Month: January 2009

notice

A friend forwarded this:

“Dear World,

“We, the United States of America, your top quality supplier of the ideals of liberty and democracy, would like to apologize for our 2001-2008 interruption in service. The technical fault that led to this eight-year service outage has been located, and the software responsible was replaced November 4.

“Early tests of the newly installed program indicate that we are now operating correctly, and we expect it to be fully functional on January 20. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the outage. We look forward to resuming full service and hope to improve in years to come.

“We thank you for your patience and understanding,

“Sincerely,

“THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

genius? Sounds like it

This is what the iTunes Genius came up with, based on the first track.

My Mind Ain’t So Open :: Magazine :: Scree Rarities 1978 – 1981
Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) :: David Bowie :: Scary Monsters
Senses Working Overtime :: XTC :: English Settlement
My Sweet Lord :: George Harrison :: All Things Must Pass (Disc 1)
Great DJ :: The Ting Tings :: Great DJ – EP
She Sells Sanctuary :: The Cult :: Pure Cult
Groove Is in the Heart :: Deee-Lite :: The Very Best of Deee-Lite
Do You Want To? :: Franz Ferdinand :: You Could Have It So Much Better
Rhythm Of Cruelty :: Magazine :: Rays And Hail 1978-1981
Heart Of Gold :: Neil Young :: Decade (Disc 2)
Sound And Vision :: David Bowie :: Low
Distant Smile :: Ultravox! :: Ha!Ha!Ha!
Mars :: Television :: Television
Just for a Moment :: Ultravox :: Systems of Romance
Amazona :: Roxy Music :: Stranded
Shake Some Action :: Flamin’ Groovies :: Garage Hits
Nostalgia :: The Buzzcocks :: Product [Disc 1]
TV Baby :: Magazine :: Scree Rarities 1978 – 1981
Five Years :: David Bowie :: Ziggy Stardust
Street Hassle :: Simple Minds :: Sparkle in the Rain
Change (Peel Session) :: Killing Joke :: 1980-03-17: Peel Session
Ball And Chain :: XTC :: English Settlement
Pretty in Pink :: The Psychedelic Furs :: Talk Talk Talk
Steady, As She Goes (Acoustic Version) :: The Raconteurs :: Steady, As She Goes (Acoustic Version) – Single
Talk to the Body :: Magazine :: Secondhand Daylight

talking truth to power

The House of Representatives will vote this week on the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act. The Senate will vote next week. These bills will help make pay equity a reality, not just a theory. Let’s make sure the House votes FOR fairness to women and FOR helping American families.

[From I Am Progress: I Make – Get Out of the Way of Fair Pay Campaign]

My response, added to their canned letter:

Please vote YES to pass the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act. As I look around our community, I see my neighbors, your constituents, working hard to make ends meet. In these tough times, it is especially important that women, especially moms, are paid fairly for their work.

Of course, what is really needed is a linkage between Congressional pay and the minimum wage. Currently, a congressmember makes about 14 times per hour what a minimum wage worker makes, and that does not include the various other benefits of office a representative or senator can claim. I would like to see one of my national representatives make this connection, between the compensation paid to those at the bottom of the ladder and those who speak for them at the top of it.

The Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act are two important steps needed to make sure women are paid fairly in the workplace. These proposals will help to make equal pay for equal work real, not just in theory, but in practice. Your YES vote on these proposals will show your commitment to fairness and to American families.

Thank you.

But what will Cory Doctorow complain about now?

As of two minutes ago, it appears you can now buy music from iTunes from your iPhone over EDGE and 3G, not just Wi-Fi.

Even better: all the music in the store appears to be DRM-free now [emphasis added]. I’m guessing Phil Schiller will announce it later on in the keynote. Maybe this is the “one more thing”?

[From Daring Fireball Linked List: DRM-Free Music at iTunes Store]