For Nokia, it's do or die time with the Lumia 900

There are no second chances for the Finnish handset company, a former titan in the industry now seeking a comeback.

Nokia got its wish and has its best shot to break back into the U.S. market.
So here's some friendly advice to a company that likely won't get another opportunity as good as this: don't blow it.

Not to pile on with more pressure, but the fate of Nokia's future, and possibly that of Windows Phone and Microsoft's ability to remain relevant in the mobile world, rests largely on how successful the Lumia 900 performs.

There are no excuses this time. Nokia has a large U.S. carrier partner in AT&T, which has promised to give the phone a major push, even more so than HTC, which is launching its 4G LTE-enabled Titan II on the same day. At $99.99 with a contract, the phone is among the best deals out there.
The phone launches on April 8, CNET reported earlier today.

If a blockbuster doesn't emerge, Nokia and Microsoft has got some serious problems. A failure could have some lasting consequences.

AT&T has been a strong supporter of Windows Phone, with more products than any other carrier. But its dedication to the platform won't last forever, and if the phone stumbles out of the gate, look for AT&T to offer discounts to dump its inventory.

Likewise, a poor-selling phone isn't going to endear Nokia or Microsoft to Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel, which have only half-heartedly sold Windows Phone devices and aren't in any rush to add new products. With AT&T making such a big deal of the Lumia 900 and its 4G LTE capabilities, rival Verizon Wireless is likely reluctant to jump on to a me-too device, effectively keeping Nokia out of the largest U.S. player.

Sure, Nokia is already at T-Mobile USA, and its Lumia 710 is doing well. But the Lumia 710 is a mass-market device for the budget friendly crowd, and not something you aspire to buy. T-Mobile is no kingmaker as a distant fourth-place carrier, and offers no must-have devices.

While Nokia's brand around the world is strong, its presence here has fallen dramatically over the past few years, to the point where it's virtually meaningless to normal consumers -- at best a remnant of an older era of basic handsets. Yes, Nokia's name still adorns concerts and other buildings, but it barely registers with the consumer.

As a result, the Lumia 900 falling flat on its face would leave Nokia's brand synonymous with failure. Look at Palm. Despite enjoying a reputation for cutting edge smartphones, the last run of its aging Palm OS devices and its new WebOS saw nothing but disappointment, and its brand likewise took a major hit. Remember the Palm Pre? Few do.

Palm never recovered from its initial WebOS stumble, and didn't fare any better when scooped up by Hewlett-Packard.

Still, Lumia 900 definitely has a better chance than Palm ever did. For one, it's got the support of AT&T, one of the two biggest carriers in the U.S. Unlike previous claims that Nokia was "taking the U.S. market seriously," this time it appears to mean business.

The Lumia 900, unlike previous Nokia phones that have made their way here, is actually a good product. The trick is to get people to notice amid a sea of iPhones and Android smartphones.
Because if it doesn't, Nokia can say goodbye to its chances of being a major player in the U.S.

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Anti-SOPA Internet Society under fire for hiring MPAA executive

After warning Web blacklists would end the "viability of the Internet," the Internet Society hires the Hollywood figure who defends them and accuses critics of spreading "misinformation."

The Internet Society is hardly a fan of the Stop Online Piracy Act or the Protect IP Act. The venerable non-profit, which acts as the umbrella organization for the Internet's key standards bodies, bluntly warns that the pair of copyright laws would end the "viability of the Internet."
Which is why ISOC's decision this month to hire a senior executive from the Motion Picture Association of America -- a lawyer who has championed the wildly controversial legislation that would blacklist Web sites that supposedly violate copyright -- is raising eyebrows.

Paul Brigner defended Web blacklist legislation as an MPAA senior vice president. Why did the anti-SOPA Internet Society hire him?

ISOC announced last week that it had hired Paul Brigner, the MPAA's senior vice president and chief technology policy officer, previously of Verizon's D.C. lobby office. Brigner now heads ISOC's North America efforts, a role that includes working with the U.S. Congress and federal agencies on Internet-related laws. (See Brigner's bare-bones Web site here.)

