February 26, 2008

Sadness

The worst thing about only having internet access in school buildings? It is not socially acceptable to  cry in the school library, no matter how much you want to.

 

I highly recommend the blog where I read this story, and by the way, I am not the Julie who wrote the first comment.

Posted by Julie at 6:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 7, 2007

"A brief history of record industry suicide"

Read this. It's a comment on the music industry after the music site Oink was shut down. Although I never used Oink myself, I've been meaning to write something about these issues for a while. Luckily someone saved me the time by writing something I agree with.

Here's a quote:

"Oink was not only an absolute paradise for music fans, but it was unquestionably the most complete and most efficient music distribution model the world has ever known. I say that safely without exaggeration. It was like the world's largest music store, whose vastly superior selection and distribution was entirely stocked, supplied, organized, and expanded upon by its own consumers. If the music industry had found a way to capitalize on the power, devotion, and innovation of its own fans the way Oink did, it would be thriving right now instead of withering. If intellectual property laws didn't make Oink illegal, the site's creator would be the new Steve Jobs right now. He would have revolutionized music distribution. Instead, he's a criminal, simply for finding the best way to fill rising consumer demand. I would have gladly paid a large monthly fee for a legal service as good as Oink - but none existed, because the music industry could never set aside their own greed and corporate bullshit to make it happen." 

Related posts:

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November 6, 2007

Rant on technology and manners

People who rant about technology and manners usually annoy me. I'm talking about the bookstore employee with the obnoxious-sounding voice who wouldn't let me use a cell phone near the entrance of her store, or the people in front of me at a conference on information technology who told me: "You know, the sound of your typing is sort of distracting." The basic theory of these people is that using cell phones and computers is essentially private and for the fun of it, and therefore rude in public. This is absolutely ridiculous. (Or as Kristiane writes in Norwegian, it's so 2003.)

Slightly less ridiculous is the idea that communication technology can be stressful because it forces us to be perpetually available to anyone who has our contact information. This idea makes people turn their phones off, only check their e-mail during weekdays, and relish the lack of internet connection in their vacation homes. This can be extremely stressful to the people who need to get in touch with them, but sometimes people just need a break, right? As usual, the problem is not e-mail or text messaging in itself, but the fact that our habits and our rules of decent behaviour haven't caught up with the changes in technology.

Ok, where's the rant? Is this really me being angry?

See, that's the whole point. This issue doesn't make me rage, but maybe it should. Someone once told me that in this information technology age, if the sound of your own cellphone ringtone makes you stressed instead of excited, and if checking your e-mail and seeing no new messages is a relief rather than a disapointment, then you know you've grown up. I guess I have.

I don't currently have a stalker, a demanding job or particularly needy friends. But somehow, all the little messages and questions and requests seem to add up to a full-time job (which I do in addition to full-time studies and part-time receptionist work) as a combination of secretary, therapist, event planner, student guidance counselor, tutor, mediator and research assistant to everyone I know. Because I'm such a language geek that I genuinely want to proof-read your essay. As long as I'm taking notes in class, I might as well e-mail you a copy. I know everyone who's going on this trip, so it makes sense that I coordinate things. Yes, I do know the address of that restaurant. Don't worry, everything will be ok, but I'm here for you if you need to talk. I would love to have coffee with you. You know, I read about that somewhere - I'll send you a link.

I do know that I'm not the only one who feels this way, but I don't know exactly how to stop this. And I really don't think that turning off my cellphone and going into some sort of hermit-like existence whenever I want to relax is a healthy or polite way. I really believe that if you publish your e-mail address somewhere, you should check it regularly, and answer people, and that if you have a cellphone, people who have your number should be allowed to call.

But maybe it's time I set a few rules:

Posted by Julie at 4:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 22, 2007

Før du eventuelt kjøper Sony Ericsson T250i fra xd.no...

Anna sliter med både Sony Ericsson og nettstedet xd.no, og hun prøver å bruke bloggerens makt. Jeg har etterhvert sett at jeg kommer skummelt høyt opp på søkemotorer, slik at hva jeg skriver om ting faktisk kan tenkes å nå lesere jeg ikke kjenner personlig. Og jeg vet at kommentarer som denne kan gi resultater som dette. Derfor tenker jeg at all linking hjelper.

Så før du kjøper Sony Ericsson T250i fra xd.no, les dette.

Posted by Julie at 9:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 19, 2007

Wikipedia

I have sat through my last mandatory "how-to-write-a-political-science-paper" class! And to celebrate: "The Wikipedia Gap". I couldn't have said it better myself.

