Month: September 2008

Dear Amazon.com's MP3 Download Store…

Dear Amazon.com’s MP3 Download Store,

Look, I really, really like you. I do; you’re great, sweetheart. No DRM. Quick downloads. You’re the cat’s meow.

But, can we talk about your title naming convention? I know that getting Led Zeppelin IV for $2 is a total steal (aside: it seriously is right now). But why, why baby, do you put that insipid adendum “(Album Version)” on so many damn tracks. I mean, thank god IV is only 8 tracks long, because I have to remove that crap. And I love buying MP3s from you. Which means I have to do that a lot.

Every purchase requires me to fix your damn title naming convention. I’m afraid if you order the lobster, I’ll have to remind you not to eat the shells, honey.

Ok, that was cruel. I think I’m In Like with you. But, if you could see through to stop tagging “(Album Version)” onto so many tracks, Sugar, this could be love.

Thanks. How about knocking me a kiss, eh?

Remember Cuil? Yeah, no else does either

According to the latest figures for the end of August the Cuil market share has dropped to, well, just about nothing at all. Net Applications has the market share being a very meagre 0.01 percent. At least it is a very steady 0.01 percent though.

The article points out the obvious problem: their search results suck. Aside from a disasterous rollout in July, the technology was hyped so high didn’t even come close to delivering on it’s promise.

And in the “huh” factor, reading this article made me say to myself, “Oh yeah, they did spring up not that long ago, didn’t they. Oh well.” And off I went to Google.

Cuil frozen out: market share drops to next to nothing.

links for 2008-09-20

Hadron Collider forced to halt

Seriously, this is getting a little wierd. First, the LHC has a “glitch”, now it’s this:

At 1127 (0927 GMT) on Friday, the LHC’s online logbook recorded a quench in sector 3-4 of the accelerator, which lies between the Alice and CMS detectors.

The entry stated that helium had been lost to the tunnel and that vacuum conditions had also been lost.

It added that the Cern fire brigade had been called to the scene.

Maybe they’ve already succeeded in the future or a parallel reality?

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Hadron Collider forced to halt.

The Real Difference Between Liberals and Conservatives

18 minutes you must watch. Whatever your political leanings, this examination of how the mind works is both fascinating and insightful, especially given the political climate we all find ourselves in.

Remember, every politician plays against the types of predilections Jonathan Haidt talks about here. It’s not a partisan issue to know how you’re being played.

http://static.videoegg.com/ted2/flash/loader.swf

Link to talk

And check out other TED talks; it’s really cool to see what other people are thinking about. TED is also available as a free video podcast on iTunes; highly recommended.