progressive cyberdadaism from our nation’s capital
Fear not. You are not alone.
MacRumors.com notes that the itunes store is over bandwidthed. (Like my use of the noun as a verb?)
So you can’t buy the new iphone 2.0 software and use the stunning next generation mobile applications that you’ve been waiting all summer to try. There’s more to life than moblogging from a pub. At least I think there is.
On the other hand, maybe God really does hate you. That’s possible.
Sometimes life comes at you fast. I don’t even remember what that’s an advertisement for. I just know it’s funny because it’s true.
This afternoon I was at a Gamestop in Wheaton Plaza. They have 4 Wii boxes in front. Empty Wii boxes. So I axed the guy if he actually stocked Wii’s.
“Not actually, no.”
Another sales guy walked over. He seemed more interested in talking to me.
“They just show up and they’re sold the same day. We don’t actually stock them. They don’t last that long.”
“When do they ’show up’?”
“There’s never any rhyme or reason,” he explained. “Though lately there’s been between 6 to 10 that show up instead of less than 6. That helps.”
It’s really something once you think about it. There’s no inventory control because there’s no inventory. The store doesn’t even have control over when the Wii’s show up. Or how many show up. I guess it’s good work if you can get it.
Mostly I’ve been sitting around waiting for Saturday when the great nuclear meltdown happens between Barack “Hussein X” Obama and Hillary “Ducking from Sniper Fire” Clinton. Yes, I’m one of the lucky ones who have a ticket for the DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee. Man, oh man, I wish I could work the popcorn concession for that event.
But last night I was screwing around with the XNA Developer’s kit. So far I’ve managed to get a game running on the Zune (using an SDK early release) and on the XBox 360. You know what, that’s pretty cool. I know that all the fuss has been about the Wii, but the idea of making games for the XBox, and for that matter, portable games for the Zune is way more attractive.
I’ve been meaning to mention something about the Google Map API. Basically, what’s cool about Google Maps is that it helps you put together web presentations that combine geographic information along with other points of interest, including hyperlinks to more information.
And, you know what, it’s fun to play around with.
Check it out! You’ll be glad you did.
Coming soon: my map of favorite skateboarding places in DC.
Starbucks evolves from WiFi early adopter to 21st century: (Crave)
Under the earlier plan with T-Mobile, Starbucks customers needed a paid subscription to access the in-store Wi-Fi service, and T-Mobile HotSpot subscribers will continue to have access to Starbucks Wi-Fi thanks to an agreement between AT&T and T-Mobile. But the new AT&T plan allows all customers 2 free hours per day, with a $3.99 fee for additional 2-hour chunks of time. Monthly subscriptions will cost $19.99 and will enable access to other AT&T hot-spot locations in addition to Starbucks.
In addition, AT&T broadband customers will be able to surf at the more than 7,000 Starbucks locations in the U.S. for free. The new Wi-Fi partnership is expected to be introduced gradually at Starbucks locations this spring.
Coming soon: absolut martini frappachino.
From the comments to this MyDD post comes a link to a very helpful resource. It’s a comic book from Duke Law School discussing copyright and fair use.
That said, the premise of the original post was questionable:
Progressive Democrats don’t like unfair and illegal strangeholds on free speech under the guise of copyright. This Larry Lessig Op-Ed on Viacom suing youtube is worth reading. Viacom’s stranglehold on the political and legal process has made it impossible to get clear rules on copyright.
The Viacom/YouTube lawsuit is a very poor example of big business putting a stranglehold on internet free speech. YouTube, recognizing Viacom’s rights to the videos, had agreed to take down popular clips from Comedy Central, and was negotiating with Viacom for a licensing deal. YouTube didn’t want to pay Viacom’s price, and was lax about taking down copyrighted videos. Since then, Viacom has signed a licensing deal with Joost, for all you Comedy Central fans.
Here’s what I find so frustrating about YouTube: they have a parasitic relationship to content. The premise of the company was to make it as easy as possible for their users to steal the work of others, meanwhile, the YouTube founders sell advertising. That’s the YouTube formula.
I’ll also point out that the Duke Law comic book on copyright law is careful to distinguish between Fair Use, and theft. One of the requirements is that the use of the copyrighted material be “transformative.” A new work of creativity emerges. As a parody, commentary, critque, etc. The point is, something new needs to be created. Copying clips from the Daily Show or Colbert Report is not creating anything new. Unless we’ve reached the sad point where setting the VCR to REC at 11:00pm is considered an artistic act.
