itouch Review, Death By A Thousand Fees

Anybody that knows me, knows I have a distain for “Apple Computers”. I feel the company, in its quest to try to compete with Microsoft, has resorted to aggressive copyright tactics, and demands controlling its users and software choices with far too much disregard to healthy competition. Recently, I was able to get a huge discount on an iTouch. I have to say, as much as this is a horrid video player, and mediocre music player, admittedly, it a reasonable pda. Though, with one quarter of all iTouches hacked with “jailbreak”, I think they should see that as a sign that they need to allow other companies to produce app stores. And now, with word that the new firmware upgrades will come at a cost of 10 dollar, I’m starting to feel that the company is trying to over charge user with small fees.

Pooh Bear Gangster

Anybody that knows me, knows I'm not one to bad mouth Disney, but this was too funny to not share. This picture was sent to me by a friend...

St Patricks Day And The Vancouver Aquarium

Last Sunday was spend with the Vancouver Aquarium team, doing the St Patrick day Parade. Just to give you a clue where I am in this picture, lets just say, I had a "Hoot"....hoooot....um..hooot. You can send your hate mail to damnyouandyourbadpuns at jeremymilne.com

Obama Pulling Bushism

When the United States got a new president, I was over joyed to hear that they had brought in a liberal, Idealistic and young mind. I even thought to myself, "maybe he could be the next JFK, maybe he could be the one smart enough to do it right."

This morning, while killing some time, I came across this...

Click Here

Its turns out Obama, in all his charm, has pulled a Bushism, and plans on trying to pass a measure that would let the the nation limit internet usage and search even your personal music collection. Your nation sounds less like the "land of the free" every day. We all know my view on P2P usage outlined here, but what concerns me is how much he is hiding all of this.

I guess Rome has fallen.

It Was Worth Freezing My Tail Off

So I went back to the bridge after the iso disaster, figured i would give it a second shot, and they turned out. Enjoy.

The Watchmen and the Corrupt Vancouver Cop

Sunday night i went to see "The Watchmen". Having read the comic, I was very much divided; the movie on its own is amazing, perhaps in my top ten, but it did not line up with the comic as much as i had hoped. Much of the motivation for the characters was changed, scenes were lost, and in some cases, portions were completely rewritten. I was glad to see they got Rorcheck right, as that i feel he is one of the best heroes ever written, period. its a character I related to, not in his violence, but in his unwavering sense of ethics, his blunt views on the values of truth above popularity, and willingness, not only to go into dark places, but to understand the sacrifice in doing so.

So, with a movie a thumbs up, here comes the bad part of my night...

Sitting in front of me, during the movie, was a man who kept blowing on a dog whistle. I know what your thinking, how can you hear a dog whistle? Trust me, you can, just not the same way a dog does. I leaned in and said "you can stop blowing that %$^#!* dog whistle now." It stopped, and i went back to watching the movie. When the credits rolled, the man in front of me stepped up, his much larger friend looked at me and said "you're going to apologize to my friend, because he had no whistle". I explained that several others, as well as myself, watched him for a better part of 15 minutes blowing on that whistle, and I would not apologize. They stood in my way, with a friend by my side, and a third almost ready to panic. I told him to move aside, and i would be happy to deal with this in the lobby. He told me he wanted to kick my ass in the parking lot. Just as i said I think it would be best if we went to see the manager, he pulled out his wallet and identified himself as a cop, closing it before i could read any information that i could identify him with. I told him he could leave now, and that i stand by my view that his friend was blowing a whistle. At which point, he left at my determination to find some theater staff.

Is this the type of person that works for the Vancouver Police department? With all the pr issues that the Vancouver Police have had the last while, I would think that they would be a bit more sensitive about throwing their weight around. This man was trying to be a bully, and turned out to be a coward. I hope this turns out to be a person imitating a police officer.

Damn you camera gods!

OK, so I'm dating again. Something I have not had much luck with the last few years. As much as watching TV with my stuffed bear brings me overwhelming joy, I felt that a real person was in order, before the conversation with the bear began to be reciprocated.

All that aside, with my stress levels at an all time high, i figured i would meet up with somebody I've been dating and walk around town trying to take some pictures. Tonight, I learned why one must never leave your tripod at home; I was forced to use a high iso, not a single picture turned out as a result. The grain was so heavy on a number of pictures that might have otherwise been very beautiful shots. I tried to salvage one when i got home, but it could never be made any bigger than 4x6.

About %$#@ing time.

How Lebanon was destroyed by Islam.

Which country is next? And people wonder why I feel bad for israel

The Pirate Bay Trials And Why Torrents Are Good.

I’m an artist who is working towards finding a means to sustain my life based on my art. So, when the movie and music industry filed to take Pirate Bay to Courts, I disapproved. I know that’s sounds like a conflict, but if you consider the statistics on how Torrent Sites effect the art community, including the up and coming artists, you will realize why.

I don’t think it’s ethically right to pirate movies, but should we legislate against torrents? It would mean giving the industry the right to expose our private information. No offense to these groups, but they have not shown themselves to be capable of taking the moral high road. Many have allegedly funded the computer virus industry, in hopes of scaring torrent users away. They have used third party systems to send threatening letters that would otherwise be illegal in their own countries. In cases where they were able to target the individual downloader’s, they found themselves taking to court, kids as young as 12, having downloaded only a hand full of MP3’s, which they feel are worth thousands of dollars each. You cannot convince me that any individuals MP3 can be valued at 4 figures. They ask for these amounts in court, not as a matter of personal compensation, but to be used as scare propaganda.

What these industries will not tell you in court, is how the torrent and download industry has benefited the small artist. Perhaps Madonna and Kenya West will make a million dollars less this year, but I’m thoroughly convinced that hundreds of small artist will make considerably more as a result of torrents.

What the production industry is really afraid of, is the idea of open source publishing; a system in which the quality they produce can be achieved by a basic home computer, and in that process, large scale distribution companies become less necessary to exposure and sales. This has been proven by bands such as "Radio Head", who have released entire albums for free, right off of their site. They released that if you produce a quality product, people will still pay for it, either through donation, or by purchasing the album later.

I am not saying that it’s right to download copy righted material from Torrents, but I don’t think these industries using lawyers like Darfur militia groups, spreading fear and making demands, is the answer either. And I certainly don’t think we can shut down the torrent sites unless were willing to take away people’s civil liberties.

I have yet to see one commercial, from the movie or music industry, that was not manipulative. They have not tried a “hey, were musicians, we worked very hard, please consider that before choosing what you download” campaign. It’s always been a black white issue for them. And they never consider that a good part of the torrent industry is legal content, and information that has benefited the education of society.

I recommend they use all the money they are spending on lawyers and put it into think tanks. They can find other ways to maintain their intellectual property that does not leave me asking why a private origination is allowed to view and limit my online web usage, and undermine the freedom that makes the internet an even playing field.