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O.K. Computer
February 20, 2009
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"It is only when they go wrong that machines remind you how powerful they are."
-- Clive JamesIt was time. Actually, well past the time.
My eight-year-old wonderful Sony Viao PC never once crashed, never once gave me a reason to phone tech support or Microsoft for problems I might have experienced. It was just starting to show signs of its age. It was still running (dare I say it?) its original operating program, Windows ME (Millennium).
I know, you're laughing now and probably asking yourself how a guy who writes weekly about digital technology could even think of still using such a tech dinosaur. The answer is simple really. The system gave me no reason to switch. It operated without one single problem for eight years and was fine for e-mail and Internet browsing. (I don't use my computer for video games that require the latest tech available)
But finally, age took its toll. It started to run programs slow, the long delays when switching screens between programs while multi-tasking became longer. After all, it was just a Pentium 3 with an 866 mgz processor. You know the story.
So, it was time to bring a new PC home, set it up, and see what I've been missing.
After spending hours disconnecting the old PC and transferring the files and data to my new PC via flash plug-ins, I pushed the start button and was up and operating my new PC that came with a 500 gig hard-drive, 4 gig RAM memory, 2.4 mgz processor, a 20" widescreen monitor, and Windows Vista operating system. And, like almost everything else in the tech arena, it all cost several hundred dollars less than my old Sony, which was $1,200 when originally purchased.
Of course, I was skeptical of buying any new PC with Windows Vista. I mean, with all the bad press it's received, the online blogs about its many problems when first released, the MAC people telling me it was a mistake not to switch to the Apple's new Leopard OS, etc.
I'm sure that the first release of Vista (like the first release of Apple's Leopard system for the MACs) had its problems and glitches. Whatever glitches there were are not apparent to me. The desktop looks terrific; the system operates great, is not difficult to navigate on at all, and it has more security built into it than I ever imagined. Of course, the 2.4 mgz
processor more than fulfills the need for speed. There's a whole bunch of new features that make the system even better, but this isn't a pro Windows Vista versus MAC (or other Windows operating system) commentary. I'm just telling you what I experienced.
Now that I do have the new keyboard in hand, my only wish is that I had made the switch sooner. Had I not been so lazy, I could have been up and running this new hardware and software a whole lot sooner.
I'm happy with all this new stuff, and I'm having lots of fun with it.
I also realize that by the time this e-mail reaches you readers, much of the technology on my desk will be outdated by those busy little tech guys and gals in Silicon Valley who are working on even faster processors, bigger hard drives, better programs, and so on and so on and scooby-dooby-dooby.
And though all technology might be fleeting, remember this: Junk mail is forever.
And Now This...
The New York Times article I link to below, "Grammy's Golden Touch Loses
Some of Its Luster," is an interesting and worthwhile read.
The article also got me to thinking that despite a TV viewing audience of
almost 100 million, Bruce Springsteen's new album, "Workin' On A Dream,"
didn't see a real spike in sales.
Perhaps it's because, as the New York Times article mentions, "online file-sharing networks were also buzzing with Grammy names."
Internet Music Royalty Rates Reduced
The nonprofit performance rights organization that collects royalties for copyright owners announced reduced royalty rates this week for thousands of local radio stations that stream simulcasts of copyrighted, commercially released music on the Internet or create new Internet radio stations.
The agreement between the National Association of Broadcasters and the royalty-collection group SoundExchange covers the Internet streaming operations at several thousand NAB-member stations, including those owned by Clear Channel Communications Inc. and CBS Corp. Stations that are not members of the broadcasters' group have the option of joining the agreement, according to the NAB.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Grammy's Golden Touch Loses Some of Its Luster
It used to be that every year around this time, the Grammy Awards laid a few golden eggs for the music industry, by helping the night's winners sell lots and lots of records in the week that followed. Those jumps still happen, but the numbers aren't what they used to be.
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss's "Raising Sand" (Rounder) took five awards at the Feb. 8th ceremony, including album of the year, and last week its sales increased 715%. That translates into total sales of 77,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan, enough to send the album to No. 2 on the latest Billboard chart. (From the NY Times)
Read more about it by clicking here.
Sony Is First Major Label To Renew YouTube Deal
Sony Music Entertainment has become the first of the four largest recording companies to renew a music licensing deal with YouTube, according to apublished report.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Do We Need a New Internet?
"Unless we're willing to rethink today's Internet," says Nick McKeown, a Stanford engineer involved in building a new Internet, "we're just waiting for a series of public catastrophes." (From The New York Times )
Read more about it by clicking here.
