I Got Distracted Edition

Todays links of interest:

• Sacha Baron Cohen to play Abbie Hoffman in Spielberg’s Trial of the Chicago 7
  The best part is that Cohen will probably spend the next eight months traveling around the US actually BEING Abbie Hoffman. We can’t wait for the Democratic National Convention.

Vote Saxon Edition

Todays links of interest:

• Movie Industry: DRM Is For Customers, Not For Members | TorrentFreak
  DRM is out for Oscar screeners. Apparently, motion picture industry insiders feel that content restrictions are too inconvenient. So now, they’ve decided that the screeners aren’t a major contributor to piracy after all. This actually demonstrates a profound lack of understanding of how piracy really works.
• Deals: Fox to allow DVD copying on Apple’s iTunes
  An interesting development on many levels. It appears that Apple is finally licensing FairPlay to a third party. The result is that Fox will include FairPlay encoded media on normal DVD’s (which means you won’t need to break the law to get a Fox movie onto your iPod or iPhone).
• Warner offers DRM-free music on Amazon
  For those of you keeping score at home, Sony BMG is now the last major label still clinging to DRM. We expect to see Sony give up on DRM by Super Bowl Sunday.

Stop With The Santa Radar Stuff Already Edition

Todays links of interest:

• NASA Mars Scout Mission Delayed Two Years
  Well, sure — they’ve gotta wait to see if it gets blowed up by the asteroid or not.
• Game Store Caught Scalping Wiis on Ebay
  Ha! This is what makes America great.

More People Commented On The Jessica Simpson Story Than Saw The Movie Edition

Todays links of interest:

• Only 48 People Paid to See Jessica Simpson’s New Movie
  We’re tracking down their names right now. Stay tuned to Medialoper for team coverage.

I Lost My Keys Again Edition

Todays links of interest:

• Web site reuniting gloves makes matches
  Interesting idea. We’re about to launch a new site that will reunite Jim with his keys. We expect it to be a HUGE success.

Corner Kids and Stoop Kids Edition

Todays links of interest:

• Felon became COO of Wikipedia foundation
  The funny thing is, her Wikipedia page said nothing about her prior convictions.
• iPhone Weather app can?t display below zero
  It’s an iPhone bug for those of you who live where the current temperature is below zero degrees. Here’s a fix: move to a warmer place!
• The 10 Best TV Scenes of 2007
  We had noticed a trend this year where the TV crits were listing their favorite episodes, but this deconstructs it to the level of "favorite guitar solos of the year." On the other hand, pretty much agree with nearly every one.

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Every year begs to be reviewed. As arbitrary as yearly events are, their placement in a 365-day box has been something that always fascinates us and makes the December weekend newspapers a bit more interesting. Top X [where X=5, or is divisible by] lists spout either a particular reviewer’s or a collection of reviewers’ primary picks in entertainment, sports, business, politics, etc. As handy as they are, lists have a short shelf life and are interesting for about the time it takes to read them. The main reason being that most of what ends up on these lists is forgotten by the following February, rarely to the end of the following year. (Unless, of course, it is a Grammy-nominated record and ends up somehow being relevant 18 months later.)

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Don’t Blink. Don’t Look Away Edition

Todays links of interest:

• Stewart, Colbert returning to the air
  Here’s an idea: instead of both of them doing separate half-hours padded out by longer interviews — the weak link in both shows — why do they do a single half-hour show together?
• Uninsured More Likely to Die From Cancer Following Diagnosis
  Filed under "duh."
• Does Japan Need the iPhone?
  Or are they going to say "No thanks, we’ve already got a better phone."

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Tell Me Baby, What’s My Name? Edition

Todays links of interest:

• Kimmel returning to late night
  Meanwhile, Dave is still trying to get his exemption for the writers, which we hope that he doesn’t. Craig Ferguson, of course, supposedly improvises his monologue every night. (BTW, that "supposedly" wasn’t meant to be depreciating — at least one of the ‘Loper women loves Craig — just not sure if it’s true or not.) In limbo: the very-much written Comedy Central shows, which — ironically or not — we miss the most.
• Fantasy becomes reality for Rings fans as Jackson agrees to produce Hobbit films
  Worldwide hysteria has ensued. Avoid heavily trafficked fan sites.
• Indie Bands Sue Camel, Rolling Stone Over Ad
  While we’re sure that these bands are outraged — OUTRAGED!! — at being associated with smoking, because no self-respecting indie rocker has ever even looked at a cigarette, we still feel that Rolling Stone should be sued for not mentioning The Replacements.

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The Last Psychedelic Band From Sacto, Northern Cal Edition

Todays links of interest:

• My Year Of Flops Case File # 94 Howard The Duck
  "For reasons I can?t quite get into, a lawsuit by Disney also forced me to wear pants as well. Fucking Disney." HAHA!!
• Jackson Ready for Hobbit Action
  OK, yeah, he kicked ass with "Lord of The Rings" — even the ‘Loper who has read it dozens of times loved what he did (except for that whole Army of the Dead sequence) with the source material — but "The Hobbit" has always been much more slight. However, it is more a more straightforward tale — there and back again — so maybe it might work. Especially if it’s more of a straight prequel and less of a children’s book.
• MPAA Wins Copyright Suit Against TorrentSpy.com
  It was more of TKO, as the court found that TorrentSpy destroyed evidence, an ultimately futile gesture but one for which there are many grateful people out there.
• Case Closed! Prosecutors Drop Holloway Investigation
  Oh no, now what is FOX News going to report on?!?

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