There’s been a lot of buzz regarding Microsoft’s stepped up Windows Activation scheme. An Infoworld article noted headaches some customers have been experiencing around the activation. This includes Dell customers who had issues, contacted Microsoft, who told them to contact Dell, who foisted them back on Microsoft, with no real resolution. There’s nothing more frustrating than having your office network shut down, especially when you’re a legitimate corporate customer. I had previously thought that there was no way Microsoft would tinker with burning their corporate customers, but apparently, I was wrong. This just seems like playing with fire — but then again, if you have a monopolistic hold on the business world, you can burn a few folks.

Microsoft claims this problem is overblown, and that it affects a very small percentage. Did they ever consider that a small percentage of a large number of users is still a rather significant number? Or that any false positives might be considered unacceptable? Businesses rely on their computers, and shutting them down creates a huge burden, especially for the small business. (Although, large business would arguably have an even greater problem.) The reason I can’t quite accept their reasoning is that I’ve actually experienced the false positive problem.

One of the users at my office noted that his machine was asking to be re-activated, which I found odd. I checked, and lo and behold, he was right. I ended up having to call Microsoft to work through the re-activation, which did not work. After putting in a bit of time trying to get things re-activated in this “proper” method, I ended up just re-ghosting the machine. Lost time trying to get the activation going, reghosting the machine, and user setup, all for something that has added no value. Thanks, Microsoft.

Now, of course, I have the joy of waiting in suspense for the machines to start having activation issues, one by one throughout the office. Isn’t it great being a Microsoft customer? That Linux stuff is looking better every day. At least there customers aren’t treated like criminals.

YouTube has been drawing a lot of heat due to its questionable copyright stance. With a user-uploaded content base, it’s pretty much unavoidable that they will have copyright issues. It’s arguable whether or not YouTube’s financial success hinges on this — on the one hand, the copyrighted content is one of YouTube’s biggest draws, and it couldn’t have established such a user base without it; on the other, YouTube is a fantastic place to find original user-generated content. Also, as sites struggle with traffic in their video hosting, it’s nice to have YouTube as a mirror to supplement that load.

The latest in the debacle is a lawsuit from Robert Tur, over the upload of the video of Reginald Denny getting beaten during the LA riots in 1992. This lawsuit is asinine, and I’ll tell you why.

The lawsuit notes that the video in question has been viewed over 1,000 times. Here’s the asinine part: “Tur is asking the court for $150,000 per violation and an injunction barring any further use of his material.” The injunction is fine. Asking for $150,000 per violation is ridiculous. So, for someone uploading a video, and 1,000 people watching it, Tur expects $150,000,000? Let’s look at the comparative revenue lost. Let’s say Tur had produced a DVD for release of this clip. The clip itself is pretty short, so it’d be a pretty empty DVD, but let’s say he filled it out with extras such as interviews with the cameraman. Let’s also say that somehow, he gets DVDs produced for free. Most DVDs come in at under $20 (some way cheaper), but let’s say he sells it for $20. (That’d be way better than the measly $10 he might pull from theatre showings, provided the theatres gave him all the proceeds and kept nothing.) Let’s also presume, as unlikely as it is, that all 1,000 people who watched the clip were absolutely going to buy it, but after watching the clip, suddenly were not due to the fact that watching a grainy low resolution YouTube clip was all they needed to sate their appetite. Total lost revenue in this best case scenario: $20 x 1,000 incidents = $20,000. What justifies this 7,500x increase to $150,000,000? Let’s say YouTube’s advertising was absolutely fantastic and able to do the impossible, generating a whopping $1 for every user that came to their page. Gross lost profit plus earned advertising revenue = $21,000. Still just a bit short of that $150 million mark. It’s not even like Tur is losing syndicated revenue from use of the clip in more traditional means — no documentary or news show is going to go to YouTube, download the video, and show it to circumvent Tur. In fact, any producer worth his or her salt would be extremely leary of using anything on YouTube, without making damned sure that the ownership of the clip was well worked out.

