IDarryl's blog

Selling my soul to rev3

Tekzilla

While Revision 3 sacked Sarah Lane, they still have Tekzilla on, and Ms Belmont needs more of my hard earned money, sooooo....

How to make awesome profit!

The equation solved!

 Ok,some stupid maybe and logic here, so do keep up.

South Park's Underware Gnomes do have the secret!

1. Steal underpants

2. ?

3. Profit!

Now, let's say ? =x. We now do a quadratic equation where we do know what x is.

1. Coraline movie

2. John Hodgman

3. Awesome!

Since in these capitalistic times, we know that awesome= profit, we find that x = John Hodman! Why yes, I am a genius. Thanks for noticing!

And you may say that I am wrong, as x=Bruce Cambell, I have that covered!

1. Bruce Campbell, actor

2. John Hodgman ,literary agent

3. Awesome and profit!

So if you steal underwear, give it to Mr Hodgman, and you will be set for life!

Darryl Voradams Adams, thinking crap so you dont have to!

Neil Gaiman and Stephan Jones talk Coraline - Authors on Air

Neil Gaiman and Stephan Jones talk Coraline - Authors on Air

Boobies!!!!

Why do I have boobie and dating advertising on my blog? There is no way i can even TALK to the ladies advertised, let alone date one. Taunt all you like VOX....I am a loser geek!

This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by WMG

The Artists: Nick Lowe & Dave Edmunds (during their Rockpile period)
The Clueless One: Warner Music Group
The poor patsy : The Do No Evil Ones (wearing their youtube hat)

I own these songs. Most likely multiple version over different media. I remember these songs during COUNTDOWN. This is part of my past.

And obviously it is a threat to free markets and the American way. Removed from Youtube.

Removed

From

Youtube.

I am not even American. I am not bound by the DMCA. The company sent these clips out to promote artists. They where played on the Australian Broadcasting Commission (as Aunty was at the time). A Non Profit Government Agency!

Countdown was a cheap way to fill time on the ABC, and it generated HUGE PROFITS to the music industry! Seriously, Countdown started a lot of big name stars that are still huge today. Case in point , ABBA (bad point, but very illistrative on the power of Molly)

If WMG is so hard up for cash, I will pay you to watch these clips. Is there a mad rush out there of people pirating these songs? Again, I will pay Nick and Dave, for both songs are on high rotation on my iPod, and I have enjoyed these songs for years.

This is bloody insane. Again, do you want people to pirate? Now I can get DRM free music from iTunes, one motivation for piracy has gone. But if you want brand loyalty? Forget it. Insert bar Star Wars quote about rebelion

Basher: The Best of Nick Lowe

Nick Lowe

 

The Best of Dave Edmunds

Dave Edmunds

The Tall Poppy syndrome goes mainstream?

Jason Calacanis posted a blog entry about what he calls "the end of empathy".

Hate to say this Jason. It has been around for a while, and it is not just an internet phenomenon.

In Australia, we have had what is termed the "Tall Poppy Syndrome". In a nutshell, it is a social meme, where if someone gets too successful and does not act in a humble way, the person needs to be brought down to "the rest of us".

This is an outgrowth (this is my own idea, not an experts) of the rejection of the social strata found in the United Kingdom, and the corresponding egalitarian that is so revered in old Aussie culture.

It is not something that people in the United States are that familiar with, with its culture of worshiping success.

However, with the rampant branding of personalities, and the global reach of all forms of culture today (not just new media and the internet. Clothing, books, news and music is now universally consumed, often outside of the control of the creators, that is, Intellectual piracy), the "tall poppy syndrome" may be spreading.

Take Mike Arrington. Never met the guy. Never read Techcrunch. Yet I know who he is. Through people I listen to via new media. Jason Calacanis, Leo Laporte , Rafe Needleman and others. Posative and Negative perception. Articles about his percieved power in the Web 2.0 world. Arrington's reputation for being aggressive was summed up by Needleman and referenced by Calacanis. With my cultural baggage, I saw the article as humorous, very much an english/aussie vein at that. Part of that has to be the tall poppy syndrome.

