Sirsha Development Resources Blog

If You Haven't tried the Xbox Live Marketplace Movie Downloads, DON'T

sjh — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 18:19:00 GMT

My notes during the 22 hour process of testing this service, one I have been eagerly awaiting for the last few weeks:

Don't want to testing using an old movie, don't want to pay for something I own.

I thought I had read they would have Superman Returns and Batman Begins. Instead they have Batman Forever. I planned on Superman Returns being my test movie. Now the only movie available that I *really* want to see is Chinatown but it is too old to be a good test subject so I went with Three Kings. It isn't new but it is from the same year as The Matrix.
I checked the TV offerings but they were slim. Several CSI titles, 4 UFC fights I have already and some other random things. The Adult Swim selection is nice but they charge the same amount for 11 minute shows as they charge for 22 minute shows. That just doesn't seem right to me. *Not sure what they charge for longer (44 minute?) shows.*

I bought Three Kings. Around 7:45 (but quite possibly earlier), it slowly began downloading the 1.26GB file. Eventually, the screen went darker as the xbox went into powersaving mode. I turned off the tv.

Checked on progress an hour later, the Active Downloads tab was empty. The movie was nowhere to be found. My only clue: I chose "clear storage" and, in Videos, there was a 1.3Gb unnamed movie marked Incomplete. No way to resume.

I went through the buying process again, it was scary, seemed like they might actually make me buy it again but, at the very end, I was not charged, was given the Download Again option. The download started over at 8:40 pm Wednesday 2006-11-22.

At 9:56pm, it is 4% downloaded.

At ~10:40pm, turned console off. 10%

12:22am 2006-11-23 : restarted console and download, jumped to 11% immediately. Then I went to bed.

Restarted download again.

Woke up, checked, restarted. 11:45am, immediately skipped to 15%. The download finished at 6pm, about 22 hours after it began. The movie quality was great. Rewind/Fast Forward didn’t really work but the picture quality was better than the average BitTorrent DVD rip. About what you would expect for a 1.3GB movie.

What a nightmare.

Wait until there is some good news on the Video Markeplace forum on Xbox.com before you waste your time.

They locked the thread where I added my problems to the long list of people with unacceptable problems with this far-from-ready-for-prime-time service with this lovely piece of advice: "I suggest all folks who have experienced an error message or did not receive a download they paid for to call customer support at 1-800-4MYXBOX. If you have called previously as I know some of you have, give this ago again."

My comment is here, if you want to save the time it'll take to find it on that page:

IndieGames wrote:
We added a new question this morning to the FAQ (part 2) to help address this.

Strange... I have had the opposite experience from what was stated in that FAQ update.

I rented Three Kings around 8pm last night. The download failed and there was no way for me to resume it other than go through the process again as if I was renting it again. I got the "you have already downloaded this content. Download again?" message (and did not have to pay again) and I started the download again. This process repeated 3 times, then I gave up for the night.

This morning, as expected, the download was not in my Active Downloads list but the video was not in my Videos section. You guys REALLY need to have persistant error messages when downloads fail and you REALLY need a way to resume incomplete downloads. Free demos failing like this was annoying but when I pay for a movie rental and this happens, it is unacceptable.

I started the download yet again this morning but this time, it jumped to 15% immediately, apparently starting where the previous download failed. I hope that is the case, anyway.

3 hours later, I am at 38% downloaded. The file is 1.26GB total. During one of the downtimes last night, I tested a Download-To-Burn DVD for work and the entire process took 2 hours for a 4.xGB DVD to download and burn so my network isn't the cause of these slow downloads. My network *could* be the cause of the failed downloads but, if so, then you guys need to work in some error handling that tries to resume downloads automatically and/or at the very least allows you to manually resume a download.

Anyway... just letting you know that your FAQ is incorrect, I was only charged for my movie rental the first of the 4 or 5 times I have attempted to download it.

(and another bug in your system: you label downloads (movies, demos, etc) that fail after 1% as content that I have already downloaded instead of stating that it is a failed/incomplete download. I work in internet video delivery, so I know that is a bug/missing feature)

I look forward to the next dashboard update, I doubt I will attempt to rent a movie from XBLM again until then. This is unacceptable.

If that isn't enough to scare you off (both that 'try calling us again' advice and the fact that they locked the thread, causing it to drop to the third page within hours), read any other post on that forum.