That won't stop me from adding a few of my own comments:

In every one of these usually tedious classes, the question of using Wikipedia in term papers has come up. In general, we are usually warned to be careful with any net-based source and more or less forbidden to use Wikipedia. The reason for this is supposedly that Wikipedia is not written by experts, so it's likely to be wrong. My answer is that Wikipedia is written by experts - that's the whole point. People write about their own home towns, hobbies and obsessions - all their little areas of expertise. And mistakes are corrected. The reason not to referr to Wikipedia in university papers is that it's an encyclopedia. It's very basic. Most of the information you can find there can also be found in other more detailed documents (books, studies, specialized web sites) and if you are serious about researching something, you look further than the encyclopedia. In my opinion, (and the vast majority of people who write and edit books seem to agree with me), there is no need to write a source reference when you state basic facts like capital cities and dates. Even if you didn't know it before you read it somewhere, anything that Google will tell you 500 million times in half a second is common knowledge. Yet we're still told to write "(Author Year:page number)" after practically every sentence in every term paper. The point of referring to where you got information, is so that the reader can learn more by checking out your original source or check up on your original source if they think you're wrong. No reader is going to think: "Wow, Alexis de Tocqueville was born in 1805?!? That's fascinating - I must go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tocqueville to learn more!"

I got this article from my dad, and I'd like to repeat one of the comments to his post, which continues the discussion in a slightly different direction:

"Problemet i skulen er altså ikkje å få aksept for bruken av IKT, og fleire skular nyttar i stor grad kjelder frå kollektive kunnskapssamfunn, og tar det inn over seg som eit viktig ledd i danninga av elevane. Problemet er at ein ikkje får uttelling for slikt arbeid når kunnskapen skal målast. Kan skjøne ein vil kome til å konkludere med at IKT-satsinga i skulen er fånyttes, sidan ein på eksamenar og prøvar ikkje vil sjå merkbare resultat?"

Basically, schools (including most departments at the University of Oslo) use IT for everything except evaluating what students have learned. The result is that students of International Studies are literally asked to solve the problem of the Middle East by sitting alone with a piece of paper and a pencil for four hours.

Posted by Julie at 4:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 16, 2007

Hvorfor er jeg så populær plutselig?

HVA?!? Og igjen HVA?!?

Man kan lære mye av å ha Statcounter, som blant annet viser hvordan folk finner siden din. Sprøtt. Lurer på hvor lenge dette varer. 

Posted by Julie at 9:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 12, 2007

Blogging har en funksjon likevel

Hjorthen forklarer hvorfor blogging er nyttig (les først her,  i hvert fall hvis du ikke er vant til å lese Hjorthen)

Posted by Julie at 12:36 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 14, 2007

Dobbeltnerding

Internasjonal politikk og podcasting i samme link! Utviklingsminister Erik Solheim og tidligere generalsekretær i FN Kofi Annan har lagt ut podcast. Dette blir første del av en serie der Solheim tar ukentlige telefonsamtaler om aktuelle temaer. Og det er mulig å abonnere.

Posted by Julie at 4:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 13, 2007

Think before you act

This week I received an e-mail from the student government telling me that someone had contacted them, wanting me to remove something from my blog. 

I was curious and a little nervous at first, and then vaguely annoyed when I found out what it was all about: someone wanted me to remove a comment because of (in this person's own words) "a pathetic attempt to remove myself from the internet." There was nothing incriminating in the comment - the only thing a reader would find out about the commentor was that he/she liked my blog without knowing me personally.

Although this incident was really minor, I suppose it does set a precedent for how I should handle this kind of stuff in the future. And I must admit that my gut feeling was annoyance. Commenting a blog is like talking to the blogger in real life. Once you've said something to someone, you can't really unsay it. You can tell them to stop telling other people that you said it, which I guess is what this person did to me. You can insist on getting credit for your brilliant thoughts. But if you regret having said something in real life, then, well, that's life.

I feel like I'm constantly telling people this to no avail, but (drum roll) the internet is just like real life. Facebook doesn't change who your friends are, cruelty is still cruelty, and once you've said something, it's out there. Both literally, because of internet tools like Bloglines and web.archive.org (see comments to this post), but also in peoples' minds. Once someone knows that you went to that party, or that you agree with that political blogger, no amount of de-tagging or comment-deleting will save you.

The obvious solution is to think before you act. I've discussed this with friends who claim that there is a difference between how you are expected to act in private and how you are expected to act in public, and that no one has the right to force anyone else to mix the two. This is sort of true. I agree that no one has the right to upload drunken photos of you, but I still believe that the easiest solution to this problem is to avoid passing out in your own vomit when there are cameras in the room. That, and only getting drunk with people you actually trust. And if you think about it, in the good old days before the internet, people still managed to know all the weekend gossip by lunch on Monday anyway. People in China didn't find out, but did you really care what people in China knew about your drunkenness? And do you really care now? 

