Time And Relative Dimension In Space Edition

Todays links of interest:

• Peter Gabriel shakes the tree, ad-supported MP3s fall out
  Yet another ad supported free music business-model. Seems like we used to call that radio.
• Apple Notifies Partners: DRM-free Music and DRM-free Music Videos Soon
  Among other things this means that indie artists who never wanted DRM on their music in the first place will be able to sell their music through iTunes in a DRM free format. It’s about time. We’re still not sure why everyone had to wait around for EMI to make the first move.
• Did you hear the one about Conan O’Brien? He’s doing a full week in San Francisco.
  And he picked a helluva week to be there, too, what with the fire in the Maze wreaking commuter havoc and the Warriors on the verge of an unlikely upset.

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Last week, I noted two seemingly contradictory articles. The first commented on NBC’s apparent low ratings. The second (nice of me to put the two in one post, no?) talks about DVRs being used in greater numbers and increasing viewership of shows. One other statistic that has been buried in the news about viewership these past few weeks was that during the recent spate of reruns, viewers moved on.

Once upon a time, reruns were space fillers — when there were only three networks, the networks held the viewers captive. What were they gonna do? Watch something else? Ha.
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While you were busy canceling yet another good TV show before it has a chance to find an audience, here’s what we were looking at:

• Looking At Bud.TV - Bud.tv is definitely for the dudes who actually call each other “bud” with no sense of irony.
• Why an Amazon DRM-Free Music Store Would Be a Game-Changer - Will it happen? Some of the more skeptical ‘Lopers aren’t holding their breath.
• MySpace Takes the Social Out of Social News - Kirk gives us a detailed analysis of the flaws of the MySpace News site. Like, for example, the fact that no one really cares.
• Furries and Griefers on the Campaign Trail: Presidential Politics In Second Life - Our latest correspondent, Ronin Kurosawa, gives us the first of what he promises to be a series of reports on the 2008 Presidential campaign in Second Life.
• Sleep: That’s What I Really Like - ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

Oh My God, You’re Middle Management! Edition

Todays links of interest:

• Sly and the Family Stone: The Collection
  Just in case anybody is wondering what to get me for my next birthday, this will do nicely . . .
• Freedom of rights management
  The curious case of Apple, DRM, and independent artists who didn’t want the protection.
• NBC’s disastrous ratings continue
  As noted in the previous article, this might have something to do with how numbers are calculated. But you all knew that.

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I am not now, nor have I ever been, a morning person. I once had a job where I had to be awake and alert at seven in the morning, five days a week. Everyone said I’d get used to it, but the truth of the matter is that every single morning was a struggle. While I’m sure that my particular fondness for sleeping late on Saturday mornings began long before that job, it was then that I began to covet those mornings.

Now, as I work nearly full-time (okay, it’s more than forty hours a week, it’s probably a little past “nearly”) on a consulting project in addition to my regular blogging schedule plus my other writing assignments, I find those Saturday mornings mean even more to me. I refuse to open my eyes until the sun is high in the sky.
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Bleen, Yurple and Gred Edition

Todays links of interest:

• FCC Report Urges Limits On TV Violence
  We are no fans of violence on TV, but no. Creating a law against TV violence is a bad bad idea.
• Dog owners ‘fleeced’ in poodle scam
  If your dog bahahahas instead barks, that’s a pretty good indication something is wrong. The amazing thing about this story is it was only uncovered after a Japanese TV star brought her "dog" onto a talk show, only to be informed by the host that it was actually a lamb. That must have been an awkward moment.
• "Drive" runs out of gas
  This, right here, is why we hate it when an interesting new series premieres on FOX. It also becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, because lots of people no doubt stayed away for that reason, hastening the cancellation. Too bad, because "Drive" had energy, it had potential, and most of all it had Nathan Fillion. Bite us, FOX.

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My first Medialoper assignment and I’ve already missed a deadline. Lopy, the Editor, e-mailed me last night to remind me that my story should be filed no later 5 a.m. this morning. By 8 a.m. my voice mail was full and I was ignoring Lopy’s frantic IMs. The general election isn’t until November 2008 — over 18 months away. Why the hell do I have a 5 a.m. deadline in April of 2007?

For the record, Linden Lab did a major upgrade yesterday and the grid was down much longer than expected. On top of that I’m still setting up my new compound in one of the most remote regions in all of Second Life. My hut is located on the Eastern edge of the universe (literally) and is surrounded by water as far as the eye can see (at least until a casino or strip club moves in next door). It’s the perfect environment for me to focus on covering a political campaign as strange as the one the 2008 presidential race is shaping up to be. These ludicrous 5 a.m. deadlines are no help at all.

By now you’ve probably heard that all of the leading Democratic presidential candidates have setup headquarters in Second Life. So far the media coverage of these campaigns has been muddled, skeptical, and occasionally mocking. For reporters who can’t tell the difference between a virtual world and a video game, there’s no clear reason for the campaigns to be here. Those same reporters are overlooking the fact that presidential campaigns are already a game, and moving that game into a virtual world full of sex-crazed furries and flying penises is simply a logical progression in the already weird history of American politics.

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All the Agents and the Superhuman Crew Edition

Todays links of interest:

• Heroes Unveils 20-Year-Old Plot Twist
  There are similarities to "Watchmen" and "The Twilight Zone". This should get Bob totally worked up.
• Murdoch summit reveals scale of newspaper crisis
  Apparently the big boys were taken to the ranch to discuss this, uh, imminent disaster.
• ‘Survivor’ creator proposes political MySpace TV show
  Because the average MySpace user meets the basic age requirements for running for President of the United States…

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When the world’s most popular social network decides to get into the social news business, you expect them to make it, well, social. On the contrary, the new MySpace News site is anything but social. In fact, MySpace has left out just about every feature that makes competing social news sites like Digg and Reddit so popular and addictive.

There’s ample opportunity for innovation in social news. The current leading sites tend to have a decided tech slant. As a result there’s plenty of room for social news that is either more general in focus, or more narrowly targeted to a niche not well served by Digg and others. MySpace News does nothing to capitalize on this opportunity.

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Mellifluous Box Edition

Todays links of interest:

• Satire busts a hump
  A look at why Alanis Morissette’s recent video of "My Humps" works so awfully well.
• Superman Beware: Kryptonite Is Discovered, London Museum Says
  Sweet! Now, if someone would discover dilithium so I can get my warp engine up and running…
• Napster to power Circuit City music site
  Sad to say, but this feels like the time when the dinosaurs teamed up together to fight the mammals for supremacy.

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