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11 Oct 2010 23:18

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Music, Tech: By catering to majors, eMusic loses a simple, effective model

  • simple eMusic starts out with a basic, credits-based model which allows you to download tons of indie music each month.
  • busy To win over Sony and Warner Bros., they slightly modify the model to make full albums worth a little more.
  • complex To win over Universal, eMusic will charge a variety of different prices for different songs. This is a bad idea. source
  • » And credits are going away, too: To win Universal over, they’re going to have to charge 89 cents per track for some of their songs. While this is cheaper than iTunes, it’s also nearly twice as much as many of their other tracks. We don’t know what eMusic’s profitability is like, but this, to us, feels like it’s going to backfire. The changes are a little too extreme, and it no longer feels like they’re the cheap alternative. Can we lament the loss of eMusic (circa 2007) yet?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Oct 2010 22:23

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Culture: On Banksy, “The Simpsons,” News Corp. and YouTube

  • You can’t be serious. it’s like you’re hiding this. Banksy’s “Simpsons” couch sequence has been the talk of the Web all day. It packs a visceral effect that wears off after the first time, but it mainly works because it’s so out of left field – even for the Simpsons. Anyway, the video that everyone was linking from a YouTube channel called “banksyfilm” – you know, Banksy’s own account. Now it’s been taken down for copyright reasons and people have been told to watch it on Hulu, which, besides the country restrictions, is annoying because they initially didn’t even have the Banksy intro pulled out as a clip. The effect feels akin to censorship, considering the very viral subject matter can no longer be viewed in Asia. (Fortunately, we found another version.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Oct 2010 22:06

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Politics: George Soros: I only started big donations because of Bush

  • I made an exception getting involved in 2004. And since I didn’t succeed in 2004, I remained engaged in 2006 and 2008. But I’m basically not a party man. I’d just been forced into that situation by what I considered the excesses of the Bush administration.
  • Democratic party super-donor George Soros • Explaining why he got so involved in those elections – and why he’s sitting this one out. This time, he’s choosing to push groups that support his causes – health care and the environment – and letting the election fall where it may. Isn’t he concerned the GOP might win both Houses? He is, he says, “but I’m not in a position to stop it. I don’t believe in standing in the way of an avalanche.” Well, that’s promising for November, lefties. It’s OK – we can just complain about the Koch Brothers. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Oct 2010 21:53

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World: Sludge-o-rama: Hungary has their own BP! Complete with arrests!

  • €110k the amount the company behind the toxic sludge in Hungary has offered to victims of the disaster
  • €360 the amount that breaks down to per person affected – that seems pretty low, right?
  • €72M the amount Hungary wants the company to give for cleanup (around $100 million) source
  • » Hungary’s arresting mad: Zoltan Bakonyi, the executive director of the company behind the disaster, MAL, has been arrested for the incident, which the country wants his company to pay for, not taxpayers. His dad, Arpad Bakonyi, is a 30 percent shareholder in the company, and one of the richest people in the country. Which is to say that they can afford to clean up their mess. Hungary is also thinking of putting the company under state control to ensure that happens.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Oct 2010 20:14

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Culture: Things on their way out: One quickly, one slowly

  • 7 days the amount of time we got to appreciate the constant joy of the new (old) Gap logo
  • 11 years the amount of time David Arquette and Courtney Cox were together before they separated
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Oct 2010 20:07

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Politics: House candidate learns you can’t dress up like a Nazi for fun

  • I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that here was a relatively small country that from a strictly military point of view accomplished incredible things. I mean, they took over most of Europe and Russia, and it really took the combined effort of the free world to defeat them. From a purely historical military point of view, that’s incredible.
  • Ohio Republican House candidate Rich Iott • Regarding his very unfortunate hobby as a World War II Nazi re-enactor. This is something The Atlantic’s Joshua Green noticed the other day, and since then it’s kinda blown up in the dude’s face. He may claim that he’s in it for simply military reasons, but dude’s making Godwin’s Law seriously very easy for us. We can stop listening to him immediately. Seriously. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Oct 2010 19:28

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Politics: The never-ending foibles of Joe Miller

  • then Miller said at a town hall meeting last week that he supports repealing the 17th Amendment, which allows voters (rather than state legislators) to elect Senators .
  • now Miller now says that amending the constitution isn’t “a practical solution,” and blames Lisa Murkowski for making him say what he said. Or something. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

11 Oct 2010 19:25

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Tech: “Free Public Wi-Fi” isn’t free, public or wi-fi. It’s nothing.

  • Ever find yourself hanging around an airport with your laptop? Or maybe you’re in the middle of a coffee shop, looking to read your favorite blog (hi guys!). Maybe you’ve seen the “Free Public Wi-Fi” computer-to-computer network floating around, always tempting you to click on it in hopes that you get free public wi-fi. And it never, ever works. Here’s why: It’s a bug that older versions of Windows XP have had for approximately four years. It doesn’t connect you to anything. It’s an error. One that MS has already fixed, by the way, but still shows up on un-updated machines. And if you’re using one of those fairly-common computers, you too may find yourself bitten by that zombie if you join that network. Or “hpsetup.” Or “linksys.” Sorry to burst your bubble, moochers. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Oct 2010 11:00

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World: When rescues go wrong: Linda Norgrove’s death accidental?

  • bad Linda Norgrove, a British aid worker being held hostage in Afghanistan, was killed on Friday during a failed rescue attempt.
  • worse U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron says that she may have been accidentally killed by her rescuers. Yikes. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Oct 2010 10:51

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World: Human rights violation: Nobel Peace laureate’s wife under house arrest

  • The precondition for sentence reduction or parole is an acknowledgement of your crime. If Xiaobo would do that, he wouldn’t have won the peace prize.
  • Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo’s lawyer, Shang Baojun • Regarding his client’s current status in prison. As crazy as the Chinese democracy fighter’s incarceration is, his wife’s status is nearly as bad. Liu Xia is currently under house arrest for simply being married to the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. While she was allowed to meet her husband briefly, she’s been blocked off from the outside world since Friday night. Chinese authorities also broke her mobile phone. Her only contact with other life forms right now? Twitter. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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