Medialoper

We're Not Who You Think We Are

Archives for November 2006

The Daily Loper – November 30, 2006

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Hell, Who Wants To Face Anyone Sober? Edition

Today’s links of interest:

I Hate The Cable Company: November 2006

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We have noticed a lot of recent stories out there about how much people hate to deal with their cable companies. This is, of course, nothing new. But still, after 30 plus years, you’d think that the cable companies would have figured it out. Nope.

A decade ago, Congress even got involved, making it part of the promise of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that the increased competition would mean lower cable prices.

How did that work out for you?

So, as a public service, we offer a new column: I Hate The Cable Company. It will be a monthly round-up of just some of stories discussing the crappy service and high prices that people enjoy from their local cable providers. Just to be fair, we will add satellite to the mix, as well.

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The Daily Loper – November 29, 2006

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Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards Oh My! Edition

Today’s links of interest:

Why James Bond Doesn’t Own An iPod

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There was a time when the release of a new James Bond movie meant that audiences would be treated to a fantastic collection of gadgets and inventions, each of which was devised with the sole purpose of rescuing Bond from some unlikely scenario. The recently released Casino Royale is not that kind of movie.

The new Bond is much closer to the literary character created by Ian Fleming than he is to the Hollywood Bond we’ve come to know over the last four decades. As a result, Casino Royale presents audiences with the most low-tech Bond yet.

While it’s true that Sean Connery didn’t have a laptop in Dr. No, the technology he did have was at least recognizably different from what the average viewer could buy at the local mall.

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Who Is Hurt By Stealing Music?

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So, we received a question this morning, and it’s one that every member of the ‘loper team will probably want to address in different ways: who does piracy really hurt? You know the arguments, how some people believe that stealing music doesn’t hurt anything because, well, those corporations are so big, nobody will notice a few bucks here, a few bucks there.

Let’s be honest here. Piracy hurts every single person and business in the chain. It hurts the artist, it hurts the labels, it hurts the retailers. If you’re talking in terms of physical media, it hurts the people who drive trucks and work in warehouses. It hurts artists who haven’t yet been signed to labels. You might not think there’s an impact, but you’re wrong.
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The Daily Loper – November 27, 2006

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Today’s links of interest:

Spam: Neither So Lovely Or Wonderful

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From London comes news that seems alarming, if only we all didn’t realize it pretty much instinctively: 90% of all email traffic is spam. While the natural response is to say “tell me something I don’t know” and move on, if you think about that statistic — 9 out of every 10 emails you get is spam, it really can give you pause.

It’s been increasing a such a rate that some experts are forecasting that within a couple of years, 127% of all email traffic will be spam.

OK, not really, but still, how did we get here? And what’s next?

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The Weekly ‘Loper – November 26, 2006

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While you were busy overeating and cursing your cable company because you couldn’t see the third football game on Thanksgiving, this is what we were doing: