Digital Right Management - "DRM"

Before taking this class, ISM 3004, I ignored many technical words that are relevant with our daily life, especially nowadays that we deal with multimedia at school and work. Multimedia has become an indispensable tool in our lives. It is always good to be updated about technology, and have some basic knowledge. Multimedia covers a lot of topics, and among its topic there was one that attracted my attentio, DRM.

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What is DRM?

Digital Rights Management, DRM, refers to any system that manages access to copyrighted material using technology resources. In other words, DRM restricts the free use and transfer of digital content; therefore the person in possession of digital content does not have any control over it. 

Examples: 

Image created by Ivette Franco, Copyright 2011

Image created by Ivette Franco, Copyright 2011

DRM is used…

DRM is used in different types of media, but is most frequently found in video and music consumer. The good new is we can remove DRM.

How can we remove DRM?

DRM can be removed through different software. Please see below a list of some free DRM removers:

-         Tunebite ( works with WMA, M4A, AA, M4B, M4P, WMV,  and M4V)

-         Aimersoft DRM Media Converter ( WMA, WAV, WMV, M4A, M4P, M4V, M4B, 3GP, AVI, ASF, MP4, MOV, FLV, MP3, AC3, OGG, APE )

-         Sound Taxi

 

DRM Disadvantges: 

Image 3

The major disadvantages about DRM are the several restrictions to the end user.For example,  if you buy music through your computer , you may want to be able to listen to it in you car while you are driving , or listen to it on another computer, but this may not be able to happen. Why? Because,  DRM,  most of times, is applied in a way that music can be listened through one computer only. 

You, also, may not be able to listen to the song you buy as many times as you want because it is restricted to be played a limited number of times. 

DRM Advantages:  

Online sellers are the most benefited.  DRM allows content owners to restrict the use of digital media. Besides, DRM permits content providers to keep the integrity of their copyrights.DRM is ideal to minimize piracy. 

Can we avoid DRM?

Yes, we do. If you dont want to be affected by any restriction of DRM, you can simply decide not to but any music, videos, or services that use DRM protection. 

Did you know....

Did you know that University of Florida was trying to use DRM in order to protect videos ( from the Business Program) ? Yes, they were trying to, but, so far, they have decided not to use DRM for the facility of students. 

Resources:

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/drm1.htm

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-drm.htm

http://www.mgtek.com/dopisp/support/kb.aspx?id=faqDRM

Image 3:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DRM_Is_Killing_Music.png

Excel Project

This project was very interesting and challenging.  It was about a fitness center, in where you were supposed to help the gym’s owner in researching the effectiveness of a particular workout. Your main tool was an Excel’s spreadsheet that had data for 500 subjects. The data basically contained age, sex, and 21 heart rate measurements for a period of 20 minutes (starting from time 0:00 to time 20:00). Once, that we had an idea of what the project was about, it was time to start formatting and manipulating the data. First, we were asked to name the spreadsheet “Raw Data” and make the first 2 rows bold, and center the gender column.  So far, everything was pretty easy because it was basic stuff that we learn in middle school. But, when I was asked to use the “Freeze Panes” to lock the first 2 rows, I got stuck; this step required me to do a little bit of research to figure it out. I believe this feature is very useful, mostly when you want to print out balances, data, and so on. After I finished formatting the raw data, it was time for me to start working with formulas. 

This part of the project made me recall when I was a middle school student. It was time to refresh my memory and start working on the formulas. The first formula was easy; we were asked to figure out the “maximum heart rate”.  Then, we needed to figure out the “Target Rate”; for this step I applied the first formula and multiply it by the percentage given. This step was easy as well.  Next step, figure out “Target Achieved”, was a little more difficult to interpret. The formula itself was simple, but I took me a while to understand the question .In this case, I applied my analytical skills. Once, I understood the question, I went over my Scavenger Excel assignment to solve this step. Determining the” Heart Rate Increase” was simple because we were given a hint. We, basically, needed to change the number to percentage. After I finished with the manipulation, I formatted the spreadsheet so when I print it out; it came out in a certain way. I added some headers and footers (to the right and left). I also changed size of the text. Basically, steps mentioned above pertained to the easy section.

The challenging part started with the pivot tables (See figure). In order for me to solve the last steps, I had to watch some videos, which were very helpful. In the past, I had not used pivot table for anything, but I believe this feature of excel could be very useful. Excel and Word are software that I have with for many years, but I have realized that I still don’t know some features of these ones. Doing this project has helped me to become a little more knowledgeable of Excel.  During this project, I learned analytical skills that help to interpret the situation or problem very well; problem- solving skills; technical skills which are very useful in business; organizational skills; and computer skills.