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Pocket Mojo is where I talk about the stuff that's important to me. I cover mobile tech, Macs, photography and my faith.

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Archives for: November 2009

Warner Brothers Digital Copies - It Gets Worse

Right, so not only is the digital copy that comes with Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince limited only to Windows users, in order to access it you need to install a spacial Warner Bothers application in order to download the movie.

What Warners has effectively done is shift the cost and pain of video distribution to their already paying customers. Installing an app to get something I've already paid for is poor behaviour.

Oh - and to top it off, clicking on the Minimum System Requirements page Warners refers me to is a non-existent page with a HTTP 404 error.

After going past a couple of terms and conditions pages I then got to install yet another application. This one is the Digital Copy Manager. That application then prompted me to install Adobe Air. Can you tell that I'm getting a little grumpy now?

So, 10 minutes later, I'm still downloading and installing the stuff I need to be able to download the movie I've already paid for.

After the Adobe Air installation, I have to install a Windows Media Player security component (I still haven't started downloading the movie!). After all that, the movie is finally downloading.

By the way, just to prove how stupid this all is, the DRM won't even work with a Zune!


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PermalinkPermalinkPosted on 20/11/09 at 07:46:44 pm 5 feedbacks

Movember Day 20

I'm now 20 days into Movember and there's a respectable amount of fur over my top lip.

Movember raises funds for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and beyondblue, the national depression initiative. Movember is a joint initiative of these two organisations and aims to raise funds to deal with health issues facing men. I have several good friends who have been affected by both these ilnnesses so it's a cause that's close to my heart.

You can help by sponsoring me as I grow a moustache this month.

Just click this link and following the instructions.


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PermalinkPermalinkPosted on 20/11/09 at 06:00:00 pm 2 feedbacks

Blu-ray and Digital Copies

I watch a lot of video on my iPhone. As I have a 45 minute train trip to and from work most days, I use that time to catch up on TV and occasionally watch movies (Walk the Line filled two days of commuting nicely). However, in Australia, it's still technically illegal to rip DVDs even for personal use so I've been very pleased with the advent of digital copies coming with Blu-ray movies. No more ripping and 100% legal - great news.

So, yesterday i picked up copies of Star Trek and the latest instalment in the Harry Potter series. Both made a big deal on the shrink wrap of including a digital copy. I just opened the Star Trek packaging and was happy to find a DVD with the digital copy and a leaflet explaining how to access either an iTunes/iPod friendly version or a Windows Media copy.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, on the other hand, has presented something that I think is bordering on deceptive. The digital copy is Windows only. This isn't made clear on the packaging (at least as far as I could tell).

This makes no sense to me at all. I know that Windows is the dominant desktop OS - I may be a Mac fan but I'm not that deluded - but surely the point of a digital copy is for portable video players. Last time I looked, the iPod/iPhone was the most popular portable media player on the planet.

Can someone out there explain to me why Warner Brothers doesn't get it. It's not as bad as the Sony rootkit debacle but it shows how some old style companies really don't get it.


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PermalinkPermalinkPosted on 20/11/09 at 05:06:36 pm 1 feedback

Movember Day 6

Each year I do some sort of fundraising. In the past, I've done the Leukaemia Foundation's Shave for a Cure where I've shaved my head and tried to get folks to sponsor me to do that. I've done that a couple of times, raising close to $10,000 in the process. This year I'm participating in Movember.

Movember raises funds for the Protrate Cancer Foundation of Australia and beyondblue, the national depression initiative. Movember is a joint initiative of these two organisations and aims to raise funds to deal with health issues facing men. I have several good friends who have been affected by both these ilnnesses so it's a cause that's close to my heart.

You can help by sponsoring me as I grow a moustache this month.

Just click this link and following the instructions.

Every few days I'll post an update on the mo. Here's how it's coming along so far.


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PermalinkPermalinkPosted on 06/11/09 at 08:42:48 am Send feedback