And all this whining about potential employers googling you? What are people really afraid of? I can just picture it: "You know, this woman has an excellent education, interesting work experience and great recomendations, but she used to write comments on a fashion blog, so she's clearly not serious enough for this company." or "I hear that when this man was in his early twenties, he used to go out with his college friends and (gasp!) drink beer! We couldn't possibly hire someone like that." Or maybe: "I know she's really qualified for the job, and she's beautiful too by the way, but in this one photo I found on Facebook, she was having a really bad hair day."

However, if you insist, I guess I'll humor you. I have now removed the person's name, e-mail and website from this site.

Posted by Julie at 3:06 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

August 15, 2007

Lukket vindu

Bloggen Gjennom Vinduet blir ikke oppdatert lenger. Dette er trist i seg selv, men det verste er at gamle innlegg er blitt fjernet. Til og med innlegg jeg har linket til. Jeg glemmer helt at det jeg leser ikke er mitt, at han som har skrevet dette tross alt har rett til å slette sine egne ord så mye han bare vil. Men det minner meg på at jeg bør lagre det jeg finner på nettet som jeg av en eller annen grunn kan komme til å ville lese igjen senere. For det varer ikke nødvendigvis evig ellers.

Posted by Julie at 12:01 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

August 9, 2007

Yet another reason not to like the current American president.

(What a good post... shoes and politics at once! If only it were good shoes combined with good politics... )

Posted by Julie at 1:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 24, 2007

Bloggtips

Jeg har linket til History matters! før, fra en "This Week", men bloggen til Ingar er fortsatt bra. Jeg har etterhvert lært meg at hvis jeg maser på potensielle bloggere, skriver de ingenting. Derfor ventet jeg lenge på at min tidligere lærer skulle begynne å blogge helt av seg selv - og jeg er svært fornøyd med resultatet.

Han beskriver seg selv som "Gammel kyniker men unntaksvis entusiastisk", og legger ut liste over bøker han leser og har lest (akkurat som meg! Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery). Og han kan virke ganske bitter når han skriver om motstand mot premiering av flinke elever:

"Norge er dilletanteriets høyborg. Middelmådighetens alter. Her ligger jantelovens hellige gral. Norge er landet hvor det er flaut å være god (bortsett fra på skøyter, da). Norge er landet der vi dyrker løpskonkurranser med idealtid! (Gå i bokhylla di og finn fram Roy Jacobsens praktfulle roman Seierherrene og les på nytt den uforglemmelige beretningen om terrengløpet på sommerleiren!)"

Men det er behagelig at noen andre skriver det for meg. Dessuten greier han å skrive morsomt, men alvorlig om diverse samfunnsfaglige spørsmål. Om våre forventninger om at myndighetene alltid skal ordne opp:

"Tankeeksperiment: Hvis jeg ville ha barn, men ikke fant en kvinne jeg kunne tenke meg å få barn med - ville jeg da vært ufrivillig barnløs? (...) Måtte samfunnet da ha ilt til min unnsetning og kurert min diagnostiserte tilstand? (Her stopper det opp litt for meg - jeg blir liksom sittende og drømme meg bort. Kunne helse- og omsorgsministeren mobilisert sitt enorme hjelpeapparat og løst problemet for meg? Er det mulig å antyde preferanser i retning av Julia Roberts, for eksempel??)"

Kort sagt: anbefales!

Posted by Julie at 5:44 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 23, 2007

Pappa er ikke på Facebook

... og det er en forsidesak for e24.

Her er hele saken (inkludert en link til denne siden).

Posted by Julie at 11:22 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

May 14, 2007

Playlist

Last.fm is fun. I have some criticism, mainly:

  1. I don't like the idea of organizing music by tag. At all. I especially don't like tagging artists by which country they are from. How is that relevant to how the music actually sounds? The beauty of Pandora is (was, sniff) that I could find music that sounded like music I liked, regardless of stuff like decades. Not music made by people from the same town as an artist I like one song from.
  2. What is not indie? I thought I could use this tag system to find out what people think indie means, since last.fm is so democratic and stuff. But practically everything I like is tagged indie, and I don't even know what it means! That doesn't make sense.

On the other hand, you can make playlists and put them on your website. So I did. I had to have 15 different artists, but most of the songs fit into the same mood - at least in my mind, but as my little sister tells me twice a day, I am so weird. So there is an idea behind the choice of songs, but I doubt I'll be able to explain it.

Posted by Julie at 10:00 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

May 8, 2007

Ingen logikk 2

I serien "fakulteter oppfører seg motsatt av forventet": Universitetsbiblioteket kan få tilsendt bøker fra hele landet som jeg bestiller over nettet, og så får jeg mail om at boken min er kommet og jeg blir glad. Men informatikkbiblioteket, ja, informatikk legger ikke en gang ut kart over hvor i hyllene bøkene er.