That announcement was particularly striking because it came mere days after the ISOC Board of Trustees adopted a resolution warning of the dangers of Protect IP, SOPA, and the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), all of which the MPAA and its overseas associates have lobbied for strenuously.
At a State of the Net discussion in Washington, D.C., in January at which he represented the MPAA, Brigner said that while Internet engineers have raised some valid concerns about SOPA and PIPA, the public debate has been fueled by "misinformation and exaggeration about some of the things that the MPAA and others were trying to accomplish in this legislation."

"Maybe now is the time to take a look at either DNS filtering or other mechanisms that can be a technological impediment to accessing these rogue sites," Brigner added. "There needs to be some indication that when you try to go these rogue sites, you shouldn't be there."

Brigner's blog posts at the MPAA Web site have drawn derision from the reliably anti-SOPA forces at TechDirt. After Brigner argued last year that rogue Web sites can host malware, TechDirt responded by dubbing it "stupid," an "uninformed fear that folks like the MPAA play upon," and warned that the MPAA was inventing a "new holy terror brought down upon us by the likes of zombie bin Laden."

"It seems puzzling that ISOC would make this particular selection for such an important position, given Mr. Brigner's public condemnation of Net neutrality while at Verizon, and his own postings in strong support of Protect IP while at the MPAA," says Lauren Weinstein of People For Internet Responsibility, which has opposed SOPA and favors Net neutrality regulations.

In another post on the MPAA's blog last summer, Brigner wrote that not passing the legislation would cause the Internet to "decay into a lawless Wild West." A third pointed to an paper that, Brigner wrote, "debunks claims Protect IP will break the Internet."

That's not what the public decided, of course. Protect IP and SOPA were yanked from the House and Senate calendars after January's historic online protest -- which included Wikipedia going dark for a day, alerts appearing on the home page of Google.com and Amazon.com, and so on.

For its part, ISOC chief operating officer Walda Roseman sent CNET a statement downplaying the time Brigner spent at the MPAA:

We can assure you that the Internet Society remains committed to its positions on DNS blocking and draft legislation such as SOPA and PIPA. Our position is publicly well known and remains unchanged. We would not have made this appointment if we had not been certain that Paul is ready to fully support the principles and positions of the Internet Society. Paul is onboard and already working to drive those and other Internet Society positions forward. His knowledge of technology and his insights into the issues related to Internet content will be invaluable in this area.

We are aware of some concern and even criticism around this appointment stemming from Paul's short tenure at MPAA. Paul has a full body of work and a career marked by open communication and bridge building across disparate parties. We observed these skills in Paul first-hand during his short time at the MPAA, where he opened a constructive dialogue between the content and Internet communities.

Translation: Brigner is a hired gun, but now he's our hired gun. Pay no attention to what he was saying before; he's on our side. For now.

SOPA and Protect IP would allow the Justice Department to obtain an order to be served on search engines, Internet service providers, and other companies, forcing them to make a suspected piratical Web site effectively vanish. A letter signed by Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, PayPal co-founder Elon Musk, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang, among others, warns that SOPA will "give the U.S. government the power to censor the Web using techniques similar to those used by China, Malaysia and Iran."

The MPAA, which blasted the anti-SOPA blackouts as mere "stunts," and its allies haven't given up lobbying for similar legislation. "We must take action to stop" online piracy and counterfeiting, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, said after the protests, and MPAA chief Chris Dodd warned at the time: "As a consequence of failing to act, there will continue to be a safe haven for foreign thieves."

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LG, Samsung: We're not done with 3D yet

3D smartphones may seem like little more than a gimmick, but behind the scenes, smartphone researchers see a very real future.

3D phones may not have exactly caught on like wildfire here in the U.S., but that isn't going to stop engineers at LG and Samsung from innovating around it.

In fact, representatives for the rival Korean manufacturers both had something to say to me about 3D image technology for smartphones, and it doesn't stop at playing 3D golf games or watching "Avatar" on your phone without those dorky 3D glasses.

In fact, those use cases, which formed the cornerstone of the marketing campaigns for the LG Thrill 4G and the HTC Evo 3D, are just the beginning.

