Netflix 'Watch Now' on XP on VMware Fusion on Mac OS X

I'm SOOOO close to being able to use Netflix's on-demand 'Watch Now' feature. Just one leeetle problem is standing in my way - DRM.

I've got VMware Fusion running WinXP SP2/IE7 on Mac OS X 10.4. I've installed the Netflix viewer software, and I can get as far as the movie player web page with the red Netflix opening screen and bandwidth check.

Then this lovely message comes up: "Instant watching message: Continue to your video by clicking the Play button when it appears below." But the Play button is greyed out, and it never ungreys.


The first time I tried this, there was an error message about a license, but instead of bothering to grab a screenshot, I just rebooted XP. That error message hasn't come back again.

Aha, I am not the only person who has run into this problem. This digg comment suggests updating Windows Media Player. Fair enough, I've still got WMP 9, and in fact previously told Windows Update to stop offering me WMP 11.

And.... success!!!!

Of course if I'd just RTFM'd I would've seen that WMP 11 is required. But where's the fun in that?

How to win at computer security

Stop caring about keeping the client secure.

When it comes to security PCs, Rouland’s advice is radical: Give up.

“In the next generation,” he says, “we will all do business with infected end points,” he says.

He was asked to repeat what he said, just to be sure. So he did: “Our strategy is we have to figure out how you do business with an infected computer. How do you secure a transaction with an infected machine? Whoever figures out how to do that first will win.”

He's right.

But... wha???? Howdoyadodat?

That'll be the trick.

Also in the same series:

“The thing about MPACK,” says James, “this is the start of the whole thing.” By this he seems to mean that Golden Age of Internet Crime, that dawning era. “They’re starting to think like architects instead of engineers.” MPACK brings together the best iFrames, the best exploits and some state-of-the-art malware into a single package all of which is being improved constantly, and sold with a focus on customer service. In marketing parlance, it’s not a product, it’s a solution.

It's not pretty out there, folks.

Asked and Answered

Yeah, I think Vista is the new WinME.

Of course, I've only been running Vista for the past two years and two months (since Beta 1 in August '05) so what do I know.

Windows Vista: the new WinME?

I'm just asking.

Joe Henry is back!

Joe Henry has a new album out, Civilians. I've been liking it a lot. "Our Song" is a great track from it, starts out spotting Willy Mays in a Home Depot. Genuinely moving.

For some of Joe's older stuff, I love the albums Fuse and Short Man's Room. (You may have heard these in heavy rotation on my cd changer at Mac or on Madison.) "Monkey" and "Angels" are the first two songs from Fuse. He took his music sound in a totally different direction on this disc from where it'd been on his earlier records.

Short Man's Room is much more alt-country sounding; "Good Fortune" and "King's Highway" sound like The Jayhawks circa Hollywood Town Hall or Blue Earth. And they lyrics of the title track - well, the guy knows how to write.

More Joe factoids: he's been busy producing like a madman, and he's quite an excellent producer - see his Wikipedia entry for a partial discography (including Aimee Mann, Allan Touissant and Elvis Costello, and Loudon Wainwright III).

And his sister-in-law's surname is Ciccone. Yeah, she's even recorded one of his songs.

Click to listen on Rhapsody....

1. Our Song - Joe Henry
2. Monkey - Joe Henry
3. Angels - Joe Henry
4. Good Fortune - Joe Henry
5. Short Man's Room - Joe Henry
6. King's Highway - Joe Henry
7. Don't Tell Me - Madonna
8. Two Angels - The Jayhawks