jmcgready’s misc universe

At last, I can stop using BugMeNot for the New York Times Online pages -
absolutely fabulous!

Times to Stop Charging for Parts of Its Web Site - New York Times: “”

(Via Lifehacker.)

Technorati Tags:
genius, Free NYT, New York Times

Technorati Tags: bugmenot, bugmenot nyt, lifehacker, new york times, new york times online, nyt, observations, technorati

Spiral Frog Music Service Leaps Into Launch:

The music service, which has had its share of business woes recently, cut a deal with Vivendi SA’s Universal Music Group to build its catalog.
Universal opened up its collection, which includes top artists like Gwen Stefani, in return for a cut of advertising and sponsorship revenue.
Selling those little discs must not be working out so well anymore.

Users sign up for free, but must visit the site at least once a month to retain access to their tunes.
You won’t be able to burn discs, but you can transfer the music to portable players.
Just not the iPod. And that’s the catch.—Gregory Mon

Sorry - with all due respect, that’s not the catch -
what the real catch is more of the same nonsense that Ruckus gave us -
DRM’d WMA files, no iPod support, etc

To date, no DRM fix like the DRM fix for Ruckus.

From TGDaily.com:

The service is riddled with DRM copy protection. Users cannot burn the tracks to a CD, nor are they compatible with Apple’s iPod.
The files can be played on a PC, and according to Spiral Frog the tracks are compatible with other various digital music players.
However, each song can only be transfered to two players.

Users are also required to log into their Spiral Frog account at least once a month to keep the licenses to their downloaded songs active.

From Spiral Frog itself:

To get technical, the Download Manager application is implemented as a Microsoft .Net application,
and thus relies on the presence of the Microsoft .Net Framework 1.1 or later to be on your computer.

This comes bundled with Windows Vista and is preinstalled on most modern computers running Windows XP.
However, should your computer for some reason not have .Net Framework,
the set-up program for the SpiralFrog Download Manager will install .Net Framework 1.1 for you.
(You don’t need to know if the .Net Framework is there or not as the set-up program will check this automatically.)

This feature could get annoying quickly:

If you click your browser’s Stop button while downloading a song or video, the Download Manager will continue its job and,
even though the green spiraling status bar stops, your song or video will keep downloading.

Simply refresh the page – or click to go to any other page on the SpiralFrog Web site –

and you’ll see the download process has continued regardless.

And, of course the generalized non-Boot Camped Mac ignorance:

To download songs at the SpiralFrog Web site, you will need to be using
a computer platform that runs either Windows XP or Windows Vista.

You will also need to have Windows Media Player Version 10 or 11 installed on your computer.

The more things change, the more they stay the same

{life, observations, Tech Stuff, web 2.0}

Technorati Tags: spiral frog, DRM

Technorati Tags: copy protection, digital music players, downloaded songs, ipod, microsoft net framework, music service, observations, ruckus, spiralfrog, sponsorship revenue, technorati, universal music group, wma files

I’ve been reading this guy, and his poetry is simply awesome

The Genius, The Moron, And Your Lot In This Terrible, Magnificent Life: “

Show me one man
who has gotten
power, fame
and money through
incredible talent
effortless genius
carefully cultivated network
and I’ll show you
ten fools who
got the same
in spite of
themselves”

(Via Knife Gun Pen.)

Technorati Tags:
robert bruce, knife gun pen, genius

Technorati Tags: genius, knife gun pen, magnificent life, moron, observations, poetry, robert bruce, technorati

Suzanne came up with this wonderful example of what I face on a daily basis…

all I can say is hear, hear!

colorwhirl: Instant gratification consumerism:

Instant gratification consumerism
A few days ago, I read a news story about the instant gratification generation and how it is ruining customer service as we know it.
The idea that we deserve the best service, always and forever, is changing the idea of purchasing and supporting products as well as the notion of fixable culture.

Instead of offering replacements for defective products,
companies are having to implement screening processes because people are returning a DVD
for having a slightly chipped case (personal experience) instead of being a defective disc.

Your phone doesn’t work in the middle of the forest?
Here, have a credit!

LJ went down for 3 hours because the entire city of San Francisco lost power?
Here, have a credit!

