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• Yahoo: Burn Your DRMed Tracks to CD Now

  One of the the great ironies of DRM has been the Orwellian phraseology designed to assure customers that hey! we're doing this for you!!!! So what we have here is music that "PlaysForSure" you've legally purchased from Yahoo's "Unlimited" music service, which is going to -- you know -- stop playing because that music service is going to end. You what's amazing? That any consumer whatsoever bought into this bullshit in the first place.

• Scientists expose mystery behind northern lights

  No spoilers! No spoilers!!

• Creators of Scrabble knockoff on Facebook sued

  There were so many ways to resolve this issue. Typical that Hasbro went with the all-American solution. And sad. Really sad.

• Hasbro Orders Facebook to Remove 'Scrabulous'

  How is Hasbro so idiotic that they don't understand that the mere fact of Scrabulous has made the entire concept of Scrabble relevant to a whole new generation who just might buy the board game in order to play in in a F2F situation? We can only hope that if they succeed, nobody installs the replacement, and real-life Scrabble sales plummet.

• 'Denver Post' and 'Pioneer Press' To Run 'Politico' Coverage

  Interesting model and maybe a good one for newspapers who can't afford dedicated reporters in particular areas of interest.

• Netflix exiting indie movie distribution

  Reportedly because Red Envelope competed directly with the Hollywood producers who are Netflix's business partners. Give me a break.

• Sexy science: Why music really is the way to a woman's heart

  A, er, think piece on why women find male musicians sexy.

• Sony Reader to get UK launch

  Kindle not yet available, making one wonder why territory specific product releases still make sense in a 24/7/360 degree world.

• West Nile Virus confirmed in Porterville

  It's all part of the Virus Exchange Program: the Porterville Virus is on its way to the West Nile.

• My Year Of Flops, Extra-Piratey Case File #114: Cutthroat Island

  Or, "How Geena Davis' career took a very very wrong turn."

• Robert Novak Hits Pedestrian With His Black Corvette, Cited By DC Police

  For the record, he was cited for being an old man driving a black Corvette. He got a pass for hitting a pedestrian and driving away. Thus proving Novak can get away with just about anything.

• the middleman - dead or alive? threat or menace?

  Still alive, according to its creator. You should be watching this show.

• Why We Still Need the iPhone App Black Market

  Amen!! One Black Market App that we really miss was called "Services," and it allowed us to turn on & off Wi-fi, the Edge & the phone from single interface instead of having to all over the place in "Settings."

• Going Back To Philly - It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

  This has been out for a couple of weeks, which doesn't make it any less funny.

• Whedon Reshooting 'Dollhouse' Pilot

  Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting the first "Dollhouse" DVD extra.

• National Review writer compares Obama to Hitler

  Well, they're the experts. Also, in the days of FOX News, right-wing talk radio -- not to mention that anybody can and will start a blog -- does anybody still truly believe that always-was-bullshit canard about the "liberal media bias?" Or do they haul it out in the vain hope that it will change anybody's mind?

• Lyons, Mankiewicz to host 'Movies'

  Somewhere, Gene Siskel is laughing. And yet, we should stop and pay homage to a show that we watched for years and years, going all the way back to the PBS years. Why? It was simple, and it was effective: two guys who know a shitload about movies discussing theme, week in and week out.

• TiVo Gets Its Own Shopping Channel: Amazon

  "The marketing possibilities are endless." Yay?

• 49:00 — An (un)Official track list with song titles created by Paul Westerberg.net

  And so it begins. Warning: these track names have at least one joke . . .

• The founder of ArtsJournal talks about arts and new media

  Cool interview with Douglas McLennan of ArtsJournal (a guy, by the way, who responds promptly to email!) about the future of his publication -- note especially his comments about the importance of well-curated content.

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