Fun and Games from the RIAA

Time to rebeat my dead horse.

In 2002, the five largest U.S. record labels and three major retail chains agreed to give consumers $67 million in refunds and donate an additional $76 million worth of CDs to settle price-fixing allegations in a class-action lawsuit filed by dozens of states. California schools and libraries are expected to receive $9 million worth of CDs as part of the deal.

But some Bay area librarians think they're getting stuck with discs the record labels can't sell.

The San Francisco Public Library, for instance, will get 91 copies of a '60s rock compilation ("Feelin' Groovy"), 81 copies of an album by reality TV star Jessica Simpson ("Irresistible") and 73 copies of a "Christmas with Yolanda Adams." By contrast, it will receive only single copies of hundreds of other selections, like jazz great Louis Armstrong's "I Love Jazz." San Jose was scheduled to receive 106 copies of eight different albums, such as Lenny Kravitz's "Lenny" and Ricky Martin's "Sound Loaded." Last year, a school district in the Seattle area received 1,300 copies of Whitney Houston's rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner." And a library in Worthington, Ohio, received 19 copies of an album of Gregorian chants.

So let's see if I understand this: The Recording Industry claims that file sharing caused a loss of sales. At the same time, they settled a lawsuit for $67 million in cash and got the opportunity to clean out their warehouses. Just how many people downloaded the Yolanda Adams Christmas CD?

I discovered a new little trick in PhotoShop that lets me dabble in fine art.

I've always thought that I should try painting, but never really gave it a spin. I mean you gotta buy an easel, canvases, brushes, paints, cleaners, and palettes. My place is small enough without adding more crap I'll only use occasionally.

But this little trick allows me to create fine art without all that paraphenalia. Here is one of my first creations. I call it "Pumpkin House Door."

Now I'll be tweaking every photo I got!

Now a respected member of the IT community.

To bolster my standing in the international IT community, I have co-authored a paper. You can read it here. Let me know what you think.

Actually, it's a joke. Think of the fun you can have with this. Need a promotion at work? Generate a dozen papers and include them on your resume. Couldn't hurt.

I love the move Office Space. While surfing the web, I ran across this quiz to determine which character I am. Here are the results:

Pre-Hyptnotized Peter




What Office Space character are you?

brought to you by Quizilla

I decided to change the logo. Drop me a line and let me know what you think.

Nothing stop the Year From Hell

The Year from Hell™ keeps on going. And going. And going.

Mom came back from her biweekly trip to Brownwood, with a stop in Abilene. Sue is still in the hospital, but will be going home soon. I hope she gets better soon.

We had been planning a vacation this year, but with everything that's going on, I doubt it's going to happen. Since Sue has her own health to worry about, Mom is doing all the Grandmother stuff. Even though Nelda, mom's older sister, is helping out, Grandmother and Nelda are like oil and water.

This can't be good for her, but Mom seems to be doing okay. But she's always kept her emotions pretty close to the vest. I hope she can keep going like this.

Dad came back from his visit with Sue with some sort of sinus infection, or allergy. He's been coughing a lot, and when he's trying to clear his lungs, it almost sounds like he's dying. The other day he had a pretty high fever. Today, he didn't go to church, and spent most of the day asleep. And he doesn't have much of a fever. I hope he's on the upswing.

Me? Well, my sinuses are a bit active today. They've hit my jaw, where the tooth I had pulled a couple of years ago is throbbing to beat the band. And I haven't felt too good today. I wonder if I'm coming down with something. I haven't been sick, except for an occasional hangover, for over a year.