My first attempt at downloading a movie took 6 restarts (without me ever knowing when or why the download failed) and a total of 22 hours for a 1.26GB movie. Then, against my better judgment, I bought more points and attempted to rent a second movie. Bad idea. I left this comment on Major Nelson's blog after Customer Support's automated system hung up on me 3 times, but Major Nelson apparently deleted my comment.

It was here last night but is gone now.

Luckily, I kept a copy. Here it is:

NO, things are not fixed yet. I gave you guys the benefit of the doubt for some reason and just tried to rent V for Vendetta. WHY? WHY did I give you another chance?!?!

I only had 300 points in my account, less than the 340 required for the movie, so I bought more points, then purchased the rental.

Then I got this error message:
Points have been deducted from your account for this item, but media usage rights could not be downloaded. Please contact Xbox Customer Support.
Status code: 80153900

No customer service number, I had to come to your site to find out the number.

Then I went through your voice recognition system until I got to my endpoint: your computer system telling me "please call back during business hours. Thanks for calling. Goodbye" and then he HUNG UP ON ME.

So I called back again and tried a different route through the automated call avoidance system and again ended up with the same abrupt ending and your system hung up on my again.

And again, I tried to find a way to get an answer to my problems and was again told to call back during business hours, in spite of the fact that your xbox error message told me to call customer support, NOT "call customer support tomorrow during business hours", again I was told to call back later and once again, for the third time, I was hung up on.

As mad as I am at the XBLM team right now, I can't help but feel like it is my fault for trying to rent a movie from you when I knew how bad your system is broken. I knew better than to do this.

But I had no clue it was really this bad.

You say "potato" I say "but I ordered a tomato".

Let's call the whole thing off.

My advice: wait until you hear on CNN that Microsoft fixed all of this. I'll have an update soon with the results of my upcoming (4th) call to Xbox Customer Support.

[UPDATE] Customer Support said they refunded my points and that engineers were working to correct the problem and that I should probably wait a couple days before attempting to purchase or download the movie again.

Why The Zune Will (At Least) Fail

sjh — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 00:52:00 GMT

Let's skip right to the conclusion to this post: Microsoft is blowing their chance to beat Apple's iPod because they are duplicating the iPod's only weakness instead of offering a better alternative. Because of this, consumers will compare the many strong points of the iPod to the features of the Zune and the Zune will lose in the consumer's mind (and heart and wallet). To make things worse for MS, the many consumers who have been spending their time and money to support "Microsoft's side" of this war via "Plays For Sure" and MS's hardware (SanDisk, HTC, etc) and software (Yahoo!, Napster, Rhapsody, etc) partners will feel like their loyalties (or at least money) has been wasted because all of these supporters will now be deserted with no thanks nor reward for their support. By not offering the masses a real improvement over the iPod and by upsetting their supporters in this battle, Microsoft has effectively guaranteed Apple's victory.

That is a pretty big pile of accusations, predictions, and what some would call argumentative negativity, isn't it? I really do believe these things and because of my studies and experiences in this area, I have no other choice but to come to these conclusions. I will now attempt to explain why.

1. The iPod/iTunes Combo Has A Huge Leader Advantage in the Market But Has Weaknesses
   The iPod makes Apple a good bit of money not only from sales of the device but also from the advertising boost they gain thanks to the fact that iPods act as advertisement for Apple computers both to the iPod owners and to those around them. The iPod does not require an Apple computer, only iTunes, but when people tend to develop a brand loyalty to companies who make things people use and enjoy. So when Mary uses Apple iTunes on her Microsoft Windows computer to load music onto her Apple iPod, the pleasure she gains is associated with Apple, not Microsoft, and this acts as a small bit of advertising that may one day cause her to replace her Windows PC with an Apple Mac. Advertising is a game of chance but if iTunes and the iPod work for her, she will certainly feel positive feelings toward Apple as a brand. She may even attribute problems she encounters with the process to the fact that she is using Windows instead of a Mac. Call a friend who runs only Apple hardware and software and say "I am having troubles with my iPod and iTunes on Windows XP" and please let me know if they mention "You should use a Mac" or "it was made for a Mac" or "it runs better on the Mac" or if that never comes into play at all. I could be wrong here. Regardless, for a Windows user, a great experience from an iPod is great Apple advertising.
   There are, however, some places where the iPod/iTunes combination is less than ideal. These areas of weakness leave room in the market for a competitor to take both existing iPod users (Apple expects users to upgrade yearly, for those who want to have 'the latest and greatest', or ever 2-3 years; this forces the choice between the iPod and the iPod competitors each time) and user who have never bought an iPod (due to refusal to give in to what they see as unsatisfactory conditions of the current iPod/iTunes state of affairs or because they just don't want to buy a portable music device at this time). For the sake of brevity, I will address only one weakness. This weak point is the most important to myself and to others but there are other points of weakness. I will not go over the many strong and successful points of the iPod, also for the sake of brevity. I will mention them again in a later section. Do not let my concentration on the iPod's weak points make you think I don't see many good, strong points about the iPod. I do In order to beat someone in a battle, you should attack their weak points, not their strong points. This article is about a competition, a "war" of sorts, so detailing weaknesses will be be more important here.

