Retired

While you were hoping that being chosen Time Magazine’s Person of the Year came with some kind of cash award or plaque or at least a certificate, here’s what we were looking at:

• Second Life, Sony, and Suzanne – Our newest writer, Sherilyn, takes a look at the world of virtual concerts at Second Life, and finds them, well, underwhelming.
• Protect The Artist, Kill The Consumer – Remember the rule: media compaines who invoke “protecting the artist” in order to keep their profit levels high are exactly like politicians who invoke “protecting the children” in order to gain votes.
• Will Zune Be The Death Of DRM? – See, for the past few months, we’ve been dissing Zune when in reality it’s obviously part of Bill “DRM Causes Too Much Pain For Legitimate Buyers” Gates’ strategy for convincing the majors to experiment with DRM-less music. And y’all thought that it was a mistake that the Zune didn’t support PlaysForSure.
• Top 10 TV Shows of 2006 – As determined by the Official Medialoper Committee To Create Top 10 Lists Because It’s The End Of The Year And I Do Love The Year-End Lists, which I recently created.
• How Can I Copy DVDs To My iPod? – You can’t. Not legally, in any event. As usual, when consumers are kept by digital media restrictions from performing actions that would seem to make perfect sense to be able to do, the culprit is the DMCA.
• Medialoper Joins The 9rules Network – And we’re glad to be a part of it.

While you were rushing out to buy Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest on DVD, we were looking at piracy of another sort:

• What is Piracy? Part Two – An online auction of a rare Velvet Underground acetate — which went for $155,401 — prompts a week-long discussion on piracy and bootlegs.
• Perspectives On Piracy: From Amazon to eBay – If you only knew the hoops Jim is jumping through to not purchase a pirated set of Everwood seasons two through four for me.
• Why Consumers Buy Pirated Media Products – Like, for example, availability…Hey Warner Bros! Did you hear that? Can you put the rest of the seaons of Everwood out already?!?
• TV Shows I’d Like To See on DVD Part 2: The Piracy Perplex – Now you know the hoops Jim is jumping through to get Everwood for me.
• That’s What I Like: Bootlegs – Our blue-haired lawyer would like us to point out that “liking” bootlegs is not the same as creating, endorsing, or profiting from said artifacts.
• 18 Bootlegs That Need To Be Released Right Now – Jim goes on and on (and on and on and on) (while I really wanted to start our weekend, already) about various bootlegs . . . that of course he would never actually own until they were released by the proper rights holders.

Arrrgh!

While you were forming your exploratory commission for your potential 2008 Presidential run, here’s what we were looking at:

• Spam: Neither So Lovely Or Wonderful – Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam.
• Who Is Hurt By Stealing Music? – As with a lot of these type of questions, it depends on who you ask.
• Why James Bond Doesn’t Own An iPod – Because he doesn’t want Universal Music CEO Doug Morris to think that he’s a common thief like the rest of us? Nah. Because Sony paid for the product placement, of course.
• I Hate The Cable Company: November 2006 – Our monthly roundup of all of the crazy-ass shit that cable companies are doing to their customers.
• That’s What I Like: Cowboy Bebop – Kassia discusses one of her favorite pieces of anime. It also contains one of my favorite sight gags ever: Ein dog paddling through zero gravity.

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:

• Universal Music’s New Biz Model: Lawsuits and Extortion! – An interesting new concept in marketing – attack your customer base and generally make it more difficult for them to discover your product.
• Target Blinked – That’s what happens when you go up against Captain Jack.
• Reasons To Be Thankful 2006 – I can agree with most of these, but what about Veronica Mars, TiVo Series 3 or even his patient and loving wife?
• That’s What I Like: Fridays Off – A concept all the ‘Loper households can get behind.

While you were busy waiting in line and kicking serious ass to get your PS3, here is what we were doing:

• Zune’s Funny Money: Microsoft Points Explained (For the Non-Gamer) – I’ve read this over and over again and it still doesn’t make any sense. I might as well just be using Monopoly money. Though in a way, I guess, Microsoft Points is Monopoly money.
• I Was Lost And Now I Still Am – Much to our dismay, ABC gave us what we asked for. No repeats. Did they do it wrong or are we just being whiny?
• The Secret Cost Of DVDs – On the other hand, if you Google “WKRP in Cincinnati,” you can find some dodgy-looking sponsored links for DVDs that probably have all of the original music.
• Fear and Loathing in Zuneland: The Social Has Been Cancelled – All the talk about the Social leaves Kirk dizzy which doesn’t bode well for the rest of us.
• That’s What I Like: Television Without Pity – Jim shamelessly exploits the column in hopes of a miraculous job offer. But if you haven’t checked out TWoP, there’s plenty of shame to go around.
• PS3 Crime Wave Sweeps America – Anarchy In The Streets! – You know it’s the beginning of the holiday season when people start acting stupid over the latest version of a gaming system.