The Pirate Bay On Trial In Sweden
From The GuardianThe most high-profile anti-piracy case in years is now underway in Sweden, with the four founding members of The Pirate Bay standing trial for aiding and abetting copyright infringement. The Pirate Bay, which has more than 22 million active users, is a massive file-sharing directory that does not physically host any materials, but acts as more of a search engine for millions of "torrents," or small files that act as pointers allowing people to download media files.
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is leading the case against The Pirate Bay, arguing that the site promotes illegal file-sharing and has made millions in profits directing people to locations on the Web where they can download content illegally. The IFPI is claiming more than $100 million in damages. For their part, The Pirate Bay founders contend that the site's activities are legal under Swedish law because it does not host the material. They also deny making large profits, saying that any money raised through advertising and donations goes toward the maintenance of the site. If found guilty, the founders could face up to two years in prison and a fine of about $140,000--as well as any damages the court may award.
"The criminal prosecution of the Pirate Bay is about protecting creators from those who violate their rights and deprive them of their deserved rewards," said John Kennedy, the chairman of the IFPI.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Sirius XM Agrees To $530 Million Liberty Stake
Troubled Sirius XM Radio announced Tuesday, following reports, that it will accept an investment from cable giant Liberty Media. The investment, which will save the satellite radio company from bankruptcy or a hostile takeover, will take the form of $530 million in loans in exchange for an equity stake.
(From cnet.com)
Read more about it by clicking here.
Return Of The $99 iPhone 3G
AT&T is offering a refurbished 8GB iPhone 3G (black) for $99. The 16GB model is available in black or white for $199. That's a savings of $100 on both models.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Video Games Continue To Defy Recession
The Seattle TimesThe video game biz continues to defy the recession, according to stellar January sales numbers from NPD Group. Both the Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii saw solid year-over-year sales gains of 34% and a whopping 148%, respectively. The only bad news came from Sony, whose PlayStation 3 saw its third consecutive month of lower sales compared to a year earlier. As a whole, the U.S. video games industry saw sales of $1.33 billion in January, up 13% from January 2008.
Interestingly enough, hardware sales, with growth of 17%, were stronger than software sales, which grew 10% year-over-year. "At this point in the console lifecycle, we would expect to see a greater percentage of total industry sales generated by software sales, but the continued strength in hardware sales is changing that scenario a bit," NPD analyst Anita Frazier said in an e-mail. "This will have a long-term positive impact on the industry as the user base expands."
Read more about it by clicking here.
U.S. Social Network Users To Grow 44% By 2013
The number of people in the U.S. who use social networks at least once a month will increase 44% to 115 million in 2013 from 79 million in 2008, according to a new eMarketer report. With use already high among teens and young adults, growth will come from boomers, Generation X and tweens.
Read more about it by clicking here.
KID ROCK'S BEER MEANS JOB FOR MICHIGAN
A Webberville-based Michigan Brewing Company received approval for a tax credit from the Michigan Economic Growth Authority in the amount of $722,957 to produce a new line of beer for Kid Rock, thus creating 400 new jobs in the state. Kid Rock is working closely with the company to develop the beer, which they hope to have in stores in time for spring.
'SCUSE ME WHILE I SUE THIS GUY
The Jimi Hendrix estate was awarded a $3.2 million judgment after suing Electric Hendrix Spirits for infringing on the Jimi Hendrix trademark. Electric Hendrix Spirits used Jimi's name, signature and likeness on a vodka bottle without permission. They even named their company Electric Hendrix Spirits without permission. A judge also demanded all distributors of the vodka pull it from the marketplace.
STRANGE BEDFELLOWS
The Smashing Pumpkins' James Iha, middle Hanson brother Taylor Hanson, 57-year-old Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos and Fountains of Wayne bassist Adam Schlesinger have joined forces to form a group called Tinted Windows. According to Billboard.com, the band has already recorded their debut album, due out in the spring, and plan to play SXSW on March 20th.
BLIND FAITH BOYS TO TOUR
Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood, Blind Faith bandmates, are reuniting again for a 2009 tour. The pair are hitting the road, starting with a June 10th show in East Rutherford, New Jersey and wrapping up with a June 30th performance at Los Angeles' Hollywood Bowl.
PLANT & KRAUSS TO ENCORE
One big win makes for a great encore. After winning five Grammys, including the most coveted Album of the Year for "Raising Sand," Robert Plant and Alison Krauss are already back in the studio with T Bone Burnett working on the follow-up to their platinum-selling Rounder Records LP.
'OLD FRIENDS' INDEED
Following Simon and Garfunkel's three-song reunion last week at New York's Beacon Theatre, the pair of singer-songwriters are talking about hitting the road. "Our plan to work together is coming together," Art Garfunkel told the BBC. "But it doesn't go through England this time."
