(via TeledyN) An alliance announced today between MSN Music and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings will make tens of thousand of historic songs from legendary performers of folk, blues, jazz and world music available online for the first time, allowing music fans to discover a diverse world of music and sound. But from the archive I can get nothing, since the System Requirements are screamful and I don’t use the crappiest operating system ever. This is an example of e-exclusion: since I choose not to use that operating system, I am cut out of this experience. File formats (and songs formats obviously) MUST be open so that everyone can be free to write a program able to read them! Just try to imagine if Microsoft was more smart and understood earlier what the web could have been. We would have now: closed protocols (no TCP/IP, no HTTP, but M$TP!), no open formats for web pages (no HTML but M$ML). Of course you would not be able to use whatever program to communicate over the internet or to create a page but you would have been forced to pay for highly-unuseful and dangerous and closed-source M$ software! I’m so depressed that most people just don’t see it: the future Microsoft wants for us is a future of darkness. Following you can find the System Requirements for listening to “historic songs from legendary performers of folk, blues, jazz and world music”:

System Requirements
These are the minimum requirements to play radio or purchase music from MSN.

Hardware and Software Requirements

* Windows 98 SE, Windows 2000, or Windows XP
* Internet Explorer 5.01 (or later), which supports 128-bit encryption
* Windows Media Player 7.1 (or later), we recommend the latest version
* A 233 megahertz (MHz) processor (such as an Intel Pentium II or Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) processor) or faster
* 64 megabytes (MB) of RAM or more
* Speakers and sound capability
* Payment with a valid credit card with a U.S. billing address
* To enjoy high-quality audio as a Radio Plus subscriber, you will need Windows Media Player 9 Series (or later)

SETTINGS REQUIREMENTS

These settings are already appropriately set for most users. If you are experiencing problems with MSN Music, please make sure the following settings are configured inside Internet Explorer:

1. Enable cookies:
Your privacy settings in Internet Explorer need to be set to accept first-party cookies.

You can change this privacy setting this way:
On the menu, go to Tools-> Internet Options -> click the Privacy tab -> click the Advanced button -> check “Override automatic cookie handling,” and then choose to “Accept” First-party Cookies.
2. Choose “enable/prompt” for some security settings:
Your security settings in Internet Explorer may prevent the installation of MSN Music Assistant. Without MSN Music Assistant, you will not be able to purchase and download music.

These security settings are usually set appropriately for this activity by default. If you have adjusted your settings, you can change these security settings in Internet Explorer this way:

On the menu, go to Tools -> pull down to Internet Options -> click the Security tab -> click the Custom Level button. Where you have the radio button set to “disable,” you will need to choose either “enabled” or “prompt,” as appropriate, for the following items:

ActiveX controls and plug-ins -> Download signed ActiveX controls: choose “enabled” or “prompt”
ActiveX controls and plug-ins -> Script ActiveX controls marked safe for scripting: choose “enabled”
Scripting -> Active Scripting: choose “enabled”
Miscellaneous -> Navigate sub Frames across different domains: choose “enabled”
3. Turn on BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service):
Your setting with regard to BITS may prevent the installation of MSN Music Assistant. Without MSN Music Assistant, you will not be able to purchase and download music.

BITS are turned on by default. If you have altered your settings, you can turn on BITS on this way:
Go to Start -> open Control Panel -> choose Performance and Maintenance (skip this step if you’re in Classic View) -> Services, select Background Intelligent Transfer Service, right-click and select Properties. Make sure startup type is set to “manual” or “automatic,” not “disabled.”
4.

You must be an administrator on the computer in order for the ActiveX control to install properly. You need not be an admin to use the service once the control has been installed.

(next time you’ll find)
5.
Sell your soul.