I didn’t see this post on the Free Software Foundation blog until this morning. Quite simply, they have started giving false statements and half-truths about Apple and the App Store, in order to promote free and open source software. Quoting their five reasons to not get an iPhone:

• iPhone completely blocks free software. Developers must pay a tax to Apple, who becomes the sole authority over what can and can’t be on everyone’s phones.
• iPhone endorses and supports Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) technology.
• iPhone exposes your whereabouts and provides ways for others to track you without your knowledge.
• iPhone won’t play patent- and DRM-free formats like Ogg Vorbis and Theora.
• iPhone is not the only option. There are better alternatives on the horizon that respect your freedom, don’t spy on you, play free media formats, and let you use free software — like the FreeRunner.

This is important because? Well, it means that you can now watch HD programming over cable, without the need for a CableCARD. Of course, your cable operator probably doesn’t offer all HD channels via Clear QAM, they’re only required to offer network programming. However, having perfect-clarity of all the network channels in (unencrypted) HD is something that killer apps like TiVo and Eye TV have done well… and Media Center has failed on.

But, here’s the catch: You can’t have it! Microsoft is only making the “TV Pack” available to OEM providers (computer manufacturers). This means that you have to buy a brand new PC, with tuner cards pre-installed, in order to get Clear QAM.

The real insult is that Clear QAM is asked for the most by people who don’t want to buy a new PC… people in the market for a new PC, can just get a CableCARD-enabled PC. This update would benefit most customers who already own a Media Center PC, and could just plug in a TV Tuner with QAM support (and nowadays, most tuner cards support Clear QAM).

Microsoft, this is backwards logic, and it’s downright immoral. The company has done the hard work of enabling Clear QAM inside of Media Center. Now, it’s time to offer that support to customers that have endured the upgrade path to Windows Vista.

This is one of those I’m not going to let Microsoft go on. It was downright unacceptable that Media Center could only support Clear QAM over CableCARD. Now it’s downright unacceptable that they won’t commit to giving the update to consumers.

This update does the usual bug-fix-and-such, but there are three main new features. One, you can now use any folder as a play folder (where recordings play back-to-back without stopping). Two, closed captioning gets a few improvements (easier to access). And three… ready? You can now access the channel guide from inside of any video playback. That’s right, no need to exit watching a recorded video to load Live TV… to wait for the channel guide to show up.

That last feature is a big one, because the lack of an always-accessible channel guide was something that Windows Media Center does with the greatest of ease. It was a real letdown when I found my TiVo HD couldn’t do something so basic.

I’ll hold off on stability, as I saw a few issues… but TiVo has said that they’re fixed in the final push. Want the TiVo software first? The priority push list isn’t online yet, but I strongly suspect that it will be loaded on this page once they’re ready.

Writing a biography of the man’s work is something I shouldn’t even attempt. But, there is one key thing he did that changed my life; he ended the brick wall between the media and the rest of the world.

From speechwriter for the first Bush administration, to talk show substitute, to editorializing, he became the first host of Fox News Sunday. But, Tony never let being a straight-shooting journalist keep him from telling folks what he really thought. And, he was the first to do it all with gusto. Juggling political commentator and journalist sounds like saying one thing and writing another. From my admittedly limited experience in both both a journalist and a commentator… I assure you, it’s admirable how well he did it each week.

Few on either side of the political aisle attacked him for it, well, few with anything other than jealousy. Why? Because he did both jobs as if the other didn’t exist. He showed the world that you can have opinions, try to convince others of them, and still be true to being a journalist.

I always looked up to Tony Snow, he was, and still is a role model. I don’t think I would be able to do what I do every day without walking in his footsteps every day.

But, probably the thing I learned last from him… and still am learning after he is gone, is to smile. No matter what happens in this random sense of life, you have to feel blessed that you’re in it, that you can change it, and that you can help make it better. And, enjoying that alone is what I think people should learn the most from him.

Now, most would say that Apple’s primary excuse for gutting the feature would be that most people didn’t use it. And, I’m sure parsing sync data to display bookmarks in a web format might have taken some adaptation (not much, but some).