Instead, Nick DiCarlo, Samsung's vice president of product planning, sees mobile 3D technology as a gateway to more immersive entertainment in the coming years.

Just think of a smartphone that can simultaneously power 3D HD video streams on different screens, say a monitor and a TV. Sound far-fetched to you? With the ever-growing power of mobile processors, said Samsung's Nick DiCarlo, and smart developers pushing the envelope, there's room for this magnitude of evolution.

More to the point, mobile phones and tablets will quickly become people's primary vehicle for video consumption. You may not watch full movies on the cell phone screen all the time, but more and more features are bound to arise that will have you relying on your device more often.
"There's nothing to keep your phone or tablet from taking over your set-top box," DiCarlo emphasized.
An engineer, Henry Nho, Mobile Platform Architect at LG, also sees the 3D potential that's tied to juiced-up processing power. When you record video and pictures, Nho says, the smartphone camera will have the power to take 2D and 3D images and movies simultaneously, so you can later choose which version you want to view.

Sharing 3D images will also become more important. Many high-end LG TVs already have 3D feature more or less built-in, Nho said. An HDMI cable connection is an extra expense and an unsightly one since it literally tethers your phone with a cord. One day you'll be able to share 3D content with your TV over Wi-Fi, using just a fingers swipe to start playing content.

3D now

Although research and development engineers like Nho's colleagues at LG experiment with 3D new products and use cases, it's up to marketers and managers to work the technology into future products.
With the Optimus 3D Max announced last month at Mobile World Congress, LG is putting some of its 3D R&D to the test. Designed to make lighter, thinner, and faster than last year's Thrill 4G, the Optimus 3D Max is pre-loaded with goodies like a games converter that can render a number of games into 3D -- so long as they're written with OpenGL standards and can play in landscape mode.

 The Optimus 3D Max will also receive a smart focus app, which uses both cameras and some rendering tricks to blurs the photo's background so that the image resembles a DSLR photo. In addition, a later release will include software that promises to smooth out blurred image edges when you connect the phone to a large screen display with a higher resolution. LG demoed the feature at MWC.

Unfortunately, 3D fans in the U.S. won't get a chance to try out the Optimus 3D Max anytime soon, unless they snag it from Europe, where it's headed in April. The handset won't have LTE support.

While LG is actively marketing 3D smartphones, the advances his team will be able to accomplish in the next two or three years is what really excites Nho. It's then that a new type of 3D display technology will enter the smartphone market. "Lenticular lens," are known for adding depth. These lenses steer the light, Nho explained, to brighten the image without consuming more battery power.

"I think that 3D has a very interesting future," Nho told me -- one that promises to be far less one-dimensional than it seems.

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Australian agency taking Apple to court over iPad '4G' label

High-speed wireless networking in Australia uses different 4G frequencies than those the new iPad supports, and a consumer commission will seek fines and injunctions barring sales.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said today Apple is violating the Australian Consumer Law by misleadingly labeling its new iPad as 4G-capable, and it will try to get a court to impose fines and an injunction against sales.

The commission will apply to the Federal Court in Melbourne for orders tomorrow morning against Apple, it said in a statement:

The ACCC alleges that Apple's recent promotion of the new "iPad with WiFi + 4G" is misleading because it represents to Australian consumers that the product "iPad with WiFi + 4G" can, with a SIM card, connect to a 4G mobile data network in Australia, when this is not the case...
The ACCC is seeking urgent interlocutory relief to ensure consumers are made aware of the correct technical capabilities of this device.

Additionally, the ACCC is seeking final orders including injunctions, pecuniary penalties, corrective advertising, and refunds to consumers affected.

Apple offers two varieties of the third-generation iPad, one with only Wi-Fi networking and one with wireless network service provided through mobile phone networks. In the United States and some other areas, the wireless network can work with the higher speeds of the LTE standard for 4G networking.
In some parts of the world, though, 4G hasn't arrived, so the new iPad works just at slower 3G speeds. In Australia, though, there is 4G service from Telstra--but it uses an 1800MHz frequency band, ZDNet Australia reports. The new iPad's 4G requires 700MHz or 2100MHz for 4G.

