RIAA Brainstorm

 

I know how hard it is to be a student, pay for tuition, books, rent, food, strippers… its tough without the RIAA sending you litigation letters demanding you send them $3,000 – $4,000 dollars to make the whole thing go away, otherwise face a lawsuit which could end up being much more ($222,000 in one case). The record companies point to a decrease of 9.5 percent in album sales in 2007. How about actually take a look at the crap your spewing out of the ass end of your record companies, and maybe consider that people don’t want purchase music when shoving shit directly into your ears would be much easier (and cheaper).

 

I don’t know why these judges allow these things to go through. College students already have enough problems with debt, without “settling” an unfair case with the RIAA over supposed music sharing. Leads me to lose faith in our lawmakers and judges, allowing the country’s youth to be raped like this. The RIAA has even suggested that students should drop out to pay settlements.

When you ponder this keep in mind that the RIAA is a multi-billion dollar association with absolutely no proof other than the IP address of the computer that shared music, which can be compromised in many ways… Most students do not even know they are “sharing” files because it is enabled by default in most music downloading programs.

Two Things need to happen:

1. RIAA needs to embrace digital content instead of trying to protect a dieing system and suing their own consumers. Or better yet the RIAA needs to roll over and die.

2. Our law makers need to put in place a limit to how much the judgment can be in a case… Like I said in one case $222,000 for downloading a few songs. Also maybe talk to anybody that knows anything about networking and understand this one fact: IP Adress does not equal a person..

image via: http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/

Of Montreal

So I went to the “Of Montreal” concert last night at the Great American Music Hall in sf. The two bands opening for them were hilarious esp “Grand buffet”..

Although I had a good time, one of my friends almost got into a brawl with another girl… People, when you go to a concert venue remember something, it isnt a club, you can’t push you way anywhere you want and when someone blocks your way, I don’t care who you are it isn’t nice to pour your beer on them.

People payed the same price you did to be there so don’t act like you have the right to be in front.

Here are a few acoustic numbers by of Montreal.

-(Kevin Barnes) Chrissie Kiss The Corpse 

-(Kevin Barnes) Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse

Writing stike

I will probably be dragged through the streets and burned in effigy if fans have to wait another year for “Lost” to come back. And who could blame them? Public sentiment may have swung toward the guild for now, but once the viewing audience has spent a month or so subsisting on “America’s Next Hottest Cop” and “Celebrity Eating Contest,” I have little doubt that the tide will turn against us. Which brings me to the second stage of grief: anger.

I am angry because I am accused of being greedy by studios that are being greedy. I am angry because my greed is fair and reasonable: if money is made off of my product through the Internet, then I am entitled to a small piece. The studios’ greed, on the other hand, is hidden behind cynical, disingenuous claims that they make nothing on the Web — that the streaming and downloading of our shows is purely “promotional.” Seriously?

Most of all, I’m angry that I’m not working. Not working means not getting paid. My weekly salary is considerably more than the small percentage of Internet gains we are hoping to make in this negotiation and if I’m on the picket line for just three months, I will never recoup those losses, no matter what deal gets made.

But I am willing to hold firm for considerably longer than three months because this is a fight for the livelihoods of a future generation of writers, whose work will never “air,” but instead be streamed, beamed or zapped onto a tiny chip.

Things have gotten ugly and the lines of communication have broken down completely between the guild and the studios. Perhaps it’s not too late, though, for both sides to rally around the one thing we still have in common: our mourning for the way things used to be. Instead of fighting each other, maybe we should be throwing a wake for our beloved TV. via NYtimes

That was one of the writers of Lost… I have heard many people accuse the writers of being greedy, that they make enough money and should not be demanding more. If you think about it what they are doing is the opposite of greedy… They are putting their jobs on the line for this strike.

As much as anyone I hate reality TV, if this strike doesn’t get resolved soon I have a feeling TV won’t be in my life because the only shows I do watch, like “the Office, Lost, Prison Break, Nip/Tuck” take excellent writers to make it happen. Another thing I love about this strike is that the actors are getting behind the writers because I think they realize that without writers, they would be out of work.

With a slightly more optimistic view, I hope that out of this will give more indie movies and shorts a chance to shine.. Also maybe make way for more internet podcasters and entertainers to get their name out there and get a fan base, because we all know that everyone hates reality TV and that fad will not last.

Want to support the strike? head over to http://www.strikeswag.com/ and buy some gear.

Open Social

OpenSocial is a set of three common APIs, defined by Google with input from partners, that allow developers to access core functions and information at social networks:

* Profile Information (user data)
* Friends Information (social graph)
* Activities (things that happen, News Feed type stuff)

Hosts agree to accept the API calls and return appropriate data. Google won’t try to provide universal API coverage for special use cases, instead focusing on the most common uses. Specialized functions/data can be accessed from the hosts directly via their own APIs.

Unlike Facebook, OpenSocial does not have its own markup language (Facebook requires use of FBML for security reasons, but it also makes code unusable outside of Facebook). Instead, developers use normal javascript and html (and can embed Flash elements). The benefit of the Google approach is that developers can use much of their existing front end code and simply tailor it slightly for OpenSocial, so creating applications is even easier than on Facebook. via TechCrunch

About a week ago Google unveiled its Open Social platform. Me being a strong Open Source supporter had to write about this.

