Sirius and XM Plan to Confirm Merger

Satellite radio operators Sirius and XM are expected to announce their long-awaited merger today, according to a source familiar with the deal. The two sides were locked in negotiations over the weekend trying to hammer out a final agreement with an eye toward going public with the merger today in Washington, D.C. This sounds to be good for consumers considering that more content will be put out there. My parents who are XM subscribers enjoy stations that will read a novel for long road trips. While i enjoy the better quality of sound you get verses standard radio.

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Microsoft in for a surprise- Windows Vista KeyGen?

While this might just be another elaborate hoax or amateur Photoshop user trying to stir things up, it could potentially be real. Back when Windows XP was released there was a keygen that allowed people to make their own CD keys for installing Windows XP. It would appear that the same might happen to Windows Vista. Some people claim this is a tool that Microsoft developed. But I question that statement with WHY on earth would they. Real or fake I certainly would like to test the MAK activator feature. Look at the screen shot to get a better idea.

* Slight update for those that have already read this post. It appears that someone has posted what appears to be this app on the web. Now i have downloaded the archived file but i’am worried that it could just be a virus so I’ll be doing some safety precautions first. If this does infact work i will post more about it.

* Ok so i ran the program under multiple AV software and a few online anti-virus scans and it appears to not pose a threat. I’ve included screenshots but the application does not work. It is without the proper DLLs to generate a CD Key. Whether this is just a Shell App – meaning just some fancy layout or the real deal time will tell. I’ve included some screenshots that i took while running the program and some of the DLL errors i got.

*Update while this has made more news then i ever anticipated i do want to point out something else that crossed my mine. Now this is pure speculation. If you recall their is a Windows Office 2007 Keygen that is reported to work. Within the release of the Windows Office 2007 Keygen their is a statement that says “Vista Offline Activator” Coming Soon. Could this be related? The icons for the applications are almost identical so it may be safe to say they are in fact from the same creators.

 

PS3 Fanboys Getting your Moneys Worth from BluRay

While i’m not a huge Fan of BluRay i do think the Sonys gaming console the PS3 is an awsome machine. I still believe that Sony over spent developing it and over thought that a cell processor was the way to go. Not to mention that in the beginning i remember reading about how the PS3 was much more difficult to develop for. But thats not what im here to write about today.
PS3 owners can now look forward to new and exciting features. Starting with some news that has been circulating. Sony hints that users will have the ultimate experience with the PS3. So great that you too will be able to download HDTV and movies onto your PS3 HD. Expected date is still unknown but Phil Harrison assures us in a quote that “We have a hard drive, we have a commerce engine, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out we will have that on the network very shortly”. Hopfully in a similar fashion like Xbox Live or perhaps Netflix? Want the full scoop read it here. Now the meat of this post comes from a clever mate by the name of hacked2123 from PS3NEWS.com
While I’m not a huge Fan of Blu-Ray I do think the Sony’s gaming console the PS3 is an awesome machine. I still believe that Sony over spent developing it and over thought that a cell processor was the way to go. Not to mention that in the beginning I remember reading about how the PS3 was much more difficult to develop for. Nevertheless, that’s not what I’m here to write about today.
PS3 owners can now look forward to new and exciting features. Sony hints that users will have the ultimate experience with the PS3. So great that you too will be able to download HDTV and movies onto your PS3 HD. Expected date is still unknown but Phil Harrison assures us in a quote that “We have a hard drive, we have a commerce engine, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out we will have that on the network very shortly”. Hopefully in a similar fashion like Xbox Live or perhaps Netflix? Want the full scoop read it here. Now the meat of this post comes from a clever mate by the name of hacked2123 from PS3NEWS.com who loves his PS3 but felt he wanted to watch his movie on his PS3 Hard drive rather than playing it from the BluRay disc. He might be thinking it is going to break if he uses it too much. The entire process really is not too hard if you can follow simple directions. The process involves booting into Linux on your PS3, running BackupBluRayv021, using a file splitter and then re-encoding the video/audio to another format that can be played back in the VLC media player. If your daring enough and have the patience this should take the average PC about 1 hr to decode. If your man enough to try it read about it here.
Now since I have said something positive about the PS3 let me start an objectionable statement and say that I strongly believe that the Blu-Ray Format is bad for consumers. People seem to quickly forget how Sony has tried before to monopolize the market with its formats. Sony’s only goal with Blu-Ray is simply to leverage a proprietary format onto the world. They have tried it so many times with limited to nonexistent success. Sony even went to desperate measures with installing a rootkit on its music CDs. Its true Blu-Ray has backing from just about every major studio but how did Sony win them over and at what price?
Sony enticed more support from the studios because they made their format more studio-friendly in terms of DRM and content protection. Sony does not have the consumer in mind and neither does the movie studios. Let’s face it BluRay wasn’t developed with the consumer in mind, it was developed with the shareholders in mind. Sony has a lot more invested in Blu-Ray simply because it owns its own studios. Sony’s a media and a content company. I love this quote by Wayde Robson “I respect Sony as an innovative electronics hardware company. But I fear the ramifications of a conflict of interest when they’re controlling so many ends of the entertainment picture”. Simply put they are double dipping consumers and while we are jumping up and down in excitement Sony and the Studios that have their pockets open waiting to be paid.
A great read is here