Jeg hører også fra Heidi at medievitenskapstudentene ikke får ordentlig informasjon. Så medievitenskap er dårlig på å gi informasjon, informatikk er dårlig (relativt) på internett, økonomisk er dårlig på effektivitet, men hf er bra på laptoptilrettelegging. Godt å se at man ikke tilpasser seg folks stereotype forventninger.

Posted by Julie at 9:38 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

May 6, 2007

Det eneste du trenger å vite om Facebook

Jeg er så lei av å snakke om dette at jeg ikke helt hvorfor jeg skriver om det. Det er imidlertid slik at det ofte hjelper meg å skrive ned ting som jeg ikke ønsker å tenke på. Derfor noterer jeg her det jeg tenker om dette som jeg er lei av å høre om. Her er det jeg tenker om... ja, jeg blir nødt til å faktisk skrive det: Facebook.

Det er ikke nytt. Facebook i seg selv er gammelt; det er bare vi nordmenn som har vært litt trege. Dessuten har det eksistert lignende nettverkssider, som f.eks. LinkedIn enda lengre. Og russesidene var som Facebook, men bare for russ, så vidt jeg husker.

Det forandrer ikke mennesker. Nettverksbygging, overfladiske vennskap, ekskludering, baksnakking og sladring har alltid eksistert og vil alltid eksistere, men nå er det litt mer synlig.

Facebook er ikke et nettverk. "Facebook og andre sosiale nettverk" skriver Kathrine Aspaas, og " "social networking fatigue" - en slags utmattelse av det å forholde seg til mange sosiale nettverk på en gang." Men Facebook er et verktøy for å forholde seg til eksisterende nettverk.

Vi er fortsatt venner med de samme menneskene. At man er friends betyr ikke nødvendigvis at man omgåes på ordentlig. Hvis du ikke har snakket med noen de siste åtte årene, hvorfor skal du egentlig gjøre det nå? Det kan være artig - for deg selv, kortvarig - å undre seg over hvordan man egentlig møtte folk man føler at man alltid har kjent (We met randomly when we were four) eller en gang kjente (We hooked up? We dated? Skip this step.) Men så spennende er det ikke.

Det sier ingenting om "ungdommen nå til dags" som du ikke kunne funnet ut ved å snakke med en av dem. Vi får ikke nye interesser fordi vi blir medlem av nye grupper for eksempel.

Common sense gjelder fortsatt. Hvis du ikke vil at "third parties", potensielle arbeidsgivere, foreldrene dine, stalkers etc. skal finne ut hvem du er i et "complicated" forhold med eller hvilket kjønn du er "interested" i eller hva dine "political views" er, så ikke legg det ut på nettet da, din idiot!

Facebook er ikke mer skummelt for ditt gode rykte enn resten av Internett. Det er mange andre steder folk kan legge ut stygge bilder av deg. Og Google (en nettside som har forandret ting) gjør det lett å finne dette, enten du er på Facebook eller ikke. Sorry.

Det kan være nyttig. Jeg kan sende beskjeder til folk som sjekker Facebook oftere enn mailen sin, og slik sparer man tekstmeldinger på. Det beste er invitasjoner til events som fester, samlinger av folk med samme interesser eller ekstraforelesninger for de i gruppen til studiet mitt. Dette er den delen av Facebook som faktisk kan endre noe av real life oppførselen vår, men det er det ikke mange som har kommentert fordi alle er så opptatt av nettverksbygging og personvern.

Å, så lei. Hvorfor snakker jeg om dette? Det finnes andre sider ved Internett (andre sider på Internett?) som kanskje burde hatt kronikkplass i Aftenposten, men dette er bare kjedelig.

Facebook endrer svært lite; det er synliggjøring og oversikt over det som allerede finnes. Punktum.

Posted by Julie at 10:39 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Hva er meningen med livet?

Hva er meningen med livet?

Hvis man spør Google, er det Soppeliten som har svaret. Slik har det vært lenge, og det er flere som har påpekt dette. Nå sist var det Mihoe, men det har tidligere blitt skrevet om Soppelitens spørsmål-og-svar side i relativt seriøse artikler om søkemotorer som jeg dessverre (arg!) ikke finner nå.

Jeg kjente Soppeliten da jeg var yngre, fra jeg var tolv til omtrent midt i videregående. Soppeliten var et av de mest interessante menneskene jeg visste om, og jeg lurte ofte på hva hun skulle gjøre med livet sitt. Det er mulig jeg maste på Soppeliten litt for mye, men det var bare fordi jeg ikke liker å se flinke mennesker sløse med evnene sine. Og det er vanskelig når barndomsvenninner forandrer seg.

Selv om jeg ikke er 100% sikker på hva Soppeliten gjør nå, vet jeg hva hun ble som "stor": altvitende guru.

