Category Archives: News
Meet the New Boss… Update
Meet the New Boss… Same as the old boss!
In Daughtry, America had the opportunity to choose distinctiveness, confidence and cool. Instead, it chose bland and boring.
My personal opinion on this whole American Idol phenom can be summed up from one of my top 10 favorite movies. In Almost Famous, Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman) warns young William that the people who manipulate popular opinion of music don’t care about anything but money and that “they will ruin Rock ‘n Roll and strangle everything we love about it. They are trying to buy respectability for a form that is gloriously and righteously dumb. And the day that it ceases to be dumb is the day that it ceases to be real. Right? And then it just becomes an… industry of cool. This is a very dangerous time for rock ‘n roll. They won. The war is over. I mean 99% of what passes for music today… Silence is more compelling.
Quit watching American Karaoke American Idol people!!! For a great education on real music check out the following…
The Theme Time Radio Hour w/ Bob Dylan
iTunes School of Rock: Lesson 1- Roots and Blues (iTunes Only)
Roots of Rock ‘n Roll Study Guide (iTunes Only)
No Commentary Today, Just Read
A girl is to become Britain’s youngest mother after becoming pregnant at 11.
The girl smokes 20 cigarettes a day despite being eight months’ pregnant. She conceived aged 11 when she lost her virginity to a boy of 15 on a drunken night out with friends.
The 15-year-old has since been charged with rape by police, and is due to appear again at Edinburgh sheriff court on July 10.
Her 34-year-old mother, who gave birth to her youngest child eight months ago, said she was ‘proud’ of her daughter.
She will be 12 years and 8 months when she has the child next month. Jenny Teague, Britain’s youngest mother until now, was a month older when she gave birth in 1997.
The youngster, who lives near Edinburgh, says looking after her younger brothers has prepared her for motherhood.
But the girl admits she “panics and cries” when babies are unwell and does not feel able to bathe them.
The mother-to-be, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had unprotected sex with the teenage boy, who also cannot be identified, while drunk last August.
She told the Sun: “I didn’t think I’d get pregnant because it was my first time. But I’m really excited and looking forward to being a mum.
“I can’t wait to take the baby swimming and out for walks in the pram. I think I’ll be able to cope as I’ve had lots of practice looking after my brothers. I know how to feed a baby its bottle and I can change nappies. But I panic and cry if they’re sick and I don’t like giving them a bath because I’m a bit frightened. It’s good to know I’ll have my mum here to help me if I need her.”
Concerned she might be pregnant, the girl visited a GP three times but tests proved negative. She learned the truth after buying a home-testing kit from a supermarket.
After the device displayed two blue lines, indicating she was pregnant, she pleaded with a female relative to break the news to her mother. The girl, who has been suspended from her first year of secondary school for fighting, said: “I was paranoid about what my mum was going to say and just frightened about being pregnant too.
“I knew straight away that I couldn’t have an abortion because that’s something I don’t believe in. I was upset and so was my mum, especially as she’d just had my wee brother. We had a big argument and I ended up locking myself in my room and running away to a friend’s. It was really hard but it’s brought me and my mum closer, which is good. I knew my mum would stand by me no matter what, but I told her straight away I was going to keep the baby. The social worker suggested I got rid of it but I’d never do that.”
The girl, who has shoulder-length dark hair, began smoking at nine and started drinking tonic wine and vodka cocktails at ten. She claimed her cigarette habit was not harming the health of her unborn child.
She said: “I can give up smoking at any time, but I don’t find it affects my pregnancy.”
The girl, whose parents split up several years ago, said she would like a baby boy – and may call him Leo.
She is currently being educated at a local community centre but knows she must return to school.
She told the Sun: “My mum has said she will look after the baby so I can go to school. I don’t know what I want to do with my life when I leave. I used to want to be a nursery nurse, but now I’m not so sure.”
Her mum said: “I’m not ashamed of my daughter at all – in fact, I’m proud of her for keeping the baby. I know she’s worried what other people will say but she can walk out there with her head held high. At first I wasn’t too happy about becoming a gran. But now I’m used to the idea. I’m really looking forward to having another baby in the house.”