The climate of instant gratification has been created by unreasonable demands and fussy customers
who are fed by the entitlement culture that is constantly being fueled by our social lives
as well as the pap that we are continually fed via TV, the radio, and the internet.

{strange stuff, life, Retail Lexicon}

Technorati Tags: anger, observations, strange stuff

Technorati Tags: consumerism, instant gratification, plague, Retail Lexicon, technorati, unreasonable demands

You gotta love the guys at Duluth Trading Company -
they have the best tools that you never knew you needed!

This one’s ingenious - because it works with shovels, rakes,
or any other tool with a long handle.

And it’s only TEN BUCKS!

Back Saver Grip - Duluth Trading Company:

The ingenious BackSaver Grip® quickly bolts to any long-handled tool to move your hand’s grip to a higher position –
allowing you to stand up straighter and work with your legs instead of your back.
This, in turn, reduces strain on your wrist, arm, shoulder and lower back.
Increases productivity and comfort, reduces repetitive motion injuries.

Use it with shovels, weedwhackers, pitchforks, rakes, extended-pole paint brushes and more.

{life, stuff, Tech Stuff}

Technorati Tags: back saver, frugality, raking leaves, shoveling snow

Technorati Tags: accessory, backsaver, best tools, duluth trading company, ingenious, raking leaves, repetitive motion injuries, shoveling snow, shovels, technorati

ABC News: Police Dogs Sniff for Pirated DVDs:
Lucky and Flo are the world’s first DVD-sniffing dogs.

The world’s first dogs trained to identify optical discs by the scent of their chemicals,
Lucky and Flo were lent to the Malaysian government in March by the Motion Picture Association of America.

“Lucky and Flo have done us proud,” said Dan Glickman, chairman and chief executive of the MPAA.

During their stint - dubbed Operation Double Trouble - they helped unearth 1.6 million DVDs and other optical discs,
three DVD replicating machines and 97 compact-disc burners, worth $6-million.
Twenty-six people were arrested during the raids.

The exploits of the canine sleuths endeared them to Malaysians and regularly landed them on the front pages.

The operations were so successful that Malaysian movie pirates were reported to have placed a bounty of $29,000 on the dogs,
prompting them to be kept under close guard.

The two dogs will leave on Aug. 23 for New York, where they will take part in shows and also help in raids on movie pirates.

{strange stuff, life}

Technorati Tags: contract, dvd sniffing dogs, labrador, maylasian pirates

Technorati Tags: 6 million, abc news, dan glickman, dogs labrador, malaysian government, malaysians, motion picture association of america, pirated dvds, pirates, police dogs, technorati

Was down on South Street tonight and ate at Lucky’s Mexican Spot .(CitySearch review)

Good Lord, was that some awesome Steak Nachos -
Guacamole, Sour Cream, Pico, and Lettuce over freshly made chips
topped with fresh grilled steak - yum!

I don’t what the hell the Yelp reviewer was thinking -
I mean, F ragging on the decor and the snide “it’s not really authentic” barb
take your foodie arse back to LaLupe, STFU ,
and let a brother get his mexican cooked mexican grub on

{observations, food, life}

Technorati Tags: foodies suck, Lucky’s Mexican Spot, nachos, South Street

Technorati Tags: citysearch, food, grilled steak, guacamole, lettuce, nachos, observations, sour cream, technorati, yelp, yum

Apparently, I’m not one of the anointed bloggers -

no uber-Technorati reindeer games for me…

I’m more z-list than anything else…

which leads me to this article:

Your Blog Caste: How To Understand and Improve it

wherein it’s decreed that those of my kind are Dalits -

or Untouchables - rated even below mere botnets

in the blogospheric conceit…

and conceit it must be,

for that is what makes a Shatya blogger -

an overbearing obnoxiousness full of that which is shat….

perhaps I could dare be a Vashya blogger -

with the premium on novelty in expression or

other creativity which the blogging gods may countenance…

or I could just say FSCK’em and do what I damn well please,

write what I want to write, when I want to write it,

pop in a pimped out post every once in a while to pay the webhosting bills.

and be done with it….

Yeah…. that sound right….

Technorati Tags: a-list, annoying, frustrating, outsider, politics, blogging castes, tags, z-list blogger

Technorati Tags: blogger, botnets, creativity, dalits, observations, reindeer games, tags, technorati, webhost