drm – RasterWeb!

I spent much of my time since Xmas attempting to explain how iTunes, iPod, DRM, and freedom all work. Together and against each other…

I used Senuti and CopyPod to move files from different iPods into different iTunes libraries. I did my best to explain DRM and “Protected AAC” files to family members, and I didn’t even get into the doomspeak of “if something goes wrong, you can lose all your music!” I kept it pretty high-level, and just talked about how to manage multiple iPods on multiple computers with one iTunes Music Store account.

I did find it a little sad that things are still more complex than they need to be. I still have vinyl records and cassettes that are over 25 years old which I can play on any compatible device. Now that’s my definition of “Plays For Sure!”

I also bought a bunch of blank CD‘s which will be used to strip the DRM, I mean, make backups, of any songs I’ve gotten from the iTunes Music Store. It’s always good to have a backup.

Quite a while ago I ordered a DVD drive for my old PowerMac G4, and after sitting in a box for roughly two months, I finally installed it. (It was the drive sitting in a box, not me.)

SpongeBob and Patrick

What’s that now? A screenshot of a DVD playing on my Mac? But how? I remember telling my cousin years ago that Apple’s DVD Player application prevented you from taking screenshots, but there were some 3rd-party apps that could probably do it. Much to my surprise, none was needed! I’m still using 10.3.x but the following worked for me:

screencapture ~/Desktop/dvd.pdf

And bango! A PDF on the desktop. It’s the whole screen, not just the DVD being displayed, but it’s a start… (I probably got the idea from macosxhints.com, as there are many other capture suggestions there as well.)