Archives for April 2003

Apple’s Music Store

I have some nagging questions regarding iTunes 4 and Apple’s new Music Store. If you’re an Apple developer or public relations flack, feel free to leave a response below:

  1. Why can’t I stream AAC downloads to my TiVo using the Home Media Option, as I do with MP3s?
  2. Why do I need to authorize a computer on a local network just to play protected content that’s being streamed? Should that kind of thing really count towards my three computer limit?
  3. Would it have killed them to have included Ogg support?
  4. Why the “Partial Albums” throughout the music store?
  5. How many albums did they rip from the original masters?
  6. When will they start bringing on smaller music labels? The “big five” doesn’t seem as big as you might think.
  7. Can someone please do listening tests comparing a track converted from an AAC download to AIFF to MP3 with an MP3 ripped from an original CD? I’d love to know if there’s even a legitimate reason to keep the AAC files at all.
  8. Why the hell do you need a credit card from a US bank?

Posted by PJ on Apr 30, 2003 | 3 Comments |

Malaria Pills

My sister is in Senegal and she’s taking Malaria pills. She’s had some interesting dreams as a result:

Everyone always warns about these weird side effects you can get, like anxiety attacks and going bonkers in general. The only weird thing I’ve had is some pretty intense dreams. Last night I thought there were ducks and frogs in my bed. Then I dreamed that I went to the orthodontist to have my bottom retainer wire taken out, and all my teeth fell out. Apparently, the teeth-falling out dream is one of the most common. It supposedly signals a feeling of powerlessness. I wonder what it means if you think ducks are in your bed–can’t find anything on that one.

To paraphrase Freud: Sometimes a duck is just a duck.

Posted by PJ on Apr 22, 2003 | 1 Comment |

God and Guest Are In the Details

I saw A Mighty Wind last Wednesday. It was probably the funniest movie I’ve seen in the last year.

I’m consistently amazed by the amount of attention to detail in Christopher Guest’s films. For instance, look at the promotional photo for A Mighty Wind that’s on the film’s website and posters. It’s based on this New Christy Minstrels photo from the 60s. Note the ladder.

The New Christy Minstrels

Posted by PJ on Apr 20, 2003 | Comments Off |

Reasonable Conclusion

A friend of mine sent me the following passage from an Associated Press news report:

“Later, in another sign Iraqis feel more free to express dissent than under Saddam, about 500 people marched toward the hotel, carrying such signs as “No to occupation.”

I guess that’s one way to look at it.

Posted by PJ on Apr 19, 2003 | 1 Comment |

Fantasy Art?

Once again we have clear proof that power and taste are completely unrelated.

Posted by PJ on Apr 14, 2003 | Comments Off |

Home Media Option and Airport Extreme

I ran into some trouble today trying to connect my Series 2 TiVo to my home Wi-Fi network so I could use the new Home Media Option.

After spending over 45 minutes on the phone with tech support, I learned that I had to set my Airport Extreme to use only 802.11b (as opposed to 802.11g).

It doesn’t seem to make much sense, given the fact that 802.11g is supposed to be backward compatible, but it fixed the problem nonetheless.

I hearby declare this issue publicly documented.

Posted by PJ on Apr 10, 2003 | 1 Comment |

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