Hard to believe it's been this long, but today marks six years since the world lost Joe Strummer. In his remembrance, here are two of my favorite examples of his work:
The 101er's - "Keys to Your Heart"
The Clash - "Death or Glory"
Monday, December 22, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Yeah, I Know, Changing Already...
If you are currently getting email updates from me via Bot-a-Blog, please resubscribe using the new Feedblitz field on the left-hand side of the page. Bot-A-Blog was nice, but didn't offer the same flexibility or data services that Feedblitz does.
I'll leave the Bot-A-Blog service running for a couple of days yet, but after Christmas I will be stopping that feed -- please make the switch-over before then so you don't miss anything!
Thanks!
I'll leave the Bot-A-Blog service running for a couple of days yet, but after Christmas I will be stopping that feed -- please make the switch-over before then so you don't miss anything!
Thanks!
Keep Those Home Computer Fires Burning
Nothing better on a cold December night than to curl up by the fireplace with loved ones, Christmas carols in the background.
What? You don't have a fireplace? No problem! The folks at FauxFire.com have you covered. Follow the link, and choose your settings - with or without music, and with or without fireplace sound effects.
As I said, nothing better than to curl up in front of the computer...
What? You don't have a fireplace? No problem! The folks at FauxFire.com have you covered. Follow the link, and choose your settings - with or without music, and with or without fireplace sound effects.
As I said, nothing better than to curl up in front of the computer...
Friday, December 19, 2008
Your Friendly RIAA
News broke today that the RIAA is ending its five-year campaign to wipe out peer-to-peer file sharing through vigorous, if highly questionable, lawsuits against its own customers. Of course, they are not giving up the fight. No, now they are appealing to the major ISPs to help them root out the evil file sharers and take away their Internet service. They've gone from treating the public as guilty-until-proven-innocent criminals to treating the public as kindergartners who will have their toys taken away if they don't learn to play with them nicely.
On the one hand, this news is positive: it only took five years for the RIAA to figure out that their approach not only wasn't effective, it was counterproductive! In 2003, when the RIAA began the lawsuit campaign, there were estimated to be somewhere around 3,000,000 people in the US using P2P networks to share music. By 2007, there were closer to 9,500,000 - better than a 300% increase in P2P network population. This with the highly publicized monitoring of those P2P networks in full force.
Overall CD, vinyl and cassette sales during that same have famously plunged, from about $11 billion in 2003 to $7.5 billion in 2007. (To paraphrase Jello Biafra, could it be they've put out too many lousy records?) Tellingly, during the same period the RIAA's own sales numbers for "legal downloads" has grown dramatically, from $184,000,000 in 2004 (the first year for such reporting) to $1,250,000,000 in 2007 -- better than a 675% increase! (source)
On the other hand, is the new remedy the RIAA is choosing worse yet? After all, they are still going to identify "likely" violators with the same questionable methods they've always used. Now, they've conveniently eliminated the need for any due process whatsoever - or even the need to identify the owner of a given IP address! Now, they just go to the ISP and say "This IP address may have been sharing music files - cut their Internet service!" Just like that, your grandma in Tucson is bumped offline.
When will the RIAA learn? The marketplace isn't out to do them in, yet they seem always to have felt this way. Remember the "home taping is killing the music industry" campaigns in the '80s? Heck, if it weren't for hearing artists on tapes my friends made for me back then, I wouldn't have purchased half the albums in my collection!
What better way to market a band than through word-of-mouth? Aren't you more willing to give an unknown artist a listen when one of your buddies tells you, "Oh man, you've gotta hear this!" than you are even based on review you might read online or in a magazine? This is why P2P networks are so popular.
Would it be so difficult to create the RIAA's own "legitimate" P2P network? JR Raphael, in an article for PCWorld, suggests this very solution.
I think it's an outstanding idea. How about you?
On the one hand, this news is positive: it only took five years for the RIAA to figure out that their approach not only wasn't effective, it was counterproductive! In 2003, when the RIAA began the lawsuit campaign, there were estimated to be somewhere around 3,000,000 people in the US using P2P networks to share music. By 2007, there were closer to 9,500,000 - better than a 300% increase in P2P network population. This with the highly publicized monitoring of those P2P networks in full force.