As It Stands Today, Microsoft Wins
I believe that a death blow was dealt yesterday in the battle between Microsoft and Sony for hearts, minds, and opposable thumbs of the world’s gaming community. Microsoft came out hard last holiday season weilding its brand new weapon, XBOX 360. Sony faltered and delayed the release of the much anticipated Playstation 3 until later this year. Sony had been the clear champion with the PS2 and was poised to again soundly trumb the XBOX with their upcoming console.
That is until yesterday when Sony came out and cut its own head off.
Sony Computer Entertainment’s PlayStation 3 will be the most expensive game system on the market when it debuts Nov. 17 in North America.
The much anticipated video game console will sell for $499 for a system that has a 20-gigabyte hard drive or $599 for a system with three times the storage, the company said at a news conference Monday night. Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 starts at $299.
I will tell you what I am not. I am not a gaming expert. I will never have a show on G4 and I will never win any awards for my gaming abilities.
However, I am a male, age 18-34, who derives a good deal of pleasure from playing video games during some of my free time. I am your average video game player. I was born during the heyday of the arcade, played Pitfall with my dad on our Atari, grew up with my little grey friend the NES, played too much Goldeneye in college, got married and fell in love with my PS2.
The Playstation 3’s price point is astronomically high. Let’s say you buy the basic PS3 and one game. You are out $560. That’s without tax. I live in a city that has a 10% sales tax. That would bring the price for a basic system and one game to $616. I think I threw up in my mouth a little.
I predict that come this November, Microsoft will drop the price of the XBOX 360 for holiday shoppers and the battle will be over. Even something as small as a $50 dollar price cut would entice more mothers and fathers to choose the XBOX over the PS3.
Sony, you priced yourselves right out of the game.
Beatles’ Apple Corps loses trademark suit against Apple Computer’s iTunes
I had no doubt.
LONDON (AP) — Apple Computer (AAPL) is entitled to use the apple logo on its iTunes Music Store, a judge ruled Monday, rejecting a suit filed by Apple Corps, the guardian of the Beatles’ commercial interests.
Apple Corps, which contended that the U.S. company had broken a 1991 agreement in which each side agreed not to enter into the other’s field of business, said it would appeal.Judge Edward Mann ruled that Apple Computer used the fruit logo in association with the store, not the music, and thus did not breach the agreement.
“I conclude that the use of the apple logo … does not suggest a relevant connection with the creative work,” Mann said in his written judgment. “I think that the use of the apple logo is a fair and reasonable use of the mark in connection with the service, which does not go further and unfairly or unreasonably suggest an additional association with the creative works themselves.”
IPAC, I’ll Take a Free iPod For TechEd!
If you are a Senator who has received thousands of campaign dollars from the entertainment industry (including the RIAA) and then you are given an iPod by a non-profit organization highlighting the need to change legislation that could affect technology forever, what do you do with the iPod?
Apparently, you send it back.
The people over at IPAC, whose tagline reads, “Defending the public intrest where culture and politics meet,” recently sent a number of iPods to various senators and congressman for the purpose of encouraging these public servants to take a serious look at technology and see how congress can better serve it’s people through new or improved legislation.
The letter that was enclosed with each iPod explained further the reason behind the gift:
Why did IPAC send my campain an iPod?
Though iPods are best known for playing music, they can also be used to assist your campaign. You can use the device to store contact information for donors or manage your busy calendar. You can archive footage of your public speaking engagements or view recorded television and radio interviews on the road. We hope you find other uses for the device as well.The iPod is also a useful illustration for many complicated copyright and technology issues. In fact, pending legislation in the Senate will make some of your iPod’s uses illegal. For example, if Senator Gordon Smith’s “Digital Content Protection Act” becomes law, it could prohibit the transfer of digital broadcast content to personal media players and stifle American technical innovation. We believe that hands-on experience with the same devices that your constituents use can provide a new perspective on these topics.
Other legislation would make this device more useful. For example, the House has been considering Representative Rick Boucher’s “Digital Media Consumers’ Rights Act”
(DMCRA, HR 1201), which would amend our copyright law to protect American consumers and technological leadership.
What is on my iPod?
Your iPod has been pre-loaded with video, music, images, and text that is in the public domain or released under permissive terms like those provided by Creative Commons licenses. This means that everything on your iPod is free.But that does not mean it isn’t valuable.