The problem here is that the internet has no filter. My perception as a consumer is one of many, and there is no control on the perception.

Take Larry Ellison. While living extravagent lifestyle with his boats, jets and wealth, you would thinnk he would be a prime candidtae for Tall Poppy. Yet he personally raced in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race during the worst storm ever that killed 6 competitors. Ellison swore of racing personally after that. Is that weak? Many people stopped racing after that storm and the saftey lessons are felt to this day in weather prodection and saftey equipment. It could be a Tall Poppy, but could also be the other extreame "Give the bloke a fair go".

That is the crux of the problem in my opinion. With the Obama Election, the good work of such organisations as the Gates Foundation and Childs play, Internet can change life for the better. It can also kill people, as Calacanis mentions in his blog. The Tall Poppy Syndrome is reconised as a dangerous meme in Australia, that can hamper inovation and enterperialship that is done so well in the USA. But Negative is easy. And I have no answers. Just opinions.

So what is happening here. Is the Tall Poppy spreading globally, or is it a mixture of anonminity and lack of empathy? Either way, it aint good.

And sometimes the lopped tall poppy becomes the underdog, and somehow uses another aussie social meme to their advantage.

Teaser for Lois McMasters Bujold "The Sharing Knife IV"

Browse Inside this book Get this for your site

It is good to see Haper Collins have a teaser for the Sharing Knive Volume IV, Horizons. This is a wonderfull series and of cause I have my hard cover pre booked. Will give a more detail review when I get my copy, but until then, enjoy!

How the music industry prevent me buying music

The song: The Rock
The band: The Who
The Album: Quadraphena
The Question: Why cant I buy it?

I found this song via Last FM, and loved it. I discovered an instrumental masterpiece that spoke to me. So, I went to iTunes Australia , and while the album was there, it was not the two album version and The Rock is not on it (apparently the full album is available in the US).

Quadrophenia

I can not buy this song via Amazon, as I am not an US resident. I could not buy it from the Blood sucking evil empire that is Telstra music store.

Again....why? In the day where the record industry sues people for downloading music, they can not provide an alternative? This is not a current release, it is about 40 years old. I want to give you my money, after all, Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey deserve it. But I think that the music industry don't. It may be more morally correct to pirate the album and send The Who the money directly (10 cents a song, which may be more than they get from the music industry anyway....).

 

Claws That Catch

Claws that Catch (Looking Glass, Book 4)

John Ringo

The latest book from John Ring and "Doc" Travis Taylor is a fantastic read. This remains at it's heart a hard scifi book, but it still has a humorous side.

It is still focused on Dr Weaver and "Two Gun" Berg (with some characters only playing cameo roles like WO Miller and Adar T'cher). Both are dealing with new roles (Weaver is XO on the Vorpal Blade II, while Berg is a newly minted Leutenant and husband), and much of the story is them dealing with their new roles and new crew members. The technology and science is still there, but it is not as such a quantem physics lesson compared to other books in the series.

The hardcover also has a Baen CD-Rom with all of the authors work. This is a great way to read some of Ringo's other work, but Doc Travis' solo books are very very good. Just be prepared for complex physics :-)

This is one book I was willing to plonk down money twice (I bought the ARC edition from Webscriptions), and this pair is heading close to Lois McMaster Bujold as my favourite authors.

 

Dell v generic computers

I bought a Dell Demension e520 last year. It has been an ok computer (pardon the pun, not a Coldplay fan). However....there is some issues.

1. Proprietary version of the drivers. Major suckage, just stick with the default vendor drivers.
2. Power supply. Just enough. I bought 2 500mb drives and 1 DVD RAM. No way to upgrade the ATI x1300 graphics unless I upgrade the power, and limited to 1 slot space cards, as the slots are placed opposite to generic PC  systems

I just wacked a new Leadtek 9800 GT in, and it works sweet. The issue is that I need to work out why my DVD-RW does not get reconised in boot and my new Thermatalke power supply is hanging on with one screw. Good thing I am not in an earthquake zone.

There is an argument for generic PC. The uppgrade path is less limited compared to a Dell box. Never again will I purchase a Dell, unless they loose their propreity hardware thing.