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Medialoper Bebop Episode 24: Steal This Podcast

November 30, 2011 by Jim Connelly

This week, Tim, Kirk, & Jim discuss the the following Rolling Stones-permeated topics.

First off, you’d think that a newly-released Rolling Stones live album from the early 70s would be a cause for celebration, but as it is confined to Google’s Android platform, it’s as cause for consternation and the spur for a long, serious discussion about how music exclusivity — whether via artificially high prices or artifically enforced platforms — encourages piracy.

Not only do artists like U2, Nirvana & Bob Dylan end up burying musical treasures in “Super Deluxe” box sets with exorbitant prices, it’s gotten so bad the Elvis Costello wrote a blog post encouraging his fans not to purchase his recent live album until next year. (2:20 – 23:20)

Then, on the heels of a report that she might be pro-life, we do an interview with the iPhone’s built-in personal assistant, Siri, to try and determine what her politics are once and for all. (23:30 – 30:15)

Finally, even though Kirk’s mix is a bit of a mess, he still has time to talk about the new album from Tom Waits, reissues from the Rolling Stones and the entire Linton Kwesi Johnson catalog. (30:16 – 40:30)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 48:35 — 66.8MB)

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Dear Google: My Name is Not Monday

October 11, 2009 by Kirk Biglione

I used to think of Google as a friend in my personal battle against spam. The company has done an exceptional job of keeping my inbox free of unwanted pharmaceutical ads. Unfortunately, I’ve recently come to realize that Google may have a double standard when it comes to physical junk mail.

Over the past few weeks I’ve received several marketing letters from Google by way of the U.S. postal service. Each letter was unremarkable by itself. Each included an identical offer of credit towards the Google AdWords service. The only thing notable about these letters is that each one was addressed to:

Monday February
Captain Copyright Has Left the Building
Medialoper

If I understand this correctly, someone at Google thinks that Monday February is a person who works in the Captain Copyright Has Left the Building department at Medialoper.

The first time around I found the letter amusing. The second time I began to wonder how a Google bot could make such a careless parsing error. By the time I received the third letter I became convinced that something truly odd was happening. [Read more…] about Dear Google: My Name is Not Monday

Waiting for Google’s Kindle Killer

October 30, 2008 by Kirk Biglione

During an onstage interview with Chris Anderson at this year’s BEA, Jeff Bezos described his vision of a world where any book ever published would be available anywhere, at any time. At the time it seemed like one of those distant fantasies that might be decades away. Bezos acknowledged that there was a lot of work to be done before that vision would ever become a reality. Little did he know at the time…

With the Google Book Search agreement Bezos’ vision has come much closer to being a reality. The problem for Bezos is that he was hoping that vision would be realized through the Kindle. While the Kindle promises to put a whole bookstore in the palm of your hand, a Google powered reader could put the Library of Congress in the palm of your hand.

Kindle’s 190,000 available titles pale in comparison to the millions of titles Google has just been granted access to. But Amazon still holds a couple of obvious advantages over Google: [Read more…] about Waiting for Google’s Kindle Killer

Why I’m Thinking About Abandoning My iPhone

September 25, 2008 by Jim Connelly

I have an iPhone. Old-school, 4GB, purchased on a whim last summer and, despite a glitch here and there, it’s been an amazingly handy and even transformative device.

That said, I’m dumping it because now that the T-Mobile Google Android-based G1 is out, I’m over the iPhone, which sucks sucks sucks. Not really, though I’m assuming that some of the comments on this article will act as if I said just that.

What is true is this: I didn’t purchase a 3G; and when my original AT&T contract is up next year, I’m going to take a good hard look at whichever version of the G1 is out there vs. whichever version of the iPhone is out there.

And here are some reasons why.

That’s What I Like: YouTube

October 27, 2006 by Kirk Biglione

It’s hard to imagine a world without YouTube — which is amazing when you consider that the site’s official launch was less than a year ago. In its brief existence YouTube has become an unstoppable force, hosting 65,000 new videos per day and 20 million users per month. YouTube’s mojo is so strong that masters of world domination, Google, finally gave up trying to compete and bought the company outright.

What makes YouTube so great? Videos, of course. By simplifying the process of uploading video content YouTube has become a repository for millions of videos. The site hosts a huge number of obscure video clips you never thought you’d see again, and in many cases clips you never thought you’d see in the first place.

I visit YouTube regularly to get my fix of weird Japanese television shows, rare music videos and live performances, vintage television commercials and movie trailers, and strange public access programming.

Was Google GTunes A Victim of Zune?

August 8, 2006 by Kirk Biglione

One of the most persistent media rumors of early 2006 involved Google launching a digital music service to rival Apple’s iTunes. There was a point earlier this year when it seemed as if every analyst on Wall Street was predicting that Google would be launching GTunes any day now. iTunes was clearly doomed and its days would soon be numbered.

Far be it from me to say “I told you so”, but back in April I went on record with a list of reasons why Google Music won’t matter. Now comes word that Google is going to sit out the upcoming digital music war. Instead, they’ll be partnering with MTV to insert advertising into videos that will be available on the still dismal Google Video service. No matter how Google tries to spin it, the MTV deal is a huge letdown for anyone expecting the company to make its mark on the music industry.

Googlin’ Mobile, Keep Me Movin’

July 26, 2006 by Jim Connelly

I am a map geek. And I am a traffic geek. Back when I was doing my 45-mile (one way!) commute in the Bay Area, I would always check the Web obessively prior to leaving, listen to traffic reports while driving, even call the special TravInfo phone number. None of that was really effective, at least partially because there was no way to get an on-the-fly visual overview of what was going on once I actually hit the road. Not on my budget.

Until now, that is.

That’s What I Like: Google

June 23, 2006 by Kassia Krozser

So, I’ve been doing this goofy thing at my other place. Given my readership, I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who notices it, but that’s how these things go. I make yourself happy and that’s all that matters. In the process of this goofy thing, I’ve had to do a little bit of online research. Not much, nothing heavy — like today, I had to verify the correct title of a Jazz Butcher song.

I could have dragged myself across the room, shoved my feet into shoes, found the garage keys, and pulled the correct disk from the now-banished rack o’CDs — which would have required shuffling through a lot of music because I wasn’t even sure what era the song was recorded (there are multiple Jazz Butcher eras, you know). Or I could type “Jazz Butcher Lot 49” into my handy little search bar at the top of Firefox (love this feature, too!).

More RIAA Madness: Part 2, The All-Seeing Ear

June 20, 2006 by Jim Connelly

Yesterday, you may recall, I discussed the RIAA sending cease-and-desist letters to the people who upload videos of themselves lipsynching to popular songs.

But that’s just the beginning: we’ve learned who they are targeting next, and in a Medialoper Multiverse Exclusive, are revealing it to you today.