Technology

While reading an article on peer to peer networks, I’ve realised that, if we don’t take care, the Internet will quickly transform itself into a huge TV. Telecom Plus is planning to deploy that service in Mauritius by the end of 2004.

At first, this looks like a very good idea but then you realise there are a number of (flagrant) shotcomings :

(1) The Internet which is today a read-write medium (meaning that you can browse websites but also create your own website for example) will transform itself into a read-only medium controlled by big majors. Ordinary people like you and me will only be allowed to consume and pay. Most original content created by ordinaly people will never be accessed…

(2) Watching TV is only a passive activity. Most people tend to watch crap programmes anyway (in Mauritius at least). Having the TV on the computer will imply that most of us will stop using search engines to find (potentially) interresting information but will satisfy ourselves with crap Brazilian soaps. And this will be intellectually detrimental in the long run to the whole population.

(3) The Internet creates communities of people who share common passions. Watching TV is most of the time a solitary activity. Instead of communicating, people will waste time watching adsurd Indian soaps.

(4) ADSL in Mauritius is only 512kbit/s. An ordinary VCD (no, not DVD) requires about 1500 kbits/s which is 3 times more than we get with ADSL. So the image and sound quality of the TV transmission will be at least 2-3 worse than VCD. Can we accept that in 2004 in the era of DVD (and its 8000 kbits/s transfer rate) ?

To summarise, most of us will have less money, will be less intelligent, more antisocial and will have to watch images of crap quality.

So, I would like to propose that before launcing TV on the Internet in Mauritius, Telecom Plus (and the Mauritian Government who has an enormous responsibility towards the population) rather show people how to use the Internet, explain how to create their own Mauritian content (websites, pictures, music or whatever) and let incomming connections through ADSL pass (that is soooo backward and mentally retarded) so that schools and individuals can easily host their own contents.

Mauritians must become more intelligent… and you can’t do that watching Marimar.

As you might know, I do a lot of video (of Anya of course). My workflow is as follows: film with my Sony TRV-18E, transfer to the PC using Firewire, edit and render using Ulead Videostudio 7 and burn as VCD or CVD using my Samsung CD-RW.

I am seriously considering buying an Asus DRW-0804P DVD-R/RW drive. In fact, it’s a rebranded Pioneer DVR-A07/107. I want to do that in order to render my videos in D1 (720×576) MPEG2 files and play them as when using a normal DVD-Video.

Please advise.

The European Union has fined Microsoft a record 497.2 million euros (Rs. 15,500,000,000 !!!) for abusing its near monopoly with Windoze and for having an illegal behaviour which is still ongoing.

 

Technically, the EU wants Microsoft to :

(1) Take out Windows Media Player from Windows so that competitors in the multimedia sector can sell their own “media player”

RealPlayer for instance, or WinAmp, are bound to die if such measures are not taken. Microsoft cannot force unto someone buying its operating system its own media player, its own web browser (viz. Antitrust case in the US) and, in Longhorn, its own virus killer (isn’t it Norton ?)

(2) Give access to detailed information (including part of the source code) of the Windows kernel and tools to software vendors building tools for the server market so that their tools can work optimally with Windows.

Oracle for instance is bound to work better with Linux now than Windows because Oracle Corp. has full access to the Linux source code and can optimise its database. But with Windows, Oracle cannot do that for the time being while Microsoft has full access to Windows source code (of course) to optimise SQL Server. This is clearly detrimental to those who have bought Windows but want to run a software which isn’t from Microsoft.

En résumé, Microsoft’s guys are bad guys, they stiffle competitors and they sell crap products.

Message to the Mauritian Government: “Paul, ouvert to lizié…”

Linux rules :-)