"Consumers who have purchased or are considering purchasing an 'iPad with WiFi + 4G' should ensure that they have a proper understanding of the mobile data networks which this iPad can directly access by a SIM card," the ACCC said.

Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Apple store in Australia uses the standard product naming for the 4G-capable model, but the fine print makes mention of using 4G networks only overseas.

"The iPad with Wi-Fi + 4G model can roam worldwide on fast GSM/UMTS networks, including HSPA, HSPA+, and DC-HSDPA. When you travel internationally, you can use a micro-SIM card from a local carrier. You can also connect to the 4G LTE networks of AT&T in the U.S. and Bell, Rogers, and Telus in Canada," the Apple store iPad product page said today.

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FTC seeks Apple testimony in Google antitrust probe

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has reportedly taken an interest in the mobile side of a business relationship between Apple and Google, and wants it on the record.

Citing two people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reports that the U.S. regulatory group has subpoenaed Apple in hopes of getting details about its mobile-search deal with Google. That includes information on the agreement that has made Google the default search engine on Apple's iPhone, iPad, and iPhone since 2007, the report said.

The subpoena, which Apple did not confirm or comment on to Bloomberg, is part of a larger investigation by the FTC to figure out whether Google has used unfair or deceptive business practices. The FTC and the U.S. Senate already have investigations under way focused on concerns that Google unfairly promotes its own services in its search results.

A Google spokesman declined comment on the report.

While Google has long been the default search engine on Apple's iOS, there are other options. In the United States, that includes Yahoo and Microsoft's Bing, the latter of which became an option in mid-2010. Just ahead of that addition, there was a rumor that Microsoft had won a deal with Apple to become the iPhone's default search provider, although it was quickly squashed.

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Apple tightens its tablet grip on enterprises ahead of Windows 8

A new survey finds tablet adoption increasing among corporate tech buyers, with Apple extending its lead over rivals as Microsoft readies its tablet-friendly operating system.

Apple's iPad is strengthening its grip on corporate buyers as Microsoft continues to put the finishing touches on Windows 8, its first operating system to enthusiastically embrace tablet computing,

A new survey conducted by ChangeWave Research shows that companies are stepping up their tablet purchases, and that a growing number intend to buy iPads. ChangeWave said its survey of 1,604 corporate tech buyers shows the highest level of corporate iPad demand it's ever found in a survey.

Apple's iPad

The results can't bode well for Windows 8. PC growth, and by extension Windows growth, has slowed over the years, while the market for tablets, primarily the iPad, has soared. Windows 8 is a touch-friendly operating system designed to help Microsoft tap that market.

While the consumer market will be tough to crack, given the lead that Apple has there, the corporate business has been seen as one where Windows 8 tablets could make inroads. That's largely because of Microsoft's long history of selling to enterprises and the manageability that corporate buyers expect in devices that run Windows.

The new survey, though, suggests that the iPad is increasingly meeting the needs of those potential customers. ChangeWave found that 22 percent of the respondents plan to purchase tablets for employees during the second quarter, and that 84 percent of those companies are planning to buy iPads. That's a seven-point gain from a survey the firm did in November. Some of that interest is no doubt fueled by anticipation of the new iPad's debut this Friday.

What's more, those buyers are increasingly shying away from tablets made by companies other than Apple. The interest in buying devices from every other tablet manufacturer, from Amazon to Samsung, declined from the November survey. So while buyers are increasingly looking to buy tablets, more often than not, they're only looking at picking up iPads.

The second most popular tablet-maker among corporate buyers is Samsung. ChangeWave found that 8 percent of respondents that are planning to buy tablets for employees intend to pick up a Samsung device, down from 10 percent in November.

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Goodbye cruel Google Ex-employee's Lament

It's not quite a Google version of the now famous peanut butter manifesto, but it's still worth reading this angry tirade from a Googler leaving the Googleplex because he feels the corporate culture has changed for the worse. In his very public adios, engineering director for Google+ APIs James Whittaker explains why he's moving on after three years after leaving Microsoft to join Google. He has since rejoined Microsoft.

    The Google I was passionate about was a technology company that empowered its employees to innovate. The Google I left was an advertising company with a single corporate-mandated focus.