Overall CD, vinyl and cassette sales during that same have famously plunged, from about $11 billion in 2003 to $7.5 billion in 2007. (To paraphrase Jello Biafra, could it be they've put out too many lousy records?) Tellingly, during the same period the RIAA's own sales numbers for "legal downloads" has grown dramatically, from $184,000,000 in 2004 (the first year for such reporting) to $1,250,000,000 in 2007 -- better than a 675% increase! (source)
On the other hand, is the new remedy the RIAA is choosing worse yet? After all, they are still going to identify "likely" violators with the same questionable methods they've always used. Now, they've conveniently eliminated the need for any due process whatsoever - or even the need to identify the owner of a given IP address! Now, they just go to the ISP and say "This IP address may have been sharing music files - cut their Internet service!" Just like that, your grandma in Tucson is bumped offline.
When will the RIAA learn? The marketplace isn't out to do them in, yet they seem always to have felt this way. Remember the "home taping is killing the music industry" campaigns in the '80s? Heck, if it weren't for hearing artists on tapes my friends made for me back then, I wouldn't have purchased half the albums in my collection!
What better way to market a band than through word-of-mouth? Aren't you more willing to give an unknown artist a listen when one of your buddies tells you, "Oh man, you've gotta hear this!" than you are even based on review you might read online or in a magazine? This is why P2P networks are so popular.
Would it be so difficult to create the RIAA's own "legitimate" P2P network? JR Raphael, in an article for PCWorld, suggests this very solution.
I think it's an outstanding idea. How about you?
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Oh No, It's Bebo!
I admit it: I'm a social networking junkie. I have a great time checking in with my online friends on a daily basis, sharing snippets of my life and catching glimpses of theirs. While it is certainly no substitute for actual human interaction, there is a definite sense of community found among those of us who are conducting this "virtual social life". And, the online neighborhood has no physical boundaries. My network, for example, includes folks from as far away as Amsterdam, Indonesia and Australia as well as friends who literally live a few blocks from my house.
As I am still a relative "rookie" in the Social Networking world, and there are a wide assortment of Social Networks out there to choose from, I try each one out in order to find which fit my personality best. I have presently settled into four main services: Facebook is far and away the best I have used, combining a user-friendly interface and a variety of privacy levels with an assortment of games, discussion groups, and other interactive services; it is my main network online. Twitter is a close second, with its "online cocktail party" vibe; here is where I have met the most new and intriguing people. Linked-In is an absolute necessity for maintaining a professional network; here I maintain existing business contacts as well find new ones. MySpace, while definitely geared towards a younger main demographic than I fit into, is useful for keeping in touch with some of my former employees as well as keeping up with bands I enjoy. There are other networks online that I am in for various purposes (MyBlogLog, for example, now that I've entered the blogosphere), but those four are the hub of my online life.
A couple of days ago, I was introduced to Bebo. Now, there have been sites that I have tried and decided weren't for me, but never before a site that I'm sorry I ever came into contact with. Folks, let me tell you about the fun that Bebo injected into my world...
Like any other social site, Bebo wanted to know about me - who am I, where am I, what do I like -- you know the drill. I dutifully filled out my profile, and onto the next step: are any of my existing contacts already on Bebo, and if not do I want to invite them? Again, pretty standard fair. Plug in your address book and let it determine who matches up to the current roster, and hit a button to send automated invites to those who aren't. Simple, right?
A few of my contacts were already on Bebo, so I wanted to add them to friends list. However, when I'm trying out a new service, I don't want to invite my whole network willy-nilly until I have had the chance to see whether I'm even sticking around. On most sites, this is easily accomplished - and the steps to accomplish it clearly indicated. Bebo is not so clear when it comes to navigating its auto-invite page, but I'm a smart guy. Should be no problem. Ahem.
In a matter of moments, a few acceptances trickled into my inbox, including one name I didn't remember being on the list of friends already on Bebo. Hmmm...maybe I missed that one or it just didn't register. Oh well, good to have friends...wait a minute, now I know I didn't invite THAT person yet. What's going on here?