2. The Main Weakness of the iPod/iTunes Combination Is That It Is An Exclusive, 1-to-1 Combination
   First off, I want to say that I understand why Apple sticks with their "if you use an iPod, you need to use iTunes" strategy. The numbers so far argue against changing this strategy. As long as the number of iPod users continues to lead the market along with the number of iTunes music (and now TV/Movie) purchases, maintaining this exclusivity will serve to increase the Apple footprint so that when the inevitable competition begins in earnest, Apple will have a strong base to fight from. Even if they do a complete about-face and allow all competitors' devices and services to play nice with the iPod and with iTunes, delaying that moment as long as possible will almost certainly benefit Apple.
   However, this is the main weakness in the iPod's quest for total (portable media player) world domination. Almost every computer user listens to music but many of them use programs other than iTunes. Some of them even refuse to use iTunes. After auditioning no less than 5 versions of iTunes, I count myself in that group. I occassionally install iTunes again to give it yet another try but I always end up uninstalling it with a bit of disgust or anger. I am not an Apple Mac user and I just don't use my computer the way Apple's developers want me to. I doubt they'll ever change their minds so, for now, I refuse to use iTunes. And so I also refuse to use an iPod because without iTunes, the iPod is basically worthless. I know there are programs that work around the iTunes/iPod marriage but Apple doesn't like (and tends to break) these hacks and I refuse to have to resort to such a thing out of principle. Instead of being stuck with an iPod that can only completely work with 1 iTunes-equipped computer, I use a Windows Media PlaysForSure device instead. I have used songs via legal purchase and subscription services including Napster, Rhapsody, Virgin, and Yahoo! Music unlimited on my device, about 4x the number of online services iPod supports. The PlaysForSure device would be kicked to the curb if I could buy an iPod with that same freedom. There aren't any other real drawbacks to Apple's iPod. So when will a competitor of significant power exploit this weakness? No time Zune, apparently.

3. The Main Strength of the iPod is Apple's Marketing Dominance
   The iPod works, yes, but that isn't enough to gain 85% of any market. Not even being the best product in a given field gets that kind of market share. That slice of the pie can only be achieved by appearing to *be* the pie. In 1985, you didn't ask your friend about their portable cassette player, you asked about their Walkman. Today, you say "iPod" whenever you talk about portable music players (unless you are addicted to syllables). I know that other portable media players have been advertised in print, on TV, on billboards, and in other media but right now: pull out a pencil and list every television ad you've seen for a portable music player besides the iPod (gaming systems do not count). I saw one for a Dell that is now discontinued but I can't recall any others. That kind of marketing makes the iPod seem to be the market. In 1985, you would ask the clerk about buying a Walkman. Today, your mom is going to ask the clerk where the iPods are located. The advertisements showing the iPod Shuffle instantly made it the "must have" accessory of the month. Without any real competition, this was easy. Well, Apple makes that sort of thing look easy. Add a competitor to the mix with a huge marketing campaign and there would be room for someone else to lay claims to a slice of the pie. Consumers are like that: they do what they're told. Nobody ever told them to buy a "SanDisk 1 GB MP3 Player" but Apple constantly told them to buy a Shuffle. So they did.
   The distinctive white headphones were also a great marketing move by Apple. The lanier with the shuffle was even better. This instantly turned every iPod user into an advertisement in addition to helping the iPod's role as a status symbol. This type of "crowdsourced" marketing is brilliant, cheap, and very effective.