Many Social Networks have hopped on board, including Myspace. Just when Facebook started gaining some ground they have to pull this stubborn attitude. What advantages Facebook in staying out of the Open Social game? Nothing. They would have a lot to gain and almost nothing to lose. Heck, even Myspace understands what kind of community development and involvement this is going to mean.

And with the announcement of Google’s Andriord OS today (which is an open source development of mobile phones), Facebook will be left out of all that fun… And I bet when its released (‘08) it will be a big hit.

For open social APIs:
http://code.google.com/apis/opensocial/

I like Facebook, but seriously this may be the end of their high road.

Jet-lagged

Completely overslept this morning making me almost late for work if it wasn’t for the intervention of an awesome friend. This oversleeping + maybe the time change last night, has put me into semi jet-lag. It was dark so early it threw me off.

Today is Sunday, and therefore always my worst day of the week. However tomorrow I think I am going to look in “upping” my career position in a few different ways. I was looking at where I was with school and my job and realized its not as bad as I thought… actually I’m doing really well compared to lots of other people my age. I don’t know why sometimes I just feel I’m not where I could be. (Maybe I will always be in that state no matter where I am?)

Reading “The Plague” by Albert Camus this week and seem to be flyin’ through it pretty damned fast. I need another hobby besides computers and reading… Maybe I’ll start building my Steam Punk costume for next Halloween so I’ll actually have something to wear!! But before I can I need to make and emergency trip to Japan and go see a guy about this watch:

Yes, it will be mine.

See his other watches at

 http://www.eager-beavers.net/products/shouhin_guide.cgi?temp=TMP0

San Fran; Junkie safe rooms.

City health officials took steps Thursday toward opening the nation’s first legal safe-injection room, where addicts could shoot up heroin, cocaine and other drugs under the supervision of nurses.

Hoping to reduce San Francisco’s high rate of fatal drug overdoses, the public health department co-sponsored a symposium on the only such facility in North America, a four-year-old Vancouver site where an estimated 700 intravenous users a day self-administer narcotics under the supervision of nurses.

Interesting… So its illegal to shoot up your brand of drugs in the street, however venture into a approved room where you can be monitored by nurses is cool. Makes sense however I think it maybe sort of giving up? or at least giving the impression of accepting that drugies use drugs.

Well if anyplace would be the place I guess it would be Califonia.

via; http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/ 

Help for Paranoid Schizophrenics.

Best Ideas Evar.

In The Know: Is The Government Spying On Paranoid Schizophrenics Enough?

Swords and laserz

 

Veronica belmont and Tom Merritt (Two of the best tech podcast hosts out there) founded the Sword and Laser, which is a SciFi/ Fantasy book club.    0.o    I’m so in.   The first book? the Golden Compass. Perfect seeing how the movie is just around the corner…. Note to self; bookstore tomorrow.

PS: Veronica and Tom… Good on ya. 
Visit The Sword and Laser

Money as debt

“Some of the biggest men in the United States, in the field of commerce and manufacture, are afraid of something.
They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it.”

-Woodrow Wilson
former persident of the United States
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9050474362583451279

I was enjoying a smoke and a cup of coffee with a friend at a starbucks and the conversation let to money somehow, and it reminded me of this documentry I saw on the internet once of a guy explaining how the US Dollar represents nothing but debt. I’ll try to break this down… Lets say you deposit $100 cash dollars into a bank, that bank can use $90 (assuming that the reserve requirement is 10%) to loan to someone else, that then gets put back into the economy and is used to buy iPods, food, whatever and eventually gets deposited at another bank. That bank then can use $81 of that $90 dollars to lend out to someone else, and keep the loop going you will eventually get a lot of money created out of thin air…

Heres a picture for people how have trouble reading long paragraphs(I know who you are!):

You see in the picture that with $100 deposit the bank created $171.. but as long as they meet the reserve requirement to back these loans (3-10%) they are allowed to do this… in fact this is what drives our economy.

 Then why does banking work if we are always creating this money?

Because, banking is about trust. You trust that they will have your money when you need it and they trust (and hope) that everyone doesn’t withdrawal at the same time… Even though that is very odd it works… but it has its long term effects such as the united states will always be in a state of debt and the Dollar is backed by nothing but debt.

Something to ponder next time you take a loan, or deposit… Who are you really borrowing from? Where is your money really going? Watch the video… let me know what you think.

 

System

I realized earlier this summer I have a vague system in which I do things. Most of which is leaving the house an hour and a half before I have to be at work, get on the Bart, go to Starbucks, kick it and make the most of a cigarette and then finally arrive at work, the same routine getting off of work.

I have an Ipod that I catch up on some podcasts for real news whilst on the Bart. When I get to Starbucks I listen to music read the paper and catch up on what paris hilton is doing. It’s a perfectly enjoyable experience for me.

Well, tonight I was about to do the reverse of my routine which included me picking up smokes cause I was out, when my co-worker asked someone else who I don’t know to give me a ride to the Bart station! She comes up to me and says “By the way I got a ride to Bart for you.” I was perfectly happy with walking, I was actually looking forward to listening to a new album I put on my Ipod and its such a great night out. Just the thought of sitting in a car with someone I don’t know, thinking they are doing me a favor gives me anxiety. I could just say “No thanks” but that would be kind of rude since he didn’t volunteer, someone asked him. I don’t really want that to be the first impression of someone I work with.

So I then decided to vent and dedicate this rant to people who volunteer other people to do things. Be sure you are actually doing them a favor first.

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