Gaige's Pages

It's not surprising to read an article that describes the RIAA as having done something stupid, but here's an op ed piece from the New York Times by an independent record seller who directly blames them for the demise of that which the RIAA was trying to save: albums, CDs... and the missteps that were made on the way here.

Greenpeace has been leading the charge against Apple in recent years because of what it claims are their particularly bad environmental policies. However, this article from Business Week points out that Apple's more likely than not being picked on because of its position in the marketplace, not because of the toxins that they're selling.

Sounds pretty good for Microsoft's new head of the pack. Although the folks at ARS Technica have some comments that bring into question whether this is because of new PC growth or not. Even so, new PC growth itself may have been helped by pent up demand for Vista... we'll see.

It's not a Microsoft-bashing column, but this Computerworld article by Scot Finnie, Computerworld's online editorial director, takes Microsoft to task over what he sees as ignoring demands in the market and Apple's recent moves. In particular, he's talking about the enterprise, so he doesn't go into the XBox vs. AppleTV argument, etc.

I know I've promised to forward this URL to a number of people, so here's a reference to the article in New York Magazine that will be easy to find. The article is about praising children not for doing things right or behaving or anything else they can control, but about praising them just for being themselves. It's worth a read.

I like David Pogue (tech reporter for the New York Times). He writes a good column, uses a Mac, uses dripping sarcasm, and can sing well. His article today about CompUSA's downsizing of over 50% of his stores, hits the nail right on the head.

Last year, I managed to convince 8 people to get Macs who either had not done so in the past, or who were coming back to the Mac from a long hiatus. Although I had for many years not considered myself an evangelist for "the cause", recent changes in Windows, the Mac, and the Internet have brought a change to that neutral position and now I appear to be pretty much a zealot. This despite the fact that I'm one of the few people I know who has both purchased and installed a copy of Vista. So, how do you switch your friends to OS X from XP? Good question, and tonight I've been finding out.

Listening to NPR tonight, and in particular to Marketplace when I hear Ben Stein issuing a rant about oil companies and prices. That wasn't that surprising, given his history. However, when they went to break afterward, the commentator said "Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?" without further comment...

I guess that digital radio you're listening to via your laptop is just too much for the RIAA, so they have gone after the broadcast of music online. According to an article from BetaNews, internet radio stations will pay an average of $8.91 per listener in 2006 and move up to $15.59 per listener by 2008 (based on the schedule accepted by the US Copyright Office. Broadcast radio stations using the airwaves will pay an average of $1.56 (based on 2006 numbers) rising up to $1.94 per listener. Yep, that sounds about right...

Inspector General Fine found that the FBI overreached its authority by heavily using the National Security Letter system. The report has not been denied by the administration and has, in fact, been acknowledged as a "serious problem" by FBI Director Mueller and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Thanks to CNet for the heads up.