4. The lesser strengths of the iPod will be hard to beat; the lesser weaknesses will hardly matter.
   There are many areas where the iPod excels and beating those points will be next to impossible. Even if a device is actually "better" designed than an iPod, it will still be different and therefor not as good. Device makers realize this. The iPod design has room for improvement as long as you still look like an iPod. That includes competitor's products moreso than Apple's.
   The lessor weakness of the iPod give competitors openings to 1-up Apple's pod of gold but until missing features such as bluetooth, wifi, universal connectors, larger screens, and 16:9 aspect ratios become standard, very few users will notice or care.

5. To Beat the iPod, 3 things must happen:
   A. The Marketing Dominance must be met with a respectable marketing push. You bring a marketing push that will put the competitor's device in front of the eyes and ears of the market. Few companies can do this but Microsoft can.
   B. The lesser strengths must not be forgotten and the lesser weaknesses can help push the competitor up to the level of iPod quality. MS can add a few "cool" features to help soften the fact that even a very well designed device will not rival the iPod's high water mark of industrial design and usability.
   C. The main weakness must be exploited. You offer a device that will work with as many of iTunes competitors as possible, bringing support from Apple's business competitors and from users who refuse to buy an iPod because of the iTunes restriction.

6. This all seems so simple but Microsoft isn't going to do it. Instead exploiting it, they duplicate the iPod/iTunes weakness.
   How did Microsoft mess this up?
   They can make the marketing push. The device is "good enough" to match the iPod's features and design but without tackling that iTunes weakness, how do they expect to win?
   The Zune will only work with their service and will not support the handful of PlaysForSure services they have long tauted as freedom from the iTunes ball and chain. WHAT? Microsoft is duplicating the iTunes weakness? Yes, but with an extra crippling feature: iTunes runs on Windows and Mac, Microsoft's version probably won't.
   Things are worse for the Zune than just becoming another "also ran", though.

7. The Zune will result in a backlash from Users who have supported Microsoft's PlaysForSure devices/DRM instead of Apple's.
   Millions of us have bought (and/or rented) Janus DRM'd music and video from Napster, Rhapsody, Yahoo!, and other services have always had a bit of jealousy in our hearts because we wished that we could use an iPod with our service of choice. The hopes of Microsoft finally delivering a device as good as the iPod have now been dashed and we see that Microsoft, instead of stepping to the front and handing us a cool device we've wanted, has left us stranded. They are releasing their cool device but we don't get to use it!
   Instead of "thanks for buying all that PlaysForSure music" we get "hey, sorry you believed in us!"

8. The Zune will cause a backlash from the companies who have supported Microsoft in the Music/Portable Media/DRM war.
   Microsoft finally releases a cool device but Yahoo! Music Unlimited subscribers will need to switch away from Yahoo! and join Microsoft's service instead. Napster users, Rhapsody users, Virgin users, and others will have to choose between the cool new device and their current music services. Those services aren't going to be happy with that.
   Surely they, like we users did, expected Microsoft to release a device that would drive *more* users to Napster, Rhapsody, etc, not drive current users away.
   I don't have any reactions from Yahoo, Napster, Real, or others getting stiffed on this deal but I can't imagine their reactions being different than the users' reactions. Unless they know something we don't know...

The Zune is going to cause a rift between Microsoft and their supporters at a time when MS can't afford that. When you upset your supporters, you end up in a worse position than before. Right now, Microsoft isn't really in a good position. They have a device that is competing against an industry Goliath but they aren't aiming at the weak spot. So when the giant doesn't fall and their supporters no longer feel like part of the cause, what does that say for the future of this war? Will Zune v2 come to save the day? Will Apple's position grow further? Will Richard Branson decide to put money into a Virgin Music Player instead of wasting it on reducing greenhouse gases? What do you think? I just don't know, but I do know this:
Microsoft is blowing their chance to beat Apple's iPod because they are duplicating the iPod's only weakness instead of offering a better alternative. Because of this, consumers will compare the many strong points of the iPod to the features of the Zune and the Zune will lose in the consumer's mind (and heart and wallet). To make things worse for MS, the many consumers who have been spending their time and money to support "Microsoft's side" of this war via "Plays For Sure" and MS's hardware (SanDisk, HTC, etc) and software (Yahoo!, Napster, Rhapsody, etc) partners will feel like their loyalties (or at least money) has been wasted because all of these supporters will now be deserted with no thanks nor reward for their support. By not offering the masses a real improvement over the iPod and by upsetting their supporters in this battle, Microsoft has effectively guaranteed Apple's victory.