YouTube seems to understand copyright law pretty well, so they will most likely come out in the clear. YouTube staff didn’t upload the clip; end users did. In that sense, they might be classified as a common carrier. Internet newsgroups went through this debacle years ago, so it’s not like this is new. I am not a lawyer, but I believe that the most YouTube has to do is provide a means to report copyrighted content, and take it down if requested. They have done so. But Tur didn’t even ask YouTube to take down the work — he went straight to suing. In that sense, I side with YouTube on this.

Whether or not YouTube is right is arguable: one could successfully argue that a significant amount of their revenue comes from copyrighted material. One could also argue that it’s users, not YouTube, who are behaving badly. One could even argue that YouTube should monitor all content that gets posted. (That last one is a bit implausible, however: given the number of users, the number of posts, and the difficulty of recognizing copyrighted content without false positives and false negatives, it’s just unlikely that it could be done well.) Suing them over it is probably not going to get a huge result. Unless laws change, they appear to be in good standing. This isn’t a lawsuit about copyright infringement: it’s a lawsuit about seeing dollar signs. After all, with a $150,000,000 lawsuit, would you consider settling for, oh, I don’t know, $500,000? Possibly. However, if YouTube is smart, they won’t. Or every content producer is going to come after YouTube with their hand held out, asking for their cut. YouTube has great word-of-mouth power: as a content producer, you should be leveraging that for greater reach, not killing it! If I see a low-res clip on YouTube and like it, then I may buy the DVD. Even NBC has come around to this point of view. Tur should take note, because we’re all anxiously awaiting his DVD.

When it first came out, I lamented the PSP’s use of UMD format. After all, it was a proprietary format, tightly controlled by Sony, and seeing how well both minidiscs and memory sticks worked out, I didn’t see it as entirely viable. Now, I read everywhere about how the UMD format is officially dead. It was doomed as a platform on which movie studios could release films; why in the world would anyone want to pay full price for a movie that 1) was lower quality than a DVD, and 2) could only play on a PSP handheld? There was no way Sony could leverage itself into the portable multimedia market to such a saturation as to make it a viable platform in that regard, when working with proprietary formats. Even viewing video clips on the PSP is difficult — you have to convert them to the right aspect ratio and format before they’ll even work. What about a tie-in with Apple or other online music sources? There were so many holes in that plan that yes, it was doomed to fail. (I like the PSP as a gaming platform, mind you. The other extras are nice, but definitely not user-friendly.)

Why does UMD have to just die? The bigger question is why Sony is abandoning this format altogether. It’s not hopeless. Some quick ideas off the top of my head:

• Release a UMD reader / writer. This opens up the PC market, and possibly the home theater market. If you’re going to have a proprietary format, you might as well make it easy for people to actually use it. (They’ll never do this because they worry about piracy of UMD media, such as PSP games.)
• Use UMD as a value-added addition to DVD releases. Why would I want to buy a movie in UMD format, only to buy it again in DVD format? Give it to me for free when I buy the movie, or for a nominal, additional fee. I can see myself buying a UMD if it was for, say, a dollar or two more above a DVD’s purchase price.
• Build a promotional base and use UMDs for promotional materials. They’re already trying to build distribution points for PSP media; why not build a customer postal mailing list, and provide promotions through the mail on UMD?

Of all these suggestions, the first has the most power, and yet, is the one they’re least likely to do. Oh well, at least it’ll be a lesson to Sony, which they never seem to learn: stop cramming proprietary formats down the throats of your customers!