Within about fifteen minutes, what had happened became embarrassingly clear: Bebo had, despite my wishes, sent invites to my entire address book. What's more, somehow invites had also gone out to every single email address found on any email in my inbox...including several people I don't even know!
Now my inbox was being bombarded with confused emails from strangers asking who I was, how I had their email, and in one or two cases telling me in less than polite terms that I should never email them again, and suggesting places I might stick the invitation.
Damage control time! As quickly as I could, I put together an auto-response that would go out to anyone sending me an email explaining what had happened and apologizing profusely. Many folks were understanding - thankfully so. But I was still left wondering how in Blue Hell this happened. Had I really misread the instructions? Had I picked up some sort of Bebo virus?
One of my favorite type of Google searches to do if I want to find out about a company, product, or website, is search for "________ sucks" -- if you get a small number of search results, you know that not many have gone online to voice complaint. My search for "Bebo sucks", however, returned page after page of results, including this remarkably similar tale. And my personal favorite, here, complete with a call to arms that my post here responds to.
The good news: after three or four days, everything seems to have settled back down. Clearly, there are those who use Bebo and are fine with it. I am not one who wants to work with a site that spams my entire email universe, though, so I went to cancel the account. Surprise, surprise - even though there is a link to click to cancel, all of the sudden Bebo doesn't recognize my password in order to allow me to delete the account (even though I just used that password not a minute before to log in to the site in the first place!)
Facebook is wonderful. Twitter is outstanding. Linked-In is excellent. MySpace serves its purpose well. Bebo = FAIL.
As I am still a relative "rookie" in the Social Networking world, and there are a wide assortment of Social Networks out there to choose from, I try each one out in order to find which fit my personality best. I have presently settled into four main services: Facebook is far and away the best I have used, combining a user-friendly interface and a variety of privacy levels with an assortment of games, discussion groups, and other interactive services; it is my main network online. Twitter is a close second, with its "online cocktail party" vibe; here is where I have met the most new and intriguing people. Linked-In is an absolute necessity for maintaining a professional network; here I maintain existing business contacts as well find new ones. MySpace, while definitely geared towards a younger main demographic than I fit into, is useful for keeping in touch with some of my former employees as well as keeping up with bands I enjoy. There are other networks online that I am in for various purposes (MyBlogLog, for example, now that I've entered the blogosphere), but those four are the hub of my online life.
A couple of days ago, I was introduced to Bebo. Now, there have been sites that I have tried and decided weren't for me, but never before a site that I'm sorry I ever came into contact with. Folks, let me tell you about the fun that Bebo injected into my world...
Like any other social site, Bebo wanted to know about me - who am I, where am I, what do I like -- you know the drill. I dutifully filled out my profile, and onto the next step: are any of my existing contacts already on Bebo, and if not do I want to invite them? Again, pretty standard fair. Plug in your address book and let it determine who matches up to the current roster, and hit a button to send automated invites to those who aren't. Simple, right?
A few of my contacts were already on Bebo, so I wanted to add them to friends list. However, when I'm trying out a new service, I don't want to invite my whole network willy-nilly until I have had the chance to see whether I'm even sticking around. On most sites, this is easily accomplished - and the steps to accomplish it clearly indicated. Bebo is not so clear when it comes to navigating its auto-invite page, but I'm a smart guy. Should be no problem. Ahem.
In a matter of moments, a few acceptances trickled into my inbox, including one name I didn't remember being on the list of friends already on Bebo. Hmmm...maybe I missed that one or it just didn't register. Oh well, good to have friends...wait a minute, now I know I didn't invite THAT person yet. What's going on here?
Within about fifteen minutes, what had happened became embarrassingly clear: Bebo had, despite my wishes, sent invites to my entire address book. What's more, somehow invites had also gone out to every single email address found on any email in my inbox...including several people I don't even know!
Now my inbox was being bombarded with confused emails from strangers asking who I was, how I had their email, and in one or two cases telling me in less than polite terms that I should never email them again, and suggesting places I might stick the invitation.
Damage control time! As quickly as I could, I put together an auto-response that would go out to anyone sending me an email explaining what had happened and apologizing profusely. Many folks were understanding - thankfully so. But I was still left wondering how in Blue Hell this happened. Had I really misread the instructions? Had I picked up some sort of Bebo virus?