Far from it. In the “Notes” section, you’ll find the complete works of Shakespeare, the Constitution of the United States, and other important literarature. The audio content includes music by David Byrne, the Beastie Boys, and scores of independent artists. We also included a slideshow with 101 photos selected from the millions in flickr.com’s Creative Commons image pool. Under “Videos,” you’ll find a special presentation from Stanford Law Professor Lawrence Lessig on the importance of balancing copyright law with technical innovation and the rights of the public. A full list of your iPod’s contents is available here:
https://ipaction.org/campaigns/ipod/content.html
If you are pleased by the richness you see and hear, we also hope that you are troubled by what you do not. In the public domain texts there are very few female and non-European authors. That is because in America, the public domain was essentially frozen in 1923, when our national chorus was only open to certain voices. The public domain has become an island, cut off from our cultural mainland and populated by ghosts.
Copyright policy shouldn’t only be concerned with expanding copyright – it should focus on calibrating these policies to support artists, the public, and access to our common heritage. We look forward to working with you and your campaign in the future to ensure American innovation continues.
Apparently, these issues are not high on Senator Conrad Burns’ priority list. IPAC recieved the iPod back with a note that read, “Thank you, but we cannot accept this gift.” There was no leagal reason for Burns to send the gift back because IPAC followed the law regarding donations to a T. So why send this small gift back? According to IPAC, Burns’ campaign spokesperson said that the iPod, “is the first time (Burns’ campaign) has received something technological” as a donation, adding that ‘it’s just not a donation that we want’ and confirming that while Burns does not presently own an iPod, ‘if he wants an iPod, he’ll buy one.'”
The concerns that IPAC raise seem pretty important and I think that sending these iPods to our nations leaders was a wonderful, creative, out-side-the-box approach to change. I think the next step for IPAC should be to send these iPods to consumers thus educating the people who vote for these elected officials.
IPAC, you can reach me a kickingattthedarkness(at)gmail.com. I’ll send you my address. I’m ready to be educated.
USA National Gas Temperature Map
I’m moving to Idaho. Potatoes and cheap gas- Woo-Hoo!
The Beach Wedding Was Awesome…
This wedding was decidedly not awesome.
Bride’s Father, Brother Stabbed In Alleged Fight Over Wedding Cake
“It was beautiful until something happened in the parking lot, and my dad and my brother got stabbed four or five times each,” said Lisa Siders, a relative.
GTA-ble Tennis
The makers of Grand Theft Auto must be taking a new study that says that violent video games cause teens to be more apt to the dangers of underage drinking, drug use, and sexual promescuity pretty seriously.
Their next game is for the XBOX 360 and is titled Table Tennis. No, seriously. It’s a pretty awesome looking table tennis game. No. Seriously.
Malcolm Gladwell: Super Genius
Malcolm Gladwell has weighed in on what the book “Game of Shadows” means not only to Bonds but to record setters in general. The article is actually a two-parter. Gladwell defends his position in the second article entitled Forensic Analysis Redux. Gladwell writes:
What if–in sports like baseball and track and field and swimming–we had a record-review board. We assembled a panel of experts who reviewed the circumstances under which the record was set, physiological evidence from the athlete himself or herself, and statistical evidence about the plausibility of the performance. Beamon would pass. FloJo would not. Bonds would not–and nor, I would wager, would McGwire or Sosa. The point is that we have to do something, otherwise records will cease to mean anything at all.
Incidentally, in “Baseball by the Numbers,” by the Baseball Prospectus team, there is a very nice essay by Nate Silver doing exactly this: using forensic tools to try and gauge the extent of steriod cheating in major league baseball. It’s worth a read. Silver concludes, interestingly, that the overall amount of cheating seems to be quite small, and confined largely (at this point) to mediocre players trying to get a little edge, not superstars trying to become mega-superstars. I find that very reassuring, not just because it says that Bonds is an anomaly, but because it reminds us of just how useful statistical analysis can be.
Don’t be fooled: Gladwell is an extremly intelligent and articulate sports fan. He knows of what he speaks. What do you think about his solution to these “records” or “Game of Shadows?” I want to know.