Digital Media

It can't be easy being a policeman.

Every day you're forced to be in contact with some of the lower beings of the world. Sometimes you have to punch them or shoot them, when you'd rather be out with your lover or at least surfing the Web for a little fun.

As a matter of fact, I have just learned from the very learned Daily Mail that an average of nine police officers and support staff from every British police force have been fired or warned after transgressing the police's IT regulations.

To view one's screen, one must remove one's riot helmet.

(Credit: CC Stuff and Nonsense/Flickr)

In all, the Mail said that its figures, obtained under the UK's Freedom of Information Act, show that at least 439 police officers and support staff were fired or disciplined for viewing material online that they ought not have been viewing on police time; that includes anything from viewing porn or using social-networking sites while on the job, to doing individual background checks for personal use or posting unauthorized video online.

I know there will be some who, on hearing this information, will feel angry. They will say policemen are hypocrites who, in showing us the stiff arm of the law, demonize us for questionable behavior while partaking of questionable practices themselves.

Perhaps, though, others might feel something akin to relief. Policemen are humans, after all. They have weaknesses, vices, and foibles. Perhaps you might share that psychological insight with the next policeman who stops you for speeding and finds a week-old spliff in your glove box.

(Credit: Time Warner screenshot by All Things D)

The nightmare scenario for cable companies is that customers drop their TV subscriptions and grab their video directly from the Web, turning the cable guys into mere providers of "dumb pipes."

But here's a comprehensive set of instructions from a big cable company showing its customers how to do just that. It suggests that they head to the likes of Hulu, Fancast, or "any search engine"--weird for it not to call out Google, no?--to find their favorite shows.

Time Warner Cable's instructions on "How to Connect Your PC to Your TV" can be accessed by clicking on the image at the bottom of this post. And here's a helpful video (sorry for the clumsy screen grab; the video kicks in at about the five-second mark, and there's some unpleasant coughing around 2:30. Yikes!):

The instructions (Time Warner Cable promised to provide them last week) are part of the company's game of chicken with News Corp.'s Fox, which is supposed to come to a head Thursday night. If you believe the posturing so far, Fox and its associated cable channels (Fox News, FX, etc.) will disappear after midnight because the two sides can't agree on a new rate.

Story Copyright (c) 2009 AllThingsD. All rights reserved.

(Credit: YouTube)

Google won't officially unveil its Nexus One smartphone until Tuesday, when it has scheduled an Android Press Gathering. There are plenty of descriptions and images of the phone floating around the Web, though--a result of Google's decision to "dogfood" the device with employees.

And now, some video. Wednesday, a 10-minute clip of what appears to be someone taking the phone through its paces popped up on the Web. There's no sound, and the device appears to be configured for French speakers, so if you're an American with a short attention span, I'm not sure what the appeal would be. But some of you are going to want to watch it, anyway.

This normally would be the place where I'd embed the relevant YouTube video. But this is one video Google doesn't want on its video site, and the company is pulling the footage down as quickly as it can. (This is where I imagine the Viacom guys chortling and rubbing their hands).

That said, you can find the clip without much effort, particularly if you search other video sites not owned by Google. Have at it, if that floats your boat.

Story Copyright (c) 2009 AllThingsD. All rights reserved.

One assumes it didn't happen by text.

But, according to The New York Times, AT&T has announced, in a very brief statement, that it will no longer associate its fine name with Tiger Woods.

Accenture, Tag Heuer, and Procter and Gamble have already distanced themselves from the world's greatest golfer after he crashed his car and became associated with as many alleged extra-marital affairs as there are clubs in his bag.

Yet it's interesting that AT&T should choose New Year's Eve as the time to announce its decision. It has been a tough year for the carrier, with Verizon deriding its coverage and a survey showing that more than half of iPhone users are unhappy with AT&T's service.

AT&T was a founding partner in the Tiger Woods Learning Center.

(Credit: CC Zeetz Jones/Flickr)

It's almost as if AT&T would dearly love to slap 2009 with a 9 iron, in the hope that it will have a better relationship with 2010.

In truth, the sponsorship of Woods was not a mainstay of the company's commercial thrust. It involved him hosting tournaments, carrying the AT&T logo on his vast golf bag, and AT&T's involvement in some of Woods' charitable work.

However, AT&T is not in and of sports and Woods was never a central figure in its communications. Though it might have been slightly interesting had the company chosen to have Woods lead its fightback against Verizon instead of the scandal-free Luke Wilson.

Wouldn't it have been lovely to see Woods bouncing a Droid up and down on his 5 iron before smashing it somewhere down a distant fairway? A case of Droid Does meeting Just Do It.

The tech company that has perhaps the most problematic dilemma where Woods is concerned is Electronic Arts. Its Tiger Woods PGA Tour series of games is a strong part of its business. Currently, Woods' image still retains pride of place on the EA site.

Although perhaps the wording might need a little revision. Right now, EA chooses to have some interesting words beneath Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10: Feel The Drama. Indeed.

Holiday shoppers brought good cheer to e-commerce retailers, spending $27 billion online from November 1 through December 24, a 5 percent jump over last year, ComScore reported Wednesday.

