not so evil apple

Well, after getting riled up by what I thought were some pretty devious itunes policies it turns out it is not quite as bad as I thought... It turns out much of this policy was not new, just that I had never run into it before. It also appears that the reason they charge you for the entire album for only wanting one song has to do with the length of the song. Apparently anything over 7 minutes. But, I am still confused by this. I can't understand why a song that would be over 7 minutes warrants a $10 price tag. It can't be a technical issue can it? After all you can download an entire CD (approx 40-60 minutes worth for the same $10 price. Oh well. I still think that the soundtrack issue is much more devious though. (see my previous post).

unrelated posting...
Eagles won today! By a landslide! As I am a new Eagles fan, I am happy about this.
Phillies are doing well also... Apparently there is still a good chance that they will make the playoffs. Thanks to my bro for helping me to understand the playoff process.

Just finished a strange book by Cory Doctorow... Someone comes to town someone leaves town.
I can't say that this was a good book, but I stuck with it and finished it. It was very creative, which is the only reason it kept my interest. It also has a geek element to it, which I enjoyed. It was almost like 2 books combined into one. I'm glad I finished it and have moved on to a new one I bought called "The traveler". This is much more up my alley, though it too has a strange factor that is a little difficult to get beyond.

Music: Purchased the new album by NickleCreek about 2 weeks ago. And I'm looking forward to the new album by Depeche Mode! An 80's synth band that for some reason I never out grew and enjoy their music to this day.

News> not really following any stories at the moment. I watched some of the Roberts confirmation hearings, but it was pretty much just an excuse for the senators to spout off their beliefs. It was very scripted for a TV audience. Of course the Katrina coverage is still going strong, and it sounds like the clean up/rebuilding process is just now starting. It will be interesting to see how it will be rebuilt. I have no doubt that it will be rebuilt.

End of the weekend. Try to enjoy your work week. Ugh.
-Cyen

Evil Apple!?

A friend of mine just pointed this out to me yesterday (Thanks Steve), and after a little digging myself, I confirmed his suspicions! Apple is implementing a slow but "evil" plan... By using itunes to purchase music, which I do now for all my new music purchases, it used to be Apple would sell every song for only 99 cents. BUT apple is now making it impossible to buy that one favorite song unless you purchase the entire album for $10 (or more). I can not fathom this decision by Apple! They will alienate many faithful users by this policy! And there is another level of deviousness here... My friend is into movie soundtracks at the moment (which is how he discovered this trend). How many times have you watched a movie and then heard a particular song that you really liked? You sit through all the credits to get the name of the song and the artist. It used to be you could then go onto itunes, and purchase that one song. Not anymore... Now you must purchase the entire soundtrack! BUT if you look up that individual song and the artist, you CAN purchase it individually (in some cases). So, apple is charging a full $10 for those who may not be smart enough to look up the actual song versus purchasing the song via the soundtrack.
Here are two examples...
You know the song "American Pie" (bye, bye, miss American pie...) by Don McLean? Well if you try to purchase that classic hit for 99 cents, you can't! You must purchase the entire album.
And say you were watching the movie "Sahara" and really liked the song "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd... If you went to the soundtrack of Sahara, you would have to purchase the entire album! But if you did a search for just "Sweet Home Alabama" you find that you CAN purchase this song by itself.
I hope this new practice by Apple quickly makes the rounds on the internet and that people become as upset as I am.
This will probably force many people back to "sharing" music again, to eliminate corporate greed.
Apple... I'm ashamed of you!
Cyen

Dishwasher

Another problem "fixed" today in my daily apartment life. Saturday, I had a knock on the door (a rare thing), and was greeted by my apartment maintenance. I was informed that water was leaking into my downstairs neighbor's apartment. He thought it was coming from a broken seal on the toilet, but I suspected it was my dishwasher. I had a small leak before, that I tried to fix myself by stuffing a papertowel into the seal. He said he would notify the office and have someone come out to fix it on Monday. I called Monday morning to confirm... And they had no idea who I was, or that there was a problem. Finally I set up an appointment for someone to come out Tuesday morning (today) to fix it between 8 and 9 am. Well, by 8:45 no one has come out. Again, I call to confirm... "Uh, sir, there is no one here right now, they are all out on the grounds picking up trash". Oh. Great... What should I do? Her reply in a nutshell was "uh..." She put me on hold, then came back on, and "miraculously" a worker had just walked in, and could come over right now. Great I said. So after about an hour or so, he everything back up and working, Including fixing another piece that wore out (and probably caused the leak). So... Fingers crossed he did a good job. When I get home tonight, I'll try it out, and see if I flood out my neighbor again. Ugh.

Lesson learned: Always call to confirm the appointment.

Cyen

New Fema and New nano

Two things of note:
Apple just released a new ipod called the "nano". I find this interesting that instead of introducing this as a new product in the ever expanding lineup of ipods, they chose to discontinue the "mini-ipod". I guess it just wasn't selling? I thought it was a cool design. Anyway, so is the new nano ipod... Check it out here on apple: NANO

And in the news just now as I checked yahoo, they have fired the fairly new FEMA director, after what appears to be in response to a news article all over the TV and internet this morning about how Michael Brown had "discrepancies" on his online resume. Apparently TIME magazine did a background check on him based upon his claims on his resume, and found that not all if his job experience was on the up and up. (also on the Daily Show the other night John Stewart was ridiculing Mr. Browns background also.)
From all that I've heard, it sounds like a good call to get someone in there with better experience.

Have a Great weekend!
Cyen

3 Movie round up

Finally got the the movies this weekend. We saw Four brothers. Not bad. A good gangster/revenge movie. The plot was a little thin, and it was a little long, but it had some good points too.
And with it being a holiday weekend I got around to a few dvds that I have rented... Bogeyman - lame, I ended up watching most of it in fast forward mode. I just now finished watching "City of God" - powerful movie. A bit long, and hard to believe this was based on a true story. Not that I don't believe it, but that it is difficult to believe there are places with conditions like that and children running around with weapons like that.

Katrina

I encourage everyone to donate to the charity of their choice. Be careful though as there are some charities who may be better than others. I chose redcross.org
As I checked and 91% of their donations go directly to projects.
Other new charities that have sprung up may have good intentions, but are inexperienced at getting the funds to the victims in a timely mannor. The Red Cross has experience.
With a credit card and a few clicks of the mouse, you can take 15 minutes to really help someone in need.

Cyen