Archives for February 2009

The Daily Loper – February 28, 2009

February 28, 2009 by Lopy

The Viaducts of Your Dreams Edition

Today’s links of interest:

Why Are Book Publishers Making The Same Mistake The Record Labels Made With Apple?
It’s nice to know we aren’t the only people asking this question.
The Engadget Interview: Paul Aiken, Executive Director of the Authors Guild
A head spinning interview with the Authors Guild’s Executive Director about Kindle’s 2’s text to speech feature.
Caving into bullies (aka, here we go again)
Lessig on the disturbing trend of technology companies caving into pressure from rightsholders.
DuroSport Has Recovered!
Apparently the hapless DuroSport corporation has been bailed out by the Moldovan government, with help from Chinese investors, no less. No good can come from this.

The Daily Loper – February 27, 2009

February 27, 2009 by Lopy

Everything is Amazing and Nobody is Happy Edition

Today’s links of interest:

CBS Beams ‘Star Trek’ Episodes to iPhones
For certain ‘lopers. You know who you are.
Kindles and creative machines blur boundaries of copyright
Ars Technica digs into the copyright considerations surrounding the Authors Guild/Kindle dispute.
How To Kill The Music Industry
Never ask a corpse how it was killed. You won’t ever get a reliable answer.

The Daily Loper – February 26, 2009

February 26, 2009 by Lopy

Fahn Fahn Fahn on the Autobahn Edition

Today’s links of interest:

Netflix To Offer Streaming as a Standalone Subscription Plan
Believe this is old news, but just in case….
25 Random Things I Hate About Fucktards On Facebook I Don’t Know In The Least But Who, Nonetheless, Are My Friends
What he said.
Slim Shady and Universal Go to Court
It’s hard out there for a lawyer: “I don’t know what ownership of a digital file means,” Michael Ostroff, general counsel and executive VP of business and legal affairs of UMG worldwide, said under questioning by lawyers representing the rapper’s production company, F.B.T. Productions. “The zeroes and the ones are probably on their servers.”

The Authors Guild vs. Kindle 2 — Could Users Be Held Liable?

February 26, 2009 by Kirk Biglione

Kindle 2 shipped this week, and all over America ebook lovers are gleefully tweeting the arrival of the new reading device.

That’s all well and good, but those excited new Kindle owners may want to proceed with caution when it comes to using one of the device’s most highly publicized new features. In fact, they just might want to consult a lawyer before pressing that “read aloud” button.

The Authors Guild believes that Kindle 2’s text-to-speech (TTS) feature is an infringement of audiobook rights. In fact, the Guild contends that because of this new feature, every Kindle book sold is not only an ebook, but also an audiobook. Never mind the fact that Kindle 2’s voice has been described as sounding “oddly norwegian” or that Jeff Bezos recently joked with John Stewart that the read aloud feature sounds “a little freaky.”

The Daily Loper – February 25, 2009

February 25, 2009 by Lopy

Octopussy Edition

Today’s links of interest:

A.V. Club Interview: Demetri Martin
The A.V. Club interviews Demetri Martin, who’s new Comedy Central show might just be the funniest new thing we’ve seen so far this year.
Murdoch on the prowl for print sales
New York Times? LA Times? Maybe that’s why Murdoch is taking over so many of Peter Chernin’s duties.
Octuplets mother offered $1M porn contract
The only question is, what took them so long? The whole thing has pretty much been porn from the start, so might as well formalize it.

50 Songs I’ve Never Gotten Sick Of

February 25, 2009 by Jim Connelly

This is one of those lists that’s currently going around Facebook, and since I haven’t posted around these parts that much — turns out that writing 3,000 – 4,000 words a week about Battlestar Galactica takes it out of you — and because Will Betheboy referenced my list on his blog, I figured that I’d post it here. Content!

It started with 25, but I kept remembering other songs to put on it, and surprise, surprise, it got way way way out of hand. It’s not a list of my favorite songs (though it certainly includes those); or a list of best songs by each artist (though it certainly includes those, too); or even a list of songs that changed my life (and man, does it ever have a lot of those).

Nope, this is a list of songs that at some point started kicking my ass, and pretty much never stopped. Even though I’ve heard some of these songs zillions of times, I still love them every time they come on.

The Daily Loper – February 24, 2009

February 24, 2009 by Lopy

These Days, Pull a Blanket Round You, Babe Edition

Todays links of interest:

The unrecognizable Internet of 1996
Hey, some of us were building web sites for evil corporations back then!
Andy Richter to Rejoin Conan O’Brien as “Tonight Show” Announcer
On one hand, it’s cool that Conan and Andy are working together again; on the other hand, we’d still prefer if Andy Richter Controls The Universe was still on the air.
Music labels fight pirates through Spotify
Read for the lead alone. Funny.
Boss Got Raise As Philly Papers Tanked
Neat. You’ve gotta love our corporate executives and their obvious priorities.

The Daily Loper – February 23, 2009

February 23, 2009 by Lopy

The Re-Revenger Edition

Todays links of interest:

Twitter Nation Has Arrived: How Scared Should We Be?
Wow. Well, this shows one thing for sure: drawing a line from the latest social media phenomenon to the world of Idiocracy is the latest variation on comparing someone to Hitler.
And It Feels So Good?: The White Stripes Quash Excitement About A Reunion By Actually Reuniting
Yeah, how weird is it when The White Stripes were by far the worst thing about Conan’s last 12:35am show? The best thing: that clip about the 1864 baseball team.
Battlestar Galactica Recap: Deadlock
Jim’s recap of the latest episode. Including why the iPhone Cylon Detector App is too late, and a theory as to why Cylons need love to procreate.

When the Smell of Books Becomes the Stench of DRM

February 22, 2009 by Kirk Biglione

By now it should be clear that ebooks are more than just a passing fad. That digital reading revolution we’ve been hearing about for over a decade is finally starting to take shape. Amazon has sold over a half million Kindles, Sony has moved several hundred thousand digital Readers, and Stanza, the free reading app for the iPhone, has been downloaded over 1.3 million times.

As consumer adoption of digital reading devices accelerates, publishers are grappling with the impact that digital distribution will have on existing business models. It’s hard not to feel a certain sense of déjà vu as we witness yet another form of mass media completely remade in the digital era. And it’s hard not to feel just a little bit sad that publishers are making many of the same mistakes we’ve seen made in other industries — most notably by the recording industry.

The Daily Loper — February 20, 2009

February 20, 2009 by Lopy

Todays links of interest:

Don’t worry about Conan O’Brien?he’s going to be great as the Tonight Show host
And we for one, welcome our new Tonight Show overlord.
Rare Comet Close-Up Coming to a Sky Near You
Red alert!
California game law struck down…again
But don’t they understand? It’s forrrrrr the chilllldrennnn! Forrrrrr the chilllldrennnn!
Is Hulu’s Heave-Ho First Salvo in Digital Content War?
As usual, all of this dick-swinging is harmful to the people who will eventually make or break online versions of traditional media: the consumers. Who, if they can’t find it legally on the delivery mechanism of their choice, will find it via other means. Good job, Hulu; it’s 1998 all over again.
Assets of Damon, Nady frozen in Stanford fallout
Finally, a ‘loperesque twist to this sordid story: Johnny Damon cannot afford new skateboards.
Woman tries to pay old fine, but gets arrested
Just when you think it can’t get stranger in America.