There are literally thousands of books on how to buy a house. Entire sections of the bookstore are dedicated to it. Hundreds of people lecture on it, and thousands of continuing education sites offer courses on it. Yet, I never found the quick and dirty list of exactly how you go about the process of buying a house, despite the fact that 90% of house purchases go exactly the same way. (This statistic completely made up.) Here’s how it breaks down:

• Go to a bunch of open houses. Not sure where you want to buy? Go to a bunch of different open houses in different areas, say five to ten. This will give you a sense of housing prices, as well as what the areas are like.
• Get pre-approved. Look in the phone book for a mortgage broker, or go to your local bank and say you want to get pre-approved for a house. They’ll tell you all about mortgages and financing, so ask a lot of questions. They’ll mail you a letter of approval when done to take with you to open houses.
• Get a buyer’s agent. Now that you have a sense of what areas you might like and what house prices are like, look for realtors who specialize in the area you’re looking. Call them up and make an appointment.
• Look at properties with your buyer’s agent. They should have a selection of listings in your price range for consideration. Have them set up some walk throughs. Look at as many houses as you think are necessary. More than three, you dope.
• Make an offer. Did you bring your checkbook? Work with your buyer’s agent to compose an offer to the seller.
• Negotiate the price. There will probably be a back-and-forth on the price. You’ll do all this negotiating through the buyer’s agent. If all works out, you’ll eventually get an accepted offer.
• Get an inspection. You’ll have to hire an inspector to go through the house and tell you what’s wrong.
• Get your mortgage broker to lock in a rate. Now that you’re actually buying, call up your mortgage broker and let them know. They’ll have to work on locking in a rate for you for the closing.
• Get the closing attorney to look over the Purchase and Sale. You haven’t officially said you’re going to buy until you finalize the Purchase and Sale, but for that, your interests are aligned with the bank’s — you both want the house for a reasonable price, with no issues. Your closing attorney will usually look over the paperwork for cheaper than if you get your own attorney. (Talk to your mortgage broker to get the closing attorney’s contact information.) Did everything go alright at the inspection? This is also a good opportunity to chip down the price.
• Sign the Purchase and Sale. The first of the really big checks: a downpayment with the revised P&S. A regular check is fine here. It will get deposited, so make sure you have the funds. Congratulations, you now have a closing date!
• Make sure the mortgage broker gets the commitment letter to the buyer’s agent. The people involved will do a lot of this work for you automatically, but it’s always good to follow up.
• Ask for a copy of the appraisal. The mortage broker will get an appraiser to look at the property. Ask for a copy of this report, which will come in handy for the homeowner’s insurance.
• Get homeowner’s insurance. Ask your mortgage broker for any particular language needed for the homeowner’s insurance. You can’t have a home without insurance — shop around for a quote. Once you’ve selected a provider, talk to them to go ahead with the insurance, and make sure they get a binder over to the mortgage broker.
• Review mortgage paperwork. Ask your mortgage broker frequently for what’s needed. They’ll send you documents outlining what’s needed for the mortgage and what terms, but often, you don’t need to worry about it, and will just sign everything you need at closing. Review it to make sure everything is correct, though.
• Schedule a walk through. Generally, the day or two before the closing, you’ll need to do a walk through, to make sure that the property is still in good condition. Do this a week before closing.
• Pick a date and location for closing. Talk to your closing attorney regarding the location for closing. This is negotiated between the buyer and seller.
• Get a copy of the HUD-1 form the day before. You probably won’t get this until the day before closing — a statement listing all closing costs. Go over any questions or issues with your closing attorney, to make sure everything checks out.
• Get a cashier’s check. A regular check won’t do — take the amount from the HUD-1 form, and go to the bank to get a cashier’s check in your name. You do this in your name to retain control of the money until closing is finished. Make sure it’s for the exact amount listed on the HUD-1.
• Close the deal. Have all conditions been met? Do you have homeowner’s insurance? All outstanding issues answered? Go to closing with the cashier’s check, and just in case, a copy of all paperwork, including homeowner’s insurance. Be prepared to sign and initial a lot of documents, while sitting across the table from the sellers who will be doing much the same.
• Get follow-up visit from homeowner’s insurance inspector. You’ve closed the deal, and now they get to come out and make sure that they are insuring you for the right amount.
• Talk to your mortgage broker about payment terms. Make sure you’ve sorted out exactly how you want to pay your mortgage, and get details on things like if you can do bi-weekly payments, pay extra, etc.

That’s the quick rundown. There’s a whole world of details in each step and places to save money, but for the most part, this is what most people do. It’s not that hard, and people do it all the time, so don’t be intimidated by the process!

I sometimes read spam, for its amusement value. I’ve never bought anything from spam…well, unless you count all that Viagra, ink toner cartridges, and penis enlargement tools, but they don’t count, right? However, the Nigerian scams just annoy me.

The Nigerian email scam is nothing new: offer a total stranger a chance at an exceedingly large sum of money, in exchange for being a trusted contact in the United States. What gets me is how they keep updating the scam, to keep with the times. Take, for example, this recent formulation:

Dear Friend,
My name is Cpt. John Brett, representing a fraction of the 1st Armoured
Division in Iraq and i want you to read this.
In April 2003, Staff Sergeant Kenneth Buff of the United States Army
found US$160 million hidden by fleeing members of the Baath Party led by
former dictator Saddam Hussein of Iraq. Later, a search of the area revealed
more hidden loot, totaling US$650 million in all! For a detailed account of
the money found by the US Soldiers, please click on the following websiteto
have an insight of my mail to you
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/20/1050777165192.html and
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2988455.stm
Recently, during a routine archaeological excavation of the area east of
Tigris River, I and my three other colleagus discovered 2 boxes of the
similar kind found by US Army! After careful examination we discovered
that it is $100 US Dollars bills totaling USD 12Million which we concealed
and packaged in one box hidden safely. But we need a trustworthy, upright
and business minded person who can keep this money for us till we arrive.
CAN YOU HELP? I do not have any foreign contacts. I will therefore
appreciate your help to move this money abroad for investment. If you are
interested, please reply urgently so that we can conclude the plan to move this
money. It will be 100% risk free! and we shall discuss sharing modalities upon
your acceptance of this transaction. and scan details will be sent to
you to back the genuineness of this deal,.
You will not be required to travel to Iraq. Rather through diplomatic
means and special arrangement to your country for you to clear and collect and
proceed for subsequent lodgment of the money into your designated
account pending my arrival as time can permit me.
Awaiting your immediate response.
Sincerely Yours,
Cpt. John Brett

Wow, freshly updated to represent the War In Iraq! (The last update I recall reflected the tsunami disaster, which I thought was in really bad taste.) What’s more, by coming from a US soldier, it plays on people’s desires to support the troops, as well as being from an American, rather than just some random foreign national royalty. Who wouldn’t want to support a US soldier? It’s brilliant in terms of how it plays on people’s emotions. One would hope that whoever was replying to responses to this would have decent enough English skills to pull off actually being a US soldier. This wouldn’t be a problem if they stuck with the old “I’m a Nigerian prince routine”, but wouldn’t work so well for this.

The links to real articles is also interesting, because it lends additional credence to the whole affair. If there actually were large sums of money found, it could be potentially true, right?

Sadly, someone will probably fall for this. It’s the nature of spam: some small percentage will make the whole venture worthwhile, which is unfortunate. Let’s dissect this letter to see what people should notice:

• It’s from a US soldier in Iraq, but comes from an Italian ISP address (ending in .it, not shown in the above). Why would a US soldier have an Italian email address?
• The English is a little broken for a US soldier, which can be excused as some people are just bad typists or use bad grammar.
• The fact that it’s a US soldier plays upon our desires to help people who are fighting the good fight. Yet, the soldier in this email message is looking to defraud the US Army. So, we’re supposed to think well of this person and trust them, while at the same time, help them subvert the military overall? That’s a little bit of a mixed message.
• The guy needs “a trustworthy, upright and business minded person” to help him. So, of course, the best way to get someone like this is to email a total stranger? Would a person be trustworthy and upright if they didn’t mind putting one over on the US Army?
• In confessing to wanting to do something that would land a soldier in a lot of hot water, this guy just tells a total stranger everything up front. How does this person know that whoever he’s contacting isn’t military-friendly or ex-military? Seems like a lot of risk.
• Standard rules of “if something sounds too good to be true, it is” apply.

Oh Nigerian spammers. Have you learned nothing?