Online content distribution has exploded over the past 10 years, but the entertainment industry has been slow to embrace this new means of doing business. Even now, as the music industry is finally starting to adopt the new model, they continue to apply artificial restrictions to content distribution, making it harder for people to purchase and use their content legitimately.

Check out the full article on Internet Evolution.

The 500XL Desktop Earbud Speakers are 500 times the size of the stock earbuds that come with iPods but are otherwise identical (though a version old.) While I’m not about to replace my new Klipsch desktop speakers these would look great next to my iMac!

The song is a simply brilliant spoof on Shakespeare to the tune of Don McLean’s masterwork American Pie by the hilarious Robert Lund.

The lyrics are hilarious and wonderfully crafted. Here’s just a taste:

“So to be, or to choose not to be
That’s the question I’m digentin’ in my soliloquy
And when fortune aims it’s slings and arrows at me
Tell me how I’m going to live through act 3
Answer please iambic-ally”

Listen to the whole song, right here, right now, and check out The FuMP for more along these lines!

If you’re interested in how this is done, this video from The Geek Group explains more than you ever wanted to know about it.

music, science, tesla, tesla coil, electricity, lightning

I heard of this site from the CNET Buzz Out Loud podcast who mentioned the song Dead Nintendo by Possible Oscar on yesterdays podcast. I think my current favorite would have to be She’s Underage by Seamonkey.

If you want to get their picks as they come out you can even use their rss feed with the software of your choice. It’s like a little taste of Dr. Demento every few days.

parody, music, filk, humor, funny, hilarious, silly, strange, songs, free music

The show has gone from great to outstanding. Show 15, a MySpace special was just outstanding. Graham continues to hand-pick fantastic music and put out a great podcast. He was even nice enough to give me a shout-out in show 16.

Check out the podcast site or just subscribe via iTunes. The best things in life are free.


music, folk, acoustic, british

In the post Jobs clearly presents the current situation (each vendor has their own library of music, protected by their own DRM which will only work on their own software and devices) and offers up three possible futures, the most interesting of which is the third:

The third alternative is to abolish DRMs entirely. Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats. In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat. If the big four music companies would license Apple their music without the requirement that it be protected with a DRM, we would switch to selling only DRM-free music on our iTunes store. Every iPod ever made will play this DRM-free music.

Why would the big four music companies agree to let Apple and others distribute their music without using DRM systems to protect it? The simplest answer is because DRMs haven’t worked, and may never work, to halt music piracy.

If you are interested in DRM or would like to learn more about it and why it’s such a hot topic right now, I highly recommend reading Jobs’ entire post. Remember, Apple is currently ahead in this field and if anything has the most to loose if they lost their brand lock-in.

drm, digital rights management, music, mp3, aac, apple, computer, records

Shakespeare’s Den offers an unusual selection of gifts in the areas of theatre, writing, art, music, dance and film. There is everything from pen sets to the Screaming Scream Doll, but it was the Avenging Unicorn and the Horrified B-Movie Victims that I had to get as gifts this year.

While I had the B-Movie Victims sent directly to a friend who has moved away but I did get the chance to see the Avenging Unicorn, complete with three extra horns and a set of three victims. The victims are a mime, a cranky businessman and a new age lady and all are designed to be impaled on the horn.

Shakespeare’s Den shipped promptly and everything was well packed. Check them out for some unique gifts.

gifts, action figure, writing, art, music, dance, theatre

Yup, that’s right, soon for just $79 you will be able to pull out your iPod and check your blood alcohol content, then you can decide if it’s time to drive home to “Born to be Wild” or just mellow out and sober up to some Jim Morrison (ok, maybe someone else.)

Dubbed the iBreath, the device powers itself off the iPod battery, supports the full FM band (88.1 – 107.9) and claims accuracy within 0.01% blood alcohol content. I want one, don’t you?

Thanks to Will for sending this on to me.

drink, drinking, alcohol, ipod, apple, mp3, party, breathalyzer

Remind you of someone you know?

“White & Nerdy” is from Weird Al Yankovic’s album Straight Outta Lynwood which just came out last month.

Thanks to Matt for sending this on to me.

fun, funny, music, humor, nerd, geek, office humor