However, I think the main reason that Web Bookmarks was removed was in order to promote sales of Apple mobile devices (iPhone and iPod touch). Think about it, web bookmarks are to be used for when you don’t have access to your Mac. If you have one of Apple’s mobile devices on you, you don’t need the feature.

I think that this was a bad move on Apple’s part. Now, I only signed up for MobileMe for the push sync functionality… even Back to My Mac would work fine with perpetual 60 day trials. However, that was one feature I might actually have used.

Remember, in an emergency, you might want to access your bookmark library on someone else’s computer… there are many times when I have press room computer access as part of publishing duties, and having all my Safari bookmarks magically be accessible on any computer would be more than helpful. It should be considered an emergency feature, not a popular one.

If you don’t, download from the link below… I’m hosting the update until it surfaces on Apple’s Download Support page.

MobileMe Update for Mac OS X (8.3 MB)

In case you didn’t hear, Reward Zone Premier Silver is an add-on to Best Buy’s existing free club card program. If you spend $2,500+ per year at Best Buy, they automatically extend your return period to 45 days, get rid of restocking fees, and give you top-tier customer service. Most pertinent here, is the fact that you can now price match for 45 days instead of 15 days.

The feature is not documented as of yet, but you can turn it on by going to Account Settings after logging in. The option is in the middle. Check it, save settings, and your return period is bumped up to 45 days on anything you price protect from Best Buy. Enjoy!

I haven’t talked about cars much on this blog until now, but I’m an avid car enthusiast. It runs in the family. Maybe I’ll take you on a tour of the family garage someday.

I will say that I happily drive a Buick. Yeah, call me old for my age… I’ve only been hearing that for my entire life. It’s a nice city driving car, with good fuel economy. I get a good 375 to 400 miles to the tank. That’s right. My Buick has better range capacity than the Chevy Volt. In reality, that’s not totally fair. The Volt has a total of 400 miles when you take into account a fully-charged battery.

I’ve been holding onto the Buick waiting to buy one of the first Volts off the lot. Yeah, paying sticker price might sound nuts (and I prefer certified pre-owned vehicles for both cost and environmental reasons). However, with fuel at $4 to $5 per gallon, what used to be thought as nuts now sounds reasonable.

The good news is, the Volt hasn’t had its battery cut. You can still go 40 miles without using a drop of gas. That’s 80 miles round trip between work and home (if you can plug it in while at the office).

Based on the statements today, I have to suspect that the gas tank has been cut to less than 12 gallons in order to make the vehicle lighter and cheaper. I doubt that it will impact the retail price though, rather help ensure GM can meet it.

So, between battery and gas, you can still get 400 miles. And, I’ll still probably buy one right off the assembly line (assuming it doesn’t get yet another bump up from $40,000).

Also, hopefully GM will have the foresight to make a 220 volt converter so that we can plug Volt into the Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in California. There are a lot of them, and thanks to bureaucratic stupidity… they were built for cars which won’t ever be able to use them.

Starting today, you can get a 500 GB 2.5-inch SATA drive from Best Buy for only $199.99.

(The product pages haven’t fully updated. To find it online, go to the Best Buy Homepage and type 8906428 into the search bar on their site).

Now, it is inside of a USB 2.0 enclosure, so you do have to take the enclosure apart. And, this does run the risk of breaking the warranty (since whoever made that drive probably won’t support it directly). What drive is on the inside? I suspect a Travelstar 5K500 from Hitachi. SimpleTech normally uses Western Digital drives, but WD doesn’t yet have a 500 GB 2.5-inch drive in production.

Is this a good deal? Considering that 320 GB drives (also in USB 2.0 enclosures) are still hovering around the $100 to $120 range, I’d say so. Also, considering 500 GB 2.5-inch drives start at over $265, yeah, it’s a good deal.

Note for novices: Hard drive makers routinely sell drives inside of a USB 2.0 enclosure for less money than the drive normally costs for use inside of a laptop. It’s a sneaky supply-and-demand tactic that the hard drive makers engage in. Of course, there’s nothing stopping you from taking the hard drive out of the enclosure, and installing it inside of your notebook.