Yeah, big duh. In case you missed it during orientation, I'm sure that someone, somewhere along the line explained the business mission. If not, I doubt very much that Google would have achieved what it's achieved.

    Technically I suppose Google has always been an advertising company, but for the better part of the last three years, it didn't feel like one. Google was an ad company only in the sense that a good TV show is an ad company: having great content attracts advertisers.

Technically, you're right. Pardon the sarcasm, but where was this guy buried? The other stuff, like cars which drive themselves, is good for kicks but there's just one business at the Big G that pays for all the free lunches that you ate. Hint: the word starts with an "A."

    Under Eric Schmidt ads were always in the background. Google was run like an innovation factory, empowering employees to be entrepreneurial through founder's awards, peer bonuses and 20% time. Our advertising revenue gave us the headroom to think, innovate and create. Forums like App Engine, Google Labs and open source served as staging grounds for our inventions. The fact that all this was paid for by a cash machine stuffed full of advertising loot was lost on most of us. Maybe the engineers who actually worked on ads felt it, but the rest of us were convinced that Google was a technology company first and foremost; a company that hired smart people and placed a big bet on their ability to innovate.

Welcome to the real world and now face facts: After 10 years, companies will change, though I doubt that Larry Page is any less of a technologist than Eric Schmidt.

    But that was then, as the saying goes, and this is now. It turns out that there was one place where the Google innovation machine faltered and that one place mattered a lot: competing with Facebook. Informal efforts produced a couple of antisocial dogs in Wave and Buzz. Orkut never caught on outside Brazil. Like the proverbial hare confident enough in its lead to risk a brief nap, Google awoke from its social dreaming to find its front runner status in ads threatened.

    Google could still put ads in front of more people than Facebook, but Facebook knows so much more about those people. Advertisers and publishers cherish this kind of personal information, so much so that they are willing to put the Facebook brand before their own. Exhibit A: www.facebook.com/nike, a company with the power and clout of Nike putting their own brand after Facebook's? No company has ever done that for Google and Google took it personally.

    Larry Page himself assumed command to right this wrong. Social became state-owned, a corporate mandate called Google+. It was an ominous name invoking the feeling that Google alone wasn't enough. Search had to be social. Android had to be social. You Tube, once joyous in their independence, had to be & well, you get the point. Even worse was that innovation had to be social. Ideas that failed to put Google+ at the center of the universe were a distraction.

Larry Page as the second coming of Vladamir Lenin? Say it ain't so, comrade. Seriously, if this guy was running the show, is he saying that Google would not do anything and everything short of breaking the law to leverage its existing strengths to battle Facebook? Google was late to the game and still has an uphill battle wiping the smirk off Zuckerberg's face. Only a village idiot would take a pass at making those ancillary parts of the company, once so "joyous in their independence," work more closely together in support of the bigger objective.

    Suddenly, 20% meant half-assed. Google Labs was shut down. App Engine fees were raised. APIs that had been free for years were deprecated or provided for a fee. As the trappings of entrepreneurship were dismantled, derisive talk of the old Google and its feeble attempts at competing with Facebook surfaced to justify a new Google that promised more wood behind fewer arrows. The days of old Google hiring smart people and empowering them to invent the future was gone. The new Google knew beyond doubt what the future should look like. Employees had gotten it wrong and corporate intervention would set it right again.

Oh, cry me a river. To be fair, nostalgia for the good old days is a very human trait. Folks since Aristotle have bemoaned the shortcomings of the new generation. Not that it makes for accuracy but it's good fodder for a bar conversation.

    Google+ and me, we were simply never meant to be. Truth is I've never been much on advertising. I don't click on ads. When Gmail displays ads based on things I type into my email message it creeps me out. I don't want my search results to contain the rants of Google+ posters (or Facebook's or Twitter's for that matter). When I search for London pub walks I want better than the sponsored suggestion to Buy a London pub walk at Wal-Mart.

Now he gets to the crux of the matter. Hey, advertising bores me silly, too. I'd much rather write about new technology but you knew what you were getting into when you signed on the dotted line. Sorta late in the day to claim innocence.