Windows Genuine Advantage Problems Getting Worse

sjh — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 22:45:00 GMT

Ed Bott's article on ZDNet is just another example of the growing number of WGA horror stories. The difference is that Ed's article is the result of sifting through 15 days of WGA problems as reported on MS' own official WGA Validation Problems forum. Ed found that, during that 15-day period, 42% of the people reporting WGA problems were running valid copies of Windows XP.

Dave Winer recently became another one of the XP users who had a legal copy of Windows but who was told otherwise by WGA.

Microsoft sure does know how to piss off their customers, don't they?

Mike Arrington at The Future of Web Apps - SF06

sjh — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 10:01:00 GMT

Mike Arrington
"Winners and Losers"

- newRoo (?) sold for 65(?) million before launch!
- PlentyOfFish.com was founded by a guy who didn't like having to pay for match.com and now brings in $300,000/month from adsense.

Shared Attributes of winners:
Passion for what they are doing
doing something extraordinary
Remove serious friction
Great founder dynamics
Never raised money or raised it after theyw on
Perfect revenue model not required

Shared Attributes of Losers:
Poor founder/team choices
Lifestyle/ego entrpreneurs
Raised too much money
Over business-planned
Forgot about scaling

Mike really likes Adobe Apollo.

Market Saturation:
Avoid these markets:
Social networking
Social bookmarks
Video
Photos
Bloggin/podcasting
Portals/homepages
feed readers
Big Potential in the markets:
Platforms
Desktop apps
Office efficiency
Cloud storage
Identity
Developer tools
Market destruction (1800free411)
ENTERPRISE

Note: the best entrepreneurs avoid this type of advice. Invent a new market.

Mike was once kicked out of an Apple event for live blogging Steve's speech from his Motorola Q, standing to take pics, etc, unapologetically. I think he may be my new hero.

(posted from my HTC Wizard via Diarist)

I Wish I Didn't Have A Mobile Phone

sjh — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 09:23:47 GMT

I wish I didn't have a mobile so I could want a Zune.

Finally!

sjh — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 16:19:31 GMT

After months of suffering through location-based geek event withdrawal, I landed in San Fran today and now I am finally getting to do something on Vallywag's todo list... I'll be doing #2 tonight and #3 tomorrow: http://www.valleywag.com/tech/todo/todo-mars-invaders-200203.php (not the hanging in the lobby part, I have a fully paid admission thanks to the greatest company I could ever imagine working for. If you are a UI or Java guru and want to upgrade your employment satisfaction, hit me up at the summit or via the comments here.)

Thank you Kevin Daly!

sjh — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 21:57:52 GMT

Kevin Daly's Diarist is a blogging client for Windows Mobile that is A) going to save me now that my main PC is down and B) will allow me to blog from/about the "Future of Web Apps" summit next week.

So thanks Kevin! If this thing did hyperlinks, you would probably end up reading this :)

Going to San Fran for Carson Workshops Summit - The Future of Web Apps

sjh — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 04:28:00 GMT

I'll be in San Francisco for Carson Workshops Summit - The Future of Web Apps on Sept 13 and 14. I've never been to San Francisco, I don't know much about it other than that it is the home of Tommy Guerrero and that the venue is a palace! If you or someone you know is going, leave me a comment, email me, or call me and let's meet up while there.

Test Post from Diarist

sjh — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 22:18:50 GMT

I am not totally sure this is going to work but if it does then it will have been dang close to the mot effortless blogging client I've ever used. Unfortunately, Community Server won't let me log in via this phone (a CRITICAL bug in my eyes) so I have to find a way to post... until that bug is fixed.

.mobi Still Considered Harmful

sjh — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 00:12:00 GMT

I first posted my opinion that .mobi is a money-making scam or at least a mistake in 2004. It hasn't been 2 years yet, but .mobi is an unfortunate reality. Except that you still can't buy those .mobi domain names they're hoping to force you into buying unless you own a trademark on it.

