8 Ways to Sunday

I use an antivirus program called BitDefender. It’s effective, and it doesn’t slow down my computer like Norton and McAfee. What I didn’t know until this afternoon is that you can upgrade from version 10 to version 11 (AKA “2008”) for free.

Hidden away in the BitDefender online knowledge base is an article that reveals this free upgrade option. You can find a download of the new version and upgrade instructions in this BitDefender forum thread. I’d also recommend downloading the bootable rescue CD image. You’ll need the registration key from your version 10 purchase to install upgrade.

I haven’t yet made the upgrade, so I can’t tell you anything about the new version. If you’d like to learn more, this CNet review might help. I’ll probably run a full backup of my computer tonight, and upgrade tomorrow.

Update: Back to Version 10

My attempted upgrade to BitDefender Antivirus 2008 didn’t go so well. After an hour or two of use my computer would slow to a crawl, eventually freezing completely. A search through the BitDefender forums confirmed my suspicion: the new version suffers form a memory leak.

The bug has been a topic of discussion on the user forum since at least February. BitDefender’s support staff has apparently been non-responsive, and some users are annoyed enough they’re abandoning the product altogether.

I’ll be checking up on this again before my update subscription expires. If the problem hasn’t been fixed by then, I’m going to be looking for another antivirus program. Any suggestions?

I’ve been preparing to upgrade WordPress — the software that powers this blog — by upgrading all the WP plugins that I have installed. Somewhere along the way, the form that allows people to subscribe and unsubscribe to e-mail notifications of new posts stopped working.

I’ve taken the form down until I can fix whatever has gone wrong. If you have an urgent need to change your e-mail subscription status for this blog, you can send me a request using the contact form and I’ll make it happen.

Sick of the useless gibberish you get from Babelfish and Google Translator? I’ve found an online translation tool that (usually) manages to actually make sense: Im Translator. Compare the translations of this Spanish-language Wikipedia article to see the difference:

• Google translation
• Babelfish translation
• Im Translator translation

Discovered on Uninnovate, this video takes less than sixty seconds to cover some of the biggest problems with digital rights management (DRM) technology:

If you’re unfamiliar with DRM, it’s basically a kind of computer program that’s embedded in the media you purchase — store-bought DVDs, iTunes downloads, etc. — that keeps you from using your computer to create copies of that media or even keeps you from playing it on certain devices. The idea is to prevent Internet piracy, but the problem comes when DRM keeps law-abiding consumers from doing perfectly legal things with their movies and music. Unfortunately, that problem crops up pretty frequently.

The video seems to be the work of “Defective by Design,” a Free Software Foundation campaign against DRM. If you’d like to learn more about how DRM violates your rights, and what you can do about it, here are a few places to start:

• Here’s another video: ZDNet Executive Editor David Berlind gives a more detailed explanation of how DRM screws you over, and suggests the technology be renamed Content Restriction Annulment and Protection (CRAP).
• The Electronic Frontier Foundation has an excellent mini-site devoted to explaining the issues surrounding DRM.
• The Defective by Design website has a list of places where you can buy DRM-free media.
• Wikipedia’s article on fair use rights will help you understand what you’re losing by buying DRMed media. You can also get more background on the controversy over DRM in this article.
• The Digital Freedom website has some info about how DRM hurts artists and others, as well as consumers.

Updates

• 11/05/2006 @ 11:30 PM — Added a brief explanation of what DRM does for those who aren’t familiar with the technology.

Opera Software’s famously fast and standards-compliant web browser will be performing surfing duties for the users of Wii, Nintendo’s oddly-named next-generation game console. As far as I know, this will make Wii the first console with a “real” web browser built in.

With the Xbox 360 currently retailing at $300 and $400* — and the PlayStation 3 set to sell for $500 and $600* — the $250 Wii is sure to be a hit with cost-conscious gamers and cash-strapped parents. One more reason for web developers to test pages in Opera.

(Props: Digital Trends)

Updates

• 6/4/2006 @ 2:40 AM — More details on Opera’s Wii browser from WiiSpot.com
• 6/6/2006 @ 12:32 PM — Cubed3.com interviews Scott Hedrick, Opera Software’s Executive Vice President in charge of Opera for Devices, about the Wii browser. Opera’s web site has the press release about the Opera–Nintendo venture.