"ROCK STAR' REALITY
Remember the brief lived reality TV show 'Rock Star: INXS'? The winner was J.D. Fortune, a guy from Canada who became the new singer for INXS after winning the reality show. Apparently winning the right to front the band wasn't all it was cracked up to be: according to Canada's The Star, Fortune is now homeless and living in his pick-up truck. After INXS finished their long tour a little over a year ago, Fortune says the band casually just dropped him from their roster with a handshake.
JACKSON AUCTION
Starting April 21st, you can have a chance at owning some of Michael Jackson's personal property. The April auction will feature more than 2,000 personal items, including Jackson's American Music Award for "Thriller," a velvet cape given to him by his children for Father's Day in 1998, a pair of rhinestone-trimmed socks from 1981, a basketball signed by Michael Jordan, platinum and gold records, a customized Harley Davidson, a Rolls Royce limousine and his own original artwork.
IT'S A (WIRELESS) JUNGLE OUT THERE
Sprint, the third-largest wireless operator in the U.S., said it lost about 1.3 million subscribers during the fourth quarter. It now has about 49.3 million subscribers. The majority of the losses came from the highly coveted contract-customers, of which Sprint
lost about 1.1 million.
Quotes of the week
"We were originally hoping to perform. We'd assumed, as there are only three nominees, that the songs would be performed in full. But the producers came in to revamp it as audience figures were falling off. So I've now decided to withdraw from the ceremony, but I'll still go along. I do think it's a bit unfortunate. I do think songwriters, even though they're a small part of the filmmaking process. We still work bloody hard and I think deserve a place in the ceremony as well."
-- Peter Gabriel, on his website, protesting Academy Award show producers decision to only allow him to perform 65 seconds of his nominated song "Down To Earth" from 'Wall-E' on the broadcast."I am a man who needs love. Every man needs love. Guys like romance. I do anyway."
-- Paul McCartney"I know lots of people that take cocaine three nights a week and get up and go to work every day, no problem. But we never hear that side of the story."
-- Singer Lily Allen. No, we don't, Lily, because we live in a celebrity tabloid world and nobody cares about us regular people."My grandmother is basically blind, but she can make out the lighter parts ... She says, 'I can see you, because you have no pants on.' So I'll continue to wear no pants so that my grandma can see me."
-- Lady GaGa, talking to Rolling Stone"It's really scary about the economy right now. So the way I'm playing my part in helping is doing a lot of shopping wherever I go. I think a way for people to get by in this economy and still be fashionable is to go to TopShop, because they have really cute clothes at great prices." It's good to see that multi-millionaire Paris Hilton is doing her bit to support the British economy. Hey, Paris, shop at home.
"I was kind of seeing this guy and then it was over. So I texted my godmother in Jamaica and told her and as a joke I said, 'Maybe my next conquest should be Simon Cowell.' You know when someone is in your mind and you accidentally text them? He replied, 'Sorry?'"
-- Lily Allen tells The Sun of her embarrassment when she mistakenly sent a text message to Simon Cowell.
"There's not a hoax. Might I be ridiculous? Might my career in music be laughable? Yeah, that's possible, but that's certainly not my intention."
-- Joaquin Phoenix denies his new rap career is fake. And if it's not a complete Andy Kaufman-type joke, he will have no rap career. Last October, the Oscar nominee announced he was retiring from acting to concentrate onmusic.
THE RADIO INTERVIEW on 'THE AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE' - From newsblaze.com
"Steve Meyer is on the front line of global music sales and distribution which he expects will soar to pocket-bursting levels. What's more, he shares his insight and ingenuity with us. Steve gives us both historical perspective and futuristic vision as he chats with Judy about the love of his work, trends of the business and his personal points of view about success, happiness and blending life with the lust for life. Steve joins Judy and helps us discover the thrill of having it all with a sense of balance and purpose. "
You can listen to an interview I did with Judy Piazza of 'The American Perspective' by clicking here: (It runs about 15 minutes)
http://www.thesop.org/index.php?id=10306.
The Blogs
Check out a great blog by Jerry Del Colliano, the Director Executive Programs, Clinical Professor Music Industry & Recording Arts, at the Thornton School of Music,University of Southern California, by clicking here: http://www.insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com.
Website
Check out attorney Ray Beckerman's website at: http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com where he prints news about the RIAA's ongoing activities
TinyURL
Check out www.tinyurl.com where you can make a smaller URL that will work for any webpage you wish to link to or reference. (As you can see, I'm using it in my news stories above!)
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