However, I do mobile web development, so I don't care about buying those domains for myself. My .com habit is bad enough without falling for this .mobi scam.

I see C. Enrique Ortiz is not falling for the .mobi scam either.

I am not surprised but am slightly disappointed that Neil Edwards didn't bother answering my comments on his .mobi blog. If I am wrong, I need to be corrected. Right? Until then, I still consider .mobi harmful and advise you to stay away from it unless their blackmail techniques leave you no choice but to buy the .mobi domains in order to protect your intellectual property. Unfortunately, the good guys don't always win.

How I Made It From .Text to Community Server 2.1

sjh — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 23:36:00 GMT

As Jayson mentioned (thanks for the ego-boost, man!), I used .Text far beyond any rational shelf-life but finally bit the bullet and started the upgrade process to Community Server last weekend. The bug I disliked in earlier versions of Community Server are gone and the feature set has reached the point where I no longer had an excuse to stick to .Text other than laziness.

So how did the upgrade go? Pretty well, I think. Here is how:
1. I more-or-less followed Jayson's instructions on how to Migrate from .Text 0.95 to CS 2.0:
2. Installed the CS 1.1 database.
3. Because I only installed the database and didn't run the web installer, there was no default community set up, so I had to run the "create community" script before I could run the upgrade from .Text to CS. (see this post)
4. I ran the Kevin Harder's .Text to CS1.1 Migration Tool and all data was added to the clean CS install without any problems.
5. I upgraded CS 1.1 to CS 2.0.
6. The next day, CS 2.1 was RTM'd, so I upgraded to that.
7. I used Ken Robertson's ExtendedUrlMapping add-in so that all my old links work.
8. I had a problem with step 7 because .Text was an IIS Application in a sub-directory of my web, that sub-directory was still set as an app when I pointed the domain at the CS and away from the old site. Ken threw this out as a possibility immediately and removing that application solved the problem.
9. I had a problem with the names not showing up in old comments and being unable to delete them. This was due to the CS database installation using a different ID for the anonymous user than specified in Jayson's script. Checking the database before running the script would have avoided this but Jayson had seen this before and correcting it was simple.
10. I then skinned my blog based on a mockup Eric Parks gave me.
11. Using a logo that b0nnie made for me. (shirts available here! help me thank her, buy one!)

Thanks to everyone who helped me get this thing running, it was a massive chore and because of your help, it was accomplished in 3 or 4 evenings. I couldn't have done it without you.

CommunityServer 2.1 Upgrade pretty much complete

sjh — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 13:09:00 GMT

Before I got a chance to skin my install of CS2.0, CommunityServer2.1 was released so I upgraded to that and got to work on skinning this beast yesterday. If you're reading this in an RSS feed, please come to the site and take a look so I won't feel like it has all gone to waste ;)

I haven't skinned the entire site yet, just this blog. Turned out a LOT easier than I thought and after all the troubles of the last few days, I have to say that I am very impressed with the work that has gone into Community Server. I am late for work now, there will be a post-upgrade post soon with all the "thank you" credits I owe to those who helped me out the last few days.

CS Upgrade almost finished

sjh — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 18:17:00 GMT

so close... and yet so far...

Convert C# ASP.NET Web Apps to Mobile Web Apps

sjh — Tue, 09 May 2006 01:52:00 GMT

Dev Source has a small article up on how to Convert Your C# Web Applications into Mobile Solutions. It is a short article but it is a starting point for people who are experienced with ASP.NET and want to play with an existing app instead of creating a new mobile app from scratch. I prefer to learn things in this manner, it is easier for me to learn by relating new information to things I already know and understand.

Link found via Windows for Devices

Napster Goes Free! (as in beer nuts)

sjh — Wed, 03 May 2006 02:01:00 GMT

Napster now offers free on-demand streaming of many of the songs in their catalog. Although it isn't as high quality as their paid service, it is easier to use (no software to install), meaning you can stream music anywhere you have a connected pc (like work, your friend's party, etc). I am still a big fan (and paying customer) of Yahoo! Music Engine / Yahoo! Music Unlimited, but this streaming service is ondemand so it beats the Launch.com streams I usually resort to when I need streaming music away from home.

Of course, the best streaming music station, in my opinion, is WOXY - BAM! The Future of Rock 'n Roll