Andrew Rollins

I normally wouldn’t mention tech news (if you want to know what I’m reading, just look at my Google Reader feed), but I hate DRM enough to bring this up:

DRM sucks redux: Microsoft to nuke MSN Music DRM keys.

Customers who have purchased music from Microsoft’s now-defunct MSN Music store are now facing a decision they never anticipated making: commit to which computers (and OS) they want to authorize forever, or give up access to the music they paid for. Why? Because Microsoft has decided that it’s done supporting the service and will be turning off the MSN Music license servers by the end of this summer.

This is precisely why you shouldn’t be using DRM based services such as iTunes. If and when they go defunct, your whole music collection (that you paid good money for) is toast.

If you’re lucky, they’ll do what Microsoft is doing, and they’ll let you create a permanent license for the music. Even then, you are kind of screwed, because the license will probably be tied to a specific OS and computer, and we all know that no one keeps the same computer indefinitely. You’ll one day reach a point where the only thing that’ll play your music is the dusty junk in the basement that you stopped upgrading years ago.

Instead, buy DRM-free music from Amazon and never worry about it again.

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Here’s a short video of some of the coolest Wii Remote hacks I’ve seen to date:

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Last week I went to the 17th meeting of the Web Innovators Group. It is a seasonal gathering of a few hundred people to network and watch presentations from web startups. Here is a list of the presenters from WebInno17. To get a better idea of what it’s all about, check out this video of a previous WebInno event.

Founders, employees, people looking for work, and all flavors of investors show up. I spent an hour or two just walking around meeting people. Startups always have at least one interesting story to tell.

As for the companies presenting, my favorite was Jack Cards. It was the one truly unique service. The business model wasn’t the same old “we’ll sell ads” gimmick.

The concept behind Jack Cards is simple: you tell the service the birthdays of people you know, they’ll mail you cards at just the right time. They’ll even send a pre-stamped and addressed envelope. Never forget to send someone a birthday card again! The service also works for anniversaries, mother’s and father’s day, and more.

PicMe’s photo browsing software also caught my attention for its ability to browse massive amounts of photos quickly, sort of like Microsoft Photosynth and Seadragon.

I’m looking forward to the next WebInno in July.

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