One of my favorite type of Google searches to do if I want to find out about a company, product, or website, is search for "________ sucks" -- if you get a small number of search results, you know that not many have gone online to voice complaint. My search for "Bebo sucks", however, returned page after page of results, including this remarkably similar tale. And my personal favorite, here, complete with a call to arms that my post here responds to.
The good news: after three or four days, everything seems to have settled back down. Clearly, there are those who use Bebo and are fine with it. I am not one who wants to work with a site that spams my entire email universe, though, so I went to cancel the account. Surprise, surprise - even though there is a link to click to cancel, all of the sudden Bebo doesn't recognize my password in order to allow me to delete the account (even though I just used that password not a minute before to log in to the site in the first place!)
Facebook is wonderful. Twitter is outstanding. Linked-In is excellent. MySpace serves its purpose well. Bebo = FAIL.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
The Maddening Crowds - 10 Rules for Crowded Aisle Etiquette
I am a regular visitor to Lancaster, PA's Central Market, the country's oldest indoor farmer's market. It's a great place with great food: fresh, homegrown produce, any kind of meats or cheeses your heart desires, and stands presenting cuisine from places as far abroad as Greece, Thailand, and the Middle East.
It also has crowds. Locals like myself come here as part of our regular grocery shopping. Tourists come here because of it's historic value. Amateur musicians, pamphlet-wielding religious freaks, and sidewalk saviors come here to reach the wide and varied audience found here.
And, like anywhere else large numbers of people gather, no one seems to understand the most basic rules of how to move through crowded aisles. It being the last week or so before Christmas, I have no doubt you will find yourself to be part of similar crowds somewhere. So, although my list of rules below has been written specifically after seeing all ten violated at Central Market this morning, no doubt you will find that you are able to apply them in other locales:
1. You are not alone. You are not living in a vacuum. The person towards whom you are directly walking (me) is real, and you will not be able to miraculously walk through me. Do not register surprise or annoyance at this fact. Don't give me the "where'd you come from can't you see I'm walking here" glare when you made eye contact with me from ten yards away.
2. Do not push an empty double-stroller around while your demon children run about screaming like banshees. You are in the way. Yes, YOU are the one in the way. Don't give me that look because you can't maneuver that hulking stroller and herd your vile spawn at the same time.
3. Yes, your children are demon spawn. They are horribly misbehaved. They may be the loves of your life, but they are knocking stuff over, having a sword fight with loaves of Italian bread, and kicking me in the shin. While you're beaming with parental pride, they are spewing out language that would make Sarah Silverman blush. Just leave them at home. Trust me, everyone will be better off.
4. Do not suddenly stop and stare slackjawed into space. Keep moving! If you've momentarily forgotten where you are and why you're there, or if you're scanning your memory banks for the next item on your to-buy list, smack in the middle of the traffic flow is not the place to regain your bearings. You wouldn't pull out into the middle of an intersection and then stop and decide which way to turn, would you? (Oh wait...I've seen that happen too many times as well.)
5. Put the cell phone away. NOW! If you don't have the authority to decide what kind of lunchmeat to bring home without consulting someone who's not here, maybe THAT person should be here instead of you.
6. It's wonderful that you have run into an old friend. The place to stop and catch up on each other's adventures over the past twenty years is not in the middle of a traffic aisle! I'm only saying "Excuse me," once, then I'm pushing through. Don't give me that "how dare you interrupt our conversation" glare. Again, YOU are the one in the way!
7. At most stands or counters, there is a line. Wait in it! Do not push up past everyone and lean on the counter hoping you'll get served sooner. Yes, I know you're in hurry. So am I. So are the other ten people in line. I don't care if you're the President of the United States - get to the back of the line!
8. Before you even head out the door of your home, ask yourself this question: is it really necessary for my entire extended family to join me? Getting out of the house may be good for Grandma and Grandpa, but they move really slow - a bad thing in a crowd. They also have the strongest tendency to violate Rule #4.
9. If you are bringing your entire family, or every friend and neighbor you know, do not walk three or more abreast, chatting like you're having afternoon tea. You're moving way too slowly, and you're taking up the aisle for BOTH directions of traffic. Congratulations, you're now in EVERYONE'S way!
