For those who’ve been following the “Internet Radio Is in Danger of Being Shut Down Forever” story (background here), there’s some good news. According to Wired News, as a result of the massive outcry Congress heard from listeners, SoundExchange is backing away from the draconic royalty rate structure that would have put Internet radio out […]
Entries Tagged as 'Tech'
Update: Internet Radio Gets a Reprieve
July 13th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Activism, Culture, Internet, Media, Music, News
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Roundup: Cannibal Cane Toad Edition
July 9th, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Cannibal Cane Toad Edition · Activism, Blogs, Comics, Culture, Education, Food, Hate Crimes, Health, Human Rights, Internet, iTunes, LGBT, Music, Nature, New Wave, News, Organic Food, Pets, Politics, Restaurants, Roundup, Science, Tech, Vegetarian & Vegan
John Conyers tells it like it T-I-Is: Conyers says Bush spared Libby from jail to keep him from singing. This is patently obvious to just about everyone, but of course the White House immediately called the charge “ridiculous and baseless.” Which allows it to join the distinguished list of other ideas the administration considers “ridiculous […]
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Roundup: Solar-Powered Wi-Fi Turtle Edition
July 5th, 2007 · 5 Comments · Apple, Business, Climate Change, Comics, Culture, Film, Food, Hate Crimes, Health, Healthcare Crisis, History, HIV/AIDS, Internet, LGBT, Media, Music, Nature, News, Politics, Racism, Roundup, Science, Tech
Nicole at Crooks and Liars puts it well: It’s ironic to be celebrating Independence Day during a time when we have a virtual King who defies the law with impunity, and is not held accountable to the people he governs. Revolution? What revolution? Also at C&L, what a TV newscast looked like on July 4, […]
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Music: Talk Talk, “Such a Shame”
July 4th, 2007 · Comments Off on Music: Talk Talk, “Such a Shame” · Culture, Film, Internet, iTunes, Music, New Wave, Performance, Video
I found an old posting I made to the Planet-Earthlings Yahoo Group several years ago, back when the group was new and we were talking about favorite videos from the New Wave era. Most of the ones I wrote about are up on YouTube, so I figured I’d work my way through ’em till I’ve […]
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Ceci N’est Pas Une Vice President
July 2nd, 2007 · 1 Comment · Comedy, Internet, Politics, Science
The award for the best Cheney post of the past week goes to Bob Harris, hands down. It starts out good: I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the last six and a half years would make a lot more sense if the GOP were actually performing a sophisticated Dada art exhibition. This […]
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Or We Could Just Go with a Picture of the Comic Book Guy
June 30th, 2007 · Comments Off on Or We Could Just Go with a Picture of the Comic Book Guy · Blogs, Comedy, Comics, Culture, Film, Internet, Journal, TV
Okay, since I always like to follow the lead of the RubberNun, I took my best shot at recreating myself as a Simpsons character (courtesy of the avatar builder at the Simpsons Movie site). Of course, being the multi-faceted Gemini Rising type that I am, I had to do four different versions. Figure A: The […]
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Roundup: Still Life with Salmon Edition
June 28th, 2007 · 4 Comments · Apple, Comics, Culture, Education, Energy, Film, iTunes, LGBT, Macintosh, Music, Nature, New Wave, News, Peace, Pets, Politics, Roundup, Science, Tech
POLITICS: The Washington Post brings us the fascinating story of how Cheney’s quest to undermine environmental science for political purposes led to a humongous pile of rotting dead fish. “… Because of Cheney’s intervention, the government reversed itself and let the water flow in time to save the 2002 growing season, declaring that there was […]
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Save Internet Radio Campaign Update — Day of Silence Tuesday, June 26
June 25th, 2007 · 3 Comments · Activism, Business, Culture, Internet, iTunes, Media, News, Politics, Tech
July 15 is “the day the music dies” — the date that Internet radio will be essentially destroyed by new draconic royalty fees approved by the Copyright Royalties Board if Congress doesn’t take action to fix the situation. The exorbitant new rates force stations to pay a fixed fee for every song they play, regardless […]
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Roundup: Irish Sea Eagle Edition
June 22nd, 2007 · 1 Comment · Blogs, Climate Change, Culture, Feminism, Film, Internet, Law, LGBT, Media, Music, Nature, New Wave, News, Politics, Roundup, Science, TV
POLITICS: The Senate Judiciary committee has voted 13-3 to authorize subpoenas for documents related to the NSA warrantless surveillance program. That includes three Republicans on the committee voting in favor of the subpeonas: Sens. Arlen Specter (R-PA), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Poland “stuns” other members of the European Union by demanding that […]
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Michael Moore’s Sicko: Willing To Be Patient
June 20th, 2007 · Comments Off on Michael Moore’s Sicko: Willing To Be Patient · Activism, Culture, Film, Health, Healthcare Crisis, Internet, Media, News, Politics
So there’s lots of news buzz this week about how Michael Moore’s health care industry documentary Sicko has already been pirated to YouTube and other places, two weeks before the film’s original June 29 release date. And as a result the movie will be opening early, with sneak previews in 27 selected markets. I think […]
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Roundup: Tiny Four-Eyed Turtle Edition
June 18th, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Tiny Four-Eyed Turtle Edition · Activism, Climate Change, Comics, Culture, Education, Health, Human Rights, Internet, iTunes, Labor, Law, LGBT, Music, Nature, News, Pets, Politics, Science, Tech
POLITICS: In “Hillary’s Labor Problem,” Joe Conason points out that Hillary Clinton’s top political strategist, Mark Penn, is the CEO of a union-busting law firm. “Having started in a tiny, two-man polling operation in a New York City mayoral campaign, he is now the CEO of Burson-Marsteller Inc., one of the planet’s largest P.R. shops, […]
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Music: Crowded House Releases “Don’t Stop Now” (with Video and Neil Finn Interview)
June 18th, 2007 · Comments Off on Music: Crowded House Releases “Don’t Stop Now” (with Video and Neil Finn Interview) · Culture, iTunes, Music, New Wave, News, Video
Crowded House’s new single “Don’t Stop Now,” written with Johnny Marr, was released last week and is available from iTunes. (Click the record cover at right for a handy iTunes link.) Meanwhile, I’m thrilled to report that I have a ticket for the Sunday, Aug. 19 show at House of Blues here in Chicago. (I […]
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Roundup: Return of the Mouse Edition
June 15th, 2007 · 4 Comments · Activism, Apple, Books, Comics, Culture, Fiction, Food, Hate Crimes, Health, Healthcare Crisis, HIV/AIDS, iTunes, LGBT, Lit, Macintosh, Music, News, Organic Food, Politics, Roundup, Tech, Theater
BOOKS: This week marked the release of Armistead Maupin’s new book Michael Tolliver Lives, which picks up the story of Michael “Mouse” Tolliver, the iconic character from Maupin’s Tales of the City series. Mouse is now in his mid-50s, living with HIV but happily married. Maupin says, “I wanted to tell the story of a […]
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Roundup: Green Blood and Near Beer Edition
June 11th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Comedy, Comics, Culture, Hate Crimes, Heroes, Human Rights, Internet, Journalism, Language, LGBT, Media, Music, News, Politics, Roundup, Tech, TV
POLITICS: Department of things that should be perfectly obvious to everyone: Colin Powell says we should close Guantanamo. “Essentially, we have shaken the belief the world had in America’s justice system by keeping a place like Guantanamo open and creating things like the military commission. We don’t need it and it is causing us far […]
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