Has your favorite movie gone missing from iTunes or Netflix lately? The reason could be television, says CNET -- apparently a slew of movies on iTunes and Netflix's streaming service have recently fallen prey to television exclusive agreements. With the onset of Apple TV and apps like Boxee making it possible to stream Netflix, TV networks with exclusive showing agreements have made sure that while they've got a lock on a movie, we can't watch it anywhere else.

Of course, as CNET notes, it's about the money (isn't it always?). If studios can make more money from the TV networks than they can from online rentals, then obviously they're going to go with television. The only problem with that, however, is that with an exclusive agreement, they'll never know, will they?

And of course the other issue here is the actual definition of places like iTunes and Netflix -- obviously, retail stores aren't barred from carrying these movies, so does that mean that Netflix and iTunes are actually content channels rather than retailers? Tough issue. You have to think that it'll eventually be settled in favor of digital distribution (what consumer wouldn't want to watch a movie on their own time rather than sticking to a TV network's schedule), but until studios are convinced otherwise, exclusivity agreements will likely be the rule.

[via Apple Insider]

To tell the unvarnished truth, I have to admit that I'm pretty lax on security for my computers. I don't do anything crazy like open email attachments from people I don't know, and I always double check the address bar of websites before I punch my password in. Even so, on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd say I put about an effort of 5 into keeping my computers secured. There's a lot more I could do.

And so I found Albert Lee's short guide on surfing on untrusted networks very helpful. I've got a web server set up that runs my own website, but I never had any idea how to get all my network traffic running through there. Albert's guide makes that super easy-- this Lifehacker piece explains the basics of surfing with a proxy, and Albert's guide tells you exactly how to do everything on your Mac, and even how to automate the whole process using Applescript. Eventually, you can have it set up so that one double-click will get your proxy connected and get you surfing securely.

The one thing you know about untrusted networks is just that: they shouldn't be trusted. When it's this easy to get your web traffic locked down, there's no reason not to.

Thanks, Albert!

There are all kinds of ways to keep an eye on the Wifi going on around you (not least of which is the iPhone itself). Personally, I like the MacWireless Airport Radar widget-- it's simple, out of the way (sitting on the Dashboard), and fast enough to give me an at-a-glance look at what's available where I am. But Santiago dropped us a line (thanks!) that coconutWiFi has updated to 2.0, and I have to admit, it looks nice enough to at least tempt me to switch.

Version 2.0 features a "completely rewritten core," the display of the BSSID and the channel number in the window, and AirPort power control right there in the window. Unfortunately (and this seems like a dealbreaker for some reason, even though the Radar widget doesn't do it), you can't connect to a network by clicking on it, but apparently a fix is coming soon. The other drawback would be that I'm not sure I want a visual of networks updating constantly on my menu, as a good 80% of the time, I'm at home and know exactly what network I'm on. But if you've been looking for a good way to do this, coconutWiFi might be it.

So this past weekend I realized that I still had the great Skyrocket screensaver on my Powerbook from the Fourth of July-- no, not this year's. Last year's. It was time to get a new screensaver.

Fortunately, FreeMacWare was featuring Chemicalburn, a screensaver by Michael Ash (who also created GPULife, a Game of Life screensaver) that not only looks cool, but actually simulates a transportation network. Nodes get created randomly, and little colored packages fly around between them, as frequently used routes get stronger and stronger. When a route is destroyed, the network eventually fixes itself, by creating more routes and nodes. Not only is it aesthetically cool, but it's a great thought experiment, and it's fun to watch a little network get created and destroyed when your own work goes idle for a bit.

Chemicalburn is open source and free. You can get it on Ash's website.

RealNetwork's CEO Rob Glaser, always one to fire off a comment when he tricks himself into thinking the industry is listening, might be one of the first major partners of Microsoft to publicly express, erm, 'disappointment' with the Redmond company's all-in-one approach with their Zune music player and service, slated to be delivered... oh I dunno, some day: "We think this a case where our technology competitors, in this case specifically Microsoft, have literally thrown the baby out with the bath water." This might also be the first time Microsoft has been accused of literally throwing out a baby, along with other features and products, such as most of Vista WinFS.

But here's the interesting part: Rob then goes on to threaten (hehe, isn't he cute?) that this gives RealNetworks the opportunity to go find other hardware companies who are "open to integrating tightly with our Rhapsody software platform". Discussion as to whether RealNetworks has even 1 full percentage point of the digital music market aside, it sounds like, after four years, supposed competitors to the iPod + iTunes platform (since when was Microsoft a hardware company?*) are catching on to the possibility that the whole 'integration' strategy Apple uses might actually be a good idea. However, time will have to tell whether this 9th inning enlightenment will pay off for any of these companies.

[* - Microsoft's mice and keyboards (and possibly other peripherals) don't count. Last I heard, they're designed and built by HP.]

I almost gave up complaining as my New Year's resolution, when I realized that I gave up New Year's resolutions as my New Year's resolution back in 2000.

In any case, since you all know I am rather fond of beating dead horses, here's my current gripe: Last night, Arrested Development and Surface were both new episodes. I watched Arrested Development, knowing that I would be able to either grab Surface off of iTunes or via bittorrent later. As I am up this morning, preparing for work, I check the iTMS and there is no new Surface. Apple and NBC both just missed out on $1.99. I'll grab the show off of bittorrent for free, since it's not ready to go when I need it. I also have no problem doing this because I don't see how temporarily grabbing something off of the Internet (supposedly illegal) differs largely from recording it on my Replay TV the night it was showing and downloading it to my computer and then to my iPod (legal).

Now, whether this is really what I do or not (wink wink), the above paragraph describes the actions of a certain percentage of the market that is escaping the sales of Apple and the TV networks. If Apple and these networks really want to profit and change the face of media, then they need to start releasing the shows simultaneous with the airing of the show. They could even charge $.25 extra as an "early bird" fee, and they'd most likely make a lot more sales and a nice profit, because that's why the iTunes Music Store has been a success: it's more convenient than all the alternatives of questionable legality.

Also, because of this, on the morning commute, I won't be watching Surface. I'll be watching things like Rocketboom and Channel Frederator. Free media daily and weekly with no odd restrictions. That's what the networks should be worried about more than presenting a nice space between airing the shows and offering them for download. What's that? They'll lose advertising dollars? Well, then, how about you cut out the middle man and rather than distributing the shows for $1.99 through the iTMS offer them for free with advertisements available from your website, pre-formatted for the iPod and the PSP in a nicely scalable MPEG-4 format. Slap it in an RSS feed, call it a podcast, and that way anyone can subscribe to your shows on any computer and you won't keep losing mindshare to new media.