Saturday, May 01, 2004

WTF RIAA??

Has the RIAA (Recording Industry Artists Association) turned into another SCO? A company that just runs around suing everyone? Read this article for more information. I really think that lawsuits are the wrong way to go about this. Yes, it is illegal to download music, movies, books, etc. you didn't pay for. Really no way to argue about that, since that's THE LAW. But instead of complaining that people download and share music over P2P networks without paying for them, wouldn't it be a better idea to concentrate efforts on making purchasing music in the traditional manner (on in a new manner) a better option? If the cost of the CD in the store is roughly the same as buying a blank CD and spending the time (and money - for a broadband connection, electricity, a PC and the necessary hardware/software to burn that CD) to create your own CD - but the purchased CD has higher sound quality, has the cover art and liner notes, etc. - doesn't that make it a better value? For me, that would make it worth going to one of the several stores very close to me where I can purchase it. Maybe it's just me.

Fun with iPod

I have a 15GB iPod - got it February 14th. Which was great timing, cause the Pepsi/iTunes promo started soon after that. I think I ended up with something like 50 free songs, not bad I guess. I have something like 800 songs in total on my iPod, and I spend alot of time listening to it on random shuffle - which makes some very interesting choices. I've had it go from playing Radiohead to Journey to Eminem. It's a lot of fun to just take a long walk and let it shuffle play an ecclectic mix of your music to you. I also have a FM transmitter to use in the car - so I can take along my iPod on car trips. Apple released a new version of iTunes and a new version of the iPod software - and I guess some people are having problems with the new software not recognizing their iPod. Man, that sucks. I don't know what I'd do without mine now.

Friday, April 30, 2004

Random fun and weirdness

So I read User Friendly every day - I think it's probably one of the funniest online comics (and I read a LOT of online comics). They have a feature on the site called the Link Of The Day - users of the site submit webpages and one is chosen to be featured each day. Today's site is Antibubble - it's pretty interesting. Gotta say I've never actually seen that before. Don't know if I'd have the patience to try and make antibubbles myself, but it would be cool to actually watch it happen.

Thursday, April 29, 2004

Think locally...

I work for a corporation that has offices around the country - and I'm sure has some offices (for at least a few of the businesses it owns) around the world. That said, it's very important to the company for local offices to become involved in the community. So, we are always being given opportunities to volunteer our time to local causes and such. I generally put little stock in personal voluntarism, my personal time is very valuable to me. So I generally find myself participating in events I don't have to attend, events I can give money to, or donate goods to. Recently I did do a 5 mile walk for WalkAmerica (their main site is HERE, but local events will be on locally sponsored websites). My wife and I did the walk together, and had a good time. Our office is also doing donations for Operation Feed, a food donation program run annually by the United Way here in Central Ohio. Since that event only requires donations of food or money, I donate :) But anyway, I think the point I'm trying to make here is that I think you don't necessarily have to kill yourself donating hours every week to worthy causes to make a difference. If more people donate time to events they believe in, or touch their lives in some way, then the impact is felt strongly. If you combine that with charitable donations to worthy causes, you've really made a difference. And that's one to grow on ;)