    The old Google made a fortune on ads because they had good content. It was like TV used to be: make the best show and you get the most ad revenue from commercials. The new Google seems more focused on the commercials themselves.

Don't kid yourself. TV's "golden age" was a Fig Newton of our collective imagination. Ditto for this lachrymose line about the "good content" that once predominated.

    Perhaps Google is right. Perhaps the future lies in learning as much about people's personal lives as possible. Perhaps Google is a better judge of when I should call my mom and that my life would be better if I shopped that Nordstrom sale. Perhaps if they nag me enough about all that open time on my calendar I'll work out more often. Perhaps if they offer an ad for a divorce lawyer because I am writing an email about my 14 year old son breaking up with his girlfriend I'll appreciate that ad enough to end my own marriage. Or perhaps I'll figure all this stuff out on my own.

Welcome to 1984. But didn't we arrive there years ago?

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Does it still make sense to buy DVDs?

With services like Netflix, iTunes, and Amazon offering a wealth of on-demand viewing options, do DVDs still have a place in the world?

I'm on vacation for the next couple days, so I'll see you back here on Thursday. In the meantime, I have a nice, meaty topic to tide you over.

A few weeks ago I asked if it still made sense to buy CDs, what with so many download and streaming options.

Today, let's turn our attention to those other silvery platters of goodness: DVDs (and, by proxy, Blu-rays). Do they still have a place in the world?

Despite the physical similarities of the media, music and movies aren't quite the same thing. I think people tend to buy a lot more of the former, or at least they did when CDs ruled the music-distribution roost. Personally, I probably own 10 times as many audio CDs as I do DVDs.

On the other hand, I know folks who have massive movie libraries, who don't think twice about plunking down $20 for their own copy of "Napoleon Dynamite." And don't forget parents, who are very likely to spring for movies that the younger kids will watch repeatedly (which explains why many of the movies I do own have Pixar on the label).

But that was then. Today we live in a world where iTunes slings movies to our iPhones and iPads, Amazon Instant Video provides on-demand rentals for those outside the Apple ecosystem, and Netflix streams to nearly every device known to man. How can the DVD compete?

With simplicity, for starters. It doesn't get much easier than dropping a disc into a tray and pressing Play. Granted, Netflix isn't exactly complicated, but it does require a certain level of tech competency--along with a fast, reliable Internet connection. Many of us take the latter for granted, but plenty of people in this country (and others) barely have Internet at all. DVDs require no connectivity, and their image quality isn't dependent on bandwidth.

(Ironically, Blu-rays do require Internet access, at least if you want certain online extras. And don't forget the seemingly endless player firmware updates required to accommodate the latest DRM protections. Did I just say discs were simple?)

Of course, as with CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays offer advantages their digitally delivered counterparts can't match (not yet, anyway). The most obvious: outtakes, deleted scenes, director commentary, and other extras.

Even more important for some viewers: image and audio quality. No video stream or download comes close to the razor-sharp picture and 5.1-channel sound afforded by Blu-ray. Even upscaled DVDs look better than a lot of what you can stream.

Still, just as a 256Kbps MP3 is "good enough" for many listeners (myself included), I find myself satisfied with what I'm getting from the likes of Amazon Instant Video and Netflix. Recently I've been rewatching "Battlestar Galactica" via the latter, and to my eyes it looks terrific--especially considering that I watched much of the series in standard definition when it was first broadcast.

And in my house, we rarely fire up the Blu-ray player anymore. Occasionally we'll rent something from Redbox, which makes up for its two-trip hassle with change-under-the-sofa-cushions prices, but mostly we're done with discs. Even the minivan's DVD system has largely gone dark in favor of iPods and iPads.
So that's the trend in this cheapskate's world--and, I suspect, the world at large. What do you think? Are DVDs soon to join laser discs and VHS tapes in three-for-$5 garage-sale obscurity, or will they survive in the way print books will--marginalized by electronic alternatives, but still treasured and coveted by the faithful?

While you're prepping your comment on that, answer me this: What's your all-time favorite DVD that you own? My pick: "Firefly: The Complete Series."

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