fauxstor.net

Very Bad Things

The RIAA has no idea how perilously they are behaving. Or maybe they do. Perhaps they are the suicide bombers of capitalism: They refuse to get with the modern program, so they fanatically try to take as many people with them as they can on the way down. Thoroughly believing their own propaganda, they strap the legal equivalent of SEMTEX to themselves and their hostages since no one else will listen.

Their latest target: DJ's. That's right, the only people left who are still buying music because THEY HAVE TO. Joe Kazaa can't exactly burn an mp3 to vinyl. Here, lemme press that download for you: 33 or 45?

What the RIAA needs to understand is that the music listening public WILL NOT NEGOTIATE WITH CORPORATE TERRORISTS.

Posted by justin at 12:02 PM

Choose your OS Wisely

Supreme Bummer. The Mars Spirit rover has broken down. Apparently, "[e]xperts say it may have been caused by a problem with the computer software controlling transmissions with earth." It must have been running some variety of Microsoft Windows.

President Bush has a much better solution for an operating system: The Human Brain. And, it will cost about as much as licensing any Microsoft OS. In fact, it may even save us money.

Posted by justin at 12:51 PM

Ask Yourself not what the Public Domain can do for YOU, but what you can do with the Public Domain

One way to get people, organizations, and corporations to donate more media to the Public Domain is to do something useful with what is already out there.

In a recent missive from his mailing list, Tal writes:

"Ryan Herrold, otherwise known as Bigside Left, collborated with me [Tal Klein] on a track that's going to be on my upcoming album. We used exlusively sound samples we found using altavista's audio search engine (http://www.altavista.com/audio/default). He then took it a step further and made a video for it, using purely public domain films he found on the using altavista's video search engine (http://www.altavista.com/video/default). The result is here (sound/video quality on the mpeg is a bit shitty, the actual video is hi-res dvd quality: Within Earshot."

(Mirror Link)

Posted by justin at 10:39 AM

Operation Get It While the Gettin's Good

Hooray for Electronic Civil Disobedience:

Report: Illegal music downloading began climbing in October

Posted by justin at 6:15 PM

This Terror Alert Level brought to you by Apple

This is an open suggestion to the guy who did the Sesame Street Terror Alert System. I only had to 'shop one iPod, and I think Apple purposefully left out yellow for just this reason. Luckily, it was "silver" - a blank canvas.

Posted by justin at 3:42 PM

iPod mini

Extra cute because its pink, I suppose.

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Posted by justin at 12:22 PM

MacWorld Expo

Watching Keynote...came in late. So far it's boring metrics (yawn). I will continue to update this post as the speech continues. There are some interesting numbers, though.

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G5 Xserve. Sweet.

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30 Millionth song download has been reached. (1.9 Million / week, approaching 100 million songs /year, Apple accounts for 70% of legal downloads, top spender on iTunes spent $29,500 on songs...talk about obsessive-compulsive).

Q1, 50,000 audiobooks sold.

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iTunes - New features:

Adding Top 100 Billboard Charts from 1947 until present for each of the popular genres.

12,000 classical tracks being added.

500,000 total songs available; now largest online music store in the world for purchase.

Pepsi tie-in. Free songs. Woo. Watch for the Super Bowl ad.

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iLife: Who cares. Ooh, now its iLife '04. Shoot the marketing people, please.

People are cheering about Renezvous photo sharing. Geeks.

iPhoto demo...twiddle...twiddle.

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OK, now i am getting impatient. Show me the freaking new Apple Flying Saucers and the Apple time machine, already.

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iMovie. Blah blah. iSight can import.

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iDVD. Not too interesting for us FCP4 and DVDSP2 folks.

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Garage Band. OK, something new. 64 track mixing. 50 software instruments. 1000 professional loops (Soundtrack more or less built in), 200 effects, vintage and modern guitar amps. Some musician that I do not listen to is demonstrating the software now. Jobs is looping. Now something that sounds like Blues Traveler (i.e. like CRAP) is being demonstrated.

The cost? not $1000, not $500, not even $100, nor $70, let alone even $50. Instead, it costs....$49.00. Also, free with every new Mac. Damn, now I will have to uninstall Cubase and ProTools.

Seriously though, its something new and cool for the iNeedSomeHelp people.

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C'mon, gimme the mini-iPod and the iBox TiVo thingy.

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and now its time for....major new hardware announcement disappointment.

i... i... i... i got the knife.

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But wait...PROVE ME WRONG STEVE!

some iPod stats:

730,000 iPods sold Q4 2003, over 2 million total.

Market share: Oct-Nov.: 31% total market share in units, and 55% in revenue, making Apple #1. December numbers still not in.

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here we go...new iPod mini:

4GB of storage
.5 inches thick
$249

Mac or PC
Form factor: size of a business card.
Same UI as iPod.
Scroll wheel has buttons integrated.
Same new docking connector. Firewire and USB2.
Can charge off either USB or Firewire, both cables come with it.
Comes in colors: silver, gold, blue, pink, green. Anodized Aluminum.
Ships next month U.S.; April Worldwide.

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My MacWorld Keynote grade: C+. It would have been a C- but for the iPod mini announcement. It would have been a B if the iPod mini had cost $100-150 instead of $250.

Posted by justin at 9:41 AM

My Kubrick collection...

is out of control.

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Posted by justin at 9:02 AM

Cake or Death

Here's a cocktail recipe that my wife and I concocted to help get you through this last holiday weekend. It's called "Cake or Death", and I suspect Mr. Izzard will consume copious amounts of them:

2 oz. yoohoo
2 oz. Bacardi 151

Layer the two ingredients to keep the yoohoo and rum separated. Light aflame and drink to increase the chance of "death".

Posted by justin at 2:45 PM

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Posted by justin at 1:06 PM