In a Yahoo News story, the FCC voted to punish Comcast for blocking certain kinds of subscribers' Internet traffic. The FCC's reasoning was Comcast went against the government agency's policy of "open, unfettered access" to the Internet.
As a Comcast Internet subscriber I expect to have a fast Internet connection no matter if I'm using a file-sharing program like BitTorrent or downloading a song from iTunes. It's a reasonable demand when Comcast charges me 42 dollars a month just for Internet broadband.
On the other hand, my libertarian side understands that Comcast needs the right to regulate their subscribers' Internet traffic on some level. If the FCC's policy of net neutrality was strictly interpreted, you would have a small minority of subscribers slowing down the entire network due to their high bandwidth use.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
In Da (Chinese) Club
When you think of spectacular dance clubs, you think of Los Angeles, Paris, London. Well soon you will have to add China to the list. Coolhunter profiles the Bejing dance club, ChinaDoll. I'm not a clubber, but I would go to this place just to check out its stunning design. Judging by the pictures supplied by the Coolhunter site, ChinaDoll will dazzle your eyes. I would gladly pay an inflated cover charge to go to a place like this.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Napster left for dead
Remember Napster? It was the groundbreaking music file sharing program that spawned hundreds of lawsuits from the Recording Industry Association of America.
It's become an afterthought in the music downloading market. Wired magazine reports Napster stock took a 95 percent nosedive in the last six years. It ripe for a takeover by a hedge fund firm. A group of disgruntled Napster shareholders, stated in a SEC filing, that Napster "has the dubious distinction of being worth more dead than alive."
When Napster came out with their subscription based business model, I was very skeptical. The major draw of their service was you could pay a flat fee and download an unlimited number of tracks to your mp3 player. At first it sounds like an incredible deal until you look at the details. First you could only download the songs to certain mp3 players, no iPods. Second, the songs became unplayable once the subscription ended. The nail in the coffin was Napster did not work with the most successful portable music player out on the market, the iPod. When the company finally offer DRM-free music downloads, it was already too late.
(Full Disclosure: I am a proud owner of a video iPod. I still buy CDs, but also buy songs from iTunes on a regular basis.)
It's become an afterthought in the music downloading market. Wired magazine reports Napster stock took a 95 percent nosedive in the last six years. It ripe for a takeover by a hedge fund firm. A group of disgruntled Napster shareholders, stated in a SEC filing, that Napster "has the dubious distinction of being worth more dead than alive."
When Napster came out with their subscription based business model, I was very skeptical. The major draw of their service was you could pay a flat fee and download an unlimited number of tracks to your mp3 player. At first it sounds like an incredible deal until you look at the details. First you could only download the songs to certain mp3 players, no iPods. Second, the songs became unplayable once the subscription ended. The nail in the coffin was Napster did not work with the most successful portable music player out on the market, the iPod. When the company finally offer DRM-free music downloads, it was already too late.
(Full Disclosure: I am a proud owner of a video iPod. I still buy CDs, but also buy songs from iTunes on a regular basis.)
Bourdain is in DC
For anyone that knows me, knows I'm a big fan of the Travel Channel show, Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. One of my friends accuses me of having a man-crush on Anthony Bourdain, which I of course deny. I just base my life on his teachings. The reason why I like the show so much is because I am in complete agreement with his philosophy on food and travel.
His show doesn't just go to far away places like Columbia and Hong Kong, but also visits locations close to home, such as Cleveland and Las Vegas. DCist, a blog that covers local DC issues, reports that Anthony Bourdain is in DC this weekend filming an episode for No Reservations. Naturally I didn't run into him when he was hanging out downtown. I barely went outside this weekend. It's hotter here than on the surface on the sun. Arlington racked up two severe weather advisories based on the temperature being close to a 100 degrees. Proof I am in the grips of a grueling DC summer.
His show doesn't just go to far away places like Columbia and Hong Kong, but also visits locations close to home, such as Cleveland and Las Vegas. DCist, a blog that covers local DC issues, reports that Anthony Bourdain is in DC this weekend filming an episode for No Reservations. Naturally I didn't run into him when he was hanging out downtown. I barely went outside this weekend. It's hotter here than on the surface on the sun. Arlington racked up two severe weather advisories based on the temperature being close to a 100 degrees. Proof I am in the grips of a grueling DC summer.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Nothing better than Red Sox on the radio
If you grow up in Massachusetts, there are a few can't miss things of summertime: the Boston Pops Fourth of July concert, strawberry picking, and listening to the Red Sox on the radio. This Boston Globe article really sums up what's it like to listen to the Sox during the summer. Even though I can watch the Red Sox on my laptop, I will still listen to the WRKO radio feed occasionally.
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