Douchebaggery Abounds

So, last night was interesting…

Douchebag #1 – Cryssy and I were having a great evening online together listening to music and talking when this douchebag -for lack of a better word – IM’s her. Some photographer that thinks he has more talent than brains. Lucky for the world this isn’t true.

It pissed me off when people pass themselves off as God’s gift to anything and it hurts me when it hurts the ones I love. I kept trying to tell myself that Cryssy’s an adult and she can fight her own battles, but i can help it. It’s the protective nature in me that wanted to rip off his head and shit down his neck. Who the hell does he this he is to pass judgedment on someone he doesn’t even know?

A word for the ‘Shop Whore in the corner with the camera: stick to someone like me who has no clue what there doing with a camera because Cryssy Meehan is way out of your league.

Douchebag #2 – When a sign on the door says you open at 6am, I expect you establishment to be open for business at the aforementioned time. If you don’t want to get you lazy ass out of bed that early then change your sign. Don’t inconvenience others just because you don’t want to do what you’ve promised to do. People don’t have all day to wait around and do laundry just because you’re in a mood. Join the real world!

The one bright beacon in this otherwise shitty weekend is the fact that I have approximately 12 more days until I can hold her in my arms once more – except that this time I’m not letting her go.

(Note to self: Don’t type any more blog entries on the Touch. Cramping = bad.)

Well, as I come to a close on another rivetting blog entry let me just close by saying that I do not have time for people who have nothing better to do than act like an asshole to those around them. I simply don’t have time – so sell douchebaggery elsewhere, ’cause were all stocked up here.

Honestly, this is getting annoying

Freakin’ Mail app…

OK… There is something seriously wrong with my iBook’s Mail app.  I can receive just fine, but I can’t send a damned thing.  I composed several emails, but when I click “send”, it tells me that Mail.app cannot connect to .Mac port 25.

I assume since .Mac has been having problems on and off all day with it’s mail service, that this will be fixed shortly.  I’ve restarted several time and pitched the PRAM 4 times and still nothing.  Hmm…

To Apple:  I’m glad this is why I pay $99/year for .Mac.  So when I go to send a very important email to a client – I CAN’T.  Do you consider this exceptional service?  I don’t.

The Fleecing of Internet Radio

Well, the RIAA is trying to screw the American consumer yet again. This time their target? Internet Radio.

On March 2nd, the US Copyright Office approved a petition by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to increase the level of royalty fees levied against Internet radio stations, both independent and commercial broadcasters.

“Under this royalty structure, an Internet radio station with an average listenership of 1000 people would owe $134,000 in royalties during 2007 – plus $98,000 in back payments for 2006. In 2008 they would owe $171,000, and $220,000 in 2009,” according to SaveOurInternetRadio.com. “There is no way for a station with 1000 listeners to make that kind of money. That’s over $11 per listener per month in 2007. No Internet radio station currently operating comes even close to that kind of income. Also keep in mind that 1000 listeners is not a large number. Popular stations like Radio Paradise, SOMA, Digitally Imported, radioio, etc have many times that many listeners.”

“In other words, if they are allowed to stand these rates are a death sentence for independent Internet radio stations. The only stations that would survive would be those who can afford to operate at that kind of loss, such as AOL (who would owe over $20,000,000 in 2006, far in excess of their income from radio).”

What does this mean for the listener? Most independent broadcasters, like Joe Smith in his basement with his broadcasting software will be forced to stop. Broadcasters like these make up most of the stations listed on sites like Live365.com. Not only will this create a loss of revenue for these sites (no broadcasters, no site, no advertising revenue), many people will be out of jobs and will result is less and less listening options for you and I. Stations that operate on a commercial level (think FM radio) may be forced to start charging for listening to their stations online. This goes against the very nature of the public domain of the Internet.

I implore you to take action while you are angry about this. There is pending legislation in the US House of Representatives known as the Internet Radio Equality Act introduced by Representatives Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Donald Manzullo (R-IL). This is a good first step but it is by no means a done deal. We need activism to win the battle against the RIAA and tell them once and for all that we are sick and tired of their greed and scare tactics – remember when they were suing 12-year-olds for “illegally” downloading music? There are several sites which I will list at the end of this post for your to visit to educate yourself on this subject as well as a link to a petition you can be apart of.

Music piracy is not what the RIAA makes it out to be. Most end users of an Internet connection and mp3-playing software are not out to “steal” music for the sake of the almighty dollar. Music piracy is done for and to make a profit for the pirate – someone who copies music to re-sell without paying royalties to the record label of the artist. There is evidence to support that most of this kind of piracy [music] is done in Asia, not in the United States. Maybe the RIAA should pressure the government to create trade tariffs against those countries that support through either complacency or ignorance the act of music piracy. This would be a more effective form of anti-piracy legislation and one I’m sure the Internet Radio world would support more than current laws.

Resources:
SaveOurInternetRadio.com
Save Internet Radio
Save Internet Radio Petition
Contact Your Congressperson