Posted by Julie at 5:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 4, 2007

Heartbroken

Just when things were going so well, Pandora broke my heart.

Posted by Julie at 2:41 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

April 30, 2007

Good news for internet radio

Despite my dilemmas over protesting, it seems that protests from Americans was enough. The Internet Radio Equality Act - good news for fans of Pandora and similar.

Posted by Julie at 11:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 26, 2007

Ingen logikk

På samfunnsøkonomisk institutt, instituttet som skal lære meg om kostnadseffektivitet, leverer man inn oppgaver på denne måten:

  1. Skriv og print ut oppgaven.
  2. Vent på heisen.
  3. Prøv å ta heisen til 12. etasje.
  4. Oppdag at denne heisen ikke vil gå så høyt,
  5. Bytt heis.
  6. Ta heisen til 12. etasje.
  7. Vent på at alle som jobber på samfunnsøkonomisk institutt skal komme tilbake fra lunsjpausen sin. (Dette er den første arbeidsplassen jeg har vært på på lenge der alle tar lunsj samtidig.)
  8. Få et kopikort fra resepsjonsdamen.
  9. Dra ned til 2. etasje igjen.
  10. Prøv å kopiere oppgaven i like mange eksemplarer som det er andre studenter i klassen.
  11. Slit.
  12. Konkluder med at ingen av kopimaskinene virker.
  13. Få dette bekreftet av andre som har prøvd det samme.
  14. Opp igjen.
  15. Forklar situasjonen.
  16. Få lov til å legge oppgaven i hyllen til læreren.
  17. Denne finnes ikke.
  18. Foreslår oppgaveinnlevering over nettet.
  19. Svaret: "Nei, sånt gjør vi da ikke her!"

Derfor er det merkelig at Humanistisk Fakultet, fakultetet som lærer om fjærpenner og runer, har egne lesesalplasser (med stikk-kontakter!!!) holdt av til studenter med laptoper (så vi kan bråke uten å forstyrre andre).

Det er nesten så jeg er litt lettet over at internett-tilkoblingen er svak på disse plassene. Ellers hadde det ikke vært noen logikk på Blindern i det hele tatt. 

Posted by Julie at 12:47 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

April 17, 2007

Moderation isn't rocket science

While we're on the subject of "blame human beings, not technology", here's a quote: 

Anonymous nastiness is easy to write, and will always find an appreciative audience. I don’t care. It’s not a manifestation of the free and open discourse of the internet; it’s a thing that destroys that discourse. To be specific, it’s the same old trashmouthed bullying we all know from junior high and high school. Putting it on the net doesn’t cause it to develop any novel complexities or interesting emergent behaviors. It’s just the same old sh*t. (From "Moderation isn't rocket science" by Teresa Nielsen Hayden)

 

Posted by Julie at 9:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 16, 2007

Save internet radio

Men nå har jeg et lite dilemma: jeg er registrert på pandora.com under det som tidligere var min zip-code i USA, siden man egentlig må bo i USA for å få lov til å høre på pandora. Hvis jeg derimot skal protestere mot høyere royalties på musikk på internett-radio, må jeg oppgi addressen min. Skal jeg skrive en addresse som ikke er min, og til og med oppfordre alle mine ulovlig-pandora-brukende venner til å gjøre det samme, eller vil det egentlig bare svekke saken gjennom å synliggjøre hvor lett det faktisk har vært å bryte de reglene amerikanske myndigheter har satt opp for dette? Les videre for forklaring av saken.

From pandora.com, my favorite radio:

My deepest thanks to everyone who has been so supportive these past few weeks as we've confronted the stunning development with the internet radio royalty rates. It has been very heartening for all of
us to experience such a groundswell of support from our listeners.

can3 180 x 150.gif

Today, in coordination with a fast growing consortium of webcasters big and small, commercial and non-commercial, we are launching a campaign to reverse this pending disaster.

I hope you'll join us. To add your voice to this movement, please take a minute to sign the PETITION urging your representatives in congress to act at the new website Savenetradio.org.

And please share this petition link with friends: http://capwiz.com/saveinternetradio/home/

Our first goal is to demonstrate the magnitude of the injustice being committed here through the sheer volume of people it affects. We plan to rapidly follow this effort with the introduction of a bill in congress to protect ourselves once and for all from these predatory maneuvers.

The last couple weeks have made it quite clear to us that it's going to take nothing short of a major public outcry to reverse the results of this concerted campaign by the RIAA to shutter internet radio.

As awareness of this ruling and its consequences are spreading through the musicians' community, we are being joined daily by hundreds of artists and their organizations for whom internet radio has become such a promising new outlet.

Thanks again for your wonderful and on-going support. I hope you will become an
active part of this effort.

