Archive for April, 2007
Thats Random…
Jeff April 21st, 2007
The Canary Islands were not named for a bird called a canary. They were named after a breed of large dogs. The Latin name was Canariae insulae - “Island of Dogs.”
A normal cow’s stomach has four compartments: the rumen, the recticulum (storage area), the omasum (where water is absorbed), and the abomasum ( the only compartment with digestive juices).
Earth means “dirt.”
Iraqi terrorist, Khay Rahnajet, didn’t pay enough postage on a letter bomb. It came back with “return to sender” stamped on it. Forgetting it was the bomb, he opened it and was blown to bits. .
China has more English speakers than the United States.
the longest recorded flight of a chicken is thirteen seconds.
The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.
Carnivorous animals will not eat another animal that has been hit by a lightning strike.
When possums are playing ‘possum, they are not “playing.” They actually pass out from sheer terror.
The penalty for killing a cat, 4,000 years ago in Egypt, was death.
More food is thrown out each day in the United States than is needed to feed its hungry . . . by McDonalds.
An iguana can stay under water for 28 minutes.
The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
A toothpick is the object most often choked on by Americans.
Fifteen people are known to have been crushed to death tilting drinks machines towards them in the hope of a free can of soda
Australia is the only continent without an active volcano. (but they do have an old one, I’ve seen it!)
The average human brain weighs three pounds.
One in three male motorists picks their nose whilst driving.
In Hibbing, Minnesota, it shall be the duty of all policemen to kill all cats running at large.
In Nevada, it is illegal to drive a camel on the highway.
In Alabama, It is legal to drive the wrong way down a one-way street if you have a lantern attached to the front of your automobile.
In Alaska, while it is legal to shoot bears, waking a sleeping bear for the purpose of taking a photograph is prohibited.
Something I came across
Jeff April 21st, 2007
I was having a look through a bunch of old files on my computer this afternoon and came across this quote that I wrote down while I was traveling. It was in the first hostel I stayed at, in a book that the guests wrote stuff in. It isnt word for word but was the best I could remember at the time. I liked it because a lot was said in just a few sentences…
Don’t live your life conforming to rules laid out by our society and the media. Write your own script, your own lines… You only have one life to live, one chance at every day. Don’t try to fill a role you have set up for yourself, worrying about what others think, giving strangers so much power over you life as to influence you in how you live the one life you have been given. Every moment is a gift from above as we are not owed anything and should be treasured.
These words, like many others you have read before, are now yours to do with what you want to.
Save Pandora
Jeff April 18th, 2007
So I dont usually do these sorts of things but I think it is really lame what our politicians are trying to do to music and the internet. The website it asks you to visit is actually really easy to send a message from. It takes about a minute to send an email and a fax to your states politicians. You can also print out a letter that all you need to do is sign and send in. Anyway, here is the text of the email that was sent out to all Pandora users:
Hi, it’s Tim from Pandora,
I’m writing today to ask for your help. The survival of Pandora and all of Internet radio is in jeopardy because of a recent decision by the Copyright Royalty Board in Washington, DC to almost triple the licensing fees for Internet radio sites like Pandora. The new royalty rates are irrationally high, more than four times what satellite radio pays, and broadcast radio doesn’t pay these at all. Left unchanged, these new royalties will kill every Internet radio site, including Pandora.
In response to these new and unfair fees, we have formed the SaveNetRadio Coalition, a group that includes listeners, artists, labels and webcasters. I hope that you will consider joining us.
Please sign our petition urging your Congressional representative to act to save Internet radio: http://capwiz.com/saveinternetradio/issues/alert/?alertid=9631541
Please feel free to forward this link/email to your friends - the more petitioners we can get, the better.
Understand that we are fully supportive of paying royalties to the artists whose music we play, and have done so since our inception. As a former touring musician myself, I’m no stranger to the challenges facing working musicians. The issue we have with the recent ruling is that it puts the cost of streaming far out of the range of ANY webcaster’s business potential.
I hope you’ll take just a few minutes to sign our petition - it WILL make a difference. As a young industry, we do not have the lobbying power of the RIAA. You, our listeners, are by far our biggest and most influential allies.
As always, and now more than ever, thank you for your support.