Here’s what I’m saying: if YouTube stays in business it needs to start paying content creators cash money. Either that, or it becomes a site that distributes political ads (and other forms of advertising) without compensation. Along with the clips of people on fire riding a bicycle that YouTube users seem to crave.
Windows Vista may corrupt iPods:
Apple Computer is warning customers who use the Windows version of its iTunes software to hold off upgrading to Windows Vista until it can release a patch to fix a number of serious compatibility issues, one of which could result in a corrupt iPod player.
Apple, in a statement posted on its Web support forum, says upgrading from Windows 2000 or Windows XP to Vista may result in the inability to play songs purchased and downloaded to the desktop iTunes player from its online iTunes store.
Worse, however, is the problem that iPod users could encounter if they try to eject their digital music player from a desktop port using the “Safely Remove Hardware” feature found on the Vista system tray. That, Apple warns ominously, “may corrupt your iPod.”
In theory, Microsoft tested Vista using 100+ families. To which I say: really? And, none of them had iPods? Or, was Microsoft assuming that users wouldn’t mind switching to the Zune for the shear thrill of running Vista?
YouTube announces that it will rip-off video providers slightly less than it does currently: (Washington Post, emphasis mine)
Hurley, 30, gave no details of how much users might receive or what mechanism would be used.
In October 2005, Revver — which like YouTube offers video clips online — announced plans to attach advertising to user-submitted videos and give their creators a cut of the profit.
Hurley said that when YouTube started, he and the site’s co-founders — Steve Chen and Jawed Karim — thought revenue sharing would build a community of users motivated by making money rather a love of videos.
Really? So you figured you’d keep all the money and that would make the motives of the YouTube community purer? Because YouTube founders aren’t corrupted by the same influences that its users are?
Now, I’ve been pointing out that YouTube is the most parasitic of the video sharing sites for a few months now. How did it get so popular? As far as I can tell, because it didn’t do any policing of copyright violation until fairly recently when it was hit by several lawsuits. By then, the branding had been established.
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hip·po·pot·a·mus n. A notion, perhaps distinct from conventional wisdom, that needs to be verified by reality-based scrutiny.
95. Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum (I think that I think, therefore I think that I am.)
— Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary
The best way to make sense of this legal tangle is to mouse over the title of an individual scandal, which will highlight everyone implicated. [Link]
A 22-year-old bicyclist was struck by a garbage truck and killed just north of Dupont Circle today, authorities said. Police and fire vehicles converged on the scene at 20th and R streets NW, snarling Connecticut Avenue traffic during the morning rush. [Link]
We're asking you to put some of the money you plan to give Obama "in escrow" until he demonstrates progressive leadership on the issues we care about, like warrantless wiretapping. [Link]
The report notes that the administration has gone to “unprecedented lengths to control and suppress information about the human cost” of the wars. [Link]
"We see a tipping point occurring right before our eyes," Hansen said during his appearance at the National Press Club. "The Arctic is the first tipping point and it's occurring exactly the way we said it would." [Link]
It appeared to confirm for the first time in an official examination many of the allegations from critics who charged that the Justice Department had become overly politicized during the Bush administration. [Link]
"After years of disclosures by government investigations, media accounts, and reports from human rights organizations, there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes. The only question that remains to be ans [Link]
It gives me a terrible mental image of the whole country linking arms and goose-stepping in unison, with the politicians out in front doing a straight-armed salute. [Link]
BOULTON: There are those who would say look, lets take Guantanamo Bay, and Abu Ghraib, and rendition and all those things and to them that is the complete opposite of freedom. BUSH: Of course, if you want to slander America. [Link]
In a subsequent e-mail to the employee, Cargol described himself as “a rub-your-belly, grab-your-balls, give-you-a-hug, slap-your-back, pull-your-dick, squeeze-your-hand, cheek-your-face, and pat-your-thigh kind of guy.” [Link]
Democracy Now! Radio and TV News [Link]
Let's take a look at how the Los Angeles Times covered the new Senate Intelligence Committee report on the claims made as part of selling the Iraq war, and compare it to how the editorial page of the Washington Post, by which I mean Fred Hiatt, sees the e [Link]
Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan writes in a new memoir that the Iraq war was sold to the American people with a sophisticated "political propaganda campaign" led by President Bush and aimed at "manipulating sources of public opinion" an [Link]
Hertzberg's analysis is noteworthy because he appears to be able to allow several ideas to coexist in his head simultaneously, which quite an achievement these days. [Link]
That night, George Stephanopoulos, who was then a top aide to Mr. Clinton, declared that it was “mathematically impossible for Brown to get the nomination” — the start of a campaign to declare Mr. Clinton the presumed nominee, even as several other [Link]
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