Friday, September 28, 2007

got bandwidth?

so I just took this bandwidth test to test the new modem comcast has installed, here are the results:

22929 kbps download rate

1361 kbps upload rate

I'll have to research those numbers further to see if I'm getting my money's worth for cable internet...

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

free NEW deerhoof mp3's

the fantastic San Francisco band we know as deerhoof have free remix mp3's posted on their website. some of the recordings are live, only a few aren't extremely great, so get them while you can!

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

summer photos















apple, ipod, itunes and rick rubin

I came across this article online where a mac fan beats up on rick rubin for saying ipods are going the way of obsolete.
>>>

Rick Rubin, co-chairman of Columbia Records, has publicly stated that the iPod and iTunes models are doomed, with the way to go being subscription-based, music-anywhere, services.

In fact, he thinks the whole music business will only be saved by going to a subscription model, but he's quick to pick on the iPod. "The iPod will be obsolete, but there would be a Walkman-like device you could plug into speakers at home," he said.

Rubin's motivation is that adopting cheap music subscription services will curb illegal downloads, believing that "If music is easily available at a price of five or six dollars a month, then nobody will steal it."

I'm not convinced.
Click here to find out more!

What's more amusing is that somehow, in Rubin's mind, the iPod and iTunes can't evolve but this mythical "Walkman-like device" can. Hmm... who owns Columbia Records? Ahh yes, Sony.

The iPod has evolved and, in fact, so has the Walkman. If it hadn't, we'd still be messing about with cassette tapes.

Apple already has a device that you can plug your iPod into at home - the iPod Hi-Fi - and if that doesn't suffice then there are plenty of iPod speaker docks that do the same thing.

Rubin isn't saying anything revolutionary. Subscription-based music services have been around for years, and the idea of mobile music and a converged home is a reality to many.

Even fellow chairman at Columbia, Steve Barnett, isn't convinced. "Smart people have told me if the subscription model is not done correctly it will be the final nail in our coffin. I've heard both sides of the argument, and I'm not convinced it's the solution to our problems. Rick wants to be a hero immediately. In his mind, you flick a switch and it's done. It doesn't work like that," he said.

I wouldn't want to be in the Columbia board room after that little spat.

>>>

My response, which for some reason was not accepted by the blog:

rick rubin is a musical genius. would I place money on the forcast of a studio producer of that of some business major? maybe. in this case, he may be on to something.

i own an ipod 30g video. it is certainly not the latest or the greatest, but i bring it up here because i don't want you to think i'm an ipod hater before bringing up ipod's list of flaws.

1. battery life. it sucks. always has, probably always will. if sony is going to try and steal some of ipod's glory, i'm 100% certain that it's product will have SUPERIOR battery life. I know that mac people get real sensitive about other tech being superior to that of their own, but in this case it is true.

2. DRM. steve jobs wouldn't be writing open letters to the major music labels if he wasn't worried about his current setup of itunes and consequently ipod. anything you buy from itunes is going to have proprietary drm encoding, preventing your purchased mp3 from truly being your own. you may have a copy of a song that you think you are happy with, but that song has been designed to be transferred a maximum of usually 3 times before it becomes locked and unmovable. rubin's point about subscriptions services is 100% right in that respect, because websites like emusic offer mp3's that are DRM free, and you truly own the mp3's you get from websites like emusic.

so in my mind the only thing mr. rubin could have said better is that "itunes" is obsolete rather than "ipod." He got the wrong "i" as it were.

0% of my ipod music collection was downloaded from itunes, because I can't stand proprietary technology and let's face it, since the beginning, steve jobs and the folks over at apple have made their entire fortune based on proprietary rights. they may say otherwise, but it is in their best interest to keep their technology highly proprietary, to maximize profits margins because you'll have no choice but to buy from them.

by the way, my brother's new macbook has a proprietary power cord. the thing broke last month. what should cost $40 max for a ac adapter is universally priced by mac at around $80. a wonderful illustration of the unfortunate pitfalls proprietary philosphy. they're at least doubling their profit margins in this example alone.

that's why I don't use windows anymore, why I don't use mac anymore. I use linux, the most robust operating system on the planet.