I am a huge fan of Apple. They make great hardware as well as software, but when Steve Jobs wrote an “open letter” denouncing DRM I knew it was just a stunt. The reason Apple is doing well is because they work under closed platforms and DRM’s. Apple has created a monopoly within their own products and services.

iTunes/iPod: iTunes works exclusively with Apple products (ie iPod, iPhone). If you don’t have an iPod, then you can’t use iTunes to its full capabilities. The iTunes Store has DRM on its video and (most of its) audio files. I know Apple has added some DRM free music, but it’s just a PR stunt. If for some reason all of the major music labels went DRM free, Apple would be in serious trouble. People would no longer have to buy iPods to use the iTunes Store, which would indeed hurt iPod sales.

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I have finally updated my wordpress theme to Unwakeable (1.2). It is based on my previous theme, but gives the look and feel a much needed update. I am also in the process of adding a rating system, as well as a new commenting system.

If you encounter any problems during your visit at the r3fresh blog, please contact me.

Sprint is running a new ad campaign and they are finally being aggressive with the competition. The new ads are almost on every channel and they all include people making pictures with light. One of the ads is about “waiting less” and a website, waitingless.org, is shown at the end. Having nothing else to do I decided to check the site out and I was actually impressed by the advertisement.

Waitless.org is made up of a few videos to waste less time. The “quick-peel an egg” and the quick shoe tie method are the coolest and are something that I would consider using. The videos are high quality, quirky, and pretty funny. I would have never thought it was an advertisement other than the cell phone offer in the lower right corner.This Sprint advertisement is actually something very useful. Online video advertising is a great way to spread the Sprint name. Although the ad doesn’t make me want a Sprint phone, it does make me respect Sprint a little more.

I’m a sucker for Apple products. As soon as Apple introduced the keyboard (and updated iMacs), I took out the credit card and bought a new Apple wired keyboard. I wasn’t really in need of a keyboard, especially since I use a MacBook, but that was the reason I decided to purchase it.”

Check out the rest of the article here and while your there feel free to leave a comment. Thanks!

“Leaked” shots of the next generation iPod Nano have been posted all over the Internet and people are wondering why Apple made the upcoming incarnation, wider? After studying the blurry, leaked pictures (from 9to5mac.com); I started to understand Apple’s reasoning for the squished design.

Making the iPod wider allows for a bigger screen. Having a bigger screen would be perfect for playing videos on the iPod Nano, thus making TV shows/movies/games compatible with the cheaper, more widely appealing, iPod model. With more TV shows/movies/games selling on the iTunes Store, Apple will increase profits as well as increase their world domination in online media distribution.

Apple knows that when they sell an iPod, they are also selling a membership to the iPod-exclusive iTunes Store. This leads me to believe Apple’s anti-DRM remarks are purely for publicity and “DRMed” content is a must for Apple’s iTunes Store to survive.

Instead of using r3fresh as a place to put anything, I have started a tumblelog. It will be for pictures/videos/notes that don’t relate to r3fresh.com.

Visit “Working Titl3″ the official r3fresh tumblelog.

(I will be putting a permanent link on the site soon)

Ever been to a website that has great content, but it’s just horrible to look at? Here are a couple that I feel need a redesign.

Dvorak.org/blog

The grumpy and controversial John C. Dvorak has his own blog, Dvorak.org/blog, which he constantly plugs on every show he’s on. The blog is pretty much about everything, but tends to lean towards tech related news. Posts are funny and completely honest, unlike many of the larger tech blogs. I respect him (as well as his blog) because his opinion is logical and for the most part true.

The only problem with the “Dvorak Uncensored” blog is that it’s extremely ugly. It looks like it was designed in 1996 and then left to die. The title is probably the worst, pixelated and using a bad drop shadow effect. The ads on the site look like they were made using Microsoft Publisher I know Dvorak isn’t into the whole web 2.0 look, but at least give the site a visual lift.

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