J-Walk Blog: March 15, 2003 Archives

15 March, 2003

European View of America

An interesting article by Brian Eno: The U.S. Needs to Open Up to the World

Europeans have always looked at America with a mixture of fascination and puzzlement, and now, increasingly, disbelief. How is it that a country that prides itself on its economic success could have so many very poor people? How is it that a country so insistent on the rule of law should seek to exempt itself from international agreements? And how is it that the world's beacon of democracy can have elections dominated by wealthy special interest groups? For me, the question has become: "How can a country that has produced so much cultural and economic wealth act so dumb?"

Yes, that's Brian Eno the musician/producer. His web site is worth checking out.

(via Scott Rosenberg)

Posted on 15 March, 2003

Baseball Webcasts

I read this CNN article, called Play ball! Baseball to webcast games. It describes how Major League baseball games will be webcast this season. But then it gets a bit complicated.

...live feeds of hometown teams will be "blacked out" locally to preserve lucrative television rights.

And how will they accomplish the black outs?

To block hometown games, baseball will use so-called geolocation technology from Quova Inc., which matches computers' unique Internet addresses to cities or ZIP codes... Technologies are also available to fake or mask the Internet address, which is often assigned by a service provider such as AOL or EarthLink.

And more:

To verify a subscriber's location, Quova's information would be compared with ZIP codes attached to credit cards used for payment, he said. When a mismatch is identified, customer service representatives will telephone users. He estimates that 10 percent of subscribers will need such checks.

And (horrors!) what if someone is actually caught watching a game that they shouldn't be watching?

Anyone caught intentionally circumventing the system will be banned and fined $100, automatically charged to their credit cards.

(via bIPlog)

Posted on 15 March, 2003

Good News From Natalie Merchant

A new Natalie Merchant CD is on its way -- and it won't be on the Electra label. According to this New York Times article:

When her Elektra contract expired in August 2002, she chose not to renew it or to seek a deal with another major label... Instead she will release her next album, a collection of traditional songs called "The House Carpenter's Daughter," on her own label, Myth America Records. It is to be released June 1 through Ms. Merchant's Web site, nataliemerchant.com, and July 1 in stores.

In other words, Natalie has figured out that eliminating the greedy middle-men is the wave of the future for the recording industry.

"The economics of making this record are very prudent. When we sell 200,000 copies, we'll be standing on our chairs, hollering. If we released this record with these kinds of goals on a major label, we would look like a failure. At Elektra, if you just sell 1.5 million, everyone goes around with their heads down."

I just checked my CD collection. I have five 10,000 Maniacs CDs and four of her solo CDs. So, I've spent about $135 on Natalie Merchant music. And, of course, I'll be buying her new one. I suspect that more money will actually go to her via my purchase of the new CD than from all of the other nine CDs combined.

But Natalie still doesn't quite get it, and she still seems to adhere to the "old" model of distributing music -- you know, the model that is rapidly deteriorating. The model that stupidly assumes that every music file download represents a lost sale.

At her web site she talks about file sharing.

The intimidating thing is that now there is no degeneration in the dubbing process and that the entire contents of a CD can be downloaded in minutes from a remote location, if desired. I agree that it's time to feel threatened.

I can understand this sort of consumer backlash but it is true that the artists are suffering as a consequence. Intellectual property is a very shaky commodity now that information is so easily copied and distributed. Some future shock projectionists envision a day soon when musicians "give away" their music on the internet to simply create demand for other products (their own or a corporate sponsor's). That scenario is my nightmare.

I think Natalie needs to have a talk with Janis Ian.

Posted on 15 March, 2003

Still More Anti-War Posters

There seems to be no shortage of anti-war posters. Here's a collection of more than 100 old propaganda posters, updated for modern times. Unlike the others that I've linked to, these items are for sale (the images are also available on t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.).

Posted on 15 March, 2003

The California Academy of Skulls

Part of the California Academy of Sciences, the motto of the Skull Academy is:

"Come in, explore, get inside our heads."

The Skulls in Culture exhibit is my favorite.

Posted on 15 March, 2003

Dieting in the '70's

This collection of 30-year old Weight Watchers recipe cards is worth viewing.

These cards mystify me. None of them have calorie or nutrition information of any kind, and in some instances it's hard to tell what's dietetic about the recipes at all, except that they're unspeakably grim. And yet also, completely insane. They appear to be from a much kookier era of Weight Watchers. There's a certain serve-it-at- your-next-key-party freakiness to a lot of these dishes.

Posted on 15 March, 2003

Et II:XXXVII:VI, Brutus?

How did the ancient Romans tell time? With a digital Roman numeral clock, of course.

Most, however, will find this JavaScript analog clock more entertaining.

Posted on 15 March, 2003

Toast: The Versatile Food

Don't let anyone tell you that toast isn't versatile. Proof: Things I've pushed through toast. A hairbrush is just the beginning.

Posted on 15 March, 2003