Boxee Box, Netflix, Silverlight and Linux

*super uber sigh*

As a proud owner of my Boxee Box, I enjoy a lot of local streaming content. Local meaning files I store on my computer and stream wirelessly through my boxee box to my TV. This is all well and good until you run out of content or space and want to take the online streaming route which Boxee brags as being a primary function.
As a UK resident, my Boxee Box gives me access to BBC's iPlayer for free content... and a part from the youtube and TWIT apps, there's not really much else going on. The UK jealously ogles the vast reams of free and premium content consumed by United States Boxee customers and they are all running the same hardware. It's a real disappointment considering the huge promises made by boxee about bridging the great gap between the internet and television with just one £180 box. However it has come to be just an overpriced HTPC. But what is really going on here? Who is responsible for this complete lack of content?

Ladies and Gents, I introduce you to the elephants in the room...

Who is responsible?

Around the 9th of January Netflix was opened up in the UK providing a whole lotta content to subscribers, and at a damn good rate of £5.99 a month. After subscribing I could watch all kinds of movies, tv shows and documentaries, it's not perfect but hey, there's a lot of choice and it beats piracy, that's for sure. What they decided to do was use Microsoft's proprietary "Silverlight" technology to allow streaming of the content through the browser. Silverlight by itself has become cross-platform and users of OSX, Windows and Linux can enjoy Silverlight in their browsers, however in this case, users of Linux (5% of global users) essentially received a middle finger when Netflix adding DRM to their silverlight streams to supposedly "protect the streams from theft" and making it impossible for Linux to read the video content. You see, Silverlight does run on Linux through the use of Moonlight, but Moonlight doesn't support DRM, and who's fault is that? Well apparently microsoft haven't given novell (the creators of MoonLight) the top secret DRM code that will enable Netflix for Linux.

So?

So how does this relate to your Boxee Box? Well sadly, at it's core Boxee Box is a Linux based system and therefore cannot stream from Netflix UK. To add insult to injury, Netflix makes it extra hard for developers to create a Boxee app by disabling it's API for the UK (despite the API being simply a data service).

So what can be done?

1. Microsoft could give Novell the top secret code, Novell pushes it into the next update of Moonlight, Boxee Box pushes it into the next update of Boxee, Silverlight and it's DRM streaming is enabled giving some bright developer the opportunity to make a Netflix UK app for Boxee.
2. Microsoft, Netflix and Google push through DRM support in HTML5, Netflix adopts it into it's streams and it would work after a Boxee browser update.
3. Remember that Netflix is available and functional for US Boxee Box users so the technology is there, ready and waiting it just seems that there is some red tape around licensing all the content for UK users. There isn't much detail for this so any would be appreciated.

So come on, WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?

• Boxee: For not organising UK agreements, contracts and availability with Netflix UK (AND LOVEFILM) quickly.
• Netflix: For not supporting it's UK release avenues correctly and for using DRM.
• Microsoft: For not playing nicely with Novell to produce DRM enabled Silverlight for Linux.

Where can I grind some gears?

• Boxee Box Forum Netflix UK Thread
• Netflix public Facebook wall
• Netflix UK developer api thread
• Since this is the official silverlight forums it would probably be a good idea to keep this thread alive.
• Why no moonlight link? Moonlight and Novell are at the mercy of Microsoft.

In conclusion, this is all completely ridiculous and DRM is really screwing the consumer.

UPDATE 13/04/2012: It seems boxee are blaming intel and it's sdk for the delays. http://forums.boxee.tv/showpost.php?p=264932&postcount=84

Select all friends to add to a facebook page

I whipped this up this evening, it mostly works, may take a couple of goes.

javascript:var elms = document.getElementsByTagName('li'),i; for(i in elms){ try{ if(elms[i].className.substring(0,20) == 'multiColumnCheckable'){ var evObj = document.createEvent('MouseEvents'); evObj.initMouseEvent('click', true, true, window, 1, 12, 345, 7, 220, false, false, true, false, 0, null ); elms[i].dispatchEvent(evObj); } }catch(e){ } }

While viewing the "suggest page to friends" list, paste the above code into the URL, make sure "javascript:" is at the front and hit enter. Your friends should now all (or mostly) be selected.

Nintendo Skyward Sword stole my idea!

When I was 14 years old I was making 2D mmorpgs, here's how the storyline went...

Yudrassial reached up from the dark pits of infinity, grabbing for anything he could see. Coming from above was a light. The light was the most powerful, magical light he had ever seen, he grew closer to it slowly.As Mithos grabbed it he felt power, a power that overflowed his whole body and when he had stopped feeling the power he heard a voice, the voice told him that he had just got the power to create a world, amongst many others but he could not do it alone, he had to have settlers and people to feed the world and it's energy to keep it alive, so knowing that the power he had could not do it along he made two beings, one Aries and the other Sub7. Aries was given the power to be able to change the lands and bring mortals into his lands to help him. Sub7 was given the power to support the world, give it life and power the world flurished and grew, but the world felt ill and empty so the God Aries made Humans, Humans always surprised him taking what he made and thought nothing of and making it so much more. But the Humans where getting out of control growing too fast, and were no longer worshiping the gods. So Aries knowing how to fix it made a second life form, the Crathis. The Crathis where vary nomadic they grew too large also, but they explored into the depths of the world and found a spot full of diamonds and lava, they found that it was easier to live there than on the surface. So they sealed themselves into isolation and never came back out, there bodies started to change and started to mutate in order to live easier in what they called Hell, but they were powerful and mighty so the gods enforced the seal and locked them from the surface with what the Gods called Hell's Gate. But when the Gods where done working with the Crathis now known as monsters, the humans had grown stronger too and the only way to stop them spreading was to make new life forms that pushed them back.Thus leading to the great war.None know when or how the great war started but they do know that it was between the humans and the Crathis, the gods knew the only way to push the humans back was to let a select few of Crathis out of Hell to roam the surface. But the humans killed them like they did everything else, cutting down trees, burning land there was no stopping them so all three gods came together and found out that the only way to make everything balance was to lift the land from the earth that the humans were in and conceal them there. They called this floating piece of land Mystalia. Then they all put all the Godly powers together and made a banishment to never allow humans to the surface again.The gods made Crystals of Regeneration which allowed both Humans and Crathis to come back to life after they died. So they could, and would never try to leave Mystalia.

These Crystals Of Regeneration are throughout Mystalia and no mortal can hold one. But the Gods keep them locked away, far away from the hands of Humans and Crathis. If a Human or Crathis was to get one they could change the world as they see fit and go back to the surface. But as time went on Humans got the better hand. They started to explore all the lands, so The Gods took a few Mortals and Crathis’s and gave them Crystals Of Regeneration and now they make the land grow, they have the power of the gods and change the world as they see. To the Creatures of Mystalia the Gods were not needed any more, being angry at this they formed an almighty stone and gave the world magical powers and power beyond science. They had created 'The Crystal Of The Gods' No mortal knows where it is, but many explorers have searched for years and years. As of yet nobody has provailed.

Proof: http://z6.invisionfree.com/Mystalia_Online/index.php?showtopic=31
Dated: 26-December 04 


I should be on at least $100k...