Best regards,

Tim (Founder)

Previous blogging about this

Posted by Julie at 10:37 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

April 8, 2007

Here's something you don't see everyday: a website made with a marker and kitchen appliances.

Posted by Julie at 1:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 27, 2007

I used to believe...

I just told a friend that I was going to post a link to a site with a list of what people used to believe when they were children. So in order to disprove the dismal idea that I never blog what I tell people I will blog, I'm posting this link.

I think my favorite part of this site is the list of common beliefs, because I imagine entire generations believing that Anon is a real person and that cats and dogs are the same species - just as I did once. 

Posted by Julie at 3:17 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

March 25, 2007

A reason to have a Mac

I want this now, thanks to Jorunn.

Posted by Julie at 10:16 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

March 15, 2007

Pandora Radio in trouble!

The following (in italics) is quoted from the blog at Pandora Internet Radio:

RIAA's new royalty rates will kill online radio!!

The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) has recently released a revised fee schedule for internet radio. Left unchanged, these rates will end internet radio, period. The RIAA has effectively convinced this federal committee to establish rates that make online radio a non-viable business.

It's an utterly ridiculous ruling that renders any form of internet radio non-economic. We are continuing in the belief that sanity will return as everyone involved, including the 50 million avid online radio listeners, realize just how outrageous this is.

You can probably tell by this post that I feel strongly about this. Online radio has opened up a new world for musicians and listeners alike. It has brought millions of otherwise disconnected music-lovers back to music radio, and has opened up tremendous access and promotion for thousands of musicians - both obscure and well known.

We are striving very hard to build a business. We employ eleven full time people in our ad sales team, and despite very high licensing and streaming costs, believed that we could make it work over the next several years if internet advertising continues to grow. This ruling drives the licensing fees (fees that are NOT paid by terrestrial broadcasters) completely out of reach, and makes our goal impossible.

This is a terribly ill-conceived attempt to crush a powerful and positive grassroots movement that is sweeping across the music world. The record labels' struggles have nothing to do with online radio and killing it will further hurt their business, not help it.

Not only is Pandora Radio one of my favorite sites, it has changed the way I feel about music. Although I've been using this site a little less in the past two weeks (some of you may have noticed that the bookmarked songs in my sidebar haven't changed), since I first discovered Pandora, I have found so many artists and songs I love. This has been the year I really figured out what music I like, because suddenly I had so many more options. That the music industry could think that limiting my access to radio would make me buy more CDs is ridiculous. Why should I buy a CD from an artist I don't know anything about? Internet radio is not piracy.

Sign the petition and/or spread the word

Learn more 

Posted by Julie at 3:04 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

March 14, 2007

Blogging fra Egypt

Tora, som jeg studerer sammen med og som for tiden tar et semester i Egypt, har skrevet en tankevekkende liten kommentar om politisk blogging og ytringsfrihet. (Fra Internasjonalen, en fellesblogg for flere av medstudentene mine.)

Posted by Julie at 2:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 21, 2007

Google-ranking 2: Kaffebarguiden

Ikke nok med at mitt bilde kommer opp først om man image-googler Julie Andersen, og min blogg kommer opp først om man søker etter According to Julie, men Kaffebarguiden er ganske søkbar også.

Jeg må først presisere at jeg har et liv...
Før jeg forteller at jeg søkte etter de forskjellige stedene jeg har anmeldt, og Kaffebarguiden kom opp på første resultatside i alle tilfeller. For La Sosta og U1 måtte jeg legge til ordet kaffe og for Java måtte jeg legge til kaffe og St. Hanshaugen, for i det hele tatt å få opp sider som handlet om kaffebarene. Men det må alle andre som evt. vil lese om kaffen de har her også gjøre.

Søker man etter “kaffebarguiden”, har alle resultatene noe med denne bloggen å gjøre. Ikke verst...

Posted by Julie at 4:40 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

February 20, 2007

Update on the computer situation

Warning: I'm going to write about computers now. 

Thanks everyone, for all comments, both real life and online. I'm typing this on my new computer! And no, it's not a Macbook. The fact that many of you "just prefer Apple to Windows" without being able to tell me why wasn't enough. Maybe if money were not an issue at all. But then again, I really don't like their keyboards. And I don't see what's so great about white. I wouldn't say that this computer is pretty, but I haven't ever called any computer pretty. I think it's relatively not ugly.

I'm going to miss my old computer, which I now refer to as "the little one", but I wasn't willing to spend the extra cash for a new version of the same thing.

I asked for an explanation of the Apple/Windows debate, and I found one. The full text can be downloaded here, but I'm posting an excerpt. It's not going to make my Mac-using friends happy, but Stephenson does say that he "embraced OS X as soon as it was available and have never looked back. So a lot of "In the beginning was the command line" is now obsolete." There is an updated version, now with monkeys, which will make these same friends very happy, and which I've also posted an excerpt from.

