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This article is the first in a new series, called IM tellin'. The articles contain nothing more than instant-message banter between myself and any one of my friends or random people. Think of it as water-cooler talk, only a bit more sophisticated than talking about the weather.
The Recording Industry Association of America hasn't been making too many friends these days. I guess I should say that the organization does have many friends inside the music industry, because that's who makes up the the RIAA.
I'm not here to argue whether it's right or wrong to download free music where it's available, or whether it's OK to listen to your friend's "Beach Boys Greatest Hits Album." I'm just here to point out what the RIAA wants you to believe about the cost of music and CDs.
For decades, the U.S. government has had the ability to encrypt and decrypt email messages. But now, a man claims he has rewritten the book on cryptography and can make messages perfectly undecipherable. At what lengths will the United States government go to keep the lid on him?
Coloring is a favorite past time of mine, as it is for probably many people under the age of 4. Besides being useful to keep track of the difference between midnight blue, cornflower and periwinkle, coloring is an extremely relaxing activity. That means that if you wanted to have a completely balanced evening, trying coloring while watching professional wrestling.
I just recently found an interesting site that combines library listings from across the world. While it's not a comprehensive list of every single library, WorldCat promotes itself as having "Over 1 billion items in more than 10,000 libraries worldwide.
That's a lot of books!
I'll admit that although I consider myself a technophile, I'm not really into cell phone text messaging.
There are a few reasons for this. First, I'm at my computer roughly 46 hours each day (at least, that's what our time management system says I should be doing). So if I want to send a message, I can easily do it via a keyboard. Second, I'm not that fast in typing the letters and words on a phone. Third, I'd prefer to not touch my phone anyway. I have a Bluetooth headset, so I can hit the button to pick up calls fairly easily.
The U.S. elections are finally over, and either you're elated, frustrated or somewhere in between (maybe your guy/girl won the big race, but that bond issue for building a life-size replica of the Millennium Falcon in your basement didn't quite make it). Following the races, specifically the presidential race, on TV, the web, Twitter, etc., was a somewhat dizzying experience. With the electoral votes changing rapidly, the election almost seemed like a basketball or football game, with continual highs and lows as the totals were revealed.
AOL has had its moments over the years, but attempting to level a tax on sending email is just a bit over the top. Fortunately, with the help of MoveOn.org, there's an online petition you can sign to thwart this from starting.
The organization has created Our Open Letter to AOL to help prohibit AOL and other ISPs from setting a tax on emails. Let's face it: Would you pay to send an email?
At a typical office job in the 21st Century, you are guaranteed to come into contact with a number of individuals who have no idea what they are talking about. Of course, that doesn't mean that they cannot pretend they are intelligent.
My first tour stop in 2008 will be the central branch of the Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore, where I'll be a part of the fifth-annual CityLit Project. The event is free to both the public and exhibitors, which is not typical for most book-related events. It's pretty annoying to go to some events where either you have to give up a large percentage of your sales or you have to pay an upfront fee.