tim_signature.jpg
-Tim Westergren
(Pandora founder)
[EDIT]
Talk about a great turn around from Representative Adam Smith. It has been just a few hours since I sent in my email generated from the great tool above and below is a copy of what he said. And I agree with Tim, it is going to get VERY expensive…
April 18, 2007
Jeff Guthrie
6315 111th Avenue East
Puyallup, Washington 98372Dear Jeff,
Thank you for contacting me in regards to Internet radio and a
decision by the Copyright Royalty Board. I appreciate you taking
the time to share your thoughts with me on this issue.The Copyright Royalty Board was established in 2004 by the
Copyright Royalty Board and Distribution Reform Act. The board
is a panel of three Copyright Royalty Judges who determine rates
and terms for the copyright statutory licenses and make
determinations on the distribution of statutory license royalties
collected by the Copyright Office. The Copyright Royalty Judges
are full-time employees of the Library of Congress who are
appointed for six-year terms with an opportunity for
reappointment.As you may know, in 2002, the Recording Industry Association of
America and Internet radio stations negotiated a royalty agreement
which required that radio stations pay performers a percentage of
the station’s revenue. On March 2, 2007, the Copyright Royalty
Board announced that royalty rates will be changed from a
percentage of revenue to a per-song, per-listener fee. Under this
decision, stations will be charged $.0008 per song per listener for
2006 as the ruling is retroactive. The rates will then increase to
$.0011 for 2007, $.0014 for 2009, and $.0019 for 2010. These new
rates will be applied to Internet radio stations, digital music
stations, and traditional broadcast stations that also stream their
programs on the Internet.As a Member of Congress, I will closely examine this complex
issue. In the weeks and months that lie ahead, members of the
various House and Senate committees with jurisdiction on this
issue will be reviewing the implications of the Copyright Royalty
Board’s ruling.Please be assured that I understand the value of Internet radio.
During my time in Congress I have focused on protecting the
interests of consumers while working to make sure the federal
government doesn’t “rush to regulate,” and do harm to many
innovative technologies. Should any legislation be introduced
which addresses the royalty rates which Internet radio stations pay,
I will be sure to keep your thoughts in mind.Again, thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with
me on this issue. Should you have any additional questions,
comments, or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,Adam Smith
Member of CongressIf you’d like to receive occasional e-mail updates from
Congressman Adam Smith, please click here -
http://www.house.gov/adamsmith/IMA/newsletter.shtml.
[EDIT] Murray finally responded today. (26th of April)
Dear Mr. Guthrie:
Thank you for contacting me regarding music royalty rates and how they affect Internet radio. I appreciate hearing from you on this issue.
As you know, the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) issued a ruling on March 9, 2007 that established a new structure of rates to be paid by commercial and noncommercial Internet radio webcasters. For commercial Internet radio webcasters, the CRB did not include any exceptions for “small” webcasters, or webcasters with small audiences. The CRB reasoned that no party had presented any evidence that could be used to create a different rate structure for “large” and “small” webcasters. As a result, all webcasters, regardless of their listening audience, will be subject to the new rates.
This ruling will affect many people who enjoy and listen to Internet radio, and many groups are informing Congress how this decision will affect their lives. I support open access for all consumers to the Internet, as well as efforts that increase innovation and competition on the Internet.
It is very likely that this issue will come up for consideration in the 110th Congress in order to deal with many different aspects of the CRB’s decision. If legislation is introduced, it will likely be considered in the Judiciary Committee, which I do not sit on. Rest assured, should legislation on this issue come up for debate in the full Senate, I will keep your views in mind.
Sincerely,
Patty Murray
United States SenatorP.S. I’d like to invite you to receive Patty Murray’s Washington View, my weekly legislative update by e-mail. If you are interested in receiving my update, please sign up here: http://murray.senate.gov/updates.
Pandora
Jeff April 13th, 2007
Fun site to listen to music for free. Kinda nice because you can discover new songs and artists. Check it out.
Reasons to cancel Cable
Jeff April 11th, 2007
Ok maybe not that drastic but I am going down to limited ($15/mo) because I lost my roommate and need to trim back the bills a bit. (also turning off my heat… hey its springtime right?)
Here are a few reasons why I was thinking that it doesnt make sense to keep paying six figures for cable service:
- Comcast’s DVR service is terrible anyway. I had those wankers out to my house 6 times, had my dvr box replaced 2x (the ones in WA are programmed by MSFT… go figure), and it would intermittently decide that it wanted to delete all the shows it had saved. Not to mention that the shows were quite frequently all garbled b/c of the crap service
- I have a pc capture card. Was just using this $50 item to get old video footage onto the pc to keep for posterity (what can i say I am sentimental. isnt that sweet) but am in the process of testing it to record scheduled programs. Still not the same as my beloved Tivo.
- I dont watch much tv. The only shows I watch regularly are LOST and Scrubs. Lost episodes can be found here and Scrubs episodes are bound to be out there somewhere. For the occasional Southpark Episode you simply go to this site. (thanks Tunis)
- I’m trying to read more.
- Blockbuster membership. You just cant beat having movies or tv series mailed to you. I love the service.
- Its baseball season. Lets be honest, who in their right mind watches baseball on tv?
We’ll see how it goes but I don’t think I will be missing tv very much.
Convert mp4 to mp3
Jeff April 11th, 2007
Aha! I always hated how anything downloaded from Itunes made it so you couldnt play the stupid mp4a file on anything but an IPOD. Seeing as how I got a new phone that has a gig of space for mp3’s I needed a converter. Free Audio Pack to the rescue! It converts those ridiculous files (as well as many others) to mp3s that I can load onto my phone or burn to an mp3 cd to play in my car. The price was right too. My summary: Bo ya.