When I bought my computer, I wasn't thinking about any of this. All I really need is Firefox and Open Office attached to a good keyboard.

From In the Beginning... Was the Command Line by Neil Stephenson:

Imagine a crossroads where four competing auto dealerships are situated. One of them (Microsoft) is much, much bigger than the others. It started out years ago selling three-speed bicycles (MS-DOS); these were not perfect, but they worked, and when they broke you could easily fix them.

There was a competing bicycle dealership next door (Apple) that one day began selling motorized vehicles—expensive but attractively styled cars with their innards hermetically sealed, so that how they worked was something of a mystery. The big dealership responded by rushing a moped upgrade kit (the original Windows) onto the market. This was a Rube Goldberg contraption that, when bolted onto a three-speed bicycle, enabled it to keep up, just barely, with Apple-cars. The users had to wear goggles and were always picking bugs out of their teeth while Apple owners sped along in hermetically sealed comfort, sneering out the windows. But the Micro-mopeds were cheap, and easy to fix compared with the Apple-cars, and their market share waxed.

Eventually the big dealership came out with a full-fledged car: a colossal station wagon (Windows 95). It had all the aesthetic appeal of a Soviet worker housing block, it leaked oil and blew gaskets, and it was an enormous success. A little later, they also came out with a hulking off-road vehicle intended for industrial users (Windows NT) which was no more beautiful than the station wagon, and only a little more reliable.

Since then there has been a lot of noise and shouting, but little has changed. The smaller dealership continues to sell sleek Euro-styled sedans and to spend a lot of money on advertising campaigns. They have had GOING OUT OF BUSINESS! signs taped up in their windows for so long that they have gotten all yellow and curly. The big one keeps making bigger and bigger station wagons and ORVs.

On the other side of the road are two competitors that have come along more recently.

One of them (Be, Inc.) is selling fully operational Batmobiles (the BeOS). They are more beautiful and stylish even than the Euro-sedans, better designed, more technologically advanced, and at least as reliable as anything else on the market--and yet cheaper than the others.

With one exception, that is: Linux, which is right next door, and which is not a business at all. It's a bunch of Rvs, yurts, tepees, and geodesic domes set up in a field and organized by consensus. The people who live there are making tanks. These are not old-fashioned, cast-iron Soviet tanks; these are more like the M1 tanks of the U.S. Army, made of space-age materials and jammed with sophisticated technology from one end to the other. But they are better than Army tanks. They've been modified in such a way that they never, ever break down, are light and maneuverable enough to use on ordinary streets, and use no more fuel than a subcompact car. These tanks are being cranked out, on the spot, at a terrific pace, and a vast number of them are lined up along the edge of the road with keys in the ignition. Anyone who wants can simply climb into one and drive it away for free.

Customers come to this crossroads in throngs, day and night. Ninety percent of them go straight to the biggest dealership and buy station wagons or off-road vehicles. They do not even look at the other dealerships. Of the remaining ten percent, most go and buy a sleek Euro-sedan, pausing only to turn up their noses at the philistines going to buy the station wagons and ORVs. If they even notice the people on the opposite side of the road, selling the cheaper, technically superior vehicles, these customers deride them cranks and half-wits. The Batmobile outlet sells a few vehicles to the occasional car nut who wants a second vehicle to go with his station wagon, but seems to accept, at least for now, that it's a fringe player.

The group giving away the free tanks only stays alive because it is staffed by volunteers, who are lined up at the edge of the street with bullhorns, trying to draw customers' attention to this incredible situation. A typical conversation goes something like this:

Hacker with bullhorn: "Save your money! Accept one of our free tanks! It is invulnerable, and can drive across rocks and swamps at ninety miles an hour while getting a hundred miles to the gallon!"

Prospective station wagon buyer: "I know what you say is true...but...er...I don't know how to maintain a tank!"

Bullhorn: "You don't know how to maintain a station wagon either!"

Buyer: "But this dealership has mechanics on staff. If something goes wrong with my station wagon, I can take a day off work, bring it here, and pay them to work on it while I sit in the waiting room for hours, listening to elevator music."

Bullhorn: "But if you accept one of our free tanks we will send volunteers to your house to fix it for free while you sleep!"

Buyer: "Stay away from my house, you freak!"

Bullhorn: "But..."

Buyer: "Can't you see that everyone is buying station wagons?"

And now, with monkeys, added by Garrett Birkel:

(...) if you buy an Apple sedan, you also receive a little monkey in a snappy blue suit. Your personal X-Monkey (as the company calls him) is the ideal driver of your Apple sedan. He knows where everything is, feeds and washes himself, drives defensively, and will even tune up the car for you. X-Monkey will accept precise instructions like, "forward 10 feet, right 20 degrees", but he is smart enough to think on his own, so you can tell him "Drive me to a taco stand, then pick up Uncle Steve". He will also keep you out of trouble, by politely ignoring instructions like, "Run over that jogger", and "Floor it", when you're at a red light. Depending on your temperament, this could actually be a downside.

