

My Rating: 4/5

Description:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, )

Stieg Larsson

Published: 2005 | Pages:480

My Rating: 4/5

Description: An international publishing sensation, Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel.

Neko Ramen: Curry Is Also Delicious!

Neko Ramen: Curry Is Also Delicious!

Kenji Sonishi

Published: 2010 | Pages:160

My Rating: 3/5
Picked this up for like 90% off at a closing Borders because it has a neat cat and is about Ramen. It’s ok. It seems to be more of a serialized strip of spme sort. Some of the jokes also seem to be lost in culture or translation.

Description:

101 Incredible Experiments for the Weekend Scientist

101 Incredible Experiments for the Weekend Scientist

Rob Beattie

Published: 2007 | Pages:128

My Rating: 4/5
This is a decent little selection of sciency experiments and weekend projects. many of the projects can be greatly improved if you know what you’re doing but it does a decent job of keeping things simple and layman.If you are like me and know a lot about Physics and Chemistry you may find it a little too simplistic.

Description:

Star Trek: Countdown

Star Trek: Countdown

Mike Johnson

Published: 2009 | Pages:102

Description: Star Trek, the upcoming blockbuster film from Paramount Pictures! JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci, and Alex Kurtzman present the origin of Nero, the mysterious Romulan who will ultimately threaten the survival of the entire universe. Don’t miss this story that brings STAR TREK back to the big screen!

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 1 (Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon Renewal Edition, #1)

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 1 (Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon Renewal Edition, )

Naoko Takeuchi

Published: 2003 | Pages:240

My Rating: 4/5
I have seen much of the show but read none of the manga. A decent though somewhat simplistic story design. it actually mostly just makes me want to watch the show again where a bit more happens.

Description: This new edition of Sailor Moon will feature:- An entirely new, incredibly accurate translation!- Japanese-style, right-to-left reading!- New cover art never before seen in the U.S.!- The original Japanese character names!- Detailed translation notes!This version of Sailor Moon will be completely true to original. Join us as Sailor Moon returns to the U.S. for the first time in years!

Bumblebee & Me: Life as a G1 Transformer

Bumblebee & Me: Life as a G1 Transformer

Dan Gilvezan

Published: 2011 | Pages:106

My Rating: 5/5
I really rather enjoyed this book. It is essentially a telling of Dan Gilvezan’s time working with the transformers cartoon series over the years. it is pretty much limited to The Transformers.Also of note, the audio version is available via Audible cheaper thant he paper or eBook edition. It is also read by Dan Gilvezan himself. Considering he does voice work for a living, I have to say it is excellent to hear him doing the read and even if you don’t really do Audiobooks, the Audio version of this book is probably a better experience than the print edition. Also of note, it’s pretty short. The audiobook was something like 90 minutes.

Description: Gilvezan,

Lens Surgery

I have this old 200mm Lens that I think came with a Ricoh film camera I got for cheap years ago.  It essentially cost me nothing.  I haven’t used it much however because the photos all turn out really hazy.

IMGP7303

I figure I’m not using it and it’s probably not worth enough to pay for a professional clean job, so I decided to disassemble it to see if a good cleaning would correct the problem.  This also would make for a decent learning experience to see exactly what makes a lens work.  Granted, it’s an old manual lens and not a flashy new automatic lens, but it’s still something I’ve always wanted to check out.

IMGP7305

I wasn’t real sure where to start and some quick research online pretty much just suggested “Start removing screws and pulling things apart”.  Which si what I did.  There were 8 obvious screws, 4 on the silver mount ring and 4 on the side of the barrel near the mounting ring.

IMGP7306 After going a ways, I had the metal ring removed and a larger internal assembly.  I could tell before starting that there was a film of some sort on the inside of the glass on the business end of the lens, so I knew I would need to go farther.  I removed some internal parts as well as part of the main barrel but still came to a stand still unable to reach the backside of the main front glass.

IMGP7309

This was when I found some extremely tiny screws on the side of the barrel.  After loosening these screws, the main front glass could be turned and screwed free very easily.

I cleaned all parts I could reach and reassembled the whole thing as best i could (think i may have gotten part of the barrel turned wrong but it’s not real important since it mostly means the setting indicators aren’t accurate.

The real test of course is to take a photo.

IMGP7313

Sadly, It did not fix the problem.  I’m pretty sure that the main problem is that the lens is simply “a cheap piece of shit”.  I did notice that using Photoshop to “auto correct” makes the photo actually look fairly normal.  I still don’t plan to use it for anything critical. 

Mostly I just need to go out and find a decent telephoto lens for my DSLR, since that is the one major piece missing from my lens assortment.

Learning Python with Udacity

udacity_cs101

Just a note, this is not any sort of advertisement…

So I know some basic programming syntax, generally centered around C and C++ which I learned in college.  The C was through several Engineering based classes and the C++ was from a single Computer Science course I took when I had a semester to fill before transferring schools and didn’t want to completely lapse on the studying, schooling lifestyle.  I also know how to code HTML but that is barely programming by any stretch. 

I have tried various self taught methods to teach myself more C++ and some Java with little success.  I have some books to make Android apps but I have yet to get anywhere with them.  Then, I believe through the Windows Weekly podcast, I found out about this deal called Udacity. The first course offering is to learn how to code a basic Search Engine using Python.  I’ve found it pretty well designed though a handful of the examples were a little too abstract to be meaningful (I’m looking at the one about cost and RAM and memory and compute cycles which I still don’t understand).

Anyway, I’m done three out of the seven modules and I’m rather proud of the fact that I’ve actually managed to stick with it and learn some things.  I’ve got a little script now that I could use to extract links from any webpage or even a number of webpages, though right now all I know how to do is display them.  Presumably we’ll learn how to compile them into some sort of file or database.  My biggest hurdle really is I keep wanting to use C and C++ syntax.  Things like adding ; at the end of lines or 1++ or variable++.

It’s not a terrible problem really.

Copyright, Corporations, People, and the Concept of Ownership, The Concept of Things

NOTE: This got a little rambley and random at times but whatever, I don’t care.

So, when a person goes out and buys, say, a desk, they bring it home, maybe they assemble it, they put their computer on it, they sit at it, they use it as a desk.  Other people can come over and use this desk if the need to for all of these activities as well.  There is only one desk here, and when the person is done with the desk, they can do whatever they want with it.  They can throw it out, or give it to a family member or sell it to a stranger.  If they want they can disassemble it and cut up the parts and make a bookcase out of it, or a table, or even a different desk.

If you buy a CD, or a book, you can do many of these things as well (good luck building a book case out of a CD, you may have better luck doing it with the book.)  The thing is, as far as the companies are concerned, when it comes to media, many or all of these activities should be or are illegal.

For example, did you know it is illegal to listen to music publicly in your workplace?  This includes the radio, which, by the way, is broadcast freely to anyone.

The media industry has also tried many times to make it illegal to but used music and games.  This hasn’t worked out very well for them with physical media but these days everything is moving towards digital anyway, which makes the problem moot.  These digital files are often licensed and tied to a particular account and are not transferable anyway.

Which brings up the next side of this.  Digital Content and Copyright.  When something becomes digital, that is, a file on a computer, it immediately becomes infinitely copyable.  There is no way to prevent a file from being copied.  There are ways to make it inconvenient.  There are encryption methods and proprietary formats, that can be used but even with some encrypted capsule of data that can only be opened using a special program to prevent copying, you can still copy the capsule itself even if it meant doing a one to one ghost image of the drive’s data.

The problem is, that history has shown that the more encapsulation, or DRM (Digital rights management) a file has, the more difficulties it creates for normal users to use their files.  Your DRM music file may only work in a specific player on your PC, and only play on an specific brand of music player.  Then that player starts bundling ad banners or toolbars so it becomes a pain to use or maybe the brand of music player is more expensive than the others on the market or possibly just poorly made.  The DRM means you’re locked in to that system so it doesn’t matter how good the software or player is.

Well, it doesn’t matter until you say “screw it” and go to another brand but that’s a story for another day.

And despite all of the DRM a media file may have, the people who want to pirate it, will.  They will crack the encryption and extract the important data.  For movies and music, to enjoy them they have to be played out into the real world, which can always be routed and looped back in to be re-encoded.  This is known as “The Analog Hole”.  Until they start implanting chips in our heads or something, you can’t encrypt natural real world acoustics and visuals.

But this isn’t supposed to be a piracy rant.  I’m not advocating piracy or suggesting that all content should be pirated.  I’m just pointing out that the lengths companies have gone to in the past make it inconvenient for normal people and the pirates will do it anyway.  The music industry learned this and most music you can buy, easily, is DRM free these days.  The movie industry is still learning this as is the ebook industry to some extent, and it’s going to still bite them until they learn.

The point is, why do people pirate this stuff in the first place.  the obvious answer is cost.  Some people simply can’t afford it.  Some people don’t want to afford it.  A lot of people CAN afford it and choose not to.  There is an excellent book on this subject called Free Culture by Lawrence Lessig,  that puts people into four categories and explains it very well.  The book is freely available via Creative Commons Liscence and you can find a copy of the applicable chapter here.  The relevant part is here:

File sharers share different kinds of content. We can divide these different kinds into four types.

A. There are some who use sharing networks as substitutes for purchasing content. Thus, when a new Madonna CD is released, rather than buying the CD, these users simply take it. We might quibble about whether everyone who takes it would actually have bought it if sharing didn’t make it available for free. Most probably wouldn’t have, but clearly there are some who would. The latter are the target of category A: users who download instead of purchasing. B. There are some who use sharing networks to sample music before purchasing it. Thus, a friend sends another friend an MP3 of an artist he’s not heard of. The other friend then buys CDs by that artist. This is a kind of targeted advertising, quite likely to succeed. If the friend recommending the album gains nothing from a bad recommendation, then one could expect that the recommendations will actually be quite good. The net effect of this sharing could increase the quantity of music purchased. C. There are many who use sharing networks to get access to copyrighted content that is no longer sold or that they would not have purchased because the transaction costs off the Net are too high. This use of sharing networks is among the most rewarding for many. Songs that were part of your childhood but have long vanished from the marketplace magically appear again on the network. (One friend told me that when she discovered Napster, she spent a solid weekend “recalling” old songs. She was astonished at the range and mix of content that was available.) For content not sold, this is still technically a violation of copyright, though because the copyright owner is not selling the content anymore, the economic harm is zero—the same harm that occurs when I sell my collection of 1960s 45-rpm records to a local collector. D. Finally, there are many who use sharing networks to get access to content that is not copyrighted or that the copyright owner wants to give away.

The book goes on to explain the pluses and minuses of each of these types of people and really, only the first tier, people who blatant pirate because they want to” are the only ones who are truly being criminals and the only ones truly causing hard to companies.  These are also, for the most part, the minority.

Most people, given an easy, appropriately priced option, will pay for media.

ANYWAY.

I’m starting to fly off the track again…

The point i want to make is, as far as the industry is concerned, you don’t own the media you buy.  When you pay for a CD or an eBook or a BluRay disc, you are paying for the license, to consume that media, in the format you’re buying.  If you want to listen to that CD on your media player, legally, you must buy digital copies of that music and can’t legally rip that CD to your computer yourself.  You paid to listen to the music in CD format.  The same applies to movies as well.  It technically applies to books but digitizing a book is a bit more of a pain than it’s worth doing.

Consumers, people, normal folks, do not “think in legalese” and do not see it this way.  They only see that they already own this music, why do they need to buy it again?  Some of them may even see that they already own the Vinyl and the Cassette and the CD, why do they need to pay, again, to listen to this music?

This is where some of our piracy comes in.  It’s easy to rip a CD, not so much a cassette.  It can be done and it requires the use of the Analog Hole but it’s not convenient.  So people will just download their cassette collection illegally.

Also, on the radio at work point made earlier.  You also pay for this music, so that YOU can listen to it.  The license you buy applies only to you, and letting your friends or coworkers listen to the music is not legal either.  As far as the media industry is concerned, when you buy something, you are paying to listen to it alone, in a silo and you may never share this experience with anyone.  Make them buy their own damn media.