10. It's a freaking market, and you are not blind. Why in the name of all that is holy do you have your dog with you?!? Your misbehaving kids, doddering grandparents, and chatty friends are bad enough, but now I can't get through the aisle because Rover wants to get to know me better. Your rights to go out of your house should be immediately and indefinitely revoked!
Keep these rules in mind the next time you're out and about. Or, if you want to have fun, keep score of how many of these rule violations you see. Make "Idiots in the Crowd" bingo cards. Just, whatever you do, stay out of my way. I'm busy and have places to get to!
It also has crowds. Locals like myself come here as part of our regular grocery shopping. Tourists come here because of it's historic value. Amateur musicians, pamphlet-wielding religious freaks, and sidewalk saviors come here to reach the wide and varied audience found here.
And, like anywhere else large numbers of people gather, no one seems to understand the most basic rules of how to move through crowded aisles. It being the last week or so before Christmas, I have no doubt you will find yourself to be part of similar crowds somewhere. So, although my list of rules below has been written specifically after seeing all ten violated at Central Market this morning, no doubt you will find that you are able to apply them in other locales:
1. You are not alone. You are not living in a vacuum. The person towards whom you are directly walking (me) is real, and you will not be able to miraculously walk through me. Do not register surprise or annoyance at this fact. Don't give me the "where'd you come from can't you see I'm walking here" glare when you made eye contact with me from ten yards away.
2. Do not push an empty double-stroller around while your demon children run about screaming like banshees. You are in the way. Yes, YOU are the one in the way. Don't give me that look because you can't maneuver that hulking stroller and herd your vile spawn at the same time.
3. Yes, your children are demon spawn. They are horribly misbehaved. They may be the loves of your life, but they are knocking stuff over, having a sword fight with loaves of Italian bread, and kicking me in the shin. While you're beaming with parental pride, they are spewing out language that would make Sarah Silverman blush. Just leave them at home. Trust me, everyone will be better off.
4. Do not suddenly stop and stare slackjawed into space. Keep moving! If you've momentarily forgotten where you are and why you're there, or if you're scanning your memory banks for the next item on your to-buy list, smack in the middle of the traffic flow is not the place to regain your bearings. You wouldn't pull out into the middle of an intersection and then stop and decide which way to turn, would you? (Oh wait...I've seen that happen too many times as well.)
5. Put the cell phone away. NOW! If you don't have the authority to decide what kind of lunchmeat to bring home without consulting someone who's not here, maybe THAT person should be here instead of you.
6. It's wonderful that you have run into an old friend. The place to stop and catch up on each other's adventures over the past twenty years is not in the middle of a traffic aisle! I'm only saying "Excuse me," once, then I'm pushing through. Don't give me that "how dare you interrupt our conversation" glare. Again, YOU are the one in the way!
7. At most stands or counters, there is a line. Wait in it! Do not push up past everyone and lean on the counter hoping you'll get served sooner. Yes, I know you're in hurry. So am I. So are the other ten people in line. I don't care if you're the President of the United States - get to the back of the line!
8. Before you even head out the door of your home, ask yourself this question: is it really necessary for my entire extended family to join me? Getting out of the house may be good for Grandma and Grandpa, but they move really slow - a bad thing in a crowd. They also have the strongest tendency to violate Rule #4.
9. If you are bringing your entire family, or every friend and neighbor you know, do not walk three or more abreast, chatting like you're having afternoon tea. You're moving way too slowly, and you're taking up the aisle for BOTH directions of traffic. Congratulations, you're now in EVERYONE'S way!
10. It's a freaking market, and you are not blind. Why in the name of all that is holy do you have your dog with you?!? Your misbehaving kids, doddering grandparents, and chatty friends are bad enough, but now I can't get through the aisle because Rover wants to get to know me better. Your rights to go out of your house should be immediately and indefinitely revoked!
Keep these rules in mind the next time you're out and about. Or, if you want to have fun, keep score of how many of these rule violations you see. Make "Idiots in the Crowd" bingo cards. Just, whatever you do, stay out of my way. I'm busy and have places to get to!
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