This is all sooo cool!

Yesterday I was excited because my third Logitech Music system (the link goes to a review site...much better than I could do and well worth a look if you are interested in streaming sound from your computer to other areas of your house)receiver arrived. As I noted, I hooked it up and things were rosy. I was wrong...they were better!

I spent the evening down in the workshop picking up on a couple projects I have been neglecting. I had the music streaming. The sound was awesome! So much cleaner than the old boombox I had for company before. In fact, that workshop is becoming close to Heaven. Think about it. Here I am in a room filled with tools and great music; wtf more could I really want? (I was joking about 30 concubines earlier, but, as I noted, my darling wife would, in her own quiet way, object to that arrangement--my life would become both painful and exceedingly short--and, besides, one can't really give proper attention to one's tools if there are a bunch of females hanging around...*grin*) No, what I have discovered that I really need is to build a glass-walled cubicle where I can install a reasonably powerful workstation with a 20-inch(or bigger) flatscreen monitor. The cubicle part is to keep the sawdust from the workshop part of the basement away from the delicate innards of the 'puter. That would make this machine in the office , the one I'm working on now, and its brother over in the corner could become my network servers/workhorses, while my workshop workstation could be where I play and do fun things like run CAD programs to design and build my home projects. I shiver just to think about the prospect.

The other thing I need, and something that has a much higher degree of probability, is a set of outdoor, weatherproof speakers. But what I want are a really powerful pair of honkers...something that, when I crank 'em up, neighbors two or three doors down get nice crisp clear sound...*snicker*. I wanna be able to hear 'em when I'm in the pool...under water.

To recap, I only need three things to make immediate life pretty perfect (except for the continuing need to work...but I'll address that injustice later...): 1)a big honking set of outdoor speakers, 2)a big honking workstation in the basement and 3)a Subaru Outback (I know...I just threw that in with no prior prep, but it is on the list.)

And look at this...two posts in a row...I'm on a roll!

Addendum: There is a small raincloud in paradise. No, nothing at all wrong with the system as is. The problem is that I have things to do this morning, and I find that I am reluctant to leave. This is all just too perfect. *sigh* Oh, and I'm going to have to increase my quarterly donation to Radio Paradise. If I listen to Bill's station virtually 24/7, I'm gonna have to pony up a bit more to cover my contribution to keeping the music flowing...and Fuck You, RIAA. (I had to add that: I can't say anything about the economics of the music industry without telling the RIAA to go fuck themselves...) OK, now I really have to get the hell out and going...damn!

It Came!!

I am so pumped. My latest Logitech Music sytem receiver (bundled in an iPod connection package) has arrived. There are times that the way we do business astounds me. The Logitech Music System is a Blue Tooth wireless delivery system. You hook up the receivers to things like stereos and powered multi-media speakers and you hook up the transmitter to your PC (range for that transmitter is 330 feet) or plug in to your iPod/mp3 player (range about 30 feet). But, wait....don't you load your iPod from your computer?? If you have all the songs on your computer, the only time I could see you needing this transmitter would be if you took a set of powered speakers someplace where your computer wasn't. However, that's not what amazes me.

What amazes me is that the receiver part of this system can be bought from Logitech and various retailers for about $75US. The whole PC music system now costs something like $150US: that's for one transmitter, one receiver and one remote control device(which is next to useless...) and some ancillary components. However, if one was lucky, one saw this on Woot! where one purchased it for less that $50US(including shipping). Then, if one looked around, one noticed that the iPod package was being sold for about 1/2 of what just the receiver alone cost. What was that? So, I've purchased two of these packages, stuffed the transmitter thingies in a drawer, and hooked the receivers up to 1)the bookcase stereo in my office and 2) powered speakers on the patio and in the basement. I've got to port the receiver between these two, but I won't be listening to music in the basement when I'm in the backyard and visa-versa. The upshot of all this is that I now have streaming Internet based music in four areas of the house.

I am ecstatic!! This is so cool! I have come a giant step closer to having my life with a permanent soundtrack running in the background. Now all I have to do is ditch the job at Barnes & Noble for self-employment again, and life will be perfect. Well, maybe not perfect...there might be something else that would need to be added...but I'll leave that to your fertile imaginations...*snicker*

Why does it feel like we are becoming a second tier power?

The fact that over 3000 active duty soldiersdeserted(registration required for NY Times) last year is bad enough. But the fact that our army numbers 500,000 troops is even more scary in these perilous times. We are a nation of over 300 million people, yet we can only field a defense force of 500,000 in our army. That sucks! Of course, the fact that we are involved in an immoral and, IMHO, illegal war might have something to do with the fact that we can't field a larger army and that more and more soldiers are heading for the exits.

