Universal, Warner, and EMI to sell music on flash drives

Straight from Engadget: “The major record labels’ ongoing fixation with physical media continues on, as Universal, EMI, and Warner have each announced plans to sell music preloaded on flash drives. Universal says the move is “aimed at the younger, 12 to 24 year olds, who no longer believe that the CD is as cool as it used to be,” but that “people still want to own a physical product.” Yeah, too bad that physical product is a DAP. Predictably, the $10 flash drives will cost twice as much as normal CD singles but contain additional content — just like that ridiculous “ringle” concept we just heard about, only with more plastic and manufacturing involved. There’s no word on what format the music will be in or what the DRM will be, but it’s not like it really matters, since no one is going to buy these anyway. No word on when we’ll see this Stateside, but UK teenagers can expect to be patronized by the record labels sometime in the next few months.”

SCEA CEO Jack Tretton wants you to buy both a PS3 and a PS2…to save money

Straight from Engadget: “While we’re not going to complain about the launch of the cheaper 40GB PS3, we are still kind of miffed that it isn’t backwards-compatible with our huge library of PS2 games — especially since newer PS3s retain compatibility through software emulation and not specialized hardware like earlier models. Not to worry though, because Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO Jack “Daniels” Tretton is here to dazzle you with mathematics: according to Jackie, the consumer actually benefits from Sony’s move to cut emulation, because now you have the opportunity to buy both a $399 PS3 and a $129 PS2, for a grand total of $528, which is — wait for it — less than the original 60GB PS3′s price of $600! Of course, what Mr. T here is forgetting is that most people would prefer a single, $399 PS3 with backwards compatibility (and rumble, for good measure), but really, once you get spinning that fast it’s awfully hard to stop.”

Macs Not as Popular As Fanboys Think

Straight from Gizmodo: “For Mac fans, there is good news and bad news coming out today from analyst Gene Munster of investment bank Piper Jaffray. The most remarkable aspect of Apple’s skyrocketing popularity is the fact that the company shipped 2.16 million Macs in the third quarter of this year. The part of the analyst’s report that might give some Mac fanboys a bit of perspective is that even with that tremendous surge in sales, Apple’s market share constitutes a mere 3.2% of the worldwide PC market. The remarkable news is that Apple’s share of the worldwide computer market was 2.5% six months ago, so there was a 28 percent increase in market share in half a year. But something’s fishy about these figures.

According to IDC, Apple’s market share is considerably higher, reaching 6.3% at the end of the third quarter of 2007. That’s compared with a 5.7% market share at the end of the same quarter last year, a 15.9% gain. Still, that’s a tiny sliver of Dell’s 28% market share and HP’s market share of 24.3%. Either way you slice it, even though in the echo chamber of the blogosphere it seems like Apple is dominating, Macs are still a relatively minor player when it comes to market share.”

Driver Update Can Cause Vista Deactivation

No Vista for you!

Straight from Slashdot: “After weeks of grueling troubleshooting, I’ve finally had it confirmed by Microsoft Australia and USA — something as small as swapping the video card or updating a device driver can trigger a total Vista deactivation. Put simply, your copy of Windows will stop working with very little notice (three days) and your PC will go into “reduced functionality” mode, where you can’t do anything but use the web browser for half an hour.”

Nintendo Cracks Down on Copying Devices

Straight from Slashdot: “Nintendo is cracking down on mod chips and copying devices with the help of the Hong Kong government. ‘The Hong Kong High Court has intervened, at Nintendo’s request, to help stop a global distribution operation involving game copying devices and modification chips that violate the copyrights and trademarks of Nintendo DS and Wii. On Oct. 8th, the court ordered the raid of Supreme Factory Limited facilities, through which Nintendo representatives seized more than 10,000 game copying devices and mod chips over the course of three days. The devices seized are used to copy and play Nintendo DS games offered unlawfully over the Internet, and the mod chips allow the play of pirated Wii discs or illegal copies of downloaded Nintendo games.’”

Turkey Rejects Cease-Fire by Kurdish Rebels, Labels Them Terrorist Organization

Straight from Fox News: “Turkey’s foreign minister rejected any cease-fire by Kurdish rebels Tuesday as he met with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad to press them to crack down on the guerrillas as Turkish forces massed and tensions rose over a threatened military incursion.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said there are several ways to fight terrorism and Ankara would use them when appropriate as the buildup of troops along Turkey’s border with Iraq continued with military helicopters airlifting commando units into the area overnight.

The stepped up diplomatic activity followed Sunday’s rebel ambush near the Iraqi border that left 12 Turkish soldiers dead, 16 wounded and eight missing.”

Bush Presents Medal of Honor to Family of Fallen Navy SEAL

Straight from Fox News: “President Bush publicly honored a fallen Navy SEAL Monday by presenting his grieving parents with the Medal of Honor — and privately honored their sacrifice by wearing a dogtag they’d given him moments before.

An emotional White House ceremony awarded posthumously the nation’s highest military honor for valor to Lt. Michael Murphy, of Patchogue, N.Y. — the first given for combat in Afghanistan.

Before the emotional ceremony, Murphy’s parents Dan and Maureen Murphy met with President Bush and gave him a gold dog tag in tribute to their son.”

Thank you for your service Lt. Murphy! Our condolences to the family.

Turkish Troops Head Toward Iraq

Straight from Fox News: “SIRNAK, Turkey — Dozens of Turkish military vehicles loaded with soldiers and heavy weapons rumbled toward the Iraq border on Monday after an ambush by guerrilla Kurds that left eight soldiers missing and killed 12.

Iraq’s president said the rebels would announce a cease-fire later in the day. Turkey’s government, which has rejected similar announcements in the past, said the country will pursue diplomacy before it sends troops across the rugged frontier.

Turkey’s military said it lost contact with the eight soldiers after Sunday’s clash and said 34 guerrillas had been killed so far in a counteroffensive. A pro-Kurdish news agency said the eight were captured — a claim that would make it the largest seizure since 1995, when guerrillas grabbed eight soldiers and took them to northern Iraq.”