[conspire] (forw) Re: Arnold -> Rick

[Rick Moen]

----- Forwarded message from sait8so <sait8so at yahoo.com> -----

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Date: Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:39:53 -0800 (PST)
From: sait8so <sait8so at yahoo.com>
To: Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com>
Subject: Re: Arnold -> Rick

Hey Rick,

Thanks for your thoughts! I think I'll need to hone my search skills
before asking the next time. I've learned a few things, by searching and
by doing, since I emailed you. I'll also need to step back after writing
stuff like this and make sure the info and the questions are clear! My
bad on both counts.

Question 1: Would a quad-core have the power to do it?

You're right about it 'complicating pretty much any software situation.'
In my default Lenny full-screen playback is great. In WinXP, running
natively on its own partition, full-screen playback is great. In VBox
(yes, Virtualbox is what I meant), it isn't as good. 

Initially, the best video playback I could get at Netflix in the WinXP
VM was about 800x600. After tinkering with XP - switch theme to Classic,
display settings to 24 bit, adjust system for best performance and cut
the services to minimum (got it down to 18 services) - the video
improved. I got good playback at about 1400x800. Not the 1680x1050 I was
after, but much better than before.

I also loaded another Win VM. I thought it might improve performance if
the WinXP guest was able to 'see' both cores instead of just one core.
Wrong: got better video results with single core emulation.

My conclusion is a definite "probably" that with a minimized XP setup, a
quad-core would get me the video playback I'm after in virtual. Better
question is, is it worth $100 to avoid rebooting to XP? Almost... but
lol, no. 'Nuf said.

Question 2: If I can watch a Silverlight video from Linux, why am I
blocked from watching a Silverlight video on Netflix? What am I missing?

Again, you're right; its the 'DRM handcuffs.' I disabled the DRM plugin
which default installs with Silverlight. No problem logging into
Netflix. However, when I clicked to play a movie, Netflix auto-loaded
another DRM plugin before the movie started. I read posts of others
trying Internet Explorer in Wine, the User Agent Switcher you mentioned
and a few other inventive hacks but none of 'em worked.  

I agree that Hollywood's 'paranoid about what they're willing to
stream.' With the drek they've been turning out the last several years,
it was only a matter of time before pissed-off consumers uploaded movies
for anyone to freely watch online. 

I was reading about the controversy online (Slashdot?) and a property
rights attorney thought Hollywood was waging an uphill battle, and
they'd be better off coming up with a new, industry wide business model
for consumer access and profitability. The way Apple provides easy
access to music at a dollar per tune might be a good place to start.

Thanks again, Rick. Got a better handle on this stuff. 

Take care,

Arnold

----- End forwarded message -----