The period from Black Friday through Christmas Eve was also bright and merry as sales grew by around 3.5 percent, even after adjusting for an additional shopping day this year. Consumer electronics proved to be the hottest selling category, rising 20 percent. Larger retailers outpaced smaller vendors thanks in part to their use of free shipping and marketing via social-networking sites, said ComScore.

(Credit: ComScore)

The growth in this year's online holiday sales showed improvement over 2008, when sales dropped by 3 percent. Results were likely helped by a snowstorm that blanketed the East Coast the weekend of December 19-20, forcing many shoppers to pick up those last-minute gifts online.

"Online sales growth this year was driven by a continued increase in the number of people buying online, but consumers' economic challenges resulted in a slight decline versus last year in the amount spent per buyer," said ComScore chairman Gian Fulgoni in a statement. "The season featured a strong start as a result of early retailer promotions and a very strong finish helped by the snowstorms that occurred the weekend of December 19-20, retailers' willingness to offer free shipping later in the season, and consumers' confidence in expedited shipping arriving in time."

The Kindle e-reader, the Nintendo Wii, and an Asus Netbook were among the top tech items for Amazon customers in 2009.

The retail giant touted three "Best of 2009" lists on Wednesday, revealing the best selling, most wished for, and favorite gift items chosen by Amazon consumers for the year. The company also introduced its Bestsellers Archive, which can show historical popularity among several categories, including print books, Kindle books, music downloads, movies and TV shows, and video games.

Amazon has been relentlessly proclaiming the popularity of its Kindle device, though it just as steadfastly has declined to provide actual sales numbers. PC maker Asus, meanwhile, has been riding the Netbook craze and drew top honors in Amazon's computer category with its Eee PC 1005HA 10.1-inch Netbook.

Nintendo's Wii game console lost some steam during 2009, but heading into the holiday season gave strong signs of regaining its dominance.

Other top tech items on the several Amazon lists included Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, an Omron Digital Pocket Pedometer, and an Accutire Programmable Digital Tire Gauge--the latter two perhaps being of use to tech types who need to take a long walk or drive after a hard day using Microsoft Office.

The Casio Men's Sea Analog Illuminator Dual LED Dive Watch made the best-sellers list for people who need to keep tabs on the time while under the sea. On the most-wished-for list was the Sunforce 50044 60-Watt Solar Charging Kit, designed to tap into the power of the sun to charge the battery in your car, RV, tractor, boat, and other vehicles on the go. New Super Mario Bros also made the cut as the most-wished-for video game.

Amazon's "Best of 2009" lists cover all but the last 10 days of the year--stretching, that is, from January 1 to December 22, 2009. The Bestsellers Archive goes back in time to the start of Amazon to unveil the most popular items over the long haul.

In the video game category, the Wii came in at number 6 historically and has been on the top 100 list for 1,128 days. Among electronics, Apple's iPod Touch 3G takes the second (8GB version) and third (32GB version) slots on the list for 112 days. And for software, MS Office Home and Student 2007 hit the number 2 spot as part of the top 100 for 1101 days.

You can also view historical data right in the Bestsellers Archive just by selecting the pulldown menu for year and choosing a different year, as far back as 1995 for books and more recent years for other items. A peek back at 1999, for example, revealed that "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" was the most popular video game of the year.

"The Bestsellers Archive reveals the collective interests of our customers back to the beginning of Amazon.com," said Eva Manolis, vice president of Retail Customer Experience, in a statement. "It's a fun experience enabling exploration of bestselling products -- helping customers find their favorites as well as discover those they may not know about."

The full 2009 lists can be found on Amazon's news release Web site.

The music industry's patience with Muziic and the site's teenage founder may have finally run out.

Rio Caraeff, chief executive of Vevo, the recently launched Web site that features music videos from three of the top four recording companies, wants 16-year-old David Nelson to stop using the service's content and trademark. Caraeff e-mailed Nelson on Tuesday asking him to comply.

Vevo wants David Nelson, 16, to stop using the site's music videos but Nelson says he's done nothing wrong.

(Credit: Mark Nelson)

Nelson is the precocious high school coder who launched a music service last March that enables users to treat YouTube music videos in much the same way that song files are handled at iTunes. The videos can be sorted and added to playlists and perhaps more importantly, a user can listen to the music without having to watch ads.

I had anticipated the teen would get an adult-size smackdown much earlier than this. The major record companies have stood by and done nothing as Nelson used their content--with the help of YouTube's API--to build a site, a following, and now a burgeoning business. This is no high school science experiment. Nelson has begun selling ads and generating revenue, and the music labels have long signaled that they won't allow someone to profit from their material without getting compensated.

Nelson might be the first prep schooler to do this, but certainly we've seen oodles of sites try to use unlicensed music in a similar way, and how many of them have been sued into oblivion?

It probably isn't relevant that he's just a kid. Digital music is a high-stakes game and the grown-ups aren't playing around. Nelson was bound to run into trouble sooner or later.

What likely set off Vevo managers is that Nelson recently launched a new site and incorporated Vevo's material, once again with the help of YouTube's API. Then, Nelson announced this week that music fans could enjoy Vevo videos at Muziic but without all the ads. Vevo offers videos free of charge and ads are its main source of revenue. On Tuesday, Caraeff sent Nelson this e-mail:

"I kindly advise you to immediately cease the use of the Vevo Logo, trademark and any other references to our corporate name," Caraeff wrote. "With regards to the use of Vevo licensed videos...they are also being used directly without our consent...You can be assured that changes are being deployed to the API in question immediately, however I am still going to ask you directly to cease the use of Vevo videos from within your service."

Bono, Lady Gaga, Schmidt at Vevo bash (photos)

Vevo executives confirmed that preparations are being made to make Vevo's content inaccessible through YouTube's API.

But Nelson has no intention of backing down.

He says he will stop using Vevo's trademark if that's what they want. But when it comes to the videos, he says he has adhered to all of the requirements of YouTube's API.

Nelson thinks that Caraeff may have the wrong idea about him. He says he's a friend to the music industry and to artists. He said that it's been wrongly reported that Muziic strips out the ads that accompany YouTube and Vevo videos. He says ads have not been delivered to Vevo videos yet via the YouTube API. That's not his fault, he says.

"We have not taken any actions to circumvent the delivery of 'pre-roll' advertisements," Nelson said in an e-mail. "The syndication of advertisements through the YouTube API is beyond our control."

It's going to be interesting to see what occurs here over the next couple of weeks. Most likely, Vevo will remove content from YouTube's APIs and the issue will be behind us. But what happens if Nelson irritated somebody at the labels? When you talk about companies that have run afoul of the music industry, they are typically venture-backed and employ lawyers and staff and own office space and coffee machines.

In Muziic's shoestring operation, you have David and his dad, Mark, working out of their home in Bettendorf, Iowa--population 32,445.

Call me a handwringer but maybe Nelson should avoid confrontation and look to cut a deal. His service is impressive regardless of his age and maybe he and the music industry can find common ground.

Birds do it. Bees do it. It's just that these days in India it may be a little harder to watch online images of human beings doing it.

Sex is often a slightly thorny subject (well, maybe except in France). However, varying attitudes around the world to varying sexual practices mean search engines must adjust their positions accordingly.

So it may sadden some to hear of a Guardian special investigation that appears to have unearthed evidence of Microsoft and Yahoo search engines complying with a new Indian law offering severe punishment for the display of "lascivious" content.

I know one man's lascivious is another man's oblivious. But this law, based on a 150-year-old statute (section 292, if you have your Indian penal code tucked about your person) specifically targets access to obscenity.

A picture from Ramoji Film City in Andhra Pradesh. It is the world's largest integrated film studio complex.

(Credit: CC Shashi Bellamkonda/Flickr)

It helpfully defines obscenity as "any content that is lascivious and that will appeal to prurient interest or the effect of which is to tend to deprave or corrupt the minds of those who are likely to see, read or hear the same."

It's a nice word, corruption. One that often seems to have the words "government" and "politician" wrapped around it. Still, we're talking about sex here. Specifically, the vaguely pornographic kind.

The Guardian investigation suggests Microsoft and Yahoo have already taken steps to avoid the rather stiff punishments. If a search engine (or, indeed, Internet cafe) isn't careful about what sites it makes available, its officers might face three years in jail and a fine of up to 500,000 rupees (just over $10,000).

Microsoft's Bing, Yahoo's search engine, and even the Yahoo-owned Flickr have reportedly ensured that the safe search facilities on their sites cannot be disabled, something they also do in the pristine territories of Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

I do not intend to suggest this new law will encourage more Indian professionals to seek employment in Silicon Valley. And I cannot imagine that Indian moral fiber is anything other than sturdy and cleansing. I just sometimes worry when politicians seem to have nothing better to do than to interfere in people's most private affairs.

The Indian media is, according to London's Times, sometimes a little slow in reporting the sexual peccadilloes of, well, politicians--even when their indiscretions are widely known.

Perhaps that will change in reaction to this law.

This week, for example, an Indian television news channel ran footage, allegedly of the 86-year-old governor of the Andhra Pradesh state in bed with several women to whom he was not betrothed. While the governor immediately resigned, you might wonder how it is that this footage was not deemed "lascivious."

Some of you might wish to suggest that the "law is an ass." But perhaps it's best to first search Bing and check whether "ass" might have lascivious overtones in certain parts of the world.

How did you spend Christmas? Hitwise says it knows: the Internet traffic tracker says you spent at least part of the holiday visiting Facebook, making the social network the most popular U.S. site on the Web.

That's the first time Mark Zuckerberg and company have earned that designation--at the expense of Google--but it is in no way surprising. Facebook saw traffic spike last Christmas, too, and that's when it had a mere 140 million users. The user count is now up to 350 million.

So even if tens of millions of them leave the site in a huff over Facebook's privacy changes (and there's no evidence that's happening), it's going to be blowing by traffic records on a regular basis.

Really safe bet: you're going to see a similar story after New Year's.

(Via ReadWriteWeb)

Story Copyright (c) 2009 AllThingsD. All rights reserved.