The Daily Loper – November 29, 2006

Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards Oh My! Edition

Today’s links of interest:

• U.S. to North Korea: No iPods for you
  Looks like James Bond and Kim Jong Il have something in common.
• BitTorrent set to unveil deals with studios
  Legit downloads from Fox, Paramount, MTV and others. Not Universal, however. Which means that the lawsuit will be coming any day now.
• Zune means zilch for artists
  Think artists might actually see some of that royalty Microsoft is paying to Universal? Guess again.
• Has Studio 60 Jumped the Shark?
  No. To jump the shark, you have to be consistently good in the first place. Also, why is it that it seems like Bradley Whitford always delivers Sorkin’s anti-internet rants? Is it in his contract?
• Sex and Social Networking Sells: Fake User Profiles in Marketing Campaigns
  Be careful who you pick up on a social network. She just might be a major corporation.
• How To Make (and grow) A Luffa!
  This one’s for Bill O’Riley
• TiVo selling ad space at end of recordings
  Right, because after skipping an hours worth of ads during Hero’s I’m sure gonna stick around and watch ads after the episode is over.
• Wal-Mart to test movie downloads
  Uh, so many questions (.97 for a download???), so few answers. We’ll be sending the investigative unit to get to the bottom of this one.
• E-voting stirs suspicion in Venezuela
  It should be the way of the future. But let’s not forget who runs the machines. If ever something shouldn’t be proprietary, it’s voting.
• Time Warner CEO doesn’t rule out political career
  Of course, if he’s smart, he won’t run for office in any place that is actually plagued with Time Warner cable.
• Universal Music sees settlement with MySpace
  Because they’re just using their lawsuits as a negotiating tactic. Shut up, Universal.