While you were busy winning back both Houses of Congress, here’s what we were looking at:

• What Is Piracy? Part One – One wonders that if you believe the broadest definition of piracy applies — say, giving a mix CD to someone makes you a pirate — then why bother worrying about being a pirate? In other words, if you are already an outlaw, then you might as well be an outlaw.
• Microsoft Goes The Last Few Feet – Microsoft does a smart thing, and offers TV Show and film downloads via their Xbox Live service. Yay Microsoft!!
• How Do I Remove DRM from WMV files? – This, of course, is a purely hypothetical question. We know that the DRM is there for a good reason: media companies don’t trust their customers. So therefore, we would never ever never advocate that you circumvent DRM in order to enjoy your paid-for content in any way you wish.
• The Final Reason I Won’t Buy A Zune: The Sin Tax – Microsoft does a dumb thing, and offers Universal Music a fee for every Zune sold. Boo Microsoft!!

• That’s What I Like: Sexy Time. (Actually, Borat) – In a break from this week’s theme of piracy and Microsoft, our newest ‘Loper, Tim Gaskill, takes a look at the genius of Sacha Baron Cohen’s creation, and finds him very nice.

While you were throwing out dozens — maybe hundreds — of cassettes, videotapes and CDs that you’ve made over the past two decades because you have them digitally and/or just couldn’t imagine ever watching or listening to them ever again, here’s what we were looking at:

• Great Googlely Moogley! Don’t Use Their Name in Vain! – Google wants to control how you use their company name as a verb. Let us know how that works out.
• Music Executive Declares ‘CD Is Dead’, Announces Plans To Save The CD – I’m reading Steven Levy’s iPod book right now, and it just kills me every time just how short-sighted these people really really are.
• Blu-Ray, HD-DVD — Taking Sides Is A Sign That The Studios Are Focusing On The Wrong Problem – It also amazes me just how short-sighted these people are as well.
• Five Reasons Why Music Lovers Should Worry About The Death of The CD – And then, more than one person thought that I was short-sighted my own self for not taking an Alfred E. Newman position on the wholesale transition to digital music.
• That’s What I Like: Food Network – One thing that Rox forgot in her discussion of the Food Network: just how dirty it is when you’re watching it with the sound down and the captions on.

While you were not watching the World Series, here’s what we were looking at:

• Five Lessons The Music Industry Can Learn From AllofMP3 – The upshot: Allofmp3.com is focused on giving consumers the best bang for their buck, as opposed to being a grudging half-hearted stab at getting into the 21st century.
• NBC’s Insidious Plot – Or not. Within a couple of days after this went up, NBC announced the revival of their Thursday night comedy block. We take full credit.
• The Word On The Not-So-New Fall Television Season – Lacklustre.
• You Say You Wanna Pay The Musicians? – It’s always hilarious to hear the record companies object to file-sharing on moral grounds. “You’re stealing from the poor musicians.” Right. Some might say that the record industry was pretty much built on stealing from the poor musicians?
• That’s What I Like: YouTube – Kirk looks at how YouTube has become so indepensible so swiftly. Volume, volume, volume!

While you were busy wondering what NBC’s latest announcements would mean for The Office, this is what we were looking at:

• Irrational Exuberance: Wall Street Rediscovers Hollywood – As Kassia explains, investing in Hollywood is not for the timid.
• Adventures With The Cable Company – Love the TiVo Series Three. But anytime we deal with the cable company, Jim needs to be sedated.
• 9 Reasons Digital Media Products Are A Bad Deal For Consumers – A brief rundown of the inherent problems with digital media. Does this mean I’ll never get rid of the wall of CDs in my living room?
• The Fall of Allofmp3.com – When is “free” bad? Possibly when it comes to music downloads from Allofmp3.com and Spiral Frog.
• That’s What I Like: Amazon Prime – Who does’t love Amazon Prime? I’m counting the hours until Slings & Arrows Season 2 is delivered to my door.

While you were busy watching your team get eliminated from the baseball playoffs, here’s what we were looking at:

• Tower Records Is Dead and I Won’t Miss It Much – Kirk takes a look at the downfall of Tower Records, why it hapend and why he won’t miss it.
• Turning DRM into a Dirty Word – And when it becomes a dirty word, it won’t nearly be as fun to use as “frack.”
• Google’s Bid For World Domination – $1.65 billion? Google could have had Medialoper for half that much.
• Report From The Field: Nobody’s Paying Attention – A bit of market research provides interesting results.
• That’s What I Like: Postseason Baseball – The constant checking of the cellphone needs to stop, but he’s right. Postseason baseball is slightly addictive.
• Requiem For Tower Records – Jim takes a more nostalgic look at the demise of Tower Records. And I’m to believe there’s a 15-year old living inside Jim? I would have guessed it was a 12-year old.