Monday, November 28, 2005

P2P: good for the backlist, not good for best-sellers. Peer-to-peer file trading does cut into the sales of top-tier artists, but is a boon for everyone else, according to a new study. The 'bottom' 3/4 of artists sell more as a consequence of file-sharing while the top 1/4 sell less (via MIT Technology Review) [Smart Mobs] 8:29:24 PM    comment []

Programmers on Sony's spyware DRM asked for newsgroup help too. [Boing Boing] 8:29:04 PM    comment []

From Benton Headlines: Moyers Has His Say [SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton] An interview with former NOW host Bill Moyers. Eggerton asks, "Was your show liberally biased?" Moyers answers: "Right-wing partisans like Tomlinson have always attacked aggressive reporting as liberal. We were biased, all right -- in favor of uncovering the news that powerful people wanted to keep hidden: conflicts of interest at the Department of Interior, secret meetings between Vice President Cheney and the oil industry, backdoor shenanigans by lobbyists at the FCC, corruption in Congress, neglect of wounded veterans returning from Iraq, Pentagon cost overruns, the manipulation of intelligence leading to the invasion of Iraq. We were way ahead of the news curve on these stories, and the administration turned its hit men loose on us. And when we weren't reporting the truth behind the news, we were interviewing a wide variety of people: Ralph Reed and Ralph Nader; Cal Thomas and Molly Ivins; Robert Bartley, editor of the Wall Street Journal; Katrina Vandenheuval, editor of The Nation; The Conservative Union's David Keene; Dorothy Rabinowitz (also of the Wall Street Journal); Charles Lewis of the Center for Public Integrity; the Club for Growth's Stephen Moore; historian Howard Zinn; and Indian activist Arundhati Roy. And on and on." 2:40:23 PM    comment []

Powerful Quake in Iran Kills 10; 80 Hurt and 7 Villages Damaged [New York Times: International News] 6:24:40 AM    comment []

Americans selling online. The Pew Internet and American Life Project has released a report that says "some 17% of online American adults have used the internet to sell things.That amounts to approximately 25 million Americans.In addition,internet traffic data show that visits to classified ad web sites has grown 80% in the past year". About 25 million people have used the internet to sell something [Smart Mobs] 6:24:03 AM    comment []

Just Reading and Talking. I had heard that one of the reasons our grant application to create a mobile gaming package for MLS libraries was turned down was because some reviewers didn’t understand how you then transition these kids to “traditional library services.” I could argue that issue a million different ways but thanks to Aaron, today I’m basking in vindication.  :-P [The Shifted Librarian] Here's what Aaron posted: This afternoon the YA librarian sent me an instant message. Here’s a snippet of our conversation: ianmckndrck: there is a whole gang here ianmckndrck: from last night ianmckndrck: wanting to play ianmckndrck: I said no, because I can’t supervise ianmckndrck: but they are hanging out now ianmckndrck: just reading and talking xxagentcooperxx: NICE xxagentcooperxx: I LOVE IT ianmckndrck: so funny ianmckndrck: I felt so bad telling them no How about that?! Maybe if we do the right things and really engage teenagers on their own terms it isn’t terribly difficult to get them in the library after all. If you’re confused about this, the previous post another successful DDR night might help 6:23:53 AM    comment []