There are no people on Earth who I despise more than terrorists who kill indiscriminately. There are no people on Earth who I think deserve to meet their maker sooner rather than later, and, if I can help them along, all the better. However, Iraq and the Iraqi people never fit that description. Saddam Hussein was a tyrant, but he was a local, petty tyrant. He terrorized his own people, and they were the ones who needed to, finally, rise up and throw off the yoke of oppression. When they did that on their own, then I can see us offering them aid and support. But, to make that call in the hubris of our own self-importance, was wrong, and we are going to pay the price for that folly.

So, let's get our forces out of Iraq and gird ourselves for the tribulations that are going to follow. Those hard times are going to come whether or not we withdraw now or later. If we withdraw now, at least some deaths will be averted and not laid on our karma. If we are able to say to the world that our President was wrong, wrong, wrong, and that we as a country repudiate his arrogance and wrong actions, perhaps the coming problems in that part of the world will not be quite as bad. Our main problem, of course, is the fact that we had our eyes on the wrong villian: we should have been looking at the mullahs of Iran. That is where the true conflict is going to come from. Remember, the Persians have been attacking Western Culture beginning with the Greeks and Xerxes. Iran, or at least the leaders coming from that part of the world , have never been our friends. Think about it.

RAIN: Radio And Internet Newsletter

Let's continue the rant against the RIAA. Here is a very good article about the copyright law by Kurt Hanson. I actually learned a lot that I didn't know about copyright...all of which simply reinforced my absolute disdain of the RIAA and the rest of the suits in the music industry today.

I just want to reinforce the idea that streaming audio is not the same as providing me a "perfect digital copy". It gives me a copy which is about the same quality as I could get from FM radio. And the process of me making a copy of that stream is at least as difficult as it is to record a song from FM radio. Look at most bookshelf stereos: they all have cassette recorders that you can set to record from whatever is being broadcast over the FM radio receiver which is also part of that bookcase system. Now, for me to record a music stream from Pandora or Radio Paradise, I have to be able to intercept that stream and copy it to a hard drive. Because I don't know what song is coming next on the stream, either I copy the whole stream, a process that takes up a lot of memory space, and is not all that convenient to pick individual songs out of, or I jump in a couple seconds into the song (oops, which makes it, de facto, an "imperfect" copy.

So, rather than go through all that hassle...and because recording music streams takes up a whole lot of time...I send my favorite streaming station Radio Paradise a set quarterly donation, and I listen with a clear conscience. If, like recently with James McMurtry, I find an artist whom I really like, I go out and buy a CD to "support" that artist (although I know that 99% of what I paid for that CD goes to people other than the creators of that music.)

So, to re-emphasize my stand on this, I have stopped purchasing music except from websites run by the artist themselves. If I see any instance of RIAA or record label involvement, I don't buy. Period. Screw them all. I have a couple hundred hours of music available to me, either through CDs I own or through CDs that friends lend me...which I will copy. I will not purchase any new music if that purchase benefits either the RIAA or the big 4 music manufacturers. I will listen to streaming music over the Internet, and, when the RIAA closes down all the domestic streams, I will listen to pirate streams from overseas. I won't copy these streams, because that is to fucking much trouble...but I will have 'em playing in the background as I go about my life...Personally, I would encourage every resident of the United States to do the same.

More on the RIAA

I have recently become aware of a number of sites which are addressing the new copyright fees being imposed by the CRB and the RIAA. The Internet radio stations I listen to (Pandora, Radio Paradise, Legato Cafe and Creamy Radio are all up in arms about the new rates, and have started to organize to fight them. Make no mistake, this is a direct assault upon one of the true gems of the Internet...independent music programmers. These stations perform a true service both for the performers and for listeners. However, the big businesses which control the music industry (music, to them, is simply a product to sell to make money...those businesses have no concern about any possible higher value intrinsic in music...) have managed to buy off the CRB (and, by "buy off" I do not necessarily mean that there has been some sort of payoff--what I mean is that the the RIAA convinced the CRB that, economically, this was in the best interest of the music industry. What they didn't tell the CRB is that they, and not the creators of the music, comprise the music industry.). As most of the Internet streaming radio programmers will tell you, the Royalty structure being set by the CRB amounts to a death sentence for 99% of the Internet broadcasters.

The more I dig into the music industry, the more I am ashamed that I have had anything to do with perpetrating this vast immoral conspiracy on the part of the "suits" against both the performers and the listening public. There was a time when record labels were necessary, but that time has, for the most part, passed. There is no reason why the creators of music cannot use the Internet to by-pass the major labels entirely and deal directly with the music consuming public. Seven years ago Courtney Love addressed the Digital Hollywood conference and said things that are still true today. The problem with her speech then was that our lives went on pretty much unchanged at that time. The RIAA was still chasing Napster and not going after pretty much the public at large. Well, that has changed. The royalty grab is going to effect every last one of us. Plus, the abomination that is DRM also effects us all.

