Forbes is running a story about a couple of companies that I’ve never heard of, Media Rights Technology and BlueBeat.com.  Seems the kids at MRT and BlueBeat think they’ve got a DRM solution that would keep people from copying digital media.  Ok, so it’s just another DRM solution, right?

Apparently not.  The brain trusts at MRT and BlueBeat believe that Apple, Microsoft, Adobe, Real and others need their products so much that they’re suing.  They’ve send cease & desists to Adobe and Real for “actively avoiding their X1 SeCure Recording Control.”

Ok, so under the DMCA, you can send a C&D for circumventing a security mechanism, but this is a whole new level.  Now threatening lawsuits because I didn’t buy and use your product?  That’s just stupid.

Hey guys, maybe they just don’t want your product.

Over lunch today, somehow, our conversation wound up including the music of Bon Jersey..errr..Jovi. So, it never occurred to me, or my buddy that I was lunching with, that these guys are the masters of the cliche. Consider a sampling of song/album titles from the band:

• Have A Nice Day
• Slippery When Wet
• Last Man Standing
• Last Cigarette
• Story Of My Life
• The One That Got Away
• Lonely At The Top
• Wanted Dead or Alive
• Livin’ on a Prayer
• Bad Medicine
• It’s My Life
• Keep The Faith

Eeek, the list goes on and on and on. These guys have made a career out of putting cliches to hair-band music. We’re hypothesizing that their next smash hit album will include such tunes which will rocket up the charts like:

• One Good Turn Deserves Another
• A Penny Saved Is A Penny Earned
• Don’t Take Any Wooden Indians
• Do Unto Others As You’d Have Them Do Unto You
• Needle In A Haystack

Currently playing in iTunes: Life on the Edge by Eli

Big thanks go out to Phil A, who yesterday pointed out to me the method by which music tracks can be shuffled in the N95’s music player.

So, you go into your playlist and start playing it, then go to the menu, choose shuffle and do what comes naturally. It’s shown here..

While this wasn’t a difficult thing to figure out, per se, it wasn’t obvious, at least to me. I guess I’ve been using an iPod for too long. On the iPod, you setup shuffle before you start the playlist, not after.

Phil, good luck on your quest to find the perfect phone too. For the remainder of the population that wasn’t on the phone with the two of us yesterday, Phil’s in search of his ideal phone:

• Works well on Cingular or T-Mobile US (so it needs the 850 Mhz band)
• Good quality phone first
• 3+ MP digital cam with autofocus
• Mini or MicroSD storage
• HSDPA nice, but EDGE would be fine as well
• Wifi not needed
• Bluetooth a must, of course
• Charge/Data over Mini-USB would be ideal

That last one makes most Nokia devices a bit harder to swallow with the big, ugly, gangly Pop-Port interface. Yes, Nokia gives you the cable in the box with the phone (finally!), but it’s still yet another proprietary cable. So, to my former employer from Finland, I’ll say what I’ve been saying ever since I saw the hugeness of the 9500. Mini-USB kids! Dump the stupid proprietary connector that nobody on the planet uses. Also, while I applaud Nokia for only having two charger types (the thick & thin barrels) – and even including free adapters to convert your thick barrel into a thin barrel, it’s time, boys & girls. A single, Mini-USB port for data connection & charging is the wave of the future, at least until we’ve got super cool inductive surfaces on tables that charge devices based on proximity.

The RIAA is at it again.

They’ve officially reached a new low. I expect infomercials soon.

So, they provide a model letter to ISPs, and then decide to tell the ISP they’re going to sue the person at some IP address. They inform the ISP their intent to subpoena your identity information, and your ISP notifies you of this. If you act now, you can save $1000 on your settlement with the RIAA!

Nevermind that precedent has been set on more than one occasion, showing that the RIAA sued the wrong person…

I swear, these guys must be the biggest dopes walking.