Author: Kent

Reader, writer, arithmeticer. Proprietor of Newsome.Org, a tech, music and life blog.

Jukebox, Uncensored

You know the drill. Open up your jukebox of choice, point the shuffle feature to your entire library of songs and list, without exception, the first 10 or so songs that play.

Storybook Endings – BR5-49 (Big Backyard Beat Show)
Canray’s Contredanse – Beausoleil (Hot Chili Mama)
The Rose of San Joaquin – Tom Russell (The Rose of San Joaquin)
Your Sweet Lovin’ – Margie Joseph (Stax Set)
My Hometown – Bruce Springsteen (Live 1975-85)
When I’m at Your House – Loudon Wainwright III (History)
Ain’t We Funky Now – Brothers Johnson (Blam!!)
Don’t Let Me Down Again – Rusty Weir (Stacked Deck)
Vulcan Death Grip – Ugly Americans (Stereophonic Spanish Fly)
Beggar’s Will – Steve Pride (Haint)

MDA Lock-Up

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Next Thursday police officers will come to my office, arrest me and take me to jail. I am part of the MDA Lock-Up, a fund raising effort of the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

It’s a good cause and I am happy to support it. If you’d like to help bail me out, and support the MDA’s efforts to find a cure, please visit my Bail Page.

Somebody Noticed the Elephant

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USA Today (via Yahoo) published an article today that addresses the number one reason why podcasts will never be (or, more accurately, allowed to become) a mainstram thing. It’s about time someone noticed that elephant in the room (the priority-challenged RIAA). If podcasting is ever going to attract the masses, it must contain interesting, legal content, that you can’t easily get somewhere else. For that to happen, the elephant must be dealt with. Otherwise, podcasting will devolve into three catagories:

1) Watered down, low bitrate marketing ploys from the record label cartel;

2) Rebel podcasts that try to stay one step ahead of the RIAA lawyers (like the file sharing services do now); and

3) A lot of mostly boring talk with a few public domain songs thrown in to give it an NPR vibe.

None of those are likely to bring podcasting to the masses.

So until the elephant is dealt with, podcasting is hobbled almost to the point of uselessness. Yes, yes, I know there are some good podcasts out there, but that’s only because they ignore the elephant and use unlicensed music, but that will soon end, if you read between the lines of this quote from the article:

“Record companies say they’re just trying to look out for their artists. Podcasting could exacerbate the piracy problem created by file-swapping sites such as Grokster and Kazaa. When listeners download a podcast, they “are getting a copy of an entire program … an unprotected copy that they can do whatever they want with,” says Steve Marks, a lawyer at the Recording Industry Association of America.”

The RIAA doesn’t yet know what it wants to do “about” podcasting. Poscasting’s not terribly popular yet and even the RIAA (surely) has some residual desire not to be painted as the devil (probably, I am assuming, maybe not). But the record cartel also knows that if this thing gets legs, it could be Napster all over again. Eventually, greed will beat out logic and more lawsuits will be filed against 10 year olds aimed at stopping podcasting in its tracks. The prime objective of the RIAA will be to avoid another Napster at all costs.

To survive podcasters have to confront the elephant. Ignore it and it will eventually charge at you with tusks (and lawyers) raised and ready.

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New Rancho Radio Set

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For the second week in a row, I picked the songs for this week’s playlist at random from our alt. country library. Last week, I was really pleased with the mix. I heard a bunch of good cuts that I wouldn’t have thought to add had I done the set manually. I also received a good bit of positive feedback from listeners. So, once again, a new random set from our 26,000 song library.

Whatever's on My Mind

Interesting conversation over at Thomas Hawk‘s page regarding Scoblegate. I think a lot of Robert and I hope and expect him to prevail in what is now a cyber-spat, but may turn into something more.

We had dinner tonight (as we do most Tuesday nights) with the Veldmans at Pico’s. Very good crab quesadillas there. The dining guides say it has live music Wed.-Sun. I’ve been there a bunch, but haven’t noticed any music. I need to look closer next time we go on the weekend. Good discussion tonight about Iraq, politics, etc. I used to be considered somewhat liberal, but Sharon makes me sound like a fascist. I’d rather talk to someone who thinks my political views are insane than someone who agrees with me on every issue, and Sharon fits that bill. She thinks I (and everyone else who isn’t a rabid democrat) am nuts. At one point Ray got frustrated trying to argue with his wife and started arguing his point to Raina. That is called preaching to the choir.

Andy and Floyd got all mad at me at work today, saying I am difficult and don’t keep confidences. I told them I appreciate the heads up and that I would not tell anyone they think that.

And a school teacher shall lead them…. Battlestar Galactica continues to move up my list of all-time favorite shows. The scene this past week outside President Roslin’s cell blew me away. The writing on that show is truly amazing.

Fred Wilson has a good read about blogging. He is a really good writer. He also turned me onto Josh Rouse, who has some great songs (Dressed Up Like Nebraska being the best) on some good records.

Where Have You Gone Mr. TIVO Man

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A Newsome turns his lonely remote to you (woo woo woo).

If I sound bitter, it’s only because I am.

The reason I write so much about the impending death of TIVO is because I love my TIVO so much. It makes me mad that I am going to lose such great (and expensive) technology. But if I (like a lot of TIVO’s customers) am a DirecTV customer unwilling to go backwards to cable, then I have no choice but to find an alternative, since DirecTV is killing TIVO slowly, but surely.

Here’s an article in Forbes that says DirecTV may start shipping non-TIVO DVRs next month. So the end that I have been dreading is about to begin.

What’s that you say Mr. R. Murdoch, Mr. TIVO has up and gone away?

Jukebox, Uncensored

You know the drill. Open up your jukebox of choice, point the shuffle feature to your entire library of songs and list, without exception, the first 10 or so songs that play.

Hot Rod Heart – John Fogerty (Blue Moon Swamp)
Floating – Blue Rodeo (Outskirts)
Like a Mole in the Ground – 5 Chinese Bros. (Stone Soup)
Spoonful – Cream (Fresh Cream)
Bluebird – Howlin’ Wolf (The Chess Box)
Tall Trees in GA – Buffy Sainte-Marie (Im Gonna be a County Girl Again)
Grapefruit Juicy Fruit – Jimmy Buffett (A White Sport Coat…)
Couch – 15 Mary Thompsons (MP3.Com)
Coloured Rain – Traffic (Mr. Fantasy)
Ship of Fools – Grateful Dead (From the Mars Hotel)