So, follow this link to Gizmodo's RIAA Manifesto, read it and follow the links it contains to begin to learn more about the evil perpetrated by the RIAA. Then, take up the cause and spread the word. Email your friends with these links, write your local newspapers and your elected officials to protest the CRB's proposed royalty structure. If you are an aspiring artist, stay the hell away from the big labels out there. Record your music either yourself of in an independent studio, and then distribute it on the 'Net. The numbers don't lie: sell 1 track for $0.25US to 500,000 people (that's less than 1% of the number of people in only the US who have access to the Internet) and you earn $125,000US. Record and sell 1 song per month at that rate, and you will earn $1,500,000US per year. Even if it costs you $500,000 to do that, you still end up with a million dollars. According to Courtney Love (see above) that's about a million more than you would end up with if you went with a big label.

I will no longer puchase CDs put out by RIAA members nor will I engage in any other activity that could potentially put money in their coffers. I will endeavor to support musicians and composers out of those channels (i.e. directly), but, if this proves to be impossible, I will live with what music I have and only purchase music from sources I am positive do not contribute to either the Big Four major labels or the RIAA. I know, my personal boycott won't bring down the establishment as it stands and it won't really have an effect upon music, but it will make me feel better.

This is about the last straw....

Fuck 'em....Yeah, fuck the RIAA and all the suits and major labels who parasite off the works of the creative and the sweat and blood of the music consumers out there. Through high power lobbying, the RIAA has gotten the Bush administration's Copyright Board to approve a totally wrong royalty rate. So, while they drive Internet radio totally underground in this country by making it economically impossible to stream music over the Internet, the big corporate broadcasters continue to rake in huge amounts of money without having to compensate musicians at all (according to Bill Goldsmith)

Personally, I agree with Jefitoblog that this is a great time for a boycott. Only I think that it should be a permanent boycott of all major labels and anybody else who supports the RIAA. At the same time, I think we, all music consumers, should directly support the artists we listen to by, if nothing else, sending them money via their websites (all artists have a web presence...find it and figure out how to send 'em money.)

Frankly, I've written about the music industry before; this latest big "FUCK YOU" from the suits who have taken over this industry is just confirmation that change is more than overdue...it is vital. What is needed now is a paradigm change in the way music is distributed to (for want of a better term) consumers. Prior to Thomas Alva Edison, the only way to distribute music was via live performance or printed sheet music. That meant that if one didn't play a musical instrument, about the only way one could enjoy music was to physically be in the presence of a person making said music. Mr. Edison changed all that.

However, the making of music and then reproducing it post Edison required a considerable investment in both equipment and knowledge. In other words, recording music was not something that just anybody could do--until the invention of magnetic tape and the creation of relatively inexpensive recorders. I can remember my father recording stuff by placing microphones in front of speakers. Those weren't the highest quality recordings, but they sufficed. However, for the most part we didn't record stuff because it was simply too much trouble. When I could buy a 45rpm disc for less than a buck, why would I want to spend an hour trying to get a decent recording of it off somebody else's copy? And this reasoning pretty much held true as cassette recorders became available. I could (and did) record off FM radio stations by plugging leads into recorder and receiver. It made recording stuff easier, but it was still better to go out and buy the albums. They still weren't that expensive and it was still easier.

Now we have the internet and streaming media. But wait, capturing streaming media is a pain in the butt. If one is listening to Radio Paradise or some other station using Winamp, or Real Player or Windows Media Player, one can't click a button and tell the software to store that stream on your hard drive. No, you have to go get third party software, install it and then deal with the large file one ends up with . It is, in fact, a pain in the butt. I listen to streaming music, and I send my favorite online radio stations money as my way of supporting both the station and the artists the station streams. If I hear something really good, I either go out and buy the cd or I try to buy the specific track online. (I think that the online prices-per-track are way too high, but that is another rant...)

However, as of now my support for music is going to change. I will still send my listener supported radio stations donations in proportion to how much I listen to them. But...I will no longer purchase CDs or tracks from any sourse other than directly from the artist. Period! The major labels and the RIAA get not a cent of my money. I feel for the artists, I don't feel for the parasite bloodsuckers....

I am going to go back to the model I proposed a long time ago, and see if it isn't perhaps time to dust it off and begin to really work at implementing it. Also, I wonder just how much dark fiber optic cable is available in, say, Panama. One could run an Internet radio station from Panama, and the RIAA would, basically, be left with its figurative thumb up its figurative ass. Works for me!