The X-Monkey comes from a line of monkeys originally bred by the military for the purpose of driving tanks. It's a good fit, because the modern Apple sedan is actually a tank in a fancy shell. The X-Monkey's only drawback is that he can only drive a car from Apple. Show him any other vehicle, and he won't even know how to operate the door lock.

Meanwhile, the free-thinking Linux people, displeased with genetic engineering, have created their own smart monkey chauffeurs through a massive international breeding program. Unlike the X-Monkey, the Linux Monkey is capable of driving any car, including the Apple sedan. If you could install a steering wheel on a log splitter, the Linux Monkey could drive it for you. The catch is, you have to train the Linux Monkey yourself. Fortunately there are experts everywhere who will help you out, and the Linux Monkey trains easily.

The Microsoft Gorilla, on the other hand, cannot be trained. Instead, you must keep rephrasing your directions until the MS Gorilla can comprehend them. He consumes both front seats, lowering the mileage of your car, and blocking most of your view. Though he sounds like a bad deal, MS Gorilla is actually extremely popular, because he looks impressive, drives aggressively, and keeps his mouth shut. If you speak in his limited vocabulary, he will take you Where You Want To Go Today ... especially if he can plow monkeys off the intervening road. However, if you touch anything on the dashboard, or try to haggle with him over the exact route, he may become irritated and casually drive your car into a telephone pole. People learn to not argue.

The point to this altered metaphor is that the Microsoft dealership, and the Linux collective, do not really make cars at all. All those shiny automobiles sitting on the lot and lined up on the street corner are re-branded vehicles, manufactured by other companies. However, their modern instrument panels are so confusing that they'd be useless without a chauffeur. ... And the Microsoft dealership gets a cut from the price of every vehicle that leaves their lot, piloted by the Microsoft Gorilla.

If you were so inclined, you could purchase a car from them, drive to the sidewalk, and kick the gorilla out onto the curb. The Linux Monkey can hop right in and start driving for you. Of course, Microsoft already has your money, and what are you going to do with a spare gorilla?

Contrast this with the Apple dealership, that personally designs and assembles every Apple sedan. When a sedan leaves their lot, they pocket the whole amount. You could still kick out the X-Monkey any time, but why would you? The Linux Monkey is basically the same, without the training.

Posted by Julie at 7:03 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

February 16, 2007

Rot i systemet

Heidi skriver en liste med forslag (med fordeler og ulemper for hvert forslag) for hva man kan gjøre med forelskelse.

Og mens vi først er inne på temaet "tekster som beskriver hvordan ordensmennesker tenker når de er forelsket", her er en linje fra sangen "Mystery" av Indigo Girls, som jeg ikke får ut av hodet: "You set up your place in my thoughts, moved in and made my thinking crowded." 

Posted by Julie at 6:46 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

February 1, 2007

Rambukk igjen

Gratulerer, Rambukk, igjen!!!

Du har skrevet både kommentar 100 og kommentar 200.

Premie: Jeg hadde tenkt til å la begge vinnerne (altså deg og en annen) gi meg en bloggeoppgave. I tillegg skulle dere få kaffe. Dermed både innflytelse og koffein - det må jo være bra. Men når du vinner dobbelt, er ikke disse premiene nok. Siden jeg allerede har linket til deg ørten ganger (og din blogg uansett har flere lesere enn min), teller ikke pr som premie i seg selv. Og nevnte bacheloroppgave skal uansett ut på nett når den blir ferdig. Så hva ønsker du deg?

Til dere andre: Er du skuffet over at du ikke selv får en premie du kan bestemme selv, er det bare en ting å gjøre. Kommentar ofte, og plutselig er det på tide å premiere nr. 300...

Posted by Julie at 4:18 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

January 25, 2007

Turning water into whisky

This is the second entry in a row where I'm simply copying Rambukk, but in honor of Richard Feynman (one of my heros), I just have to link to this YouTube video that shows how fun physics can be.

Posted by Julie at 2:54 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

An interesting experiment

Is it possible to locate a man, given only his photograph and first name?

A UK games company is testing the power of the Internet by asking that very question; they have recruited one of Earth's 6 billion residents - a man named Satoshi - to participate in this experiment.

We are each only five to seven people away from any target in the world - or so people say. Someone, somewhere, knows Satoshi - so we must track these people, and thus Satoshi, down using word-of-mouth communication. People from over 80 countries are already participating in the hunt, with more joining every day.

For more information, visit the website.

Posted by Julie at 2:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack